When we got to the general parking garage, it was already getting dark outside.
We set up the GPS for Omni Hotel, and followed the navigation.
So it was pretty easy to get to the place.
We took the routine of US-101S to I-110 S.
After driving to marge onto CA-110, we took 6th St exit toward 4th street. and then W 4th street to S Olive street.
Omni Hotel was on the Olive street on the left side.
When we arrived at the entrance of the Omni Hotel, Valet parking attendant took care of our car to park in the Hotel's special parking place.
The parking fee was $52(USD) per night.
It's expensive. and there are other cheaper parking lot near the hotel.
But we chose the hotel's parking for security since we've read about many problems at cheap parking lot.
Everything is expensive in LA compared to Tucson, AZ.
We chose Omni Hotel because it was the closest hotel in Consulate General of Japan's location.
We did not want to walk on the street much in downtown.
We live in Oro Valley, AZ ( which is next to Tucson ), it's safe and peaceful and there are of course dangerous places in Tucson , but when I read about LA's places we should avoid to go, there are many places we shouldn't go, so we are very careful for it.
So if the location was not LA, or California, we might have not spend so much money for this trip.
Omni Hotel was like luxury business hotel and we both like it because the room was clean and big and window was also large. and also the bed's mattress was comfortable.
Last time ( 10 years ago ), we stayed in Millennium Biltmore Hotel but the room was not so clean and looked very old.
and we got lost to get to Consulate general of Japan from the hotel.
We are happy to stay at Omni Hotel.
When we checked-in the hotel, it was already 6:20pm.
We were not sure if that place is connected to Omni Hotel. In the picture, it looked it located under the omni hotel building and there is another entrance door to the outside along with Grand Ave.
They said we can go to Cal market place from the door in the 2nd floor.
However Cal market place is already closed so they suggested to go to Grand central market.
They told us how to get there without going out to the street .
We wanted to avoid to go to the street when it was getting dark outside.
In the beginning, we were confusing , so we asked to the bell man, and he said we can go there from the gate in the 3rd floor where there is Noe restaurant.
So we went into the Noe restaurant and asked the waitress how to get to grand central market from here.
It was nice kind waitress explained to us how to get there more clearly.
This omni hotel's building is interesting, when we got out from the exit door from 3rd floor, there is Angel Flight which is small train to get to the Hill street where is located in front of the Grand central market.
I was planning to take the Flight Angel to get to the Citi national's building where there is Consulate General of Japan.
I was so happy to know this , it's connected to all the places I wanted to go around the area without going to the streets. because it's safe, and we can walk there even in the evening time.
So we took the Angel flight paying $1 each for the fare.
After we got off the Angel flight, we cross the traffic light to get to the grand central market.
Grand central market
It was about 8 pm, and many stores were already closed. We both were not so hungry but wanted to buy something for later.
But several stores were still opened so I chose Japanese food store and ordered fried chicken bento,
and my husband chose Mexican food store and ordered chicken with three kind of tortilla. and also we both bought pineapple juice.
Juice was too sweet for us and , so we could not finish it.
He liked the taste of the chicken with two of tortilla, but he said one of the tortilla ruined the good taste of others.
My order food was actually not Japanese taste fried chicken. and the fry was hard and meat was little. Not really satisfied.
There is a restaurant in the omni Hotel, but I had never satisfied at hotel restaurants in the USA in the past, also I was curious to go to grand central market.
Angel flight is open until 10pm, so we needed to go back to the ride by then.
Omni Hotel
We took Angel flight again to come back to the exit of 3rd floor in omni Hotel.
Hotel's key was card type, and in the beginning we didn't know how to use it when we open the exit/entrance door of the hotel.
Hotel's front man/women may be better to explain how to use it when coming from outside to get into the hotel.
because there are people who are like us who 's never used this kind of card key.
After arrived at our room, we called the front desk to request morning call for tomorrow.
However, that telephone had problem , he could listen to their talking but they could not listen my husband talking.
So he went to the front desk to request the morning call and also told them the phone is not working well.
and then they sent maintenance men to fix the phone and took about 30 minutes.
It was a long day so we were both really exhausted, so my husband took a shower first and then after I came back from the shower , he was already sleeping.
It was around 9:40pm
I had to check-in next day's flight ( Delta airline ) , so I did it online with my cell phone. so that next day, we can just print out in the Kiyosk in the airport.
and also I charged the battery for both our cell phones and video camera, because we took a lot of photos and video.
It was wonderful to go to bed in the comfortable mattress. ( around 11:30pm )
We both did not sleep much the previous night and my husband was driving a lot in the new place and walked a lot in the Universal studio, so we could sleep really well that night.
Our Los Angels trip - Day 2
November 18' 2021 - Thursday
We woke up at 7 am and left the room around 8am to go to Cal Market place for breakfast.
We found a bakery store soon after we got out from the exit in the 2nd floor of the hotel.
