"My name is Dr. Regina Phalange", Palos Verdes; 05.03.11

A beautiful club house, a cart, and the beach.  A true golfer's paradise  

Tico looking for his frisbee

Paired with my Sunset Magazine, my idea of heaven on earth

The clubhouse staff are friendly - and directed us to see the burger place for a bowl of water

In light of this week's events, here's to you, America!

A cheap and lovely way to get married

Tico spent from digging for his 'ball'

What a beautiful day in LA!

And what better way to spend it but in a dog-friendly beach!

We have a full day on Sunday, and after sleeping in very late - - we finally headed out of the house at around noon, and we still have a neighbor's party to go to at 3.  So with the limited time, we decided to go to Palos Verdes again.

The tide is low, but the water is cool enough, the sun is hot, and the wind is calm; to be able for all three of us to dip in today.  So off we go to Trump National Golf Course, and parked our car at the public beach access' parking lot.  I spotted a cool car, so I took a picture, not knowing that the driver and his wife was walking behind me to get back to the car.  That was embarassing...

The trek to the beach is down the hill from the club, which always serves as a nice workout for the three of us.  Someone was setting up a corner of the bluff for a wedding, and when we got back upstairs 2 hours later, they were just starting to put on the flowers.  I got closer to take better pictures, and the florist joked "$10 a picture", lol.  What a great place to get married.  I believe, because the park is a public place, the wedding site can possibly be rented from the City for a few hundred hours or less.  You just have to rent chairs, speaker systems, and flowers/decorations.  At least that's what I did for our own public park wedding.

I got Tico a brand new frisbee from Petsmart last night - the best 99 cents I've ever spent.  He went crazy chasing that toy in and out of the water, and when he's on shore, went crazy digging for it, flipped it over so he can bite into it, and drop it again, and flip it over, and so it goes.  This went on for a long time, which amused me so much.  I underestimated the usefulness of phalanges(sp?), or fingers in Science-speak.  At least, it's what I remember it being called in High School. 

The water is cold - but it felt good once the sun starts hitting your skin afterwards.  I was baked.  The boys and I were exhausted, but we had a great time.  We ran into some really cool people, and chatted a bit about their dogs and our Tico.  A lot of younger couple and their dogs were there today, so that was nice to see.  During the cooler season, we saw mostly older folks with their dogs.

Afterwards, we stopped by our neighbor's house for a birthday dinner, and then hung out with our friend Bea in Pasadena for a dinner and some Bravo reality TV marathon.

"Regina Phalange" is Phoebe Buffay's alter ego on the show "Friends".  Phoebe Buffay, is played by Lisa Kudrow.  Phoebe started using the alternative ego Regina Phalange when she was trying to reach Ross, who is getting married to Emily in London.  It was a great episode, and people who loved the show "Friends" will definitely appreciate that episode.  Today's Tico's adventure of being phalange-less while trying to grab the frisbee reminded me of this episode, because of the absolutely absurd name. 

On a later episode, she was going to change her name legally to that, but her fiance said if she was going to, he will change his from Mike something to Crap, first name, Bag last name. 

Obviously, I can go on with Regina Phalange stories.

Manhattan Beach and Whittier, 04.30.11

Tico is due for his annual comprehensive exam, and because we need to board him in the next few weeks, we figured we make sure all his shots are updated.  Beforehand, we took him walking up and down the Strand in Manhattan Beach to tire him out.  When he's exhausted, he's more receptive with the vets.  So off we go to MB for some sight seeing and due exercise for all three of us.

Stella!!!

My favorite Strand house because of this landscaping



B's favorite because of the outdoor kitchen


I had a great time taking pictures of the houses' fence and yard decorations, because B and I are looking for ideas on what to do with our front yard and fence, now that our plumbing projects are done.  MB homes definitely love patio furniture to enjoy the beach view, and they love succulents, probably because most of these houses are summer homes, and it requires low maintenance.  We did come across a house across from the restroom that had quirky sculptures like the turtle, giraffe, and a hippo bench.  The owner also have a large 3 1/2 year old GSD named Stella that wanted to play with Tico. 

I used to hang out here a lot a few years ago, and was taken aback that bars and restaurants like Beaches is no longer here.  Shellback and the pizza place is still here, and of course, we love Shade.  Rock N Fish, The Kettle, Hennesy's, are great places to spend Sundays, but you will need to check to see if you can hang out in the patio with Tico on here.  I believe we did hang out at Palomino's and a casual place next to Mangiamo's and Rock N Fish, but the name skips me now.  It's like a high-class diner with sports bar and TV's all over. 

