Sleepless in La La Land

After an almost 18 hours flight, I was hugely relieved to reach the Los Angeles International Airport. According to Wikipedia, LAX is one of the busiest airports in the world - but that doesn't necessarily make it the best airport in the world. Compared to Singapore airport, even the KLIA, I personally think LAX pales in comparison.

Getting through customs wasn't a problem. That happened very quickly - as soon as I got out I looked around to figure out where I should stand to wait for the shuttle that was supposed to take me to LA's Sheraton Gateway. First time in LA, all alone, cold and a bit confused, it took me about 20 minutes to figure out what I had to do. I saw the shuttle pass me by twice and I hoped it would stop but it just drove by. I asked someone, and he told me I have to hail them. I did so, and pretty soon I was on my way to the hotel.

I got to know soon enough that this weekend is the Oscar weekend. Which means, Hollywood would be bustling with activity. What a great time to visit that area...I was contemplating on going to either Santa Monica (where the infamous Route 66 ends) or the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The choice seemed obvious, but unfortunately I ended up going to neither place! (more on this later)

I was extremely hungry when I reached the hotel, and not knowing where to go for dinner, I did the most obvious thing - order room service. Of course, all I wanted was a burger and a bowl of onion soup. That's what I ordered...but what I got was this:

The onion soup isn't even in the picture - I had to move back just to take this shot. My very first American dinner - and it tasted like sawdust (the turkey on the burger). The onion soup was very good though, and I would have really enjoyed if only they had not smothered it with cheese. After such a dinner, I needed to sit for a while and relax.

The bed was very inviting, but unfortunately I couldn't sleep all night - it was daytime back home and evening in the US. I was extremely tired, wanted to sleep so much so that I can have that much needed rest but the evil of all travel kicked in - the jet lag.

When I woke up (well if course I didn't sleep at all, I was just lying down on the bed very much wide awake) I was so tired I could barely walk. I took a shower and got connected to the Internet. Wasn't as easy as I thought - the connection was very bad and I kept getting disconnected. I made a mental note to mention that in my company's hotel review website.

Highly irritated, I then switched on the TV and watched some news - then got dressed and wanted to go out. The moment I stepped out of the hotel, the cold weather engulfed me and I felt chilled to the bone. The weather was particularly bad this day, I tried walking around the hotel but I was shivering. How am I going to get to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in this condition? Add to the fact that suddenly I felt so sleepy and didn't quite know the lay of the land, I decided to turn back and embrace the comforts of the bed. I had better get some sleep before catching that plane to Phoenix. Hence ends my LA adventure.