One movie pops into my head when I think of Rodeo Drive, and that's Pretty Woman. I love that movie!! So we took a short trip to Rodeo Drive to experience what it's like to shop where the rich and famous shop. We didn't go into any shops on Rodeo Drive. Visions of our experience in Milan came flooding back into my mind. We didn't have the money, nor did we want security guards stalking us around the shops.
We did do some window shopping though. We even got to witness how being rich and having a fancy car can get you anything you want, including a car parking space right on Rodeo Drive. We were waiting for a car to reverse out so we could park in, we had the indicator lights on and were waited patiently... As soon as the car pulled away, a flashy BMW driver- a woman, from the outside lane cut across us and took our car parking space!! Ridiculous!! No care in the world for us or the potential for her car to get scratched. All she wanted was that spot on Rodeo Drive! Unbelievable.
Hollywood Boulevard....
Next we drove to Hollywood Boulevard and visited the Kodak Theatre (now called the Dolby Theatre) and the famous stars on the footpaths. We were lucky enough to join the backstage tour of the Kodak Theatre, this is where they hold the Academy Awards or the Oscars - it's actually the same thing, I always thought they were two different awards ceremonies.... We got to see where all the stars come in, where they get their drinks and where they sit. We also got to see a real Oscar!! They were also rehearsing Cirque du Soleil while we inside the theatre.
After the tour we walked outside and down towards Grauman's Chinese Theatre to see all the famous handprints. Some I recognised, some I had no idea who they were as they were way before my time! Gaffa's hand fitted perfectly into Matt Damon's hand print. Mine fitted into Twilight chick's hand prints... interesting!
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| Gaffa, proud to have the same size hands as Matt Damon |
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| Twilight love triangle... |
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| Harry Potter love triangle... LOL |
We continued down the street and saw some of the stars that are given to acknowledge the actors, actresses, directors, television personalities, musicians, and other artists that contributed to the entertainment industry that Hollywood is so famous for. I found my star! Gaffa also found his!!
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| Garry - famous TV Star |
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| Winnie - famous Movie Star |
After walking about 3-4 blocks of stars, we crossed the road and walked back down the other side of the same blocks, looking at more stars. We took so many photos that day, every famous person I knew and liked, 'snap'!
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| Superman!! |
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| Love Dirty Dancing! |
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| My Uncle, LOL not |
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| Gaffa & his friend, Bumblebee |
For dinner that night we went to a typical American steak house. We had ribs, steak, mac and cheese, sweet potato chips... Servings were big but it was tasty!! Gaffa got his cup of refillable root beer. My cousin S and little K joined us for dinner. She's such a cutie!!
Universal Studios....
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| Our only experience on the red carpet |
On our third day in LA we visited Universal Studios. My cousin S and her hubby E invited us to stay at their home for a couple of nights. They even gave up their own bedroom for my Auntie J and Uncle P! So nice of them to let us stay. They live very close to Universal Studios so it was a quick ride in the car for us, and straight to the valet parking!
Universal Studios has both rides and shows throughout the day. The highlight show is most probably the Studio Tour, where you're taken around backstage to see where everything happens. You drive past the sound stages, through a few special effects stages (King Kong 3D, street flooding, subway earthquake, Jaws attack...) they also take you to some sets of famous tv/movies that you'll recognise, like Desperate Housewives' Wysteria Lane, plane crash from Lost...
Some of the other shows we saw were the Shrek 4D, Terminator 2 3D, Blues Brothers, Special Effects Stage and Water World.
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| Waterworld |
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| Gaffa & the Blues Brothers Car |
Then we split from my auntie and uncle so we could go on some 'scary' rides!! First was the Mummy ride. A rollercoaster ride through a dark tomb with a big drop at the end. It was so cool we went on it again, as the line wasn't long.
Next we went on the Jurassic Park ride. A water filled ride where you do get wet! So much that people were wearing ponchos!!
Finally we got a chance to go on the Transformers 3D ride. It wasn't officially opened, they were allowing visitors to test the ride before it's official opening. We waited for a while, but finally got to the end of the line. And man, it was worth the wait!! This was the best ride I've ever been on. It had awesome 3D effects, great simulation, good story line and graphics were true to the Transformers movies. It even had a fire with real flames!! If the lines weren't so long, we would've went on it again.
Lastly we went on the Simpsons Ride. It's a simulation ride on a rollercoaster. Even while waiting for the ride there is Simpsons entertainment for all.
For dinner that night my cousin S took us our for some lovely Thai food. For dessert we had mango and sticky rice, YUM! A great way to end our LA adventures.
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