i left my heart, the threequel: part iii
so forget all the unpleasantness of that last entry, because now we are moving on to one of the best and most delightful parts of the trip: SEEING MY PERSON FOR THE FIFTH TIME. (okay, okay and also disneyland.) BUT MOSTLY GETTING TO SEE PIXIEBEANZ! ♥ ♥ ♥
the day started off a little slow; we woke up late, packed up all our belongings, and wandered down to check out. we got lucky with our porter, because not only did he say they would keep our bags (for the next week!) for free, he also brought in a second porter to gush over disneyland with us. (said second porter then also mentioned a free stay at a beach resort due to being an employee of the hotel, but we knew we weren't going to tip them, so we had it coming.)
once that was settled, we headed over to visit my sister for lunch at her workplace. we settled for korean because the famous paninis she wanted us to try were sold out, and that was just okay. we left her to go back to union square, stopping in on a couple of shops along the way, and then wound up sitting at a starbucks just a block down from our hotel. AND THEN THE WAITING FOR ANNEKA BEGAN - with a minor hiccup. i couldn't text or call internationally, so i was kind of helpless when she texted me to say she'd landed. (i ended up calling the hotel to leave a message, and also whatsapping my dad to ask if he could text her for me -- WHICH HE DID. ADORABLY. i love him.) but of course, my person being who she is, had already remembered that i probably wouldn't be able to text her back, so she got in touch with me all on her own once she got to her hotel (WITH WIFI). we had such a narrow window of time to work with, boo, but we made the most of it just hanging out at starbucks and catching up on everything and i am beaming just thinking about it. it was so good just to see her face. and get to cuddle her. and properly chat with her. and, just--A MEET UP HALFWAY ACROSS THE WORLD FROM EITHER OF US :D :D :D who would have thought?
we had to say goodbye at 5.45ish, so we could go catch our train. i really didn't want to go, and i kept threatening to take her with me in my suitcase (I SHOULD HAVE, REALLY). but then we were off to bart to the airport, where we met up with my sister for our flight to disneylanddddddddd~ we got in pretty late, so late that there wasn't time to do anything but check in and have a quick (and delicious) meal at ihop! (always the best way to start a disney trip.) then it was time for bed so we'd be able to get up nice and early the next morning.
i'm not much of a let's-meet-the-(cartoon)-characters type of girl, because i can't help but know in my head that they're not real. but tynislove and my sister are both big on that, so for the second time (in all my trips to disney) we went to do just that. also for the first time ever, i got to see characters running amok all over the place. i didn't take photos with most of them (because i don't like them :/) (i don't like quite a few disney characters, for someone who loves disney so much) but i did get to see peter pan, and hook chasing after him (AND HOOK CUDDLED ME SO HARD AND WAS MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER WE MET BECAUSE I GOT TO BE WEIRD AND GROSS AT HIM AND HE LOVED IT), and belle, and the evil queen swept past us once; we also got to see rapunzel and the newly opened royal faire, which hosts up to three princesses at a time - we saw snow white, sleeping beauty, and cinderella, two of whom are my ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE PRINCESSES EVER, so that was kind of a trip. snow white was so lovely, too, with her funny, princess-y, "oh my!"s every time i told her she was my favourite. (well she was one of, but i don't think that's ever an appropriate qualifier to use when you're fangirling, even if it's half-hearted, i-know-you're-not-real fangirling.)
we also stayed to watch the parade, which was really fun and soundsational, just like they promised, but the absolute best part about it was the mary poppins bit, because i ADORE that movie and her and they don't show her character enough!
we took a little break in the afternoon, and got ourselves some tony roma's and a quick nap before going to watch the fireworks and fantasmic that night. a little bit of unpleasantness occurred when we stood in a section with a bunch of ridiculous people, who thought that they could control the entire viewing section and make EVERYONE SIT DOWN because they'd been sitting there for hours and they didn't want to have to stand up and if we stood up we were blocking their views and HOW DARE WE. i would have been more than happy leaving them to their snide comments behind our backs while i blithely ignored them and continued watching the fireworks standing up like, oh, pretty much everyone else, but my sister got into a bit of a snit with them, and that was kind of awkward, but--whatever. we all deal with stuff the way we deal with stuff, i guess. the view from that section sucked anyway, most of the show was blocked by a gigantic tree - which i suppose was why the section had been empty even fifteen minutes before the show, but hey. you live and learn!
we got a much better spot for fantasmic, and oh my gosh, no matter how many times i see that show, it always makes me beam. it's just so awesome, and the dragon is so cool, and the princesses in the boats, and--ALL OF IT. i just adore it. it's my favourite. world of colour is a close second, but--fantasmic will always have a special place in my heart.
