Day-21:Around LA

The moment we entered LA we realized that there were a lot of places in LA to see and that we were never going to be able to see all of them in just 24 hours...EVER.

After short-listing the ones that we could fir in 1 day we drove to our first destination:THE WALK OF FAME.

LA means everything starry,glitzy,glamourous and Hollywood.

The walk of fame was basically a footpath with stars emblazoned on the tiles with names of the greatest hollywood celebrities and sports people on them.

We saw and walked on them all...be it Donald Duck or Jackie Chan or Mohommad Ali,John Travolta or even Godzilla...

The walk of Fame eventually led to the KODAK THEATRE.

The entire street was an exiting place to be with two Michael Jacksons,a Scooby Doo,the Incredibles,Batman,Spiderman,Superman,and even Marilyn Monroes' livening up the streets,clicking pictures and posing in varied styles for the tourists.

We never realized as the morning turned in evening and it was time for us to proceed to our next destination:The Griffith Observatory.Well the name does sound boring.. (You don't need to be ashamed guys....when I first came to know that we had to go there..my first reaction was: "Wasn't this supposed to be my vacation??")

But the place turned out to be so much more interesting than just a boring Geography Class.

It is one thing knowing all the various theories about the earth and another seeing the proof of all that you ever studied about the earth being proven in front of your eyes.

We also saw a great show at the planeterium...(We did catch dad sleeping a few times in the show...but I still liked it.)

It was freezing cold when we stepped out of the observatory and we couldn't wait to return to the warmth of the car.

Day-20:LA Calling!!!

"Trrrrriinnngggggggggg!!"

We were all so sleepy we could only hear a faint noise instead of the startling sound that we usually wake up to.

We woke up after sometime gazing lazily at the clock....

"Oh God!! We are late....we slept for 2 more hours...we need to rush..HURRY!!"

As soon as the realization dawned us..everything was fast forwarded..

brushing,having a bath,packing the remaining stuff, and in flat 1 hour all three of us were on our way to LA.

The road trip to LA takes about 6-7 hours from bhaiya's house..depending on the traffic.

We had a great time driving through the highways and enjoying the view and chatting away.

It was not until we entered LA that we came to know that all the talks and warnings about LA traffic were under-rated...It is worse than anything you have ever seen.

After 2 hours in LA we finally reached Shailesh Uncle's house and "Surprise Surprise".

Gotu bhaiya was waiting for us there.

We had an amazing lunch at "Chipotle" after which we headed to the jain derasar in the city.

It was amazing...and I had never seen soo many gujaratis gather at any one place in US.

It was a huge place with beautiful statues and lots of greenery.

We then went to a mall only to find Ultra-stylish, Super-glam,uber cool clothes...with the largest price tags.

Nevertheless its always fun even if you get to window shop in LA's posh areas.

We were soon hungry and after grabbing some dinner we returned to the hotel.

Day-18,19:Home Alone

"Is all the packing done???"

"Bye Aneri,See you in two days.."

I woke up with a start...was someone talking to me??

I looked around and found no one.

I went downstairs to see Bhaiya and Utsavididi all set to leave for work.

I was about to ask them about mom and dad when I suddenly remembered that they had to catch a flight to LA today.

They left for office and I was alone for two days..

But i worked on my plan..

I watched movies,cleaned my plates,and watched more movies and slept...

These were the two most leisurely days I had since a long time..

Bhaiya came back from his office and we changed into our tracks and went running...

The weather was great which is the case for most days and we had a lot of fun...

We came back home picking up Utsavididi on the way.

Utsavididi prepared the worlds most amazing sandwiches and at the end of dinner we were all so full we could barely stand up.

I thoroughly enjoyed all the time that I had with them...

We packed everything for our road trip to LA:water bottles,food,chocolates,soft drinks,napkins,clothes,shoes...and the camera.

Super-exited as I was for tommorow ,It still wasnt long before I had difficulty in keeping my eyes open and I dozed off to sleep.

Day-16,17:Catching up on shopping

Today was "MY DAY"!!!

We were going shopping...yay!!

We made a trip to some malls and bought a few things...

(Actually everyone bought a few things except me....I bought a lot of things..!)

