Insert unnerving Jaws movie music

Roof top garden and pool at our hotel.

It finally dawned on me yesterday that we were overseas, in LA and on holiday after two things happened. 1) I was lying by the pool on a weekday being served cocktails 2) being asked by locals if I was from New Zealand (COME ON!).

When we arrived yesterday we were disappointingly greeted by a very cloudy, foggy day and my dreams of lying by the pool getting an LA tan were being flushed down the 'john'. Thankfully our rather over chatty cab driver explained that we were experiencing what is called the 'June Gloom' where the fog from the nearby ocean travels into the city in the mornings, but burns away by lunch time. Sure enough, by about 11am the fog had gone and the day turned into the glorious sunny LA day that I'd always seen in the movies.

So we took full advantage of LA's rays and headed up to the hotel's roof to have a swim in the pool, lie on deck chairs and sip some cocktails. As I lay on the deck chair slurping my Garden Mary (like a Bloody Mary but with smashed olives and you get it served to you in the garden, which is basically what the roof top pool area is called = clever!) I looked at the LA skyline and the Hollywood Hills, and realised that I was now truly on holiday - I can tell you that a Garden Mary never tasted so bloody good (especially since I'd never had one before)!

After tanning it up, we decided to head down Melrose Avenue to check out the local scene and to see what shops were about. Out of pure coincidence I'd managed to book a hotel that was smack bang next to the gay area in West Hollywood (or WeHo as us locals call it). We dropped into the local supermarket and were completely gob smacked by the sheer variety of products available - a whole isle dedicated to ice cream alone! Plus, and how cool is this (pun intended), they sell dog ice creams!

Terry though, was much more excited by seeing bananas at 77c a pound.

"77c a pound! That's crazy!" exclaims Terry.

After our quick stop shop, we decided that must stop in at a few local bars/restaurants to take advantage of their Happy Hour (which ironically goes from 4pm to 8pm - a long hour!) and meet the local yocals.

Happy Hour is obviously a competitive marketing strategy for all the local bars to try and get your business. All the bars offer special deals such as 2 for 1 drinks; bottomless mimosas and bloody mary's for $9.95; all you can eat tacos for $5 (includes rice and beans); All you can eat burgers for $1; burritos for 49c - and other such ludicrously cheap, excessive deals.

Being two guys that truly appreciate ludicrously cheap, excessive deals, we decided to go for the 2 for 1 drinks which seemed quite economical. But in our youthful naivety, rather than buy just 2 drinks for the price of 1 and have a drink each, we each bought ourselves 2 drinks and didn't share them (!). I went for cocktails and was quite surprised by how much alcohol they put in their drinks. I was certain that they'd water them down, but these bad boys were strong and so too were the cocktails we had on our hotel roof - these guys know how to pour!

'2 for 1' sounded like fun.

This visit to Fiesta Cantina, for that is what the place was called, also marked our first taste of LA Mexican food and I'm happy to say that it was damn good - Ole! We ordered a 3 dip deal where you get 4 dips (these crazy Americans!!) guacamole, black bean, something cheesey and rich, and a cilitrano salsa. Cilitrano? That's what they call coriander here in the states. There you go, you learn something new and useful everyday. All dips were very yummy and their corn chips absolutely rock!

With a stomach full of good mexican food and feeling tipsy and high off strong cocktails, we decided to go back to our hotel room for a few more drinks courtesy of our previously lost, now relocated and delivered duty free purchases, update our blog and excitedly plan out other activities for Mark & Tez's Most Excellent US Adventure (TM). Having said that, I basically passed out on the bed and did none of the above. BUT given that I hadn't slept for more than 24 hours, I think in this instance, sleep was well deserved.

Plus we are also off to Universal Studios today (yaaay!) to catch up with Jaws, visit Anthony Perkins (and his mother) at the Psycho House and offer one of Terry's prized 77c a pound bananas to King Kong on his awesome new 360 degree 3D ride.

Photos and review to come!

MB