Robyn had arranged for the children to camp in her games room. The kids were so excited as there was a pool table, table tennis and weights etc. There was little sleep that night in the games room and they all suffered the next day on top of jet lag.
We were met in Dubai by our daughter Robyn and her boyfriend Mark in Robyn's Nissan Trailblazer and a rental. We got all the instruments into the Nissan an all but three of us in the rental and so three of us took a cab and we all arrived at the Villa tired, but excited. Our cab driver, a lady asked me about my "two sons" in the back and I told her that if these were my sons, I was travelling with eight children. When she dropped us off, she said "you a funny lady".
Robyn had arranged for the children to camp in her games room. The kids were so excited as there was a pool table, table tennis and weights etc. There was little sleep that night in the games room and they all suffered the next day on top of jet lag.
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We needed to check out of our accommodation by 12h00 so we spent the morning packing up the instruments once again using the same bubble wrap, card board found at the hotel waste and did a great job. Our flight was due out at 16h25, so we decided that there would be no time to do anything else so we took the shuttle to LAX to sit out the time there. On leaving the accommodation, the manager, who took a dislike to us, after he kicked us out when we were trying to have a final practice before the show and we took our instruments onto the street and continued there, asked the shuttle driver to make sure he left nobody behind. How is that for people skills?
Our experience in the departure section of LAX was a huge improvement on our arrivals. The people were a lot more helpful and things went smoothly and there were no long queues as we had experienced on arrival. We were soon checked in with boarding passed and found a nice corner to park off for a couple of hours. We needed to feed the crew once again and Paul set off to find the best selection and came back with the most expensive sandwiches @10.50$ each. This was the most reasonable purchase he could make. Needless to say he bought one for each band member and one for us to share. He bought a 3$ coke for each and we took an empty mug and filled it with water from the tap. We knew we could get a good meal on the plane and Emirates did not dissapoint us there. We started our 16 hour leg to Dubai, but we were all excited about new adventures and for Paul and I the added bonus of seeing our daughter, Robyn. Paul had not been to Dubai before and was very excited about the visit. We felt the need to do at least one special thing that was unique to LA and chose a trip to Universal Studios. What a special day of informative tours through the movie world, shows and rides. This is just one of those experiences that defies description - you simply had to be there. We travelled through the House of Horrors, got attacked by dinosaurs in the world of King Kong, were recruited by Despicable Me and turned into minions. We took a ride through Jurasic Park and saved the All Spark at the Transformers and were terrified by ghastly creatures in the ride of the Revenge of the Mummy. We saw an amazing act at water world and were exposed by special effects. We finally ran out of time and returned exhausted and exhilarated by a unique and special experience.
It was Sunday and the day to be at Venice beach. This was an amazing experience. It is a long beach and all along you have stalls, musicians, acts and anything and everything goes. No rules apply at Venice and you could see a lady with a beard, the smallest man or a guy on roller with electric guitar selling religious T shirts or street dancers, you could get you tatoo, see Mchael Jackson dance if you filled his pot and so much more. I would have liked to spend more time. We set up the marimbas - thanks to the unbelievable support of some South African friends, Mona and Sam who Assisted us with transport. We could not have done this without their assistance. In no time the crew had a supportive audience and we raised 32$ each selling cd's and in donations. Unfortunately there was a difference in priorities and the crew wanted to find a shopping mall. We then left Venice and enjoyed some time with Mona and Sam over a cuppa chino whilst the crew shopped.
Jeanette (my US sister) and son Karl and family had also met us at Venice. They had to leave for their respective homes and it was sat to say goodbye to Jeanette. The day dawned but since we were being picked up at 4 pm we decided at the children's insistence to find a mall. This was a depressing experience for all us and dollar based shopping was a non event so early in the trip. We soon headed back to the hotel to have lunch and were met by American family and friends. It was wonderful to get this support.
