The entrance to Universal Studios, Hollywood
It was a bit strange to visit America as a vacation. Since I live in Japan now, the tables are turned, to use an expression. I guess most people don't give a second thought about using such expressions, but now that I live in a foreign country and I have an international marriage, I generally tend to avoid using such phrases to keep communication from getting too complicated. Anyhow, we spent four weeks in America: one week in California and three weeks back home in Phoenix, Arizona.
We got a good deal with the plane tickets through GS Travel, a discount travel service in the Shinsaibashi area of Osaka. I took the last four days of work off before summer vacation so that we could avoid the summer vacation crowds at the airport. The best deal was with Korean Air, as usual. From Narita International Airport near Tokyo, it's a direct flight to Los Angeles. However, there's no direct flight to LA from Kansai International via Korean Air. So we had to first fly to Korea's new Incheon International and then wait for three hours. It's a new airport with very nice architecture, but it's very empty. My friend told me that they rushed to build the new airport and so it is not yet FAA regulated, so many airline companies refuse to fly into that airport. Weird. I've never seen an international airport that empty before.
When we arrived at LAX on July 16th, we took the green G shuttle bus at the airport that took us to the nearby Aviation Station, a stop along the Metro Green Line, one of LA's rail lines. I used LA's rail system for the first time last summer when I went to visit a friend of mine at USC and I was impressed. If you know me, you may know that one of the things I have a fascination with are trains, among other things (such as fish). So, I just like to ride trains, and this was a convenient, inexpensive way to get downtown where our hotel was. We stayed at the Metro Plaza Hotel in Chinatown, which is also right across the street from Union Station. We arrived in the afternoon and after a short nap to sleep off the jet lag, we walked around Chinatown and had dinner.
The next day we went to Universal Studios. They just recently opened a new Universal Studios theme park in Osaka, and I wanted to take Mayu to the original one in Hollywood where it wouldn't be quite so crowded. We took the Red Line subway from Union Station to Universal City Station. Across the street from the exit there is a free tram ride that takes people up the hill to Universal Studios. It was my first time to go there as well. My favorite attraction was Terminator 2:3D. The other ones I liked best were Back to the Future, Backdraft, and E.T. Mayu-chan liked Jurrasic Park the best. We had fun that day. Mayu says that they should have a Child's Play attraction with Chucky the killer doll. Chucky really knocks her out.
On July 18th we left our hotel and went to Union Station to board an Amtrak Surfliner train to San Diego. This was the second time to take this train between LA and SD. It takes about three hours and it travels along the Pacific coastline. It's much more pleasant than taking a bus I think, and more relaxing than driving. We saw surfers in the ocean and families at the beach. Children waved as the train passed by. We pulled into the Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego and then took the trolley up one stop to Little Italy.
We stayed at La Pensione Hotel in Little Italy. My friend Mike in Japan recommended the hotel for us and it quickly became my favorite hotel in the world. It's a hotel with personality. Not only is it a place to stay, but it is also a place to just hang out and enjoy the atmosphere of Little Italy. Our room was on the 4th floor, and we had a beautiful view of the downtown area. We enjoyed watching the city lights at night. There's a small restaurant on the third floor as well as a cafe that serves gelatto. And on Sunday morning they make the most excellent waffles I've ever had. Each serving is big enough for two people, we discovered. Next time we'll share. And of course, since it's located in Little Italy, many fabulous Italian restaurants and cafes are nearby. Our favorite restaurant in Little Italy is the Mona Lisa that serves excellent eggplant parmesean.
We took the trolley to Old Town. It's basically a tourist trap with some average Mexican restaurants. It's also a neat place for shopping for knick-knacks. My favorite store there is a candle shop that makes their own candles. That night we took the trolley to Mission Valley mall to do some looking around. We didn't really buy anything, but we went to Carl's Jr. for dinner. It may not seem like a big deal, but to someone who has been deprived of a decent hamburger in Japan for nearly a year, a fast food burger restaurant that serves double bacon cheeseburgers with mayo is heaven.
