Unfortunately I was never able to do the Ferrari tour. Tragic loss, and also probably more unfortunately but definately close is that we didn't get to go to a Moulin Rouge show either. We left it to late and the shows were booked out. I seem to think we've been far to unorganised with the majority of things in this trip. Somehow we still manage to see just about everything we want to see but its not usually very well planned. I'm certainly not trying to say it's not my fault. I think it was just so different in the South East Asia trip last year. Made me really enjoy having rough plans to follow because, no set deadlines; if you like a place you stay a bit longer if not you move on. In the rest of the world however it's far more expensive and often booked out to do it this way. It's so cheap around Thailand that you can leave everything last minute, it's all so well set up for tourists that you can get just about anywhere in the day, even if the bus trips might well kill you.
So it's been challenging hoping to have that same freedom with deadlines and things, for instance we've been hoping to get to Scotland to see Pete, Jai and Graeme hopefully, amazingly we might even be able to just through luck. But the fact that we've left these things so late is I think a curse of the convenience in Asia.
So on the last day in Paris we went to a flea market which is apparently one of the best Antique markets there is. At first it was very difficult to believe this. All you can see are the dodgy stalls trying to sell their counterfeit designer products and all those kind of cheap stalls that exist everywhere. But at some point you turn a corner and the crowds deminish and the stalls are all fantastic. They've got many old antiqueties(hard word to spell) and alot of it is quite interesting stuff. Alyson was very happy because she found herself a lovely old coat. ITS FUR!!! Strangely contraversial subject isn't it. I can't help but feel a little bad about fur; but then I wear leather, and obviously eat the meat which seems worse. Can't figure out how fur got the worst wrap. It's a very nice old coat though and i helped pay for it as her present. After thus we delighted in some of the Boulangeries fantastic cakie goodies. In all we tried a large percentage of the available pastries and cakes that the patisseries have to offer. On the last day we found the best one, I don't remember what it's called, but it's the one Alyson had on the train trip to London. I think it could rival the Magnolia bakery products in NY. Shame though really, would have assumed the French products to destroy the competition. Very high quality foods though, tasty.
During the evening we intended on walking to Sacre Couer. It is the church on top of a hill in Paris. I was following the maps and everything seemed to be going to plan, we found a park that was on a hill and kept walking up assuming we'd be near it once we reached the top. Well we had to ask a man who turned out to be very nice and had visited Australia and enjoyed it. Well he pointed out that it was quite some way in the distance. Anyhow at least we found that park which was very pleasant and otherwise we would not have seen, I made Alyson walk there because I only wanted to catch the Metro home, and it was our last night and we could enjoy some of the sights on the way. It wasn't a very good area we were walking through must admit but it didn't take to long to get there. It's a beautiful church with such a nice view. You can see over Paris with the Eiffel Tower sparkling in the distance. We had a beautiful smoked salmon pizza because Alyson had said she'd had the best Pizza she's ever had last time she went there. We think it might have actually been the same place because it was pretty awesome, not sure about best ever but certainly up there. There was a little fair on in a small park where Alyson got herself a nutella crepe, I opted for the hot red wine which we always called Gluevine or something when we used to make a big party of it at home; Mum would host large parties and the scent of the Wine and the cloves and things was very similar to the hot wine. So I had to try it because of that... It tasted rather terrible I thought.
Our train up to London was not bad, quite uneventful except for the fact we missed the first one but they got us on the following one which is good. We had some nice cakes that we'd brought along for the ride, as I said Alysons was particularly fantastic. It's not that bad a train ride because it only goes under the Channel for about half an hour max. I fell asleep for a while. The worst part was we didn't have any books to read. They're smooth and fast trains though, and it was nice to differ from planes for longer travel, however we did end up catching about 7 trains during the day, with our suitcases.
In London we had a Sausage Roll! It was mighty fine and we have had another 3 or 4 since. We had time to get ourselves out to Kidbrooke station which is where Crissy's friend Kevin lives. He's been incredible kind to us and is letting us stay in his room! And then for Christmas his family invited us to go there for the day. It was bliss. So much food and champagne and we played on the Nintendo and Xbox for a very long time. Santa even remembered us this year, more found us as opposed to remembered I guess. They gave us Stockings with lots of awesome little things, heaps of chocolates and little mind games and little polysterene plane that flies pretty well, even a couple of pieces of fruit. Very kind. The dinner was fantastic, Turkey and Pork and lots of nice potatoes and veges. Best meal we've had in a long time now. During the night Kevin and I accomplished something big. We finished every song on the new Xbox game they got Lips. It's a karaoke game, it had 40 songs, Alyson didn't find it impressive.
Another amazing thing has happened in that today is a Sunny day!! Crazy. I think we're pretty lucky to see one, particularly in winter from what i gather.
In London so far we've seen the Buckingham Palace and came across heaps of the streets on the Monopoly board around the city. Also we were walking along and found a Rolls and Bentley dealership, saw another Bugatti Veyron! Fantastic, Kevin has told me that theres a McLaren dealership around somewhere, I think he might be thinking of the Mclaren- Mercedes though but i'm gonna search hard because if there is a McLaren F1 in town that would be incredible.
We're trying to organise going to Scotland, we might be able to get a lift up with Kevins parents which would be great, just have to find out about flights back and so on.
