Mulholland Drive man!
Monthly Archives: Nov 2011
Gaming stuff in and around Los Angeles
Had to post a quick thread regarding some console gaming-related bits and pieces I saw in Los Angeles.
Specifically:
- Seeing the Konami building and then experiencing a Silent Hill style fog the next day
- The Battlefield 3 posted that smothered a huge building as we past it on the freeway
- The Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 themed bus that was on the same highway
Konami
Bubba Gump Shrimp – Santa Monica California 22/10/2011
There is a Bubba Gump Shrimp restauant on the Santa Monica Pier; I wanted to go there because my friend Jane and I had a bit of a running joke about Forrest Gump, and Lorraine and I were too busy shopping in New York to visit the restaurant there!
I had planned on eating fish and shrimp when in California anyway; so it was fun to be a little adventurous and go for the Lobster claws and shrimp bucket with fries. The shrimp was coated in chilli and it had a kick, amazing! Really enjoyed the lobster meat too!
Momma says I’m special!
Manhattan Beach and Santa Monica Pier – Saturday, 22nd of October, 2011
Our morning went to plan, we got up, jumped on the rickety complimentary hotel bikes and pedalled down to Manhattan Beach.
It was the most surreal expierience because Manhattan Beach was completely shrouded in a fog mist for most of the morning; it was like a scene of our ‘Silent Hill’ which was even more funny because we passed the Konami offices (publishers of the Silent Hill games!). Sadly an irony that was lost on Lorraine and Amy!
The bikes were hilarious, it reminded me of a bike ride that I took with Mum and Dad in Spain that resulted in Dad slamming into a wall because he was too busy trying to look out for Mum who got scared by Spanish traffic. There were no hand brakes on the Californian bikes, you had to back pedal to apply the brakes on the bike which was odd; especially as a lot of the journey down to the beach was downhill!
Manhattan beach was very pleasant and chilled out. People were out running, cycling, walking dogs and playing volleyball. It actually reminded me a little of Normandy beach in that people were making the most of their morning and the amount of activity would put English beachgoers to shame! The fog didn’t lift so I didn’t really get a good look at the Pacific Ocean, but no matter, it was a nice chill out before we headed back to the hotel for another quick stint in the jacuzzi before checking out. The Belamar was great value for money, highly recommended.
Leaving the hotel we headed for the Santa Monica Pier which kinda reminded me a little of the film Falling Down (the climatical scene on the pier); there were a few times that I remembered the Michael Douglas movie, especially the tailback, so the fact that we ended up on a pier like in the film was a little surreal.
Santa Monica Pier is a fun tourist trap with a few fairground rides and some fun shops (if a little over-prices, especially in comparison to Las Vegas!). I saw some surfers and people swimming even though the fog still hadn’t lifted fully by lunchtime.
The highlight for me was standing by the Route 66 ‘End of the line’ sign, it’s always been a dream to travel down Route 66 (We did a bit on our way to LA!).
Anyway, my stomach was rumbling, so we decided to visit the Bubba Gump Shrink shack restaurant!
Las Vegas to Los Angeles – Friday 21st of October, 2011
Friday morning I woke up without a hangover, a miracle given how much I’d tequila I’d drunk the night before! We didn’t have enough time to frequent the stunning swimming pools, yet another thing I shall do when I return on a future trip!
We left the hotel a little later than our planned departure time and went Downtown Las Vegas to get some souvenirs and last minute shopping bargains; this meant that we arrived into the Los Angeles area around rush hour, I felt physically sick at seeing a 12 mile tailback for people coming out of LA, presumably to escape the city for the weekend!
We arrived at the Belamar Hotel in Manhattan beach and I enjoyed fish and chips (California Style) before heading down to the hotel jacuzzi and pool. The Jacuzzi spa was heaven after the 5-6 hour journey, again Amy had done us proud and gotten us there in one piece.
The concierge at the hotel had confirmed that we had complimentary bikes and we went to bed exhausted, but with a plan to get up and cycle to Manhattan beach which was a mile or so down the road from the hotel.
The Belamar was great value for money and resonated the chilled out vibe that California is well known for.
A token shot of Los Angeles at night; shit isn’t it?
