CityWalk—Oh what a night!

About a month ago I went back to CityWalk—wow! What a scene! With its new expansion, there’s so much to look at that you never want to leave. Standing there looking at all the beautiful restaurants, stores, bright lights, people laughing, people dancing, I felt really happy and sort of confused like I didn’t know what to do next. And did I mention the girls? Attractive and lonely girls, standing around with their friends hoping that somebody would come and talk to them. (Did I talk to any? That’s for me to know and for you to find out!)

Like a street in New York, there are so many people crowded together at CityWalk that it’s hard to walk! I made my way past crowds of people surrounding break dancers, live bands, and the 18-theater cinema to the expanded south section of CityWalk where some of the new businesses are. There my favorites were Wasabi, NASCAR racing, Harley-Davidson Motorcycles, and an arcade/bowling center called Jillian’s Hi Life Lanes, just to name a few.

Photos by Shengul Bajrami, 16, University HS

If you like video games and graphics then the NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway is the place to be. It’s the realest thing you can ever ride. For about $8, you can drive racing simulators competing against other drivers in video races. There’s no age requirement to ride the car but you must be at least 4 feet 4 inches to drive and at least 40 pounds to ride along. The speedway was developed over several years by a world class technical team. It has the strong support of nine professional drivers who give advice on how to make the simulator feel as real as possible. A large screen in front of each car displayed impressive realistic graphics accentuated by the dark lighting of the room. As I drove through the corners during the race the hydraulics on the car made it dip and when I ran into other cars at high speeds the car jerked and tilted in such a way that I got the feeling I was spinning out of control. It was the closest I had been to the real thing without actually being in it. In addition to the racing simulator, the speedway offers a full line of merchandise, such as hats and shirts.

Bowling, arcade games, snacks …


When I went to Jillian’s Hi Life Lanes, I was amazed at the many things that might appeal to teens. You can bowl, eat at the café, party in the party lounge or play the many arcade games. Aside from everything else, it appeared as if arcade games were their specialty. Taking a walk around the place, I noticed relatively new games such as Daytona USA 2, NFL Blitz 2000, Off Road Thunder, Wave Runner, Dark Silhouette (Silent Scope 2), NBA Showtime, F355 Challenge (a racing game), Harley Davidson & LA Riders, and Rapid River. They even had an air hockey table!

I also noticed tons of stores teens would enjoy:
• Cirque de Bijoux, a designer costume jewelry store
• Hollywood Harley-Davidson
• Awesome Atom’s, a science toy store
• Sam Goody Superstore
• Skechers shoe store
• Vans shoes
• Universal Studios IMAX Theater

On the outskirts of CityWalk, I joined a crowd of fans around a break dancing group called the LA Breakers. The group consists of four highly talented break-dancers named Eric, Cus, Flex, and Eddie. As I watched their act, I listened to the great music they were performing to, which was mostly hip-hop and rap. After their act was finished I was looking for another fun thing to do, so I went to a mini racetrack nearby to race for a while.

There’s so much to do at CityWalk you can’t run out of things to do in one night … it would probably take three! As they say in their ad, "Betcha can’t do it all in one night."