The Plane! The Plane!
A Camera-Shy Bel-Air Swan!Greetings from the 8th floor of The Raffles L'Ermitage in Los Angeles. It's 03:30 LA time on Tuesday ... I believe ... which means that in London its erm - 11:30 and in Tokyo it must be ... erm ... yes ... anyway ...
It has been a wonderful if not slightly bizarre few days. Saturday & Sunday were mainly taken up by dinner & lunch parties ... seeing all my friends before this trip ... packing and generally researching for 2 weeks here in Los Angeles. My cocktail-making skills (thank you Peninsula - Hong Kong) were both applauded and appreciated ... I think.
Monday started with a bang - 0600 Alex & I zoom up to Stansted Airport to catch the 0930 to LAX. My last experience of Maxjet (all business service) was total disaster but I pleased to say that this one was actually quite painless -- smooth -- stress-free and I slept for most of the 10 or so hours in the air. Alex enjoyed her veggie meal and Tim & I enjoyed the odd glass of the Moscato - my current favourite tipple.
Getting through passport control & customs was painless! Unbelievable really. I try & fly BA London to NYC at least as it has its own terminal because the queues can get frightening. Last time I was in LA, the queues were enormous and it took 2 hours to get through them. Monday was a relative breeze.
We have hired a MONSTER truck thing to take us around LA ... Tim is Chief Driver, Alex is DJ and I am Navigator ... i.e. I programme the Sat Nav!
We have checking into the Raffles L'Ermitage which is located on Burton Way - a leafy part of Beverly Hills. I have not stayed here before BUT it comes highly recommended and so far, I am not disappointed. I have views ... but am yet to enjoy them by day.
Last night I had a meeting at the Hotel Bel-Air ... it's such a lovely property and is an oasis in the madness of LA. I was even greeted by a swan-call! My town car driver used the expression "Jiminy Christmas" a few times ... it has stuck!
Today - i.e. in 3 hours, the filming starts and I am very, very excited! There is a shark and a puppy involved ... watch this space!
Song of The Days: All I Wanna do Is Have Some Fun - Sheryl Crow
Weather: Bumpy
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