Boba

This is my favorite drink, Thai Iced Tea with boba. I only go to one place in Thai town called Sanamluang. I have no idea where I can find this in KL. I can't even find a good Thai tea in KL, let alone with boba. Since I have yet to visit Thailand even though it's just a neighboring country, I took the opportunity to have this while we were in LA. It's especially good on a hot day. Go try one if you're in the area.

Address: 5176 Hollywood Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90027

(323) 660-8006

Warner Brothers Studio

The whole time we were living in LA not once did we visit this studio. To make up for lost time, we made our first visit here. We really enjoyed the tour. We are huge fans of F.r.i.e.n.d.s so we were excited to be visiting the 'Central Perk' and even took photos on the famous couch!

What: A 2.5 hours tour of the studio, offering you a glimpse close up into the real Hollywood work - The Big Bang Theory, Conan, West Wing, Vampire Diaries and more. On a cart, you will be driven around to take you to back lot streets, sound stages, sets and craft shops. 

Where: 3400 Riverside Drive

Burbank, CA 91505

Tickets: USD 49 per person

Parking: USD 7

Diddy Riese

Ta-da! This is my favorite place for cookies/ice cream sandwiches/brownies in LA. When I was living here, I used to come all the time. Terrible right?

When you order the ice cream sandwich, you get to create your own combination from the variety of ice cream flavors and fresh baked cookies. Currently priced at $1.50, it's a delicious and inexpensive dessert. The weather has been great since we arrived and it's beautiful today. Thanks to the great LA weather we're able to enjoy the ice cream sandwiches even in the winter.

Expect to see a line of customers outside the store, so you'd have to be patient to enjoy this, but I promise you it's totally worth the wait. It's located in Westwood Village, near UCLA.

Address:

926 Broxton Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90024

http://www.diddyriese.com

Guns N' Roses Tour 2011

When I found out that we were going to LA, I quickly looked up Groupon for local offers. I saw that GnR is on a tour and they will be performing in town while we're here. Knowing that hubby is a fan of GnR, I wanted to purchase the discounted tickets from Groupon but I was having trouble because they needed a local address, possibly a local credit card too. So by the time I sorted for help from a friend there, they were already sold out. Hubby was really keen on going so we bought the tickets directly from Ticketmaster. We managed to get the floor tickets close to the stage even though it was a week before the concert. It was totally worth it!

Easy Travel

We are currently enjoying our year-end vacation in LA. The weather is beautiful, it's what I love most about the city. I have a soft spot for this city as this is where I first met my husband. This is also where I transitioned into an adult - going to college, learning to live on my own, getting my first (three?) jobs.

We had very little time to plan for the trip, but with the help of the internet, it was quite a breeze!

Flight:

This is our first time flying long-haul with this airline. The flight is about 18 hours total with a 2 hour layover in Hong Kong. 

Accommodation:

They offer very good deals from a wide selection of hotels. What I like most is the cancellation policy which allows us to be quite flexible with our itinerary.

Car rental:

We got a very good deal for our duration there. Highly recommended.

Travel Insurance:

I had a good experience with them when trying to cancel a trip due to an emergency once. So this is why we use them. 

Other:

Groupon is an excellent way to find out the latest deals in a particular city. 

I still marvel at the convenience of the internet. It really does make the world smaller! :)

Happy Holidays!

Thank goodness we didn't really suffer from jet lag. It probably helped that we arrived at night.

We landed along with three other flights, so you can imagine the line at the customs. We stood in line for easily an hour. We were starving by the time we cleared.

Hubby was disappointed that his favorite Indian/Pakistani restaurant - Bilal - was already closed for the day when we got there. So no Lamb Special tonight. Poor guy, he was really looking forward to this. We had to get our dinner elsewhere.

Afterwards, we went grocery shopping to get our supply of water bottles, some bread, fruits and snacks. Good thing I still have the membership card to the store to get discounts on our purchases. *pat myself on the back* :P

Only after that we checked into the hotel. We decided to stay near the airport because it's near the 105 and the 405, the two freeways that we'll be using most.

This is our tentative itinerary:

1. LA

2. Lake Tahoe

3. San Francisco

4. Napa

5. Las Vegas

I now realize that I should start jotting notes about the places we've been to so I would remember should I get the chance to go back. So you may start seeing backdated travel notes on this blog for my own future reference.

Jet Lag

Traveling long-haul crossing different time zones causes jet lag. This is because the body's internal clock is yet to be synchronized with the external clock in the new time zone. Some of the symptoms of jet lag include insomnia, sleepiness, impaired performance and diminished alertness. You can be easily irritable, or be in a depressed mood. Apparently, jet lag can also result in gastrointestinal distress. 

A general rule of thumb to keep in mind before any long trip is the 1:1 ratio: allow yourself one day to recover for every hour of time difference that you experience.However, I personally find this to be rather extreme as I will lose my vacation by the time I've recovered from the jet lag.

You can try to reduce the effects of jet lag by setting your watch to the destination's time as soon as you get on the plane. This way, you can sleep and eat accordingly, adjusting your body to the time in the destination's time zone.