ANYWAY. day 2 was a bit of an exercise in patience. i've never been to disneyland when summer is in full swing before, and i've never had rides break down on me one after another, but that day, when we headed to california adventure--oh man. the cars ride broke down just as my sister was supposed to get on it, and then california screamin' broken down just as we headed over to take that instead, which meant that the line for the ferris wheel wound up being ridiculously long, BUT that midway mania was relatively short. the little mermaid ride stalled for a little bit while we were on it, but nothing happened on goofy's sky school, which was good because that was all the time we had before we had to head over to ariel's grotto for some good old character dining fun.
it was my first time at a character lunch (and it wasn't stupid expensive, but it wasn't cheap either), and it turned out to be a little difficult to navigate, because the princesses kept appearing, and every time we just finished with one the next one would be a table away and we'd have to sit there and not eat and wait for her to come to us so we could do the whole dance all over again. STILL. i got to take another photo with snow white and aurora, and also ariel and tiana and cinderella, so i'm not going to complain too much. (also i really really really love my lion king top, i'm just saying.)
AND THEN, AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, WE ALSO SAW CHIP AND DALE. only two of my all time favourite disney characters ever. i was walking back from the hotel with extra battery for my sister's camera, and suddenly she texted me all HURRY WE'RE IN LINE FOR THE CHIPMUNKS, and i almost thought i wouldn't make it, but the disney folk and my cousin and sister held out for me for as long as they could, and once i was through the turnstiles i booked it straight for them. AND VOILA.
there weren't many characters out and about at california adventureland, so that was pretty much it for photo opportunities. i ended up getting coerced into taking tower of terror, which i haaaaate, because that falling feeling is my least favourite thing about roller coasters, and then we saw the parade, and had to say goodbye to my sister after that, because she had to get back to san francisco for work on monday.
but we refused to let that slow us down, and wound up in line for monsters inc. it wasn't a particularly long line, but we got called up to the very front almost as soon as we stepped in it, and herded into a car. GREAT, we thought, THIS IS SWELL. VIP TREATMENT IS THE BEST. only halfway through the ride broke down, ha ha ha, of course. and we ended up walking through the rest of the ride, which--okay, that was pretty cool. once that was done, we decided to go see aladdin, which, hi, BEST DECISION EVER, i love that stupid movie so much. and then we realized california screamin' was finally up and running again, so we went to do that! and then to cars, which was the longest line we saw that day, and probably the least worth it. we had a bunch of time and not much else to do after that, so we walked around a bit -- and spotted ashley benson! or tynislove did, at least, i saw a figured bundled up in a hoodie being hurriedly escorted to a secret location by disney folk. we debated stalking her like creeps for about two seconds, and then decided to have dinner nearby instead. (DELICIOUS DINNER, i might add). then we made our way to secure a spot for world of colour, which was pretty good as usual but nowhere near as awesome as the first time i saw it. (still made me cry, go figure.) and then we called it a night.
day 3 we wound up back at disneyland, taking even more character photos and finishing up the handful of rides we hadn't been able to the first day.
we saw a bunch of people that i didn't want to take photos with, like pinocchio and tinkerbell and one of tinkerbell's friends -- and it was weird, because while i was taking all those photos for tynislove, people started to assume that i was there just to be her photographer. that was a major buzzkill, so i've decided i'm never taking my child to disneyland until they're old enough that they don't need to be babysat, and i can still love disneyland the way i do and not feel like i'm just there to be someone's guardian!
thankfully, things picked up a bit after that. my cousin wanted another photo with rapunzel - but with flynn ride this time - and to do that you have to be seated inside the royal theatre for a performance of rapunzel. we made it there with more than enough time to spare, and hung around after the show waiting for the couple to show up. i got a photo with one of the wenches while we waited, and then tynislove got her smouldering photo with rapunzel and flynn and everything was grand.
we caught a glimpse of cruella de vil before we stopped for a quick photo with aladdin (and there was NO LINE, seriously guys, aladdin is the secret gem in disneyland; we were literally the only ones there to see him, and he even spoke to us for a bit after because it was so quiet), and with tigger and pooh and eeyore and aojldsdgd THEY ARE ONLY MY FAVOURITES EVER I ALMOST DIED AND I WAS IN A POOH SHIRT TOO AND THEN I BOUGHT A HUNNY POT AND POOH ALMOST DIED WHEN HE SAW IT AND HE BUMPED HIS NOSE ON MY POT TO SHARE SOME AND EEYORE WAS ALL ADORABLE BECAUSE I TOLD HIM HE WAS MY FAVOURITE EVER AND HE SHOULD CHEER UP AND *________* I LOVE THEM
ugh brb just going to look at these for a while.
