Category: Shopping & Selling

A stationery experience

February 8, 2011

There is so much to learn here. I am like a sponge, soaking up every detail, every conversation, every name drop. I love the potential to learn and I guess that’s why I’m here. Today I had the simple task of getting copies of a script, which turned into a learning adventure for me.

I had found a copy place, Copymat Hollywood, using the review website Yelp and had mapped my walking route there. I followed the stars on the Walk of Fame there, passing by the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Bing Crosby, Audrey Hepburn etc. It’s so hard to not look down when you walk along the streets because you are constantly looking to see whose star you’re stepping over.

I stopped in to Bed, Bath and Beyond for a browse, filing away prices and products for future reference (namely some handheld beaters so I can become the Pavlova Queen of LA) and then got some cash out of my new bank, the Bank of America.

It was here that I saw FedEx Office (which apparently used to be called Kinko’s) and is a copy place so I decided I might get my scripts printed off there. They have great self-service machines that you put your debit/credit card into and then your USB to print from. Unfortunately, I came up against one of those lost in translation moments, one of paper size. Because the pdf was saved to A4, the printer wouldn’t recognise it and just decide to print it to the American Letter size. And there was no override facility.

So then I continued on to Copymat Hollywood where it was smaller, more personable and I could change the print settings myself. Plus, it worked out to be less than half the price FedEx Office had quoted. What a win!

Conveniently, diagonally opposite Copymat was a Staples store. Staples is the equivalent of Officeworks in Australia and there were so many aisles to browse, although I only ended up with a packet of highlighters that were on sale for $2.20 and a membership card.

On the way back home in the patchy weather (cool and needing a cardigan in the shade, but hot and sweaty in the sunshine) I called in to Trader Joes supermarket and picked up a couple of essentials, bread (sweet and yucky) and corn chips. I told the check out guy it was my first time and he asked me how I’d found my visit, that was nice.

My outing ballooned into a 2 hour browse-a-thon, but at least I got back to HQ with the goods; six lovely clean scripts.

Today’s fortune cookie (from Vietnamese in Silver Lake) reads:
Imagination is more important than knowledge

Preposterous packaging

February 5, 2011

I am dumbfounded by the amount of packaging they have here in America, so much for the reducing part of reduce, reuse, recycle.

It was my first foray in the supermarket today. The supermarket in Target that is. It was a pretty quick shop, and I am looking forward to when I can take a long leisurely stroll in the supermarket, moving up and down every aisle with cool plastic trolleys that can be pushed from any angle except with the quirk that they don’t like to reverse.

A brief observation is that everything comes over-packaged. The tissue boxes have a little plastic wrap covering the cardboard opening, but they have longer openings and no plastic ‘curtains’ on the inside. I don’ t know that the external wraps would make it any more hygienic, but I guess that’s the look they’re going for.

I was shocked in the fresh produce aisle when I came across a sweet potato completely sealed in a plastic case. I was so surprised I held it high and waved it over my head, screeching in my Australian accent “Look! They even wrap individual sweet potatoes!” Followed quickly by “Oh, it is microwaveable. No way!” You just need to stab that thing with a fork and throw it in the microwave. Snacky snack.

I’m not the world’s most environmentally friendly person (I’ll admit to loving long hot showers) but I am definitely going to beat the average American as I try to find products without all the bells and whistles packaging.

Tasty treat:
Frickles – fried crumbed pickles. Yummo. Can be found at Birds Cafe on Franklin Avenue.

Surprises:
No one has appreciated my accent yet. Maybe I just need to talk more. Or louder.

I’m here

February 3, 2011
In the shadow of the Hollywood sign

I’ve finally arrived in LA after months of preparations and dreaming and saving, and well, it was a pretty good welcome. Clear blue skies, plenty of warm sunshine and the Hollywood sign greeted me.

After a shower it was down to the business of getting a US sim card for my phone. Easy peasy. T-mobile will give you a sim card and some pretty good prepaid deals without running a credit check, so it is a good option for travellers. Plus, unlike in Australia, it wasn’t a massive rigmarole of paperwork to get it. Here they have 3 digit prefixes which supposedly tell people where you are from. My rep Palmer asked what I wanted and I just stared blankly at him. 310, 323 and 123 mean nothing to me. So he said “I’ll give you a 310, that’s Beverly Hills, all the cool kids want that one”. So, I am now a cool kid with a 310 prefixed cell number. [yes, cell number, not mobile number, gotta get the lingo down because my pronunciation of data already got me funny looks]

I also called in to Target for a blow up mattress and pillow to get me by until a) we get our apartment and b) til I get a real bed. Another simple procedure.

And then it was lunch at Birds Cafe/Bar where I ordered the turkey baguette with brie and cranberry mayo that came with a side of sweet potato fries. It was delish, if oversized. I tucked into the sweet potato fries, these yummy little waffley looking things, but could only manage half of it. However, the waiter came over with a plastic container for me to take the other half home for later! Two meals in one, my kinda eating out.

Feeling a little sleepy around 3pm, I wandered up the road to a little supermarket in Hollywoodland where I came across my first Australian accents. Three guys had broken down and they wanted to know if I knew somewhere nearby they could have something to eat. I must have exuded some confidence about where I was going (I didn’t feel it) but then when they heard my fumbled response and Australian accent, they just wrote me off.

