Anaheim holiday Day #1 - Hello USA!

So exciting! I was planning to stay up all night to make my body clock switch to US times but that plan was foiled - I put the kids to bed at a really late time but I ended up falling asleep with them!  So I dragged them out of bed early hoping to make them tired so they would sleep on the plane - with mixed success!

I was pleased to be flying over an an A380 - much comfier and excellent inflight entertainment than a standard Boeing 747 - and I was pleased the kids were really well behaved.  My son slept for most of the flight, and was well behaved, watching TV or playing iPad the other times, and my daughter was very good watching TV quietly, and eating her airplane food politely without much fuss.

13 hours was going slow at first but by the end it was quick.  Apparently I managed to snatch some zzz's on the plane even though I felt like I didn't!  The plane wasn't very full, and we could spread out across 9 seats instead of just 7.  I was worried about long queues at LAX to but it wasn't that bad - we got fast tracked because we had children, which was pretty cool.  Not so cool for Lush and my friend and her daughter who had come to look after the kids for me whilst we're at Blizzcon - they got stuck in the long queue and we had to wait for them.

Getting to the hotel was pretty straightforward - we went to the green sign just under the terminal that was for shuttles and long distance buses and caught the Disneyland resort Express which was $36 return for adults and $28 return for the kids.  Took us about 45 minutes or so to get to our hotel.


A quick freshen up after 24 hours of travelling and we went out to get some lunch.  Around the corner we went to a place called Starburger which looked like it was run by Korean people.  I had a bulgogi burger which was ok, but hubby had a chilli burger which he didn't enjoy.  The place was full of people who were something to do with Blizzcon, wearing ESL lanyards and Blizzcon wristbands.  One of them looked like Corey Stockton to me, but I didn't think he'd be wearingan ESL lanyard! LOL.

When we walked back to the hotel there was a girl with red hair sitting outside the hotel texting on her phone with a shirt emblazoned with rogue, and carrying a bag with the alliance emblem on it.  I smiled at her and she smiled back, but I was too chicken to start a conversation.  Makes you wonder if it was anyone I would know and would like to say hi to!

We lazed our afternoon away with a nap and then I messaged Arvash to say I was in LA, and so was he!  He was with Chewy, and so we decided to meet up for a quick coffee before dinner, only to find that all the Starbucks were closed.  We were outside the Anaheim Convention centre, and all the Blizzcon stuff was up - it was a bit dark for photos though, and I forgot to bring our new fancy schmancy camera.


They walked with us to our restaurant and then I invited them to stay for dinner. We were at Napa Rose, at the Grand Californian Hotel in Disneyland.  A pretty fancy hotel, and the meal was quite enjoyable though on the higher end side!


Lush and I had the 4 course tasting menu (excuse the poor photos taken from my phone!):
Citrus Seared Skuna Bay Salmon Carpaccio
Shaved Radishes, Chives, Black Bread Croutons and Lemon Aioli
Cavatelli Pasta Tossed with Spigarello Broccoli and Fontina Cheese
Housemade Lamb Meatballs and Rich Lamb Jus
Grilled "Red Deer' Venison Chop
Sauteed Wild Mushrooms, Pumpkin Gnocchi and Huckleberry Essence
Milk Chocolate Creme Puffs Crunch
Pumpkin Ice Cream and Vanilla Sugar
The others othered some of the a la carte dishes:

Slowly braised Angus Beef Short Rib
Sweet Potato Tots, Orange Gremolata and Pomegranate-Zinfandel Jus
Grilled Black Angus Beef tenderloin
Hazelnut Potato Gnocchi, Brussel Sprouts, Smoked Ham and Mustard Essence
Breast of Free Range Chicken stuffed with imported Truffle Butter
Golden Chanterelle Mushrooms, Local Apples and Thyme Essence
Dark Chocolate Cake with Ice cream
Pumpkin Sorbet
Good food, probably a little pricey for what we got, but good service.  Not a fan of that dessert I had - the crunch things were like eating toasted bran - probably would have preferred one of the sorbets!  Even Lush ate his fish and all his vegetables and quite enjoyed the meal.  My son found himself quite attached to Arv and Chewy and they had turns taking pics holding my son who seemed quite content to snuggle up to them or ride on their shoulders.

You know what else was cool about the hotel?  They had a bar called hearthstone!

Exhausted, we went back to our hotel.  Everyone was falling asleep after the long day and full tummies, looking forward to registering and getting our passes for tomorrow!  I think I shall spend the morning shopping!


Comments

  1. Oh that is soo cool you're there and meeting up already. I'm intrigued by the pumpkin ice cream.. did you have that? Was it nice? I can't imagine it.
    Btw I'm reading your post at 10.30pm my time.. and now I'm really hungry :p.
    Have a great time shopping :)

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    1. Arv and Chewy thought we were weird for thinking pumpkin desserts were weird - but you're not alone Z, I thought it was different, my friend did too and so did her daughter! It was good food, don't think I'll be eating like that everyday LOL!

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    2. Should of warned you in the states in autumn all things are pumpkin. Blame the Pilgrims. So happy you're all safe and sound; you're probably at the wow insider event now...can't wait to see you on a day or two!

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  2. Thanks for those California screen shots, I've never been there. Luckily it's early morning so I don't have an appetite yet or those pics would have made me scrounge around the fridge!

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    1. The next few days will be full of Blizzcon stuff hopefully! Gosh I hope I don't bore people with my pics galore.

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    2. The more pics the better, I don't think anyone will be bored :), I know I won't be.

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  3. Sounds good and the food looks pretty tasty. It reminds me of our degustation menus :)

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    1. It was good and great fun - a great first day, hope the rest of the days are as awesome :D

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  4. where was the comparison to WOW food? I like it when you do that Navi.

    Ayelena

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  5. OMG! Dinner with Arv! How fun! :D

    Imagine how much those meals would cost if they came in 'Tauren Portions' :D

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