LA - Misc.

A few random photos that did not fit any of the previous LA photo albums...or I forgot to add.

Last Day in Los Angeles

Wednesday, August 22nd

Today was the last day in Los Angeles. I started the day with packing and a plan to do a load of laundry so that I won't have to carry dirty clothes on my bus trip back to the east coast. Unfortunately, this LA hostel doesn't provide access to their washer and dryer (only for staff business). I had to walk over to the local laundromat about 7 minutes away. Just when I was about to start washing my clothes, LA epal called to see if I wanted to do a bit of last minute sightseeing. He wanted to take me to a place called the Grove and a place called the Farmer's Market. Instead of having my epal wait for me to wash my clothes, I left my clothes with the attendant for their washing services.

First stop was the Farmer's Market. I wasn't hungry, however, my epal treated me to a large orange juice. He also asked to see the photos I had taken while I was in LA. What surprised me was that he looked at all of them. About 4 or 5 hundred!

From the Farmer's Market, we walked over to the Grove (a shopping district). The last place we visited was the La Brea Tar Pits, which wasn't far away. We didn't go into the museum, we just walked around the park. Although there are "official" pits of tar, LA epal told me that the whole area was built over the tar and that tar can bubble up anywhere in the park.

After La Brea, I had to return to pick up my laundry. When I arrived at the hostel, I got packed and was ready to go. I wasn't exactly sure about the location to Greyhound station. When I first arrived at the hostel, I leafed through a binder they had of information for tourist, including traveling information(including Greyhound station). I was sure it wasn't that far, but LA epal told me that it was. I know there was a binder at the hostel, but the hostel guy on call at the time seem to have no idea what I was talking about, nor did he make any attempt to help. Anyway, LA epal offered to drive me to the bus depot downtown -- he said it would be about a 40 minute drive (if we didn't get stuck in traffic). We arrived with about 15 minutes to spare. I've enjoyed my time in LA. Actually, LA was a last minute decision. I would like to return next summer.

Oh, it was after the bus had left, that I figured out the best way to the Greyhound station. It was actually about 3 stations stops away on the train.

Well, I think that is about it. Next up, my adventure continues onto Salt Lake City, Utah.

The attached photo is a life-sized model of a probably scene of a mammal getting stuck in the tar pit.

Post Date - Thursday, August 13, 2009 11:28AM

Slideshow - LA Homes

Below is a slideshow of Hollywood homes. The pictures were taken from the tour bus. The driver wasn't allowed to stop in traffic. Basically, the two hours was pointing out famous homes and driving on. Sorry, the bus was going fairly quickly to take clear pictures or to remember who's house belong to whom.

Studio Tours

Tuesday, July 21st

Today was my last full-day in Los Angeles. My plan was to visit a couple of museums today and just take it easy. While trying to figure out how to get to the Japanese American Museum, I decided to call Warner Bros. Studios to see if I could see the tour (especially since it is one of the places I can get into with my LA Go Card). I found out that even though people are asked to make reservations for the studio tour, I could come today. While I was riding the bus to Warner Bros. Studios, I also realized I might be able to go over to Universal Studios which was only a short distance away.

Below is a quick comparison of the two studios:

Warner Bros. Studios
Seemed smaller. The studio tour was nice. There was a close knit feeling this studio seem to give off. Tour groups were divided up into small groups of about 10~12 people. The groups were taken around the studios on golf cart type vehicles. From time to time, we were asked to not take pictures. They even went so far as to collect cameras to ensure no one would take pictures. There was a nice small museum on the grounds, but we were not allowed to take pictures. The first floor was devoted to almost 100 years of WB studio magic. The second floor was devoted to the Harry Potter movies. From time to time, we got off the tour vehicle to walk around sets. The cost of the studio tour would have been about $45 without my $163 LA GO Card.

Universal Studios
Much larger. The studio tour was much more polished and designed for large groups. The tour took groups of 25~50 people on large train like trams through the studio. We were not allowed to get off the tram once the tour started. During the tour, a video of Whoopie Goldberg played explaining background information about the studio. Where as Warner Bros. is just a studio, Universal was also an amusement park. With my LA Go Card, I was able to visit the amusement park part of the studio. I ended up staying until closing (about 7PM). After, I spent a couple of hours walking around CityWalk. CityWalk was a mall-like complex. The cost for entrance into the park would have been about $65 dollars without my $163 LA Go Card.


