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California Girl for a week! Part 2: The sequel

holly — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 03:40:58 +0000

…Putting the convertible to good use, the next day we drove an hour and a half up to LA for Universal Studios. It started off cloudy and nasty today, too, but cleared up so we could groove with the top down on the way home. I personally feel Universal Studios is the most overrated of the major southern California attractions, as it’s really expensive (both parking and admission) and there really isn’t all that much there. If my friend wasn’t a movie buff I probably would have skipped it altogether. The reason to go essentially is the Studio Tram tour, which is always enjoyable and different, as you see the ins and outs of an actual working film studio. It’s also a major chunk of your day, as when you combine the nearly hour long tour with the line for it, it’s a two-hour experience. The last time I was here I had been on a business trip, so it’s a very different experience to wander around with a bunch of know-it-all travel agents (me included) who ask a lot of obnoxious questions so we can properly sell the park to our clients, as it is to explore in a purely tourist capacity. This was more fun, but that way they threw in some of the perks, like the VIP tour, for free, so it really came out as a tie.

Late afternoon we’d seen all they had to offer and spent some enjoyable time shopping at the Universal Citywalk right outside the gates. I’m a big fan of Citywalk, the mix of stores is good, not too expensive, very kitchy and touristy (love my touristy crap!) and a good selection of places to eat, from Bubba Gump Shrimp Co to Taco Bell. The Sugar candy store even had a ten-pound gummy bear that had me wondering how I was going to get it through customs. I didn’t.

The following day finally brought the sunshine back with a vengenance, as this was the start of LA’s recent heat wave. It had to be 40 degrees, but it felt soooo gooood on my shoulders! We braved traffic back into downtown LA(top down this time) to do some shopping at the trendy Grove shopping mall and the quaint LA Farmer’s Market, which just so happen to be connected to one another. You know a mall is uber trendy when they offer valet service and have bathroom attendants in the parking garage. Not kidding. Never know if I have to tip those people who stand silently in the corner listening to people pee all day… The shopping there was pretty weak, but that was mainly because neither of us was in need of a $200.00 pair of jeans and the like, but the decor was nice. Dancing fountains and a central piazza that looked straight out of Italy until you turned around and found yourself facing a 20-screen multiplex movie theatre.

The Farmer’s Market was tiny! And I mean tiny. Like thirty different food stalls, two grocery stalls, and ten stores selling crap even too tacky for me, and that was it. It was more like the LA International food court instead of a Farmer’s Market. But there were three places that sold handmade ice cream that was really good (according to me and all the signed headshots of celebrities on the walls), and at the Sur La Table kitchen store I did buy this adonrable pan to make handmade mini doughnuts I’m dying to try out, so it wasn’t all a waste.

The real reason we were in LA today was because we had tickets to a taping of the Craig Ferguson Show at CBS Studios. The studios are actually right beside the Farmer’s Market, too, which is actually how we stumbled upon the market in the first place. In an incredible twist of fate, our plans for the day had been to scope out CBS Studios, then go to the Farmer’s Market, and then make it back to CBS in time for our afternoon taping. It was only when we got to CBS that we discovered our planned desitnations were actually in the same place. High five.

As an aside, we had a Tom Tom with us and that thing rocks. With all the lanes and exits and spaghetti junctons in SoCal, that soothing female voice smoothly guided us everywhere with a minimal effort. Except when the driver failed to listen to her. Or couldn’t get over into the right lane. Mostly failed to listen. Then she gets mad, “as soon as possible, please turn around” “please turn around” “turn around” “TURN AROUND!”.

Back to Craigy Ferg. Our tickets were for a 230 taping, but by the time our crowd got wrist-banded, searched by security, all our cell phones confiscated, warmed up and prepped for the rigorous duty of audiencing, it was nearly 430 and we hadn’t seen anything yet. They instructed us to laugh at all guests equally, not boo if something is offensive, and tone it down if you have one of those “special” laughs (you know who you are). The warm up guy was really funny, and soon we were in studio, watching the show go down live in font of us. John Hamm from Mad Men (surprisingly funny and charming), a surprise Betty White (who actually looks her age in person, but who’s still the coolest thing out there), and the creator of “Bored to Death” on HBO (or some network) who was hysterically funny and talked in a onotone about how he didn’t think he had a real penis since his was so small. No kidding. It was a riot. The whole show was ridiculously funny. Hell, even the guy with the jaunty sweater tied over his shoulders who was pulled onstage and mocked as the “gay guy” despite the fact he was there with his wife and kids was funny. Good times, good times. And if you ever wonder if they do edits and takes on a nighttime talk show, the answer is no. It all plays out rapidly and remarkably smoothly right before your eyes like it would watching at home, minus the commercials. Loved it!