Also the streets, I think around Oxford St and Regent St. in the city were the busiest streets I've ever seen, apparently it was a little more than usual due to christmas shopping but crazily they say that it's not that different to that ordinarily! For a small section it felt like a mosh pit it was that tightly packed with people.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
More from Paris Francais
Bonjour! Paris sure is an amazingly beautiful old city with more history in one street than in all of Australia. We have done a lot of walking, on the first day we found the Louvre and the Notre Dame; might I say it is the most beautiful church I have seen, very nice on the inside. I find it difficult not to use the word beautiful as the description for everything, there aren't enough words along the these lines that do justice. Brilliant or spectacular seem to miss something, most other synonyms add too much personification. Beautiful seems all that will do, I bet the French have more words with enough emphasis to provide a worthy alternative.
On wednesday we ventured inside the Louvre, spent a good number of hours following our handheld tour guides around, they're fantastic little gismos. We saw the three masterpieces, funnily enough I can't even remember the names of two of them, I never knew them before and they don't stick with me now. Both were rather good statues of woman. Then there was the Mona Lisa, I simply don't know why its the most famous of all the paintings. Its a good thing though, to have such famous items, it gets you to go and you see many incredible works of art which all help to make these famous ones look mediocre. My favourite thing about the Louvre is the Louvre itself. The meticulous furnishings carried out by these stupendously wealthy men way back when. You've never seen so much extravagence or craftsmanship.
Unfortunately we did get a rather large dose of jet-lag. It affected me a little worse because I slept so much on the plane i think, Alyson would have done better were it not for here ongoing cold which has woken us all up to coughing fits during the night. Usually I was already awake though as the max amount of sleep I could pull off was 4 hours; I know you seem to live with that somehow mum but that's not so normal. It gave me ample to time to read my book sitting in the bathroom usually so as not to disturb or using my headtorch sometimes. Unfortunately on completion of the book I discovered I wish i'd never read it, its the first completely disturbing, depressing book I've ever read. It's like watching a horror movie, except you can't really cover your eyes as well as I thought it was going to be more a psychological investigation as opposed to a nasty tale with terrible insights. Least I can start on something else now. The book was 'We Need to Talk About Kevin', don't really recommend it. I'm overreacting to it but i thought it was going to have a very different ending.
Friday was our first and thus far only sunny and good visibility day. We captured on this and headed up the 'Tour Eiffel'! It's a fantastic structure, really holds up to its expectations which is quite an effort. We took the stairs up the first two floors though from their it was decided an elavator to the top was Alyson's only option, must admit i didn't mind too much as I was in a tired wave from the lack of sleep and we'd walked some distance to get there. The view from the top is nice, obviously your there so you have to go all the way up, but its not really any better than the 2nd level, from there your already high enough to see everything and your closer to it.
Yesterday we also made it to the Arc de Triomphe. It's pretty great as well, the street that we walked up to it from had all the exclusive label shops as well as some car dealerships. In the Renault and Peugeot dealerships it was very interesting because the majority of the cars they're displaying are concept cars. I liked this concept. Most of them were hideous interpretations of unfortunate future cars, though some did ok. Also they had a couple of X-Box 360's in the Renault store because one of their cars is on the new Need For Speed game, Alyson was determined not to let me on but I broke her strong line of defence.
On the walk back home that night we saw a magnificant (just realised thats a word with a bit of the extra oomph that beautiful has) sunset which was made more majestic with the Eiffel Tower in the foreground. It glows blue at night at the moment, however I got to see it for a few seconds when it lights up in sparkling lights which really looks stunning. Apparently when Alyson visited 5 years ago it was always lit like that at night. There is a hotel down near Notre Dame that is lit up like so and the effect is awesome.
Today,
We ventured off to Versaille to see the Palace. It is where 5 generations of French Kings and Queens spent their time spending their peasants money. Its simply incredible. So much history layed out so beautifully. They really had far more style back then. The worst thing about it was throughout a number of the rooms they displayed the artwork of Jeff Koons I think his name was. He is my most hated artist. His work is ridiculous, and displayed at this beautiful historic Palace it only achieves making the French in charge look like they have the worst taste of all people in the world, period. Perhaps they should let the Monarch rule again, just to bring some more class back. It is such a contradictory portrayal of history, to go through these incredible, insanely incredible structures and learn of these Kings and Queens. You hear about how it was basically all started by King Louis the 14th XIV and he sounds like a really good guy. As you move further through the Palace, head out to Queen Mary Antoinette's estate which is very lavish, her main building is actually slightly modest, bigger mansions these days aren't uncommon, but then you wonder her grounds and find the monuments, the gardens, the petting zoos it would seem and finally the Armenian village that were all built for her when you discover just how insanely prepostrous it all was. They spent every penny of the publics money. That's why eventually they gave her husband king someone the guillotine and 9 months later she recieved the same treatment. Obviosly the French revolution was inevitable with the kind of leadership they were showing, but what they left behind was perhaps the most beautiful craftsmanship around in all the planet. Certainly up there to rival the greatest.
Thats why their seems to be the mixed feelings even among the French people towards these cruel and selfish royals, they made such exquisite buildings that will remain as perhaps the most beautiful memorials ever to what must have been an excruciating few centuries to live in.
Now tommorow I've found for myself one of the best christmas presents possible, it's from Alyson though so its alright. Its a sightseeing tour of Paris in a Ferrari 360 Spider, apparently driven by a racing professional which I can only hope means hard and through tunnels.
Unfortunately they haven't replied to the email so I'm going to have to try and call them to organise it. Alysons sleeping so I've happily taken to organising it. Hopefully it will happen.
