TRIP TO UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – LA LA LAND AM FINALLY HERE!
I know its looooooooooooooooooooooong overdue but you know what they say…better late than never so here goesssssssssss…
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Check
out the tranfer from terminal to the airport bus!
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So…here’s the deal…contest on Hitz FM offering a once in a lifetime chance to watch American Music Awards live in where else but Los Angeles, USA. Say what????!!! Are you kidding me??!! Any catch??!! Well, the catch was to listen, take part and see your luck…so apa lagi….jom cuba nasib. As luck would have it I did win or else I won’t blogging about it now would I?!
Anyways, after finding out that I’ve won then came the next step….apply for the visa…. I almost had a heart attack during the interview process but nevertheless passed with flying color and my visa got approved for a 10 years period…. I was like “Yeah Rite!….as if I’m gonna get to go again” (well……that’s another story altogether coz *hint hint…. I did go again two years later but that’s the story for next blog entry).
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Tadaaaaaaaaaa......I
finally made it to La La Land!
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So…there I was, like just passed SPM exam so excited and start to plan my trip to Hollywood…..Oh My God….let me write it again….HOLLYWOOD!!! A place I thought will only see in the movies!
The prize was return air flight tickets, 2 nights accommodation at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel (the stay itself was worth about RM1,000) and the most important of all A VIP TICKET TO CATCH THE 2007 AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS (AMA) PLUS ENTERANCE TO THE AFTER PARTY at the newly build NOKIA THEATHER (Woot! Woot!).
The AMA’s was the first event to be held at the Nokia Theater so that made me feel even specialer…hehehe…I started to brush up my knowledge on where to go and what to do. I got two night stay but I extended my trip and stayed for an extra 3 nights so it was like first two nights stayed in a 5 star hotel and then check into a budget motel but who cares about the tempat tinggal…main thing for me was to explore LA as much as possible in a very very short time!
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| Tak sah go Los Angeles if didn't go here! |
First on the list was of coz the Entertainment Capital of Los Angeles, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, HOLLYWOOD and then the most happiest place in Earth, DISNEYLAND! Wanted to include Six Flag Mountain and Las Vegas but unfortunately budget and time tak cukup….hmm….perhaps next trip! (hehehe!)
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| I can just live in this city, maybe one day I WILL! |
Finally the day arrived, I packed my bag as if I was running away from home (the luggage was bigger than me!) At KLIA I was asked if I have lost my parents! Cilaka! Do I really look that young? I thought the visa interview process was scary but the boarding plane to USA also was intimidating…had to go tru so many checking before can board the plane…..heck…. I just wanna go there to watch the AMA’s lah…am not a terrorist!
Inside the plane, the rep from Star World joined me coz she was in charge of getting things rite while am in States…damn…such an awesome job u have there Miss! Can I have your job? We were on air for about 4 hours till the transit at Taiwan where I met another winner who joined us. There was a stopover in Taiwan…no wonder so many Chinese people on board! Ingatkan salah naik flight! (Kikiki!) after the transit was back on air but this time loads of Indian pulak! (Indian as in Indians from India!) mak datuk….rasa macam pegi India pulak dah! I don’t quite remember much except that the flight was reaaaaaaaly long…ini rupanya jetlag…haizzz…
Pling plong pling…akhirnya reached the destination….it was surreal… I really made it to United States of America before I turn 30 years old…and best part…didn’t have to pay for it! (YAHOOOOO!) At the airport in LA…rasa macam kat some Latin country pulak…full of non-American with their accent so I just went with the flow…and every time I pass by people look behind me…waiting for my parents…erk…yennadey…
Going tru the immigration was another experience with the tiredness and all…got asked why am there…where’s my parents (AYO AGAIN!) then we were off to the hotel. We touched down at about noon which makes the time back home almost night time. I was so tired by the time we reached the hotel and then I saw something I thought I will never see from my hotel room. The HOLLYWOOD SIGN!!!!!! FARKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK…pinch me!!! For a while all my tiredness went away and I couldn’t wait to explore the city.
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| Posh 5 star hotel! |
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| Slap me! Pinch me! Is this for REAL? |
After a quick fresh up, all three of us headed out…went to this awesome eating place called Mel’s Diner and had one of the best foods ever! I MEAN BEST FOOD EVERRRRRRRRRRRRR (Sorry Amma!) The food was simple but the taste…mmm…my saliva is drooling just thinking about the coleslaw, sandwich…mmm….mmm….and don’t get my started about the chocolate shakes…I died and went to food paradise…and the portion are HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE! I couldn’t even finish the kiddies set! So nasib la… I just had to eat once and will be full for the whole day!
