Day 1 in LA - Exploring Hollywood

So on our first day, we were just exploring Hollywood because we're basically living on Hollywood Boulevard.  If I had to use one word to describe Hollywood, I would use "overrated". It's not glitzy or glamorous, but dirty and scary. The characters you encounter on the metro definitely make an impression (not a very good one).

BUT REGARDLESS, I had a ball on my first day. There are so many people in America. SO MANY PEOPLE.

Ticket/tap card machines in Union Station

Wall mural @ Union Station

So even though this is a family trip, we've budgeted in a very frugal fashion.  Once we got off the plane at LAX, we took a FlyAway shuttle bus which took us to Union Station (it's like a station that has a lot of buses, metro/subway, Amtram etc) for $7 per head.

At Union Station, we bought a tap card with a weekly allowance on it ($1 + $20) which gives us unlimited rides on the metro/subway for 7 days.  ONE thing to note is that the card doesn't work on ALL the lines of the Metro. For some reason, I think some of the lines are owned by different parties and don't accept the card unless you purchase another pass on it.  It's a bit confusing, but we're managing.

I've noticed that the stations here look very ... blank.  The only advertisement I've seen is for the MS Surface tablet (which looks huge btw).

Anyway, enough serious talk. PICKCHUREZ.

So gross from traveling but I had to post this up.

Hollywood Boulevard

Fire Escape

Where I'm staying has a fire escape on every floor.  On most levels, there's a little table with two chairs looking out.  Totally reminds me of Pretty Woman :)

The common room

The only reason I go to the common room is to get my morning coffee and to stalk the Australian guy that lives a few rooms away.  We were on the same flight, same shuttle bus, AND were at Universal Studio at the same time! Crazy coincidence huh. Really should have initiated the talking on the shuttle bus because now we're at the point where we make shifty acknowledging glances at each other, but it's kinda weird to chat now because it's JUST SIMPLY TOO LATE.

CELEBRITY SPOTTING AT THE WAX MUSEUM

AND then we hit up all the touristy stuff... like the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

One of the most exciting things for me was going to the LARGEST candy store I've seen in my whole life. IT WAS SO GINORMOUS.

I get a lot of questions about my accent. It's really weird that Americans think we sound like the British.  Willy Wonka asked me about it :)  He actually sounded really creepy when he talked - just like the movie, but I was too excited to notice at the time.

Wonka shop!

More candy

Harry Potter made out of jellybeans

M&M city

YUMM

Pumps?

Actually not sure what this is ..

Indian chief with the coolest feathers ever. 

a retard

 I assure you, I was not the only one in the shop making retarded poses next to all the candy/statues they had in the store.  IT WAS AWESOME.

If you walk further past the Dolby theatres, you'll come to a shopping complex with stores like Sephora, Fossil, Victoria Secret, etc. But from the bridges (behind the Christmas tree), you can also take very distant shots of the Hollywood sign!

Xmas decorations up EVERYWHERE

Hello Hollywood!

I think I've mastered the art of taking selfies.

This was also on Hollywood Boulevard.  I played a game on the street, making a fool of myself infront of so many people.  But it's ok, because apart from my face and my email, they don't know much else about me. :P  I'm in a foreign country. We will probably never meet again. I can be foolish.

Challenge accepted.

At night, we hit up Little Tokyo for dinner.

It looked a bit desserted, but was probably prettier that way. 

Decided to eat dinner at ________. I did not take note of the name of the restaurant.  I actually don't have a sim card here, and I don't want to pay for international roaming.  And as such, my phone has been set to airplane mode.  Unless there is free wifi around, I don't check into places/check fb very often now. And because I don't check in, I don't take notice of restaurant names :(

That is sad, because this restaurant kinda rocked my socks. I had such low expectations because there were only caucasian people sitting inside.

Look at how incredibly long these sushi rolls are!

Complimentary - because they took forever.

THIS I RECOMMEND - baked salmon roll

Ending this post with something that I still haven't been able to get over.  Crossing roads is a task that requires alot of concentration on my part in LA.  Why?  Because their traffic lights don't make sounds when you can cross AND instead of turning green to signify go, the little man turns WHITE. However, the great thing about these lights is that there is a countdown that flashes after the little white man disappears.

good signposting!

That's it for day 1.

:) stay kool, peeps