(More images in the image directory)Oh boy, California! I was there for the past week or so with my mom, from the 11th to the end of the 16th. Here is a small fraction of the pictures I took, and extended descriptions of each day can be found in the full post.
Day 1
Took the plane from JFK in New York to LAX in California. Apparently I’ve been on a plane before (when I was really little), but I don’t remember it, so this was kinda my first time I can actually remember being on a plane. Was sort of nervous at first, because I didn’t know what to expect, but it turned out completely fine. I didn’t throw up or anything, but that thing that happens to your ears during flights took awhile for me to get used to.
After arriving at LAX, we got our luggage and took a taxi to the motel we checked into (I later found out this was not a good idea, as taxis tend to overcharge). First thing I noticed: the weather is reaaaaaally different. It was definitely a lot warmer. Later I met up with two of my friends (Miluda and Renko), then went and got food. On the ride there, I learned various things: mainly that we’re supposed to wear seatbelts even in the backseat of cars, which I wasn’t used to doing in NYC, and that the FedEx logo had an arrow in the negative space between the E and the x. It was like woaaah. At the shopping center they drew stuff, which can be seen in the first uploaded image. Miluda had a flight to catch to northern California, so we dropped her off and then went to eat dinner at a Japanese curry place.
Day 2
At about 11AM, I went to Knott’s Berry Farm (an amusement park that is not currently a berry farm, but apparently was in the past) with my mom and Renko. We went on a lot of awesome rollercoasters (before this trip, I had only been on one small rollercoaster) and saw various live-action shows, and it was really fun. It was fairly empty that day, so there were practically no lines for rides, which was awesome.
Also saw clouds that kinda looked like an Unzan punch. The park closed at 6PM, and we went and got dinner at a Korean restaurant (There was a restaurant named “Chef Chen” nearby). Then wandered around in a supermarket for awhile.
Day 3
Didn’t really do very much at all this day (None of the pictures up there are from Wednesday). My mom and I checked out of the motel because it wasn’t so great, and walked over to a hotel that was somewhat close by. Walking in California is really weird, because no one’s really on the sidewalks and everyone’s in their cars. There was a shopping center nearby, so we went and bought some stuff at the supermarket (orange juice, water, some fruits). Then we went back to the hotel and slept for some hours, then went out and got Subways for dinner.
Day 4
Apparently there was a family friend in California, so he picked us up at the hotel and brought us around to various neat places. We went to a restaurant to eat, and then headed to the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens: there were lots of neat plants and things. The Chinese and Japanese gardens were the best parts, I think.
Then he drove us to the Griffith Observatory, where there was a nice view of Los Angeles and the Hollywood sign and a few different exhibits indoors. After this, we headed to the Hollywood walk of fame, where I found out that Godzilla had his own star. Got out of LA at about 6PM, after a lot of traffic. Finally, we ate at a restaurant with his family and he drove us back to the hotel.
Day 5
Renko picked my mom and me up from the hotel; her friend worked at Disneyland and was nice enough to get us some free tickets, so we went. Got to the main gates at about 8:30AM, I think. We went to the California Adventure side first, and went on a few rides and took pictures with some Disney characters. Renko’s friend came along later on, and since he had a discount card, we went to the gift shop and bought some things.
Had lunch at House of Blues, and then went back to California Adventure to see the animation studio part of it (I drew some stuff but forgot to take a picture of it). Then we went into Disneyland and saw the Lincoln animatronic, and then went on a ton of rides. There was also some danmaku. The line for the Indiana Jones one was incredibly long. I think my favorite Disneyland Ride was Space Mountain; it was really neat.
We left Disneyland at about 11:30PM (it closes at 11PM but we stayed around in the shops), and headed to IHOP after a lot of traffic in the parking lot. It took a really long time for the food to arrive, so I made a sad face out of the ranch dipping sauce and a straw holder thing. Got back to the hotel at about 2AM, I think.
Day 6
My mom and I checked out of the hotel at 11:45AM and waited for Renko to pick us up. We went to a Chinese restaurant and then met up with some of Renko’s friends at the mall where we sorta just looked around and did random things for a few hours. Then went to In-N-Out Burger (because it’s something you have to do when visiting California) and got some food.
It was good. Ate the burger on a bench outside the mall while my mom and I waited for a car service to deliver us to the airport for our 10PM flight. After a long security check line, we boarded the plane back to New York. Arrived at JFK airport in NYC at about 6AM (Eastern time); I fell asleep on the flight this time, so it felt a lot shorter. It took awhile to get used to being back in NYC, with its colder weather, jaywalking not being illegal, along with being able to ride in the backseat of a car without needing a seatbelt.
Oh, and Poland Spring water. I have yet to drink my first bottle of Poland Spring since coming back from California, but I found out that Arrowhead seems to be the main bottled water brand in California (I didn’t see any Poland Spring bottles while I was there), and I didn’t like it very much. Guess I was just used to drinking Poland Spring. In any case, the trip was really really fun (really) and I actually learned a lot!
Hooray, long post over.
There are some pretty breathtaking photos there, you know. I particularly love the ones with the sun coming through the trees, the amazing views… and, the danmaku looks great too, of course. =D
@SomethingUnreal: Yeah, I think the one with the sun and trees is my favorite one! It reminded me of that one background from MoF that I recreated for create.swf.
I wanna post a link to the tourists daily flash here, but I’m too lazy to find it.
Yeah, brands are different a lot in California then they are in other states (particularly those west of the Mississippi.) One I can name off the top of my head is Dreyer’s Ice Cream in California is called Edy’s Ice Cream in other states.
Neat pictures, but tl;dr
I’m possibly more amused by the form than I should be. (Gender = All Of The Above, lol)
>I wanna post a link to the tourists daily flash here, but I’m too lazy to find it.
