We arrived in middle of the afternoon on Thursday, earlier than we had left Tokyo - a nice bonus when flying across the Pacific. :-)
We went out straight after we had showers to explore and to get some sunlight - I had read somewhere that this is good for jet lag (it didn't work).
Our hostel is right in the centre of Hollywood, just off Hollywood Boulevard-which is good for sight seeing but I'm not sure that it's a very nice area otherwise! That first time we went out we had only gone about 100m before we saw a man tasered to the ground with about 12 police and security guards around him! Two more doors down the street and we got offered some medical marajuana. We don't really look like we have any medical issues so I don't know what that was about...!
There are also a lot of people on the street selling tours and bar crawls. You would think that we'd be used to this after 3 weeks in Vietnam but the way they sell here just seems much more agressive. In Vietnam the hassling is persistent but kind of relaxed-a chilled out form of hassling!
Maybe it was just all too much after a 10 hour overnight flight with no sleep and a 16 hour time difference! We didn't stay out for long. We went to a Mexican restaurant for enchiladas and smoothies and then retreated back to the hostel. Tomorow is another day! We were both asleep by 8.30pm. No bargain bar crawl for us!
We went around the outdoor sets, streets and jungle etc. It is pretty amazing that they can make so many different movies and TV shows from the same tiny area. Even all of the office buildings there are used for filming, they all have blank facades so they can be dressed up however they're needed.
We also got to go into some of the sets and sound stages and to the museum of old costumes and props but unfortunately we weren't allowed to take any pictures in most of these places.
 |
| Car from Harry Potter |
 |
| Batmobile |
 |
| Us in Central Perk! |
We stayed at the studio that afternoon to watch the live filming of a new sitcom. We had gotten free tickets online last week. We couldn't get any for a show we'd actually heard of, they all sell out straight away. So we picked a new show called Mom. It's made by the same people as Two and a Half Men (hate it) and Big Bang Theory (never watched it) which are both super popular so we thought it could be the next big thing. Or it could get canceled after a few episodes....either way we'll be able to say we saw it!
There was a bit of an over the top security operation around entry to the set and it took about an hour and a half just to get in there. I'm not sure all the security was worth much because I pretty much broke every rule they had written on the ticket and they still let me in...I didn't bring any ID, I brought a backpack, a camera AND a cellphone -oops! It was worth it in the end though. Mom was actually very good, and we didn't have to fake our laughs at all...much. Listen for our mwah hah hah evil genius laughs if the show ever makes it to the UK or Australia...episode 3 (or 4!)
We also got free pizza, bottles of water and as many escorted trips to the toilet as you want! Not bad for a free ticket.
It took about 3 and a half hours to film the 22 min episode! So we didn't get back to the hostel until almost 11. I tried to go to sleep.. and failed. Stupid jet lag kept me awake until 4am!
The next morning our hostel was offering a free bus to the beach at 10am. So, after breakfast and an emergency pharmacy trip (deodorant crisis) we headed to Santa Monica. We walked along the pier and the beach. We didn't swim-the water was freezing!
Rosie made me do laundry when we got back to the hostel. We had to load it ourselves and everything. We have been spoilt laundry-wise in Vietnam- why can't I just give in my smelly clothes and get them back later all clean and nicely folded!
Tomorrow we'll be picking up our camper van and hitting the road for real once again!! Stay tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment