the sun is always blinding me

Back in Toronto and glad to be back! It seems that whenever I travel, I always end up missing Toronto. I wonder will I ever grow out of it. Anyways, here are a few highlights of my trip after the jump.

My favourite part of the trip has got to be Hollywood, 'cause what's a trip to LA without it?

There were lots of crazy weird but amazing stores in Hollywood. I saw LOTS of scary wig and costume stores, tattoo stores and some weird stores/restaurants such as the one pictured below:

I have absolutely no idea what kind of place this is, but I think it's a Japanese restaurant, which is based on the fact that there is a picture of chopsticks holding food to a mouth. I tried going near the building to see if there was any indication of what kind of place this is, but there was nothing. No menus and no English writing. I can't read Japanese, so I couldn't decipher what the characters on the building means. Anyways, I thought the building looked very cool and contemporary.

There were lots of people dressed up in different characters from movies to video games to even kid's cartoons. Below are some fun characters that I saw:

tru BFFs

I wanted to take a picture with them but I didn't want to be judged :(

Spongebob needs a camera for pulling a "Vanessa Hudgens"

After a bit of exploring on the streets of Hollywood, we stopped by at Hollywood & Highland Center which was gorgeous. Here are a few photos of the mall below:

Entrance

Elephant!!

Make-up vending machine! For spontaneous touch up :)

High end stores!

On the day we visited Hollywood, it was also the premiere of the new movie, All About Steve at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Unfortunately, I didn't stay long enough to catch a glimpse of any stars.

Waitin' for Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper~

After that, we went to some souvenir shops but everything was a bit useless and expensive, so I ended up not buying anything. We found a Korean-owned souvenir shop and they were playing So Hot by Wondergirls! I thought that was fun.

On the cab ride back, I asked the driver if there are any other popular tourist locations and the conversation went on like this:

Me: "What other popular tourist locations are there in LA?"
Driver: "U ASIAN?"
Me: "Uh, yes.."
Driver: "OK 2 PLACES 4 U: ________ BEACH, FULL OF HOT ASIAN CHICKS AND ALSO ______ BEACH, MORE HOT ASIAN CHICKS 4 U OK?"

Haha. Sorry, I forgot the names of the beaches.

Did I mention there are lots of pretty people in LA? Everyone is so hot, especially in the Hollywood area. The clothing was also very diverse and fun. It was very easy to spot tourists since they were everywhere and had cameras in hand.......... and fanny packs.......

Here are a few more photos:

All About Steve!

Movie tickets anyone?

I thought it was me...

Beautiful!