But I’m not!
http://www.walfas.org/?p=577
Suika’s danmaku!
I laughed so much at that form.
Good thing I saw this on my twitter updates haha.
You really think California’s streets aren’t that busy? I guess it’s worse here in San Francisco than in L.A. Space Mountain is my favorite ride too~!
@Anonymous: Well, the streets outside of the main city weren’t too busy at all! I barely saw anyone. It was the weirdest thing to me. In the city itself, it was kinda comparable to some parts of NYC, but still definitely not as crowded!
Whee, glad to hear you had fun!
LA and NYC are WAY different. As someone who moved from Westchester to Los Angeles, I can definitely relate how things are pretty much the opposite.
I saw your pictures in your twitter, you take a great photos!
I wanna see a “KirbyM Flash: California Special!!!” xD
That must be Awesome (with rainbow colors)!
Glad you had fun. I’m happy you were able to visit.
Arrowhead isn’t actually the main brand, it’s the cheapest brand in California, I think. I don’t even like it.. I prefer Kirkland, Dasani, and Aquafina..!!
lmao, I wanted to write in the form some more… but we ran out of time.
I also had a lot of fun, so, thank you for coming, and thank you for allowing me to show you around.
Oh yeah, I’ll send you pics of the drawings some time if you remind me.
Aaaah, and I also second the request for a special flash, haha.. that would be neat.. but only if you have time!!!
You talk as if California was a strange and alien place. xD I suppose if I went to NY, I’d be suffocating in the crowded-ness and wondering what the heck Poland Spring is.
CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEF Chen.
Whoever did it gets bonus points for the “All of the Above” option.
Aaaand, why is Mickey such a heavy smoker?
It’s good you enjoyed your trip. In the meanwhile, we were suffering under the tyranny of our evil robot lord KirbyB.
was the store with the kirby bag called Sugoi Life? In the Northridge mall? I think i know that store! >_>
It was nice meeting you! I hope you enjoyed us being fabulous at H&M. You missed out on the scooters though. :(
best. essay ever. that was some nice trip you got there kirbyM.
im quite fascinated with the huge amount (not really huge) of pictures that you took.
Also, TELL ME YOU BOUGHT THAT GODDAMN KIRBY BAG.
Day 1:
Pro tip: Eardrums popping from air pressure changes can be alleviated by yawning or chewing gum.
Taxis: Yeah, try to hire a hotel shuttle, if they have one, or use a similar service, like Super Shuttle. These tend to be much less expensive than taxis.
Seat belts: I can’t recall if rear seat passengers have to wear seat belts here, but it’s definitely recommended for safety reasons, and I always try to wear mine anyway, regardless of where I’m sitting in the car.
Weather: You lucked out a bit. I went to L.A. briefly in early December and happened to be there on one of their rare cold, rainy weekends—two straight days of rain which they needed desperately, but which overwhelmed the area’s capacity and resulted in plenty of flash floods. (Thankfully, none anywhere near where I was staying.)
Awesome that you got to meet two of your fellow artists. Heh…ah, artists at lunch. Doodles are inevitable.
Day 2:
Apparently, Chen took plenty of cooking lessons from Ran.
Day 4:
Hurray for smoggy panoramas!
Godzilla’s star: You should’ve seen his attempt to leave footprints in the cement at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre…
Day 5:
Ooh, free Disneyland tickets, the best kind! And gift shop discounts too! Rainbow-colored AWESOME!
House of Blues has the best cornbread I’ve had anywhere, period.
Hmm…looks like the danmaku was set on easy mode. Look at all that empty space! Well, maybe it’s just the first volley.
Day 6:
Heh…instant Walfas face with red bell pepper slices.
I take the mall has a pet store.
Wait…so Marisa’s a dentist, now? And what’s “Rohab”?
Godzilla =D
I’m glad you were able to visit! I’m happy I got the chance to meet you even if was just a short while.
I don’t drink Arrowhead. I like Crystal Geyser.
Adventure!
Hey… i fixed your cloud picture…
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/1152/pawnch.png
@Danielu Yoshikoto: Is he punching Myon!?
I wonder why it’s legal to not wear seatbelts in the rear seats but is illegal to not wear them in the front seats, considering that, if you’re not wearing a searbelt in the middle rear seat at the time of a crash, you’ll fly straight through to the front of the car anyway.
Come visit again, the weather is nice; albeit a little wet right now.
These pictures are all amazing!
i wanna eat at chef Chen’s!
Strange,there’s a Orange County here in Indiana I think…
We have too many color counties.Anyways,all of them are beautiful,but the fireworks are kinda blinding.
Sorry,all the PICTURES.And I hope you had fun.
http://www.walfas.org/blog/wp-content/california/california72.jpg
GOOD WORK KirbyM.
Looked like fun ^^
Mmm food
I’m glad you had fun KirbyM ^^ But I bet there’s no place like home~ + Lovely pictures by the way *w*
@Amarbar
You mean “Good work, Renko!” cause I totally rushed Walfas over to it while being late for somewhere I needed to be!!
So worth it, though. :V
Chef.. Chen..?
..
NOW WHY DOES BOXING CHEN COME TO MIND?! o.o
Ah, welcome back KirbyM! :D
Marisa has THE STRONGEST HOUSE NUMBER 8D
Sounds like a great “vacation”! You left right before the heavy thunderstorms (:D i live in LA). Well its a nice change of weather, and welcome back (well sorta:P)
You weren’t anywhere near Union City were you? Or Hayward? ’cause if you were I’d be all sadface for missing the chance to meet a fellow touhou fan IRL.
@Kael-Kun: Nope, definitely not. According to Google Maps, that’s about 380 miles away from where I was.