And off we go to Banfield in Petsmart in Whittier, and today they had a dog adoption day.  For $30 to $100, you can provide a home to a microchipped dog with his/her shots updated.  There was a beautiful pitbull mix with two eye colors that was nabbed right away.  There were a few GSD mixes as well, and after a few minutes, they were gone.  The rest are those yippie dogs and the older ones, which was sad to see.  We would love to adopt another dog for Tico, but we need a bigger space.  So someday we will.  For now, we all need to make do. 

We love this Whittier area called Whittwood, which is walking distance to the Whittwood Mall, the church and catholic school, and the public library.  There's also a park nearby.  We love the mall because it has Target, Kohl's, Ralph's, Panera Bakery, and Petsmart all on here.

Up the street is Uptown Whittier, which is a booming part of Whittier, which had great restaurants, bars and theaters which feeds on to the Rio Hondo college students.  The houses up the hill are beautiful arrays of craftsmans with amazing hillside views of the city.

Angie? Is a 175 St Bernard that we saw a lot in the neighborhood

This dog has two different eye colors

Whittier, CA is an old town with family values still intact.  Unlike the coastal cities, it's unpretentious, and downright family-friendly.  Hacienda Heights and Diamond Bar, are other two cities in the vicinities that I would recommend living in.  And to the east, is Brea.  My only fear about being in the suburbs away from the beach is the possibility, or lack thereof, of a chance for us to be going to the beach on cool summer weekends.  The traffic on the 5 and the 105 can be pretty harsh, and getting stuck there on the weekends is not my idea of a weekend fun.

It was an exhaustive day for Tico, as we dropped him off at around 2pm, and never checked him out until past 7pm.  By the time we got home, he's down for the count after a hearty dinner and a new toy for being a good boy.

"Endless Summer", North San Diego County, 04/23/11

Road trip! 

B wanted to have a quick road trip to celebrate Easter and all the great things that are happening in our lives lately; so we ended up choosing Carlsbad instead since it's only an overnight trip.  We were planning to leave on Friday night the night before, but we met up with his mom for a party in Riverside at a restaurant/bar called Law's; where B belted out a Phil Collins song at the karaoke side. He did very well, and everyone cheered on.  But that's another story.

So Saturday, we left mid-morning, and stopped by Trestles Beach which was on the border of San Clemente/San Diego County, called San Onofre State Beach.  The exit off the I-5 is Basilone Road I believe.  Then you walk for about a mile and a half to get to the beach.  The Trestle walk is long, with really intersting scriptures written all over the road by the local surfers and visitors alike.  But the payoff is nice of the beach, just as you pass the train/Trestle bridge.   The website describes the beach as about 3 1/2 miles long, and it's beautiful.  The waves are great too.  B said this spot was made really famous by the 60's movie Endless Summer , which featured famous surfers like Robert August who surfed all over the world.  I got to see it over a decade ago because it also featured North Shore in Hawaii, but now I am curious to see the movie again so I can see this place in the movie.

Since it's not a really dog-friendly spot per say (dogs are not allowed on beach, and the only place they are allowed is the trail area and the road sides), we just hung around for a few minutes to get some sun and watch the lined-up ants of guys in their black wetsuits catching the waves side-by-side.  This can be tricky if you're not a local, but it looks like everyone got along really well.  They are within a few hundred feet of the shore, so it made for a great spot to view surfers.  The place reminds me of Sandy Beach in Hawaii, since for the most part, the (great) waves in Hawaii is pretty far out there.  So after a few minutes of this, we continued on our treak south to Carlsbad.

We had an enjoyable walk up and down the Carlsbad Village.  There were cute shops, and really good restaurants here.  We stopped by Angelo's for a quick pic of B since he had great memories of him surfing and eating here afterwards during his surfing days.  There was a street art fair today too, and the place is packed of holiday visitors.  B's sister got married two years ago at the Carlsbad Inn, and we stayed there for a night.  It was a nice hotel, but they were not dog-friendly.  So we stayed at Ramada instead because they are indeed, dog friendly and are within our budget.  They were on the side of I-5 further south on Poinsettia Road, but with a car, this was not a problem for us.  They put us up on a 1 BR suite on the third floor so there's less foot traffic, and the hotel also offered free breakfast - which was a plus for our budget trip. 

Carlsbad is great for families because it's where Legoland is at, and one of my favorite outlet malls is just across the I-5 freeway.  But with the dog, we just spent a few hours walking up and down the village, and settled on a patio dining at Norte, which is next to Carlsbad Inn.  B got to take a picture of him and the XX guy's cutout, whom we love because of his 'stay thirsty my friend' commercial spots. 