On wednesday we ventured inside the Louvre, spent a good number of hours following our handheld tour guides around, they're fantastic little gismos. We saw the three masterpieces, funnily enough I can't even remember the names of two of them, I never knew them before and they don't stick with me now. Both were rather good statues of woman. Then there was the Mona Lisa, I simply don't know why its the most famous of all the paintings. Its a good thing though, to have such famous items, it gets you to go and you see many incredible works of art which all help to make these famous ones look mediocre. My favourite thing about the Louvre is the Louvre itself. The meticulous furnishings carried out by these stupendously wealthy men way back when. You've never seen so much extravagence or craftsmanship.
Unfortunately we did get a rather large dose of jet-lag. It affected me a little worse because I slept so much on the plane i think, Alyson would have done better were it not for here ongoing cold which has woken us all up to coughing fits during the night. Usually I was already awake though as the max amount of sleep I could pull off was 4 hours; I know you seem to live with that somehow mum but that's not so normal. It gave me ample to time to read my book sitting in the bathroom usually so as not to disturb or using my headtorch sometimes. Unfortunately on completion of the book I discovered I wish i'd never read it, its the first completely disturbing, depressing book I've ever read. It's like watching a horror movie, except you can't really cover your eyes as well as I thought it was going to be more a psychological investigation as opposed to a nasty tale with terrible insights. Least I can start on something else now. The book was 'We Need to Talk About Kevin', don't really recommend it. I'm overreacting to it but i thought it was going to have a very different ending.
Friday was our first and thus far only sunny and good visibility day. We captured on this and headed up the 'Tour Eiffel'! It's a fantastic structure, really holds up to its expectations which is quite an effort. We took the stairs up the first two floors though from their it was decided an elavator to the top was Alyson's only option, must admit i didn't mind too much as I was in a tired wave from the lack of sleep and we'd walked some distance to get there. The view from the top is nice, obviously your there so you have to go all the way up, but its not really any better than the 2nd level, from there your already high enough to see everything and your closer to it.
Yesterday we also made it to the Arc de Triomphe. It's pretty great as well, the street that we walked up to it from had all the exclusive label shops as well as some car dealerships. In the Renault and Peugeot dealerships it was very interesting because the majority of the cars they're displaying are concept cars. I liked this concept. Most of them were hideous interpretations of unfortunate future cars, though some did ok. Also they had a couple of X-Box 360's in the Renault store because one of their cars is on the new Need For Speed game, Alyson was determined not to let me on but I broke her strong line of defence.
On the walk back home that night we saw a magnificant (just realised thats a word with a bit of the extra oomph that beautiful has) sunset which was made more majestic with the Eiffel Tower in the foreground. It glows blue at night at the moment, however I got to see it for a few seconds when it lights up in sparkling lights which really looks stunning. Apparently when Alyson visited 5 years ago it was always lit like that at night. There is a hotel down near Notre Dame that is lit up like so and the effect is awesome.
Today,
We ventured off to Versaille to see the Palace. It is where 5 generations of French Kings and Queens spent their time spending their peasants money. Its simply incredible. So much history layed out so beautifully. They really had far more style back then. The worst thing about it was throughout a number of the rooms they displayed the artwork of Jeff Koons I think his name was. He is my most hated artist. His work is ridiculous, and displayed at this beautiful historic Palace it only achieves making the French in charge look like they have the worst taste of all people in the world, period. Perhaps they should let the Monarch rule again, just to bring some more class back. It is such a contradictory portrayal of history, to go through these incredible, insanely incredible structures and learn of these Kings and Queens. You hear about how it was basically all started by King Louis the 14th XIV and he sounds like a really good guy. As you move further through the Palace, head out to Queen Mary Antoinette's estate which is very lavish, her main building is actually slightly modest, bigger mansions these days aren't uncommon, but then you wonder her grounds and find the monuments, the gardens, the petting zoos it would seem and finally the Armenian village that were all built for her when you discover just how insanely prepostrous it all was. They spent every penny of the publics money. That's why eventually they gave her husband king someone the guillotine and 9 months later she recieved the same treatment. Obviosly the French revolution was inevitable with the kind of leadership they were showing, but what they left behind was perhaps the most beautiful craftsmanship around in all the planet. Certainly up there to rival the greatest.
Thats why their seems to be the mixed feelings even among the French people towards these cruel and selfish royals, they made such exquisite buildings that will remain as perhaps the most beautiful memorials ever to what must have been an excruciating few centuries to live in.
Now tommorow I've found for myself one of the best christmas presents possible, it's from Alyson though so its alright. Its a sightseeing tour of Paris in a Ferrari 360 Spider, apparently driven by a racing professional which I can only hope means hard and through tunnels.
Unfortunately they haven't replied to the email so I'm going to have to try and call them to organise it. Alysons sleeping so I've happily taken to organising it. Hopefully it will happen.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Getting to Paris + best day ever
Well we are in our very petite hostel in Paris now. Made it without to much difficulty. Our flight, I think it was 10 hours the first one, then a couple of hours stop in Zurich and a quick one over to Paris. It all went rather incredibly smoothly, yet i can't quite grasp what has happened with time. What happened in theory or on paper is all relatively simple but when I fall asleep intermitadly, outside its going between day and night, getting served breakfast heading into the evening, it all got really confusing. It's just not easy to follow when your up there breaking all the rules of time lines. From what I gather we are about 5 or 6 hrs ahead of where we were in LA making that13 hrs of travel turn into 20 odd, and by the time we got to our hostel after the most crowded train ride i've ever been on it was more than 24 hrs of travel. Somehow I feel the exhaustion as if I had lived through the whole time even though I had pleasant sleep and was fed regularly, my body felt very tired and hungry, it was just confused. Enough talk about the jet lag, or potential jet-lag i'm not sure yet, its too difficult.