Upon finishing our meal…silly me…forgot about the weather…I just had a t-shirt and pants on and was freezing my ass off! The wind was BRRRRRR…luckily Naomi (the Star World chick!) borrowed me her scarf and she also paid the for food. (Thanks gurl!).
And then jeng jeng jeng …it was jalan jalan time … I felt like a dumb blonde when I asked one of the guys where is the Hollywood Walk of Fame when he replied “Well, sweetie look down…you are in Hollywood Walk of Fame!” (facepalm…alamak malunyerrrrr…but then I didn’t know ma…and then I looked over …Kodak Theater…huhuhuh…OH MY GOODNESS…IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING? IT’S LIKE…I running out of breathe just thinking about it!
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| Holly molly....read that sign board again!!!! |
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| Famous celeb spotting area |
We walked by the
Virgin Records shop (why hello there Sir Richard Branson!) and then decided to
take the tour by van to explore Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Mullholand Drive Rodeo
Drive…damn I can’t believe am saying this. The tour took us by most celebrities
house…or should I say palace…some are so HUUUUUUUUUUUGE , you can fit a whole
country into it! The guide was like…this is Britney’s house, Leo’s place, Mel
Gibson…and went on and on…God knows if he was telling the truth…and we ran into
some paparazzi as well so I guess he was telling the truth. It was just 6 pm
but the sky looked like it was 11 pm. Culture shock betul! The weather sabo
us…it started to pour so we had to chow but I still managed to snap some
picture. I was snapping away…don’t know what picture but cam-whoring the whole
time!
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| Dang it!!!! Wish I had bump into Cyclops or McDreamy! :( |
The driver dropped
us back at Hollywood Boulevard and the road was closed for premiere of ‘Enchanted’…was hoping to catch
a glimpse of McDreamy but tak jumpa L. Headed back to hotel called my mom
(excited giler updating her!) and knocked off till morning. Wat a day!!!
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| Naomi, I and Aunty Geetha waiting to be served our b.fast! |
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| Mel's Diner! Must eat place! |
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| Wat did I tell u.....heavenly.....yummmmm |
Next day….it was the day…had our breakfast at Mel’s Diner…again…food…mmmm…mmm…then I can’t quite remember what happen except that we got ready for the event…I was excited…excited giler!!! I was told that Camelia…our local singer will be sitting with us…owh awesome! We arrived at downtown and passed by the red carpet and saw E! interviewing some celebs…I remember shouting out a few names…nasib baik tak kena halau…took few pictures. Cameras was not allowed but I got lucky and manage to seludup masuk! J
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Saw this on tv so many times and can't believe
I aculi made it to watch it LIVE!!!!!! |
Once we were inside the venue…I shopped
for some sourvinier as in the T-shirt lar ….then went inside to check on our
seat….thinking we must be seated somewhere far and I almost fainted
when the usherer pointed our seat just few row from the stage… I think my jaw
dropped….so we went back and she aculi brought us back and I was transferred to
music heaven! I called up the Hitz Fm Morning Crew to update and they were
surprised to get my call and I thanked them like a million times! What an
amazing prize man!
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Kesian Camelia kena tahan my jakuness!
Thanks for being a good sport babe! |
I started to curi curi take picture…till Camelia joined us…she was seated next to me so I apologized earlier on for my later behavior, she was surprised as to why I was apologizing…hehehe…wait till the show starts my Dear! The show had three pentas and I was seated on the left corner and was praying that the other two stage won’t work so all the artist will come on my side of the stage…ehehe…but that didn’t happen…they had two big screen on each side of the stage so you won’t miss a thing.
The show started right on time…the host was Jimmy Kimmel…heck who cares…bring on the stars man! I saw some of the big names sitting on the middle row…Damn I wish my seat was there instead…cewah greedy pulak dah. Anyways, the show….OH MY GOD…the level of professionalism…tabik kao-kao lar! They even have seat filler…at first I was like huh?…"Apa tu seat fillers?"…then was told…they are people who fit up any empty seat if the person go out for toilet break so the seats alwiz looks full…ooooooooooooo…I see …I don’t mind being one of them …and if you were to go to toilet break during the commercial break, you are not allowed back until the next break…..screw my bladder…am not gonna go out till they chase me out man!
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| Ri Ri and Mr. Gentleman Ne-yo! |
One after another artist came and I was screaming my lungs out….then baru Camelia faham why I said sorry awal-awal! Best part… I manage to guess all the winner’s correctly…if only they had contest for that…fuh…sure menang grand prize…few white people was impressed looking at this chocolate monkey so passionate about their music…hehehe…what can I say…am born in the wrong continent lar…
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Look closely.....Beyonce and Sugarland!!!!
