HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2011, is this the beginning of a beautiful friendship? 

I hope so. 

For new year's eve, I was catching the aloha spirit down in Malibu at a restaurant called Duke's. The food was incredible, the service was amazing ... well, there are a lot of superlatives to describe this restaurant. It was a great time and as an added bonus, there was very little traffic to get down there. From North Hollywood to Malibu, it took me about 40 minutes. In Los Angeles, that ain't too bad.

2010 was a good year; I travelled to Canada, Cambodia (twice), and Las Vegas, met some cool new friends, moved to a bigger and nicer apartment, started The Savong Foundation which will benefit a community in Cambodia and I think I helped a lot of animals at the clinic where I work.  But I also lost my best furry friend, Dusty, who had to be euthanized at the age of 17 1/2 years.  That was tough, really tough.

For 2011, I have a lot of hope.  I know it's possible to start anew every single day but the start of a new year is very symbolic and I want to make the best of it.  I want The Savong Foundation to be successful, I want to travel as much as possible (Boston, Canada, and hopefully Cambodia are on the list), I want to get back at my writing (especially my screenwriting), I want to get another pet and I want to believe that everything good is possible. 

So, we'll see what happens.  Stay tuned. 

For anyone out there who is reading, I hope that you get what you dream about too.  Because dreaming is what makes us human and sometimes, sometimes, sometimes dreams do come true. 

Trip to Universal Hollywood

Hurry! 

Before the end of the year, if you buy a day at Universal Studios Hollywood, you get 2011 for FREE! 

(Blackout dates apply.  See the fine print for details.) 

So, like 200,000 of my fellow tourists, I made the trip over to the hill today to get my annual pass. 

Parking is a ridiculous $15 so I took the metro, which is completely free as I have explained in previous posts.  It took about 1/2 an hour to get there from my apartment. 

Unfortunately the crowds were a little crazy but there were still some options ...

Like play in the half-melted snow under the Grinchmas Christmas tree

...watch the Grinch's dog who fell asleep on the job

... laugh like a mummy after seeing how much a simple hotdog costs 

...stare at nasty foreigners with greasy hair

...get your picture taken with a bunch of astronauts

...get eaten by a shark

...walk quickly past the studio tour because the wait line was over 80 minutes long

...get drunk in a bar because there wasn't any wait to get in

...give up the studio stuff and go shopping at CityWalk

...get your picture taken with your best bud in front of the Universal globe

And for those people who really love this place, I'm sure there were job applications!  You too can be in the movie business!!!

Since I have the 2011 pass, I'll be back.  I haven't seen the new 3D King Kong and I like the Simpson's ride and walking all over the park is heck of a good workout, so I'll make the effort to return next month ...

when there are about 180,000 fewer people!

New photos are up!

I've put up more of my (artsier) Cambodian photos on the photoshelter site.  There is a gallery for the temples, people and nature. 

Thanks for taking a look. 

And if you're so inclined, you can purchase them!!  Yes, I know it's Christmas time and your dear sick mother needs new socks so I'm okay if you would rather throw your money somewhere else. 

The link is below: 

Phil's Photos at Photoshelter

Thanks,

Phil

This shy girl was photographed during one of my trips to the Cambodian countryside.