Tag Archives: los angeles

Los Angeles Part 4

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We went to the Universal Studios Los Angeles on a Sunday morning after a hectic crowded Disneyland the day before and was greeted by Mario Lopez and a couple of ladies from Extra while they were filming an episode right in front of Universal Studios. It was amazing! He is quite charming and crack a few jokes with the crowd~

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We bought tickets online; http://arestravel.com/77_attraction-tickets_a10.html-  Buy A Day, Get 2nd Day Free! General Admission – Universal Studios Ticket – $84.85

Don’t bother wasting your money on VIP tickets, not worth it!

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It wasn’t packed when we were there. We waited not more than 15minutes for any rides except the Studio Tour and the Mummy ride which we did them first and last activity of the day respectively and was only waiting for 25 mins! Definitely Don’t miss out on The Studio Tour which includes the King Kong Ride!, try to do it first and get it out of the way! We especially love the Simpsons Ride, The Minions Ride, Transformers Ride, Shrek 4-D and Special Effects Stage.

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You can easily finish everything within a day! We entered the attraction at 11AM and didn’t leave till 9PM! This is inclusive of a lunch break in between at Gru’s Lab Café! Love minions! Love them to bits!

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Los Angeles Part 3

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We are Disney fans! Indeed our bucket list was to strike out all the Disneylands in the world! We did quite a research for our trip, so if you’re looking for authentic cheap Disneyland tickets and character dining vouchers, these are the websites to buy the Disneyland and Character dining tickets,

http://www.parksavers.com/ProductSpecific/Index/101?infoID=5 –

and get 2-DAY 1 PARK PER DAY BONUS TICKET – $171 (Cheapest I found!)

http://arestravel.com/77_attraction-tickets_a18.html – Character Dining – $33

We booked for breakfast with Minnie and friends at the Plaza Inn. Definitely a wonderful experience and never regret it! We booked it at 10.10AM but when we arrive there was still a queue to get in even when you’ve already booked. We were worried that the characters will be gone but they stayed and take photos with everyone from tables to tables! Try to get a table outside or where they could easily pass you and not some inner tables! Their round tummies (Winnie especially!) couldn’t get through!  Although we should have done dinner too! As we heard wonderful stuff about their dinner menu!

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We got heaps of photos from the characters! Winnie the Pooh, Mickey & Minnie, Eeyore, Chipmunks, Goofy, Donald Duck and more! It was an indeed a memorable experience!

We love Disneyland for what it is, so we don’t really fancy the Christmas thingy! And they closed the entrance to the Castle as they were doing a filming for ABC Christmas’s special!!!!!!! VERY DISAPPOINTING!  If you’re not into Winter theme November – January may not be the best time to go! We were so gutted! We couldn’t even take a nice photo of the castle! We overlooked and thought that we were smart heading to Disneyland on a Monday and didn’t check that it was a public holiday! It was super duper crowded! So definitely check if there’s long weekends or possible holidays before you plan the day to go for your trip~

I don’t think we ever learn from our mistakes after booking for our Euro Trip (which is going to be end of this month!) we realised it was France’s Victory day during the time we are in Disneyland Paris! Oh wells!

It wasn’t crowded when we went to Disney California Adventure Park. This was on a Wednesday as Monday and Tuesday was public holidays! So we escaped to Universal Studios on Tuesday knowing that the Disney Parks will be packed too.

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The rides was super awesome! We especially love the Aladdin Musical! It was spectacular and a must SEE! Definitely catch these rides; Radiator Springs Racers, Soarin’ Over California, Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure and Toy Story Mania to name a few! I am a scaredy cat when it comes to Rides trust me! but these ones are great for people like me and are the best ones too!

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Once you get in through the turnstile, 2 things you definitely must to do first! MUST DO! Grab the Fast Pass for Radiator Springs Racers and World of Colors! It’s a must!

Once that settled, you can have fun and make your way through the park but remember to set an alarm 30 mins before Radiator Springs Racers last Fast Pass Timing so you won’t missed it, the queue usually goes for hours and the fast pass finished real quick! And an hour alarm set for World of Colors! Although you have a fast pas for World of Colors, it is a first come first serve basis! You wouldn’t want to be standing behind a Dad that has his daughter on his shoulders now would you? (We learnt it the hard way!)

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Also, not forgetting the Pixar Play Parade! It’s a 20 minute parade of your favourite Pixar Characters that you wouldn’t want to miss! We sat at the side of the “road” of the Hollywood Land! Great views and close to characters! We were there about 45mins before they start while grabbing a bite and rest! So put the parade in your alarm too!

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Definitely great to get your hands on the Disneyland/California Adventure Park Map. So you know where are the attractions with priority to get the fastpass is! So you can save time and not running around like a wild goose!