Yup...I said Beyonceeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! |
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| Adam & the gang! |
They asked me how on Earth did I get the tickets and was amazed when I told them I came all the way from Malaysia by winning contest…and I asked them how did they get their ticket…my jaw dropped again when they told me that they had to buy to ticket for USD1,000.00 (mak datuk!). Dayum… I rely am lucky huh?
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| Mary J Blige! She was aweeeeeeeeeesome!!! |
Amongst those who gave me a music orgasm was …Celine Dion (she performed on my side of the stage so I was like snapping away like krezi!), Lenny Kravitz, Alicia Keys, Chris Brown (damn that boy can move!), Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, The Jonas Brother (I saw them b4 they became famous here!) …heck I even saw Duran Duran man! Can you beat that?
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Simon of Duran Duran in flesh!!!!
They are still Hungry as a wolf yooooooooo!!!! |
And the night was
not over yet…after the show…we were off to the after party at the rooftop yo!
WOOHOOO…it was damn cold but I was in heat after witnessing a rocking show!
Inside the party…mak datuk…glamer giler woh …with the free flow of yummy food
and drinks …I was like…WAAAAA…so jakun pulak! Bumped into Camelia again and she
said I deserve to win coz she have never seen someone like me
before….hehehe….thanks Darling! Thanks for understanding my gilaness during the show!
I was really living my fantasy and trying to celeb spotting when I saw the dudes from Bone Thugs N Harmony (winners for the night!) walk in….apa lagi…ATTACK! Managed to snap a pix with them b4 they got mobbed!
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BONE THUG N HARMORY!!!!
SEE U AT THE CROSSROADS!!!!!!! |
After lepaking for
sometime it was time to balik but but but not before collecting our special bag (for VIP's only) full of goodies...waaa....bestnyer!!! Inside was T shirt, lanyard, mug, some vouchers...all worth almost few hundred USD!
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Freeeeezing my arse off but
still kena take picture ma! |
Got back to the
hotel and I was still floating….heck am still floating thinking about it! Ogled
over and over again at the pictures…THANKS GOD…THANK YOU SO MUCH…. I can die
happily now.
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All aboard!
Another must do thing if go Hollywood!
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The next day Naomi
and I went on the open top double decked hop on hop off tour bus…damn worth it
if u ask me…manage to cover loads of area…we got down at Farmer’s Market for
some shopping and lunch and dang… I could just live there itself…the
food…again…so simple…salad, pizza and coke…yummmmmmmmmmmmm……
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Seeee.......so simple yet just....mmmmmm.....
(drooling now!) |
It was all about exploring LA thru the bus and then back to the hotel for one last sleep.
The next morning it was check out time…from the 5 star hotel to the motel…sob sob…reality sucks man but the place was not bad…was still nearby the main area and mainly it was safe. Naomi also extended her stay but she got a hotel at the downtown so after bidding goodbye and we went out separate ways but hooked again the next morning.
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| Tadaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa......alwiz wanted to take this picture! |
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That's rite! THE ENTERTAINMENT CAPITAL OF L.A
(the world if u ask me!) |
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| Crash site of The Wars of the World! |
I got settled in and then made my way to the Metro train station and took the train to Universal Station to visit…voila…Universal Studios, Hollywood lah….apa lagi? …waited to Naomi and the next few hours it was all about fun fun fun …I had pre-booked the ticket online and went to collect and upgraded to Express Pass for extra perks! What a blast, what a place, what a…waaaaaaaaa…..it was awesome man! The best part was since we had the Express Pass, we manage skip the Q’s and stayed back for behind the scene features. The studio tour with the Wars of the Worlds plane crash site was like….Whoaaaaaaaaaaaa…..and the dancing cars of Fast and Furious, the Jurassic Park site, Desperate Housewife’s Wisteria Lane…I felt like I died and went to movie and television heaven! Don’t get me started on the rides…the Mummy Ride (my heart nearly stopped when the roller coasted started going backwards!) met T-Rex at the end of the Jurassic Park ride…Shrek 4D tickled all my four senses. The animal show was amazing, some of the animals are more talented than human actors! The rumah hantu nearly made me pee in my pants. Talk about being in a nightmare!
We didn’t notice the time pass us by so fast and it was time to leave but not before going around the famous Citywalk for some short shopping and gawking. I was happy because I got a two day pass and was coming back again.
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Behind the scene at the Waterworld show!
