Eat, Laugh, Then Eat Some More.

Today we began our search for Mr. Donut and Ms. Croissant's love child, the Cronut. With Yelp's help, we were able to locate the nearest and highest-rated donut store that sells these famous Frankenstein of a pastry - Peterson's Donut Corner in Escondido.

Derick went for the pink beauty and I went for the white one. I took my first bite hoping for a foodgasm that disappointingly never came. What's worse, I couldn't even fake it. Haha. Sure, it had that unique texture but for me, it was just that - a croissant with chocolate frosting. I'd still choose my good ol' Boston Creme donut over it.

Our next stop was the National Comedy Theater in Downtown San Diego. For $17, we had a good time and so many good laughs! It was basically an improv comedy show, similar to the TV show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?". The performers were divided into two teams where they battled each other through games fueled by suggestions made by us... the audience! Everything that was happening on stage was unscripted. We provided the dirty details for each game, then they incorporated it on their skits. The host-slash-referee told us that if the show sucked, then there'd be no one else to blame but us... the audience! Fair enough. Haha. But I tell you, these guys are so talented that even if the crowd threw in some really lame ideas, they still managed to come up with something hilarious! And it was all clean fun! So glad I found them!

We then grabbed dinner at Boun Apetito in Little Italy. We had Linguine allo Scoglio, which is pasta with clams, mussels, scallops and shrimp in white sauce. We also had Costate d' Agnello, which sounds more complicated than it actually is... Lamb chops! Hehe. Then we finished off with a heavenly slice of Tiramisu for dessert! Lo amo! =P~

Where Lamp Posts Grow Like Trees

Remember this scene from "No Strings Attached" where Adam confessed his feelings for Emma? Then Emma freaked out, pushed him, threw fists at him...

Adam: "You can't fight me, you're miniature. You're like a girl Rick Moranis."

Yea, that's how much I loved the film. Hehe. I seldom remember lines, but this one sorta stayed with me. I just couldn't shake the image of a girl Rick Moranis. Haha. I also remember thinking how lovely and photogenic the setting was.

Fast forward to a few months ago, I was browsing through a magazine of must-see places in Los Angeles, and—voilà!—I saw this section featuring a forest of lamp posts! I really wanted to see it in real life and today, I finally did!

Urban Light is an assemblage of 202 vintage cast-iron street lamps by Chris Burden installed in front of the LA County Museum of Art (LACMA). Aside from the movie, this has also been used as a backdrop for the Glee guys' Vanity Fair photo shoot. (Alright, that's the Gleek in me talking) Haha. Seeing the installation up close and personal was just amazing. And though we didn't stay long enough to see the lights turned on, I'm sure it would look much much more dramatic at night! *_*

Admission fee is at $15. Luckily, LACMA has some sort of partnership with Bank of America and sponsors the first full weekend of every month. I just had to present my debit card at the ticketing booth and I got in for free!

The museum is composed of eight buildings, each housing a different art form or era. We first checked out the Pavilion for Japanese Art. The building itself was an architectural beauty. The walls were made of a translucent material that resembles traditional Japanese rice paper, allowing soft natural light to enter the room. A spiral ramp led us up the different levels of the gallery where hanging scrolls, poetic paintings, ceramics, traditional clothing and armor were on display. But what I enjoyed most were the tiny Japanese sculptures called Netsuke. And when I say tiny, I mean teeny teeny tiny! Each piece measures about an inch, but the details were exceptionally intricate! I took a few photos of my favorites, which is merely 1% of the entire collection!

Next stop was the Hammer building where we saw the art of the ancient world. I especially enjoyed the Egyptian portion of the gallery with its collection of ancient relics and coffins, one of which containing a real mummy!

Adjacent to it was the Ahmanson building, which houses an incredible array of European, Islamic and Southeast Asian artworks. One of the security officers watching the gallery is Filipino. I think he got a little too excited speaking with a kababayan. He went on telling stories about his life, his family and his experiences in the US. He was on a roll and I couldn't get a chance to cut him off nicely. Thanks to Derick, who saw my dilemma, and told a little white lie to pull me out of the conversation. Hehe.

There were a couple of special exhibits that require a separate entrance fee. There's still so much to see but time wasn't on our side. And I even forgot about the Levitated Mass installation! We have to come back!!!

Now this is the section where my very own gallery begins... Hehe.

So This Is What Fear Tastes Like

Being the cowardly chickens that we are, what exactly has gotten into us that made us purchase tickets to the Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights? We barely survived the House of Horrors the last time, so what made us think we'd survive an entire theme park filled with all kinds of evil? Maybe we're just Halloween masochists. But hey, it is the season of horror and fear! So why the hell not!

The park was teeming with both normal-looking people and scary-looking creatures. We first braved the Universal Monsters Remix maze set in an eery castle. It was basically a mashup of classic horror monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein, Chucky, The Wolfman, etc. The scares were quite impressive and the background music was hella trippy! Tried hard to keep my eyes open through the flashing lights as we groped our way through dark dungeons. Didn't want to walk out of the maze with a bump on my head.

