Double the fun : East & West coast Disney & Universal parks during the holiday season **COMPLETE 7/11/11** About This Page:

[Big Sister]

To read about the first leg of our holiday (Sydney), including our itinerary and introduction, please click here

DAY 4B: Friday, 12 November 2010

First of five nights at Universal Studios Hollywood

At 3pm, two hours before we were due to land in LA, we were served 'breakfast'. I was excited when I heard there was a choice between eggs and pancakes, as I wanted pancakes. I was so disappointed when it turned out the server had made a mistake, and the choice ended up being between eggs and French toast with sultanas Since it was choose the lesser of two evils or eat nothing, I chose the French toast and just ate the sides of watermelon and honeydew melon cubes, and croissant with butter. I gave Nest my tub of passionfruit yoghurt and cup of orange juice, as they would've made me ill.

I knew snoozing would be futile by this stage, so I battled with the crowds to use the bathroom for the last time, filled in our blue customs/US entry forms, then played solitaire for the remainder of the flight.

We landed in LA at 5.25pm, and were surprised to see it had gotten dark so early. We caught a bus straight from the plane to the terminal. Surprisingly, we didn't have any hold-ups getting through Security or Customs (I didn't have to give up any of our lollies or crisps we had purchased in Sydney ) - even our luggage came out within the first five minutes of us arriving at the luggage carousel! When Nest was getting my suitcase off the luggage carousel, as he plonked it on the floor, my meowing cat toy went off really loudly, and everyone nearby turned around to look at us questioningly

After retrieving our luggage, we enquired at the Information Desk where to catch a shuttle which would be going our way, and were directed to the Super Shuttle stop to our left once outside the terminal. A shuttle turned up immediately, and we were soon being whisked off into the bright lights of the big city at night with three other passengers. It was around 6.30pm at the time. It was just so nice for things to be going so smoothly for once, after the bumpy time we had experienced in Sydney.

From LAX, we drove all the way to Bob Hope Airport, where we dropped off an old lady, followed by two young women (who had been gossiping about Carly, Heather, and other people they knew) off at the nearby Marriott Hotel. Finally it was time for Nest and I to be dropped off at our chosen destination, the Hilton at Universal City Walk . I loved seeing all the billboards advertising Christmas at Disneyland, as well as the new Disney Wonder cruise liner, and was excited to know we'd be able to experience the former at least, during this holiday

It felt great to reach the area we knew would be ours for the next five nights. When we saw the sign for the Frankenstein parking area, we knew we were close . Our hotel was at the top of a very steep drive lined with trees adorned with silver sparkly fairy lights.

When we pulled up out the front of the hotel, I was helped out of the shuttle - it must've looked like I was going to fall flat on my face! Since we were over ten hours late , I was hoping our reservation was still being held. To my relief, it was. It was also a relief to see that other people were checking in at that hour. We were seen to quickly. The staff were very efficient, which was much appreciated, as it was getting late, and we wanted to get settled in and cleaned up. It was around 8.30pm at the time, as we had been travelling around in the shuttle for quite a while.

Out of the bank of elevators in the lobby, only two were working (cue strange feeling of déjà vu!), so since so many people with luggage were waiting to use them, a group of us were invited to use the service elevators.

Mine and Nest's room was number 968 on the 9th floor. When we finally worked out how to open the door, we couldn't believe our eyes - never before have we had such an awesome room! It was such a massive welcome after the matchbox we had stayed in in Sydney. Awaiting us on the day seat, was a complimentary welcome platter. The platter consisted of a bunch of grapes, bananas, an apple, an orange, a chocolate coated apple with sprinkles (on a stick), a jar of fruit chew lollies all different colours and flavours, and two bottles of water. Nest got stuck into the fruit straight away, as we continued exploring our room.

Our room was massive. It had two very comfortable looking queen size beds (with four pillows each), a writing desk with two super comfy desk chairs (which I enjoyed spinning around in ... yes, I'm 34), a lazy boy and footrest (which Nest claimed as his own), a coffee table with a variety of bottled waters and reading material arranged on top, and a tall boy housing a big TV, refreshment centre, and mini bar. The refreshment centre and mini bar were fully stocked ... and we had the keys to both of them!

Nest was massively happy in this room after the tiny one we had in Sydney

Getting stuck into the snackas already

We only partook of the sodas & water

We also had a large bathroom with a selection of complimentary toiletries lining the basin top, and a walk in closet containing more spare pillows (just in case four each weren't enough )

As for the view from our window, it was absolutely awesome! To our right, we could see Universal City Walk (including the famous globe) and the entrance to the park, and to our left, we could see the twinkling gold, silver and red lights of the city for as far as the eye could see, as well as planes constantly coming into land at what must've been Bob Hope Airport.

View from our room taken with my camera: Samsung Digimax V800

View from our room taken with Nest's camera: Canon EOS 400D Digital

As Nest still wasn't feeling 100%, we decided to have an easy night. First order of the evening, was to have a much needed shower. When I got out, I found that Nest had gotten into the refreshment centre, and had cracked open a tube of fun-sized Snickers, a jar of honey roasted peanuts, a jar of salted cashews, and a packet of mixed rice crackers That could only mean one thing - it was time for dinner! We spent a while pouring over the extensive room service menu, and were surprised that once I had placed the order, it only took 15 minutes to arrive.

To share, we had ordered:

· Universal hot platter: Chicken and beef satay sticks with peanut sauce; grilled ahi tuna skewers with soy sauce; vegetarian spring rolls with plum sauce; and, beef tenderloin focaccia flat bread with tomato, pesto and grilled cheese. Except for the grilled ahi tuna skewers, everything on the platter was sooooooo delicious! This was turning out to be the best meal we had eaten on our holiday so far!

· Beefsteak tomato salad: Huge thick slices of Californian tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella with mixed lettuce and caramelised onions, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and basil oil. I didn't realise this dish was going to be so big, and I was starting to feel really full by this stage.

· Chocolate eruption: A huge slice of very rich chocolate cake complete with chocolate icing, served with a generous portion of whipped cream (so yummy!), fresh strawberries, and strawberry jus. By this stage, I could only manage a spoonful of cake, before leaving the rest for Nest.

We ate dinner while watching the Comedy Channel and Nick at Night Channel. After dinner, we worked really hard on bringing our journals up-to-date while drinking all the Cokes out of the mini bar. We didn't get much writing done, as we kept on being distracted by the great view out the window, and seeing countless limos drive by, and wondering who was in them.

After an evening of total relaxation once having checked in, and our first big proper meal of the holiday, Nest was feeling much better. Even though we didn't want to be tired for the following day's activities, we didn't want to call it a night, as we were having so much fun and didn't want this great part of the holiday to end. It turned 4am before we called it a night

Next entry: 1st full day in the Universal Studios park