Pasadena itself it a nice area, but the shops we found on the internet (and GPS in surrounding neighbourhoods) not so much. We ended up visiting two Wal-Marts both of which were in dodgy areas and in one I think we were the only white people in the store! Being on the eve of Halloween, and then Halloween itself, the stored were overrun with Hispanic families, the stores were a mess, and the shelves were just about empty of items we were interested in (especially our favourite socks/undies/singlets which are so cheap here). The GPS took us through some pretty run down neighbourhoods too. I half expected to be carjacked or worse.
The night before, we had stopped in this giant Asian shop in Pasedena, for a nosey. It was like a Wal-Mart from Hong Kong, full of products from China, including a supermarket section but also jewellery, electronics, clothes etc. Everyone was looking at us funny wondering what white people were doing in there. It felt safe however, being in a better area. Our mission was to buy my favourite Sriracha Sauce which we cannot buy in NZ but I love this stuff more than The Oatmeal. We bought some (only $2.35 per bottle) and from reading the bottle I realised the factory was right nearby in Rosemead.
Today, while the GPS took us on a tour of scary neighbourhoods, we were passing through Rosemead. A short detour later, and we stopped by the factory to take a photo. We didn't go inside but could see the place full of boxes of my sauce inside. Yummmmmmm.
At the Montebello Wal-Mart, we did purchase some stuff and I handed the checkout person a $100 bill. To check it's real, they held it up to the light. Everyone was looking at it with their eyes poking out of their head. I was wondering if we would make it out to the car in one piece.
Disillusioned with the shopping, we ventured further afield than we had expected to, and ended up West of Pasadena in Glendale which was a nicer area, then we went to Burbank to book our Warner Brothers tour for tomorrow. We went even further West to Van Nuys and found a nice Wal-Mart. This was cleaner and quite inside, and we blended in better with the clientele. We found the store well stocked, and got what we wanted. My faith in Wal-Mart is restored!
Helen was asked for the third time today, to assist someone, because they though she was a staff member. She must have that look about her.
By now, we were getting on toward dinner time. The trusty GPS took us to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We expected it to be busy but they seated us straight away and we got a great booth by the window where we could see what was going on outside.
It's Halloween and all day long we've seen people dressed in costumes, both young and old alike. Much like when the Sevens are on in Wellington but without the booze. Especially funny seeing all the little kids dressed as superheroes etc. At the Galleria where we ate dinner, we could see people tick or treating and the mall had a special "Spooktacular" on.
For the trip back to Pasadena, the GPS took us on the freeway. Once we got past 2 accidents, which was slow going, the traffic was humming along at over 70MPH, we were flying. Not bad when the speed limit is 55MPH. The radio had some smooth jazz playing that seemed in beat with the joins in the freeway and it felt really cruisey. Although Helen was driving and may have felt differently. Suddenly, our exit arrived, at speed, and we were trapped in the far left diamond lane (which we can only enter/exit at certain points). The exit point came just before our offramp. At this speed, we managed to push across six lanes of traffic and just made our exit. Phew!!!
We made it back to the hotel free of bullet holes or fender benders. Tomorrow, we visit Warner Brothers in the morning, then fly back to NZ later in the evening. We might not be able to blog again until we are home depending on what happens at LAX.
Thanks for reading!
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