Post Date - Monday, August 10, 2009 3:31PM

Slide Show - Venice Beach

Slide Show - The Getty Museum

The Adventure Begins

I'm back. I returned yesterday afternoon. I was not able to blog during my trip mainly due to a lack of computer access. Starting today, I will be recounting to the best of my ability (and my notes) my Summer 2009 Vacation.

Saturday, July 18th

Since I missed my original flight. I had to pay a penalty for changing a nonrefundable ticket ($200). It wasn't until I got home, I realized that the hostel would not be opened when I arrived at around midnight. I tried calling for an earlier flight, but I was told that I had to call within a 3 hour window of the departing flight. Problem. I live about 3 hours away. I left early hoping to arrive at the airport to make it easier to change flights. Nope. I missed the earlier flight by ten minutes. It turned out okay(at the time). Time flew much faster than I was expecting it. After browsing through the bookstore, I went for dinner. By the time I got my dinner, I decided to go through the security check point, there was only about 30 minutes before the departure time. Oh, would you believe I got stuck behind an Arab family/group that didn't seem to understand the concept of "metal detector". Each person (male and female) had jewelry dangling from every wrist and neck available(and quite a few fingers as well). None of the security suggested that they remove all of the jewelry. Each person would be sent through setting off the machine. The person would be sent back through again. The second time, the security would call for a (male or female) to do a more detailed search. Me? I went through with no problem. Oh, I forgot I had my breakfast shakes with me. No liquids.

The plane ride was uneventful...thank goodness. However, when I arrived, I discovered that I had left all of my travel contact information, schedules, plans etc.... So, I was in the LAX at midnight with no way of contacting the shuttle service, or the hostels. At first, I finally decided to go to a nearby motel for the night.

1st attempt - No pick up service available. Motel operator said that the place was only about 5 minutes away. Walking directions were useless.

2nd attempt - Then, an airport staff worker suggested I take a cab. The first cab driver wanted $15 dollars even when I told him the motel was five minutes away.

3rd attempt - I tried walking to the motel (any motel at this time), but after walking for 90 minutes after midnight, with about 20lbs of luggage with me, I gave up, I slept on a bench in the airport. About 6AM the next morning, I was finally able to find the correct shuttle. And what did I discover as the shuttle van started to drive? I was back where I had started. If I had walked another 5 minutes, I would have been right back at my starting point. Yep. I had walked around the entire airport.

I arrived at the hostel 10 minutes before they opened, so I stashed my luggage behind the hostel, and walked to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. When the hostel opened, the woman in charge for the morning shift informed me that my room/bed wasn't ready?!?!? I wouldn't be able to go to the room until 3PM. I sponged off in the bathroom and began my LA adventure.

I visited about 3 or 4 Hollywood museums and took one neighborhood tours.

I'll post my pictures at another time.

Post Date - Friday, August 7, 2009 1:20PM

Travel Prep.

Today was suppose to be my get away from the computer and do anything else. Well, I started to fall into my "locked in the seat mode", but eventually, I was able to get up. Today was also final day for rent payment, so I had to get up. After showering and dressing I was out about 4PM. From the rent office, I walked to the bank to deposit my tax refund and a check ($80) from jury duty. It has been about a year since I did jury duty. I never got around to cashing the check. As for my tax refund will disappear in a short time. (1), I spent my rent money with this upcoming trip. (2), There are a few more things I want to buy. I'm thinking about buying a portable DVD player. I'm not really a movie person, but it might come in handy while I'm traveling. My (approx.)traveling time is as follows(including layover time[in total]):

Plane
6 hours

Bus
Destination #1(16 hours[Layover -2hrs,15min])
Destination #2(34 hours[Layover -5hrs,20min])
Destination #3(15 hours[Layover -1hrs,30min])

As you can see, I'll have a lot of sitting time.

