Mummy LOLMum: Another new Kiasu Parent Member

[711mum]

LOLMum:

hi auntiem, no we didnt go to magic mountain.


day 2
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after a nite of good sleep, it felt good to wake up next to dh.

we got a car from avis and drove to santa monica pier and spent the day there playing on the beach. sunny and windy and a bit cold but some people were sunbathing on the beach and surfers were waiting for the perfect wave to come in.

ds loves it cos the beach was really clean and the feel of the sand and water on his feet got him so excited. it wasnt crowded on the beach and most people prefer to stayed on the pier.

we went to bubba gump ( a seafood restaurant chain inspired by the 1994 film Forrest Gump) for lunch. wow, the seafood was really fresh and the set i ordered had a huge chunk of crab, a good size lobster, more than 10 prawns, mussels and clams each. all steamed and i love it but honestly it is still way off the good seafood i had in scotland.

dont like dh and dd's orders cos' it was done deep fried and in silly portion. dh thought the place was over rated.

after a long meal, it was about 3 pm so we decided to continue on our way to disneyland.

we followed the gps and got there slightly over an hour cos of traffic jam. dh was the driver and did a good job but obviously he wasnt awared that the left lane was for speeding cars so have to remind him to stick to middle lane.

but heck, we singaporeans are not the only ones who love to speed up when we see someone on the next lane signalling to switch lane. drivers there also the same and i saw some drivers giving fingers (not hi five okay :evil: ).

got to disneyland (sheraton again) and friend took us out for dinner. we had korean food. the kimchi and beef were good.

:drool: :drool:

[LOLMum]

it came in a bucket and i was like \"huh - what ? like this also can?\" :rotflmao: .



day 3
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went to disneyland today. so very crowded cos' it was a sunday. people mountain people sea so many hispanic and some look like filippino and it was spanish all the way.

realised that now we cant get a few fast passes for various rides at one go. you can only get one fast pass for one ride at a time.

poor dh. he had to go on all the rides with the kids (i cant take roller coaster or drop zone kinda games).

love the toystory and buzzlightyear shooting games (cant remember the actual names). but honestly if you have been to disneyland hk, it is the same stuff here (almost anyway).

went on a submarine ride too. it was lovely.

we had hot dogs for lunch and ate at a cafe that serves delicious fried chicken. managed to catch a candlelight procession that night for xmas celebration.

it was really nice cos' there were lots of xmas deco and songs.

when dd and i were in disneyland orlando, we shopped like mad. this time round, we only got a pin for ds and that's it. dont know why but none of us have the urge to shop.

downtown disney have some shops and ds got his lego set there.



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[LOLMum]

day 4

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we walked to disneyland this am. very near to hotel - about 10 minutes walk.

good weather once again. a bit windy though.

after spending a day at disney, it was time to go to disney california adventure.

very few people today cos it was a monday and it was only 10am.

went on the grizzly river run twice and boy the staff were a bit snappy this am.

bug's land was for little kids and i do mean really little kids. boring.

hollywood pictures backlot - well, we enjoyed the aladdin - a musical spectacular very much. and once again the 3 of them went on the twilight zone tower of terror (drop zone).

at paradise pier, we took the mickey's fun wheel (ferris wheel) and we chose one cabin that could move/swing instead of one that doesnt move.
it was a bit scary when it rolled forward/backward and started to swing when the wheel moved. it went round twice and lots of scream

california screaming was amazing. dd went on the ride twice by herself cos' dh cant take it after all the rides.

we had a turkey leg for lunch (shared by 4 of us) and it was a huge piece of meat about the length of a 30cm ruler and full of tasty roasted meat. we had corn on the side too.

i noticed the staff here were very much older than those at disneyland. so some were a bit rude and snappy.

finally, we waited till nite for the world of colour (something like what we had at sentosa). but shucks, 5 minutes into it, it was cancelled cos' of strong wind.

