Chris and Sienna were kind enough to pay lonely me a visit en route to the frozen wilds of Canada. The weather was hot and dry (quelle suprise) and marred only slightly by the smoke lying over the city from the unstoppable fire that was mentioned earlier in the blog. So cruel to warm the travelling (two ls you damn American spell-check!) couple before plunging them in the deep freeze.
Sunday was spent at the Universal Studios theme park. Not much of a roller-coaster fest, more an experience thing. We managed to get around all the rides (thank goodness it was a quiet time of year) we wanted to see, and had an all-you can eat pass for food (all overpriced and not so good, thank goodness the pass was relatively cheap).
The studio tour was the usual cheesy experience. Saw the outside of the sound stages where some CSI filming was going on, some of the built sets (with clips of films they'd been in), some tour-gone-wrong set pieces (so cheesy), and passed by the set where Desperate Housewives was being filmed (apparently the tour usually goes down Wisteria Lane when filming isn't underway). Was fun, but I'm sure the VIP pass (which gets visits into filming sets and other backstage stuff) would've made it an excellent tour but I don't have an extra $100 or so to burn.
The Simpsons ride was a fun simulator ride, but not great enough to tempt us back.
The Jurassic Park ride was Universal's answer to Splash Mountain. A bunch of fairly pointless floating about, enjoying the scenery, followed by the usual 'boat took the wrong turn and everyone is now in danger' scenario ending in a steep drop to end the ride.
The Mummy ride was the only rollercoaster in the park. It was very much like Space Mountain, with a short whizz around in the dark. No upside-down sections on the ride, but a fairly pointless backwards travelling section. I believe that the backward travelling rollercoaster sensation only comes into its own when there's a stomach-lightening loop or corkscrew. This was the most exciting ride in the park and warranted a few return visits.
Backdraft was a look into the pyro-effects that can be used in films. It was impressive, to be sure, and hot too. I hate to think how much fuel is burnt by this show on a day to day basis.
Waterworld was a live action recreation of the film of the same name. We decided to sit right at the front. In the 'Soak Zone'. I figured that we might as well go the whole hog instead of being timid and sitting in the 'Dry Zone' or 'Splash Zone'. They certainly didn't lie. The warm-up to the show had a few of the team working the crowd, getting them to cheer, conducting them. If the crowd were half-hearted (which it always is to begin with), those in the 'Soak Zone' got buckets of water thrown on them. Repeatedly. Then big ol' water pump things squirted at them. I was lucky enough to get singled out when the pump came out. I seem to be a target at these audience-interaction shows. So honoured. Thoroughly soaked before the show even started. It was a fun little show with jetski jumps, fire effects, pantomime acting, fights, jumps, and a highly impressive plane crash at the end (cue large wave for us lucky folks). The jetski riders pulled tight turns to send huge waves of water over us. Late afternoon was not the best time for it, when it was getting cooler rather than warming. You live and you learn.
Soaking, we made our way over to Terminator 2: 3D. A mix of live action and 3D film effects, it was passable entertainment. Some of the 3D effects worked better than others. It was just a bit too air-conditioned poor, wet us though.
The House of Horrors was better than most as the things jumping out at us were humans rather than machines so had a more menacing feel. A bit too menacing at times - one rushed at me and I almost had to brace for impact, another tried to get Chris' food - but rarely surprising for a jaded rider (walker in this case) like me. Got some of the folks ahead and behind pretty well though. And me when there were two in the room. Wasn't expecting that.
The tail end of the Blues Brothers show we saw was fun enough, just a stage working of the film songs, really.
As a whole, the park was a good size. We managed to cover everything before the close as 6pm, and went to some things repeated times. Small queues helped this, of course. It was annoying being herded past the photo stands (some of our pictures were hilarious - Si pulled some good terror faces - but not worth $25 for a minimum of 3, especially when we weren't in front) and the gift shops coming out of each ride, but that's how these things work. I was suprised at the amount of booze available in the park. I guess I'm too used to Disneyland. Plus this park didn't really have anything to empty a tipsy stomach. A good way to spend a day in LA. For $67 + $20 food.
Swam in the hotel pool in the evening, had a margarita at the hotel bar. Chris and Si had a swish hotel and, as such, any purchases were pretty steep.
Monday had no plan. After some calls back home from the couple, and an email from me, we headed out to Hollywood. We ate a brunch at the International House of Pancakes on Sunset. Gotta love American breakfasts. Fatty, sugary, zillions of variations, and unlimited coffee. We left fat and happy to hit the sites. Hollywood isn't a very nice area. Let's be honest. The touristy open-fronted shops and cracked roads put me in mind of Tijuana. We wandered along the stars, loitered by the hand and foot prints outside the chinese theatre, took pictures of the Hollywood sign, and slowly wilted in the heat.
Then off to the nearest Costco (thank you, helpful tourist information person). There we also went into Toys'r'us and Best Buy (of TV show 'Chuck' fame) looking for a digital camera. One was procured and he headed for the hills. Literally. We headed up to Griffith Observatory to watch the sunset (thank you for the suggestion, Mr. Hollywood-local-who-was-listening-in-on-our-musings-on-what-to-see-in-a-big-city-like-LA-which-we-didn't-know-enough-about). It involved waiting for an hour and a half or so, then occurred in about 2 minutes. Banter was good, but view of city was lacking due to smoke/general smog over LA.
We then grabbed some expensive, over-sized, fairly tasty mexican food and headed back to the hotel. There Chris and Si sorted themselves out and we went for another wee swim. There was a roaming plaster in the pool. Gross. A quick aside - I reaffirmed my guess about why skin wrinkles in the pool. The upper layer of skin is absorbing water whilst the lower is remaining taut, causing wrinkles. The reason that only hands and feet wrinkle is that the absorbent layer of skin is thicker on the feet and hands. Just makes sense, doesn't it?
Then I cruised back home along the 101 and the 5, which were pretty busy for 10-11pm on monday. It is LA.
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