I Slept My Way To Hollywood

Sometimes I just wonder when will I ever finish blogging about the US trip which happened LAST YEAR. When I heard of my juniors complaining about the cold winters last December, I knew I was 6 months behind in my postings. Now, when another batch of my juniors are talking about the ever-changing weather, tonardo warnings and all, urgency kicked in. And thus, I present to you now, a post that has been overdued for almost a year...

After touring Universal Studios, we went to walk around Hollywood the next day.

If I could turn back time, got tickets to the American Idol results show and got more budget to plan for the trip, I really would have re-done the itenerary so I can get to stay at the (expensive) hotel where most Idols stay (and hopefully get to "stalk" David Cook) and get to see him being crowned the winner "live" at the Kodak Theatre. Too bad...
I didn't have the chance to venture into the place because only I found it interesting and I didn't want to cross the road alone...




Lunch was at California Pizza Kitchen
We were driving down from San Fran to LA, and I was sleeping when I should be giving my Dad directions. But we didn’t have to make any turnings on the highway for an hour or so, hence I took a nap. Hehe...

We did a little shopping at Hollywood & Highland Centre and then made our way down to Beverly Hills.

While nearing the neighbourhood of Beverly Hills me and the sis were all awed by the big beeeaaaauuutttiiiffffuuullllll houses and cars that we forgot to reach for the camera to snap snap and plus the fact that Dad could not slow down a little due to the traffic, we could only go "wahhhhhhh....."
We headed for Beverly Center and did some window shopping. They had Macy's and all kinds of brands (which we had shopped at the outlets at outlet malls) but it was at Bloomingdale's which made me spend money. I bought a pair of Marc by Marc Jacobs jeans which cost me about SGD200.
By then, it was getting a little late and we decided to find dinner. Since the days at Oklahoma, I've always wanted to try Cheesecake Factory. Trying my luck, we got into the car and keyed Cheesecake Factory into the GPS. Tada! There was an outlet nearby within the Beverly Hills vicinity!
We drove down and found a parking area in about 10-15 mins. After we parked and alighted from the car, I felt damn "low-class"... Here we are, parking a Dodge mini-van in a carpark filled with the likes of BMWs, Mercs, Chryslers, Porsches, etc. I told my family that and they were laughing and commenting that Beverly Hills IS a rich-man's area after all. However, when we were walking towards the staircase to lead us downstairs to street level, I saw this a Ford and commented that we are not the only "low-class" ones. And they laughed at me again...

By this time, it was getting a little dark and most shops around were closing. We crossed the relatively empty street to Cheesecake Factory and till now, I'm regretting why I did not take a photo of the restaurant from across the street!
While we were discussing on what to ordered, I told them that while in OK, I was told that the salads were good and huge. My dad was then thinking of ordering 2 mains, a side and a salad. I was confident we would not be able to finish so I told my dad to look around and he gave me a shocked look when he saw a server serving a nearby table their salad. So, we settled on a main, a side and a salad. And while we were looking around, we saw that most had a main course to themselves and ordered a salad and/or side dish to share and started wondering aloud how they can finish...The food did not disappoint me. There are DAMN good! Even though the four of us were struggling to finish the food due to the HUMONGOUS portion, we could not stop eating cos they were SO devilish yummy good!Since we are all so stuffed already, we packed 2 slices of cheesecakes. But seriously, they are nothing to rave about...

Last day of the US trip coming right up...