ANYWAY. it was only 1pm when we got done, so we stopped for lunch at ihop (YAY) and then headed back to the hotel for some rest. i got up to see beauty and the beast at the royal theatre before tynislove did, but it wound up being for nothing because the show ran late and belle couldn't stay for photos after. AND ALSO THE BEAST WASN'T THERE WHICH WAS THE WHOLE REASON I WANTED A PHOTO ANYWAY, gdi. moving on! tynislove met me at california adventureland for the grizzly river run -- which i coerced her to go on, because if i had to get on the tower of terror she needed to get on a wet ride -- and then we went to get ourselves (amazing) seats for the fireworks show. we saw a proposal while we waited -- or, we didn't see it, but someone yelled, "SHE SAID YES!" and the entire crowd cheered and it was just the best feeling, oh my gosh. and the show was swell, too.
and to conclude our three (glorious) days in disney, we managed to snag a picture with mickey and minnie on the way out. they were DELIGHTFUL. he'd kiss someone on the cheek, she'd pretend to be jealous, he'd cuddle her and they'd make up asldsgiodfg. PERFECT COUPLE IS PERFECT.
i love disney so muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch it's ridiculous :D
in comparison to all that, universal studios was a pretty big letdown. we had to wake up nice and early (earlier, even, than any of our disney days) to catch our tour bus to la. as soon as we got there, we bought ourselves front-of-line passes, and they were ridiculously expensive but the vip treatment is so worth it, i couldn't even be mad. we took the studio tour first, and oh my gosh, i haven't been in a while, so the king-kong bit was REALLY EXCITING, i don't even. also exciting was the fact that we were driving past the soundstage as they filmed the finale of the voice! or maybe rehearsed for it, i'm not sure. and then we wandered around and saw bart and fievel (FREAKING FIEVEL, I GREW UP WITH AMERICAN TAIL AND *______*) and curious george, who tried to eat my ice cream, and then tried to take my money. that was fun.
we finished the rest of the rides in record time after that, which is when we realized the transformers were out for photo ops! i loved the transformers ride, because i'd never been before, and then when we got out, we hung around waiting for optimus prime to show up! he called me jessica, but he's saved the world a couple of times, so i won't hold that against him.
we also got ourselves some glorious minion mugs! they were just so adorable, idek.
once that was over, though, we had nothing to do, and wound up spending most of our time in line for a funnel cake that we didn't even finish. not impressed. when we finally boarded our tour bus again, we decided we'd drop off at the walk of fame, where our hotel was near, instead of continuing on to sunset boulevard and rodeo drive. we were so tired we just lay in bed and rested up, and had to force ourselves to get up to hunt for (very nearby) food much later that night.
we spent most of the next couple of days lounging in the hotel, trying to recover from four full-on theme park days, and it was a bummer that the hotel we did that in wasn't a little nicer. the walls were filthy and it smelt like cigarette smoke and there were cigarette burns all over the sheets in a supposedly non-smoking room. the ceiling was peeling and maybe ten of the ninety channels actually worked (intermittently), and we didn't even have our laptops with us. suffice to say a lot of fic was read in that one and a half days, and our phones were pretty much our saviours. we did venture out to have some excellent asian food, though. there was the most amazing dragon roll i've ever eaten at murakami, and delicious sashimi at shintaro, and even pretty delightful pizza just down the road at raffallo's. the rest of the time we either spent in our rooms or wandering the walk of fame, checking out the hollywood and highland centre, and the cvs near our hotel.
we haven't done that much since returning to san francisco, either. the first day we were so tired we ordered in and learned all about the gloriousness that is rupaul. yesterday, we joined my sister for lunch at her workplace, picked up my passport, and then got the rest of our luggage from villa florence to take to our new hotel in berkeley -- it sounds worse than it was, i have two medium sized check-in bags and tynislove had one small carry on. when we were travelling, captureinsanity and i walked much further with way more bags and came out on top. (i miss travelling with her.) we got back and unpacked for a bit before heading out for some dinner, and then got home in time for more rupaul :D and also the recap of this trip.
