LAs Good Life

Located in San Pedro, with an expansive view that goes on forever, is the Korean Bell of Friendship. The Korean Bell of Friendship is a massive, 17 ton bell that was donated by the Republic of Korea the Los Angeles in 1976 to celebrate the bicentennial of the United States, to honor American veterans of the Korean War, and to symbolize the friendship between the Korea and the United States.

The Korean Bell of Friendship is 12 feet tall, with a diameter of 7 1/2.  It’s made of copper and tin, with other metals added for tonal quality.  A large wooden log is used to ring the bell, only five times a year:

• New Year’s Eve
• January 13 – Korean American Day
• Fourth of July
• August 15 – Korean Liberation Day
• Every September in celebration of Constitution Week

Also, the bell was rung on September 11, 2002, commemorating the first anniversary of 911.

Housed in a pagoda-like stone structure with intricate decorations, the Bell Pavilion has unbelievable views of the Southern California coastline, including Catalina Island.  You have to visit to see for yourself, but it’s hard to find a better view anywhere!

There’s a large park, with a huge grassy area, a basketball court, and public restrooms.  It’s a great place to bring children, fly a kite, have a picnic or just sit and enjoy the view.  And the best part of all is it’s free!  It can get windy, which is great for flying kites, but I’d recommend bringing  a coat with you.

The Korean Bell of Friendship, or the Korean Friendship Bell as it’s sometimes called, is located at:

Korean Bell of Friendship and Bell Pavilion
Angels Gate Park
3601 S Gaffey Street
San Pedro, CA 90731
(310) 548-7705

Call ahead to confirm park hours.

Living in the Southbay for close to 8 years now, I’m ashamed to say I’ve never played Beach Volleyball. It’s always been one of those things that I said “one day I’m gonna play.” It was something I took for granted, until recently when I connected with a group of guys and girls that plays every Saturday.

I haven’t played volleyball for well over 15 years, but I guess it’s like riding a bicycle (through the sand). It came back pretty quickly, but it’s a workout trying to move in the sand. After a few weeks, I’m finding it much easier to make my way around and almost able to spike the ball now (I feel like I have cement blocks tied to my ankles).

I don’t know if you knew this or not, but volleyball is a fun sport! I forgot how fun it was. Mix that with sun, fresh air and cool breeze, beach, and great people and it doesn’t get much better than that! That combination makes for a truly enjoyable day. Now I understand why I see the same people playing every weekend – it’s addicting!

If you haven’t played beach volleyball, or it’s been a while, I highly recommend getting out there. Because beach volleyball is such a part of the Southern California culture, there’s no shortage of places to play. From Redondo Beach past Santa Monica, pick your beach and you’ll almost certainly find more than enough nets for everyone to play.

Just bring your volleyball, and if you want to get really serious, bring your boundary lines and you’re all set.  If you don’t have anyone to play with, don’t be afraid to ask a group if you can join them.  Or if you’re not comfortable with that, there are groups that you can join that play every week at most of the local beaches.

Meetup.com is a website where people set up groups for all kinds of things, and you can join, post messages, see schedules and “Meet up” with a group to play volleyball.

Some of the active groups (with links to the group page) on Meetup.com are:

• Manhattan Beach – Bump-set-spikers
• Santa Monica – Santa Monica Volleyball Group
• Hunnington Beach – Hunnington beach Volleyball Players
• Long Beach – Long Beach Volleyball Group

And plenty more.  It’s as simple as clicking on the links above, or vising www.meetup.com and looking for a group in your area.  No time like the present to get some fresh air, sunshine, beach and exercise, and it’s a great way to meet people.

Last week I wrote about my amazing experience taking Voyager Excursions, out of the Redondo Marina, to see the Blue Whales that are here in record numbers a mile or two off shore.

The local ABC news has an amazing video on their website that shows these magnificent creatures from their chopper, shot with a high-definition camera.

It’s hard to tell from my photos exactly how huge these whales are, but you’ve got to see the ABC video from the air.

From KABC-TV Los Angeles:

REDONDO BEACH, Calif. (KABC) — A pod of 20 to 30 blue whales was spotted about 3.5 miles off the coast of Redondo Beach on Wednesday afternoon.

Related Photos

Blue whales enjoy sunny day in SoCal

View all 21 photos

Several whale-watching boats and a few paddle-boarders were nearby to enjoy the amazing sight up close. AIR7 HD caught the whales on camera as they enjoyed the clear, sunny day along the Pacific Ocean.

It’s very rare to see blue whales in these waters; some say it’s been 20 to 30 years since they’ve seen a pod of blue whales in the area. The unique experience made the afternoon adventure on the Voyager Excursion a trip of a lifetime for the more than 140 people on board.  (read entire article →)

and this video taken from the Voyager boat:

If you haven’t yet, take this opportunity to make it to Redondo Beach.  You don’t know if this opportunity will come again!

Click here to visit Voyager Cruises →

This year residents of Los Angeles, as well as those lucky enough to visit are being blessed with something that has never before been seen in this area.

The endangered Blue Whales, Continue Reading

One of my absolute favorite “comfort” foods is Mexican Pozole, also known as Posole (Vietnamese Pho is another of my favorites).  Pozole is a Mexican soup (actually, a pre-Columbian soup).  Continue Reading

Blue skies, beautiful beach, the great Pacific Ocean and a nice breeze…the perfect combination for the 2010 Annual Redondo Beach Annual Festival of the Kite and Yo-yo competition.  The Redondo Beach Annual Festival of the Kite, LA’s best and longest-running kite festival, held its 36th annual festival on Sunday, March 15th, 2010 and the conditions were perfect for a large turnout. Continue Reading