Apologies for the enforced radio silence - internet access on the US West Coast seems to consist mainly of communal computers in hotel foyers, $5 ticket machines in tourist offices or strangely unreliable almost-internet-access on the hotel room TV - none of which are conducive to blogging. At least, not at the amateurish speed at which I blog.

Normal blogging service is now resumed, and I can report that my 'vacation' (note the first of a number of Americanisms which would appear to have penetrated my normally Fowler's-worthy vocabulary) was wonderful. I have been home for only a day, and already it all seems so long ago.

Now, I should point out that since I've arrived home I can't find the lead I use to hook the digital camera up to the iBook, so I shall have to post a further entry featuring pictures of us in action at a later stage.

It all began in Los Angeles, California. An amazing city. Our first full day was spent at Universal Studios, Hollywood. I visited Universal Studios Japan last summer, but the Hollywood version is the original and best park, mainly because it features a tour of the working backlots.

The most unexpected aspect of the Universal backlot is its size - it's incredibly compact. I had envisaged it to be sprawling acres of land with movie sets built at least a golf cart journey from each other, but no. The sets are built right on top of one another. If you're looking at the Bates Motel (from "Psycho"), the village from "The Grinch" (Whooseville I think it's called) is built right behind it, its bubbly architecture detracting somewhat from the once menacing atmosphere of the Motel. Turn 180 degrees and walk no more than twenty paces and you're standing at the end of Wysteria Lane (from "Desperate Housewives") - so just remember that every time a door is opened on Wysteria Lane, the householder is actually looking directly out onto Norman Bates' infamous murder scene. And heaven forfend that any of the Wysteria Lane residents venture into their own back yards. That's where Stephen Speilberg crashed the jumbo for "War of the Worlds" - the most impressive (and most recent) set on the lot. I thought it looked impressive on the big screen, but in real life it's truely overpowering in scale. The rest of the lots are similarly packed in - Wild West towns used in hundreds of movies back onto European streets which, in turn, lead to downtown New York and the interior sets of TV shows like "C.S.I." and "Crossing Jordan". Astounding.

The theme park side of Universal was great too with rides and attractions such as "The Terminator 3D", "The Mummy" and "Jurassic Park".

The next day we toured downtown L.A. seeing the Hollywood sign, the Boulevard and Walk of Fame and the Kodak Theatre, home of the Oscars.

A short trip took us past Johnny Depp's house, Justin Timberlake's restaurant, The Viper Room (Johnny Depp's club at which River Pheonix met his sad end) and Sunset Boulevard.

Then on to Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive (where we saw Larry King on the hunt for a new tie) and eventually Venice Beach and Muscle Beach where, sadly, there were very few muscles to be seen.

The next day I couldn't contain myself. I have waited for years to visit any kind of Disney park, and finally here I was at Disneyland, the original Disney park, on its 50th birthday!

We did everything that I always promised myself I would do. We went on the "Jungle Cruise" and saw the original "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride. We endured the mandatory "It's A Small World" and nearly died on the new-improved "Space Mountain". Adrian talked me into going on "Splash Mountain" (I nearly died again). I discovered on this vacation that I don't like sudden plunges. Especially wet ones.

The park was unusually quiet (as Universal had been two days previously) and we were able to go on rides and attractions as many times as we wanted without enduring long queues. It seems that visiting so soon after Labor Day has advantages. We sampled everything and had a great day (Mickey Mouse had his photo taken with me. I shall include it in a future post) - having waited to visit Disney since I was a child I was thrilled not to be disappointed in any way. It was exactly what I had expected and, having shopped till I dropped, the day came to an end with a special 50th Birthday parade. I felt as though I was about five.

The following day we visited the neighbouring Disney's California Park - a real bonus. It boasted a whole other set of rides and attractions ("MuppetVision 4D" was a highlight for me, whereas the truly, truly terrifying "Tower of Terror" ride kept Adrian occupied on at least three occasions) and a one act musical version of Disney's "Aladdin" staged in an impressive purpose-built theatre. The day continued with more shopping (I watched as a Disney artist drew my favourite character, Jack Skellington from "The Nightmare Before Christmas", for me) topped off by a parade of Pixar characters (from "Toy Story", "Monsters Inc.", "The Incredibles" etc.). We then hot-footed it back into neighbouring Disneyland to see the 50th Anniversary firework display. Now, I've worked in music and theatre for 13 years, and in that time I've been involved in my fair share of special effects, but I can honestly say that I've never seen anything quite like Disney's birthday fireworks. I was back to being a five year old again, and, bitter old cynic as I often am, a small part of me left truely believing that dreams can come true ...

