"3 Days of Summer", Vista Hermosa Park, Downtown, LA; 05.28.11

It's Memorial Day weekend, and the Tico household are laying it low because of our fast and expensive trip to Chicago two weeks ago.  Because B has to get his oil change in downtown, and I came across a nice, downtown-located park in the recent issue of Sunset Magazine, I found this park called Vista Hermosa Park, with great views of the Downtown skyline.

Now the "500 Days of Summer" movie's park was called Angels Knoll Park, located on 4th and Olive Streets.  Vista Hermosa Natural Park on the other hand, is located more towards Echo Park area of LA.  The location is on 100 N. Toluca Street.  There are ample park and street parking, and the park itself is 10 acres, with waterfalls, stairs, benches and picnic tables, rolling hills, floras and faunas, children's play areas, about two restrooms, a soccer field, and it's best feature - downtown LA view.  The best bench to snag is the one closest to the learning center as shown to the bottom right of this map, and it's on your way down by the soccer field.  It offers a sweeping view of the dtla skyscrapers like the US Bank, Paul Hastings, Bank of America and Bonaventure to name a few. 

B and I had a great time taking pictures of the bees getting busy with the colorful flowers of purple, yellow, pink and whites.  The kids were having a great time with the adventure area, because there was a large structure of a snake all around this mini-park inside of the park.  

Later in the night, we were invited to our neighbor's Quinceanera party, and it was nice to see everyone we know dressed and made up for the night.  

Sunday was mellower, with us going to Culver City Dog Park on Duquesne and Jefferson in Culver city, CA once again to give Tico a chance to run around off-leash, as the Vista Hermosa Park is an on-leash family park.  We had a great time making Tico catch the tennis balls in the air, but he overshot it as his paws were overused at the end of the day.  The park had no grass, and it's ground is made of tough, reddish dirt.  Since he started walking around like an old man afterwards, we decided not to take him out on Monday, which is sad, because Monday we had no other family/friends plans and obligations other than running errands.           

Monday is running around and cleaning the house day for both B and I.  Afterwards, we took a quick drive to have a small work out session at the Santa Monica Stairs which is located north of San Vicente Blvd, on Adelaide, between 4th and 7th Streets in Santa Monica, CA.  The stairs kicked our butts!  After 3 tries, we were pooped.  Bryan's Herbalife's "Lift-Off" and "H3-0" mixed in with water really helped us hydrate.  The stairs have about 150 steps, on a steep hill, and the steps are made of wood.  You'll see lots of hardbodies and fitness buffs here, by the hundreds.  Don't try to keep up, and keep at your pace.  Stretching is key.  In-between rests, are necessary.

Afterwards, B wanted to 'eat a much-deserved burger'.  So I suggested The Counter which is on 29th and Ocean Park, just a few miles south of there.  We shared a greasy, goodness slab of beef with guyere, honey mustard, grilled onions, pickes, sprouts on multigrain bun, and a side of a single-order sweet potato fries, and washed them off with glasses of water.  It was good, but it was also baaad.  But sharing, means shared calories.  But next time, we'll try to remember our effort to lose weight, and vote towards fresh onions, no cheese, and a lighter sauce.  But we shall see.

The weekend was relatively uneventful, and low-key.  But fairly productive.  Mission accomplished.  It was a great 3 day start to a hopefully wonderful summer season ahead of us.    

This girl goes down the slide feet first, face-down.



A pretty girl twirling in a dress in the Quinceanera party



Frank showing Josie and B the reno outlays of the home 




B trying to make a 'peace' sign at The Counter



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.



  

"While You Were Sleeping", Chicago; 05.14.11

Being so busy, it never dawned on me to do a ""While You Were Sleeping" tour while in Chicago.  It's only like, my most favorite movie ever.  Oh, well.  We'll likely come back next year, so there's a second chance to do it.  And I never got a chance to meet Belle, my friend that I met through work a decade ago in Hawaii, who moved back here (her hometown), and she lives over an hour from Chicago.  We made plans to meet up, but our schedules for the weekend were just too tight.  So I owe her a meeting for next year.

On a side note, we flew with Spirit Airlines.  We loved the fact that it was cheaper.  But with $30\pp carry on or a $28\pp checked bag fee each way, it comes out about the same.  And the seats are not good for a large, tall guy.  I felt really bad for Bryan during the entire trip to Chicago because he had to keep his legs sideways.  We had a larger plane on our way back, but the plane to Chicago was just small and cramped.  They also charge you for water or any kinds of drinks at $3 each minimum.  There were no TV's, nothing.  These are not big deals for me, but when flying with a large guy, Spirit will not see us again. 

