Aloha!

Day 1. Arrived into Honolulu airport without too much trouble, as in no delayed flight, no missing luggage just a little tired. Despite the rain and cool weather my first impression is that people here are super friendly and people aren't terribly worried about the Novel Coronavirus. 9:00 am, I get to the hotel and drop off my luggage and prepare to busy myself for 6 hours until I can check it at 3 pm. I decide that it would be a day of O'ahu sightseeing before the others arrive. With the hotel being situated near Waikiki Beach, I walk down to the famous strip and grab myself a Poke and some Masubi. The rain starts to fall and I decide it's time to find some indoor refuge. 11:30 am, UBER out to the Pearl Harbour memorial. 1:00 pm, UBER back to the main strip for lunch at Piggy Smalls, amazing Banh mi! 2:00 pm session of Bad Boys 3, I fall asleep during the movie. 4:30 pm check into hotel. 6:00 pm gym session. 8:00 pm dinner over at Herringbone. 11:00 pm. I pass out.

Day 2. I kit up and go for a 9 km run along the canal up and around Diamond Head. Unfortunately, I did not bring any cash so will have to explore the national park another day. Today is a little more relaxed, sightseeing, shopping around the main area of Waikiki. Pick up a Hawaiian Shirt for the arrival drinks. Sam and Irene arrive and we grab dinner at Morimoto. Despite the reunion, everybody is knackered and we retired early.

Day 3. Back up to Diamond Head for the national park hike and then the afternoon spent on Waikiki Beach. Finally made it to Leonardo's for a Malasada (Read. I ate five). Arrival drinks at Rumfire and then late night Dominos Pizza.

Day 4. Wake up late and jump on the bus out to Lualoa Ranch. Lauloa Ranch is approximately one hour away from Waikiki and is a picturesque valley surrounded by jagged cliffs more famously known as the film location for Jumanji and Jurassic Park. The couple have temporarily setup a marquee and brought in port-a-loos for the wedding ceremony, it's an absolutely stunning location. The group of people at this wedding is a combination of friends from Sydney and Hong Kong. It's a collection of fun, familiar faces. The ceremony is short and punchy (due to the fact that the celebrant accidentally skipped straight to the I do's before the vows) and the party continues into the early evening. 10 pm a bus takes us back to Waikiki Haus Supper Club before we leave for watch Sunset in the Presidential Suite of the Hyatt Regency. 7 am I head back to hotel and pack. 8:30 am, I catch an UBER to the airport. Exhausted. What a fun trip!

Hollywood

From most accounts Los Angeles, California received the least promising feedback. The general vibe from most people we spoke to went along the lines of "There's not too much to do there except the usual tourist sightseeing". Hopefully these sentiments aren't shared by the locals.

So our agenda for the first full day of sightseeing (5/4/08) was Venice Beach the sight for all things Californian. The amount of pollution in California isn't on par with Asian standards but it does take a while for the smog to dissipate. The days can be enjoyed without having to wear warm clothes but the wind is icy and come sunset warmer clothing is definitely needed. Street performers, spruikers, fake tattoos and all things carnival line the pavements and walkways of Venice Beach.


I would definitely recommend hiring a car as most things in Los Angeles are approximately 20 minutes apart and it saves the hassle of having to hail a cab after each destination. Mind you it does take a while to get used to driving on the 'other' side of the road. While we were in the area we also scoped out Santa Monica, a quaint beach side town I would probably want to stay (if there were to be a next time). Next stop was filled with an abundance of luxury sports cars, equally luxurious designer boutiques and people who walked the streets with enormous wallets or who, like us were just after a couple of photographs. Rodeo Drive is worth checking out even if you don't plan on shopping.

Since arriving in LA I have been sleeping in the hallway of my friend's hotel room. As cozy as that may sound it was time to find some accommodation of my own. I was online for 30 minutes trying to find a place relatively close and relatively cheap. The solution? Econolodge, a motor inn located on West Sunset Boulevard.


Since the legal age for drinking is 21 the clubs categorise their patrons into 2 groups: 18+ who are allowed to party and 21+ who are allowed to partying with alcohol. As mentioned before the law states that alcohol cannot be served past 2 am so most places close at around 1:50 am. Don't expect to see revelers going late into the early hours unless you plan on attending an 'After Hours' party (which are of course non-alcoholic). We met two locals who gave us a mini-briefing on the ins and outs of Hollywood partying, ended up in Korea town for a late night snack.

My body has yet to acclimatise to the new timezone and I'm struggling to string together any resemblance to a sleeping pattern. Woke up incredibly late (6/4/08) and headed back to Holiday Inn to pick up my two other friends. Drove just outside Beverly Hills to snap a couple of shots of the less than impressive Hollywood sign. Spent the remainder of the day at Universal Studios, pretty boring and was definitely not worth the Priority VIP entrance fee of 120 USD.



What would be my final night in Los Angeles was expected. In the hotel (I use that term loosely), packing and getting ready for the early check-out. Pretty quiet night, had dinner at the Cheesecake factory in Beverly Hills which was a far cry from the extremely lack lustre food selection we've had so far. It may have been the lack of alcohol that kept my senses at a regular sensitive level but it was only then in my sober state that I suddenly realised how noisy this lodging actually was. The constant roar of the traffic down Sunset Boulevard, pitter-patter of people returning to their rooms, dripping, creaking, buzzing. I couldn't sleep...