Stop 2: Palos Verdes
Unfortunately no picture exist from this part of the trip. My phone was off for a week. Let me say three things:
Ice Cream
Jacuzzi
Surfing
oh yeah, and sleep :)
It was truly refreshing to be back in a Mediterranean environment. Friends kept telling me that PV was in a cold snap while I was there- I felt comfortable in shorts and a T-shirt. I guess we get used to it up in the higher lattitudes.
Surfing Palos Verdes is incredible- there are numerous coves with breaks that give you 10 second rides, and the locals treat you alright, so long as you don't get in their way. The third and final day I went, the tide was out and there was only a small 1.5 foot break out on the corner of the cove, and yet there were 5 surfers all taking turns on this tiny wave and riding it in as far as possible. I joined in, and one of the rides was in 2-3 feet of crystal-clear water, so you could see the rocks flying underneath you as you rode the wave. It was a tad frightening; wouldn't want to wipe out, but as the wave was so small there was really no danger, and watching the rocks slide underneath your feet is a really trippy feeling.
Another high point was eating raw foods for a while with Jeff, which I found to be very interesting, as my body actually CRAVED the raw milk that I tried out. I think I scared everybody a bit talking about raw stuff the rest of the trip, but something about how we over-cook everything in Western food concerns me a bit.. More on all this some other time. Jeff has a sweet new Porsche, is creating screenplays, and is living the Hollywood art life. Best wishes to you my friend-- keep on truckin, and I hope you prove your Sifu worthy.
We saw "The Wrestler," which I have to say is an excellent movie and highly recommend to anybody in my age group. The story is an amazingly adept description of a man who is stuck in his profession but slowly becoming too old for it, and explores how he deals with the complex situation with his daughter...
We also saw "Waltz With Bashir," which I believe is one of the most potent movies I've ever seen (equal to or more so than Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan). The movie explores the massacre of thousands of Palestinians in refugee camps during the 1982 Lebanon War, through the disjointed memories of numerous soldiers who were in the conflict. The movie is heart-rending, and I recommend it only for those willing to face such truths of human nature.
On a lighter note, I spent a lot of time with Mom/ Ron- we all had a nice little Christmas celebration, complete with (of course) Champagne and Jacuzzi. We ended up at McCormick and Schmidts (how about that Ash?) where Mom demonstrated her enthusiasm for oysters. I'm still learning to appreciate them Mom-- I'll get there :) The dinners were excellent, and the time spent in PV was truly recuperating. I'm thankful for it.
Haley and I got to visit Rose and Bob (Ron's Parents). Again I wish I had a couple of pictures, but we went down to the HT Grill in Redondo and had a great conversation about almost everything under the sun.. Haley I didn't know your family's so 'rub elbows' there in New York. As always, Rose and Bob were immensely entertaining.
After a week it was time to leave Palos Verdes. I spent a small amount of time in Orange County (where I was happy to be able to spend an evening with the Betas-- Raf, keep on truckin bro, and best of luck to Christian, Sean, Kevin et al with Pac Life (and Kyle with the world of post-grad bio)-- wishin you guys the best with the next stage-- also best wishes to the current Betas, who seem to be kicking butt and making a name for themselves).
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Summer (Haley's sister), You're the ONLY picture from this whole part of the trip :)
Haley and I unfortunatelly had to miss the New Year's Eve celebration in Orange County because we decided to take a trip to be with a special friend (Blackie the cat) on New Years who was very close to parting from this world, but actually rebounded when her best friend (Haley) came back home to be with her. The trip up to Modesto on New Year's was an adventure- the 5 freeway was closed at the Grape Vine because of a pea-soup-like fog-induced accident involving a truck and a dozen other vehicles. Traffic was backed up for miles and we would have been stuck for hours had we not 'bent a few rules' and found our own way over to the 50 mile detour. We ended up going through a very cool wind-farm out near Lancaster, and made it back in time for the New Years (and 8 episodes of How I Met Your Mother).
Blackie rebounded the moment her family was back, and held on for a few more weeks.. Unfortunately, Blackie is no longer with us, but I think our being there on New Years was really important, and am glad we took the trip.