we've spent today lazing around as well, and only left the hotel at about noon to go for some taco bell (mmmm). we're waiting on my sister to come pick us up for another movie marathon - world war z, the internship and superman, if it all goes according to schedule!
the day started off a little slow; we woke up late, packed up all our belongings, and wandered down to check out. we got lucky with our porter, because not only did he say they would keep our bags (for the next week!) for free, he also brought in a second porter to gush over disneyland with us. (said second porter then also mentioned a free stay at a beach resort due to being an employee of the hotel, but we knew we weren't going to tip them, so we had it coming.)
once that was settled, we headed over to visit my sister for lunch at her workplace. we settled for korean because the famous paninis she wanted us to try were sold out, and that was just okay. we left her to go back to union square, stopping in on a couple of shops along the way, and then wound up sitting at a starbucks just a block down from our hotel. AND THEN THE WAITING FOR ANNEKA BEGAN - with a minor hiccup. i couldn't text or call internationally, so i was kind of helpless when she texted me to say she'd landed. (i ended up calling the hotel to leave a message, and also whatsapping my dad to ask if he could text her for me -- WHICH HE DID. ADORABLY. i love him.) but of course, my person being who she is, had already remembered that i probably wouldn't be able to text her back, so she got in touch with me all on her own once she got to her hotel (WITH WIFI). we had such a narrow window of time to work with, boo, but we made the most of it just hanging out at starbucks and catching up on everything and i am beaming just thinking about it. it was so good just to see her face. and get to cuddle her. and properly chat with her. and, just--A MEET UP HALFWAY ACROSS THE WORLD FROM EITHER OF US :D :D :D who would have thought?
we had to say goodbye at 5.45ish, so we could go catch our train. i really didn't want to go, and i kept threatening to take her with me in my suitcase (I SHOULD HAVE, REALLY). but then we were off to bart to the airport, where we met up with my sister for our flight to disneylanddddddddd~ we got in pretty late, so late that there wasn't time to do anything but check in and have a quick (and delicious) meal at ihop! (always the best way to start a disney trip.) then it was time for bed so we'd be able to get up nice and early the next morning.
i'm not much of a let's-meet-the-(cartoon)-characters type of girl, because i can't help but know in my head that they're not real. but tynislove and my sister are both big on that, so for the second time (in all my trips to disney) we went to do just that. also for the first time ever, i got to see characters running amok all over the place. i didn't take photos with most of them (because i don't like them :/) (i don't like quite a few disney characters, for someone who loves disney so much) but i did get to see peter pan, and hook chasing after him (AND HOOK CUDDLED ME SO HARD AND WAS MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER WE MET BECAUSE I GOT TO BE WEIRD AND GROSS AT HIM AND HE LOVED IT), and belle, and the evil queen swept past us once; we also got to see rapunzel and the newly opened royal faire, which hosts up to three princesses at a time - we saw snow white, sleeping beauty, and cinderella, two of whom are my ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE PRINCESSES EVER, so that was kind of a trip. snow white was so lovely, too, with her funny, princess-y, "oh my!"s every time i told her she was my favourite. (well she was one of, but i don't think that's ever an appropriate qualifier to use when you're fangirling, even if it's half-hearted, i-know-you're-not-real fangirling.)
we also stayed to watch the parade, which was really fun and soundsational, just like they promised, but the absolute best part about it was the mary poppins bit, because i ADORE that movie and her and they don't show her character enough!
we took a little break in the afternoon, and got ourselves some tony roma's and a quick nap before going to watch the fireworks and fantasmic that night. a little bit of unpleasantness occurred when we stood in a section with a bunch of ridiculous people, who thought that they could control the entire viewing section and make EVERYONE SIT DOWN because they'd been sitting there for hours and they didn't want to have to stand up and if we stood up we were blocking their views and HOW DARE WE. i would have been more than happy leaving them to their snide comments behind our backs while i blithely ignored them and continued watching the fireworks standing up like, oh, pretty much everyone else, but my sister got into a bit of a snit with them, and that was kind of awkward, but--whatever. we all deal with stuff the way we deal with stuff, i guess. the view from that section sucked anyway, most of the show was blocked by a gigantic tree - which i suppose was why the section had been empty even fifteen minutes before the show, but hey. you live and learn!
we got a much better spot for fantasmic, and oh my gosh, no matter how many times i see that show, it always makes me beam. it's just so awesome, and the dragon is so cool, and the princesses in the boats, and--ALL OF IT. i just adore it. it's my favourite. world of colour is a close second, but--fantasmic will always have a special place in my heart.
