The Wedge, Newport Beach; 09.05.11

The boys and I went to Huntington Dog Beach today for some beach fun.  Since our dinner plans are cancelled, we decided to stay in the OC and check out "The Wedge", which is a popular surfing spot in Newport Beach.  B used to go here all the time during his high school days.

'The Wedge" is at the end of East Ocean Boulevard, at the end of Balboa Peninsula.  Take the 405 South, and get on 55 South, and take it all the way until it changes to Newport Boulevard/Balboa Boulevard.  There's tons of street parking, there are benches to watch the boats/yachts go by the water.  The surrounding houses are smaller, cottage-style houses perfect for marina/beach living, save a few Tuscan-inspired behemoths you see lined up along PCH in Huntington Beach.  

The surf spot itself reminds me of Sandy Beach,  which is a perfect spot for body surfers who can get decent wave within a few feet of the shore.  Such is the case today, since all of them were just bodysurfing today.  We saw at least three dophins about a 100 yards away swimming too.  It was a great way to spend a holiday. 

When we got home, Tico smells funky, for a day of sand, water and dog hair so I hosed him down in the front yard.  Considering we just gave him a bath last week, this is a big deal, since we try to only bathe him every other month if anything, so he does not lose his furs' 'natural oils'.  But we had to do it.  My car, on the other hand, was also just washed two weeks ago, and it is now stinky and also full of dog hair.  

Owning a dog is not easy.  Owning a large, long-haired, shedding dog is harder.  If we don't sweep on a daily basis, our living room floors will be layered with clouds of gray doggie hair.  We're lucky to have floor laminate, which, besides tile floors, is the most dog-friendly.  Carpets are terrible, and wood floors are too pretty and can be easily scuffed with sharp paws.  

We have a faux leather sofa and loveseat, and we don't plan to replace it until Tico gets older or we start having kids.  Then Tico can have the old couches all to himself.  We still dog-proof the house when we leave, like keeping cords and shoes away, food out of reach, etc.  He's stopped eating and chewing shoes, cords and furniture, but it's always good to be careful.  

It will be very interesting though, to see how we will be traveling with the dog hopefully, a baby in the next year or two.  It already takes a lot of logistics planning whenever we go away with Tico, so to go away with a kid and a dog will be very interesting.

We shall see.  In the meantime, there's more time for the three of us to have some QT at the beach/park/restaurants on our own for now.  And today at Huntington Dog Beach and The Wedge is one of those days.  

"A three-hour tour!"; Newport Beach, 08.13.11

B had to work OT this Sunday morning, so I took Tico to the Redondo Beach Dog Park today for some quick run around the park.  We never had any bad experience with this park.  I usually pick up a ball that's laying around, bounce it off the ground, and Tico catches it mid-air.  I'm not good at throwing it far, so the bounce game works.  He usually cooperates with me during the first 10 minutes; I'll bounce the ball, he catches it, I find another one, act like I'm going to bounce it, so then he releases the one that he has on his mouth, then I throw the second ball, and the cycle continues.

But later on, he will hoard the balls, until he's got about two to three on his mouth.  Then he gets tired, drinks some water, and sit his butt down under a tree shade somewhere.  I'd give him a few minutes, and the cycle continues.  Dogs would usually come up to try to join in the fun, but Tico is too focused to be bothered by other dogs.  There was a young 1-year old GSD that kept barking around him, to the point that some of the dog owners thought Tico was being bullied.  I'm like: it doesn't faze Tico, and the young GSD just wants to show off his new mean bark voice.

 My undergrad alumni invited us to a yacht networking party in Newport Beach.  The owners of the boat are philantrophists who own a large industrial and machinery supply company California.  This is their second time offering their boat for the alumni to use for networking.  The yacht is huge, with staterooms that sleep about 12, and can probably sleep another dozen in the main 'living room' upstairs.  The woodwork on the boat is amazing, and Bill, the husband, told me that they had to maintain the wood every three months.  Sue, the wife, pointed out all of the famous homes in the harbor; there's the guy who owns a shutters company, and Barbara Streisand's house, etc.  B and I had a great time networking, and met up with cool people like the lawyer and producer partner in Del Mar, a dentist from Carlsbad, a developer from Cardiff, a storyteller from Palms, etc. 

I really thought that my business program contacted me because I used to donate, but it wasn't.  I was surprised that they never mentioned anything, and provided everything for free: free food, drinks, dessert, and giveaways.  I'm very impressed.  And B had a ball giving out his business cards for his Herbalife business. 

Bill has taken their boats all over, including the Panama, Maui, and locally.  But they really liked the Mexican coasts among all of them.  They live an hour away inland, but they spend a fair amount in their Newport Beach home as well.  What a lifestyle.  What nice people.  What great boat. 

Ahoy, matie!

Skipper!