I think I’m still running on adrenaline, because I barely got any sleep on the plane last night, had 5 hours sleep each of the two nights before that and have lasted til 5pm since I got in at 7:30am. I look forward to sleeping on my new airbed tonight and seeing what tomorrow has in store for me.

Handy tip:
When coming to the US, always fill in the I-94 form, even if the airline staff tell you you only need the Customs Declaration. It could save you time if the officials then say you need it, as happened to me. So I ended up being one of the last three people to get my bags off the carousel. In fact, I was so late that airport staffed had already taken them off and loaded them on a trolley for me.

Surprise:
Airport parking was only $3 for about 30 minutes to an hour. Melbourne Airport’s is ridiculously expensive by comparison – $12.

Friday customer service call

January 21, 2011

I received a call today from the bank about the new account I opened before Christmas wanting to know how I was finding the account and the experience thus far.

The short reply was, I haven’t found the account. I haven’t even found the keycard and pin that should have been sent to me. The call really couldn’t have been timed much better as yesterday I popped in to the branch and to ask about it. However, choosing to go to a bank on a Thursday is not a wise move. Being pension day, it is always busy, and yesterday it was so busy that I decided not to bother with the query on my account. So today’s call was great because I found out that my card is waiting for me at the branch.

In addition, I also found out that the Call Guy gets quite frustrated when this happens. He said, and quite rightly so, that if my card goes to the branch, then they should call me to pick it up. I whole-heartedly agree. Call Guy’s rather relaxed attitude led to a far greater conversation than I would usually have with any customer service rep over the phone. I also think there may have been some phone flirting involved…

I also have a sneaking suspicion that he may have done a search for me on Facebook after a little comment about Facebook he dropped in and then a little bit later he stumbled a little over part of his spiel the way you do when you get distracted by something. Either that or his desk neighbour was gesticulating wildly trying to get his attention and provide advice as to how to keep me on the phone for longer. Or maybe that’s just my wild imagination and tickets on myself!

Call Guy also dropped this little gem into the conversation about going in to the bank.

“I actually worked in a branch over Christmas and pension Thursday, you want to avoid that. It’s like there’s DJs or something there, although I don’t think the oldies really go for that.”

I nearly spluttered all over the phone with laughter at this, and barely managed to maintain my composure.

It was a bit of Friday fun and after that 13 minute chat about all sorts of things in a relaxed and unstuffy manner, I think I like my new bank even better.

A suitcase for all seasons

December 29, 2010
I’m rather excited about the fact that I get to take 3 bags each weighing up to 23kg with me to LA in February (thank you Qantas Silver Frequent Flyer membership!)

However it didn’t dawn on me until after the initial exclamations of “I get to take my body weight in luggage!” had subsided that I don’t have three pieces of luggage. I have a much treasured and travelled backpack in cherry and navy and a red duffel on wheels that was an emergency purchase in the Philippines in order to get 17 pairs of shoes from Imelda’s own collection back home. But that was it. No cabin bag other than a daypack, and no suitcase.

Since I’ve started putting together my packing list now, I thought I’d better get myself a suitcase to pack it into.

I had looked around online, albeit rather halfheartedly, for a suitcase that would stand out from the crowd on the baggage carousel. I wanted a funky print that no one could mistake for their staid black suitcase. My grandfather has a great story of how he’d checked in his hand luggage for a connecting international flight on his initial flight to Melbourne. It contained his passport and all their travellers cheques and some other guy had the same bag and took it without checking. Luckily for Papa, the other guy’s name and mobile number was on his bag, so he whipped out his mobile and called the guy who was walking through the arrivals hall. Close call.

I didn’t really find anything online, although I did toy with a Catherine Manuell Aboriginal Artwork print but the one I liked didn’t come in a big enough size.

New suitcase
Packing the essentials?

So I paid a visit to Peter at Luggage International in Mildura.  I explained that I was after a red suitcase (to match my other red ones) in which I wanted to move my possessions to LA. Peter showed me three different ones, talked about their relative quality, weight, durability and cost. I drag tested a few and decided on the big and ultra light Airport model which has the very snazzy statistic of weighing a mere 2.9kg. It wasn’t as luxurious as the Jag one, but it will do the job just fine. I mean after hitting the big time in Hollywood I’ll probably upgrade to tailor made luggage, or settle for the Louis Vuitton set anyway.

I also decided that I’d get a cabin bag in which to take my laptop and my Roberto Marquez painting. Whilst there wasn’t a matching cabin bag, and I initially wanted one on wheels, I settled for a black carry bag that attaches to the suitcase handle. It is plenty big enough for all my carry on and will double as a handy overnight bag in the event that I can condense an overnight stay into just two outfits and one pair of shoes.

So Peter, being a champ and all, offered me a nice little discount in addition to the personalised and pleasant service. It’s people like him that keep you going back to the little boutiques rather than online or chain stores.

I walked out of the store after a yarn towing my big red suitcase behind me dreaming of when I’m looking swish and wheeling it through airports around the world.