Zurich seemed beautiful from what we saw of it. It was quite foggy so that you couldn't see anything much until your on the runway, though up in the clouds there were mountains poking through to join the space usually occupied only by the aircraft, always beautiful. As well we saw a special sunset on the Zurich to Paris leg, one of the beautiful ones that you just don't get at ground level.
We have eaten a little, nothing healthy funnily enough but it still felt better than the US food. Looking forward to exploring the bakeries tommorow, or the Boulangie I think they're called here, my French is ashamedly poor after two years of studying it. It's always depressing once you meet Europeans usually who are so very multi-lingual and you feel incredibly stupid. One of the air Hosts was fluent in 6 languages and he was learning his 7th. Incredible.
Now i must get back to Sunday in LA.
I think I had mentioned that i was going to search for a Bugatti Veyron because LA is the place to find such a beast. I had my research ready, looked at the maps and figured that i could make it their by foot, just might take a while. Well it ended up taking quite a long while, not made any easier by my socks giving me blisters and Alyson came along with me too... I know it couldn't be fun, or at least as fun for her, so she did well not to winge for the majority of the time however when she did let loose it was a biggen.
All worth it though, all so incredibly worth it. Not only was there a Bugatti Veyron, there were actually 2 of them!!!!! Each worth 2million Aussie dollars, each capable of reaching 407km/h a speed which still felt fast enough when we were doing it on our plane, and if we had good enough roads I say we shoud all convert to Veyrons for transport. But these cars were beautiful, very very special piece of engineering and craftmanship. This was not the end, this dealership was a joint venture, it was home to Aston Martin, Rolls Royce, Lamborghini, Bentley, there were a couple of Ferraris, a Maybach 57S and another of those most brilliant Mercedes-McLaren SLR.
Now this was definately a party, these cars all so special, and a lot of them were just parked outside gathering dust, literally, it was incredible. So this was a special day then obviously...
Well eventually I plucked up the courage and asked the receptionist, they'd been very nice and it was empty because it was a Sunday (and they know not to assume that even a young couple like Aly and I might not have a fortune of some kind or another, in fact all the salesman at Porsche in particular made sure to let us know they were there if we needed anything, its just that rich an area.) I asked if i could open the Lamborghini please. She said it was fine and all the cars should be open other than the Bugatti's!!!!! Well this did it. I went up to Murcielago roadster, popped its little door handle thingy and then, well tried to press the button which i'd assumed would open the door? It's not so easy, then Alyson joined in trying on the other door. Pulling and pressing away trying to figure out this marvellous contraption, not feeling bad in anyway because they couldn't see us and i was excited as all hell to be touching it. Then pop, Alysons door swung up allowing access to the passenger seat. Must say this hurt a little, I'd kinda hoped, assumed/expected I'd get it. But my excitement had made my head a little fuzzy i think. She had to show me how, but then, I closed the door. And then I opened for the first time ever the door to a Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster!!! HEaven. We went crazy and sat inside and I felt the seats hugging me, just like they had in my dreams haha, that sounds really obssessed, but i actually remember driving one in a dream and it was pretty much just like that, holds you very tight for those high speed turns, and everyone knew i was obsessed so i guess its ok.
We went on from there to try the Gallardo, a score, then sat in an Aston DB9, pretended to be royals in the back of the Maybach with our kms of leg room and endless gadgets. Piloted a Bentley Azure, they have a very special interior they do, then a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti; this is unfortunately my least favourite Ferrari but it has an awesome interior and i could pretend it was any with the horse staring at me from the steering wheel. Unfortunately the Merc SLR and the Vanquish S were locked but it was so damn awesome to have free reign around those cars. It was seriously enjoyable, I mean at motor shows they usually only have a small portion of these cars, and they don't let you anywhere near them. Or at the dealerships in Aus they would keep them locked constantly, with good reason of course, they have to sell those things for serious money, thats what made that day such a blissful heavenly day. I think i've said enough, but very good times.
Also can't believe how small the hostel is here, the rooms are so minituare. It's in a pretty good location though, and was the best deal we could get, but we are very lucky in Aus to live so spread out in big houses, it is so much more comfortable. And they can't drive all that big cars.
Zurich seemed beautiful from what we saw of it. It was quite foggy so that you couldn't see anything much until your on the runway, though up in the clouds there were mountains poking through to join the space usually occupied only by the aircraft, always beautiful. As well we saw a special sunset on the Zurich to Paris leg, one of the beautiful ones that you just don't get at ground level.
We have eaten a little, nothing healthy funnily enough but it still felt better than the US food. Looking forward to exploring the bakeries tommorow, or the Boulangie I think they're called here, my French is ashamedly poor after two years of studying it. It's always depressing once you meet Europeans usually who are so very multi-lingual and you feel incredibly stupid. One of the air Hosts was fluent in 6 languages and he was learning his 7th. Incredible.
Now i must get back to Sunday in LA.
I think I had mentioned that i was going to search for a Bugatti Veyron because LA is the place to find such a beast. I had my research ready, looked at the maps and figured that i could make it their by foot, just might take a while. Well it ended up taking quite a long while, not made any easier by my socks giving me blisters and Alyson came along with me too... I know it couldn't be fun, or at least as fun for her, so she did well not to winge for the majority of the time however when she did let loose it was a biggen.
