Santa Monica (Los Angeles): Sep 4th - Sep 12th

The weather in Santa Monica was absolutely beautiful!!! The hostel I was staying at was just a street away from the beach so the walk was only about five minutes. I managed to catch a bus on a chartered tour in the morning and spent the day at Universal Studios.


A few days into my stay I was getting a bit anxious that I hadn't met anyone to hang out with yet. While the other hostels I stayed at had activities to do to help you meet other people, the hostel in Santa Monica seemed happy to just leave you to your own devices. But I managed to find a group of Kiwis and Aussies one evening and we headed down to the Santa Monica pier for a night of fun. I also bumped into Kristy, whom I had met while in New York on her last night there so she joined us.


Santa Monica was a really cruisy week. I dined with the new friends I had made as well as on my own. The oysters there are just unbelievably delicious!!! I now know why I didn't like oysters served 'naturale' all these years. It's because all the ones I've had in the past were not fresh. I now know the difference between a good oyster and a bad one and I love them!!

On one night I enjoyed a lobster at a restaurant situated right at the beginning of the Santa Monica pier. I sure do spoil myself =)

Another night I dined at a seafood restaurant on the road facing the beach and as the sun was setting, I couldn't help but stop to think about how I was on the other side of the world to all my friends and family and I was alone. A surge of loneliness hit me but at the same time I felt really proud of myself for having the courage and determination to go through with travelling alone (after Shaune had ditched me to go to Europe!).

On my last day in Santa Monica, I went to a day spa next door to the hostel and pampered myself with the whole spa package. I rushed through my pedicure to spend some time with a few of the remaining friends that hadn't yet left. Jackie and I bought those touristy red life guard jumpers and at my suggestion, we headed to the beach to shoot our Baywatch glamour shots. We saw an actual coast guard in the distance down the beach as we were doing our 'Baywatch run' and I waved at them to see if I could get their attention. They turned around and headed towards us in their ute.

It turned out that he was the Captain of the Life Guards and he was so great to let us use him as a prop =P. Check out our cool shots:



I dragged the girls along to Governor Arnie's restaurant called 'Shatzi' on Main St. Unfortunately, we were told Arnie had been there a few days ago to do some paperwork but we got to meet Helmut, Arnie's best friend from Austria, who helps him manage the restaurant.