Los Angeles (31 July - 7 Aug)

We ended our tour in LA but not before visiting a viewpoint to see the famous Hollywood sign and the Chinese Theatre where I saw heaps of famous people's feet/hand prints and signatures - the most exciting being Adam Sandler - done only last year!

LA Cuisine
In'n'out burger is traditional Californian cuisine. with a menu of Hamburger, Cheeseburger, Double Cheeseburger, Fries and Drinks its pretty basic so even someone as indecisive as me can fill their belly - bonus is the burgers include a decent serving of lettuce and tomato (much better than your $1 double cheeseburger at Macas!) And to top it all off visit Westwood (in the university district) to indulge in a true ice-cream sandwich at Diddy Riese, for $1.25 you can choose two fresh cookies and they will chuck in a scoop of any ice-cream flavour you want!

Fogo de Chao in Beverly Hills is about the fanciest and most amazing restaurant Ive ever been to. Its a buffet salad and then they have 13 types of meat where once you've flipped your table card over to green the waiters bring pieces over to you and cut them straight off their skewers! (to get the real idea check out their website http://www.fogodechao.com/) So full from lunch that all we could have for dinner was Coldstone Creamery where you choose your flavour of ice-cream, sauces and candy and they mix it together for you on the spot!

LA Attractions
Okay so there's a lot of theme parks in LA - Universal Studios, Knotts Berry Farm and Disneyland just to name a few. We decided to go to a true thrill park - Six Flags Magic Mountain. In one day we managed to ride 11 coasters (Tatsu, Psyclone, Riddler, Batman, Superman, Ninja, Goliath, Scream, Viper, X, Deja Vu) I think I tired Kyle out a bit and we lost a couple of brain cells but it was time to go when the last coaster we went on (Deja Vu) decided to lock up near the end and not let us off - kinda relaxing but definately glad we weren't stuck upside down.

Went on a day trip with Kyle in his Mustang down to San Diego to go to the Zoo. Despite running into a lot of the famous LA stop-go traffic it was definately worth the trip - the zoo was awesome we saw heaps of animals; 18-foot snakes, hummingbirds, galapagos turtles, flamingo, apes, gorillas, monkeys, tiger, okapi, hippo, otter, polar bear, zebra, gazelle, giraffe, meerkats, kangaroos, koalas, bats, lion, elephant, panda and even kiwi and tuatara!

A walk along Venice and Santa Monica Beach proved that the lifeguard towers from Baywatch were actually real - and of course I had to get photos with the sexy lifeguards to prove it! Spending a couple of hours walking along, chilling and swimming at the beach was a great way to spend a Saturday morning and then in the afternoon Kyle taught me how to play table tennis!



And on Sunday what better way to spend the afternoon than at the ball game! We went to watch a baseball game at the Angels Stadium in Anaheim where the home team beat visitors Texas Rangers 9-1 it was an awesome game, and we had pretty good seats in the shade (much needed after getting burnt at Santa Monica Beach) with a good view over the pitch

Downtown LA can be a little scary (even during the daytime) as there are a lot of bums around and the streets are kind of dirty - but there are a couple of places worth mentioning. Grand Central Market is pretty cool (like an indoor farmers market meets a foodcourt) and Angels Flight (was under repair while I was here but seems like a cool little cable car) leads to Watercourt Park - a cute place to relax especially if you had to walk up the steps rather than taking the cable car. And finally Olera Market in North Downtown near Chinatown is a taste of a Mexican Market and also houses LA's oldest house, built in 1818.

All in all there's a lot to do in this big city, be careful because many places are closed on a Monday and be ready for the stop-go traffic but definately glad I had a mate to visit all the sites with and a car so we could get to see all the things there were to do around the city - thanks heaps for having me Kyle!