Los Angeles

Mark and I flew into Los Angeles at 12:30 on the 1st of August, about a half hour after we had left.
With the time difference we gained a whole day, and got to do the 1st over again. Getting off the plane and through customs was a daunting and confusing experience. We had these little forms to fill out, and no idea how to complete them properly. Thus, when he had gotten off the plane at last and joined the nearly empty queue, our forms were incomplete and we had to go back and fill them out. By this time the other 10 or so flights that had disembarked after us now filled the queues to capacity and we had a half hour wait to the front of the queue again.

The rest of the customs was rather easy, I was nervous when he was filling out the white forms that lets me stay here for 6 months, but I had all the paperwork organised and I was able to show him everything I needed.

The bags came off the flight, which was a relief. Next came the challenge of finding change for the notes we had, and then transportation to the hotel. The change booth was labelled in big blue letters, and just outside the door we got into a taxi.

Driving on the other side of the road for the first time is just something that you cannot brace yourself for enough. Corners are the worst, because you just don't go to where you expect.

Add into that strangeness the insanity that is LA traffic. And the heat which we weren't used to. And having no idea where we were going in a place that is buildings and cars as far as you can see.

The Hotel was really nice, it had air conditioning and a choice of two! double beds. The shower and the bath share the one set of taps. It took me 10 minutes and Marks help to get the water to come out of the shower head. We got some food from the Bar downstairs, massive club sandwiches, and after going for a brief walk decided to just give in and sleep. We slept for 14 hours and felt terrible when we woke up. Jet Lag is not nice when you go to the other side of the world. Light when its meant to be dark and vice versa.

The next day we went to the shopping centre, and found something like Myers and Melbourne Central. Filled with lots of little designer shops and clothes I am just never going to be trendy enough, or the right body shape, to wear.

We found directions to Hollywood, confused directions, inaccurate maps, and three buses later we found the right place. It's a really cool place, to see the stars on the sidewalk myself was a thrill, but so many names I don't know! The Hollywood sign seemed to be smaller than movies and photos give the impression of. We walked down the street and through a few souvenier shops before heading back to sleep some more. Next day, to Disney Land.