It was a rushed start again today, but mainly because we needed to check out and be at breakfast by 9 am. It’s hard to describe how hot and humid it gets in LA by 9 in the morning and we had to run across from the Disneyland hotel to the Grand Californian Disney Hotel for a special princess breakfast.

We got to meet Jasmine, Mulan and Aurora for a chat and photos. Even Ben and Matthew got involved and pretended to be Jasmine’s bodyguards. The princesses all stayed in character for the whole interaction which made it even more magical for the kids. Thomas got a sword and shield as well which gave him much joy.

The breakfast in itself was a lavish affair with a three course meal that lasted almost 2 hours. Moreover all the items were related to different Disney movies like Mickey waffles and frog Prince macarons.

After eating our fill we had a car take us from Anaheim to our hotel in LA. While both locations are officially in LA the drive still took us almost 90 minutes. The hotel we will be staying in for the next few nights is called the Pendry and located on Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood. The hotel includes free access for guests to use the hotels Cadillacs for personal use. We “borrowed” one and decided to go to Santa Monica pier. While not a long drive, the roads were quite congested and I needed to be extra careful as it was my first day driving on the “wrong” side of the road.

We walked up and down the pier and watched the buskers and various souvenir shops. Emily and Thomas got involved in a magic trick and we’re enamored by the magician, who even obliged us with photos. They also got to roller skate as part of a summer festival.

One of the other benefits of the hotel were two bowling alleys in the basement that we could use. Before heading out to dinner the kids enjoyed a game and Thomas was extra excited to get a Strike.

For dinner we meet with Shamik and his family at the Cheesecake Factory. I had raced about the burgers to the kids so they all had to try one. The last time I met Shamik was in Sydney in 2016 and he looks the same. It was the first time I met his wife and son though. Suprotim sat with Ben and Matthew at dinner and seemed to get along quite well.