Okay, so my first few days in California have been eventful, not all of the events awesome fun but anyways, please read on to hear of them in all their (sometimes gross) glory.
I arrived on Saturday and it immediately struck me how smoggy it is in LA. I'd heard it was, but I hadn't expected to be able to SMELL the smog. So yeah, that was a little weird. I've also noticed that most cars in LA are black, white or silver. Meg says its to do with the showy culture of only buying luxury cars.
A couple of hours after I arrived, we walked down Roberston (you don't use street descriptives here...its just 'Sunset' or 'Robertson') and saw a group of paparazzi outside a store. We stopped to take a picture of them, but when one of them told us it was Paris and Nicky Hilton, we went off to get some food from the Newsroom, where I had my first experience with Turkey Bacon (a healthier alternative) and Pesto Tofunaisse.
Then I went to Megs housemates boyfriends 30th birthday party at a Mansion overlooking Sunset. It was huge, with a billiard table and a fire pit and a hot tub, which it was too cold to use. There was a gorgeous King Charles Spaniel there, which everyone loved patting. We mostly just played Rock Band though, killed our voices singing rock ballads. Everyone there was just as blown away as me at the size and grandeur of the house, so I guess everyone doesn't live like the OC.
The next morning we drove down to San Diego. Well, Meg drove. I just tried not to vomit. Foster will try to tell you I had too much to drink the night before because I called him and had the hiccups, but honestly I only had about four or five drinks. I think it was a combination of orange juice on an empty stomach, late night, jet lag, driving on the wrong side of the (incredibly bumpy) road and exhaust fumes.
In the end, I threw up once in my own face (trying to go out the window on the freeway driving 80mph because Meg couldn't get off the freeway on time), once on the grass infront of a shopping mall, once in front of a taco villa and once in the toilet at Meg's mum's house. I tried to throw up at the Starbucks at Laguna Beach and at a rest stop with awesome ocean views, but it appears that only the bizarre wrong-side passenger driving could bring it on.
Apart from that, I enjoyed San Diego. I hung out with Meg's family, they kindly fed me. And also with Meg's friend Dawn. We went to the Zoo on Monday and road the tour bus, then traipsed about Balboa Park where I saw a Squirrel! We drove past and into the San Diego Mission, which is one of the old Spanish churches. While we were driving, Pearl Jam's "Black" came on the radio and Meg said she preferred the Pearl Jam song where they sang "Let's go there, let's make our escape". To which I said "That's Creed, Meg". And she said "Oh, well whats the one where they sing (hums the riff from Black)" and I said "The one thats on the radio right now". I'm sure thats a typical "Cool Story Hansel" story, but meh, it was funny to me.
Then we went out for Mexican at Norte's (or Fidels. Or Anita's. Depending on whether you ask Meg or Dawn), which was awesome and DIDN'T make me sick. I wasn't too impressed with the refried beans. Dawn threatened to take my left over beans home and force feed them to me, but she took pity. Then we hung out on the couch at Dawns and watched the first episode of America Gladiators. Amazingly, despite a lack of Hulk Hogan, OUR Gladiators is much much much tackier. Although, there was a moment when one of the female contestants fired the tennis ball bazooka backwards. That was funny.
Today we drove back from San Diego and thankfully I wasn't sick once. Meg is a fantastic guide and told me stories about the hills and street names. We basically hung out at her house this afternoon, watching dodgy american tv, complete with reinactments. Then we went to the Grove to watch Iron Man, which was AWESOME. And I don't wanna give anything away but Sam L Jackson is in the next one. WOOT!
We walked around the Farmers Market after the movie and got a great 360 degree view of the night time skyline, thanks to Meg's insistance we park on the top level of the carpark. My pictures of that didn't turn out so great tho...
Then we went to the supermarket, which was WAY less exciting that I'd imagined. Where were the aisles and aisles of cheese? I guess I'll have to wait til the Midwest for THAT delight.
Tomorrow we're off to Disneyland. So I'll write more after that.
