August 2008 - Los Angeles
Everything had begun about a year before, when I promised my best friend Tina to visit her in Singapore one day, especially after meeting her in Berlin in September '07. Later that year, Laine invited me to visit her in Los Angeles and when I stumbled across something named "round the world ticket" it was set: I would simply connect both. There were no doubts anymore when Laine and me became boyfriend and girlfriend on December 8, 2007 - of course I wanted to meet my girlfriend one day.
In February 2008 I contacted my travel agent, a friend of my stepfather's and an expert in long-distance travels. In the middle of February, the plan was fixed:
On August 8, 2008, I would board an Air Berlin flight bound for Los Angeles, in the night from August 16 to 17, I would proceed to Singapore, on the 20th my bed would be in Bangkok and a day later, I would go home. Bangkok had not even been in the plan, but my travel agent recommended staying a night, in case the flight from Singapore would be delayed.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Flight Hamburg - Düsseldorf - Los Angeles
What a date: My mother's birthday, but that wasn't important this year. Further, it was me and Laine's 8 months of being together. Perfect symmetry.
I got up early because my journey around the world would begin at 10am, with a flight from Hamburg to Dusseldorf. We arrived in Hamburg around nine and I was able to check in before masses of people would line up before the counters, so it was a comfortable start. I got a window seat for both flights, what I appreciated a lot.
The first part lay behind me around 11:30 - I was in Dusseldorf. It was now that I was facing first lines, glad I had enough time. Enough to even wander around a little and look at some of the beauties on the apron. My LA flight was listed as delayed - 13:40 instead of 13:00. I didn't consider this very annoying, though. I showed my ticket to Singapore and the form with my US address for the fifth time this morning.
I didn't feel excitement yet. Maybe because I still could not really believe this was reality and what big thing was ahead of me.
We weren't departing at 13:40, though - three people from Berlin had checked in with invalid passports, the captain told us, so we had to wait until their baggage was taken out of the plane. He further told us the reason for the first delay: the plane had arrived from Florida later than scheduled which caused an overall delay. My seat was not a window seat, but next to it, seat H. This is a very comfortable seat, you can still look out the window and extend your legs into the aisle at the same time.
My seat neighbor was Swedish and going to LA to attend college in Santa Barbara for a year. We had nice talks and got along perfectly for the rest of the flight.
We departed around 15:00 - two hours late, but at least a wish came true for me: it rained heavily when we took off. Good old German weather making it easy for me to leave this country!
The flight was really quiet, I spent the time talking to my neighbor, we were helping each other with our US immigration forms, read and watched the three movies. After a few hours the captain announced a beautiful view on Greenland, later on Canada and finally, Las Vegas.
11 hours and 20 minutes after departure, when we finally touched down on LAX runway 24R and reached the gate after almost endless taxiing, I finally started to get nervous. Really nervous.
Everything happened pretty fast from now. Against all expectations the immigration process wasn't humiliating and annoying. The officer talked to me very friendly and wished me a great time meeting my girlfriend. That was it. I was delighted to see my suitcase had made it to LA as safely as me and a few windowless hallways later I reached the light at the end of the tunnel, a broad doorway leading into the main hall.
A few meters above I could see a long line of people waiting for people they were to pick up, Laine was among them. We recognized each other at once and I hurried up the ramp.
Next to Laine was her mother who had been informed about me visiting only one day before. She greeted me almost more emotionally than Laine herself and we seemed to get along well right from the start.
As we were driving along Center Way and Century Blvd I was finally freaking out. I felt like inside a movie. The sun was shining more intensively than it could ever do in Germany, palm trees stood along the street... it was amazing and unbelievable.
I had a mixed impression of the hotel (Tradewinds Adventurer). It wasn't really noble, but not bad either. Our suite was okay, two rooms with a big TV and fridge. Laine was starting to unpack supermarket bags and loading their content into the cupboards and a huge load of chips onto the table.
I left my suitcase and we left again already. They asked me where I would like to eat and I suggested the world famous In'N'Out restaurant off LAX runway 24R of which I had seen so many pictures - the planes are passing over really low and touching down directly in front of you - it is worth it! As we sat there eating, the sun was setting and the orange sky, combined with the runway lights created a wonderful atmosphere.
I didn't like the food much, though. None of the three of us could finish their burgers and fries. No surprise about Laine, she had had her wisdom teeth pulled out only four days before.
I still couldn't really believe I was in Los Angeles... this feeling shouldn't change for the rest of the day.
When we came back to the hotel, Laine's dad and sister arrived to pick up her mom. They treated me really friendly right from the start, too, and Laine's mom kept assuring me that the house was always open for me in case I wouldn't like the hotel.
