Hollywood, Jay Leno and Mr. Chow - Day 2

Thursday we woke up, got ready and went in search of some breakfast. We stopped at one of the many donut shops in California. I think there are as many donut shops in Cali as there are Starbucks in Washington! We got a bagel and muffin and headed to Hollywood.

We wanted to do as many 'adult' things as we could. I knew Hollywood was somewhere the girls would not want to go next time we are in California so we decided to go. As soon as we came up from the parking garage we stopped by the Madame Tussuad's. We didn't go in but we stopped at the wax figures outside. They looked so real!

We then went over to the Grauman's Chinese Theater. I couldn't believe all the freaks that hang out there. I saw batman, catwoman, a pirate, shrek and more...I didn't realize that these people dress up and make money by people wanting to take pictures with them. I guess they work off tips... I think most people don't even recognize that they are just folks who buy a costume. The catwoman was trying to work her magic on Cirdan...but it didn't work. There were also lots of guys trying to sell their CD's. They were kind of aggressive which made me super annoyed. We checked out the hand and feet prints. I didn't realize how old some of those are. We walked a couple of blocks following the stars and then went over to the Kodak Theater. The Kodak Theater had a bunch of stores and some places to eat.

We left with enough time to make it to the Jay Leno show. This was similar to the Ellen Show where there was an audience waiting area. This one was outside next to the parking lot. They line you up 1st come 1st serve in a zig zag line. We waited for about an hour or so before they started to take us from there to security (which was also outside) then to another holding area.

This time there were benches. We sat there in the same lines waiting for them to come get us and take us into the show. We sat for another long hour. At this point of our trip I really felt like it was like hurry and wait and wait and wait. We entered into the studio and got seats in the middle up about 8 rows. They had a guy come out that tried to get the crowd energized. There was a lot of clapping going on. Jay Leno came out to thank everyone for coming and to let us know that his show is recorded live, no editing.... so it would be nice if we could laugh at his jokes and be respectful. He took some questions from the audience and went back to get into his suit. I thought that was pretty cool he did that. Wanda Sykes was on the show. We aren't big fans but she was pretty funny.... The show seemed kind of long. After the show the same guy that was getting the audience pumped up before the show (some producer or what not) came and gave Cirdan a Jay Leno hat. He gave a couple of t-shirts and hats away to people in the audience that were into the show.

After the show we were starving! Cirdan wanted to eat at one good restaurant while we were in L.A. His first choice was Mr. Chow. He called to see if they could get us in that night and they were able to! Mr. Chow is know for it's fantastic food and all of the stars that frequent the place. It's 50-70 bucks a plate, and it was worth it. We had a great time.....the waiter suggested that he pick out all of the courses and surprise us....usually Cirdan wouldn't trust someones taste but at this place he was all for it. It was a 6 course meal....we had prawns, beef tacos (at a high end Chinese place????) drunken fish, filet Mignon, mango chicken, string beans, shrimp fried rice and an almond pear tart for dessert. The waiter did great picking out the dishes and we spent some time chatting with him and one of the servers during dinner. We had a bunch of laughs.....the service is great to say the least.

We wanted to take a picture outside after dinner in front of the restaurant, but there was 4 or 5 paparazzi outside waiting for Cirdan.....hahahahaha.....just kidding... One dude from the Neptunes (hip hop group), an actor from a CBS sitcom, a couple of older lady actresses, a younger girl who is on one of the teenage shows, and who knows who else. Cirdan recognized all of them, although he doesn't know names, he can spot people real well, has a great memory when it comes to faces. It was funny because me, the person who reads US Magazines every week thought that the paparazzi were some nice guys out there taking pictures for people who wanted a keepsake picture or something. I didnt even realize what they were doing until the next day.

Cirdan would like to see movies more often he's a big fan of the movies, and we rarely ever go. We decided to go to the Michael Jackson flick, This Is It, after dinner. It was pretty cool, but disappointing that the world didn't get to see the show he was about to put on. MJ is an amazing entertainer and he seems to be 10 years ahead of the game when it comes to a live show, video, whatever it is that he can use his creativity. In my book he is second to none in that category.