This is another photoblog post, so expect lots of images again. :)

~o~

This was our last day in California. Our flight home to Manila was tonight. However, we still had an itinerary for that day in the Tours4Fun package that we availed. We were supposed to go further down south to San Diego. We already advised our guides even before the tour started that we won't be coming to the last part of the tour package because we had a flight to catch at the end of the day, which was at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). And so we still had the whole day ahead of us before we leave the town.

Krishan, the adventurer that he is, still wanted to tour around, even just half of the day. So we inquired our hotel if they have contacts with tour agencies. Of course they did  and so after a few discussions here and there, we hopped onto the a mini van to start our tour! (Gah, I already forgot how much the tour was, but I bet it was reasonable enough for a half-day tour around LA).

This was our tour van!

Hey, apparently we passed by Staples Center!

Los Angeles Philharmonic Center

United States Court House

historical cross marker

sundial, in honor of Kit Carson

Fellow tourists at Los Angeles Plaza

After going around the plaza, we returned to the van. Our tour went around LA again.

Apparently there's also a Chinatown in LA, just like the one we visited in San Fransisco.

Our next stop was apparently Hollywood Boulevard again! Krishan and I went around the areas that we were not able to visit last time.

 

We realized we have not seen the famous Hollywood sign on the mountains, so we went for that one this time!

obligatory photo with the Hollywood sign, though it's not readable anymore in this photo T^T

After taking a few snaphots, we continued on our walking tour around the boulevard.

We passed by this ice cream shop on our way down that building where we saw the Hollywood sign. Because it was ice cream, we were not able to resist. :p

Our ice cream!

After the tour at the boulevard, we rode our van again to go to the next place in the itinerary. Along the way, our driver tour guide continued talking about the famous places that were were passing by.

Laugh Factory is a famous stand-up comedy bar in LA.

Chateau Marmont, a luxury hotel where all the famous stars check in

The Comedy Store, another famous comedy bar

The Mainroom @ The Comedy Store

We've also passed by the prestigious Beverly Hills.

I don't what this building is, but it was beautiful so I took a photo of it. xD

We have also passed by Rodeo drive, the famous strip in Beverly Hills with the most expensive stores and brands in one street.

Some of the brands in Rodeo Drive

I wonder how much this car is? :O

We chose to eat in this store, because I saw their breads on display!

yummy, right?

This was what I ordered. It did not look as glamorous as those breads displayed, but it tasted great!

After eating lunch and going sightseeing for a bit again, we returned to our van again. Our next stop: Santa Monica!



I think this is along the beach already. It's a long stretch actually.

Our tour guide led us to this sign, which is according to him, is a famous marker as this is the end of Route 66.

Then we went to Venice Beach!

street performers!

There were are lot of amusing things to see in the long stretch of stores in this place. I had fun people-watching and snapping photos!

Hello there handsome shark!

Jenny is a slang for heroine, right?

dreamcatchers

wild sighting captured!

Who's cuter, the dog or the owner? xD

Our last stop for the tour was Fisherman's Village at Marina del Rey.

the village lighthouse

According to Wikipedia, this is a a waterfront mall and a commercial boat anchorage.

After several minutes of snapping photos here and there, our tour guide motioned us that it's time to go. From there, we traveled to LAX where our flight was scheduled that night. Our driver dropped us off there. The rest of the people in the van would continue their tour for the rest of the day.

LAX was huuuuge! Good thing we didn't get lost inside.

It was kinda sad seeing the sunset outside and thinking that this was our last day here. It was such a great trip!

Since our flight was still several hours ahead, we went ahead and searched for a place to eat. We dropped by Starbucks to get some drinks.

#pumpkinspice #halloween

A photo posted by Kathleen R (@katalinarosario) on Oct 7, 2014 at 7:09pm PDT

Because it was my last chance to get it, I ordered my now most favorite halloween drink - pumpkin spice latte!!

After eating our dinner at a restaurant inside LAX, we waited for our flight. I was able to listen to a bit of The Morning Rush (my favorite morning radio show which I even visited in the booth once!) because it was morning already in Manila during that time.

After a more-than-ten-hour flight, we landed in Manila at 4AM. My parents picked me up in the airport.

And that ends my adventure in California for that year! For my first ever international trip, this was soooo awesome! I'm happy it pushed through, I even got to extra places around CA! Shoutouts again to my travel buddy, Krishan, for being awesome too! 

'Til the next trip! :D