ANYWAY. day 2 was a bit of an exercise in patience. i've never been to disneyland when summer is in full swing before, and i've never had rides break down on me one after another, but that day, when we headed to california adventure--oh man. the cars ride broke down just as my sister was supposed to get on it, and then california screamin' broken down just as we headed over to take that instead, which meant that the line for the ferris wheel wound up being ridiculously long, BUT that midway mania was relatively short. the little mermaid ride stalled for a little bit while we were on it, but nothing happened on goofy's sky school, which was good because that was all the time we had before we had to head over to ariel's grotto for some good old character dining fun.
it was my first time at a character lunch (and it wasn't stupid expensive, but it wasn't cheap either), and it turned out to be a little difficult to navigate, because the princesses kept appearing, and every time we just finished with one the next one would be a table away and we'd have to sit there and not eat and wait for her to come to us so we could do the whole dance all over again. STILL. i got to take another photo with snow white and aurora, and also ariel and tiana and cinderella, so i'm not going to complain too much. (also i really really really love my lion king top, i'm just saying.)
AND THEN, AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, WE ALSO SAW CHIP AND DALE. only two of my all time favourite disney characters ever. i was walking back from the hotel with extra battery for my sister's camera, and suddenly she texted me all HURRY WE'RE IN LINE FOR THE CHIPMUNKS, and i almost thought i wouldn't make it, but the disney folk and my cousin and sister held out for me for as long as they could, and once i was through the turnstiles i booked it straight for them. AND VOILA.
there weren't many characters out and about at california adventureland, so that was pretty much it for photo opportunities. i ended up getting coerced into taking tower of terror, which i haaaaate, because that falling feeling is my least favourite thing about roller coasters, and then we saw the parade, and had to say goodbye to my sister after that, because she had to get back to san francisco for work on monday.
but we refused to let that slow us down, and wound up in line for monsters inc. it wasn't a particularly long line, but we got called up to the very front almost as soon as we stepped in it, and herded into a car. GREAT, we thought, THIS IS SWELL. VIP TREATMENT IS THE BEST. only halfway through the ride broke down, ha ha ha, of course. and we ended up walking through the rest of the ride, which--okay, that was pretty cool. once that was done, we decided to go see aladdin, which, hi, BEST DECISION EVER, i love that stupid movie so much. and then we realized california screamin' was finally up and running again, so we went to do that! and then to cars, which was the longest line we saw that day, and probably the least worth it. we had a bunch of time and not much else to do after that, so we walked around a bit -- and spotted ashley benson! or tynislove did, at least, i saw a figured bundled up in a hoodie being hurriedly escorted to a secret location by disney folk. we debated stalking her like creeps for about two seconds, and then decided to have dinner nearby instead. (DELICIOUS DINNER, i might add). then we made our way to secure a spot for world of colour, which was pretty good as usual but nowhere near as awesome as the first time i saw it. (still made me cry, go figure.) and then we called it a night.
day 3 we wound up back at disneyland, taking even more character photos and finishing up the handful of rides we hadn't been able to the first day.
we saw a bunch of people that i didn't want to take photos with, like pinocchio and tinkerbell and one of tinkerbell's friends -- and it was weird, because while i was taking all those photos for tynislove, people started to assume that i was there just to be her photographer. that was a major buzzkill, so i've decided i'm never taking my child to disneyland until they're old enough that they don't need to be babysat, and i can still love disneyland the way i do and not feel like i'm just there to be someone's guardian!
thankfully, things picked up a bit after that. my cousin wanted another photo with rapunzel - but with flynn ride this time - and to do that you have to be seated inside the royal theatre for a performance of rapunzel. we made it there with more than enough time to spare, and hung around after the show waiting for the couple to show up. i got a photo with one of the wenches while we waited, and then tynislove got her smouldering photo with rapunzel and flynn and everything was grand.
we caught a glimpse of cruella de vil before we stopped for a quick photo with aladdin (and there was NO LINE, seriously guys, aladdin is the secret gem in disneyland; we were literally the only ones there to see him, and he even spoke to us for a bit after because it was so quiet), and with tigger and pooh and eeyore and aojldsdgd THEY ARE ONLY MY FAVOURITES EVER I ALMOST DIED AND I WAS IN A POOH SHIRT TOO AND THEN I BOUGHT A HUNNY POT AND POOH ALMOST DIED WHEN HE SAW IT AND HE BUMPED HIS NOSE ON MY POT TO SHARE SOME AND EEYORE WAS ALL ADORABLE BECAUSE I TOLD HIM HE WAS MY FAVOURITE EVER AND HE SHOULD CHEER UP AND *________* I LOVE THEM
ugh brb just going to look at these for a while.