But for now, Laine and me were finally alone. Finally, we had our first kiss. After eight months. She had to go home for the night, though, and when she left past 2am I was happy I could finally rest.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Living without time sucks. My cellphone was lost after we removed the battery and tried to use Laine's sim card in my phone. Before departure, I had removed the battery from my alarm clock. So I had no clue what time it was, all I knew was it was a wonderful sunny day when I woke up. I went to have the breakfast that was included in my booking - it consisted of a blueberry muffin and coffee, tea or water. This was not a breakfast, but for now it was okay to have anything at least. I tried calling Laine from my room phone but had to realize I was too stupid to use my credit card to pay for a phone call. I finally found the internet-connected computers, and they had the time - it was ten in the morning.
It was boring, too, so I left Laine a message on the table saying I was walking around outside a little. Right when I wanted to leave the room, she was walking in. She was late because she hadn't found the way.
We spent some time in the room and around 2, we left the hotel, bound for Santa Monica. I was finally to see the Pacific Ocean! And a famous Californian beach. Now I was on vacation!
It was hard finding a parking spot and when we had finally found one, we walked along the beach to the world famous Santa Monica Pier. We walked around. Down to the waterline, up on the cliffs where we walked along Ocean Avenue, then went back on the pier and had a nice time watching the sunset.
On our way home we took Chinese Fastfood home and I opened my belated birthday present. We watched TV and even though she was really tired, Laine had to leave at midnight. I was seriously worried about her driving in this state, but there was no way out. So I walked her to her car and went to bed.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
This day, Laine had found the way and when she walked in, I was still sleeping. She had brought her Macbook, so I could send an Email home, telling my parents everything was well. We sat at the pool for a while and I showed Laine my hometown in Google Maps. It was a lazy day for us, listening to music, surfing online.
That evening, we drove to Griffith Observatory from where you have a fantastic view on Los Angeles at night. We had some trouble finding a parking spot and when we finally did, we had to walk a little distance to get to the observatory. The view was worth it, though.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Laine was late again. She was so late I went across the street to call her from the coin-operated telephone at the corner. She didn't pick up though. I left a note again and as I was walking along Century Boulevard, a white Toyota cama my way, behind the wheel I could see a pair of glasses belong to a very small person who waved at me - Laine! She turned into the parking lot I was just passing. She was on the freeway when I called her. And she brought KFC.
The plan for today was to go to Sea World in San Diego. Since Laine was that late, driving there didn't make much sense anymore so we went to Huntington Beach instead.
This beach is slightly more beautiful than Santa Monica. Less people, more clean and nicer surroundings. This time, we had brought our swimming stuff, so we could dive in the Pacific Ocean. The water is much warmer than in North or Baltic Sea, and the waves are way better.
I spent this night on the couch in Laine's house since we planned to go to Disneyland the next day. It is only 20 Minutes from West Covina, ao this saved us a lot of time and gas, compared to Laine going to Inglewood to pick me up first.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
So we got up early and drove to Anaheim. Arriving there Laine realized she had forgotten her wallet, including all her money and her driver's license. So this day was fully paid by me. Laine's mom called telling her she had forgotten her wallet and prohibited her daughter to drive me all the way to Inglewood that night. Another couch-night ahead.
For now we were in Disneyland though, an amusement park that humiliates every comparable German facility. The show you are getting on every corner is totally real, animations, sceneries, actors, everybody makes you believe you are on a Star Cruiser or in the world of Mickey and Donald. Most impressing are the fireworks in the end, they are huge.
I can only recommend this theme park. The Indiana Jones rollercoaster scared the crap out of me, simply because it is so extremly real. So is the Pirates of the Carribbean ride, where I couldn't tell whether it was moving puppets or actors playing the movie scenes, and everything else.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
The next morning we went grocery-shopping in West Covina, so we had more at the hotel. Further, I wanted to buy an English dictionary for school.
Then we were heading back to the hotel so I could change my clothes and we could leave our new belongings. Then we left again, to Long Beach where we visited the Aquarium of the Pacific. It is not a big aquarium, but interesting and exciting, we watched a 3D-movie, "Monsters Of the Abyss" which didn't really excite me, I had expected more for the money. They have parrots, too. Other than in Germany, you could go inside their aviary, have them sit on your shoulder, feed them - and get their remains all over your shirt... of all the people who were there, guess who was hit? Me! Glad we could wash the worst away. We went to see more friendly animals. Sharks, Sea Lions or rays, which you could stroke. We concluded our visit with a look at all the tropical fish back inside.
