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California Playlist

Here are the songs I have been listening to the past three weeks while travelling in California!

1. ELEMENT. by Kendrick Lamar

2. Heatstroke by Calvin Harris

3. Unforgettable by French Montana 

4. Tunnel Vision by Kodak Black

5. Despacito by Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber

6. XO TOUR Life3 by Lil Uzi Vert

7. Candy Paint by Post Malone

8. Hold On Me by Spit Syndicate

9. Mine by Beyonce ft. Drake

10. Hold Up by Beyoncé

11. California by Colonel Loud

12. Tumblr Girls by G-Eazy

13. From Eden by Hozier

14. Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe by Kendrick Lamar

15. DNA. by Kendrick Lamar

16. I'm the One by DJ Khaled

17. No More Parties In LA by Kanye West

18. Uber Everywhere by MadeInTYO

19. Malibu by Miley Cyrus

20. It Ain’t Me by Kygo & Selena Gomez

21. HUMBLE. by Kendrick Lamar

22. There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back by Shawn Mendes

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LA DIARIES PART 2 #3

Today is the day that our California holiday is coming to an end.  Daph had the first flight, heading to Seattle and boarded in the morning.  I said goodbye to her at the airport which is the weirdest feeling as we have almost been living in each others pockets for the last 5 months and to not see her for the next year is going to be hard.  I will miss her heaps #wifeyforlifey.  

  I then made my way to Santa Monica Pier.  I had frozen yoghurt for breakfast at Go Greek.  They have these chai covered almonds that are to die for.  I then strolled along third street promenade and bought some souvenirs for my parents.  For lunch, I enjoyed a salmon poke bowl and then lay by the beach tanning for the rest of the afternoon.  It was then time for me to head back to my hosts place to pack my bags and make my way to the airport.

  I am now sitting at the airport awaiting my flight home.  These passed three weeks I have had the time of my life.  A big part of why the experience was so amazing is credited towards couch surfing.  By couch surfing we were able to have an authentic and local experience.  We made good friends with many people throughout the places we travelled and are so grateful or their hospitality.  I will definitely be going going back back to Cali!!!  

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LA DIARIES PART 2 #2

  Today Daph and I are heading to MALIBU!!!!! I have been wanting to go to Malibu for ages now and am so excited to finally be visiting.  For brekky we ordered acai bowls close to our accommodation which were so tasty and a big serving to keep us full to last us till lunchtime.

  We took an uber out to Pacific Cove, Malibu and chilled by the beach for the whole day.  It was Mothers Day so families were out spending there day by the beach.  It was a perfect day and nice and warm in the sun.  However once the sun hid behind the cliffs it started to get extremely chilly.  It was a perfect day today spent at the beach!

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LA DIARIES PART 2 #1

We arrived in LA at around 1PM and made our way to our new couch surfing host.  He is very welcoming and a massive foodie.  We enjoyed lunch at a salad bar in West Hollywood where I had a hearty chicken pesto salad.  

  We then made our way to Rodeo Drive and walked around the area.  It only took us two seconds to realise how broke we were when walking into a store and seeing white shorts for $450.  These shorts looked exactly like shorts Daph bought from H&M for $15.  

 We headed to Lure in Hollywood later that night.  We had a few drinks and then danced the whole night.  It was such a fun night enjoying good RNB and dancing up on stage behind the DJ.  The night wrapped up at around 2AM.  We then headed back to our air mattress to get a good rest.

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SAN DIEGO DIARIES #4

  We chilled by the pool in the morning to soak up the sun and then got ourselves ready for our tour to Tijuana that afternoon. 

  The tour started at 2PM so we met our tour guide in downtown San Diego. We caught the trolley to the border and made our way across by foot which was a very quick and short process, surprisingly. As soon as we made it to Mexico there was an immediate change in the environment. It was amazing, there was a sense of hustle and bustle and we felt we were truly in Mexico. We caught a bus to a local market where we tried chili mango which was sugary and delicious.  We also tried fruit traditionally eaten in Mexico by children as a sweet treat, it is called tamarind. 