All worth it though, all so incredibly worth it. Not only was there a Bugatti Veyron, there were actually 2 of them!!!!! Each worth 2million Aussie dollars, each capable of reaching 407km/h a speed which still felt fast enough when we were doing it on our plane, and if we had good enough roads I say we shoud all convert to Veyrons for transport. But these cars were beautiful, very very special piece of engineering and craftmanship. This was not the end, this dealership was a joint venture, it was home to Aston Martin, Rolls Royce, Lamborghini, Bentley, there were a couple of Ferraris, a Maybach 57S and another of those most brilliant Mercedes-McLaren SLR.
Now this was definately a party, these cars all so special, and a lot of them were just parked outside gathering dust, literally, it was incredible. So this was a special day then obviously...
Well eventually I plucked up the courage and asked the receptionist, they'd been very nice and it was empty because it was a Sunday (and they know not to assume that even a young couple like Aly and I might not have a fortune of some kind or another, in fact all the salesman at Porsche in particular made sure to let us know they were there if we needed anything, its just that rich an area.) I asked if i could open the Lamborghini please. She said it was fine and all the cars should be open other than the Bugatti's!!!!! Well this did it. I went up to Murcielago roadster, popped its little door handle thingy and then, well tried to press the button which i'd assumed would open the door? It's not so easy, then Alyson joined in trying on the other door. Pulling and pressing away trying to figure out this marvellous contraption, not feeling bad in anyway because they couldn't see us and i was excited as all hell to be touching it. Then pop, Alysons door swung up allowing access to the passenger seat. Must say this hurt a little, I'd kinda hoped, assumed/expected I'd get it. But my excitement had made my head a little fuzzy i think. She had to show me how, but then, I closed the door. And then I opened for the first time ever the door to a Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster!!! HEaven. We went crazy and sat inside and I felt the seats hugging me, just like they had in my dreams haha, that sounds really obssessed, but i actually remember driving one in a dream and it was pretty much just like that, holds you very tight for those high speed turns, and everyone knew i was obsessed so i guess its ok.
We went on from there to try the Gallardo, a score, then sat in an Aston DB9, pretended to be royals in the back of the Maybach with our kms of leg room and endless gadgets. Piloted a Bentley Azure, they have a very special interior they do, then a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti; this is unfortunately my least favourite Ferrari but it has an awesome interior and i could pretend it was any with the horse staring at me from the steering wheel. Unfortunately the Merc SLR and the Vanquish S were locked but it was so damn awesome to have free reign around those cars. It was seriously enjoyable, I mean at motor shows they usually only have a small portion of these cars, and they don't let you anywhere near them. Or at the dealerships in Aus they would keep them locked constantly, with good reason of course, they have to sell those things for serious money, thats what made that day such a blissful heavenly day. I think i've said enough, but very good times.
Also can't believe how small the hostel is here, the rooms are so minituare. It's in a pretty good location though, and was the best deal we could get, but we are very lucky in Aus to live so spread out in big houses, it is so much more comfortable. And they can't drive all that big cars.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
STARS, CARS AND NBA... + more cars.
Well well. We have now ventured to some of the far more razzle dazzle areas in LA. We've basically been carrying out all my dreams really. Cars and NBA, it has been quite delightful. First day we were here we just wondered around Hollywood Boulevard and it is one of the most dissapointing places you could ever find. Not that i had any expectations on what it would be like but it's just nothing spectacular at all. It's got a rather large amount of homeless people and everything seems on the derolict side. I think all the movie characters that stand on the street are actually homeless people that they've dressed up. It's a good idea really, except when you walk around the corner and catch Cat woman and Jonny Depp from pirates of the Caribean shooting up, haha, no its not that bad but they do enjoy a smoke and seem to have a habit of begging when i think they'r paid to do it? It's very funny at night when some of the characters wonder the streets on their way home at night. We found Big Bird all alone just wondering home, very funny sight. I think it would be amazing to see how much the area would transform when the Oscars and such events are on.
On Thursday we caught a bus along Santa Monica Boulevard out towards the Ocean. The beach was very pleasant and the weather was beautiful, a very nice change after spending so much time in rainy/snowy conditions. It's very similar to Brisbane weather it would seem, considering it's winter here at the moment it can still be t-shirt and shorts weather during the day but at night gets a little brisk. I'm not sure what the water temperature was like but the beaches were rather empty. It was incredibly flat swell, but their are surfing beaches around here; as demonstrated in BayWatch and the O.C. Also in those shows are the little life guard huts scattered around the beach, it was pretty cool to see them when they've been used in a number of infamous shows. Along the beach they have public playground equipment of sorts, they have a few swings and such but then alot of the equipment is gym based. They have high vertical ropes and rings and parallel bars, saw some guy who was pretty amazing using some but the most amazing thing was a little girl who could have been no more than 3 or 4 years old doing the ring swing things, looked awesome.