On Friday, the scheduling at the Con was a little more interesting and I saw an interesting Star Wars documentary called Starwoids. But other than that, it wasn't very eventful that day at the Con. On Saturday we met my friend Mike who also came from Japan to attend the Comic Con with his friend Daniel. My friend Mike specializes in antique Japanese toys and sells them on his website. His business is called Kuru Kuru Toys. The four of us went to the Con together. At the Con, Daniel kept getting lost and we were separated from him four times. I teased him about putting him on a leash, or making him wear those squeaky shoes that parents give their children so they'd know where they were. Maybe it's because he's from Albequerque, New Mexico and isn't used to such large crowds. But Daniel's a cool guy and we had a nice conversation on how the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast were the two greatest game consoles ever.
Saturday is always the most interesting day at the San Diego Comic Con. The first thing we saw was an episode of Futurama that was not allowed to be shown on TV. It was a Christmas episode that portrayed the Santa Claus of the future as a maniacal, mass-murdering robot who lives in a death fortress on Neptune and raids earth every Christmas. I loved it because I personally can't stand Santa Claus. After that we parted ways with Mike and Daniel and went to see the Cartoon Network's presentation on Space Ghost and some new cartoons coming soon to the network. That day I missed out on the previews for the upcoming Lord of the Rings and Spiderman movies because they were running behind schedule and the lines were terribly long. However, I made sure that we got to see the preview for Star Wars: Episode Two. The movie looks fantastic. It's taking a more serious, darker turn from the whimsical storyline of Episode One, and the moderator, Steven Sansweet, compared it to The Empire Strikes Back (which is my favorite of the original Star Wars movie trilogy). The preview really kicked ass, and I was excited to see a duel between Boba Fett and Obi Wan Kenobi. After the presentation, the floor was open to a Q&A session with Mr. Sansweet, which was a real mixed bag of good and bad questions. Among some of the most ridiculous fanboy questions, once or twice a few guys asked some questions that totally gave away main story elements of the movie---total spoilers. They were promptly jeered and booed by the crowds for their stupidity, and they deserved such treatment.
That night was the Masquerade, where people dress up as their favorite comic book or movie characters. In years past, this was rather entertaining. But this year was pretty bad. Some of the more horrible moments were seeing obese women in tiny outfits displaying their huge cleavage. This offense happened at least twice. I felt stupid for taking my wife to see that portion of the Comic Con. After that night, we'd had enough of the Con and chose not to go again on Sunday. Instead we spent the day with my friend Nathan and we took a nice boat cruise around the San Diego harbor.
On Monday, Mayu-chan and I spent the day at Sea World. It was her first time to go there and we had a nice time. The aquariums there are nice and the "Shark Encounter" is exciting. But I guess I've been spoiled by the giant Osaka Kaiyukan Aquarium in Japan. I've been there twice already and Mayu-chan and I are planning to go there again September 24th for our six month wedding anniversary. But anyway, the shows of the trained dolphins and killer whales are the big attraction of Sea World, which is probably among the best in the world. That afternoon we went back to Mission Beach and waded around in the water. I handed Mayu my wallet and went swimming in the tides. Next time we come to San Diego, we won't forget to bring our swimming suits.
The weather was exceptionally beautiful in both LA and SD. The high was about 75 degrees and the low was about 67. At night when the wind blew, we wished we had packed jackets to wear. I've been to San Diego every summer for the past six years, and the temperature was lower than usual. Coming from the humid heat of Japan and being raised in the sickening heat of Phoenix summers, San Diego is always a breath of fresh air for me. I'm seriously considering living in San Diego with Mayu-chan someday. I'm planning on going back to college to get a masters degree in Information Technology, and I would love to find a job and live in San Diego someday.
I love San Diego, but on the morning of Tuesday, July 24th, we had to say goodbye to the city. Our Cloud 9 shuttle came to pick us up at our hotel and we flew to Phoenix where the weather was hot and miserable. From mid-July to mid-September, the weather in Phoenix is always so terribly hot. We stayed with my family for three weeks and did many things in Arizona, but that's another story.
Go on to the next chapter of "Greg's Life" if you know what's good for you.
Go back to the "Greg's Life" Table of Contents
Oregano: the ancient Italian art of pizza folding.