On Location: CASTLE, Downtown LA

Awesome things happen when you least expect it. :D

So... masheek2 and I planned to meet up for lunch yesterday, Thursday. At LA Cafe, of course. ;) Before leaving the house, Mere tweeted that the TV show "Castle" was filming about a street away or something. We planned to walk by to see what's going on. When we rounded the corner to the street where LA Cafe is located, NYPD cop cars lined the road.



Then we found out that they were filming at a lot right next to LA Cafe and in a building across the street. The crew were carrying props, wheeling in stuff, cameras, lights... "FBI and crime scene gear" even. So we were sitting there eating and this huge van parks in front of us. And then Nathan Fillion (Richard Castle) walks by! He looked like he just rolled out of bed but holy... he's HOT. And he's a huge guy. As the dork that I am, my first instinct was to wave hello. Do not ask me why, I have no explanations. But at the last second, I didn't wave but he did look to our direction. [Fortunately, my ears didn't turn red haha.] He got into the van. We were still smiling about seeing Nathan when who walks by? Stana Katic (Det. Kate Beckett)! OMG, you think she's hot on TV... damn. She's such a presence in person. I looooove her strut.

Stana's riding shotgun. Nathan's in the back.

Anyway, I knew it was a long shot but I decided to tweet Jon Huertas (Det. Javier Esposito) if he can come by and say hi. Again, I had ZERO expectations. Sure, he @replies me back (and a DM) from time to time but he was probably busy filming to even check his @replies, much less meet up with random people. I do have his tweets go to my phone but for some reason (I'm looking at you, AT&T), this one reply didn't. It's a good thing Mere decided to check Twitter on mobile web! Or else we would've left early. Two hours early. HAHA! He replied that he'd be around by 4pm. I replied where we were and waited.

We did see Nathan and Stana again during that 2-hour wait. (And Cassidy's roommates Blaise and Barbie Q as well. HAHA.) I'm a huuuuuge "Generation Kill" fan so needless to say, I was more than excited to see Jon in person! I don't care if it's just a glimpse -- but OMG, actually meeting up? I couldn't help my smile.

It was crazy, counting down that last hour (tip: DON'T DO IT. Time slows down). Then at 1600, Jon comes along on his scooter!



Mere waved and we introduced ourselves. He was like, "Is this LA Cafe?" It was... awesome. He's so down-to-earth; so easy to talk to him. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much. I told him how much I love GK and he said that it's his favorite from the stuff he'd done so far. He then said that he's going to meet up with, "The guys who played Stafford and Captain America," his words, I swear - Wilson Bethel and Eric Nenninger, respectively, at a show tomorrow (which makes that today haha). I then said some friends and I are planning a New York trip to watch Stark Sands (Nate Fick) on Broadway. And he said they were planning to watch him, too, this May. I was like, "No way! We were planning to go in May, too." Then he asked which date - I had it on my phone but I forgot, I was too excited haha - so I told him we were still thinking about it. He then said, "Well, whenever your decide, just tell me through twitter."

Whoa! OMG. Just... wow. How awesome it would be to watch Stark on "American Idiot" knowing Jon's there in the audience with you? A girl can dream... it's a good dream. =)

He asked us if we met the other cast members and we said we just saw Nathan and Stana; didn't talk to them. Mere asked about Seamus Dever (Det. Kevin Ryan) and Jon said he should be around. We were hoping to see him also but we didn't. :\ Anyway, he said he had to go to hair & makeup. I got a photo and a hug before he left. Warmest! =D

Jon & Cate. Hee! Thanks, masheek2! ;)

They went on to filming by the lot; more Stana and Nathan sightings. Later, we realized that Jon wasn't around for filming. Okay, it was so sweet of him to remember where we were but OMG, he didn't have any scenes at the part of the street. So... he went there to meet up with us! I can't even...*permagrin*

We decided to stay to see if we can also spot Seamus. Lunch turned into dinner. HAHA. The cafe peeps and probably the crew and security people were probably wondering why we were still sitting there haha. If they did ask, we have Jon's tweet as proof we're cool cats and not BSC.



We were hoping they'd shoot what we thought was a chase scene already. They had the lights and cars ready. But at around 8pm, nothing was happening so we decided to call it a night.

*sigh*

I couldn't wipe the grin off my face on the way home. And my vocabulary to describe yesterday is reduced to one word: AWESOME. Having lunch with a good friend is so nice already. And this? May I also note that Mere is the one who introduced me to "Castle". So to share this with her is just amazing. :) It is just so unexpected, which makes it more worthwhile. This made my whole week! ♥

I do hope we could do this again. Maybe the next time, I might just legit wave at Nathan and Stana. And yes, see Seamus too. But Jon... oh Jon! =)

More pics.
and oh!

PS: They were filming 2x17, I think. The two-parter with the FBI.