Yesterday night I went to my first NBA game ever!!!! We just turned up to the Staples Centre and managed to score the cheapest tickets possible, they were only $10 US each. On the map it looked like it would be incredibly bad, we were rather far away, like the 7 foot giants looked a little bit like ants. No it was actually really quite good, the view was fine, nothing obstructing it at all because the stadiums are built so well and higher rather than further back so your looking down on the game with a pretty good view. We're glad that we didn't buy tickets off a scalper who was selling us tickets in the next section over, like just beside us for $40, very fortunate. One of the cool things about sitting up high is that whenever anything happened you had a view of the crowd as well, so when something massive happened you would see the whole stadium erupt which was fantastic. The game was LA Lakers Vs. Sacramento Kings. Kobe Bryant was rather awesome along with Pau Gasol, and i think it was John Salmon from the Kings also had a very good game. A couple of times Kobe did some incredible dunks that raised the roof. One time he broke his man down with a killer cross just beyond the arc then drove down hard took off from two feet and slammed down a hard two hand jam on a couple more of the Kings players. It was so incredible too watch, beautiful, absolutely incredible player. Crowd went nuts for a good long while myself included on that one. We enjoyed the spectacle of the, don't mean to generalise too much, but the rather stupid incredibly unhealthy American public. To give some examples, well during the game there is non-stop action, like advertisement quirks from endless fast food chains. They all have a very well organised little routine that lasts about 2 mins, like a txting competition between the upper and lower levels for free coupons or various challenges. One of the main ones was Carl Jnr's was going to give the whole crowd two free taco's if the Lakers held the Kings to under 100 points, nearing the end of the game the crowd was yelling taco's or something spurred on by the screen. When a kings player hit a 3 in the last minute to take them to 101 points the crowd/America was devastated.
This takes me back to how incredibly difficult it is to find good food over here, much more surprising is that even in the supermarkets you ahve to search hard for the fruit and veges, it's just incredible. We have however found a good little chinese place nearby that Alyson has been devouring the Wonton Soups, they are a good big portion as well, surprise surprise. I've been enjoying the 99c burgers at Wendy's which are surprisingly tasty and filling. Can't complain that we don't have more of it back home though, each one i consume feels deadly, deadly good.
Now lets get to the cars, this could take a long while. The kind of craziness it is can be illustrated in that when we were heading out the stadium from the game I noticed a Rolls Royce Phantom, a second later I saw a Maybach, these are both 1million dollar cars. Crazy business, I watched the cars go from that exit and saw an Aston DB9, countless Maserati Quattroportes and much more.
Today was the glory day however, I got incredibly excited initially because i spotted my first ever stationary Mercedes-McLaren SLR, that one that i saw back in Montreal, only to find out that it was even better than first thought. It was the 722 a slightly later release which i think stood for 722 bhp. As well as this it was the convertible model. Absolutely breathtaking beauty, lovely car. Managed to come across the beverly hills Merc dealership and there was another one their as well!! Along with 4!!!!! Maybachs. Bonkers, this is bonkers people. During the day I spotted another SLR on the road and yesterday I'd seen one also. The receptionist helped me track down the Ferrari/Maserati dealership which i went to with gusto, I was dissapointed that they didn't have an Enzo or an MC12 but rather surprised and delighted to find the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione. It's a beautiful Alfa supercar that we will never see in Australia as it's only coming in left hand drive and all the orders have already been taken for them. It was awesome because they must have been having an introduction day for the Maserati Gran Turismo because a number of them kept going past us with the dealerships plates on them, the salesman squeezing the throttle a little more than most owners seem too; bliss.
My favourite place so far in LA is Rodeo Drive, the rich haven with all the Lui Vuitton and other expensive brands i can't spell all that well. Constantly you see Bentleys, Astons which i've now seen the DBS (James Bonds ride) many times and it looks incredible everytime, Maserati's, and even Rolls-Royce. Mercedes and BMWs a plenty as well of course. One of the craziest cars was the Rolls Phantom Drophead which is the convertible, saw one of those parked, it was Yellow??? Then whilst taking a photo of it a Ford GT came alongside so i got that as well:)
It's been very happy times for me, very happy indeed. Somehow though I'd been expecting slightly more, don't get me wrong i'm incredibly satisfied, but tommorow I am going to go search the dealerships for a Bugatti Veyron. That should be exciting times. My expectations were high because i've seen videos on youtube of the car shows that happen around here, they would be so incredible. The amount of good cars is just insane, and to see them all brought together would just be heaven. I should have planned better but I am still a very happy camper with how things are going.
Tommorow evening we are off to Paris so i have to go and look at some more details for that.
Toodooloo.
On Thursday we caught a bus along Santa Monica Boulevard out towards the Ocean. The beach was very pleasant and the weather was beautiful, a very nice change after spending so much time in rainy/snowy conditions. It's very similar to Brisbane weather it would seem, considering it's winter here at the moment it can still be t-shirt and shorts weather during the day but at night gets a little brisk. I'm not sure what the water temperature was like but the beaches were rather empty. It was incredibly flat swell, but their are surfing beaches around here; as demonstrated in BayWatch and the O.C. Also in those shows are the little life guard huts scattered around the beach, it was pretty cool to see them when they've been used in a number of infamous shows. Along the beach they have public playground equipment of sorts, they have a few swings and such but then alot of the equipment is gym based. They have high vertical ropes and rings and parallel bars, saw some guy who was pretty amazing using some but the most amazing thing was a little girl who could have been no more than 3 or 4 years old doing the ring swing things, looked awesome.