Don't worry it's plactic gun only lar! ;) |
After bidding goodbye, Naomi and I went out separate ways again and I was getting excited AGAIN because the next day I plan to go to the Happiest Place on Earth!
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| OMG! OMG! OMG! |
I was up early in the morning because the journey to DISNEYLAND takes about 2 hours. Before going there I had been in touch with a friend who I met online but no face to face and he said he might just meet me there. I was like…ok…I will see you then. Finally after what seems like a 5 hours journey I was there. It might sound corny but you know what…I was feeling happy…After I got my ticket which was also for 2 days I ventured inside. Since it was almost Christmas, the whole park was decorated with Christmas trees here and there…and I could feel the Christmas sprit everywhere. Sadly I didn’t get on lots of the rides because the lines were just too long and the park was HUGE till I didn’t even have time to go into the opposite park. I was busy taking pictures of everything that I saw. I had slight stroke when I lost my camera while lining up but u know what some kind hearted people found it, gave it to the security and when I went in with my sad puppy face and told them I lost my camera, the security just asked few questions and gave me back the camera after they were sure I was the one who lost it! Oh my freaking God… I was like…I can’t believe this man! Thanks God! Thanks God.
That was not the only surprise in store for me that day, remember the friend I mentioned earlier? He actually turned up and he offered me two choice – since I had a two days pass to Disneyland, he said he could pay for my room for that night at the Disney Resort so I can come back tomorrow and try to explore more OR he give me cash of USD200! I was like, are you kidding me? Can I have both? hihihi….but in the end I opt for the cash because I was running low but what a mistake that was. I should have asked for him to pay for the room and spend a night there because my transfer back to Hollywood was set at an earlier time so I missed the firework show L.
Well, at least I got the extra cash so I bought some souvenirs for my family members. As a token of appreciation I gave him my San Diego Ocean park ticket. I was really grateful for his kind gesture, somebody I’ve never met and being so nice to me without any expectation.
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Sleeping Beauty Castle during the daylight
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Sleeping Beauty Castle at 5PM!
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As the day went by I
was so overwhelmed by all the kindness and happiness till tears of joy started
to fill up my eyes and without realizing I started crying. Can you imagine
being so happy till you cry? And then another miracle, the park started to pour
fake snow….Oh my Goodness… I know it was fake but I was really happy, I just
wished I had somebody special with me at the moment to share all the happiness. i was thinking to myself I must be one heck of a lucky monkey to experience all this! At 7pm, the sky looked like it was 11pm, it was time to say farewell to Disneyland and get back to reality, but God had one last surprise for me on that dat...waiting at the transfer area was a LIMO! A real limo with all the fancy deco, light and the whole shabang! I was like...say whertttttttt!!!
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They see me rolling....they be hatin'
hehehehehe |
Hopped in and enjoyed the ride back to Hollywood! Once again…WHAT A DAY!!!!!
The next day was Thanksgiving and after getting some breakfast I was off to Universal Studios again but it was closed for Thanksgiving day so I just went walking around Citywalk once again and snapped some pictures. After lepaking at Universal City area I took the train back to Hollywood and begin walking around that area.
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| UniversalStudiosfie! |
I must look like a local because by then people kept asking me for directions and I’m proud to say I didn’t disappoint the lost souls!
The only crappy thing that happened during my fantastic trip to Los Angeles was I had a very bad toothache and by the last day the pain was killing me but luckily the 7 eleven there had this cream which when you put it on the whole area goes numb and you can’t feel a thing. Thank God for that or else I would just pull out that stupid tooth myself.
I had such lovely time and was praying I could get another chance to come back again, since my visa is valid for ten (10) years! Who knows right?
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| Bart, Mani & Lisa Simpson! |
Bags were packed and my transfer to the airport arrived. I was happy and sad all at once. Chatted with the cabbie and reached the airport, waited for the plane and was nicely taken care by our MAS cabin crew because they thought I was flying first time on my own without my parents (sigh….. I give up lar!) and after another 100 hours I was home but left a big peace of my heart back in HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES.
WHAT A TRIP OF A LIFETIME! BUT JENG JENG JENG…
ARE YOU READY FOR MY SECOND TIME ADVENTURE BACK TO LA LA LAND? THIS TIME ANOTHER ORGASMIC MUSIC EVENT CALLED THE GRAMMY? :D
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I WILL BE BACK!
IN FACT I WAS BACK AGAIN! ;) |
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Tengok dulu before catch Grammy Awards in 2009!
muahahahah |
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for moreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
P/s - for more pictures click the link below!
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