But we wanted to get Starbucks drinks first, so we went to the Starbucks store which is also in the cal market place.
But it was not really frozen so I was little disappointed.
After that we went to the bakery store but somehow, we could not get into the store.
They said the cash register's system had problem so they needed to close the store.
So we were looking for the store for breakfast, but could not find store which sell what want to eat. so we came back to the bakery store.
Luckily they temporally opened the store entrance and we could get into it. but soon they shut down because the cash register's system was still not working well.
I ate croissant and my husband ate cinnamon roll.
He was not satisfied with it because it was too sweet and hard.
Consulate General of Japan ( passport renewal )
After finished the breakfast, we went upstairs where there is pathway to go to the building around that area.
And we took some photos and video.
I really like that connection of the pathway.
There was reception and they asked us our reservation ID number , and our ID and told us that it's still early so we need to wait outside until 9:55am , not inside.
Security was strict because of COVID-19.
After we got into the building and went to 17th floor, soon we could find it.
Everything went smoothly after I summited my application of passport renewal.
I was worried about passport photo, so I prepared three kind of photos for it.
Because I really didn't like my CVS store's passport photo I was taken at the store.
So I applied for " passport-photo.online " 's website and my husband took my photo at home.
They suggested to take the photo facing window during the day.
So we did.
and I requested them to send it to me by mail because it was new for me so I thought it's easier to get it if they can print it out and mail it to me.
They said it will take about 2 to3 days for the delivery.
However 9 days past since then and still did not receive it.
and the website's customer service said it was shipped by US priority mail , so I asked them the tracking number and the shipping location, but they didn't tell me about it.
I was wondering about this and started reading the reviews for that website.
and I found many people who requested mailing service are claiming and some people said it took 20 days, or 30 days to receive it.
So I started searching the store which can print out my downloaded photo.
and found several stores are offering that service and I selected Walgreen.
It was only 0.39 cents for the size 4X6" print.
When I came back home, the other store's photo had delivered.
I compared the photos and I liked the passport-photo.online's photos better but it was slightly lighter than original one and Walgreen's photo looked original photo without editing.
so I brought all of them , just I didn't want them to use CVS photo which was the worst.
But the one I like the most was approved , so I was happy for it.
We need to deal with the Passport photo for 10 years, so I wanted to use good one.
When gave them all the documents, they noticed I was from Arizona, and asked me if I want to get it in the same say.
and I said yes, please.
Usually California residents need to wait 1 week to get the new passport, so they need to go there twice ( for submit the application and receive the new passport. )
but for people who live in the far from LA, they are offering quick service which we can get in the same day if we submit it by 11 am.
They told me to come back at 3pm to receive the new passport.
I was worried about if they tell me to come back around after 3:30pm, we will need to super rush to go back to rent a car store, because of our flight.
So I felt good to hear about it.
After that, we came back to Omni Hotel and checked out.
They charged parking fee $52 and resort fee $30 plus tax.
I wanted to get their coffee service which they offer in the lobby, but they were not doing that service anymore.
There are swimming pool and gym but we didn't use it because we didn't have time for it.
They offered two bottles of water 500ml, and small refrigerator was in the room.
Overall, I'm satisfied Omini Hotel, even though it's expensive, the location is very convenient to get to Consulate general of Japan and Grand central market.
So we will stay there again next time for my passport renewal.
Grand central market
We left Omni Hotel around 11:50pm from Olive street.
and then drove to Hill street to get to the Garage parking of Grand central market.
Parking fee was $4 for first 90 minutes and $2 for every additional 15 minutes. and $25 max.
We parked in the third floor and there was an elevator to get to the entrance of grand central market.
We ate breakfast around 9:30am so were not so hungry , so first we looked for coffee shop.
and found a great specialty shop and I ordered Ice Cafe Late , and my husband ordered Ice coffee.
It was very delicious.
It was interesting the cup was made to drink from the top, so we didn't need straw.
My husband was expecting to have more cream in the ice coffee, so he regret not to order ice cafe late but the taste of the coffee was strong and delicious as well.
The coffee worked very well for our energy, like Colombia coffee.
after that we were looking around all the stores in the market place, and finally getting hungry.
It was hard to choose the store because many store's foods looked delicious.
and we decided to eat German sausage which we rarely eat.
The store name is " Berlin Currywurst " and we ordered two sausage in a bun, and one French fries and one roasted potatoes.
We both really enjoyed the meal. the sausage was big and very yummy , similar to the one I ate in Germany a long time ago.
and the bread also very delicious.
I remember that when I traveled to Germany, I was staying at bed & breakfast hotel, but they always served plenty of fresh bread in the basket for breakfast.
It was very delicious, besides cheese & ham & egg, fruits, cereal.
Germany was the only country which served such a great breakfast in bed & breakfast when I was traveling around Europe. so I was impressed.
For foods, it's always, Italy or French are famous , but I think German foods are good, too.