So while B is on a Herbalife seminar, I played tourist on Saturday and Sunday.  But first, we got in on Friday morning, after a red-eye from LAX.  We got in the Marriott Hotel O'hare shuttle, and took a chance to see if we can check in early, and we did.  It never hurts to ask.  This hotel apparently is being renovated, and is the first Marriott hotel ever, as the talkative shuttle driver told us.  They put us in one of the lower leve, cheapie wings on the second floor, which we did not mind, because were just going to be in and out of the hotel anyway.  It was too cold and rainy that the swimming pool, which we can see from the room balcony, were tarped off.  The hotel is nice, especially the lobby area where the conferences and the business centers are.  That is the way to the tower as well, where the people who are willing to pay more stayed.  We paid less than $100 for each night, and I packaged it with my airfare, so it's about $400 for two nights stay, and a round trip with Spirit Air.  B's airfare I think is about $250+.  I don't mind this hotel, it's not a bad hotel for the price, and the Marriott customer service is still there.  But we'd definitely go back to Chicago and stay in the Magnificent Mile area the next time around so we do a whole lot more sight-seeing as there's nothing really to do in Rosemont, where the hotel and the airport is at.  I was more concerned with making sure B gets to go to this seminar easily and on time, since he had a hard time getting around the last time he was in Dallas by himself.  Whereas I can just take the train wherever I want to go and at no specific time since I'm only sight-seeing.

We got in, plopped ourselves down, and more than two hours later, it's past 10am and we still needed to scramble for tickets to the Cubs game at 1pm.  We scored at $2 each, with fees it came out to $15, and took the Blue Line Cumberland station, just around the corner from the hotel, to Jackson station 45 minutes south, and took the Red Line back up to get to Addison station, which is just right outside Wrigley Field.  So for $2.25 each, we did not  have to worry about traffic, or getting lost.  It was so easy.  Because it was windy and rainy, the stadium was not packed.  We got ourselves a better seat under the top level so we are as far from the wind and rain, and we had a ball.  To make it even sweet, the Cubs won that day.  B always wanted to see a game in Wrigley field, so this is off his list.  I never thought I'd see this stadium, considering I only saw it growing up through opening credits in one of my favorite 80's show Perfect Strangers (Balky! Lol).  But then again, being cooked up in a little island in the middle of the Pacific, I would never think I'd be in the mainland, much less being in Chicago altogether. 

These townhouses are $500K and up

"It's my life, my dream, and nothing can stop me now..."

B had a great time.  He was like a little kid.  Afterwards, we walked along Wrigleyville looking for a place to eat.  After a jet-lag and a handful of beers, we were so over the pubs and bars that graced the stadium area; so we walked east along Addison in hope for a better place to eat, and came across D'Agostino's on 1351 W Addison, which is a popular pizza chain in the city.  B ordered a deep dish double-stuffed sausage pizza, and I ordered ribs with spaghetti and marinara.  We were full and happy.  While eating, we saw a lady walking her large German Shepherd, and it reminds me of Tico.  I just realized, for the price that we paid to take Tico to the day care, we could have flown him to Chicago with us.  But that in itself has a lot of logistics that I am not ready to look into (tons of airline/airport security issues and paperwork, crates, cargo safety and comfort level, other dogs in the cargo, etc., etc.).  So maybe for another time, Tico.  In the meantime, he gets to hang out with his buddies at Whiskers N Tails.

Afterwards, we took the bus to get to the Blue line and headed back home for an early, much-needed sleep.

I joined B at the Herbalife seminar in Hyatt early in the morning on Saturday, which is also a walking distance from the Rosemont station of the Blue line, the next station down from our hotel (Cumberland).  Afterwards, I took the Blue line back to Jackson, and walked to get up the Skydeck Chicago, or Sears Tower/Willis Tower; whichever you want to call it.  It's on 233 Wacker Drive.  At 1400 feet high, it's probably the tallest building I've gone to.  I love these skyscrapers.  Each city I go to, I like to check these places out.  Unfortunately, Chicago had an awful weekend, and there were no visibility.  I was really sad about this, since I never got to fully experience being in one of those see-through clear ledges where you can literally see the city down below right under your feet.  So obviously, it was not crowded, so I had a fun time just chatting it up with the really bored workers.

Afterwards, I grabbed  bite to eat at a medittarenean hole in the wall, and walked up along Michigan Avenue to the Art Institute of Chicago.  Because of the rain, the line was long, so I proceeded to hang out for a while to see the 'bean' on Millenium Park.  What a treat.  The bean, or Cloud Gate, was so cool because it reflects the tall buildings across the street.  I also came across the famous Chicago Crown Fountain landmark with the two faces.  I waited for the girl to smile and take a picture.  There were also colorful ball structures that looked like giant dog toys.  Tico would have loved it here.

