Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard, Grumann’s Chinese Theatre and the Walk of Fame have always been must sees in my mind. As a non-resident, I would consider these some of the most famous sights. Seeing it first hand however, was a very big disappointment. And that has what LA has been…a big disappointment. Even the famed Rodeo Drive is classless compared to the Champs-Elysées of Paris or even Collins Street of Melbourne!

However, the beaches in the LA area are quite nice. I loved Huntington Beach for the waves and the sheer expanse of sand. Laguna Beach is in a nice part of the world. Malibu does indeed have that beautiful surfrider wave that just rolls into the shore and Venice is a lot of fun for it’s quirky characters.

Universal Studios is a fun day but like all the major theme parks in the country, very expensive day. In the end, we gave up on Disneyland but went to Knott’s Berry Farm which had the scariest hairpin loop I have ever seen. Once on top though, you can’t scream because your voice has been shoved into the back of your throat.

LA – 5/10

Look carefully! You can see the cuts.

Well…okay. My cuts weren’t that bad but when you come out of the surf bleeding, it’s gets the attention of others.

But my board is pretty yeah?

Look at that arse kicking board!

1. Where are the combinis? There are the ABC stores which sell everything from ugly Hawaiian shirts to drinks, but these do not match up with the convenience stores in Tokyo. AND…they are only found every 5th store and not every 2nd. This means that you might have to walk across a road before you can find convenience at your fingertips.

2. It is very hard to find healthy food. We have walked across Waikiki and back looking for a decent looking, healthy sandwich, to no avail. Who knew people could live off cheese and Starbucks? Is this a warning to us for what’s to come on the mainland?

3. Hawaiian shirts. Who knew there were so many designs? You’re probably wondering how many ways can people design a shirt badly…Come to Waikiki and you will find out. Enough said.

4. Public buses. Yes, they are cheap. Yes, they do come frequently. But I think I have found the culprit for Global Warming. These buses could re-freeze the fraying edges of the North Pole. In addition, they must be the oldest, gas guzzling vehicles on the planet. We had the fortunate opportunity of riding a bus for over an hour today to visit the USS Arizona, a large battleship sunk in Pearl Harbour. By the end of the trip, I had to be broken out of the ice that was encapsulating me. Another gripe I have about the buses is that they never advertise the fastest trips to tourist attractions on the right buses. They suggest that you take the 1.5 hour bus ride out but there is actually an express they reserve for the locals which passes all the tourist attractions as well….BAH!

You’re probably thinking that I’m ungrateful and a whinging and whining tourist. So be it! It’s my holiday and I’ll do what I want to. However, I am looking forward to more swimming and surfing tomorrow…or at least as soon as Matt gets over his sunburn…WHICH he got from not listening to me about putting on sunscreen. This was also after not listening to me say, “Are you sure you want to wear your sunglasses in the water?”. 5 seconds…WHOOSH…sunglasses gone.

Michelle

Now we are giving it another go. The reason being that we are about to embark on our Round the World trip. 

It’s Saturday night and we are still packing. Plenty of time as we don’t leave our apartment until 5pm tomorrow. However, I know there will be a rush at 4.30pm when we realise we were suppose to do something we haven’t done. 

However, we are extremely excited. I am a bit nervous as I hate being on the road too long.

Here is a link to our (my) photo album in case you are interested in seeing some of our blogless Japan adventures.

http://picasaweb.google.com/michellechan888

Michelle

Puppets on Jihad?

Ok, so Japan is an unusual place for foreigners…or aliens as we are officially known. We do have our Alien Registration cards! I was channel flicking on Japanese TV the other day…a hot bed of genuine weird shit at the best of times. Came across the kids TV show, cute little hand puppets, filmed in a school, by terrorists!

How scary is this guy! Extreamist Islamic puppetry?

Signs in and around Tokyo are fantastic. They like to use English all the time, but like in many Asian countries it often gets Lost in Translation… or does it? Here is a prime example.

Came across this the other night. “Hairy Sugar Tit” Not quite sure what goes on in there or what is being sold, but I sure do want to find out!

