Travel tales: Los Angeles, Super Size Me, Walk of fame, burn out

I am in America now. I am not well. It was probably inevitable given how much I had packed in during my London trip and the plane trip. Now I have a sore throat, chest infection and fever, and haven't felt well in my tummy. I am in the midst of a burn out. But America is good so far. I flew to Los Angeles on Sunday, and the lovely Tim Minchin was on my flight. I was lucky enough to talk to him and tell him how much I loved Matilda the Musical in London. We are staying at a lovely hotel in West Hollywood which is close to shops and Hollywood city. This building is near our hotel.

Yesterday afternoon Mum and I went to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and got excited over the Aussie celebs featured. We also saw a red carpet movie premiere which featured Ben Stiller. The crowd was crazy and screaming. And then we went to Madame Tussauds.

We saw many character impersonators on Hollywood Boulevard. A man dressed as Mickey Mouse grabbed my boob. Yuck. I am all for a good boob grope but not by a stranger, and especially not dressed as a scrawny Mickey Mouse. Anyway, The Mad Hatter was lovely -'maybe I am collecting Johnny Depp character impersonators.

It has been good to see my Mum. We have been shopping - she has shopped much more than me. Yesterday a lady gave us a lift to Hollywood Boulevard and Mum's pants got stained in her car. We made an emergency stop in Gap and I am proud to say I styled Mum with that grey striped cardi and some gorgeous orange skinny jeans. She was impressed. Today we went to Universal Studios. The weather is warm - not unbearably hot, but too warm for me to comfortably walk around in, and it was very difficult at Universal Studios today. That is one thing I would like to change about having icthyosis - dealing with the heat and outdoors better.

Everything here comes in massive portions. I am not enjoying the lack of healthy food available. It is cheaper to eat junk than healthy. I saw kids who are sadly overweight, eating massive plates of fried chicken. Their parents were too. It is sad. Last night we went to a place called Barney's Beanery which I really enjoyed. I had American chilli which was a reasonable portion size, amd it came with cheese corn muffins and jalapenos.

The service was great too. It felt like being on the set of a movie - it was very American diner like - with rock and roll references and motorbikes. It was a lot of fun.

The news here is filled with reports of that devastating Colorado shooting. All news agencies are weighing in on it, incuding entertainment shows. There is much talk about gun laws (can you believe guns are permitted in checked luggage in domestic airlines?!) and I get the sense of grief porn due to the excessive coverage of mourning families. All flags are flying at half mast, after President Obama requested it post Colorado massacre.

So far I like America but it feels like a strange place. The majority of people we met have been nice, but I am scared of the way the news portrays the violence. There is a violent protest happening in Anaheim right now, and the media is feasting on it. Maybe I will feel differently when arriving in New York. I hope I will be feeling better by then too. I will post more pictures when I have better wifi on my phone.