ANYWAY. it was only 1pm when we got done, so we stopped for lunch at ihop (YAY) and then headed back to the hotel for some rest. i got up to see beauty and the beast at the royal theatre before tynislove did, but it wound up being for nothing because the show ran late and belle couldn't stay for photos after. AND ALSO THE BEAST WASN'T THERE WHICH WAS THE WHOLE REASON I WANTED A PHOTO ANYWAY, gdi. moving on! tynislove met me at california adventureland for the grizzly river run -- which i coerced her to go on, because if i had to get on the tower of terror she needed to get on a wet ride -- and then we went to get ourselves (amazing) seats for the fireworks show. we saw a proposal while we waited -- or, we didn't see it, but someone yelled, "SHE SAID YES!" and the entire crowd cheered and it was just the best feeling, oh my gosh. and the show was swell, too.
and to conclude our three (glorious) days in disney, we managed to snag a picture with mickey and minnie on the way out. they were DELIGHTFUL. he'd kiss someone on the cheek, she'd pretend to be jealous, he'd cuddle her and they'd make up asldsgiodfg. PERFECT COUPLE IS PERFECT.
i love disney so muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch it's ridiculous :D
in comparison to all that, universal studios was a pretty big letdown. we had to wake up nice and early (earlier, even, than any of our disney days) to catch our tour bus to la. as soon as we got there, we bought ourselves front-of-line passes, and they were ridiculously expensive but the vip treatment is so worth it, i couldn't even be mad. we took the studio tour first, and oh my gosh, i haven't been in a while, so the king-kong bit was REALLY EXCITING, i don't even. also exciting was the fact that we were driving past the soundstage as they filmed the finale of the voice! or maybe rehearsed for it, i'm not sure. and then we wandered around and saw bart and fievel (FREAKING FIEVEL, I GREW UP WITH AMERICAN TAIL AND *______*) and curious george, who tried to eat my ice cream, and then tried to take my money. that was fun.
we finished the rest of the rides in record time after that, which is when we realized the transformers were out for photo ops! i loved the transformers ride, because i'd never been before, and then when we got out, we hung around waiting for optimus prime to show up! he called me jessica, but he's saved the world a couple of times, so i won't hold that against him.
we also got ourselves some glorious minion mugs! they were just so adorable, idek.
once that was over, though, we had nothing to do, and wound up spending most of our time in line for a funnel cake that we didn't even finish. not impressed. when we finally boarded our tour bus again, we decided we'd drop off at the walk of fame, where our hotel was near, instead of continuing on to sunset boulevard and rodeo drive. we were so tired we just lay in bed and rested up, and had to force ourselves to get up to hunt for (very nearby) food much later that night.
we spent most of the next couple of days lounging in the hotel, trying to recover from four full-on theme park days, and it was a bummer that the hotel we did that in wasn't a little nicer. the walls were filthy and it smelt like cigarette smoke and there were cigarette burns all over the sheets in a supposedly non-smoking room. the ceiling was peeling and maybe ten of the ninety channels actually worked (intermittently), and we didn't even have our laptops with us. suffice to say a lot of fic was read in that one and a half days, and our phones were pretty much our saviours. we did venture out to have some excellent asian food, though. there was the most amazing dragon roll i've ever eaten at murakami, and delicious sashimi at shintaro, and even pretty delightful pizza just down the road at raffallo's. the rest of the time we either spent in our rooms or wandering the walk of fame, checking out the hollywood and highland centre, and the cvs near our hotel.
we haven't done that much since returning to san francisco, either. the first day we were so tired we ordered in and learned all about the gloriousness that is rupaul. yesterday, we joined my sister for lunch at her workplace, picked up my passport, and then got the rest of our luggage from villa florence to take to our new hotel in berkeley -- it sounds worse than it was, i have two medium sized check-in bags and tynislove had one small carry on. when we were travelling, captureinsanity and i walked much further with way more bags and came out on top. (i miss travelling with her.) we got back and unpacked for a bit before heading out for some dinner, and then got home in time for more rupaul :D and also the recap of this trip.
we've spent today lazing around as well, and only left the hotel at about noon to go for some taco bell (mmmm). we're waiting on my sister to come pick us up for another movie marathon - world war z, the internship and superman, if it all goes according to schedule!