Second stop was another maze called El Cucuy. Narrated by Danny Trejo, El Cucuy - or The Boogeyman, as we most commonly know it - is the mythical monster hiding under our beds that we all feared as kids. The scareactors were a bit blah. The "scares" would either happen ahead of me or behind me. Ok, maybe they're not really lame scareactors, but their timing was just off.

At the end of the maze, we found ourselves in one of the scarezones called Cirque du Klownz. As the name suggests, creepy-looking clowns (not doing the "k" or the "z" thing here) were everywhere! And they really enjoyed picking on girls! Hu-why?! With their painted-on expression of happiness and their colorful costumes drenched in dirt and blood, I dunno whether I should smile or scream. So I did both. Then I grabbed Derick's arm and walked a little faster. Hehe.

We then jumped on board the Terror Tram Ride invaded by The Walking Dead. We thought it would be similar to the daylight Studio Tour where we just sit comfortably inside the tram and watch as the guide point out some interesting locations in the backlot. We had no idea that they would drop us off into a wilderness invaded by Walkers! We took a dark walk uphill, passed by the Bates Motel, walked through a plane crash and into shacks filled with zombies! And I thought they only eat brains until one of them tried to go for the pink frosted donut I was holding! Apparently, even the undead loves a sugary midnight snack. Hehe.

Next stop was an attraction called Insidious: Into the Further. Based on the popular horror flick, we expected it to haunt us as much as the movie did. What we didn't expect was for the queue itself being a 2-hour nightmare! I swear, standing in line for 2 freakin' hours sucked the fun and the excitement out of us! We just wanted to get it over and done with. The maze was a replica of the house from the film, recognizable from its facade and interior. Familiar characters like the freaky red-faced demon and Parker Crane's mother ("Don't you daaare!") frequently appeared to scare the bejesus out of us. Several scenes from the movie were recreated, like the seance room with Elise and her team of paranormal investigators, the wooden horses rocking on their own, the room full of dead bodies wrapped in bloody sheets, and the dark netherworld known as The Further. The attraction barely lasted 5 minutes but it had a lot of solid scares that got us screaming! Then again, for a 2-hour wait, couldn't say it was worth it.

On our way out the theme park, we found a huge crowd gathered in the street looking up a balcony. I think it was supposed to be a scarezone, but no one really cared about the scareactors roaming around. Everyone's attention was directed to Chucky sitting overhead throwing lewd insults to the crowd, giving all of us an unhealthy dose of adult-themed laughs.

Waiting time for the Walking Dead: No Safe Heaven and Black Sabbath 3D mazes have gone up to more than 2 hours each. Felt a bit disappointed that we didn't get to see these two attractions coz both have received great reviews.  But we were just too tired to fall in line even for just another hour. Had we known that the lines would be this crazy, we would've shelled out a few more bucks and bought Front of Line passes. Oh well.

Comikaze Expo

Drove to South Figueroa street in LA to get our "tourist shots" of Staples Center. When we reached the vicinity, we noticed a lot of cosplayers walking around. Turned out that Stan Lee's Comikaze Expo was happening at the LA Convention Center! Since we really didn't have any solid plans except for the Halloween Horror Night at 7pm, we decided to check it out.

Finding a parking space was a bit of a challenge. Drove around the block several times without any luck. We almost gave up and almost decided to just grab a meal at Jollibee. Yup, that's part of our itinerary - to enjoy a plateful of Jolly Spaghetti and Chickenjoy! Haha. But it looked like the universe didn't want us to have our langhap-sarap meal. At least not yet. We took one wrong turn that later led us to LACC's parking area.

Entrance is at $25. While waiting in line, I saw Cloud Strife standing a few meters from me, wielding his big-ass Buster Sword! Fell in love all over again with my first ever RPG crush! I knew he would look just as gorgeous in real life! Haha.

We spent the entire afternoon watching all the cosplayers strut their stuff, checking out the different stalls selling all kinds of toys and artists showing off their impressive artworks. Michael Rooker, known for his role in The Walking Dead series, was also there to talk about his projects and then he did a short Q&A with the audience.

Most people in the event would just ask the cosplayers to pose for them so they can take their pictures. But there were some cosplayers who were either my favorites or who were simply irresistible (haha), that I couldn't help but jump in front of the camera and be in the picture with them! Hehe.

There was a special area in the hall that featured the costumes and props from the Iron Man, Thor, and The Avengers movies. A frozen statue of Heimdall, the different Iron Man suits, Captain America's helmet.. Everything was just Marvel-lous!

Another area that caught my attention was like a gaming station with vintage consoles the included the Sega Genesis! See I never really grew up playing dolls and cooking sets; I grew up playing this! Nostalgic!

And while I'm on this little nostalgia trip, these were the games that I played as a kid!

Before leaving for Universal City, we stopped by the Staples Center to have our photos taken.  Because really, that's the reason we're even there. Hehe.