Back to Disneyland for our last full day in California. A friend who lives in LA and has a season’s pass came and joined us and it was a lot of fun. I love Disneyland and I love the heat, but mid afternoon we were all feeling it. The fact that we’d all chosen to wear black didn’t help us out any, either Now we were able to go back and ride all our favorites, as we’d already hit pretty much everything once we wanted to, as well as do all the last-ditch shopping we had been meaning to do all week. After dinner at Target (there was no time to stop and eat, there was shopping to do, people! I literally had chocolate covered cherries straight off the shelf as we perused, then had to run the empty box through the register) we caught an opening night showing of the new Wall Street movie (air conditioned!) and concluded another fantastic day by watching the Disneyland fireworks from the comfort of our parkview hotel room’s picture window.

Last day. I can never believe when a trip is over. And I can never figure out where to keep all our crap. It never feels like I’m buying all that much as I shop, but when the time comes to re-pack, there’s never any space. Luckily my friend hadn’t brought a carry-on with him on the way down, so he was able to fly home with all our overflow stuffed animals (when in Disneyland I dare you not to come home without at least two stuffies. Let me tell you, it ain’t gonna work) in a giant Disney bag. I’m sure that helped his street cred We were checked out bright and early, and our last stop was the Crystal Cathedral. I never thought I’d actually intentionally come to the Crystal Cathedral (I used the bathroom there once years ago, but that doesn’t count), but we needed to pick up some souvenirs for the people back home. They have a surprisingly large gift shop, and they gave me a free Crystal Cathedral pen with my purchase of an angel decending from heaven (or ascending to heaven, depending on how you hold it) floaty pen. Bless them.

Saying goodbye to Sally at the Avis lot was a sad, sad moment. It’s like all my coolness went with that convertible. But I promised her I’d be back someday!

Our flight home was surprisingly mellow and easy, thanks to Plants Versus Zombies on iPhone, and before we knew it we were home. It really was a great trip, some very much needed r&r, a little sun, a lot of fun, and a lot of laughter. What more can you ask for? I wish we all could be California Girls (and guys, gotta keep this PC)!!!

California girl for a week! Part 1: the beginning

holly — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 02:52:08 +0000

There is nothing like touching down at LAX, seeing the trademark arched restaurant, the palm trees, the smog and the shuttle buses to Disneyland. I’ve done this like fifteen times before, but it never fails to make me happy, and last week, that is exactly what I needed. A little California love.

It was a torrential downpour when we left Vancouver, which only made 25 degrees and sunny all the more fantastic upon touchdown. The Avis lady successfully upsold us to a silver Mustang convertible (oh my God, that was a hard decision! The whole conversation went something like this: “Want to drive a convertible? The upgrade is chea-” *Interrupted* “We’ll take it”) and soon we were cruising down I-5, top down, Beach Boys blaring at an obnoxious, of-course-we’re-tourists-and-loving-it level. There’s something about a convertible ‘Stang (we named her Sally, natch) that just makes you feel free, and I found myself looking at the other convertibles we passed as if we were bonded, we had admission into the special club of convertible people. These strangers were our new peeps.

Soon we checked into our nicely renovated room at the Red Lion Anaheim, applied the sunscreen we should have put on our pasty Canadian skin before renting a convertible (oops), and headed to the Block at Orange for a little first day of vacation retail therapy, dinner and a movie. I just have to go on record thanking AMC cinemas for having arm rests in their theatres that lift up, so if there’s no one next to you you can pop up all the arm rests and actually get comfortable. Such a small touch, but it rocks. So much so that I enjoyed that more than the movie

The next day it was onto Disneyland. If you’ve read my blog before (and if you haven’t shame on you! Lol) you know I’m kinda sorta really obsessed with Disneyland worldwide. It’s my crack, the addiction I just can’t shake, and if I’m ever within 200 miles of one, you know I’m there. I’ve been to this park something like 20 times, but the second I enter that central plaza and can hear the Disney classics being piped in over the sound system, a stupid grin affixes itself onto my face and I’m Disnified all over again. My friend had never been here before, so I kept lapsing into tour guide mode, spouting useless facts and planning a route for optimal rideage, before snapping out of it and just letting him enjoy the experience. I had never been here for the Holiday versions of the Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain before and I was really surprised at how large a change they are. I had always assumed they just left the ride the same and threw in some Nightmare Before Christmas/ghostly decor and called it re-themed, but it’s actually a totally new ride experience. The Haunted Mansion specifically. The new decor was all-encompassing, the storyline was totally different, the colours were brighter and the overall effect was actually much less creepy than the usual ride. It was really noticeable near the beginning, when you’re in the stretching room, and normally lightning flashes and you see the hanging corpse above you. But the holiday version had the same lightning, only accompanied by the not creepy at all smiling face of Jack Skellington. The Space Mountain:Ghost Galaxy retheme was a little more on the spooky side, with giant projections of space ghosts where the planets normally are, and because the planets are not illuminated, the entire ride experience is darker. This makes it feel much faster, though the ride itself has not changed at all.