Yesterday night I went to my first NBA game ever!!!! We just turned up to the Staples Centre and managed to score the cheapest tickets possible, they were only $10 US each. On the map it looked like it would be incredibly bad, we were rather far away, like the 7 foot giants looked a little bit like ants. No it was actually really quite good, the view was fine, nothing obstructing it at all because the stadiums are built so well and higher rather than further back so your looking down on the game with a pretty good view. We're glad that we didn't buy tickets off a scalper who was selling us tickets in the next section over, like just beside us for $40, very fortunate. One of the cool things about sitting up high is that whenever anything happened you had a view of the crowd as well, so when something massive happened you would see the whole stadium erupt which was fantastic. The game was LA Lakers Vs. Sacramento Kings. Kobe Bryant was rather awesome along with Pau Gasol, and i think it was John Salmon from the Kings also had a very good game. A couple of times Kobe did some incredible dunks that raised the roof. One time he broke his man down with a killer cross just beyond the arc then drove down hard took off from two feet and slammed down a hard two hand jam on a couple more of the Kings players. It was so incredible too watch, beautiful, absolutely incredible player. Crowd went nuts for a good long while myself included on that one. We enjoyed the spectacle of the, don't mean to generalise too much, but the rather stupid incredibly unhealthy American public. To give some examples, well during the game there is non-stop action, like advertisement quirks from endless fast food chains. They all have a very well organised little routine that lasts about 2 mins, like a txting competition between the upper and lower levels for free coupons or various challenges. One of the main ones was Carl Jnr's was going to give the whole crowd two free taco's if the Lakers held the Kings to under 100 points, nearing the end of the game the crowd was yelling taco's or something spurred on by the screen. When a kings player hit a 3 in the last minute to take them to 101 points the crowd/America was devastated.
This takes me back to how incredibly difficult it is to find good food over here, much more surprising is that even in the supermarkets you ahve to search hard for the fruit and veges, it's just incredible. We have however found a good little chinese place nearby that Alyson has been devouring the Wonton Soups, they are a good big portion as well, surprise surprise. I've been enjoying the 99c burgers at Wendy's which are surprisingly tasty and filling. Can't complain that we don't have more of it back home though, each one i consume feels deadly, deadly good.
Now lets get to the cars, this could take a long while. The kind of craziness it is can be illustrated in that when we were heading out the stadium from the game I noticed a Rolls Royce Phantom, a second later I saw a Maybach, these are both 1million dollar cars. Crazy business, I watched the cars go from that exit and saw an Aston DB9, countless Maserati Quattroportes and much more.
Today was the glory day however, I got incredibly excited initially because i spotted my first ever stationary Mercedes-McLaren SLR, that one that i saw back in Montreal, only to find out that it was even better than first thought. It was the 722 a slightly later release which i think stood for 722 bhp. As well as this it was the convertible model. Absolutely breathtaking beauty, lovely car. Managed to come across the beverly hills Merc dealership and there was another one their as well!! Along with 4!!!!! Maybachs. Bonkers, this is bonkers people. During the day I spotted another SLR on the road and yesterday I'd seen one also. The receptionist helped me track down the Ferrari/Maserati dealership which i went to with gusto, I was dissapointed that they didn't have an Enzo or an MC12 but rather surprised and delighted to find the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione. It's a beautiful Alfa supercar that we will never see in Australia as it's only coming in left hand drive and all the orders have already been taken for them. It was awesome because they must have been having an introduction day for the Maserati Gran Turismo because a number of them kept going past us with the dealerships plates on them, the salesman squeezing the throttle a little more than most owners seem too; bliss.
My favourite place so far in LA is Rodeo Drive, the rich haven with all the Lui Vuitton and other expensive brands i can't spell all that well. Constantly you see Bentleys, Astons which i've now seen the DBS (James Bonds ride) many times and it looks incredible everytime, Maserati's, and even Rolls-Royce. Mercedes and BMWs a plenty as well of course. One of the craziest cars was the Rolls Phantom Drophead which is the convertible, saw one of those parked, it was Yellow??? Then whilst taking a photo of it a Ford GT came alongside so i got that as well:)
It's been very happy times for me, very happy indeed. Somehow though I'd been expecting slightly more, don't get me wrong i'm incredibly satisfied, but tommorow I am going to go search the dealerships for a Bugatti Veyron. That should be exciting times. My expectations were high because i've seen videos on youtube of the car shows that happen around here, they would be so incredible. The amount of good cars is just insane, and to see them all brought together would just be heaven. I should have planned better but I am still a very happy camper with how things are going.
Tommorow evening we are off to Paris so i have to go and look at some more details for that.
Toodooloo.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Hollywood!!
We're in the big smoke now. It is so far however not that impressive at all, not nearly as many beautiful cars as i would have hoped and none of the celebrities that Alyson had stalking intentions for. Not to judge to quickly though, we have only been here for one brief afternoon and the weather has been simply divine. It's blissful to wear a tea shirt again, just a tea shirt, without any extra layers on top and to feel perfectly warm. Good old sun gets through down here. Feels very similar to Brisbane in a lot of ways, and somehow so far it seems more similar to the 'worse' areas within Brisbane. It's a massive expanse of a city, but we are staying just off Hollywood Boulevard and have strolled along Sunset Boulevard during Sunset feeling just a little underwhelmed. Again though i say we have a whole lot more exploring today.
Skiing, oh my love. Won't get to ski for at least another six months now which is more than depressing, it was getting so thoroughly enjoyable again towards the end. Even though i was usually on my own still i was getting better air and hurting myself less when i would retardly try the rails. Great sport that one. Unfortunately I only have 10 seconds left. Will do more tommoorw.
Skiing, oh my love. Won't get to ski for at least another six months now which is more than depressing, it was getting so thoroughly enjoyable again towards the end. Even though i was usually on my own still i was getting better air and hurting myself less when i would retardly try the rails. Great sport that one. Unfortunately I only have 10 seconds left. Will do more tommoorw.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Skiing cont.