  We then went to eat tacos and I tried the beef and pork tacos which were delicious. I also ordered two horchata drinks, probably my favorite drink ever.

  We then made our way along through markets, which displayed various art on the walls, towards a brewery. It was extremely cheap, 3.50 for a sampler of four beers. 

  Next stop was a sports bar! We were finally legal!! So we ordered a whole bottle of tequila which was only 700 pesos, which is just under $40USD.  We also ordered various cocktails; Pina Colada and Margarita. The guys we were with also ordered pig ears to eat which was gross, I felt like I was on fear factor it was crazy. We had a fantastic night dancing to Mexican music especially Despacito and meeting new people on the tour. We made our way back at around 11PM across the border to our place in the USA.  Adios Mexico!

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SAN DIEGO DIARIES #3

  This morning Daph and I smashed out a leg session at Robb’s Gym in Ocean Beach, San Diego.  For our post workout meal we enjoyed an acai bowl.

  Today our plan was to bike ride down to La Jolla Cove.  We rode with a group of seven down to La Jolla Cove and along the way passed Pacific Beach. La Jolla Cove is home to many sea lions who lay their fat bellies on the warm rocks that are splashed by refreshing water from the ocean. 

  The ride to La Jolla was gorgeous, the houses had different architectural styles however all were huge.  We also noticed many houses that had the American flag displayed, Americans are extremely patriotic. It was so nice talking to the other people we rode with, which included people from Amsterdam, Italy, Canada and Germany. We all enjoyed a late lunch at a restaurant near Pacific Beach, I ordered an ahi tuna poke bowl. San Diego does healthy food very well. We then made our way back along Pacific Beach to Ocean Beach. We arrived to many food and trinket stalls and bands playing in the street. It was the local farmers market night tonight.  My main goal when at a farmers market is to eat as much food testers as possible. Tonight that consisted of, hummus dips, coconut flavoured peanut butter, coconut milk, pita chips, coconut flavoured almonds, fresh grapefruit and a green juice.  Safe to say we were satisfied after our walk around the market.  

  That night we made our way to our new coach surfing host. We were in a nice area of San Diego and the couch surfer’s complex had a heated pool, so we knew what our plans were for the next couple of days. We slept on his couch that night.

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SAN DIEGO DIARIES #2

  Today was our hike up to Cowell’s mountain with the hostel.  They drove us to the location and we hiked up to the top.  It was a good workout and a popular trail. It was a little cloudy however a perfect day for a hike.  

We then ordered acai bowls for lunch with some girls we met at the hostel.  The acai was huge and almost like a slushy but tasted quite good.  Acai bowls and poke bowls seem to be everywhere in Ocean Beach.  We then chilled by the beach until it got a little too cold and headed back for burger night at the hostel.

The hostel also put on a beer pong night where Daph and I won a round, all the games in Canada paid off very well.  Thank you Baker House! 

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SAN DIEGO DIARIES #1

  13 hours later and we arrived in San Diego.  Tired and hungry we made our way to our hostel in Ocean Beach.  The hostel was painted with all colours of the rainbow and had a peace sign perched at the top.  The outdoor common area had a chill vibe and the rooms were extremely clean. It was the best hostel I have been to this far, the name of the hostel is USA Hostel Ocean Beach. 

  It was a dreary day however we decided to go surfing as we had no other plans for that day.  So with our rental surf boards in hand we walked down the street to the beach and went out in the water to surf.  There was only one little issue, there was only two people in the water, and those two were Daph and I.  It was a little worrying not seeing anybody else in the water with us however we didn't let that stop us and jumped into the icey waters.  The waves were a little choppy but we managed to stand up on the board a few times.  Pretty poor effort coming from an Aussie I must admit but it  makes me want to learn when I get back home. We then ordered a poke bowl for dinner at a Japanese restaurant down the street from our hostel.  A poke bowl traditionally consists of raw tuna, rice, avocado, soy sauce and some other garnishes.  It is extremely fresh and healthy and is originally a Hawaiian dish.

