Wednesday, December 28, 2005
We got up bright and early for an all American breakfast at a diner called Coco's where we stuffed ourselves silly with omelettes, pancakes, and pies. After that, we headed into Los Angeles where our first stop was Griffith Park where the Griffith Observatory is located. Too bad it is closed for renovations and will only open next year. Nonetheless, we settled for the blurry yet stunning views of LA as well as the very famous Hollywood sign. It was then on to the Grauman's Chinese Theatre to check out the footprints and handprints of some famous stars. My mum was snapping away like crazy and refused to tip some guy who was dressed up like Zorro whom I took a picture with. U.Bob then dropped us off at Rodeo Drive where again, my mum started snapping away at window displays, pretty street lamps which were actually chandeliers, road signs and expensive cars parked by the side of the road. Went into some shops but of course walked away empty-handed then proceeded to drive around the UCLA campus. Plans of visiting the Santa Monica pier were dashed as it was too foggy. We couldn't even see the ocean as we were driving by.
Slept the entire way back to Huntington Beach as I needed to be refreshed for the Christmas Eve dinner at U.Bob's relative's house. It was my first time meeting his entire family that included grand nieces and grand nephews and I felt really uncomfortable the entire night. However, it was a memorable experience being able to celebrate Christmas in an entirely new environment with such amazing people. It made me miss home more though.
Christmas day was spent in San Bernardino, about an hour's drive away. Again, I slept the entire way there only to wake up to a beautiful view of the mountains once we arrived at another one of U.Bob's relative's house. The weather was nice so we sat outside by the swimming pool to have our lunch, complete with turkey and all. The highlight of the day was taking a walk through this neighborhood where each and every house was elaborately decorated with lights and blown-up snowmen and what not. Some houses had The Grinch, some had SpongeBob, and one even had Homer Simpson!! I pity the residents of that street and the surrounding areas because the streets were filled with pedestrians such as us and cars slowly cruising by. But I guess it's to be expected since they go to such great lengths to decorate their houses.
And that concludes my Christmas weekend in California where I had a truly amazing time. Shopping for 13 hours straight on Boxing Day shall be blogged about in a later post. Maybe...
Slept the entire way back to Huntington Beach as I needed to be refreshed for the Christmas Eve dinner at U.Bob's relative's house. It was my first time meeting his entire family that included grand nieces and grand nephews and I felt really uncomfortable the entire night. However, it was a memorable experience being able to celebrate Christmas in an entirely new environment with such amazing people. It made me miss home more though.
Christmas day was spent in San Bernardino, about an hour's drive away. Again, I slept the entire way there only to wake up to a beautiful view of the mountains once we arrived at another one of U.Bob's relative's house. The weather was nice so we sat outside by the swimming pool to have our lunch, complete with turkey and all. The highlight of the day was taking a walk through this neighborhood where each and every house was elaborately decorated with lights and blown-up snowmen and what not. Some houses had The Grinch, some had SpongeBob, and one even had Homer Simpson!! I pity the residents of that street and the surrounding areas because the streets were filled with pedestrians such as us and cars slowly cruising by. But I guess it's to be expected since they go to such great lengths to decorate their houses.
And that concludes my Christmas weekend in California where I had a truly amazing time. Shopping for 13 hours straight on Boxing Day shall be blogged about in a later post. Maybe...
