South California (Oct '11) - Overview

Traveled to Westlake Village in California (加利福尼亚) for my company's short training and meeting from 09 Oct (Sun) till 23 Oct (Sun). As it stretched over a weekend, I had the chance to visit some malls and theme parks located in the Orange County, Los Angeles County and Ventura County of Southern California. This was my first trip to the West Coast of the United States.

California is a state in the Western United States, where it borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, the Mexican state of Baja California to the south; and has a coastline along the Pacific Ocean to the west. One of the famous cities in California, San Francisco is located in its north while another big city, Los Angeles is located in the South California.


Business trip at a glance

Country: The United States of America
Period: 09 Oct to 23 Oct 2011
Flight timings:
09 Oct: UA 804, SIN-NRT, ETD 0710 ETA 1505
09 Oct: UA 890, NRT-LAX, ETD 1710 ETA 1102
22 Oct: UA 891, LAX-NRT, ETD 1255 ETA 1635 (23 Oct)
23 Oct: UA 803, NRT-SIN, ETD 1755 ETA 2355
Accommodations:
Hyatt Westlake Plaza (09 Oct to 22 Oct)
USA Hostels Hollywood (14 Oct to 16 Oct)
Currency exchange rate: USD 1.00 = SGD 1.32 (Oct '11 period)

Singapore is 15 hours ahead of California state (Pacific Time: GMT-8). Total damage for my personal trip was about SGD 450, including transport, hostel and park admissions.

Changi International Airport

United Airlines is using Terminal 3 of Changi International Airport for its flight. The IATA code for this airport is SIN.

SATS Premier Club Lounge

After immigration clearance, I proceeded straight to this lounge for my breakfast (left photo below). Selected some fried noodles, bacons and sandwich before my early flight (right photo below). Taste was satisfactory for this local dish.

Narita International Airport

Narita International Airport is one of the two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, and is located 60-km east of central Tokyo. The IATA code for this airport is NRT. This airport was my transition airport between Singapore and Los Angeles.

United Club

Only managed to visit this United Club during my transition to Los Angeles (left photo below). As the transition time back to Singapore was less than an hour, therefore did not visit the club again.

Had a quick bite with some sushi for early dinner before my flight to Los Angeles (right photo below).

Los Angeles International Airport

Los Angeles International Airport is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles and its surrounding metropolitan area, and it is located 30-km southwest of downtown Los Angeles. The IATA code for this airport is LAX.

Overall, this airport was old and lack of maintenance; I even had the impression that I had arrived in an airport of some developing countries. As this was a business trip, transport between airport and hotel was by cab.

United Polaris Lounge

Visited this lounge on my departure flight to Tokyo / Singapore. Proceeded to this lounge after immigration clearance (left photo below) which is located at Terminal 7. Food variety was rather limited there; only got some muffins and cereals for my early lunch (right photo below).

United Airlines

Flight was arranged by the company therefore could not choose flight timing or airline. Flight time between Singapore and Tokyo was about 7-hours and only one meal served on flight. While the flight time between Tokyo and Los Angeles was about 11.5-hours and two meals were served on flight. The IATA code for this airline is UA.

Singapore to Tokyo flight

Business Class seat (left photo below) was similar to Singapore Airlines Business Class seat that I took in 2007 (refer to my earlier blog). Small LED screen required to be pulled out for watching but needed to be stowed during take-off and landing (right photo below). Seat could only be adjusted by pressing the associated button, and sometimes needed to push a little to achieve the right angle; which was rather mechanical and manual. However the seat could only incline to about 45 degrees.
For the meal, I selected continental breakfast where a fruit platter with cereals, yogurt and a bread were first served (left photo below). This was followed by a chicken wrap and some snacks (right photo below).

Tokyo to Los Angeles flight

Seats in this flight were in new design (left photo below); it could be adjusted automatically to a fully flattened bed by a touch on associated button. Interestingly my assigned seat was back-facing the head of the aircraft, which was entirely different feeling during take-off and landing. Drinks and mixed nuts were provided right after take-off (right photo below).
Lemon shrimp, smoked duck and salad (left photo below) were then served as starter and for the main, I selected tropical barbeque chicken (right photo below).
Chocolate ice-cream and a hot drink completed the first inflight meal (left photo below). After a long flight, a fruit platter, bread and mushroom omelet were served as final inflight meal just before arrival (right photo below).

