San Francisco

We are in LOVE with san francisco.

bagals, steak burritos, clam chowder, pumpkin ice cream, eggnog ice cream, jasmine tea ice cream and a 3 story high christmas tree!

we explored alcatraz by twilight, biked to and over the golden gate bridge, visited the 'painted ladies' aka The Full House houses, ate authentic 'shao long bao' by the sea and tried to spy Robin Williams' house.

If i was to move to any other city, it would be here.

oh but one warning....keep an eye out for homeless guys hiding behind branches that jump out and scare you

SIN CITY.....

yiiiiiiihaaaaaaaaaa!!! (as lina would say) vegas baby!

we arrived in the city of temptation, debauchery and all things excessive friday arvo, starved with sore bottoms from the 3.5hr drive (ilda was behind the wheel hooning at 130km the whole way) our first priority was FOOD.
after walking around the venetian for a bit we stumbled outside and there 100m's down the road was a denny's sign...shining in its all yellow and red glory, luring us with the promise of a greasy fulfilling yet cheap american meal.

so bellies full and thirst quenched, we set off on our quest to find the car and our suites.
after about an hr of navigating the brightly lit stores and the ching ching of the casino we finally saw the elusive "guest suites" sign.
i cannot even put into words the frustration and relief we endured during this agonizing hr, but our rooms were worth the torture.
we were booked into two separate suites situated next to each other on the 17th floor, we even had a connecting door so we lived like one big happy family with one front door :) dont think brain n jan even used their room key once.

day 2, we went to a timeshare presentation so we could get discounted blueman tickets.
ilda n lina were 'taste testing' all the different sandwiches while jan n i were suckered in.
it seems like a good deal but once u break it down and add the cost per year....its not that fantastic of a saving.
anyhow after a day spent there feasting and being pitched too, we were driven back to the Venetian where we caught the blueman show.
3 smurf like guys beating drainage pipes to electro rock and performing silly toilet humor skits.
the big finally was very interactive......rolls of toilet paper (extra strong 3ply) were poured over the back row of the audience then dragged, passed down towards the stage over our heads.
it was alot of toilet paper.

day 3 saw us drive around las vegas looking for the outlets, we ventured downtown, which was very ghetto...none of the glitz n glamour go past the hotel stratosphere (the the very top of the strip)
ilda n fiona rode the rollercoaster which is located ontop on the newyork newyork hotel, it was old n rickedy but totally worth it for the view...well as much of a view u could get while flying down a 45degree slope, being flung upside down and speeding past the scenery sideways.

MGM Grand is a pretty boring place, run down n smells of stale cig smoke.
the bellagio fountain show was amazing and we enjoyed gawking at all the statues and shops of ceasars palace.
most of the other hotels were still impressively large and decorated quite dramatically but my 3 fav were The Bellagio, Ceasars Palace and The Venetian.

day 4 was the last day in our luxurious rooms =(
goodbye king size bed with ultra poof pillows, goodbye 3 flat screen tvs, goodbye awesome view and goodbye bathtub which we were allowed to take baths in without feeling guilty of wasting melbournes' precious water supply.

Day 4 - San Anita Hike

Started off with the sun shining without a cloud in the sky.... we could clearly see the snow capped mountains from the kitchen window. We started of with brunch at IN N OUT BURGERS where we had freshly made cheeseburgers (they dont freeze their meat) and animal style fries (freshly cut chips with cheese and big mac style sauce). It was nasty!! They only have 3 items on their menu but there is an exclusive underground menu that only the locals know about. It was the perfect meal just before a hike...

We finally arrive at San Anita mountain where we were greeted by a wild squirrel. it was soooo cute but apparently they're abit of a pest around here. It was quite chilly despite the sun shining but once we started walking it warmed up nicely. The scenery was very pretty with lots of golden leaves and waterfalls. We passed many cute cabins which are sometimes rented to backpackers.

The trail led us to the top of the waterfall but at one stage we had lost the marked trail and instead had to climb the rocks and over the water. Just as Jan mentioned that the place looked familiar but she didnt recall the hike being this intense, we look up to see the "lost" marked trail right in front of us.

After 2hours and 45mins we made it back to the car in once piece (the last leg of the hike was a steep incline & we thought we saw a lion mountain paw on our way back) we were glad to be heading back home.