[LOLMum]

day 5 and 6

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hollywood here we come!

got to our b&b along sunset blvd in less than half an hour. pictures of it definitely so much better than what we saw. decent place and landlord was a nice lady. only U$100 per nite.

we walked round the neighbourhood and saw many homeless people.
walked to hollywood to checkout the walk of fame, the chinese theatre, madame tussauds (just see see and didnt go in cos it was kinda late now). went for dinner at hardrock cafe and it was a complete waste of money. slow service and awful food.

the street was closed because of a movie shooting. many entertainers on the street dressed like spiderman, wonder woman, jack the pirate etc and you need to pay them to take pictures with them.

the next day, we had burgers at "in and out burgers" a local famous burger joint. nice burgers.

took a bus tour to visit the famous movie stars’ homes, hollywood sign etc. about 2 hours ride and we paid about US$20 per person. wow, beverly hills and bel air are really really nice.

in the pm, we went to madame tussards and snap snap all the pictures (battery really really low now). wasnt really worth the price 9mho.

had dinner with another friend.

[LOLMum]

for the rest of the trip.............


went to universal studio and it was fun fun fun.

love the studio tour - saw the desperate housewives, csi etc filming set. didnt manage to see any star.

the simpsons ride was cool. too bad ds was too little to go on the mummy ride as well as the house of horror. speical effect stage and waterworld (show) are definitely the stuff you wouldnt want to miss.

dh and dd went to nickelodeon (near our b&b) and waited for about an hour and managed to see dd's favourite tv show star. dh took lots of pictures with his phone.

went shopping at citadel outlet (about 15 minutes drive from our b&b) but due to heavy traffic, it took us about an hour to reach. :faint:

lots of stores like coach, gap, nike, aerospace, h&m,tommy hilfiger, guess, banana republic etc.

also went to this shopping place called the grove which has a huge barnes & nobles. as dd is into sara shepard's books now, she got some + the latest diary of the wimpy kid book.

the grove is a nice place to shop. we hopped onto a beautifully decorated bus for a maybe 500m ride (so short) and the whole place was also beautifully decorated for xmas. when the fake snow was blown out, the whole place was filled with lots of laughter, merry making etc.

(too bad no more pictures to show).

we also drove to ucla to check out the place. very huge.

finally we were all ready to go home. but the flight back was a nightmare.

the entertainment system for the whole flight was down and luckily it was a night flight so ds slept for about 6 hours and for the rest of the flight, it was pure torture cos' need to entertain him.

the flight staff were all so old and service equally bad. one of the staff kept dropping food and trays. :faint:

that's about all, i guess, about my trip and oh yeah, ds and i got sick while there. it was too dry there and we need to drink lots of water but our skin especially my hands were awful sight.

so bought la mer and sk2 hehehe.

short trip but the cost of trip is :faint:
:moneyflies: :moneyflies: :moneyflies:

[LOLMum]

so this trip was mainly theme park tour.


we were thinking of doing whale watching but other things popped up so well, maybe next trip.

next june, we are going to beijing cos' ds has been asking to see the great wall of china.

but this time round, dh is adamant to take a tour package. he and dd had a not so fun time planning the trip. i didnt get involved cos it was dd's trip.

for me, i wish to go to japan................but dont know when.......

[LOLMum]

haha,


it was a good trip but what is a family trip without the usual bickering.

my only grouse is too dry over there and my skin yucks.

ds kept blinking his eyes and dr said the skin around his eyes were too dry and a bit inflamed causing itch. lip balm didnt help with cracks on our lips too.

[auntieM]

LKVM:

very nice and detailed trip info LOLMum............. I am sure your family enjoyed the togetherness more than anything else...

Yarlor.. ..me still stone de.. ..
Definitely enjoyed the bonding time..

[LOLMum]

haha,


i must say for this trip, i didnt go crazy over shopping, not at disney, universal studio or even citadel and the grove (though we bought stuff at citadel). everyone in coach outlet was like crazy cos the stuff were mostly on 40% upwards discount + another 30%.

most of the $$$ were on food, food, food. a breakfast could easily cost $30 and more. still got to give tip here and there.

sometimes we forgot to add tax to the price................ :evil:

[LOLMum]

went thru' my pictures and really not that many.


here are some of the food we had at toast bakery. simple fare, bigger portion, slightly more expensive.

i like the potato corn soup.

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