M&T: LA #1

It is now 5.20pm Friday LA time; arrived at about 8am today, after an incredibly stress-free journey from Melbourne. Very happy we upgraded our flight. I even had a good conversation with the customs guy at LAX about the differences between barristers and solicitors !?!

Ended up hiring a black Ford Mustang for $7/day more than the (crap) car we were going to hire. It is an American muscle car - 2 door, very low-slung, big bonnet, short tail, fairly ugly and (I suspect) a suburban hoon's car; it is certainly not in abundance in West Hollywood, which appears to be dominated by European sports cars, Hummers and Range Rovers.

The London West Hollywood is fantastic so far. Our room is huge and extremely tastefully funished [no kidding, the bathroom is bigger than I expect my room to be at The Standard NYC and the double shower inexplicably has 3 separate shower heads], the staff are friendly (and have so far complimented both my car and my t-shirt), the pool and surround are really nice and they let us check in at about 9am - very welcome after the long flight.
The location is also great - basically on the corner of San Vicente and Sunset Boulevard. The Whisky A Go Go is pretty much within spitting distance, and the Viper Room is a couple of doors down on Sunsset. About 5 minutes drive to Beverly Centre (a huge shopping mall).

Have had a great day so far... determined to try and stay awake until bedtime tonight.
Went to the gym this morning, then a wander down Sunset.
Ended up getting lunch on Santa Monica Boulevard, then grabbed the car [still getting used to valet parking and the whens,hows and whys of tipping] and found Samy's Cameras to buy a Canon G10 - much cheaper than in Australia, and (apparently) the best camera store in LA. It was huge and fantastic (and had valet parking!!), and we got talking to a couple of people working there. Bizarrely, one had spent a year living in Bundoora studying at Latrobe and the other was an older European guy who's son was leaving for Australia today.
Then a coffee at Urth Cafe on Melrose in West Hollywood - good coffee, and great people watching. The people at the next table were having what appeared to be a script development meeting, and the girl sitting at the table 2 away directly in my line of sight was whatever is beyond beautiful.
A drive through the hills of Beverly Hills and Bel Air - lots of amazing modernist architecture (and etc) and huge mansions, most of which are hidden behind hedges and fences so all that can be seen is glimpses and gates. A very wind-y drive along Mulholland Drive and we somehow ended up in Sherman Oaks thanks to M's directions. After finding our way out of the Valley, we drove back up Sunset and are now back at the hotel relaxing.

Tonight, dinner with M's friend Tanya who lives in LA. Tomorrow, M's cousin's wedding somewhere in the wilds of Burbank.

No pressure, but if you're interested in further instalments check them out at www.samizdat7.blogspot.com - i won't be sending further group emails.