Fiona tested out her driving skills on the drive home and did so well. She drove on the freeway as well as the busy streets and stayed on the right side of the road the whole time (although she had to lean her body to the right to stay between the lanes... lol!!). We've found our driver to take us all the way down the east coast. yay!

We were supposed to catch a Laker game but unfortunately we were unable to get tickets.
So instead we had a delicious thai dinner and rested up.

UNIVERSAL Studios.

i love The mummy ride......its an indoor roller coaster that hurls u REAL FAST in the dark, right into a brink wall....well not right into the wall but almost!
then once u think its all over....it drags u through the whole thing backwards! wicked feeling!!!

the simpsons rides is also very cool

was another freeeeeezing cold day (ilda's dave - u didnt give us any warning about the weather!! we are freezing our tushs off!)

the house of horrors was a real hoot, lol....we were screaming the whole way and lina actually ran out of the house being chased by a man dressed up as texas chainsaw massacre

OH i almost forget...they have taco tuesday, where u get 99 cent tacos!
they were so yummy...u coud have chicken, beef or pork topped with onions, lettuce salsa, bean sauce....mmm....my mouth is watering at the thought of it now.
we had 5 each.

SIX FLAGS!!!!!!

wooohooooo!!!!!
>.< *turns green*

six flags had a promotional offer on, buy a toy thats worth $15 or more and receive complimentary entry into the park. the toys that were exchanged for entry are given to needy kids during christmas.

the very first ride was the X2, it was insane......u actually go on the ride backwards and there is an almost verticle drop.
it was the most terrifying, tummy squirling disorentating experince.
we came off it wanting to both laugh and cry.

the tatsu and dejavu were the other 2 most thrilling and nauseating rides.

everything after the X2 was just too easy to conquer. if you ever go to six flags, this is the one NOT to miss out on.
ilda said it was scarier than sky diving and jan is convinced that its worse than bungee jumping.

DO IT!!!!!

DAY 2 - rainy LA

day 2 of our trip was pouring rain all day.......
we just went grocery shopping, nothing exciting at all.

beautiful sunny LA!

After a 19hr flights, yes 19hrs, we had a 3hr stopover in auckland.
we finally touched down in freeeeezing cold LA.

Jan and her boyfriend, Brian, came to pick us up at the airport.
they took us straight to an all american diner named Denny's for brekky.
we had pancakes, eggs, bacon, waffles, sausages, hashbrowns, grits ( after hearing about this all the time on top chief i had to order it, not that great, its similar to porriage with "gritty" bits in it adn u can either top it with butter or suger)
all this was topped off with REFILLABLE soft drink n coffee!!!!
this it the place we discovered my favourite drink, strawberry lemonade. deeeeeelicious!!!!
its like solo lemonade topped with strawberry chucks n syrup.

Once our bellies were full, we headed over to Santa Monica pier.
this is where we saw our first bonafide bums, they are exactly like u do see in the movies!
lazing on the grass, sunning themselves and with a trolley full of their belongings next to them.

after walking around the pier, we rented bikes. Ilda n I had kick ass tricycles.
we rode down venice beach (where a bird pooped on me) to muscle beach gym, where the guys and some girls, who are ultra tanked, work out in the open, under the sun and being ooogled by tourist like us.

Venice beach reminds me alot of thailands market stalls, but instead of thai ppl its african americas (with their really cool accents) or mexicans trying to hock their goods off to u.
we even encountered one guys who was an inspiring rapper, SALT, the price for his cd was $10 then after a quick " no im not interested" the price instantly dropped to $5!

dinner was at HOOTERS, food wasnt bad....fried pickles was an interesting dish....

we are staying in Lomo Linda. so about an hrs drive away from central LA.
yup....we living in the burbs!

everything about LA seems very familar but different.

The day has come...

Some might call it a quarter life crisis, others call it a bug and I think we like to see it as getting it out of our system. The many years of dreaming and months of planning, the first take off will happen in just 3 sleeps away.

A very bleary eyed Fiona, Lina and Ilda will hopefully NOT missing their flight this time as they stroll up to the counters of QANTAS at 4AM! Instead saying farewell to loved ones and boarding a roller coaster to take them around the world (First stop - LA! Definitely not complete without the single serving champagne of course).

Hopefully this somewhat geeky blog will keep all family and friends posted of this adventures.

The Bug (Ilda, Lina, Fiona, Khic & Luci)