The Constant (Failed) Dieter: Travel Log: Welcome to City of Angels (Day 1)

Friday, 11 March 2016

Travel Log: Welcome to City of Angels (Day 1)

Destination: United States of Americas

Duration: 12 Days 11 Nights (Feb 23~Mar 05, 2016)

Day 1: A Long Flight to LA

After visiting US last year, I finally departed for Los Angeles Airport exactly one year after my last trip. There I was in Changi airport on a Tuesday morning for my flight to Los Angeles – my 1^st time to LA! *grin* One of the best thing about Changi & Singapore Airlines were their collaboration for free SGD20 transit voucher – if you were transiting in Changi with SQ, do remember to get this at the i-Changi Counter (generally located near GST refund counter).

Beautiful Deco at Changi

Free SGD20 Transit Voucher!

It was quite an empty flight that day and there were no one sitting beside me. Actually I was supposed to have the whole row empty (4 seats) until some guy came and sat at end of another side of the row. We would be making a brief stop at Narita Airport today before continued on to LA. The best thing on transiting through Narita – SQ serving delectable Japanese food on board! I love SQ Japanese Food. Wait, hold on! Did I mention SQ was showing “Crimson Peak” on board?! It’s time for me to ogle on Tom Hiddleston whilst nursing on a cup of Chardonnay! *swoon*

Our Plane to LA

Sammy has his own seat! People were totally eyeballing me when i did this!

Hello Snoopy!

Tom Hiddleston!!! *swoon*

Sammy & me!

My 1^st meal on board was Sake Ume Shoyu Ni (Grilled Salmon with Plum Soy Sauce) and it was really yummy! It was served with Japanese cold soba as well. The ice cream was a let-down though as it was a Magnolia Chocolate cone. LOL!!!

Yummy Japanese Food with red wine!

Bah!!! Magnolia Cone?! Seriously?!

We finally reached Narita and waited at the airport for about an hour before boarding the same flight to LA. We were given amenity pack with socks and toothbrush as this would be a night flight. I was supposed to have the whole row to myself again until some idiot came sat at the middle seat of the row intending to get 3 seats for herself by taking off the seat handles! What an idiot! I quickly marked my territory to get the seat beside me by putting my stuffs there to spoil her plan. Really WTF!

Waiting to board the plane again

Sammy with the Plane

I though i will have the whole row for myself!

Sammy was really happy too!

Until this IDIOT came and sit at the middle seat! WTF!!!

Sammy needs some alcohol to contain his anger!

Better mark my territory and spoil that idiot's plan!

Dinner was served and I had the Japanese selection of Yakiniku (Beef) Donburi and it was really delicious! The yakiniku was really tender and well-seasoned. The best part – Haagen Dazs Ice Cream finally!!! Hooray!

Another YUMMY Japanese Meal with red wine!

Finally Haagen Dazs!!!

Unfortunately I did not sleep well on the flight and woke up for breakfast after merely 2 hour sleep. =( I had the Japanese breakfast of grilled salted salmon with Japanese omelette but didn’t really had much of an appetite.

Hmm.. so-so breakfast as i didn't have an appetite anyway...

Day 1.5: How to Beat Jetlag

We finally landed in LA on the same Tuesday after experiencing a missed approach! My 1st time experiencing that.. *sweat* I guess i watched too much "Air Crash Investigation" but I was kind of nervous when the plane made the 2nd landing attempt. LOL!!! I had to board a shuttle for car rental after long queue to clear custom. Thankfully the Hertz shuttle was right there when I found the shuttle stand. The shuttle then dropped us at the Hertz centre and that was it! No one would tell you which building to go to unless you asked someone there. *sweat* For Asian who normally had a different display name on your credit card than your passport name – beware! Hertz had a policy of needing same name displaying on both! This definitely got me into some issue here but thankfully it was resolved.

Welcome to LA!!!

Taking Hertz Shuttle

Queuing

Basically the agent would provide you a number and you were expected to walk to that parking space to find your car which was parked at that particular number. I dragged my luggage and walked a long way under the hot sun and found the parking space EMPTY!!!! WTF!!! I had to walk back to the customer service area to get another number and walked back to find the car again! UGH!!! Such bad luck!!!

Anyway my car for the week was a silver Toyota Yaris and it was exactly the car that I liked - compact and easy to drive. There was no reversing alarm though. After some confusion with the driving direction (US had different driving direction than Malaysia!!!), I finally made it to the highway in one piece. *sweat*

My Ride for 6 days!

Sammy along the Ride!

It was around an hour drive with wide highway and I managed to get lost few times during some turns but fortunately I managed to arrive to Westlake Village Inn at around 3pm. Westlake Village Inn was a Mediterranean style resort with golf course and the room was really roomy and pretty. There were 2 queen size beds in the room and an artificial fireplace! The bathroom was really roomy as well but unfortunately there were no bathtub. =P Anyway, really love the place for my 5 nights stay!

2 Queen size beds with tons of pillows!

TV & Fireplace

Wardrobe

Bathroom! It's so big!

No Bathtub though..

Working Desk

Toiletries - i love them! It smells so nice!

Even the Soap is nice!

Sammy enjoying!

There is even a Balcony!

No Complimentary water though! These cost a BOMB!

After taking some pictures around the hotel, it was time to get some groceries and lunch! There was a “Vons” nearby thus I ended up with 2.5 gallons of drinking water, some cereal bar and titbits as my late lunch. *facepalm*

In Room 525

Let's take a walk at the Hotel

Waterfall?

Sammy loves the view!

Beautiful Landscape

Look at the shadow in the lake!

Let's test out my brand new Selfie Stick!

Now this is definitely a FAIL attempt

How Greek this is?

The Reception Area

Getting some stuffs from Vons

FOOD!!!

In order to fight off my jetlag to stay awake during early evening, I ended up at Camarillo Premium Outlet. Do remember to sign up for special discount booklet by joining the VIP Club (link). The 1^st shop I stepped into? Sunglasses Hut – as my old sunglasses was broken for quite some time. Since i had the booklet, i got additional USD15 off on top of the discounted price. =P After that, there was more window shopping in the nearly empty outlet before getting some dinner at the foodcourt.

Finally Arrive in one piece!

Fashion Court!

Just keep Walking!

Sammy is a BOSS!

Star Wars Theme Samsonite Luggages!

It's getting Dark!

Since I had no idea what to eat, I ended up with Italian food by ordering Pepperoni Stromboli. It was really salty and hard to bite to the point of inedible and I really couldn’t force myself to finish the whole thing. *sweat* After the horrific dinner, I continued to romp around the outlet but ended up skipping one of the wings as it was simply too huge and it kind of got boring to shop alone with no ‘evil friends’ with you. *wink*

Let's have some Italian

Look nice?

Hmm.. Salty & Hard to Bite

With TONS of FAT!

I finally stumbled upon Godiva and the alluring fresh Strawberry coated with Dark Chocolate Cone on display was calling my name! I could hear it! Thus I ended up with the cones and eating it at one of the chairs on the sidewalk. It was simply DIVINE!!! There were like 6-7 big size strawberries in the cone and I finished it in no time! Did I mention it cost a whooping USD12.50? If I were on per diem then I would never buy this but since we are claiming by receipt thus I guess I could indulge more as long as not hitting the maximum limit for the day. =P