I miss the Lakers

I’ve been a loyal fan of the Lakers since working in Los Angeles. Now in the finals, I’m cheering for Kobe, Fisher and the rest of the Lakers team. There are some new faces in the lineup such as Pau Gasol and Jordan Farmar who I don’t know anything about. But Kobe Bryant I know. And Lamar Odom and Luke Walton too.

The mrs thinks that Boston is the better team because they’re the stronger offence but she too, is loyal to the Lakers. There are no pro basketball teams in Canada so basketball isn’t as popular here as hockey is. But there are a lot of Lakers’ fans here including us.

 

I miss seeing Jay Leno

Ok, I have to admit that there are some crazy drivers around in LA but one thing for sure, I think some of the best drivers are there too. 

One day when I was driving in Burbank, I was behind an antique red fire truck. After a few blocks, I was growing impatient so I decided to pass. I changed lanes and speeded up. Upon passing it, we were curious to see who the driver and when we looked, we were pleasantly surprised that it was Jay Leno at the stern. We waved to him and he smiled back, raising his eyebrows at us.

I heard Jay owns several antique cars and he is often seen driving around in them in Burbank.

 

I miss Roy’s in Newport Beach

We celebrated the mrs’ birthday at Roy Yamaguchi’s place in Newport Beach. Our favorite is the fixe prix menu that includes a delicious appetizer, main course and dessert. The mrs is allergic to shrimp so she would ask for a substitute which is a ahi tuna poke. I would have the shrimp skewer. The mrs would have the macadamia nut crusted mahi mahi and I would have the braised short ribs, even though I like the mahi mahi.

The dessert is the signature chocolate souffle to die for. No one on earth makes it like Roy’s. The chocolate oozes out when you slice into it. There is a Roy’s in Anaheim, Maui, Kauai, 2 in Phoenix/ Scottsdale, Newport Beach and I’m sure there are more elsewhere.

 

I miss Jerry’s Deli

There are 2 things I miss most at Jerry’s Deli on Ventura Blvd in Studio City, the green tomatoes and the chicken noodle soup. Before you think it is a weird combination, let me tell you that these are served separately.

When we used to go to Jerry’s, they would bring you a stainless steel dish filled with deli pickles for free. I would always ask for the green tomatoes instead. Strangely enough, after I started asking for them, they would run out. I think it’s the pickles that people like but for me, I love the green tomatoes.

The chicken noodle soup with the matzo balls was served with a bagel. It was so good.

 

I miss Roselli’s pizza

I love new york style pizzas, not the sicilian types but the extra large and incredibly thin pizzas that you can fold in half. I used to love ordering pizzas from Roselli’s in Burbank. It’s located on GlenOaks Blvd but I heard they opened another location in North Hollywood under a different name. 

 

I miss seeing Sasha Cohen

When I used to follow the figure skating circuit, I used to like attending World Championships and seeing our favorite stars on ice. Equally, it was nice to see them perform for fun, rather than in a stressed out environment and being graded like cattle.

Sasha Cohen, the Olympic Silver Champion is one that I miss seeing on the ice. She is so dainty yet so strong to launch into the air and make all those revolutions before landing softly. I can barely do that on my carpet, let alone on ice. 

It turns out that she is the daughter of one of our friends’ boss in LA. Small world.

 

I miss seeing movies at ArcLight

Tonight we went to see Horton Hears a Who starring Jim Carrey, Carol Burnett and the guy who played Evan in Evan Almighty. I think his name is Sam Catrell but I’m not sure. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

The theatre we went to, was nothing like the ArcLight in LA. You don’t get to pick your seat in advance of the movie like in the ArcLight. For the same price as anywhere else, I don’t know why more people don’t see their movies there. If I was in LA, that’s where I would go to see all my movies.

Back to the movie, Jim Carrey was great and so was Carol Burnett. I think they did a great job in the animation and the jokes. I highly recommend it for your kids and for adults.

 

I miss golfing with the Drifters

I took a day off from work to go golfing at Encino Golf Course. It was a nice sunny day and by 10am, it was already hot. I put my name down on the starter list and waited on the putting green for my name to be called. Within 20 minutes, my name was called along with three others that were on the waiting list too.We were getting ready to tee off when Bobby Hendricks stepped up and introduced himself. At first I didn’t know who he was, only that his name sounded familiar. After the first hole, we chatted and when I asked him what he did for a living, he said he used to be the lead singer for the Drifters. I said I was too young to remember but I asked him if ‘Under the Boardwalk’ was his song. He said yes.Bobby was a pretty good golfer but he occasionally would hit a slice. I kept up with him and talked about his next gig which was going to be in Europe. He told me something surprising. He said he found a CD the other day with his picture on it and a collection of songs by the Drifters, but he wasn’t making a cent from the sale of this CD.That was a surprise to me and I felt sorry for him. We finished our round and I asked him for an autograph. He signed my golf card and I still have it today but I miss golfing with celebrities like him. 

 

I miss seeing Michelle Kwan

She was wearing her black leather coat as she sat at the gate in Calgary, Canada’s airport, minding her own business. We came along and broke the silence as my wife said hello to her. She looked up and flashed us her famous smile - the one that she had at the World’s Championship in Edmonton, not too long ago.We asked her if she was still competing and she said she still is. But we haven’t seen her for awhile and don’t know what she’s up to. She said she was in Canada visiting a friend. That’s nice she has friends in Canada.But we miss seeing her on the ice winning trophies like the old days. 

 

I miss seeing Celebrities at Target

One of our favorite pasttimes on Sundays when we lived and worked in LA was to shop. We would go to the new mall in Burbank where there was a Target. One day when we were cruising through the aisles looking for clearance items for the home, we caught a glimpse of Kirstie Alley. We know her as the actress from Cheers! She was by herself and scurrying around the store with a pretty full cart. If she was relaxed and approachable, we would have asked for an autograph but our sixth sense told us to stay away.