Ice Cream
Jacuzzi
Surfing
oh yeah, and sleep :)
It was truly refreshing to be back in a Mediterranean environment. Friends kept telling me that PV was in a cold snap while I was there- I felt comfortable in shorts and a T-shirt. I guess we get used to it up in the higher lattitudes.
Surfing Palos Verdes is incredible- there are numerous coves with breaks that give you 10 second rides, and the locals treat you alright, so long as you don't get in their way. The third and final day I went, the tide was out and there was only a small 1.5 foot break out on the corner of the cove, and yet there were 5 surfers all taking turns on this tiny wave and riding it in as far as possible. I joined in, and one of the rides was in 2-3 feet of crystal-clear water, so you could see the rocks flying underneath you as you rode the wave. It was a tad frightening; wouldn't want to wipe out, but as the wave was so small there was really no danger, and watching the rocks slide underneath your feet is a really trippy feeling.
Another high point was eating raw foods for a while with Jeff, which I found to be very interesting, as my body actually CRAVED the raw milk that I tried out. I think I scared everybody a bit talking about raw stuff the rest of the trip, but something about how we over-cook everything in Western food concerns me a bit.. More on all this some other time. Jeff has a sweet new Porsche, is creating screenplays, and is living the Hollywood art life. Best wishes to you my friend-- keep on truckin, and I hope you prove your Sifu worthy.
We saw "The Wrestler," which I have to say is an excellent movie and highly recommend to anybody in my age group. The story is an amazingly adept description of a man who is stuck in his profession but slowly becoming too old for it, and explores how he deals with the complex situation with his daughter...
We also saw "Waltz With Bashir," which I believe is one of the most potent movies I've ever seen (equal to or more so than Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan). The movie explores the massacre of thousands of Palestinians in refugee camps during the 1982 Lebanon War, through the disjointed memories of numerous soldiers who were in the conflict. The movie is heart-rending, and I recommend it only for those willing to face such truths of human nature.
On a lighter note, I spent a lot of time with Mom/ Ron- we all had a nice little Christmas celebration, complete with (of course) Champagne and Jacuzzi. We ended up at McCormick and Schmidts (how about that Ash?) where Mom demonstrated her enthusiasm for oysters. I'm still learning to appreciate them Mom-- I'll get there :) The dinners were excellent, and the time spent in PV was truly recuperating. I'm thankful for it.
Stop 2a: Grandma and Grandpa Kring in Irvine
No trip to Southern California would be complete without visiting Papa Dean and Grandma Theo! Mom and I grabbed the Porsche and made a trip, and were happy to see the grandparents doing well and keeping happy :) Papa Dean can never stop laughing, and Grandma's always there to poke fun at him, or tell us an amusing story. We traded presents, ate out at Cocos in Corona Del Mar (of course), and enjoyed each other's company. It was nice to see them, but we couldn't stay for too long. I hope Grandma is wearing her scarf, and that Papa Dean is enjoying showing off the new golf balls. I felt like once we'd seen Papa Dean and Grandma Theo, Christmas was complete-- they've almost always been a part of Christmas in the past, and it was good to get to see them this time around as well.
Stop 2C: Rose and Bob in Redondo
Haley and I got to visit Rose and Bob (Ron's Parents). Again I wish I had a couple of pictures, but we went down to the HT Grill in Redondo and had a great conversation about almost everything under the sun.. Haley I didn't know your family's so 'rub elbows' there in New York. As always, Rose and Bob were immensely entertaining.
After a week it was time to leave Palos Verdes. I spent a small amount of time in Orange County (where I was happy to be able to spend an evening with the Betas-- Raf, keep on truckin bro, and best of luck to Christian, Sean, Kevin et al with Pac Life (and Kyle with the world of post-grad bio)-- wishin you guys the best with the next stage-- also best wishes to the current Betas, who seem to be kicking butt and making a name for themselves).