We had 3 Lexus vehicles scheduled to transport us and the instruments to venue in time for a sound check, but here the organization fell short. One arrived and the second one only arrived over an hour lated. Suffice to say we were too late for a sound check but that did not affect the crews game. In the waiting area the crew could see Fergi from Black Eyed Peas which excited them no end. We were hoping that she would come and have a picture with them, but that was not to be. The show got underway and the team played out of their socks. We had got our hotel to print off two SA flags that we attached to the two outer instruments. Sometime during the performance someone in the crowd shouted "Julie is Fokken amazing". It was so funny hearing that in downtown LA. The disappointing part was that we were told to be ready for pickup at 4 pm and they played at 8 pm, finishing at 9 pm and no consideration was given to feeding the crew. We were at a Food and Wine festival but there was nothing to eat for them. We ended up sending them home with the Lexus fleet and gave the driver money to go via Mc Donald's. We stayed for another 30 min and got a lift home. It wa s over all too soon but I believe we gave it our all and made our sponsors proud. On Thursday we decided to explore and took the hotel shuttle to Manhattan beach. We asked the bus driver if we could put our CD in and in no time the team were singing to their own music as was the entire bus. The spirits were so high.
Here some are experiencing the VIP lounge before boarding. The next picture is from our seat and then the guys looking relaxed in the plane. In the third picture you can see the guys settling in to Business Class.
Bottom lounge is transit lounge in Dubai, Paul and the girls in our A380 luxury and finally a warm up session round the pool whilst planes constantly passed overhead. We spent the morning arranging a local mobile phone and had a meeting arranged with Jo Fletcher - the stage director to discuss plans and logistics and excitement was building.
We broke out the instruments whenever we could and everyone loved us to bits. We soon ran up against authorities as the liqueur license does not allow live music. Fortunately the owners daughter had a recording studio down the road and she invited us there to jam and practice. This was an an Amazing experience, arriving at what looked like a warehouse. Four massive doors lifted and revealed a venue with fabulous cars and chandeliers, grand piano etc. etc. see pictures below. We had some high energy fun here with a small group who supported us by buying CD's. It was magical for the guys and such fun. Thank you Sonja for your kindness. See wwww.kitty smack.com Everyone was extremely excited and having said their goodbyes we proceeded trough into the departure lounge. Here the crew found a shop with djembe drums and with the encouragement of the staff they proceeded to give a show stopping performance. I have a good video of this event but am having trouble uploading it. It is great to see how these children have developed the confidence to. Do this in an airport lounge in front of total strangers.
Pretty soon it was time to board and for the journey to begin. We were all very pleased when we started our decent into L A. I was fortunate to have a window seat on the left and looked out and saw the iconic hill with "Hollywood" on it - we had finally arrived after a very long journey.
We by now had details of our arrival, who would meet us and how we would be transported - all was set! There are three main runways with planes landing every 30 seconds. All these people have to clear customs and we found ourselves in a moving mass of humanity literally being herded by US officials with radios and filled with self importance. You did not dare to ask a question or deviate from your zigzag Shute that we were funneled into. It took us an hour and a half to get to the front of the line. Here we wanted to stay as a group but were once again yelled at so Paul went one way with some and I went the other way . Here I got yelled at because our group was not together - go figure! By the time we all got through, our baggage had been turfed off the carousel in random heaps along with everyone else's on our A380! With another 15 min hitch where we were separated we finally emerged in the chaotic arrivals area where our drivers who had been waiting for hours had arrived. Toyota Lexus are sponsoring the LAFW and provided 3 SUV' s to get us all to our Hotel. The instruments and baggage went into one, Paul and 4 went in another and we got the next one. Our driver was Jamacan and I reached for a CD in my bag and put it in his vehicle. He turned it up to full volume and all the tiredness just washed away, we would soon be there. There was yet another surprise. When we arrived at the address I has and the driver was instructed to take us, they had no record of our booking and were full. My mouth went dry and I was done for. After a few calls we finally were directed to our actual destination where our luggage had already arrived. This Hotel Adventurer is more a backpacker style place but the beds are thankfully good. It is vibey, colorful and there is every nationality moving through here daily. There are tatoo'ed butterflies in hot pants with illuminated wings serving colorful cocktails and herbal wafting here and there. At first I was most concerned about being responsible for 8 minors from rural Wolseley in this place but it is actually quite ideal. We are all on the ground floor in close proximity which helps with the instruments and general a communications. For the crew there is a handy pool and pool table which keeps them busy in quiet tines which is handy. We are happy to be here and the adventure begins. |
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