  We then went for a group tour to Sunset Cliffs which was gorgeous.  We stayed there for a little and took some sunset pics before heading back to the hostel to get some sleep. 

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SAN FRAN DIARIES DAY #3

(7 May, 2017)

  Today we had planned our bike ride to Sausalito.  We woke up while Abdel kindly made us breakfast which consisted of hard boiled eggs, cheddar cheese, mashed potato, pita bread with cream cheese and a homemade ginger tea.  It was a nice way to start the day before our ride.  We rode our bikes down to Fisherman’s Warf and visited Pier 39 where we saw the sea lions gawk and push each other off the floating decks so they could tan their furry, fat bodies.  

  We then made our way towards Sausalito and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, which was extremely windy.  This was even the case the last time I was in San Francisco during winter.  In that case my whole family got their hair blow-dried for free.

  We then made our way into the little European-like town of Sausalito where there were plenty of tourists.  We parked our bikes and headed to a cafe by the water where we ordered sandwiches and wraps for lunch.  The sun was shining down and there were plenty of people bike riding and visiting Sausalito.  We then said goodbye to Abdel who had to head back to his house for a work call. Daph and I shopped a little and explored the streets of Sausalito.  We then visited Starbucks as it was happy hour, which meant half price frappuccino’s and Daph ordered a matcha creme frappuccino with almond milk, surprise, surprise.  It was then time to catch the ferry back to Fishermans Warf and make our way to our accomodation.  

  Abdel wanted us to experience some Egyptian food from his favourite restaurant in San Fran.  He ordered us an eggplant dish that resembled moussaka, pastry filled with meat and some egyption desert, baklava and another pistoachio treat.  The dessert was extremely sugary, just how I like all my food, I have the biggest sweet tooth.  It was such a tasty and hearty meal.  Daph and I then packed our bags and headed to the Greyhound station to catch our 11PM bus to San Diego.

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SAN FRAN DIARIES #2

(6 May, 2017)

Today was quite a chill day, we woke up and Daph went to the gym in the morning and I went for a walk around San Fran.  We then met up and visited Bowl’d Acai for some acai bowls.  

  We then started our walk to the Painted Ladies which is a famous landmark in San Fran, which took us about 40 minutes to walk there.  The Painted Ladies are also known as the ‘postcard row’ as it is so often photographed by people in San Fran. We then visited Golden Gate Park for a little, which was incredibly lush and full of people hanging out with friends and family. 

Later that night, we went to eat dinner at the oldest dim sum restaurant in the USA, Hang Ah Tea Room.  We ordered shrimp dumplings, chicken meatball dumplings as well as stir fried vegetables and bok choy with garlic.  It was all incredibly delicious. 

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SAN FRAN DIARIES #1

(5 May, 2017)

We arrived at 7AM into San Fran and headed to our location to meet tour new couch surfing host.  The location is extremely central, the apartment is fairly spacious and our host is very friendly and accomodating.  We then went out to the Civic Centre and had a nap on the grass as we were soo extremely tired.

  We then visited Lombard Street, also known as ‘the crookedest street in the world,’ as well as visiting Fishermans Warf, Ghirardelli Square and even paid for a street painter to draw a cartoon version of Daph and I.  We ended up looking like chubby boys, but it is still quite cute.  

  We then enjoyed coffee at a local coffee shop and headed back to our place to get ready to meet Winnie and Yuna for dinner.  We met with the girls at Union Square and had a bite to eat at the Cheesecake Factory.  It was nice to hear about their future travel plans and what they have been up to since the end of semester.  Daph and I were pretty much zombies as we were running off little sleep.  It was then time to head back to the apartment for a much needed rest.

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LOS ANGELES DIARIES #8

(4 May, 2017)

Today we headed out for the Topanga hike which was incredible.  The hike took us two hours in total and the sun was beaming down on us nearly the whole way. 