.jpg)
Summer (Haley's sister), You're the ONLY picture from this whole part of the trip :)Haley and I unfortunatelly had to miss the New Year's Eve celebration in Orange County because we decided to take a trip to be with a special friend (Blackie the cat) on New Years who was very close to parting from this world, but actually rebounded when her best friend (Haley) came back home to be with her. The trip up to Modesto on New Year's was an adventure- the 5 freeway was closed at the Grape Vine because of a pea-soup-like fog-induced accident involving a truck and a dozen other vehicles. Traffic was backed up for miles and we would have been stuck for hours had we not 'bent a few rules' and found our own way over to the 50 mile detour. We ended up going through a very cool wind-farm out near Lancaster, and made it back in time for the New Years (and 8 episodes of How I Met Your Mother).
Blackie rebounded the moment her family was back, and held on for a few more weeks.. Unfortunately, Blackie is no longer with us, but I think our being there on New Years was really important, and am glad we took the trip.
Part 3: Modesto
I still can't believe I don't have any pictures from all of this.. lame!! I must not have been using my phone at all (Orange charges an arm and a leg for calls placed outside the UK).
However Modesto was a lot of fun.. I got to spend some time with the Greenwald-Gonella clan and even attend Jewish services, which involved wearing a Yammuka for the first time ever... my that was interesting :P A picture of that would be quite face-bookable, but once again, people will have to be left to their imaginations. The first Yammuka I wore was orange and too big, but the second one was deep maroon-ish, and fit juust right.
I didn't know Jewish services involve so much bowing.. but there are some very profound moments including time taken to recognize those in the community who are in mourning, or who are going through trials/ hard times. To announce such things to the whole community is very powerful, and I could feel a bond passing through everybody attending in that moment, as well as a few others. I found the experience very interesting, and noticed a lot of similarities to various aspects of yoga and Mormonism.
Haley's mom and I had a good fight in a round or two of scrabble, which I lost (boy, all the older people keep destroying me in board games.. must be some kind of conspiracy). I think she had like a 70 point word or something that completely destroyed me.. REMATCH FORTHCOMING!!
We also went out for Modesto sushi, which involved sushi rolls 3 times the size of typical rolls I've seen in Southern California.. I'm not sure where this kind of sushi comes from, but I got STUFFED.. In fact, I was stuffed the whole time we were in Modesto, and it was goood. There was this egg-noodle custard-type stuff (Kugel, I think the spelling is) that Haley's mom kept throwing at me.. and I kept happily downing it- I'm officially a big fan of the Jewish cooking).
All in all, the trip to Modesto was very dynamic, and very interesting.. I had a lot of fun exploring the Jewish slice of life a bit, and we spent a lot of time taking care of Blackie, who I think was happy to have us with her.
However Modesto was a lot of fun.. I got to spend some time with the Greenwald-Gonella clan and even attend Jewish services, which involved wearing a Yammuka for the first time ever... my that was interesting :P A picture of that would be quite face-bookable, but once again, people will have to be left to their imaginations. The first Yammuka I wore was orange and too big, but the second one was deep maroon-ish, and fit juust right.
I didn't know Jewish services involve so much bowing.. but there are some very profound moments including time taken to recognize those in the community who are in mourning, or who are going through trials/ hard times. To announce such things to the whole community is very powerful, and I could feel a bond passing through everybody attending in that moment, as well as a few others. I found the experience very interesting, and noticed a lot of similarities to various aspects of yoga and Mormonism.
Haley's mom and I had a good fight in a round or two of scrabble, which I lost (boy, all the older people keep destroying me in board games.. must be some kind of conspiracy). I think she had like a 70 point word or something that completely destroyed me.. REMATCH FORTHCOMING!!
We also went out for Modesto sushi, which involved sushi rolls 3 times the size of typical rolls I've seen in Southern California.. I'm not sure where this kind of sushi comes from, but I got STUFFED.. In fact, I was stuffed the whole time we were in Modesto, and it was goood. There was this egg-noodle custard-type stuff (Kugel, I think the spelling is) that Haley's mom kept throwing at me.. and I kept happily downing it- I'm officially a big fan of the Jewish cooking).
All in all, the trip to Modesto was very dynamic, and very interesting.. I had a lot of fun exploring the Jewish slice of life a bit, and we spent a lot of time taking care of Blackie, who I think was happy to have us with her.
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