Trip Report part 3 - L.A.

On boxing day we woke up around 04.00 in the morning and checked out of the hotel at 05.00. We didn't even have time for breakfast. We took the subway to Penn Station and then the train to Newark Airport. There we proceeded to the Continental Airlines desk to check-in for our flight to Los Angeles LAX. Everything went smooth. We got our boarding passes and we went straight to the departure hall, where we found a MacDonald's and had breakfast.

CO counter

View from McD's

Our flight had a slight delay, so instead of 08.40, we departed EWR at 09.30. The flight would take 5 hours, but with the time difference we arrived at LAX around 13.00. At the airport we used the courtesy phones to find a cheap hotel. Finally Thomas got a cheap one right outside of Beverly Hills... Comfort Suites. The shuttle bus came to pick us up and in 20 minutes we were at the hotel. We didn't even bother to unpack, because we would be in L.A. for 1 day only.

Taxiing



In-flight EWR-LAX

Room at Comfort Suites

After that we all bought tickets on a sightseeing tour of Hollywood and Beverly Hills and went sightseeing. It was fun. It was also really, really warm! But we got to see a couple of the start houses. Nice! We then went to shop at Melrose Boulevard. Well no.. I lied. We wanted to shop, we could just not afford anything! Damn... the shit there is expensive! We decided to catch a movie, so we went to see Casino Royale. Great James Bond movie!

Fun park near Venice Beach

Venice Beach

Beverly Hills

Santa Monica Boulevard

Robin & Thomas at Melrose

Hollywood sign

After the movie we got a bite to eat at a Chinese restaurant and then headed back to the hotel. We were all tired, so we headed straight to bed.

The next morning we had breakfast at the Burger King across the hotel and then we took the shuttle bus to the airport around 08.00. We checked-in with Northwest Airlines to Hong Kong HKG. The flight would be making a stop in Tokyo Narita NRT, before continuing to HKG. Except for Dennis, we have all been in HKG, so that was cool. We knew what to expect.

Northwest check-in desk at LAX

Unfortunately we got red-flagged by the TSA and all got thoroughly searched :-(
After all that was done we headed to the gate, where we boarded the 747-400 to start our long flight across the Pacific to Japan and then China. All the pictures we took in L.A. can be viewed here. Submap LA 

Mom

And what about my mother in Turkey? Well she continued to have a ball on Boxing Day as well. Party time as always. Mom knows how to have fun. She may be 51, but she sure doesn't act like it!

Mom with her burka! Lol!

To be continued...