For a reward and seeing as we were unable to go last night we headed back to  Little Damage to order the black ice cream (rose flavour) and the light blue soft serve (cake batter flavour).  

  We then visited Jason’s restaurant for a late lunch, we ordered lettuce cups, vegetable soup, green matcha tea with algae, chicken lo mien and a spicy calamari with vegetables.  It was superb, Jame’s has an amazing restaurant, called Chi Dynasty.  We then walked around a bit and purchased a book for us to read called Exit West by Mohsin Hamid.  I then though it would be a good idea to get my tattoo that night as we would be out of the sun for the next couple of days.  So that night I went to the tattoo store in Hollywood and had a palm tree tatted on the back of my lower leg.  I would probably rate it a good 8/10 for the pain, it was not a great feeling and so much more painful than my last tat.  Luckily it only lasted for less than 20 minutes.  I am super happy with it and loved how the artist drew the palm tree.  After an eventful day we headed back to the yacht to say goodbye to James and pack our things for our eight hour bus ride to San Francisco.  

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LOS ANGELES DIARIES #7

(3 May, 2017)

Today we were taking FULL advantage of the yacht we were staying on.  We chilled on the boat, tanned our cheeks and listened to heaps of RNB/ Hip Hop for the rest of the day, it was perfect. We then had a go of jumping off the yacht into the marina, the water was cool and refreshing. 

 It was then time to visit Santa Monica Pier in the afternoon as we were meeting our friend Gloria for dinner.  We walked around the pier which was bustling with people and went for a ride on the rollercoaster.  As we were chilling there was a busker there who goes by the name of “Hello, My Name Is Lana” who had an awesome rendition of ‘Say My Name’ by Destiny’s Child and ‘Come and See Me’ by Drake.  Her voice was heaven to listen to and the combination of songs together were perfect.   As we were sitting there listening to Lana, we had a cute guy with a weird accent come up to Daph and ask for her number.  She politely declined and he replied with, “Oh thats okay you don’t have a mustouche anyway, I like my girls who have moustaches.”  After a little while he revealed that it was actually a prank for his Youtube show, and a camera man then appears out of nowehere.  So bloody typical of LA.  So we ended up chatting to them for a little bit and apparently he was a Youtuber from Melbourne. God knows who is is cause I have never heard of him. 

We then headed to the promenade and met Gloria for some sushi for dinner.  I ordered a spicy crazy salmon poke bowl which was delicious.  We then headed to the Paul Smith Pink wall and Made in LA wall for a couple of pictures.  Our final destination was the Little Damage Ice creamery where they serve black ice-cream in black waffle cones.  It looks amazing, they also have a gorgeous light blue ice-cream as well.  So all night we were excited to try this ice-cream and we finally arrived to find out that it was closed.  We were extremely disappointed but I wanted my ice-cream so settled for Peddlers where I had a scoop of Snickerdoodle in a crunchy waffle cone.  It was so delicious.  By this time Daph and I were pretty much zombies and we were ready to head back to the yacht.  We were so grateful for Gloria for spending the day with us and showing us around LA.  Daph and I are amazed by how friendly, open hearted and welcoming the people we have come across in LA are.  We have been extremely lucky in our travels so far and this many due to the amazing people that we have met along the way.

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Laguna Beach, California

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LOS ANGELES DIARIES #6

(2 May, 2017)

This morning we were spending the day with Jason, We met Jason at Andrew’s party on Saturday and he was the most genuine and friendly guy you will beer meet.  Before he came to pick us up for our day together Daph and I went for a bike ride in the morning along the beach which was incredibly foggy.  There were not so may people out as they were yesterday.  

It was then time to head to Laguna Beach.  Jason rocked up in his BMW and took us to The Cliffs Restaurant in Laguna beach.  Jason was lovely, we had good company and good conversation.  The view from the Cliff Restaurant was sensational, the water was turquoise blue and the sky was clear.  We ordered a salmon salad for lunch that came with caramelised pecans as well as a turkey and avocado wrap with a side of fruit, all so delicious.  