I actually thought about buying this melon…I thought the Godzilla action figure came with it. It didn’t. At current exchange rates this is a AU$152.00 or 80.00 Euro melon! One bloody melon! How good can this taste!!

For that knid of money not only do I want an action fugure but I want it finely sliced and fed to me while I recline on a sun lounge while having my feet massaged by a super model!

So on Saturday, I went to the famous thyroid hospital here. About 6 hours later, I emerge with $300 AUD less in my wallet and a sore arse from sitting down all morning. Talk about a great way to spend the first day of the weekend. (The same procedure took less than an hour and around 5 Euros in Germany…I guess that’s why I paid such high taxes there!)

There were literally hundreds of people at the hospital. The waiting room was packed and it was standing room only if you didn’t fight for a seat. Lucky for me, I had anticipated some sort of a wait and had brought a book. However, the queuing system was a bit out of whack too because although I had a number (508 and I was there at 9am!) the order that the patients were called was not in numeric order so after each paragraph, I had to look up for 10 seconds to see if I had been called.

However, I found another way to entertain myself. If you’re familiar with thyroid conditions, you know that there are particular physical traits that go with too much or too little thyroid hormone. Having studied Pathology at university, I remembered some of these and amused myself by counting how many people had signs of their illness.

Actually, there wasn’t anyone with a huge goiter but moving my way around the hospital, I thought I was being stared at by a lot of people who had the “intense staring” eye condition.

Unfortunately, I have to go back in 2 weeks for my results. If this kind of costs continue, I think it would be worth flying home for the tests. It would essentially be a $300 discount on my airfare.

1. purchasing the right medication.

2. taking the right dosage.

3. administering it in the right way.

I am hoping that the cold and flu tablets I bought yesterday are similar to Australian and German brands. One lady tried to sell me bottles of elixir for my chills and aches. I was not convinced. Especially when I don’t think she really understood what I was trying to say at all.

Also, where is the doctor? We haven’t found a doctor yet. So if one of us falls really ill, we wouldn’t have a clue who to see. (And will they give me a week off for a little nose drip like the German doctors do???) And also, we haven’t registered with a hospital yet. Apparently if you don’t register with your local hospital they can choose not to treat you. Are they going to leave me there to convulse and vomit on their doorstep???

Maybe I am just being negative because I have the Being Sick Blues…

If you want to find a cheap place in the city, it will be the size of 6 toilet cubicles.

If you want to find a cheap and roomy place, you will need to move way out of the city.

If you want to find a cheap and new place, you will need to live in industrial or commercial zones. These places are like ghost towns after 8pm and on weekends.

We have actually been quite lucky. We now live in Meguro which is considered inner Tokyo. We are 2 stations from Shibuya and another 1 to Harajuku. Shinjuku is only 10 minutes by train as well, so we are fairly well situated.

Our place is just under 93 sqm which is huge compared to places our colleagues are living in. We have given up newness (still 1990) for convenience. We have plenty of restaurants and shops in our neighbourhood and the train and metro is only 4 minute walk away. What more can you ask for?

Our place has 1 large bedroom, a study, a tatami room and a living / dining combination. We also have a couple of balconies and Matt is in the process of making a grilling contraption to put out on our larger balcony for our barbies.

One of my favourite rooms in our new apartment is our bathroom. There is a Japanese tub for bathing (shorter but deeper than Western tubs) and a large space for showering in. Basically, you can have 2 people dancing in the shower at the same time and still avoid the spray. It is that roomy. I like to get soap suds everywhere and then hose the whole thing down. If I ever build a place from scratch, I must have a Japanese shower room.

Setting up our apartment has been a bit of a chore. I have previously only moved into fully furnished apartments so trying to set one up from scratch is time consuming and expensive. We were fortunate enough to have accumulated lots of things from a previous teacher but we have had to buy large furniture items and a TV. We do st

ill have cardboard boxes everywhere but hopefully they will be replaced soon. 

If you are visiting Tokyo, we have enough room to house 3+ people. Just let us know well beforehand that you will be coming.