Apologies for never writing a full account of our time in Los Angeles. As we write this section it is over a year on, so we could never write a fully detailed account, as we can't remember everything in the correct order. But we'll try...
We arrived at LAX in mid-afternoon, though it was actually 8am the next day Fijian time. So basically we were fairly knackered! Thankfully a minibus was provided to our hostel, and as it dropped others off first we did get to see various areas of the city that we wouldn't have otherwise. When we got to our hostel we found it was in a great location, on a good street inbetween Sunset Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard (the 'Walk of Fame'), and 5 minutes walk from the Oscars venue, Graumanns Chinese Theater and various other Hollywood tourist attractions.
After taking a nap, we explored the area in the early evening and acted like typical tourists, including posing for photos with Chewbacca and Yoda and walking the red carpet. We ate a meal in a restaurant with Newcastle Brown Ale on tap, not realising that it is on tap everywhere in America! We went back to this bar/restaurant a few times as it was one of the few places we could be served alcohol (drinking age is 21 in California).
The next day we used the first of our two-day passes to Universal Studios Hollywood, lcoated in Universal City, which was just one stop from the Hollywood/Highland metro station which we were near. The park was enjoyable enough, with rides such as Jurassic Park & The Mummy Returns repeatedly entertaining. The studio tour was the highlight of the day. As no filming was going on that day our tour was longer than normal, taking in the Town Square set (most well known for Back to the Future - it was actually burned to the ground a couple of months ago, and as it was a closed set most of the time I suppose we were some of the last tourists to visit it!), Wysteria Lane (Desperate Housewives), The Bates Motel & House (which were strangely located next to a snowy set from The Grinch), a plane crash site from War of the Worlds, Amity Beach (Jaws) and other sets which are used in many films, including the world's largest blue screen located in front of a big lake, for water based scenes. Pete was especially proud of completing a childhood dream - having his picture taken outside the gates of Jurassic Park! At the end of the tour we were told that Matthew Fox (Jack in Lost) was a guest on the Jay Leno show the next day, and free guaranteed entry audience tickets could be picked up in the park, subject to availabilty. We did just that.
Universal City Walk was also very colourful, filled with an IMAX, countless shops and food outlets, including a Hard Rock Cafe which we visited and Tom bought a t-shirt from.
The following day we went on the Jay Leno show, and were given front row seats. This meant that when the filming started, we were required to run forward and shake hands with Jay Leno when he enters the studio - we saw ourselves on US national TV that night. In all honesty, Matthew Fox was fairly boring, though his follow-up, Larry the Cable Guy, was pretty funny. The band that played were called Feist, and they obviously weren't great as I cannot recall how they sounded. At the end of the show, Leno announced his guests for the next three days, which included Cameron Diaz and Nelly Furtado on the Thursday. We knew this meant one thing - back to Universal the next day for the tickets!
As Universal Studios Hollywood is missing the Islands of Adventure that grace its Florida cousin, the park isn't really big enough to justify two visits, though we did the same rides again, as well as visiting a water show, based in a real (and quite impressive) set from 'Waterworld'. That night we ate at the famous Saddle Ranch restaurant on the Sunset Strip (supposedly a favourite hangout of Paris Hilton), and were given a table right next to the huge bucking bronco, which was highly amusing as you might expect.
Jay Leno the next day was great. We didn't get front row seats (damn!) but Cameron Diaz was as fit as ever, Nelly Furtado was quality, though the show was stolen by a 6yr old piano prodigy called Ethan Bortnick. Respect to the Bort for upstaging those two! After the show Tom chose to get a bus back to universal studios, while Ryan and Pete were intent on walking (the reason why cannot be recalled - possibly to see Warner Brothers studios and a bit more of the area - which they did). That evening we saw Spiderman 3 at the IMAX in Universal City, which had far too big a screen! The film wasn't the greatest, but it was a fun experience.
Next day we went on a short bus journey and visited Bel Air, UCLA (which has a quality stadium, by the way) and Beverly Hills, including the hotel. Later, we were convinced to take a limo ride around the stars' homes & shops, which was decent enough, and we got it for a cheap price, but wasn't exactly amazing. Aside from those on the Jay Leno show, we did get our first genuine celebrity sight the next day when we visited downtown - Michael Madsen was involved in a film shoot just outside Union Street Station.
As we were in Los Angeles, it was a genuine chance for Tom to visit an LA Dodgers baseball game,with Pete and Ryan opting to go to an LA Galaxy 'soccer' match after deciding that baseball was a poor version of rounders with added hot dogs. This constituted a bigger adventure than imagined. Leaving at 5 o'clock, Tom departed for the baseball and got there relatively easily, simply catching a bus down Sunset Blvd. Ryan and Pete caught a train to downtown, then changed line and headed towards Carson, where the Galaxy's stadium (Home Depot Center) is based. At the time we were unaware that this would require getting off the train in Compton...
In fact it was the stop after 'Compton' officially, and we had a fairly strange experience after getting off the train. First we were confronted by three random Koreans, who clearly had no idea where they were (but obviously wanted to leave) and asked us the price of tickets. Moving on to the end of the platform, two black lads stopped us: "You got your tickets?". Great, two white kids in Compton so they act like ticket inspectors. "Yes". "Can we have them then?". "No, sorry, we have to get the bus". "Oh, ok then, sorry". That was it, no guns, no knives (then again, its not London) - so much for the horror stories. We then had a decent conversation with them about going to the match, though they didn't seem to know the best way to the stadium. They suggested a taxi, which is the option we took - and it took quite a while as the driver spoke no English. However first we had to walk over the tracks. Standing in the middle of the railway was a huge black guy and a fairly skimpily dressed girl. Again, stereotypes kicked in so we assumed he was a pimp plying flogging his wares. Instead...
"Hey, are you registered voters of California?"
"Erm, no. We're English"
"Oh, you're English. Welcome to Compton!! You know Snoop Dogg and Eazy E, they're from here!"
We are still proud of being welcomed to Compton.
The game itself was pretty good, albeit Championship standard. Pre-Beckham Galaxy (we weren't jumpin on no bandwagon) lost 3-2 to New England Revolution, with two goals in the last two minutes. Afterwards, our Compton adventure continued. As we didn't want to walk back to Compton in the dark (and there were no taxis or buses - everyone drove to the game), we chose to attempt a walk to the next station down the line - guessing the direction. Silly? Possibly. We proceeded to get lost in an industrial estate, passed a walled compound for recent immigrants, eventually arriving at the station, to our extreme relief, at about half 12.