We spent a little time looking at the little harbor the Aquarium is next to and talking. Back at the hotel we originally planned to go wash my clothes - the prices at the hotel were way too high - but somehow we didn't get around to.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
This is what I call the screwed day. I wanted to meet Cindy at the hotel this morning, but she didn't show up or answer her phone (and I was running out of 25-cent coins for the phone). Laine didn't want to come here before 3pm. I walked around the blocks a little, looking for a laundromat to do my laundry at later that day. Eventually I gave up on waiting for Cindy, so I called Laine to tell her she could come earlier. I went back to the hotel room read, watched TV want waited for Laine, who arrived about two hours later.
During the afternoon, we packed my dirty clothes and loaded them into the car. The next laundromat was only two blocks, we could have walked this if we had known it was that close. Glad she knew how to do laundry so we got along with it pretty well and it didn't take long. At least my clothing for the rest of the vacation was sure =)
That night, we went to Pasadena. Tropic Thunder had just gotten into US theaters (while Germans would have to wait until September) so we went to Laine's favorite theater to watch it. Old Town Pasadena is really nice, we walked around and had dinner there.
During the movie I realized that there were moments when everybody was laughing really hard while I had totally missed the joke. I suppose those were inside-jokes only Americans would get. It was a good movie anyway.
We went back to the hotel because we had forgotten to take my sleeping stuff - I was having another couch night due to our plans of going to San Diego on Friday.
Friday, August 15, 2008
San Diego is about two hours from Los Angeles. We had time for a complete breakfast and for buying Sea World tickets online.
Around 10am we were in San Diego, getting into the park without having to be in line for a long time.
Sea World has a lot to offer, most well-known are the dolphin- and orca-shows. Those are really impressive. But there's a lot more. A big arctic area with penguins and beluga whales, a big shark aquarium and manatees. There is enough to see for a whole day and maybe even two. I couldn't get enough of Shamu shows and cute penguins.
We saw two dolphin shows, one with sea lions, otters and a walrus, and two Orca shows. When it gets dark, the shows focus more on light effects. And just like Disneyland there's big fireworks.
I finally managed to talk to Cindy on the phone, too. There was no time for the promised visit of Hard Rock Cafe anymore, but we agreed on meeting at the hotel for a short while at least. Wouldn't it suck to go half around the world and not meet one of your best friends, even though you are in the same city? That way, I could at least see her in person and say hi.
Around midnight, we were back in West Covina to pick up Laine's sister Mina. They were both staying at the hotel overnight.
Piranhas... they are spooky. They're just there, not moving at all, but you always feel like they're watching every move you make...
And then there was the 'Atlantis' ride. Sea World loves to use the word "soak" but there is no second place in the park where it is that true. We were totally soaked, including clothes, cameras, tickets, wallets...
These animals are orphans and taken from animal shelters. It's really cute. You can even take them home if you are interested!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
What a short week, the last day had already come. We got up during late morning, Laine looked for the directions to Hollywood and we checked out at 12. With my suitcase in the trunk the three of us went on our way to Hollywood Boulevard.
I must say, it disappointed me. Hollywood Blvd is a narrow street, the Walk of Fame is a crowded sidewalk, the buildings on both sides are tall. You can't even see the infamous Hollywood-sign from there! I asked a local from where you could, she told me to go to the highest part of the mall that's next to the Kodak Theater. We did and yes, you could see the Hollywood-sign. It's far away and only appearing very small from here.
The fun part about Hollywood: there are lots of people dressed as movie characters, and you can take photos with them.
All in all, I think there are nicer places in LA. Old Town Pasadena, for example. Or Huntington Beach.
We didn't stay long because I was to meet Cindy back at the hotel at 4pm. So we had to go all the way back and then we even had to wait, even though we were late. Cindy hadn't found the way. So our meeting was really short, we basically just said hello, I gave her some gadgets from Wacken as promised, she wanted to meet Laine so I introduced them. And then I already had to go. This made me really sad because I had been looking forward to spending time with Cindy a lot. Well next time, we're planning better.
Laine, Mina and me were going back to their house where we played Pool, watched a movie and had dinner before leaving for the airport around 8pm.
Laine's next boyfriend ^^
Cindy.
On our way to LAX, sadness rose up. We were listening to some or 'our' songs and I saw a few tears running down Laine's cheeks. I was close to crying myself.
Arriving at TBIT we got in line. Due to construction works, it was a little uncomfortable and the line was outside. There were a lot of people, all waiting for two EVA flights to Taipei. Checking in took very long. Not checking in, but waiting in line did. It was awful waiting that long, but we still had time after I had dropped off my bag and received my window seat. We had a night-dinner at the terminal. My last meal in America. Laine and me sat around, talking about this and that. About the future, too. But the final moment was inevitable, the moment I had to turn around and walk towards security check. It was 01:05am now, not long before I was lifting off the ground again, bound for more adventures. Laine wouldn't let go of my hand, that didn't make leaving easier...
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