Stand-up paddler

Bea and I went to see the Duncan Miller gallery's free "I Love LA" photography showing in Wilshire Grand Hotel downtown on Thursday night.  It was nice to see amateurs and professionals alike showing off their photography skills, as well as showcasing some Los Angeles icons, such as the Getty, the skid row, the surfers, downtown LA and the skyline, and the Griffith Observatory, etc.  Tonight was special, because for $35, you can buy the book, and have the artists sign for them.  You can purchase their artwork which is around $00 and up, ask them on their style, their camera equipment, etc.  I don't know much art-speak, but Bea really makes it sound interesting, when she asks fellow photographers those questions.  More on their Facebook profile. 

The exhibit will be in Duncan Miller Gallery from August 13 through September 17, 2011.  They are located in 10959 Venice Blvd., in Mar Vista\West LA.     



Here are some of the artwork that I really enjoyed:

The skyline on this Griffith Observatory photo was really cool

This is Zuma beach' iconic food shack

A man sitting in front of the beach; behind him is the plant

The LA freeway at night

A plane and the LA skyline

Last weekend B and I went camping, and then Monday; we had to do some errands near my work; so we just had dinner in the area.  Tuesday, we went for a walk with D from her house in Redondo Beach to Hermosa Beach Pier, and we grabbed a 2-for-1 burger deal at Hennesy's Tavern.  Wednesday, I had a dentist appointment after work.  Thursday was the art show with Bea, and Friday was a relaxing dinner with B in his favorite Italian restaurant, C & O Cucina. 

I love summer especially because the days are longer.  We can do these things during the day after work, and there's still daylight.  So after 5pm, we get about 3-4 more hours to be able to enjoy the rest of the day.  It gets hard during the fall and winter, so I'm not looking forward to that next month.  And extra three or so hours to enjoy the day, is a great alternate to working 9 to 5 on a weekday, and only enjoying family and friends on weekends.  But these weeknight activities can add up, which is why we take advantage of free things around LA, which happens mostly on summertime. 

Three extra hours to enjoy our weekday-lights is pretty hard to beat.

Newport Beach Dog Beach, Newport Beach; CA; 05.21.11

We had lost all of our photos from today's events, we have to rely on links and public photos to show this dog beach and the town of Newport Beach.

Dubbed as That "other" dog beach, it's a secluded dog beach off of Pacific Coast Highway, after the Huntington Beach welcome sign, and it's between HB and Newport Beach.   It's a great strip of sand with water flowing under the bridge.  The parking location is right past the bridge when you're heading south towards NB, you make a right, and parking spot's just under the bridge.  Follow the pooches and their owners along the fence wall, and you will see the dogs romp around in blissfull water, sand, and little pockets of water areas for the timid canines.

B brought the frisbee along, and one strong throw, Tico was too smart to swim towards the deep, fast water streaming towards the bridge, so we watched as the white plastic disc floats about towards the bay inland.

We ended up finding a large shore-washed bark about two feet long, and 1 inch wide to throw around for Tico to chase in the water, and we had a ball.  There were a lot of happy dogs swimming about on this beach, one which chased after a toy, got caught in the stream, and decided to swim towards the other side of the water.  She then relaxed, and decided to swim across from upstream towards the bay, and away from the ocean.  Very smart dog.  The owner was very relieved and proud, to say the least.

There are tons of webcams all over the Newport Beach area for those visitors and surfers alike to get a feel for the weather in the area.  We first did some walking (for me) and running (for B and Tico), starting from about a few hundred feet from the first pier to almost to the second pier.  I would say it's about 4 miles.  We passed the 21 Oceanfront restaurant in front of the Newport Pier.  Their happy hour sounds really good (4-630pm, including Sundays), so it's on a to-do list for us.

visitnewportbeach.com has tons of suggestions for the town of Newport Beach.  Bryan used to surf at "The Wedge", there's beaches galore - one is the Newport Municipal Beach on Oceanfront and 21st Street, Balboa Peninsula, there's Fashion Island for shopping, the Balboa island offers a quaint little area for shopping and dining, and we got to cross with our car the last time about two years ago via the ferry.  That was cool.  It cost $2 for car and driver, and they are located on 410 South Bay Front, but we did the Palm and Balboa Blvd side.  The shops and restaurants on Balboa island are really cool, one I really liked was CandlEssence on 319A Marine Ave.

I wish we still have those pictures, because Newport Beach was a major trip for us Angelenos now.  We hardly even used to come here when we were OC'ers as it is.  After the run and the dog beach, we decided to share a burger at TK Burger in HB, which is on 110 PCH.  B used to come here for a simple goodness burger after a nice surf session in the OC.  So we tend to stop by here when we're in the area.  Once you get in the back parking lot, the aroma of the cooking beef hits you, and that's when you know, it's the real deal.  A slab of sauce, some onions, lettuce and tomato, a pair of buns, and you're good to go.