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Los Angeles Part 2

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We spend our 3rd day strolling along Hollywood Boulevard and Cruising to Santa Monica! We managed to get cheap Los Angeles, Celebrity homes & Hollywood Sign Tour tickets on GroupOn LA! What a bargain and it was amazing especially the celebrity LA homes of Ellen, Bruno, Katy, Michael Jackson, Johnny Depp and more!

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Visited The Chinese Theatre and rack up a storm at Victoria’s Secret and H&M! Not forgetting the husband’s craze with the Lid’s Caps! It was crowded and you have all these impersonators who will want to take photos with you! DONT! you have to pay them if you do! We’ve witnessed a lot of arguments after a fun photo taking when tourists just walked away and these impersonators caused chaos demanding tourists for tips/payment. So be careful!

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Just before the sunsets, we made our way to Santa Monica! It was a beautiful setting against the sunset backdrop! We had delicious Mexican dinner by the pier! It was such a great end to our Sunday! We did rush back to the hotel and pile on all the luggage into the car, we squeezed through every space we had in the car so that we don’t have to make multiple trips! We did it!

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From a bad stay at Sheraton Downtown LA, we moved up to Desert Palms Hotel & Suites! We had 6 massive luggage and when we arrived after a long day, we found out that they don’t provide porter service so we had to get the trolley ourselves and get all our luggage up to our room! This is the first ever hotel I’ve been to and did not provide such service!

On a positive note is that the area is safe, 10 minutes walk to Disneyland and California Adventure. Across the road is CVS Pharmacy and Coffee Bean. Walking to distance to various restaurants. 10 minutes drive to Anaheim Plaza which boasts a 24 hour Walmart, the gigantic Forever 21 and other stores!

In house dryer and washing machines that cost about $4 per cycle each which can be quite handy for families or when you are travelling for a week! You are entitled to free wifi and make your own waffles for breakfast too which can run out pretty quickly as families usually swarmed the buffet early in the mornings! Free Carpark as well!

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Los Angeles Part 1

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Los Angeles. Hollywood. Santa Monica. Malibu. Red Carpets. How I envisioned it but not really.

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So Wirza got us a discounted rate room at the Sheraton Hotel downtown LA. It was great rates. pretty much. Going through TripAdvisor’s reviews, we found out that the hotel is undergoing refurbishments. Reading the reviews further, thought that it wasn’t that bad since we will be out and about in the day.

Boy, were we wrong! The lifts were so amazingly slow, that i could go back to my hotel room twice to change my shoes and the lifts still didn’t stop by for a good 8 minutes! Apparently, the renovations were going on so there’s no fridge or safe in the room. Don’t ask me why and i can’t even grasp why are these 2 items not in the room and how do they affect the renovations. The ventilation in the bathroom was not to be proud of either, not even sure if its working! The valet and porters wasn’t friendly, It is as if they do not want to be there at all. Maybe because of the renovations, darn slow lifts and lack of services, that people do not even want to spend an extra cent for valet parking.

We did found a really cheap overnight parking (Undercover, manned, garage) for $16 at 830 South Flower Street Los Angeles, CA 90015 which is a couple of minutes down the road as opposed to $37 for overnight parking at Sheraton. So you might want to check that out if you are definitely staying at Sheraton. For all the inconvenience, guests should have been compensated with free IN ROOM wifi or even valet parking.

With that so many rooms, relying on just 2 lifts are not ideal at all. So disappointed that we checked out after the second night instead of staying to the total of 8 nights! I just feel that the management is blaming everything on the renovations. but what has the safe and the fridge got to do with all of it?

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Ok enough of the rant with the hotel and management. After the long drive from Vegas to LA. We dropped the girls off at the Hotel and rushed to Anaheim to catch the Ducks game! Didn’t even realised that it was peak hour took us about 2hours to get there as opposed to 45mins. Traffic is terrible! I will never recommend downtown LA to anyone! The Ice Hockey game on the other hand was awesome and the atmosphere was truly remarkable!!

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The Grove was the talk of the town when we were researching about the places to go in LA! We shopped till we drop at Forever 21, Abercrombie, GAP and Zara! It was worth it especially after chowing down The Cheesecake Factory Prawn Garlic Noodles! It was DELICIOUSLY AMAZING!

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After spending the whole of the day at The Grove & Original Farmers Market in Los Angeles, we went to Griffiths Observatory! It was remarkable although it was a hike up! Saturday night was crowded hence we had to park further away at the side of the road. Weekdays are recommended! We did stopped by at Biryani Kabob House 3525 W 3rd St Los Angeles, CA 90020. Koreatown on the way back to the hotel to savour the most spiciest but awesome lamb shank Biryani ever!

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The same night we look out for alternative hotels! As we couldn’t justify staying further at Sheraton.

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The view from Griffiths Observatory.