At 3pm, I came across a bridge that took me up to the 2nd entrance to the museum, and cut through the line that way.  With only an hour and a half to enjoy the place, I bee-lined to the Impressionism area and spent almost all of my time there, and also see some of the famous painting that I read about in my one semester of art class.  There were Grant Wood's "American Gothic", Georges Seurat's "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte", and there was a full room of Monet, where I spent a few minutes just sitting down the bench and see the people come in and out of the area.  I knew about Monet's love for the haystacks and his garden Japanese bridges and the lily pond, but I came across a snow scene (in Norway) painting that was a nice trivia to know about Monet for me.  They have some really good Degas too.  I tried to spend a few minutes in the Armors wing, but alas, I ran out of time.

A dragon in the middle of the city




Smile!





So I headed back to the hotel, and the bell guy hooked me up with a car service for $24 and picked up Bryan at the Hyatt, and we met his friends at the Hilton across the airport for some dinner and drinks at Andiamo's and Gaslite.

"I know you're hungry, but you can't use that fork for dinner!"

Sunday morning, I bid adieu to my lovely husband, and we went on our way to the seminar for him, and to Magnificent Mile for me.  I took the Grand exit off of the redline, and just walked up and down the Michigan Avenue in the middle of rain and wind.  I got pretty tired of that, and got inside Bloomingdales for some comfort and break from the weather craziness.  Ordered a capuccino and a delicious muffin top, and took a breather.  Then off to Macy's across the street for me, because I'm not a Bloomingdales' kind of person anyway.  The mall where Macy's at was huge, and tall.  It has about 8 floors of shops that are more catering to my type - not too much $$ to burn, and want to get a good deal.  There were Aeropostale, Victoria's Secret, Forever 21 - the usual. 

At 1pm, I braved to walk down to the Navy Pier, and thought twice about walking along the harbor.  I spent a few minutes there, because the pier itself is closed.  The beach area next to the pier would have been great, but maybe on a summer trip. 

A not so famous Chicago dog

J Hancock Observatory

There's a beach somewhere here!

Next stop - California!  I heard it's nice there...

At 2, I got on the 66 bus to get to the Blue line, and B wanted to come down and see Mag Mile, so I cancelled a date with my friend Belle, and met B back on Mag Mile, waiting at the Ghirardelie coffee shop.  We did some walking, ate at a hotdog place along Rush street, and did some more walking, and off we go back to the hotel to pick up our luggage, and head back to LA.

We almost had an opportunity to be a volunteer to be bumped because of overbooking with Spirit Airlines, but alas, it didn't happen.  It would have been great to spend another day in Chicago with B to go sight-seeing with me this time around, and Monday was to be a sunny day too.  And of course, a chance to meet up with Belle for lunch; who happens to work in the Willis Tower building.  The kicker for me was that they were going to put us up at the Hilton across the street - AND give us each a round trip ticket to anywhere they fly.  They fly to Lima.  But, nothing really that too good to be true happens to us, so we did leave Chicago, picked up our car at the Green line station at the LAX airport, and got home by midnight.

"While You Were Sleeping" is a movie by Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman, where Sandra's character Lucy, who worked for the train station, pretened to be Peter's (Peter Gallagher) fiancee, who was in a coma.  So Lucy pretended to be the coma guy's fiancee, and end up getting to know Jack (Bill Pullman), who's Peter's brother, and end up falling in love with him instead.  A few trivias that I will keep in mind for next time - and will keep building the list once I get more info.  Most of these are courtesy of itsfilmedthere.com:

Train: Randolph/Wabash station on the loop is where Lucy worked and Peter fell in the tracks
Logan Square Boulevard and Sacramento, Logan Square is where Lucy lived. 3017 W Logan Blvd.
Lake Point Tower - Peter Callahan's apartment. 505 N. Lake Shore Drive.
Wabash Ave. bridge - where Lucy and her boss were eating hotdogs at
Church for wedding - Lady of Mount Carmel Church - 708 W Belmont Ave.
Northwestern Memorial Hospital - not going there, but it's good to know
La Grange, IL - Callahan's family house.  Not going there, but it's good to know



   

"La Isla Bonita"; San Pedro, CA 05.07.11

San Pedro's dog park is never busy.  I've never been there where I see more than 6 dog owners at one time.  It's a shame, because they are really working hard on getting this place set up for the dogs and their owners to enjoy.  Named Knoll Hill Dog Park, it's located on 200-349 Knoll Drive, San Pedro, CA  90731.  Phone is 310-514-0338.  To get there, take the 1B Channel St./Pacific Ave/Harbor Center exit, make a right on Gaffey, another quick right on Channel, right on Pacific, and left on N Front, and right on Knoll.

