I have finally gotten round to attempt writing my review of my California trip I took last month. Off I went across the Atlantic, and across the East and Middle masses of the USA to find myself landed in good old Los Angeles, CA. With my trusting sidekick shaped in the form of my older sister we set out for an adventure. Well basically a hard earned rest from our busy jobs and lives. The sunshine was calling, the Pacific ocean whispering my name, and a crew in the shape of native Californians ready to look after us, The highlights or run of play, played out as the following...
First stop Riverside, California. My only pop culture reference to this place is that 'Julie' from the O.C was from here, and it was described as a dump in the 80s, which is pretty accurate though as now it is full of mansions and new builds it is all built on old landfill. There, a little info for you to digest. Oh, and for the Christian's among you it was also home to the University Rick Warren (Purpose driven writer) studied. So anyway, my Dad's younger sister lives there in an amazing house with a huge yard they are landscaping, it was a nice few days hanging out with my cousins, and watching movies. I was feeling all nostalgic when we used to babysit them when they lived in New York, from being at the birth of my 14 year old cousin and now seeing her on her first week of High School was pretty surreal.
Next stop, Claremont to visit the one and only Miss Ashley Haiston. My friend who I met in London while she was doing her study abroad term, we bonded, laughed and played. I went out to California to visit her and her friends two years ago, it was a blast and it was the same again. It was pretty cool as she wasn't in frequent touch with the other guys I made friends with last time but she called everyone up so we could all hang out. And it was great. The boys moved to LA, Echo park to be precise where it was known for being a tad ghetto, but it was actually quite cool. There place, though small was filled with fun artsy things which totally suited their personality. There was also the addition of Sam, who all the girls loved as he had a cute face. He's actually in a cool Bosa Nova band called Sister Rogers, google them. Our second day was more chilled, waking up to breakfast and playing Mario before we hit up Shaye, my friend Ashely's best friend, what a fun girl. We went shopping on Melrose, maybe bumped into Ryan Adams (still to be verified) and then went to a resturant and ate sooo much food, I think it was Rib shack. That evening we went to her friend Bob's place who lived in downtown. His neighbourhood was pretty sketchy, homeless people outside in tents drinking but they ended up being super friendly. Bob's place was insane cool. An abandoned sweat shop the set up was great and had character, their actual apartment pretty indescribable and full of cool things but the best thing...The Rooftop. You can see the view in one of the pics in the link below, it viewed the Financial district of LA and was beautiful. We hung out, had some drinks went dancing in the bar round the block, and when the DJ went spazz we went back to the roof to continue the party. What a night. To recover from a night like that we went to the beach. I got my tan did and it was so nice jumping in the water. Dear God, please can you make a sandy beach in London please?
Enjoy the LA snaps below, just click the link.
Next stop, Claremont to visit the one and only Miss Ashley Haiston. My friend who I met in London while she was doing her study abroad term, we bonded, laughed and played. I went out to California to visit her and her friends two years ago, it was a blast and it was the same again. It was pretty cool as she wasn't in frequent touch with the other guys I made friends with last time but she called everyone up so we could all hang out. And it was great. The boys moved to LA, Echo park to be precise where it was known for being a tad ghetto, but it was actually quite cool. There place, though small was filled with fun artsy things which totally suited their personality. There was also the addition of Sam, who all the girls loved as he had a cute face. He's actually in a cool Bosa Nova band called Sister Rogers, google them. Our second day was more chilled, waking up to breakfast and playing Mario before we hit up Shaye, my friend Ashely's best friend, what a fun girl. We went shopping on Melrose, maybe bumped into Ryan Adams (still to be verified) and then went to a resturant and ate sooo much food, I think it was Rib shack. That evening we went to her friend Bob's place who lived in downtown. His neighbourhood was pretty sketchy, homeless people outside in tents drinking but they ended up being super friendly. Bob's place was insane cool. An abandoned sweat shop the set up was great and had character, their actual apartment pretty indescribable and full of cool things but the best thing...The Rooftop. You can see the view in one of the pics in the link below, it viewed the Financial district of LA and was beautiful. We hung out, had some drinks went dancing in the bar round the block, and when the DJ went spazz we went back to the roof to continue the party. What a night. To recover from a night like that we went to the beach. I got my tan did and it was so nice jumping in the water. Dear God, please can you make a sandy beach in London please?
Enjoy the LA snaps below, just click the link.
