June 23-29
So Faith and I left San Diego on yet another early bus, this time bound for Hollywood. Upon reaching Hollywood, Faith would be meeting her cousins, who were enrolled in a summer session at UCLA. I would be meeting the guys again, who were driving in from Grand Canyon, and staying at a hostel along Hollywood Boulevard.
I checked in first and had lunch while waiting for them to arrive. After lunch, I took a stroll along Hollywood Boulevard, on the Walk-of-Fame. Star sightings, literally, but there were also many names that I had never heard of before. About ten minutes from the hostel is the Kodak Theatre, where award shows and American Idol finales are held at, and Chinese Theatre, where many famous hand prints are etched in stone.
El Capitan cineplex, venue of many movie premieres.
Jimmy Kimmel LIVE.
This was the best we could manage; it was so cloudy that day.
The guys had an ingenious idea to snap a photo of their reflection off my sunglasses.
Another ingenious idea to snap a photo of our silhouette; guess which one is me.
Shannon and I dropped the guys off at Santa Monica beach before we drove Faith to LAX for her flight back to Singapore. The airport was crowded and very disorganized, such that the check-in queues were snaking out of the building to the car drop-off point. We were actually quite worried that Faith might miss her flight. After Faith left, we drove back to Santa Monica to meet the guys again. They were almost done with the beach and were about ready to leave. A few of us went shopping before heading back to the beach.
Shopping street at Santa Monica
Santa Monica beach and boardwalk
At the beach, we came across a memorial of some sort to the war going on in the middle-east. It was dedicated to those who died fighting – Americans, Iraqis and Afghans alike. It was quite a sombre sight, especially at a beach full of tourists. It was especially heartening to know that whoever initiated this was against war, and was sympathizing with innocent Iraqis/Afghans who had nothing to do with the war. The following photographs speak for themselves:
In reference to Arlington Cemetery, the US national cemetery in Washington DC.
Mock coffins draped with the stars and stripes.
I thought it was interesting to see how close the crosses were to the beach revelers.
The next day, Shannon and his friend Yi Hern were returning back to Singapore. It was to be just five of us left for a couple more days. We were kind of bored with Hollywood by then so we were just seeking places to go and basically ambled our way around the whole day. We first headed to Farmer’s Market by bus and had lunch there. Next, we went shopping again? There was this place with the most luxurious Abercrombie store ever. I couldn’t believe my eyes: a Greek statue greeted us as we entered, and there were three floors of everything A&F, and they didn’t have a clearance section! So high-class. Look at the photos and see what I mean.
Walked past an advert for King Lear, nothing that would entice me to buy tickets.
Two of my favorite singers on the Walk-Of-Fame. All in all we walked for about three to four hours after that, walking from Farmer’s Market towards Sunset Boulevard. We were kind of lost and pretty tired of walking, so we approached a lady for directions. She was on her way to her car and she offered to give us a lift back to Hollywood Boulevard. It was a surreal experience because it turned out she was a singer and had just released an album. She also told us she was friends with a famous rapper, can’t remember his name now but I’ve heard of him before. So she was on her way somewhere to prepare for a by-invitation-only Hollywood party. Our first brush with a celebrity and she so readily agreed to drive us to our hostel! Pretty awesome.
The guys were leaving for Singapore the next day, and I was moving to Santa Monica for the next three days alone, before flying to Washington DC for my summer class. I was glad to be heading for Santa Monica for a number of reasons. 1. It was by the beach, so even if I ran out of things to do, I could sit myself down on the beach and read a book. 2. It was near LAX, where I was going to catch a flight across the US to Washington DC.
Group shot with our Irish roommates before the guys left for Singapore, and me for Santa Monica.
Entitled Off To See The World, Kangli took this photo of me as I was boarding the bus that would take me to Santa Monica. There you see my bags – my only possessions those seven months in the US.
So after three weeks spent with my hall friends in Miami, Bahamas, Chicago, Toronto, New York and Boston, and another three with schoolmates in San Francisco, Las Vegas, San Diego and Los Angeles, I was once again alone. Being in a group had gotten comfortable and now it was like being in London and Paris – I had to be extra careful for myself and my belongings even as I shared hostel rooms with strangers.
Santa Monica is about a half-hour away from Hollywood, by the Pacific Ocean. I was running tight on cash then, so over the next three days, I pretty spent them at the beach reading about Nixon and the Watergate Scandal for my political journalism class, and catching up on much needed sleep as well.
Bridge over US Highway 1 that leads to Santa Monica Beach.
Pacific Park on the boardwalk
View of Santa Monica and a bit of Venice Beach from the boardwalk
Patrol police
My less than satisfactory experiences with seafood in the US kept me away despite my cravings for good seafood. Still, how could I not take a photo of Bubba?
So there, my week spent in Los Angeles – no Universal Studios, no Disneyland, no celebrity sightings. I was leaving the frivolity of California behind, and heading back to the seriousness of the East Coast.