Next stop, Las Vegas and the incredible Luxor Hotel. I've stayed in many hotels this year - this one wins the prize for the most unusual interior (for those not in the know, it's a pyramid!). No elevators, this hotel has inclinators because the lifts have to move sideways and up. The hotel has a light beam that eminates from the pyramid point - the only man-made light visible from space, they claim that you can read a newspaper 10 miles into space by its light. Though quite how they know that I'm unsure ...

We saw Celine Dion's show "A New Day". I'm not a Celine fan in particular, but I knew the show had been directed by Franco Dragone of Cirque De Soleil fame and I wanted to see how someone of his artistic background might tackle the staging of pop songs.

I thought the show was visually stunning and Celine sang every song live and note perfect. As I had expected, the show was attempting to be something of a work of art - a series of surreal paintings brought to life with Celine as the central charcter. I felt that some of the visuals were a little too Dali (I am a Dali fan, but it would never occur to me to view his work while listening to Celine) and I thought the Dali-Dion combination clashed occasionally. But the show gave the audience what it wanted - an incredible live pop video backing a truely talented singer giving her all.

The next day we undertook a helicopter ride deep into the Grand Canyon, passing over Lake Meade (and Celine Dion's mansion) on the way. Breathtaking. We had originally toyed with the idea of driving to the canyon, but I now can't imagine that there is any other way to see it than by helicopter. We had a champagne supper in the canyon at sunset and then headed back into town at nightfall, flying straight up the illuminated Main Strip with all the sights and lights laid out below us. Helicopter, it seems, may also be the only way to see Vegas itself.

Speaking of flight, the next day we visited the Star Trek Exhibit, which is permanently housed in Vegas. We met Klingons and ate in Quark's cafe before making it to the bridge of the Enterprise and getting embroiled in a war between the Federation and the Borg. Only in Las Vegas.

There was a Broadway show playing at the new Wynn theatre that I really wanted to see, "Avenue Q". The show won Best Musical at the 2004 Tonys and the production has just moved to a permanent home in Vegas - a much more attractive alternative to the usual tour of the country that a Broadway success normally undertakes. I was delighted to get tickets (it only opened a few weeks ago) and the show was wonderful. As far as musicals go, I'm hard to please. It's what I do for a living after all. I thought "Avenue Q" was one of the funniest, most inventive musicals I have ever seen.

The show is performed by actors and puppets, a kind of adult "Sesame Street", where the writers have experimented with adult subject matters that they wish kids TV had prepared them for (relationships, sex etc.). The puppets were designed and built by people who once worked on "Sesame Street", "The Muppets" and other Henson creations such as "Bear In The Big Blue House" and they have that Muppet look - so much so that the producers have had to issue a disclaimer distancing Henson and "Sesame Street" from the musical. I thought it was just great - and very useful for me to see a successful, tried and tested adult-themed show as one of my own adult-themed musicals has just been shortlisted for an award and so needs some rethinking. I won't get away with forcing puppets into it though.

Our final destination, San Diego. Six days to relax after the slot-machine madness of Vegas (I lost a whole $30). We did see a couple of local attractions while we were in the neighbourhood.

On our first day we visited Sea World and saw the mighty killer whale Shamu (of which there appeared to be three) and a very, very exciting dolphin display. I swam with dolpins a few years ago in Mexico, but thankfully my dolphins didn't jump quite as high as these guys. Adrian found two more sudden-wet-plunge rides which he went on a few times while I did the souvenir shops. I don't know how I feel about Sea World, but not for the reasons you probably think.

After a day of rest by the pool we ventured out to San Diego Zoo, a world-class attraction worthy of a visit and guaranteed to alter your perception of zoos and conservation generally. The pandas are worth the price of admission alone, although the cats and apes are impressive also.

The last few days were spent chilling at the pool in our hotel. It was a lovely hotel too - I'm not saying it was classy, but on our first night there the entertainment was Aretha Franklin.

A crazy thunder storm on the last night brought back memories of the typhoon in Hsinchu that we endured a few months ago. In San Diego, the thunder was so loud that the hotel room shook and car alarms were set off all across the harbour. A dramatic conclusion to a theatrical adventure of a holiday. It was an unashamedly 'touristy' vacation, but I know that it was the perfect antidote for all of the time I have spent in the Asian countries I have been visiting lately - and having been on tour with a successful theatre show for so long, maybe something in me was enjoying being entertained by others. And the Americans know how to do entertainment - whether it's Aretha, Celine, Broadway shows, Vegas, Disney, studio backlots or helicopters at sunset. I'll be going back for sure - the very next time I need entertained.