Oot & Aboot: Californication

Today I had planned to get to Universal Studios, the Hollywood Museum AND Santa Monica Pier. Kidding myself? Well yes, apparently I was.

This morning I discovered the subway in Hollywood! Crazy to think I hadn’t noticed it but the closest stations are currently well hidden behind a lot of construction on Hollywood Bvld. I was excited to discover the subway would get me to Universal Studios in 2 minutes. Yay. I got to Universal Studios on another hot day checking out the latest and greatest in rides. Universal Studios is not nearly as big as Disneyland so I had hoped to get through most of it, plus it also appeared to be a lot quieter too. I got straight into it, after saying hello to Marge and Shrek, and checked out Shrek 4-D. The 4-D ‘rides’ seem to be rather popular at theme parks, but I guess not for someone who isn’t 25! I went onto the Mummy ride (actually a rather scary rollercoaster) followed by the new The Simpsons ride. The Simpsons ride was freakin’ cool. It was a virtual rollercoaster through Springfield. I have to say, one of the great things about this theme park was poles all over the place that sprayed out a fine mist of water over the crowds keeping everyone cool. I likey.

I did the Studio Tour, what Universal Studios is famous for, and I can say it was slightly disappointing. You don’t really see anything except buildings to which the tour guide will say, ‘so in there, they film CSI’ etc etc. I just wanted to scream, ‘well then let us in!’

I saw a few sets from TV shows and movies and old props. I loved seeing Wisteria Lane and the War of the Worlds set. We went past the wreck that was once the famous Clock Tower from Back to the Future and the Town Square from Ghost Whisperer. It was totally gutted and very sad to see as I would have loved to have seen it. Not that it’s all about me of course.

Had myself lunch at Mel’s Diner where I ordered an ‘appetizer’ of a Thai salad wrap, a.k.a two huge wraps plus noodles. I only managed to eat half of it. I also pointed to a smaller sized cup for soft drink to which the kid responded, ‘you can’t have that, it’s the kid size’ Dammit.

After lunch I raced to get a seat at the Waterworld show. I find it slightly humorous that Universal Studios has a show based on a movie that was basically a flop. The show was good and I did manage to get totally saturated. Time was quickly running out and I wanted to check out the museum before it closed so I headed back into Hollywood. Of course before I left Universal Studios, I made a quick stop at the Dodgers store and bought myself a baby sized pink bat. Well, when in L.A.

I got back to Hollywood Bvld and had about an hour to check out Hollywood Museum. My main reason to check it out was because they had the actual cell block from Silence of the Lambs in the museum. I had to leave my camera at the front desk which I was devo about as I really wanted photos! The cell block was down in the basement of the museum and it was awesome to walk through it. Honestly, I was actually a little freaked out because I was the only one down there and felt like I was Clarice walking through the cell block having people yell at me. Very spooky. The museum is in the old Max Factor building so they had a large exhibit on Max Factor and showcased old make-up. For a make-up lover, I thought it was cool. Kinda sad to see how Max Factor has gone from being the top make-up brand to something you can purchase in Woolies. Anywhoo.

I got to see props from a lot of movies – Indiana Jones Grail diary, Dorothy’s red shoes, Master & Commander costumes, Elizabeth Taylor’s Cleopatra costumes and so forth. They had a Marilyn Monroe exhibit on during the time I was there, which was excellent. It’s amazing to see what huge impact she still has to this day. They had about 20 of her dresses and my first thought on seeing them was that she really wasn’t curvy like people assume. She was rather small in stature, but oh so glamorous. They had furniture from her apartment, the original autopsy report, her make-up kit, photos of her, letters etc.

It got to 6pm and I was stuffed, so I gave away Santa Monica Bvld. I was really disappointed to miss it and now realize I really needed another couple of days in L.A to really see what I wanted too. I headed back to the hotel to chill out and change to head back out for dinner. I walked Hollywood Bvld to check out where to eat. For some reason, I ended up in Hooters. They may have hot chicks, but the food and service was rubbish, really rubbish.

I left and decided to head to Sunset Strip for a closer look. I waited for the bus whilst trying to ignore all the incoherent homeless people hoping for a chat. Ironically the homeless are a hell of a lot more friendly than the dicks who work in the stores. I got onto the freak bus and headed to Sunset. I had planned to go to the Chateau Marmont but totally chickened out once I got there. L Maybe because the scene wasn’t at all buzzing for a Friday night like I had hoped and I was hardly dressed for the occasion. It was only about 11pm and hardly anyone was around, I don’t know what was up with that. It didn’t feel all that safe around the place, so I (eventually) got into a taxi and headed back to the hotel.

What I learnt today in Hollywood:

Taxi drivers expect a decent tip on top of their fare. Not really sure I like that idea, especially given most drivers are on their cell phones when driving!
Sunset Strip didn’t live up to the buzz the night I was there.
There’s a subway!