Give me my frisbee!

New trees!

New benches are installed, new trees are planted, and I look forward to seeing these trees mature in the next few years.  The dogs today were very good.  We had ran into a nice, mellow black Doberman female pup.  Her owner was extremely protective, and I don't blame him because they are new to the dog park thing.  There was another petite female with her large black, and she looked like she lives in the area, and started chatting up with someone else on other side of the park.  There was another dog/owner that came in, and that was it for the crowd.  It's a pretty good sized large park, considering we did not go all the way in - - Tico could not wait to play with his frisbee so we just parked ourselves in one of the front benches and have at it with his toy.

There is not restroom facility, but there is a portapotty.  There's a water fountain, and several trash cans as well as a station to donate grocery bags for poop.  The park is covered with wood chips.  There is a baseball park up the hill from this park, which apparently, where the old dog park was.  In this new location, I believe they do a lot of K9 training on here.  It's right across from the harbor, but you can't see the water, but it's still a pretty good location as far as I'm concerned.  Afterwards, we got back out on the road, made a right on Harbor Boulevard, and enjoyed the water fountain to the left while we headed out to Ports of Call Village.  Ports O' Call is an under-appreciated seaside village of shops and restaurants along the harbors of San Pedro. 

The LAFD boat!

Don't eat meee!

The 'dress is $15.  The body to go with it is priceless

Girl on her way to her First Communion brunch

Well, let me start over by saying I have a soft spot for San Pedro.  It's a nice, waterfront town whose value has gone down in the past few years, but it has a lot of potential to be the next Marina Del Rey if the City and their residents get their acts together.  With the town of Palos Verdes to the right, and the harbor to the left, the City of Long Beach just across the bridge, and easy access to the freeway, it's in a prime location. 

Port's O' Call Village, a not-so dog-friendly place becauase it's a food-packed place, on Berth 75-79, phone 310-548-8076  is just across from downtown San Pedro, which is off 6th Street and Pacific.  You can get on a boat or cruise here to see whales, dolphins, eat some lobster, calamari or other fish, and watch the small boats and cruiselines pass by.  Today, Princess Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line was docked.  You can walk your dog along the Village, but they are not allowed in the areas where people eat.  Today, we saw a little girl just coming back from her first communion, and her family is celebrating by taking her out to Ports O' Call restaurant.  Simon's is also a pretty good one.  Ports O' Call's quality has definitely gone down.  But it's a good way to entertain the visitors that are coming in and getting out of the cruiselines.  We were here last September for their Lobster Festival too, which covered the entire parking grounds of the village.  For $18, you get a lobster meal.  For $32, you get two of those creatures.  And with free concerts and more shopping, fun and dining options for every member of your family, it's a great way to enjoy a day in September in LA.  This year, it will be held on the third weekend of September.

Up the hill from this place is the Korean Bell.  The address is 3601 Gaffey Street.  The view from up here is amazing. Right across from the bell or Angel Gate's Park, as it is called, is the Point Fermin Lighthouse inside the Point Fermin park (807 W Paseo Del Mar).  I also go to this park because of their annual Filipino Festival in September as well.  For $5 entrance fee, you get to enjoy free concerts, activities, and get to sample some filipino food, buy some filipino arts and crafts and clothing.  We got to see some really cool acts, especially this one girl from the Bay Area called Hopie Spitshard.

Cabrillo Marina on 22nd Street, or 224 Whalers Walk is another pretty spot, because of the marina view.  They have good restaurants on here too.  Downtown San Pedro definitely has a long way to go, but they are working on new things, such as First Thursday art walk, which began this month; also like Niko's Restaurant on 399 W 6th Street because it reminds me of the place Otherroom in Venice.  And their portions are huge for a small price. 

San Pedro definitely has a long way to go to being a great city.  You can still see almost every pawn shops known to man on every inch of Pacific Avenue, and crap mom and pop stores are along on Gaffey.  But if you go up above 22nd Street on Gaffey, it's a whole new world of wonderful roadside water views, and nice houses.  Downtown has a lot of new condos and buildings popping up, and if not for the recession, it was working on its way to being a great area.  We shall see what to happen with this city.  It a way, it's an island on its own, since no one really comes down to San Pedro because it's at the end of the 110 freeway, so unless you are headed here to go on a cruise, there's a likely chance you won't find yourself here.  I do like the fact that it is kind of an undiscovered, little town with a potential for a great, beautiful city.

A beautiful little secluded place in the middle of LA.

"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.