Day 1!

So the plane ride was pretty much heaven as opposed to my (Sohan) last experience... Instead of receiving vomit-looking egg for breakfast, it was delicious pancakes or frittata! (never fly Etihad - ALWAYS Virgin). However it was a long flight, with little to no sleep. We  landed at 10am, something like 3am Sydney time, and awkwardly spoke to our very first taxi driver while our suitcases were carried for us. Then we awkwardly whispered to ourselves about tipping the guy who carried our luggage, and ended up being very generous with $3 American dollars. Wow. We are so, so giving. (Don't worry, we get the hang of it). So we then jumped into the taxi to get to our hostel in Santa Monica. When we arrived we were too early to check in so we went for a walk through the promenade and OF COURSE THE FIRST THNG WE SEE IS H&M, FOLLOWED CLOSELY BY URBAN OUTFITTERS AND FOREVER 21. It was an emotional hour or so as we stroll through the shops with the thought that we might actually buy some of these amazingly cheap yet excellent quality and amazingly designed clothes after months of saving up. Marni bought some white Converse from a guy called Armani... Yep, they all introduce themselves when they serve you! SO COOL! 

We grabbed paninis for lunch at a cafe which also resulted in an awkward situation where we had to ask the people next to us the tipping process when paying via eftpos... A little embarrassing. Luckily we have "cool accents"! 

Okay THEN we headed back to the hostel where we found that we had been upgraded from a 6 bed dorm room TO A PRIVATE ROOM WITH A DOUBLE BED, BALCONY, MORE BEDS, A COUCH, AND OUR OWN BATHROOM SHOWER. YES, IT HAPPENED. VIDEO COMING SOON.

Then after freshening up we went on the hunt for some sim cards for our phones, took like five minutes after we finally found T-Mobile (which was hard without Google Maps!). It turns out Americans are idiots when it comes to prepaid plans. There is actually NO option for people with unlocked iPhones to get a micro sim with 3G Internet. It worked out though. We have unlimited epically slow data. Awesome. We then headed off for a Starbucks at Barnes and Noble (wanted to buy so much but restricted ourselves...) then we headed off to Victoria's Secret! Marni bought some PJ shorts and we decided we would come back later for bras and undies (and Shreya's nightshirt...).

Went to Sephora which was just amazing but far too much for us to concentrate on! Its a tad overwhelming when you walk into a make-up store with every amazing brand of makeup for cheapness. It was just so huge. Sohan's perfume was $40 cheaper than in Australia (Daisy Eau So Fresh) and it comes in rollerballs. For $20. What is life. 

 After that we went to a Mexican restaurant which was awesome and had great service, as we've had the whole day! Helloooooo authentic Mexican cuisine with mango and passion fruit juice. Mmmmmmm. 

Then it was back to the third street promenade for more shopping. Marni bought amazing sunglasses from a half Indian half Samoan shopping assistant named Lauren but we nicknamed Lozza. Rachel bought s skirt from American apparel and Sohan bought a dress from urban outfitters. 

Now we are sitting in our PRIVATE DORM ROOM about to collapse because we haven't slept. 

Goodnight all. 

Marni, Rachel and Sohan.