Honeymoon, "Filipino Style"!

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'It was there, somewhere in the 300 miles between San Francisco and L.A. when my sister read a message from her other maid-of-honor: Michael Jackson apparently had a heart attack. By the time we stopped at Wild Horse Cafe, a truck stop that had a big screen TV and free wifi for its customers, Fox News was already breaking the news that the King of Pop was dead.
 

It was a shock, but it didn''t shake me to the core like it did many other people.  I never had a strong affinity to any particular song of his, and although he had fame and fortune (the latter being debatable actually), I always felt bad for him because I know he still led a sad life.  And up to the end, it seems that sadness defined him.  We waited for our truck stop ribs in silence, but by the time we left, we had regained most of our good cheer, which was quite apt because after all we were on a honeymoon... my sister and brother-in-law''s “Filipino-style” honeymoon to be exact, with the ate in tow

My new brother actually prefers to call it a “mini-moon”, this trip we set out for after I asked my sister pretty please with sugar on top if we can go to LaLa land and possibly Disneyland.  They gave in and now have my eternal gratitude...

We stopped at Pismo Beach where it was actually freezing so we just took some pictures at the boardwalk before getting ready to leave.  My sister suggested I walk down for some Dawson''s Creek-like shots, using the posts that supported the boardwalk as my background.  Although I wanted to walk on the fine sand on the actual beach, I had to decline, saying that this girl from the tropics does not want to risk getting turned into an icicle.

Our next stop that day was the house where the new bro grew up which was in The City of Culver City.  I guess it''s such a great place, describing it as a city once isn''t enough.  The street where his parents'' house is actually reminded me a lot of the village where my sister and I grew up.  My new bro''s dad had hip surgery and missed the wedding, so my sister and her hubby brought the top tier of their wedding cake and had another cake cutting for his benefit.  The main feature for the night was the couple''s wedding video;  a few minutes of this and I was in tears again. 

The next day, the new bro hung out with his parents while my sister and I let Tomtom guide us around L.A.  First off, we accidentally drove by Sony Pictures, so of course we had to get out of the car and take pictures.  Then, we found our way to Rodeo Drive to gawk at the fancy uber expensive boutiques whose wares istaytsayd television shows and movies taught us to covet.  Before lunchtime, we were able to follow a handful of streets lined with those iconic palm trees to Hollywood & Highland where practically the first thing that greeted us was the three-storey courtyard inspired by the Babylon scene in the film Intolerance.  It had elephants that sat atop columns and frescoes with 15-foot high winged creatures flanking store entrances.  What was more Hollywood than that?  An – ehem – eccentric man in his 50s singing into a portable blue microphone right beside the elevators, maybe.

We hit a road block when we tried to look for a place to eat.  My sister did not want to scour  the whole mall for a restaurant we''d both find interesting, so we ended up eating in California Pizza Kitchen.  I have nothing against the place, it''s just that one of my suking malls, the one about 10 minutes away from where I live has a CPK.  I figured I might as well make the most out of it and suggested my favorite pasta dish: fusilli with broccoli and sundried tomatoes.  My sister liked it, but not as much as she likes Jolly Spaghetti I daresay.

A viewing deck was right outside CPK and from there, we had a clear view of the Hollywood sign.  Unfortunately, it appeared about four inches tall from where we stood, but at least we saw it and got pictures of it!  Next, we went down and braved the crowds to see the Walk of Fame.  There were so many people milling about that we just took random pictures of ourselves in any ol'' available spot: it didn''t matter whose star we were stopping on, if nobody else was in the frame, we snapped a picture of it.  

For the first time since I arrived in the States, I was actually able to go outdoors without shivering even if I didn''t have a jacket on.  It was nice and warm, but it wasn''t overly humid so it was bearable even if the sun prickled my skin.  I wondered how the street performers could stand there all day and have their pictures taken with passersby for tips though.  There was a Jack Sparrow and a Supergirl who obviously wasn''t feeling so super, especially when a couple of girls who had their pictures taken with her didn''t give her a tip.  A Batman and Joker tandem started a shouting match against each other to catch people''s attention, but my sis and I were most curious about the crowd lined up in front of Mann''s Theater.  It turned out that people were leaving flowers at Michael Jackson''s star on the Walk of Fame.  TV crews were there to do Man on the Street interviews and of course, they got the two Michael Jackson impersonators present to appear on cam.

The courtyard at Mann''s was closed on account of the Jackson fans, so sis and I made do with a few pictures of the Kodak Theater before preparing to go.  It didn''t look as big as it did whenever I''d catch the Oscars on TV, but I''m sure everything would feel different if you were actually walking on the red carpet with all those stars to attend the event.