Los Angeles to Tokyo flight

Similar to the arrival flight to Los Angeles, drinks and mixed nuts were provided just after take-off (left photo below). This was followed by vegetarian roll and salad (right photo below). As for the main I selected pan-seared salmon (bottom left photo), and strawberry ice-cream was served as dessert (bottom right photo).
For mid-flight munchies, passengers can grab some light bites, such as nuts, chips, sandwiches, chocolate bars and fruits, freely from the snack bar near the flight galley (left photo below). A fruit platter and Mediterranean chicken brochette (right photo below) were served before landing.

Tokyo to Singapore flight

A can of soft-drink was requested (left photo below), and followed by a mixed salad was served (right photo below). For the main, I selected Tikka chicken breast with mango chutney (bottom left photo). As for the dessert, pineapple cheesecake was served together with a hot drink (bottom right photo) as finale.

Transportation

Los Angeles Metro System

The Los Angeles Metro Rail is an urban rail transportation system consists of two subway lines and four light rail lines serving 93 stations. Each single ride cost USD 1.50 (photo below).

Only took the subway red line from hostel, Hollywood/Vine station (left photo below) to Union station (right photo below) and to North Hollywood station. Station design was contemporary and modern.


Subway train seemed to be outdated from outside (left photo below) but was relatively clean and spacious in its interior (right photo below). One caution note is the homeless people hanging around the stations, so do be careful especially during the night.
Amtrak Train

Amtrak is the passenger railroad service that provides medium to long-distance inter-city rail services in United States. Only took this train for the route between Union Station (Los Angeles's main railway station) and Anaheim station.

Bought the ticket from the counter located in the station (left photo below). Ticket cost USD 14 for single trip (right photo below).


Waiting hall of Union station was classic and grand in design (left photo below) while the Anaheim station was simple without much shelter (right photo below).
The Amtrak train I took was double-decked (left photo below) and its seat was comfortable (right photo below).
Accommodation

USA Hostels Hollywood

Wanted to explore Hollywood and get to Anaheim early the next day, therefore decided to book this hostel (left photo below). It is located along Schrader Boulevard and nearest Metro station is 'Hollywood/Vine' station which is just 8-mins walk from the hostel.

Paid USD 63 for two nights in a 8-bed dormitory ensuite (right photo below). It was a simple hostel with basic amenities.
Hyatt Westlake Plaza

Accommodation was arranged by company as this is the closest hotel to the company office located across the highway in Westlake Village. Hyatt Westlake Plaza (left photo below), as its name suggests, is located opposite the Westlake Plaza and just minutes' drive from the scenic beaches of Malibu in California.

Room was comfortable with soft pillows, cozy couch and a writing desk (photos below). There was even a business center with printers and desktop computers, which I used it to print out my theme park ticket that I had booked.
Reception area was in modern classic design (left photo below) whereas its breakfast area blended well with its outdoor facilities of having the same wrought iron armchairs (right photo below).
Breakfast selection was limited and thus were almost similar throughout my stay (photos below).
Towards the end of my stay, I decided to order dinner through hotel room service as there were work for me to complete after the meetings. It was just one touch of a button on the phone (left photo below). Within the two days, I had ordered a soba noodle with grilled tofu (right photo below), tiramisu as dessert (bottom left photo) and grilled strip loin steak (bottom right photo). The food was good as they were prepared by the hotel restaurant.

Interesting Observations:

• There is no boarding platform behind the Gate E or Gate F (left photo below). These are meant to be waiting queue to avoid sudden mad rush of passengers to the boarding area once the departure gate was announced. Therefore, do get to these gates at least 30 minutes before the departure time.


• Bilingual sign spotted at Universal Studios Hollywood ticket office (right photo below). Hablo Español means "I speak Spanish", while Abierto means "Open" and Cerrado means "Closed". It is interesting that California is the largest 'Spanish Speaking' state accounting more than 26% of the Spanish Speakers in the United States.
  

Useful Links:

Discover Los Angeles:
https://www.discoverlosangeles.com/

Los Angeles Budget Travel Guide:
https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-guides/united-states-travel-guide/los-angeles/

Los Angeles - Wikitravel:
https://wikitravel.org/en/Los_Angeles

California - Wikitravel:
https://wikitravel.org/en/California