Update 29/11/10

Once again its been a while since I've updated this blog... we're just too busy!

So last Sunday we finally worked out the public transport system and headed to Venice Beach. It is full of stalls, homeless people, street performers, muscle men, shops and very Newtown-like people at home. We walked the boardwalk all the way up to Santa Monica Beach. Then it started to rain, although it didnt last very long, so we headed back on the bus up to the Staples Center to get ready for the LAKERS.


It just so happened that the American Music Awards were on the same night across the road at the Nokia Theatre but we didnt see any stars.
The Lakers game was awesome, the crowd was very energetic and although we were in the back row right up top we could see everything. A local taco company had said that the if the Lakers won and kept the other team under 100 point they would give the crowd 2 free tacos (voucher) at the end of the game. So in the final quarter everyone got into it and started singing "we want tacos" and clapping instead of "lets go lakers". It was a lot of fun and at the end of the game (Lakers won!) we were all given a Lakers glass paperweight... but they had run out of tacos vouchers so we missed out. - a paperweight is not very helpful in our backpacks....

After the game we found a really good sushi restaurant so we had dinner and then headed to the metro.... but as we entered the metro there was one step. Sara being annoying at pointing out the obvious said "step" and I of cause, not registering what she said but looking up to ask "what"... missed the step and sprained my ankle. Only slightly but that instant thought of "what do I do now?" wasnt fun. So we hobled down to the metro and found our way back to our hotel to ice my ankle and put our first aid kit into good use and bandaged it up.
The next day we got up early and headed to Universal Studios. We started with the backlot tour where we were taken to the plane crash site from "War of the Worlds" with Tom Cruise, a 3D simulated tunnel where King Kong came and attacked us while the bus was thrown to and fro (and I was very brave), the set of "Jaws" and "Murder She Wrote", and many other sets of movies and Tv shows.
Then we spent the rest of the day at the other attractions including the "Waterworld" show, Shrek 3D, Terminator 3D and Sara went on the Jurassic Park River Ride, which she tried to convince me would be a nice relaxing river cruise.. but I knew better and afterwards she said I would not have coped.
We also went to the first aid centre to re-ice my ankle and the nice lady gave me a much better bandage than we had. At the end of the roll instead of using those annoying silver pin things or tucking it in, it had velcro attached! Genius!

The next day (23 Nov) we went to Warner Brothers Studios! We were taken on a little open air bus, but they allowed us to get out and take photos. We saw the set where they did the upside down spiderman kiss in the rain and... wait for it.... the set of.... GILMORE GIRLS!! They let us walk around the town square and while the guide was off talking about ... well I don't know... Sara and I were racing around taking photos of the houses used in the show!
Also on this tour we bumped into one of the other groups and there was Will Anderson being a tourist just like us... I can't believe we've been in LA over a week and the only celebrity we've seen is an Aussie comedian that no one else around us knew... so we said Hello and waved him goodbye and continued on our tour through many more movie and tv sets and finally a museum of costumes and props.
Then we  headed to the Kyoto Grand hotel to meet our Contiki group and get last minute info to start our Contiki the next day. To our surprise most of the group are from Australia and New Zealand... I'm not sure why but we assumed we would get a mix of people an they would be able to tell us where to go in Europe. There are a few non Aussies though from, Switzerland, Germany, Korea and Brazil.
As we were staying at a different hotel to the meeting spot we headed back to figure out how to pack our bags and left the others to drink until 2am....