The following day was all Disney, too. Giddy fun in the warm California sun. It was hot this day, and mid afternoon we hit up the shops to buy all the breakables (4 mugs between the 2 of us, but they were so cute, we couldn’t resist) and stuff we hadn’t wanted to carry on the rides (a stuffed Yoda will now provide me guidance from the top of my bookshelf) before going back to the hotel. While my friend slept off the heat, I took my hyper self shopping at the nearby Anaheim Gardenwalk mall. I know it was 230pm on a Monday, but this area is full of people on vacation, so there was no reason for the mall to be a ghost town. There were like ten shoppers in the whole place, and most of the people in the halls were employees walking off their boredom. I couldn’t believe it. Granted, there really aren’t any flagship stores, unless you like the over-perfumed yuppie clothes of Hollister, and it was too early for the good selection of restaurants to be busy, but still. It was almost uncomfortable being there. So I went to Sephora in downtown Disney. I always got to Sephora in Downtown Disney. At this point they should just see me coming and greet me at the door with a little basket and my favorite flavour of iced tea. A girl can dream… But I spent my money like a good shopper, then went back to the hotel, picked up my friend and we headed back to Disney to hit the California Adventure Park.

I always describe this park to clients as a good way to spend an afternoon if the lines at Disneyland get too long. There just simply isn’t too much there, and consequently the lines are usually short. Now it’s also massively under construction, as Disney has realized this and they’re in the process of building a big-ticket Little Mermaid Ride, a park, and a whole new Cars Land, complete with giant prefab mountains that were just beginning to take shape. When this park matures, it’ll be great, but for now all you have to do is make sure you ride Soaring over California and spend some time lost in Disney wonderment at the Animation Studio and you can leave fulfilled. They have just launched a new World of Colour show that’s supposed to be spectacular, combining projections, lasers and thousands of dancing fountains, but the fastpasses were sold out by the time we got there, and neither of us were willing to start lining up three hours early in order to get a good seat. That’s precious Disney time wasted. So maybe next time… I’ve never seen the Fantasmic show in Disneyland, either, for the exact same reason.

Day three brought a last-minute road trip down to San Diego. The plan was to enjoy the two hour dive each way with the top down, wind in our hair, but the weather had other plans. Overcast with a high of 19 degrees meant that it was top up, hoodie on, but the ride was till enjoyable. We spent the day at the world-famous San Diego Zoo, and I can’t recommend this place enough. It’s got more species in one place than pretty much any zoo on the planet, it’s nicely landscaped, so you feel like you’re exploring the pathways instead of just walking down pre-fab roads, and it has great gift shops. What’s not to love? We saw everything and took the majority of our vacation pics that day…

If you won the lottery…

holly — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:55:31 +0000

So, tomorrow’s Lotto Max draw is worth CAD$50 million. With a carrot like that dangling in front of me, I can’t help but start daydreaming. If I had that money, what would I do with it? I’ve been asked this question tons of times over the years, and my standard answer is “I don’t know, but I’ll send you a postcard when I get there.” I’d be on a plane so fast my clothes wouldn’t even have had time to crease in my suitcase. But that poses the bigger question, if you had unlimited funds, where would you go?

For me, someone who plans her own vacations on a daily basis (I’m not sure this is healthy anymore…) it’s a tough decision. Of course, I eventually want to go everywhere, but you have to start somewhere, so you might as well start off with the important places on your to-see list (the ones underlined and bolded with the little stars scribbled beside their names).

Tokyo. Definately Tokyo. If you’ve read my other blogs you know that I love me some Asia, and nothing looks more incredible than Tokyo. The colours, the people, the food. I want to get lost at the Shibua Scramble crossing. Plus, they have a Disneyland. With that checked off, I would only need to go to Florida and I’d have seen them all. And since I was already in Asia, might as well hop on down to Vietnam and Cambodia, two places that not only look cool, but that I’ve heard nothing but incredible reviews about from clients. Everyone says without fail that the people are just so unbelievably friendly. And Angkor Wat’s there.

And for something completely different, I’d go to Rio. Climb Sugarloaf mountain, visit with Christ the Redeemer, learn to samba and wear feathers on my head. Then down to Iguassu falls to see one of the most incredible waterfalls. Another skip and I’d be in Buenos Aires, tango-ing away and eating at the restaurant where a bar code tells you exactly what cow your steak came from (that’s right, specific cow, not just farm) so you know it’s perfect.

