Welcome to Hollywood

Last/this week depending on which days your week starts or ends (all the country hopping has gotten me confused on this topic) Anne and I went to Los Angeles. I went for fun (and to support my hard working wife) and Anne went for work. Anne's family (Mumei, Jim, and Andrew) were nice enough to show us around since they live in the area. They were phenominal hosts - Thank you! Our first stop after arriving was to Pink's. It is a famous hotdog shop that has been featured on several travel shows and is known for having a lot of celebrity patronage. As it turns out there was a camera crew onsite recording what I am guessing was a british music group, but I could be wrong. We also went to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and saw Michael Jackson's star - which still has a large crowd of people around it. We miss you Michael! We also saw the Hollywood sign which was kind of funny because it now reminds me of the keelung sign in Taiwan (check out the Taipei Day 4 post from november).

Later in the week we went to Santa Monica and Venice Beach. Both are pretty close to each other, but there couldn't be more of a different crowd (okay there could, but they were pretty different). Santa Monica is a nicer area that has a pier with a ferris wheel and other fun things. It also has a section that is closed to cars, but open to lots of nice shops and street performers (We saw one from America's Go Talent - or so they said about 15 times). Venice Beach on the other hand has a weight lifting gym (right on the beach), basketball, and handball courts each with bleachers for viewing. Note - the movie White Man Can't Jump, was filmed at these basketball courts. Venice Beach also has tons of suveniour stores and individuals selling various goods. One of the more bizarre stores was the medical marijuna and botox shop. Yes, you read that correctly you can get medical marijuna and botox shots at the same shop. Sounds like a disastor waiting to happen if you ask me. I guess the upside is that if you end up looking like frankestien at least you will feel good. The last stop of the day was to In-N-Out Burger. We ordered off their secret menu (just to feel like locals). I had heard several times from different sources that In-N-Out Burger was awesome. I am sad to report that though the burgers were good they don't come anywhere near Sasebo burgers in Tokyo.