Venice Beach February 9, 2009

Venice Beach is but one of the many beaches lining the LA coastline. We could’ve gone to Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Santa Monica Beach, but we only could choose one due to limited time. It was cold, so we got less than expected. But I would come back again in the warmer months if chance [...]

Hollywood Area February 9, 2009

We drove around. I now know this: __________________ hollywood blvd __________________ sunset blvd __________________ santa monica __________________ melrose These are the four most important parallel streets in the coolest area in LA. Around hollywood blvd was the Chinese Theatre, Virgin Records and Kodak Theater. Outside on the streets were people in costume you can take [...]

Outlet Malls February 6, 2009

There are two Premium (read: branded) Outlet Malls that were recommended by friends in Singapore and SF. They are Cabazon Outlet Malls and Desert Hills Outlet Malls. One’s bigger in scale then the other, and I don’t remember, but it doesn’t matter because they are just next by each other. How to get to the [...]

To Pasadena February 4, 2009

Nearby Ventura is this artist town called Ojai (pronounced Oh-Hai). It’s inland in the Northeast direction and was recommended to me during a passing conversation. We went off the highway track, and started to quarrel because she wanted to stay the beaten path. And so we did. But visit Ojai for us if you like. [...]

San Luis Obispo – Solvang February 4, 2009

San Luis Obispo (SLO) is this small little town sitting between the two beach areas – Morro Bay in the north and Pismo beach further south. Pismo beach is touristy yet deservedly so. Exiting Highway 1 South at the Pismo Beach exit, we meandered for half an hour by the coastline, soaking in the sun [...]

Getting a phone January 28, 2009

It’s CDMA over here, so going around asking about where to get a SIM card was a futile chase. In the end, I walked into the network provider Verizon’s shop in Circuit City and got a phone for $25 and paid $30 for prepaid minutes – $2 for each day you use the phone at [...]

Hotel Carlton January 28, 2009

It’s cold here. I didn’t sleep well. But then again, I don’t know how the other hotels/hostels here are like. There was no electric blanket, and the heating system isn’t really that great. For 13 degree celcius in the day and 9 degrees celcius at night, either i’m afraid of the cold, or really we [...]

First nite out in SF January 28, 2009

Instead of having to take a shuttle from SFO to San Francisco city itself, we were picked up by our friend Kenan in his black volvo! It was a smooth drive there to our hotel in the city – 1 hour. We had pre-booked a winter discount that will cost about $62/nite.  Which is rather [...]

Transit at LAX January 28, 2009

If you’re flying in from overseas to LAX, and want to change immediately to a local flight, I’d say give yourself 2.5 hours of transit time. We flew in from Singapore, and arrived at 1pm. Getting past immigration and getting baggage took us one hour. So it was 2pm by then. Then we pushed the [...]

Buying Car Rental Insurance January 25, 2009

With regard to insurance, for an economy, compact and midsized car, you must consider the following: 1. Vehicle licensing cost recovery (VLCR): this is a mandatory surcharge that the government imposes on car rental. you may or may not get the surcharge passed on to you as an additional cost. We are covered when we [...]