 It was then time to head to the beach! We headed to Jason’s favourite spot as a kid, to chill and tan for the day.  The waves were fairly aggressive and the view was spectacular.  We lay out in the sun nearly all day and would jump in the arctic waters to refresh.  The day was perfect.  

We then made our way to the Wyland Studio Gallery, Wyland is an artist that paints brilliant pictures of whales and the beach, I was in love with his work.  We ordered a blended matcha tea and relaxed on the patio overlooking the beach while Jason made calls with this life coach.  

By this time we were slowly working up an appetite, so Jason recommended a Japanese BBQ restaurant for dinner.  I tried beef tongue for the first time which was amazing and so extremely tasty. We also ordered pork cheek, calamari, vegetables, sirloin steak and lots of warm sake.  We then were invited to go to 1OAK that night which is a famous club out in Hollywood.  We knew the bouncer that worked at the previous club we visited on Thursday.  Jason took us to our next location which was the yacht boat.  We said goodbye to Jason and thanked him for the amazing day that we had.  We then headed on to the yacht which was unreal.  I was amazed by how large the yacht was. As we arrived on the boat the host had music playing and the night was balmy.  We have two single beds and a private bathroom and shower for ourselves, it is fairly cramped but so cosy.  We then rushed to get ready for our night out at 1OAK.  We didn’t have long to get ready so exploring the boat to its full extent was not really an option.  

We walked straight through the line into 1OAK with our friend and sat at one of the booths where there were already other girls lind up as well.  We were poured a vodka with orange and pineapple juice and the drinks didn’t stop for the rest of the night.  To my disappointment there were not any famous wrapper or artists there that I knew of or was aware of.  Daph and I had a nice night dancing and soaking up the Hollywood club scene.  On our way home the bouncer rattled off all the different celebrities that had appeared at the club by the likes of Travis Scott, G Easy, Drake, Future, Trey Songs and many more.  I was internally crying as to meet any one of them would have been  amazing to say the least.  One thing the I am so incredibly shocked by is the club scene here in LA.  The whole concept of it is for the girls to sit high up so the boys have a chance of peeking under their dresses.  We then get free drinks and free entry because of that.  We are advised to not leave the booth as so it appears  that there is a lot of people there so more guys will come to us and buy drinks which makes the club money.  Luckily Daph and I are not staying long so are not obliged to do anything with anyone.  However, the girls there seemed to be there only to please the guys so they were having a good time. I would even go as far to say that I even enjoyed Townhall in Abbotsford more.  As I would much rather dance the night without any obligation to sit and look pretty the whole night.  Even though I am putting a negative spin on it, I had an enjoyable night experiencing the Hollywood vibes of the place.  It is always interesting experiencing something new in a different place.  We had a nice night and the bouncer took us home at around two am.  We then got back to the yacht and passed out in our beds, we were so exhausted from the crazy, amazing day that we had just had.

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Long Beach, California

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LOS ANGELES DIARIES #5

(1 May, 2017) 

 This morning Daph and I headed out for a workout along the beach, there is a bike path that stretches out for four miles along Long Beach. After we worked up a sweat we decided to change into out bathers and haven a relaxing tanning day by the beach, it was heaven. The day was perfect and hot! We stayed at the beach for a couple of hours and by this time it was time to get ready for sunset yoga along the beach. 

  We took our penny boards that have been waiting in our suitcases and skated down to the beach. It was a perfect afternoon for it. The yoga was so chill, it was almost a little too chill. We found ourselves lying on our back so much it was almost as if we were doing more sleeping than yoga. Anyways that was relaxing in itself. We then learnt some new techniques of breathing. One of them is where you alternate taking breaths between each nostril and the second one we learnt is where you curl your tongue and close your mouth around it and then breathe in and out. We then rode our penny boards along the path as the sun was setting and then finally worked ourselves up an appetite two we headed to a local pizza shop owned by Mexicans to grab a slice of pizza. It aws a great way to end the relaxing day at the beach.