All the malls we went to were great complete with lots of good cothes and very HUGE.

But the best store in my opinion was none other than KOHLS.

(This was because the cashier gave us an extra 15% discount on all our purchases because we were the last customers to leave the store....lol)

All in all we went on a major shopping spree....and that too with dad right there...

That is really something to remember...ALWAYS!!!

Day-15:Bhaiya's Friends

After lots of planning and cancelling of dates to meet bhaiya's friends' we finally decided to meet up today...

All the calls were made and we decided to meet at 8...

Our plan had just one flaw...we forgot to decide the venue...

(We were actually debating about two places but we did not finalise..but in the end we chose the place closest to home.)

At 8 sharp,we met bhaiya's friends at an Indian Restaurant in San Jose-Sakoon.

The ambience of the restaurant was great...and the food..even BETTER.

We had a gala time there...eating,chatting and..EATING..a lot.

After dinner we went to see the appartment where bhaiya used to live during college.

It was a lot cleaner than I had expected...(a result of the massive cleaning action that might have taken place over the weekend...I am sure.. )

We sat around for a little chat and before we knew it was time for us to leave.

(Actually we did not have any time to leave,but if our massive yawns were any indication we would all be asleep before we even reached home..)

So with "Good Night"s and "See You In India"s we left for home.

Day-14:San Francisco

May 9 was here...Mothers' Day!!!
We almost forgot about it until yesterday night when Utsavididi had a brain wave of sorts.
We rushed of to Walgreens on pretext of buying milk and bought a card for mom..)
As soon as we woke up, we wished mom and...she was soo happy..!!
We had a nice time clicking pictures and enjoyed ourselves.
Bollywood Hip hop dance style....well basically I have never tried anything like it ...EVER.
But thats what I was going to see today in Utsavi didi's dance show.
Utsavi didi had to go early.( When its your show,you need to catch up on the steps....)
We dropped her to the venue,then picked up some groceries(we suddenly realized we were out of stock....) and finished lunch.
Gotu Bhaiya left immediately after lunch because he had to be there in L.A. on time. :(
We got a little late when we reached the show.(Luckily,we did not miss Utsavi didi's show...it was a little late.. )
The show was great and we had a gala time watching it.
We left for San Francisco after the show.
Before you move on to check my older posts,I'll tell you that we are going there for the second time....you would too..the city is soo good.
(Well actually San Francisco is toooo big a city to finish seeing in just one go....so we had to again)
This time around we went round the other..a little less posh area of the city :Fisherman's Wharf.
It was a very lively street..(I could easily say that because believe it or not this was the first time I was seeing soo many people on the street...)
We had fun walking along the streets, waching street plays, a few musicians and even some painters..(These painters would make souvenier paintings for you in less than 5 mins!!!)
Next we went to "Ghirardelli ".We tasted the most amazing chocolates there (for free...so they tasted even better..hahaha).
After a brief session of desserts there,we drove on....
We did not bother too much about the weather until we reached Treasure Island.It was then that we were actually sweeped off our fee...it was sooo windy.
(For all those who dont know,Treasure Island is a place just outside San Francisco which offers a breath-taking view of the whole city skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge..)
Despite the view being soo amazing and so perfect we could not stay there too long as we were freezing.
So,we took some pictures very quickly and rushed back home.

Day-13:Carmel Beach

With Gotu bhaiya here,we had sooo many options for places to go.
(People usually say having many options is good..I am completely against it...and it turned out I was right ...we were all confused)
Finally,we decided to go to "CARMEL Beach ".
We packed up all our picnic stuff,forced it into the trunk and set off.
After a brief ride in winding streets with European backgrounds and fairy-tale buildings,we reached our destination.
We removed our shoes and socks and stepped in the ice cold water which had a refreshing effect on all of us.
We enjoyed the astounding view of the sea and the sky till sunset.
After a wallk around the streets, we could all hear our tummies rumbling.
We went to a nearby restaurant "Demetri Cafe".
We tried different types of food there including Greek and Italian.
(Well, actually there were many others but the names are soo complicated I didn't bother to mention...)
We came back with the smell of the sea and feel of the breeze still fresh in our minds.