Well firstly i must include how our night went last night. It was a good night, all out and feeling good. Must just mention the main point though was that i got kicked out of a club for the first time ever. Stupidly they decided to play a Metallica song so we got a little excited on the dance floor and small mosh circles started up. They kept breaking it up and telling us to stop. I could see the bouncers getting more and more agitated so i wasn't going to go back in but some guy puts his arm around my shoulder and starts jumping with me. About 2 seconds later a bouncer grabs me and drags me away. I'm kinda startled but the only thing i really cared about was that my beanie was knocked off and when i kept trying to pick it up the bouncer wouldn't assist and continued to drag me away. I was still within a metre trying to tell him to let me get it but he told me i would have to come back the next day?? It was still within a metre away? Anyway it was just this that mainly pissed me off with the whole thing, and the fact that i don't look aggressive or act it yet he grabbed me, most likely because i looked the easiest to grab. Outside their was a big bouncer but he was pretty nice and eventually when he had the opportunity he went inside and managed to find the beanie for me and kindly suggested i wash it before wearing it, nice guy. It was an interesting time but i didn't really care about not being in the club because it was overrun with males about 10:1, unfortunately the girls didn't know where i'd gone and waited around for me for a long time.
Skiing!!!.
Well yesterday i had a great day because Alyson finally came up with me. And as i knew would happen we bumped into Grant and Kyle two of the guys that work at the hotel. So I had three people to ride with! It was a fun day but today again Alyson couldn't manage to get herself up because she's getting a bit ill it seems and she had work till late last night. Hopefully she fights it away, i think Alex is getting something too. I still had a really fun day though today because i'm at a stage where i'm pushing myself hard again and i have a good run set up with lots of small jumps off the side and things. I even did my first little 180's which i look forward to exploring much more extensively. I can do them quickly off the small jumps now. I've been practising going backwards/switch and it's becoming more comfortable with a bit of speed which is exciting. Still getting some bruises whenever i try the thinner box/rails. Wish I had more time here. Because unfortunately at the moment the snow isn't good enough or plentiful enough to have any proper jumps. There are still a lot of places you can get some enjoyable air. My it's been jolly. Also I've been flying down the one run which is the steepest part of the mountain thats open at the moment. It's good because their is often noone else or very few people on that particular part. Seen a few movies lately as well now. With Alex I have seen Bolt; a childrens movie which we both kept falling in and out of sleep in, was good. Four Christmases with Vince Vaughn and Reece Witherspoon, quite a funny. Then the most memorable was Twilight. It's based on a novel that was really big in Canada. It's about Vampires and one particular one named Edward that falls in love with a mortal which calls for a challenging relationship because he has to resist eating her amongst other things. Anyhow the funniest thing is that it's been out for a few weeks and whilst working i've seen the swarms of giggling teenage girls that line up sometimes for 2 hrs before it started and take photos with the cardboard cut-out of Edward. I even had to take some photos, it was crazy, the little girls love him. Far more ridiculously then these thirteen to sixteen year olds was Alyson Rachel and Alex performances after the movie. They talked about this guy for about an hour. It was very sad. They even talked about walking through the woods and having Edward come save them. I think they thought it would happen as well, I know at least one of them did because when Rachel had to go meet some friends she decided to walk instead of wait for the bus or catch a cab. It's only a 15 min walk but it was night and their are proper scary animals in these woods. She ended up calling us because she was scared as she went through and I think a little dissapointed that Edward never turned up.
Must mention now that Rachel had also seen a couple of Wolves on the edge of the village just a few nights before. We haven't really spotted much more wildlife other than that for a while now.
Skiing!!!.
Well yesterday i had a great day because Alyson finally came up with me. And as i knew would happen we bumped into Grant and Kyle two of the guys that work at the hotel. So I had three people to ride with! It was a fun day but today again Alyson couldn't manage to get herself up because she's getting a bit ill it seems and she had work till late last night. Hopefully she fights it away, i think Alex is getting something too. I still had a really fun day though today because i'm at a stage where i'm pushing myself hard again and i have a good run set up with lots of small jumps off the side and things. I even did my first little 180's which i look forward to exploring much more extensively. I can do them quickly off the small jumps now. I've been practising going backwards/switch and it's becoming more comfortable with a bit of speed which is exciting. Still getting some bruises whenever i try the thinner box/rails. Wish I had more time here. Because unfortunately at the moment the snow isn't good enough or plentiful enough to have any proper jumps. There are still a lot of places you can get some enjoyable air. My it's been jolly. Also I've been flying down the one run which is the steepest part of the mountain thats open at the moment. It's good because their is often noone else or very few people on that particular part. Seen a few movies lately as well now. With Alex I have seen Bolt; a childrens movie which we both kept falling in and out of sleep in, was good. Four Christmases with Vince Vaughn and Reece Witherspoon, quite a funny. Then the most memorable was Twilight. It's based on a novel that was really big in Canada. It's about Vampires and one particular one named Edward that falls in love with a mortal which calls for a challenging relationship because he has to resist eating her amongst other things. Anyhow the funniest thing is that it's been out for a few weeks and whilst working i've seen the swarms of giggling teenage girls that line up sometimes for 2 hrs before it started and take photos with the cardboard cut-out of Edward. I even had to take some photos, it was crazy, the little girls love him. Far more ridiculously then these thirteen to sixteen year olds was Alyson Rachel and Alex performances after the movie. They talked about this guy for about an hour. It was very sad. They even talked about walking through the woods and having Edward come save them. I think they thought it would happen as well, I know at least one of them did because when Rachel had to go meet some friends she decided to walk instead of wait for the bus or catch a cab. It's only a 15 min walk but it was night and their are proper scary animals in these woods. She ended up calling us because she was scared as she went through and I think a little dissapointed that Edward never turned up.
Must mention now that Rachel had also seen a couple of Wolves on the edge of the village just a few nights before. We haven't really spotted much more wildlife other than that for a while now.
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