Dates: 5 - 21 May 2012
Destination: Los Angeles, California
Airline: Singapore Airlines
The flight was via Narita and in total it took over 19 hours if I didn't remember wrongly. The thought of flying alone thrilled me, I even got myself into the lounge at Terminal 3 before I boarded. Too bad, it wasn't the KrisFlyer lounge :P The transit in Tokyo also marked my first time in Japan, even though I was trapped in the airport!! But anything Japanese easily got me excited... such as...
They seem to have vending machines filled with anything! Then a long flight to Los Angeles... Sorry, by the time I write this now, I have forgotten who I was sitting with! Probably someone not worth mentioning since I can't recall, except for this Thai boy on my way home - that I will tell you later.
Syndy and I met up at Holiday Inn LAX which my friend had kindly booked for me. She arrived earlier via Cathay from Hong Kong and I was amazed she managed to get checked in without me! ;) Angela and Dan crashed at Joy's place (sneakily!) but it was okay, it was nice having our own bed and space. We each stayed two nights in Los Angeles before we got on our tours before coming back for the wedding. Syndy decided to tag along my TrekAmerica tour which her husband had kindly sponsored! The pea and her man would be touring San Diego on their own instead as they already took the same tour we were going to do. The tour would take us to Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Yosemite and then San Francisco... the best combination we could ever find. It's a shame they didn't include a stop at Joshua Tree which would be perfect!
So that weekend we landed, the groom and bride-to-be took us out! They came to fetch us to their house, did some grocery shopping (Oh boy, I love supermarkets!), the rest of them took a nap recovering their jet lag while Joy and I cooked! She made orange chicken while I helped her with salad and the preparation. I also met Mocha, the cat (see below). That night, we went out to a cool bar decorated with antique books to have some drinks and met some of their friends (Joy got drunk that night!!!). I also managed a late night snack, strawberry and creme pie, from our friendly 24/7 McDonalds right next to our hotel.
The following morning, as expected, some of them had a bad hangover... But we managed to get out and grabbed lunch at a Mexican fastfood joint then some mini cupcakes and had a preview of Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade. The sight of all the brands got us a little overwhelmed, we spent too much time there but we decided we had to save shopping for the last. Syndy, as usual, had some crush on some guys, this time on a busker along the promenade!
Then we went to the Griffith Observatory at dusk. It was beautiful but getting cold and foggy, we couldn't see the Hollywood sign! The weather in LA was perfect, just the way I like. We caught a 3D show on stars, milky way and galaxy, which most of us were struggling not to fall asleep! LOL. It wasn't that boring, but I guess the music was too soothing to our minds. By the end of it, we were starving!
Aaron and Joy took us to this must-try hot dog place named Pink's. It was crowded by the time we went, the queue was already forming a winding snake, but it gave us ample time to decide from the huge menu what to order! I couldn't remember which I ordered but it had bacon, nacho cheese, grilled onions, mushrooms on polish hot dog topped with sauerkraut! OMG. It could be die for! But I felt so sinful after that honestly! I don't know how Aaron and Joy finished 3 together! I decided I do not want a polish hot dog any more, because it was huge and spicy!
At the end of the night, just before we got back to the hotel, we managed to get ourselves each a Randy donut! Oh, the start of an American life!
Note: Trip was in May 2012.
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