Then there was Vegas. Oh my oh my Vegas. My sister Krystel and I said goodbye to our friends and met up with some family who lived in Orange county. My cousin Kay nominated herself to take us around and be our guide, and basically hooked up up with a weekend away to Vegas! We have another cousin who lives up there and works in one of the big Casino's so we all met up to enjoy the Labour party weekend. We stayed in the Riviera on the strip, a simple old style casino hotel near everything we needed. After getting up at 5am and driving for 5 hours we finally reached there. First description. Hot. My goodness it was like 44 degrees centigrade, my British skin was in for a shock. We shopped, ate and then watched Cirq du Solei at the Wynn, was pretty pimpin actually. Our second day saw me put on a stone when we went to a 30 dollar Eat as much as you can buffet, with unlimited beer and wine to boot. As being the little Filipinos we were, we ate slowly and stayed there for over three hours, haha. We then went on a tour of the drive in Chapel, I acquired a husband in the form of Mr Giraffe but I left him behind in California, I think he was just after a visa. I think the little White Chapel was the one in the Hangover film...but don't quote me on that. Our final evening saw us at the Mandalay Bay hotel bar restuarant. It was quite swanky and I thought I was Whitney port in the Hills or somethings, the food was small and expensive, but yummy to say the least. Again the view was brilliant, what an experience. For post food entertainment we attempted to go to the 24 hour Vietnamese Kareoke place but it was packed! Though the rappers of past and present entertained us for a while. R.I.P Biggie. To bid Vegas adieu we went to the famous Vegas sign that you can see above, and ran around the strip!
More snaps can be found here!
More snaps can be found here!
The final city on our tour...San Francisco. A part of me was sad to be leaving the southern parts of California, leaving behind the sunshine and our loved ones but new unchartered lands needed to be conquered. Though being blessed to be able to visit cities like LA and Las Vegas before, San Francisco was somewhere I have always wanted to visit but never got round to it. Travelling up there was a little suspect, we opted for the Greyhound as we couldn’t get a ride and being used to using public transport in England thought it would be totally fine. That it wasn’t. I could get into all the instances that made me feel uncomfortable but all I will leave you is this...the bus smelt like poop.
On arrival it was cold but so nice to see a city of the kind we were used to. High rise buildings, sidewalks lined with Coffee bars and buses zipping through, it felt a lot like New York. We attempted to walk to our hostel but seeing as it was over a mile away, and carrying our suitcases we grabbed a cab. And then realised that the little bit we did walk was totally in the wrong direction. We arrived at USA hostels on Post Street which I would totally recommend to anyone wanting to visit. As it was 9am and we couldn’t check in until 2pm we dropped our bags and did what anyone would do in a new city, sight see? No, we went shopping. Not being too far from the main shopping street we bought some things in Forever 21, H&M and some other random American stores. With tiredness kicking in we ate some food and got to our hostel and slept.
Over the few days we were there we got a lot done, visiting China town, their hippy district, thrift stores, Fishermans wharf, the mission, Golden gate Bridge and Park, for one city there is so much diversity. One of my best memories was taking the tram back from the Wharf back into the city and as we were descending down the hill one other tram was ascending it, but at one point it was going backwards, scared tourist squealed, cars behind had to swerve, it was a little frightening but in the end it was all ok. Phew. We had a great time also with cousins who we have never met before, and meetings my Grandma’s sister and my auntie. One thing for sure, I love the family aspect that Filipinos in America have. It is so different from England and I wish we could have that aspect a little more.
Once again I will leave with more fotas! Following the link:
On arrival it was cold but so nice to see a city of the kind we were used to. High rise buildings, sidewalks lined with Coffee bars and buses zipping through, it felt a lot like New York. We attempted to walk to our hostel but seeing as it was over a mile away, and carrying our suitcases we grabbed a cab. And then realised that the little bit we did walk was totally in the wrong direction. We arrived at USA hostels on Post Street which I would totally recommend to anyone wanting to visit. As it was 9am and we couldn’t check in until 2pm we dropped our bags and did what anyone would do in a new city, sight see? No, we went shopping. Not being too far from the main shopping street we bought some things in Forever 21, H&M and some other random American stores. With tiredness kicking in we ate some food and got to our hostel and slept.
Over the few days we were there we got a lot done, visiting China town, their hippy district, thrift stores, Fishermans wharf, the mission, Golden gate Bridge and Park, for one city there is so much diversity. One of my best memories was taking the tram back from the Wharf back into the city and as we were descending down the hill one other tram was ascending it, but at one point it was going backwards, scared tourist squealed, cars behind had to swerve, it was a little frightening but in the end it was all ok. Phew. We had a great time also with cousins who we have never met before, and meetings my Grandma’s sister and my auntie. One thing for sure, I love the family aspect that Filipinos in America have. It is so different from England and I wish we could have that aspect a little more.
Once again I will leave with more fotas! Following the link:
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