California Roadtripping

 Okay this post will be a quickie as we're now in a hurry to get to Hooters. So, long story short, we have now made it to the Sin City after lots of driving. On Sunday we picked up our rental car from San Fran after which we headed down to LA through the scenic  Highway 1. Too bad we missed most of the amazing views as it got dark around 4.30pm. But the bits we did get to see did not disappoint. Amazing ocean view when driving on the cliffs, and we did witness a pretty amazing sunset from the gorgeous Californian coast.

Before hitting the road we had to join the other 100 tourists checking out the famous Lombard street in SF. 

After it got dark theres not much else to say about the drive other than the fact that it seemed to last forever. After 10h of solid driving we gave up and crashed at Motel 6 just outside LA. My first motel experience was not very amazing. Shitty.To be frank. And it cost over $60. 

Woke up early the next morning to get to LA in time to sort out our Chinese visa mess. Here are the good news; we did get to submit the applications!So in yo face San Fran consulate! Overall, this consulate was sooo much better and ran so smoothly we had no problems with anything. To celebrate, I dragged Tony to a girl's heaven on earth: American Apparel Factory Outlet. The factory store itself was just like any AA anywhere, nothing special but the gigantic and apparently famous flea market that covered an entire floor in this huge building was something you won't find anywhere else. and CHEAP (for American Apparel). I ended up getting the perfect hoodie I've been looking for, for only $30 and  one of their classic long-sleeves for $12. Conclusion, anyone who likes AA will find this place a paradise.  

Outside the American Apparel headquarters and factory

That night we walked around Hollywood, which was such an anti-climax. Hollywood Blv was pretty gross to be fair, everything was expensive and crazy commercial. But since we were there, we couldn't resist the temptation and went into the Disney diner/shake shop for a $9 Mickey Mouse sunday. Again, nothing special. 

Having had enough of Hollywood mania, we went to Korea town to see Skyfall. Man we liked it! After the movie we finally decided to try out in-and-out Burger. Now thats what I'm talking about!No wonder this chain is praised by mr. Bourdain and rest of Americans. 3 burgers on the menu, back to basics, and hand down the best fast food burgers ever!That night we stayed in a pretty shitty hostel (Paradise Backpackers or something) in the famous semi-ghetto of Inglewood. And guess what, the beds had bed bugs!And guess who got bit by them, me, Petra. So NEVER stay in this dump. Waking up the next morning after having slept for about 2 hours, we headed to the Chinese consulate hoping to get our visas but that would have been too good to be true. Long story short we were told we would have to wait till next monday to pick them up, which considering our plans, was disastrous news. So now we are using an agency to collect them and send them to us. After a hassle at the consulate we started our drive to vegas.

The drive was five hours of not a lot other than dusty mountainous terrain with the odd little town every  once in a while. Vegas was like a glowing beacon on the horizon as we arrived towards sunset.

Okay, times running out so will fill you in more on Vegas later.

Tony at the pool in the Vegas Hotel