08th July 2016

So, today was an assault on the senses.

Tashy : We had an okay flight, all things considered.  It was full, we were stuck in the middle of the middle four seats, the start of school holidays, and dodgy weather getting out of Auckland.

Juita : Arrival in LA started out seeming ok and quickly took a bit of a turn. At the end we calculated we had spent two hours in the terminal from leaving the plane to getting on the shuttle. Such fun. The best part was an aggressively ‘helpful’ airline staffer who was going down the long, long line asking if everyone had a stamp.

T : What kind of stamp, I ask quizzically.  A STAMP he knowingly shouted at me – yes, but what kind of stamp?  So he took my passport, thumbed through the pages, spotted a generic travel related stamp, then emphatically shook that at me and said ‘this one’!

J : Having watched this I was not really in the mood for him to ask me about the aforementioned stamp AS I STILL DIDN’T KNOW WHAT STAMP HE WANTED. He left Tashy and asked me the same question to which I responded ‘I don’t know what you mean!?’ His voice shook with condescension ‘How can you NOT know what I mean? Do you have a stamp in your passport?!??’

Obviously the correct response was me shouting back ‘Why don’t you have a look then??!?’ So he did. I did not have a stamp. We moved on in the line. We find out he wanted to know if we’d been to the states before. WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST ASK THAT?

J&T : Sir, you don’t get our stamp of approval.

T : From here we progressed through a tiresome line to a very depressed and depressing Field Customs Officer.  His name was Toy.

J : Long long afternoon short – we waited for fricken ages for a shuttle to our hotel which then took the longest hour ever getting to our destination. LA traffic is for real the worst. HOWEVER, on arrival at our hotel (Hollywood Roosevelt) things got decidedly MUCH better. Not to boast but our class of room had sold out so we went up FOUR grades to a King Deluxe Suite on a high level.

Guys, we have a dining room table and a wardrobe, not to mention a luxe couch and four poster bed. AND THEN, we find that tomorrow (Saturday 9th) the Ghostbusters premiere after party is at our hotel pool!!! Sadly, it means we cannot use the pool. Unsadly, it means we may see a bunch of celebs hanging around our hotel.

And we’re invited to a pool party on Sunday.  But not with the celebs.  A different one.

The cherry on the top, was getting to the room (which is amazing) and finding a Happy Birthday platter of sweet treats (Tashy says to call them petit fours) and complimentary water.  Which is a big deal, because of the drought.

T : After settling in, unpacking our packing cells (which are also amazing – see photo), oohing and aahing, showering and refreshing we thought to venture out into Hollywood.  Bad idea.  It was scary, we were hangry, and food is shit on Hollywood Boulevard.  It was literally an assault on all our tired and fragile senses.  We retreated to the calm oasis of our hotel room, and will try round two tomorrow.  Hopefully with some food, sleep and caffeine we’ll be armed and ready to take on the Walk of Fame.

J + T xx