Sunday May 9, 2010
Malibu, California
Happy Mother's Day!
So it's been an interesting week. Weather in Malibu has been gorgeous and the wildflowers are in full bloom due to the rains we had. And allergies. I've never had allergies in Malibu before but since I've been back it's one after the other. The latest - cheese. Well, that's what I think is the culprit. Going to try and start a cleansing diet this week and see how it goes. In the meantime, living on allergy drugs and an occasionally "shot" from the docs at Malibu Urgent Care Center.
So what did I do this week. Well, I finally stopped by the Rustic Canyon General Store somewhere between Malibu and Agoura Hills on Kanan Dume Road. It's a general store that is in the middle of nowhere. And am glad I finally stopped by. Not only is there a great deli but they sell some very nice home accessories and high quality wine. I guess that is expected when you are located between the communities of Agoura Hills and Malibu. If traveling on Kanan Dume, highly recommend you stop by for a sandwich or even wine tasting at SIJ which is next door.
Rustic Canyon General Store
Inside the Rustic Canyon General Store
Photos of the many celebrities who have visited and shop there.
On Wednesday, I had a meeting at Sony Pictures so on the way back home, decided to stop on Sawtelle between Olympic and Wilshire to go to Giant Robot. I'll do a blog on the area sometime, but that street is bustling with cool Japanese shops, grocery stores and restaurants. Giant Robot is one of the cool shops. My nephew - Jackson wanted a hoodie from there so bought one for him and a T-shirt for the older nephew Billy. It's a real cool area (similar to Harajiku without the crowds.
Woke up Friday with hives and trouble breathing so ended up at Malibu Urgent care where they gave me a shot. Since the same thing happened on Monday and for both days I had brie cheese the nite before, we concluded cheese is the culprit. It's a real bummer, cuz I luv Italian food and pizza! But I recovered enough to take one of my good friends Billie to dinner and for some comedy. She is going back to Sweden so I'm glad I got to see her before she left. She taught me everything I know about knitting. We went to Citizen Smith's for dinner where I decided to triple check I was allergic to cheese and had their famous Mac-n-Cheese. It was very good, but very filling so only ate half of it. Citizen Smith is a pretty cool and reasonably priced restaurant where they serve REAL American food like Chicken and Waffles! I thought it would be a fun place to take Billie for her farewell dinner as don't believe you can get chicken and waffles, fried green tomatoes, etc in Sweden.
Citizen Smith: I luv the interior, very relaxing and casual
Citizen Smith's Mac-n-Cheese
My friend Eric, invited me via FB to a gig he was doing at the Comedy Store, so after dinner, I treated Billie to some comedy. The Comedy Store is a very famous institution in America where many famous Comedians like Richard Pryor, David Letterman and Steve Martin got their start there. There was a time, because of labor disputes, the Comedy Store declined in popularity but it recovered nicely and was packed when we went there on Friday night. We had great seats and enjoyed the show although a few were pretty bad. Eric did a fabulous job and I had no idea he had such talent! It was good to see him perform a comedy as at work he's pretty serious.
The Comedy Store on Sunset in Hollywood
I woke up early Saturday because the dogs wanted to go out and also to confirmation that I have developed an allergy to cheese. Wasn't as bad as last Monday and Friday so there was no need to go to the doctor's, but I was pretty disappointed. No cheese for me from now on. Because Malibu Bluff's Park (the park the dogs love) was busy with people getting ready for Little League games, I took the dogs to the Bark Park at Calabasas. Skipper loves dog parks and blends in very well. Yuki is still timid but did very well. First time I took her, she would not leave my side and wanted to be held, but this time she ventured around the park by herself until a big dog decided to play with her. We spent a good hour at the park, so both dogs were pretty tired the rest of the day.
Skipper introducing himself to the Big Dogs
Yuki exploring on her own.
Skipper was so tired after the walk, he wanted to just go to his favorite chair and sleep
And of course, I did spend time walking the beach. Power walked with Yuki along Westward Beach one day and Zuma Beach today. The beaches of Malibu are gorgeous. Really. I believe they are the best and cleanest beaches in Los Angeles County.
Westward Beach: During low tide, one can walk the beach around the Pt.Dume to Little Dume Beach
A bird at Westward Beach
Flowers of Westward Beach
While power walking Zuma Beach with Yuki-chan, saw this on the parking lot. Was it man-made or natural? It survived a car running over it though(see the tread marks?). Pretty cool.
Zuma Beach on Mother's Day
And lastly, late last night while in bed, I started reading about the new Arizona immigration law. Although I do believe illegal immigration is becoming a problem, I've concluded the law is extreme. Being part Japanese, and hearing stories of Japanese Americans being "profiled" in the 1930s to the 50s perhaps makes me sensitive to what Arizona has decided to do to "fix" the problem. The best article about it is from Desmond Tutu. The article can be found here. In the meantime, here is an excerpt from it:
The problem of migrating populations is not going to go away any time soon. If anyone should know this, it should be Americans, many of whom landed here themselves to escape persecution, famine or conflict. With the eyes of the world now on them, Arizona has the opportunity to create a new model for dealing with the pitfalls, and help the nation as a whole find its way through the problems of illegal immigration. But to work, it must be a model that is based on a deep respect for the essential human rights Americans themselves have grown up enjoying.
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