The next morning we got up bright and early at 5am, got a taxi (which didnt take as long as we anticipated) and arrived to meet our group at 6am... for a 7am meeting time. So we grabbed some breakfast while we waited... and waited...and waited... As some of the group had been out drinking they had not woken up on time... so we didnt end up leaving till 8am.
Finally we hit the road down to San Deigo (about 2hrs) and were taken to the Pier for a Cruise... it was an overcast day and starting to get quite chilly. The cruise was not very good, the view was aweful and the microphone cracked so even if we wanted to hear about the big ships, we couldnt hear it...
Then we were taken to a mall for lunch.. and were dumped there for 3 hours! As Sara and I can't afford to buy things, don't need things, and don't have room in our bag for things... this was a pointess waste of time. So after getting some lunch we sat in a cafe with free wifi to escape the cold and sit on facebook. We would have much preferred to be told where our hotel was.
Next we went to Old Mexican Town... again a pointless excersise. And finally to our hotel where we had a quick nap. So day one was not a very good start to our 14 day tour. However after we were taken to a Mexican restaurant for dinner (which after getting food poisoning from the last mexican meal was not what I wanted) we then went to the Double Douce bar which had $2 drinks all night! This was a lot of fun! We finally started getting to know our group and Sara had a ride on the mechanical bull. The drinks are so strong here because they have a free pour system instead of measuring a shot so Sara and I have to get a second drink of Coke to pour into our bourbon, and the more you tip the more alchohol they give us... so we just can't win. (Don't worry Dad, we're being responsible).
So after a great night we headed back to the hotel to sleep....and sleep... we could not get up the next day for either the Zoo or Seaworld (which were optional extras) and instead Sara went down to the pier to take photos and I walked around the shops near our hotel. Then we joined the group again and went to Mission Beach.
As it was Thanksgiving we all went to the Black Angus for a traditional turkey dinner which was very yummy! We finally had a good meal as everything here is so oily and gross we've barely eaten. I can't tell you how much I miss a fresh roll from Bakers Delight back home. We've been to several grocery stores and while they sell spreads like jam and nutella, we're not sure what they put them on because all the bread is so sugary or hot dog buns.
After dinner we went to Kristy's Karaoke Bar were we got our sing on and had a great time.
The next day we got up early and met the bus... and again waited for half hour for some of the group to arrive (who had apparently only just got back to their room after a night of partying). Eventually we began the 6 hour drive down to Phoenix. We stopped along the way at Walmart - which is about double the size of Bunnings at home, and has everything from guns, food outlets, groceries, electronics, and clothes, to nail salons. But we were only given enough time to use the restrooms and que in the food outlets for lunch... and with 54 of us on the bus... its always a long line.
When we got to Phoenix we dumped our bags at the hotel and headed to the stadium for a basketball game (Phoenix Suns vs the Clippers) - which was a bit of a let down after seeing a Lakers game... the crowd wasnt that into it. Afterwards we went to the Alice Coopertown bar (owned by Alice Cooper) had a couple of drinks and then headed home.
Yesterday we drove from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon and slept most of the day sleeping on the bus as Sara has not only caught a cold, but has passed it on to me. We stopped on the way at Sedona where we had a Jeep ride into the valley. I was very tough and didnt scream once while we went very fast down a sandy/rocky/muddy path which bumped us in and out of our seats mutiple times.
Then we were taken to our Lodge in the Grand Canyon National Park, but we arrived after dark so we're yet to actually see the Canyon. Luckily we had brought a torch with us which was handy when walking through the national park to get to a different lodge which has wifi. We sat in the lodge in front of the fire and thawed out while we attempted to use the wifi... but had forgotten the power adapter back at our room so we went back, had some food we'd bought at the general store and had an early night to try and get over our colds.
This morning we awoke to some of the people on our tour group walking past our room, so Sara went to check what they were doing on our "free day" today. However when she opened the room door we were shocked, because it is SNOWING! The entire car park in front of our room is white! Its no wonder we were so cold last night.

The tour guide had warned us that the temperature high for today would be minus 3 degrees but for some reason we hadnt thought it would snow. Thank goodness we had packed for European winter because we are certainly putting our neck muffs, beanies, gloves, ear muffs and big jackets to good use! Most of the people on our bus have had to buy clothes and jumpers, as until yesterday they were still walking around in thongs and singlets....

So today we have a free day and we're making good use of the time doing our washing. We'll probably try and see the canyon soon, although the snow isnt helping.