the year of a million dreams

or as the locals like to call it, a trip to disneyland. yep, i was dragged up early to beat the traffic. julie had to work so vince let me tag along with him, arriving just as the park opened. i've been a few times before, years ago, so i came prepared. sunscreened, sneakered and hatted, i was ready for the day ahead. first stop, tomorrowland....


...and space mountain. a roller-coaster inside a big dome (kinda reminds me of the black hole at alton towers, mom & ains). from there we moved onto star tours which was hosted by c3po.

after spending about 3 hours in line for some water (this is for you vince) we made it to fantasyland and the matterhorn bobsleds. yeeehhhawwww.... i'm pretty sure we fell into the boats at the pirates of the caribbean experience to cool down, then wandered through new orleans square.


at some stage i was attacked on the street by a great whale but i forget exactly where. luckily enough vince put down my camera long enough to save me.

i snapped a few other photos while wandering around the park.


i remember seeing the teacups on the wonderful world of disney on sunday evenings when i was small. ahh....




here's that "hunk" i was sent out to find... ha!! then onto... big thunder mountain.


sometime about now we had hit all the high points of disneyland so moved across to the adjoining california adventure park. newly opened since my last visit. we watched a 3d muppet show then decided to take in the twilight zone tower of terror before lunch. good thing to...


it was one of those rides that takes you up to the top and drops you. a few times and a little unexpectedly. i was laughing so hard i was crying.

the last ride of the day was the grizzly river run - needless to say there was a lot of wet crotches after that ride. ha! to finish the day on a high note we succumbed to the sweet temptation of frozen chocolate bananas. ahh.... thanks for it all vince.

in with the in crowd

so julie and i headed off to the greek theatre in griffith park last night to listen to crowded house. kirsten joined us in the adventure and what a great evening it was. parking turned out to be better than expected. and for those of you wondering why i'm writing about parking... dear heavens it's a nightmare for the most part here. they "stack" park at venues. which means you park in long lines of cars, less than a metre between you on each side. which means you have to wait until the car in front of you moves before you can. eek! anyway, traffic was fine, parking good and the venue fantastic. definitely recommend the greek. and seeing crowded house. neil was in fine form, chatting between the tunes. they played a lot of songs from the new album (hence the tour) but some old favourites. in fact, they started with something so strong and finished the evening with better be home soon (funny about that). so all in all, a great evening out.

a monday drive

dropped julie at work yesterday and then drove down to santa monica. absolutely glorious day - mid to late 20s. all quiet on the western front til 11 or so. had the prerequisite frapp to start the day then went for a walk. no photos but i'll be back down there again so i'll make sure to snap some then.

ended up taking a drive from the pacific ocean up sunset drive to hollywood. love the changes in the neighbourhoods. reached hollywood and was sitting at the lights somewhere near la cienega i think when i look up to check out a cute norton motorcycle. lo and behold who should be sitting beside me but keanu reeves. welcome back to l.a. leisa. okay, he didn't say that exactly but as i've seen him 4 or 5 times in the vicinity over the times i've been in l.a. i figured it was the city's way of welcoming me back into the fold, however briefly. it was a funny moment.

oh, check out this poster... it was posted on trees along la brea.



anyone interested in the service??

into hollywood again tonight for crowded house. yes, i've come all this way to see a band from home.

frappacino heaven

tuesday morning here. sorry about not keeping you up with what's been going on, i've been a little busy. let's see... friday after arriving in l.a. my beloved mocha frappacino on the way to fox. just hanging out with julie while she was at work for a couple of hours and then MEXICAN.... oh yeah. lunch and dinner. bit exhausted so it was a casual day.

saturday..um.. breakfast at the urth cafe with Julie, Ang and Kirsten (who happens to be a fellow australian). then onto corvina to check out julie's wedding dress - oh my goodness, just gorgeous. picked up vince at torrance and then onto hollywood to meet up with kirsten for cpk (californian pizza kitchen) at the hollywood and highland centre, tre impressive (at least the size), before heading onto the hollywood bowl. hollywood philharmonic orchestra with the big bad voodoo daddy. fantastic. swingin' swing music. the finale, fireworks.

stay away...

from the french toast at sydney international.  perhaps if was hot it would have been worth the $9.  but the view from the window across the sydney skyline wasn't too bad.  about half hour before i board the plane for los angeles.  still doesn't feel real.

packed & ready to go..

hours away now. just finished a few things off at the office this morning and now i'm ready to go home. still doesn't seem real but i'll get someone to pinch me when i touch down in l.a. YEHAW!!

no mike!

you can not blog for me. i am the one leaving town in one sleep's time. not you!!

single digits

excited and nervous. too many things to do before i fly. nothing to pack, so nothing to wear. i can see a mad shopping spree when i get to l.a. have music, have camera, have resume (just in case someone wants to snap me up). bloody hell! haven't got my journal yet. this week. promise.