Viva Las Vegas – Thursday 20th of October, 2011
Lorraine and I came down from our hotel and went straight into the Hotel Casino. I didn’t feel ‘lucky’ so avoided the tables, had a quick dable on the fruit machines with $30 and then went out for a stroll around the strip!
Las Vegas is simply Disneyland for audits. It is FUN with a capital F for fucking amazing. It is difficult to do the atmosphere there justice; the only way I can describe it is that everyone was there to have fun, there was no trouble amongst the crowds of partygoers (I refuse to use the word reveller), and everyone seemed to be having a great time amidst the madness of fireworks, pirate ship battles (at the Treasure Island Casino) , erupting volcano’s and neon lights aplenty!
My eyes almost popped out of my head with the amount of eye candy and visual stimulation; I was obviously appauled to see so many scantily clad young ladies sauntering around. Ahem. OUTRAGEOUS!
We stumbled upon a Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville outdoor bar; I am a huge Margarita fan and Lorraine did not hesitate in getting a round in. The round consisted of ‘The Worlds Biggest Margarita’, one for each of us and only $20 USD per person, or $50 for free refills over a weekend. Free refills on that? Oh my. I’d die! I ended up drinking mine, and a good amount of Lorraine’s because she didn’t like it too much. Guess it just wasn’t Woo Woo eh Rainy?
We had a good look around the strip, took in the sights of the Eifel tower replica, shame we didn’t get a chance to go back to Caesars Palace (we briefly passed through to go to a buffet earlier) and there’s an incredible amount that I’d like to go back and see over the course of a mad weekend (watch this space).
Rainy and I found so many funky looking bars with live music and cocktails, people drinking out of a yard of ale, and the bars all had a pass entry system with security. I didn’t see any of the negative aspects to Las Vegas that I’d heard about, the only disturbing thing was seeing people giving out escort cards; but I’m used to that in London so no biggie?
Lorraine found a group of Elvis impersonators, a guy dressed as Homer Simpson, Woody and Buzz from Toy Story and a group of kids who were performing dance, beat boxing and singing on a street corner. Instantly made anything on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ look like utter shit.
It was about 1am that I felt ‘lucky’, so we headed back to the Palazzo Casino…………
Palazzo Hotel, Jersey Boys – Thursday 20th of October, 2011
Driving within Las Vegas was pretty relaxed, there wasn’t really any traffic to speak of within the main city roads and we eventually found our hotel, the Palazzo.
The Palazzo is quite simply the most stunning hotel I have ever seen; the main reception area made me feel incredibly dwarfed due to the ceiling 50ft-60ft high ceiling. The check in desk is situated right next to a beautiful fountain which is surrounded by landscaped flora and fauna that lusciously compliment the grandiose marble decor.
It is immense inside the hotel complex, almost like a mini town village with shops, a waterfall, and then you see the casino. Oh my. Ding ding ding $ £ $ £ $ £ I felt my Indian gambling blood run through my veins like molten lava and wanted to just dump my bags and test out the visually stunning fruit machine games that littered the casino floor. It was almost teasing that we had to walk through the casino to get to the lift that eventually took us to our room.
Our room was utterly spectacular, a Bella suite that I had found an amazing deal on through expedia.com. The suite was as plush as the reception area, the bathroom was breathtaking, the beds were so comfortable, and the lounge area was sunk down to give the room exceptional character. My favourite thing about the room was the view, seeing Downtown Vegas for the first time was something I’ll never forget, or the 10 or so swimming pools that I eventually spotted within the hotel grounds.
Lorraine had kindly paid for Amy and I go to and see the Jersey Boys show with her; the show was scripted really well and I enjoyed the format. I normally hate musicals! Hearing a lot of the songs brought back tons of memories of my parents, the Jersey slang and humour was spot on. Highly recommended!
At the end of the show, we filed out, Amy retired for the night as the drive had taken it’s toll on her; leaving Rainy and I to explore the Las Vegas night life!
Driving from SLC to Las Vegas! – Thursday – October 20th 2011
First of all, big thanks to Amy who drove us from Salt Lake city to Las Vegas, then Los Angeles and back to SLC! Poor Amy’s car died a horrible death a few days after we returned to the UK. Thankfully she got a great deal on a new car; but I’d like to pay tribute to Amy’s generosity for getting us there and home safely!
