say hi to summer will you, for me please! She lives in orange county.

if you are pressed for time, just eat. and eat lots.

I'm a bit worried about the food. I've heard about their 'small' sizes and their 'salads'. Plus I'm staying with relatives who aren't very conscientious eaters.

No offense, Frank, but Summer can get stuffed :)

I remember the gummi bears being awesome in 1984, but they probably suck now.

go to Sunset Strip and check out this band called RATT, I heard they are awesome ;)

I'd kill to be in Cali right now!

Go to the Casbah in San Diego

and rock it

Ha yeah.......its a great venue, just out of the Little Italy district

i'll be heading to san fran this july. can't wait!

I love San Francisco and San Diego

Hit the thrift stores!!!

Go to Mexico. Or avoid LA and head north to San Francisco.

Actually, I was thinking of going to LA one night and visiting The Smell and Club Ding-a-ling! (Looks like Justice Yeldham is playing there during my stay).

I definitely want to visit Tijuana, Mexico. Not sure if I'm allowed over the border, though.

Amoeba Records in LA. Awesome. Huge.

You will be able to visit Tijuana. I had no problems at the border. The tram goes there from San Diego.

Oh yeah San Diego zoo is pretty good too.

eat lots of mexican

Isn't Amoeba Records closed? Or was it Tower on Sunset Strip that shut? Or the Rhino store? Who knows?
And you can't have your pic taken on the Marmont balcony like Robert Plant did- they've all been glassed in.

tram goes to tijuana? god that sounds cool

''Tram To Tijuana'' would be a great name for a song.

Whilst LA is a shithole, if you haven't been there before don't miss it. Pretty much so that you too can claim that it's a shithole.

Tijuana: The Americans let you out without scrutiny and the Mexicans also let you in without scrutiny. The only part that is really controlled is getting back into the USA. There's really not much to do there except eat, drink and be CONSTANTLY harassed on the Avenue.

Oh...and buy as much Viagra from the 'pharmacies' as you want.

cool!

i'm pretty sure all of the above mentioned stores are closed, tower went out of business across the board, rhino closed maybe a year ago(?) and i think amoeba closed though i'm not 100% on that

Disneyland!

churros, burritos, churros, burritos, churros, burritos, denny's, churros, burritos, quesadillas con frijoles, churros, pink lemonade, denny's, bed time. lather, rinse, repeat.

Denny's? Surely you jest?

I think my cousin works at Denny's on weekends, so I'm sure I'll get to sample some of their food if I want to. The tram to Tijuana sounds awesome! Do you have any idea how long it takes?

Amoeba is still there, or at least was in back in September .... it's huge and darn cheap - 6400 Sunset Blvd - not to be missed.

I just looked it up - they have three stores that are still open. They are huge and also have instores almost every night! So good. Thanks for all the suggestions so far!

i'll be in san fran for 4 days and los angeles for another 4 days. so far i only know that im def going to amoeba records and the usual touristy stuff in both cities. any other recommendations?

Play AFL for the LA team, they kick butt.

Ummm go to Japan town in both cities. I hear they are good, but the San Fran 1 is better.

Shortrockus - I recommend the buckwheat waffle at 'Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n Waffles'. It's about a 15 minute drive from Hollywood.

Also, The Smell in LA is definitely worth visiting.

if you're in LA - the In & Out Burger on Radford is decent

Redondo Beach & Hermosa Beach are both cool. - There's this dingy bar at the marina at Redondo with 300+ beer taps from around the world. Ask for a VB from the VB tap though and they give you a blank stare - I drunkenly got 2nd place in a mechanical bull riding contest on night in a bar in Hermosa.

and Compton is kinda sketchy

thanks. unfortunately the relos i'm staying at in norcal has just moved from san jose to some rich suburb in san ramon which is an hour away from both san jose and san fran

if anyone has been to san ramon that will also be helpful. can't wait for san fran tomorrow as long as i don't have to look after my little cousins. so far i'm doing sightseeing and going to amoeba music and city lights books if i have time depending on where EVERYONE ELSE wants to go. there's 12 of us incl me. only have 2 more days here.

lesson learnt = best to go travelling with mates instead of visiting relatives

Hang out in the areas where the filmed The Karate Kid and Lost Boys.

visit Hearst Castle

scrump in the burbs