At around 4, we checked in, and watched a little HGTV/Bravo TV because we're cable-deprived at home, and then we all took a short drive to Encinitas, a busy port town in San Diego.  The population is about 60K, so if we are to live in North Coast San Diego county, this is it for us.  The restaurant choices up and down the street is amazing, and the shops are aplenty.  We can hang out here for a few days alone.  They are also building a new Whole Foods, and new condo/lofts all around, so this place is going to be booming even more in the next few years.   Downtown Encinitas is pretty dog-friendly; but we would have loved to check out some of the bars and restaurants here, like D Street Bar, E Street Cafe, Giovanni's, Lumberyard Tavern, Trattoria I Trulli, etc.  But we settled on a take out at Siamese Thai, and not only is the cashier unfriendly, the food is bleh.  Dog ownership does change your lifestyle, but it prepares us for when we have a kid or two.  Partying and fine dining on your vacations are no longer an option, and does not even come to our minds anymore.  But it's definitely a must-visit spot again for B and I later sans dog.

The next day, after lounging around the hotel room for more cable TV time and a quick free breakfast, we packed up and headed south to Solana Beach/Del Mar area.  Del Mar is great.  They have the race track that opens their season in early July, and the county fair happens here in the summer too.  So those are the places that B and I will definitely check out sans dog as well.  I've been in the county fair, which happens on the parking lot of the race track, but betting on the race is another experience that I won't mind doing with B here.  I've been at the Santa Anita race track years ago for an office annual summer trip, and that was an experience.  But the coastal county race track people are a different breed on their own, think "Real Housewives of Orange County" types with fancy hats and high-heeled shoes.  That would be cool to see. 

We ran into a dog beach on the 101 across from the race track, and we had a ball hanging out there for a few hours.  This is one of the most fun dog beach I've ever encountered. There were caves, moss, stairs, volleyball players, surfers, dogs all around, nice stretch of sand, and inch-or-two deep more of sandy shore, and sea gulls up the sky, and anemones- it was a fun-filled, exhaustive beach fun all around.

We then hung out at Starbucks on PCH in Del Mar for a few minutes to catch our breath, since we looked and smelled like crap from the beach.  We originally planned to go further south to La Jolla, but we ran out of time and energy.  We headed home, and stopped by Irvine Spectrum for a quick lunch at Corner Bakery.   It was an exhaustive weekend, so we took a quick nap, and prepared a late dinner get-together for our dear friend Bea.  Overall, it was an endless weekend of fun, family and friendship. 

It was a dog-gone great weekend.

Redondo Beach, April 16, 2011

Redondo Beach is a nice, quiet counterpart of the Hermosa and Manhattan Beach neighbors up north.  But we love it because of that.  It's less crowded, and we can actually get decent street parking on a 'busy day'.  Today was one of those days. 

At the end of the short Strand walk was King Harbor, where Blue Water Grill, Cheesecake Factory, and Portofino Hotel/Baleen Restaurant is at.  We love Baleen, the food - amazing.  It's on the pricier side, but a coupon from restaurant.com can ease up the tab for you.  There's also a great happy hour area where they play live music, so it will be something that B and I might consider checking out one of these days.  The view is of the marina, and I can just imagine this place during the holidays, when the boats are lit up with x'mas lights.  This place also offers wedding reception, but there was no way we could afford to have a wedding here.  My gf D had her reception at the Cheesecake Factory, and the view on the second floor of CF place is really nice.  We loooove CF - their chicken piccata is my favorite dish.  And the tamale cakes, and the cheesecake - forgetaboutit. 

Blue Water Grill is another place I was considering for our wedding reception.  The food is decent enough, and the view is just as great, but the establishment is showing signs of age, and so I changed my mind.  The good news is that Shade Hotel/Zinc Nightclub will be here late next year, which I am excited to check out because the planned architecture is something you've never seen in RB.  RB likes to keep things on a slow pace, but King Harbor definitely needs a jump-start.  Their Manhattan Beach counterpart is our go-to place to have our boogie on in South Bay, the clientele is around our age range (30's and up), and there is; albeit spase, dancing area.  And their margherita pizza is yummy.  I love meeting people to this restaurant.

Anyhoo, we only spent a brief amount of time on RB today, but it's definitely a nice change of pace from the HB and MB beach stretches.  It's quiet, less crowded, which makes the place all the more beautiful to us.  And when you have a large, naturally curious dog, less is definitely more.