Sun come up over Santa Monica Blvd

We had slept the night with the blinds open and so it was nice to wake up to the sun coming up over Santa Monica Blvd, literally. Sheryl Crow would have been so pleased. It looked like it was going to be a nice sunny warm day so I busted out a dress for the first time on the trip. We headed off for some breakfast at a nearby French cafe. We had been getting a bit tired of the massive servings of food as well as the free bread etc that everywhere gives you, so we gave a defeated sigh when they brought out a complimentary basket of croissants, muffins and cookies before we even ordered. That prompted me to order the fruit plate, but Ryan stayed strong and went for the eggs benedict (served on a croissant with a side of butter-fried potatoes for extra fattiness).

Luckily for our girths we had  a long walk ahead of us after that, and we strolled down Melrose Ave which is a long strip of businesses and shops. The first stretch was mainly fancy design stores where the housewives of Beverly Hills no doubt deck out their mansions. Then there was a stretch of designer clothes shops, then we came across old trusty Urban Outfitters where Ryan and I made some purchases. I had wanted some sneakers too so when we passed a sneaker shop we popped in. They were all the same type shoe (a light-weight Brazilian shoe made for martial arts) and the store was empty so the Russian sales woman was quick to pounce on us. I picked up a shoe and couldn't see a price so expected the worst, but when I asked the price she said they were $38.50 a pair! Crazy cheap! So both Ryan and I bought a pair!

By this time our legs were weary from the long walk down Melrose so we stopped into the Village Idiot for a breather, a cooling beverage and read the paper. I perused the real estate section and learned that LA has some really good value real estate (much better than Sydney) but also a lot that are in a whole other league (eg. $60 million dollar mansions, and houses that rent for $70,000 per month). Then we went to a sleek Italian wine bar for lunch, not that we really needed to eat, and had some yummy pizza and arancini. Meanwhile, we had been puzzled by the whole tipping system while we were here, initially thinking 10-15% was the norm but then finding out it was in fact more like 15-20%. Anyway, while we waited for the bus back home along Melrose it was comforting yet confusing that a young American chick came up to us randomly and asked us what the normal tipping rate was! Ryan answered back immediately 15% with his normal confidence but I quickly mentioned that we were Aussies and what did we know really... Then she went to an ATM and withdrew some cash, so make what you will of that scenario.

Back at the hotel Ryan had a quick swim in the rooftop pool while I prettied myself up, then we hit the town again. This time we got a bus along Sunset Blvd all the way up to tourist central - Hollywood Blvd, where the Walk of Fame and the Chinese theatre with actor footprints etc are. I had been here twice before, and it seems to get progressively more crowded, seedy and touristy, so all was good when Ryan didn't wanna stick around too long. Having said that, of all the crazy dressed up characters on the street, there was one Tom Cruise impersonator a la Jerry Maguire in sunglasses and laughing crazy like he does. If I have one regret from this trip it is not giving that guy 2 bucks to have my picture with him coz he was gold.

Alas, regrets aside, I had booked us one last fancy dinner. Japanese, for a change. This place was conveniently behind Avenue of the stars, but inconveniently up a steep incline. Because we were so close it seemed silly to get a cab, so we walked up. So while the limos and 4wds drove passed us, we earned our dinner, but had a lovely outlook when we for up there! Yamashiro was the name and it had a nice view over Hollywood and the rest of LA (well what you can see in the smog). We first went to the Lounge and I had 2 amazing cocktails (a pineapple martini being the highlight) and we shared some equally amazing oysters while gazing over LA. It was crazy to see the skyscrapers of downtown LA, but only just the tops of them above the smog level, because below that they were completely invisible. Then we moved into the restaurant area, where we were escorted to our table, which although was in a cozy booth, wasn't near any windows, so lucky we had gone to the Lounge area first! Dinner was pretty good - we had some sashimi with truffle oil which was YUM!, some tempura and 2 sushi rolls, one a mango and coconut roll which I just HAD to try (although was kind of strange) and a Darth Vader roll which was made with black "forbidden" rice and covered in caviar which Ryan loved. After dinner my tummy was at capacity, yet again, so we got a cab home for our last night in LA. So although I had ensured that we dined at fine establishments, we didn't manage to spot any celebrities. Not even a single Kardashian.