Driving from Utah to Las Vegas was incredible, the changes in terrain were very obvious and astoundingly evident every 50 miles or so; I loved how the red rock started to appear the more we moved out of Utah and into Nevada (and sometimes Arizona) along with the introduction of strange cactus/tree hybrids and dusty dessert prairies. If it’s one thing you HAVE to do in the States; it’s go on a road trip.
You can’t help but fantasize about the history as you pass through the vast expanse between cities; how did the pioneers and Victorian age travellers manage to survive the journey? The journey from SLC to Las Vegas takes about 4-5 hours by car; how long must it have taken people on horseback? On foot? It’s mind boggling to consider how people tranversed such distances a hundred years ago?!?!
We passed through a winding canyon that left me completely awestruck byt he sheer scale of geographical beauty that surrounded us. The rocky mountains stretch right up to kiss the sky (Hendrix was the man!) and rushing creeks saunter through them, almost like a network of rich veins providing the lifeblood for all the wildlife that persists within the valley.
I know I’m 34 years old, but I couldn’t help but imagine a group of bandits sitting around a campfire skinning snaked; draw pilgrim!
The journey went surprisingly quickly and we made a couple of stops at some dusty truckstop ‘gas’ stations. Big shout to Dave with regards to the Stag.
You can see Las Vegas about 15-20 miles in the distance as you drive into it from the Interstate; the Stratosphere tower is unmistakable and I felt extremely excited seeing the plummeting ride that sits atop of the tower. The other high rise buildings glisten in the glorious sunshine. We enjoyed temperatures of around 32 degrees Celsius on the 2 days that we were there (well, one and a half) and I tanner rather quickly; being the mixed race cheeky monkey that I am!
Samsung Galaxy 10.1 32gb tablet
Yes I know I’ve been going on about it far too much on here already; but I love my Samsung Galaxy 10.1
It’s the sort of gadget that you never know you needed in your life until you’ve got it; and the ease in which you can use the Android operating system is astounding. I picked it up very quickly. Browsing the internet is incredibly fast, and the best thing about it is that I can use the WordPress application for my blog!
Using the Galaxy is so much more intuitive than Apple’s iPad 2 and the Apple OS; one of the best things about the Galaxy is that you don’t have to use smeggy iTunes. So stick that up your arse Steve Jobs!
The Galaxy is a fantastic piece of kit, the screen is vibrant and rich, almost like a mini plasma screen; the battery life is incredible when you think that you can get about 9 hours out of the tablet before you need to recharge. The amount of applications on offer is improving, and I think the prices are very reasonable! I also bought the official keyboard dock accessory for $70 USD and that turns it into a very effective laptop.
Think I’ll definitely buy an Android based phone when I upgrade from my 3 year old iPhone! Samsung are the shit!
Chill with Brett, IHOP and Tablet Shopping! – Wednesday 19th of October, 2011
Wednesday was a much needed chill out day for me! I had planned on spending the day golfing with Brett (one of Amy’s brothers) but we opted to take ‘Hank’, a Corgi that he and Whitney (Brett’s wife) were dog sitting, for a run down the local park instead. Whitney’s grandparents house is situated in a gorgeous American neighbourhood that epitomised everything that I love about the States; tidy vibrant green lawns surrounded by flowers, grand houses and wide roads.
We had to cancel our golfing trip because Brett was having a bed delivered; after they dropped it off we headed out to Best Buy and I picked up my Galaxy tablet along with a few other bits! Yes, I’m in love with this tablet, it’s geek heaven!
Ooooooh, I almost forgot, Brett and I went to IHOP (International House of Pancakes) which was a blast from the past!!! I’m not a massive fan of pancakes (loved my Dads and that’s about it!) so I opted for the country style breakfast which included fried eggs, sausage links (sausages basically!), bacon and hash browns; with a good sprinkle of Tabasco sauce!
After saying toodle pip to Brett we headed back to Brad and Beccas and packed for our impending trip to Las Vegas and LA; Lorraine and Amy had spent the day shopping (poor Amy) and sampling a rather brutal massage!
The Antikrish 
You must be logged in to post a comment.