And Venice. Gondola-ing along the canals and wearing amazing masks as I watch Murano glass being blown.

And finally, topping my must-see list is Cairo. I love Egyptian history and archaeology, hell my cat’s even named Cairo. I want to stare in awe at the Pyramids, the Sphinx, the Karnak temple, the crazy cab drivers.

So basically, I still can’t decide where I would go first if I win that jackpot tomorrow night, but you can bet it’s going to be fantastic!

Where would you go?

Paris – They put their money in the left bank.

holly — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:33:14 +0000

Last year a friend and I were able to experience Paris when it sizzles as part of a Globus week in London and Paris package. Our hotel was on the left bank of the Seine, steps from the spectacular Eiffel Tower and numerous metro lines.

While our leader (who delighted in pointing out pickpockets and the exact spot where Princess Diana died) warned that the Metro was a confusing, potentially dangerous way to travel, we found it cheap, fast and easy, as well as being a great source of entertainment. Buskers perform right on the trains, playing guitars or wheeling around Karaoke machines, complete with large amplifiers and microphones.

Within hours of arriving in Paris we had ascended the Arc de Triomphe (shorter than expected, but halfway up the stairs you begin to think it’s huge), strolled the Champs Elysses and people watched at a charming little sidewalk bistro.

A half day bus tour was included in the package the next morning and it was great, complete with a guided tour through the dirt-stained glory of Notre Dame, and a ride up to the first floor of the Eiffel Tower.

The tour dropped us off at a perfumerie near the Opera House (of Phantom of the Opera fame) for an optional shopping trip, but we chose to break away from the pack and take the RER rapid train to Disneyland Paris so we could compare it with the one in California. When the tour leader found out where we were going, he actually turned up his nose at us and refused to speak with either of us for the remainder of the trip.

Paris was in the middle of an unseasonable October heat wave and I was thankful for the pair of shorts I had packed at the last minute. It felt, though, as if I was the only person in the country wearing them, as I got lots of stares and a street vendor followed me down the Rue de Rivoli making unsettling kissing sounds. The Louvre heated up quickly, it’s only source of air-conditioning being large grates in the floor, and groups of tourists battled to stand on top to escape the oppressive heat.

Our finale in Paris was enjoying a lunch of baguettes and cheese on the banks of the Seine, followed by a nighttime boat tour of the City of Lights. The Eiffel Tower literally sparkled, a surreal sight that just makes you smile and realize “this is Paris.”

A city of history leaning up against a modern world, I still see that glittering tower when I close my eyes – awesome enough to make dealing with the snooty tour leader worth it.

Originally published in the Vancouver Province

Southern California so much fun!

holly — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 02:37:30 +0000

As a long-overdue Girl’s Week Out this past January/February my Mom and I vacationed in Southern California, seeking sun, sand and surf. We were hoping for pure fun and boy, did we find it. Not ones to lie on the beach all day, we packed our trip with all the stereotypical tourist haunts, beginning in San Diego.

There we took in the exotic San Diego Wild Animal Park; admired the stunning views (and gale force winds) from Cabrillo Point, where Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovered San Diego in 1542; saw hunky lifeguards, low-flying military planes and the famous Hotel Del Coranado; and shopped for souvenirs in the tourist-oriented Seaport Village.

From there we drove up the Pacific Coast Highway to Anaheim. As a Christmas gift I had given Mom a Beach Boys CD, thinking that it would put us in the sunny California mindset. No one could have guessed how perfect it turned out to be. With songs such as “Surfin’ USA” and “Surfin’ Safari” we were driving through places such as La Jolla, Huntington and Redondo Beach when they were mentioned in the songs!

Our final destination was, of course, Disneyland and it’s sister park, the California Adventure. We couldn’t travel all that way without spending some time with the Mouse.

Undoubtedly, the winter is the best time to visit the parks, with lineups so nonexistent that you could finish one ride, walk back around to the beginning and get right back on it again. And the best part was that there weren’t millions of kids there. Sure, there were plenty of toddlers and some older ones (those that we met hailing mainly from Australia on their summer vacation), but there were tons of child-free adults, too.

We’d thought that we’d stick out, being two adults who couldn’t claim that “we’re only here for our kids”, but we were far from alone. Couples, honeymooners and groups ranging from their 20’s to their 80’s were running from ride to ride, just as eagerly as the preschoolers. How can you not be happy in a place where everyone – staff and guests- have permanent joyful grins on their faces?

Our trip was exhausting, busy and full of all the tacky tourist stuff: absolutely perfect. The people were all unbelievably nice and happy to talk or take a picture, and the sky was endless blue. Coming home was hard, and both of us would go back in a heartbeat.

- As originally published in the Vancouver Province