You know, since I planned this trip, I've never looked at the numbers. I'm still very excited about this trip, but looking at the above numbers are making me just a bit nervous. Looking at the numbers makes this seem a bit like a trial of endurance. Considering how much extended time I've spent in front of this computer (yesterday was 12 hours and the day before was about 10 hours), I should be okay. Oh, that reminds me. I was also thinking about getting a Netbook (a mini laptop). If I had a Netbook, I could breeze through the bus rides. The cheapest is about $300(not including taxes and extras).

Anyway, I've looked a couple of DVD players, I'll see next week.

I got sidetracked. My originally blog entry was suppose to included my observations of bad parenting of three different parents in the check cashing place I went to pay my ConEd & telephone bills. I'll just say it was a headshaker. The only thought that that kept replaying in my mind was that these kids would someday be "the personalities" in my classroom with the parents telling me how they don't know how their kids turned out the way they did.

Since I sat in front of my computer for the last couple of days for more than 10 hours each day, I did some walking. I also went grocery shopping. When I returned home, to my surprised, I cooked dinner. I haven't cooked in several months. Yep, several months. When? Probably the last time I posted a photo of my dinner here on this blog. So for the regular readers of this blog, the last time you remember seeing a dinner photo on this blog was the last time I rattled pots and pans in my kitchen. As I was cooking, I told myself that I wouldn't clean the dishes until tomorrow. Imagine my surprise when I washed the dishes and put the extra food away right after eating. I had pasta with a meat sauce. I added ground turkey meat with the jar of pasta sauce. After dinner, I downloaded more songs to my MP3 player. Did I mention in a previous blog of buying two new Napster music cards. Each card allows me to download 60 songs to my MP3 player. Well, I just finished one of the cards. Now, I have about 120 songs on my MP3 player. As I'm writing this blog, I am listening to my Napster online playlist.

You know, this blog was suppose to be about my Go Card & guidebook, but I completely forgot about them. Oh well, it's too late now. I'll just post a picture of the pair. Now, that I have them, I will be able to better plan my LA adventure...I hope.


Post Date - Saturday, July 11, 2009 12:40AM

On second thought, since this blog entry isn't about the ...skip it. I'll just post another picture from the internet. (12:45AM)

Los Angeles

Instead of going to bed early. I started doing more online surfing for the first leg of my summer trip - Los Angeles.

If I had more time, I would have done a more thorough search, but I got lazy. I had already visited the LA metro trip planning website, and the Los Angeles tourism website, so walking around LA, wouldn't be that big of a deal. But, then I found out about the "LA Go Card", it is a pass that allows the bearer access to various attractions. I didn't really crunch the numbers the way I should, but I think it was a good investment.
1. it will help guide my exploration of LA.
2. it will make my first LA trip more enjoyable.

At first, my plan was just to do the walking exploration of LA. Before I found the Go Card, I had already made a list of the LA areas accessible by mass transit. In other words, seeing LA on the cheap. However, wanting to take a couple of tours, and visit Universal Studios, the GO Card seemed like a good investment. If I had a few weeks available in LA, then I would have more time to explore LA on the cheap using public transportation.

I'll be in LA for about 6 days (2 half days [arrival day and departure day] and 4 full days). I purchased the 3 day Go Card(about $183 including $15 express delivery and a 47 page guidebook and map of the LA area).

Preliminary Itinerary:
Universal Studios
Movie Stars Homes Tours
NBC Television Studio
CBS Studio City Tour
Wax Museum
Santa Monica
Downtown "Little Tokyo" LA Metro Adventure*
Long Beach Metro Adventure*
Hollywood Metro Adventure*
* The Metro Adventures are those adventures that were provided from the Metro website accessible by taking the LA public transportation with day passes.

Once my guidebook and (more importantly)LA map, I will try to finalize my LA trip itinerary.

After LA, I'll take a bus to Salt Lake City. I will be meeting Max one of the other bloggers who frequently leaves comments on my blog. Oh, and Paperback is another blogger I'll be meeting in Salt Lake City. Max's offer to show me around Salt Lake City (Utah) was the orginal reason for my trip west. I added LA when I found out the plane ticket to LA would cost the same as one to Salt Lake City.

Next, my preliminary itinerary for Salt Lake City...Then, one more stop before I return home to NYC.


Post Date - Wednesday, July 8, 2009 12:53AM