We often eat Mexican, Japanese, Italian and American foods so we wanted to eat something different.
So we are very satisfied with the lunch.
The lunch was big, so we didn't feel hungry until next day.
I wish that store is in Tucson.
After that we look for donuts store.
We saw someone was showing donuts store in youtube video and it looked very yummy, so we were looking for the store.
It was near the other side of entrance in the market.
The store name is " donuts man ".
We bought some traditional donuts, old fashion, French cooler total of 8 donuts.
Then it was already 2:30 pm, so we went to the Angel flight ride ( which is located in front of the grand central market along Hill street to get to Consulate general of Japan.
Grand central market is located in the downtown, and it's close to skid row, which is not safe place.
but there are some security guards and also restroom was clean.
It was impressive.
I wanted to eat all the store's foods so I will surely come back for my next passport renewal, 10 years later.
We went to the building of the Consulate general of Japan around 2:50 pm, and this time they were letting us to go to the elevator because we were wearing the reservation card which was given when we went there in the morning.
When we went into the place on the 17th floor, soon the agent called me from the counter and I paid the renewal fee and received my new passport.
so we could leave the building around 3pm, and went back to the garage parking of Grand central market around 3 :10pm.
It was fast !
However, when we were setting up the address of enterprise rent a car store, GPS did not catch the address and showing wrong address from we want to go.
then it took about 15 minutes to find a way to set up.
I also set up google map in my cell phone.
The routine we wanted to use was CA-110 , I-10 W and I-405 S.
because other routine need to go though dangerous places so we wanted to avoid that.
LA's highways are incredibly huge, unlike Tucson, there are many lanes each directions.
We were following the navigation, but somehow we missed to take exit 21 to get to I-10 W , and was keep running CA-110 .
It was helpful the navigation soon change the routine and navigate us to get to the place we want to go.
and we took the exit Vermont area from CA-110 and then just followed the navigation, and got into I-105 E , and took the exit 2A to get to Aviation Blvd.
After that we missed the rent a car store and because the address and the return location was different.
So we had to turn around and followed the shuttle bus ( although while we were waiting for the traffic light the bus had gone ), and finally we could get to the return place !
It was around 4:15 pm.
We were planning to return the car by 5pm so it was much earlier than we planned, so I was so happy.
Because I was really worried about that because of flight time we booked was 7 pm so needed to go to LAX at least 5 :30 pm.
After we arrived there, the Enterprise worker was a young Mexican woman who was checking the car and showed us the final price in the bill.
I was surprised that she removed many extra fees ( over $100 ) which other workers tried to charge,
so the price we paid was $255.23 (USD) !
Because she noticed we didn't use much gas, so she didn't charge it.
We are very happy for that woman worker was the one who calculated the final price.
Depending on the worker, it could be different so I feel we were lucky.
and then shuttle bus was also fast to come and took about 10 minutes to get to LAX. and we arrived at Terminal 2 , LAX around 4: 45 pm
Overall we are satisfied with enterprise rent a car store, car was new model and nice and easy to drive without any problems.
and they did fast for everything without waiting.
LAX Terminal 2
Delta airline's departure was second floor and we went to the Kiyosk machine to print out our boarding pass.
I already checked in the flight online with my cell phone last night so I just needed to print it out.
It was easy.
and then went to the security check. I was having a small bottle of water in my back pack, but they took it out and told me I can't bring any liquid.
so I threw it away. I didn't know even small bottle of water is not accepted , because there was no such a strict rule a long time ago.
After we passed the security, we went to the gate.
There are many stores on the way to the gate and we bought two perrier water.
One perrie water was $2.99 so paid $5.98.
We arrived there early, and needed to wait about 1 hour and half so sitting at the gate and seeing youtube video in our smart phones.
so soon time past.
Smart phones are very convenient for everything. No wonder many people get addiction for it.
Our seat was last place where there are no one in the back, so we could move down the seat to get more space. It was nice.
I don't know why but we were not sleepy , maybe that ice coffee was still working well for our energy.
Flight was very fast, it arrived at TUS around 8 : 05 pm.
Estimated time was about 1 hour 24 minutes but it took about 1 hour.
After we arrived at TUS, we went to the parking shuttle bus area, and called to EZ parking.
Soon the shuttle bus came up for us, there was no other people, only us.
Parking fee was $10 for covered parking for 2 days.
It was advertising as $3, and for covered parking is $4 per day.
But it's still incredibly cheap compared to LA's parking place.
So we recommend EZ parking in Tucson.
I felt very relieved when we came back from LA, because everything went smoothly and fast. I was nervous about it before the trip.
I'm very grateful for it.
During the trip, we were fine but from next day to 3 days later, we had been having muscle aches everywhere, and were feeling tired.
But after taking cayenne garlic, it was getting better.
By the way, we prepared the vaccine card before the trip because we read we need to show it in the airport, hotel, universal studio, and any restaurants.
But no one was asking for it, at any of these places.
What was it ???