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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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 Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 1:19 am Post subject: Orange County & Long Beach |
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Okay, took a 2-day trip and spent it ALMOST entirely in Orange County as well as Long Beach, California.
Pretty impressive. I've been to Los Angeles county a small number of times.. and never cared for it. But OC was alright.
Newport Beach and Huntington Beach were beautiful.. although I heard and saw prices for housing was way way way up there.
Santa Ana had one of the largest Vietnamese and only Vietnamese communities I've ever seen anywhere. For about 3-4 miles, it was ONLY Vietnamese signs (no English anywhere). VERY IMPRESSIVE. Incidently, I found one almost exactly like that with Koreans in Garden Grove. I liked that.
Also, in Long Beach.. saw a similar one for Cambodia.. except very intermixed with tons of Mexican signs/restaurnts/businesses, etc... and it actually had a much rougher edge/element to it than the Korea & Vietnam ones in Garden Grove and Santa Ana respectively. (Incidently, I'm confused if the Vietnamese community is Santa Ana or Westminister).
Also, drove up to Carson.. and drove through the Philippines community.. but not nearly as impressive as the Vietnamese or Korean ones. It was a bit sketchy and very mixed with others as well.
Anyhow, I quite liked the idea.. and I have to admit both the weather and the extremely large asian communities grouped like that were pretty impressive. The beaches at Huntington and Newport were quite amazing as well. All and all, an interesting place. |
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PolyChronic Time Girl
Joined: 15 Dec 2004
Location: Korea Exited
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| Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 2:13 am Post subject: |
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I'm an OC girl...lived in Fullerton last(well, that's not the "real" OC). You went to the real nice places...I'd love to live there, but as you saw, housing in upscale OC is insane!! Although I'm not a Southern California girl at heart (I'm originally Oregonian), one of the things I love about that area are the large selections of vietnamese restaurants (Vietnames has the best food!). Laguna beaches are some of my favorite areas. Well, I'll be back at Cal State Fullerton this Fall studying for my Master's. First thing I'm gonna do when I get home is dig my bike out of the garage and go for a loooong bike ride at Hunington Beach. This pasty-white girl needs a tan!
Tiger Beer, if you're ever headed out that way in the future, give me a PM. It'd be trippy to see another "Korean survivor" out in the OC!  |
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 2:54 am Post subject: |
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No plans for OC anytime soon again.. but then again, you never know.
I really liked that Vietnamese community though.. if I were to live in the OC for some reason.. I'd definetely consider a house within walking distance of that street!!
I looked at the average Santa Ana housing prices.. and significantly less than Huntington Beach or Newport Beach.. but still up there. Wonder how they are right around 'Little Saigon' in particular.
Vietnamese food has always been my favorite by far.. nothing even close to it. I would absolutely love to live near a neighborhood that large, that big, and that extensive with nearly 100% Vietnamese. (Well, that and the fact that the perfect climate is right there and the perfect beaches are a short car drive away).
As I was driving around OC though.. I kept wondering.. where do most people work? Do they commute to LA County? I saw some large office buildings in Irvine and Long Beach.. do they supply enough potential 'office-like jobs' or even 'temp work' for the people around there.. or is it almost required for most OC residents to commute to work in LA county? |
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white_shadow
Joined: 28 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 10:12 pm Post subject: |
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| PolyChronic Time Girl wrote: |
| I'm an OC girl |
Hello fellow Titan.
Regarding the O.C. It's an alright place to live but not my kind of place. I've made up my mind to move after graduation. I'll probably head up to the bay area or to the Seattle region. Basically nice places where my friends have moved to since graduation.
Next summer I might work for LG or Samsung (in SK), Microsoft (Seattle), or some tech firm in the bay. I'd prefer the Microsoft gig, since I'm already in SK.
Although SK again wouldn't be so bad. I'm considering this a practice run. Becoming more fluent in Korean (especially reading and writing). If I come here again next year, I'll be more prepared. |
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schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
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| Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2005 2:28 am Post subject: |
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I spoke on the phone tonight with my daughter & her Korean husband, they live in Belmont Shore (Long Beach) a couple doors up from the beach. Its sweet, & an easy stroll from a "village" that features some cool shops & international restaurants. I visited last year. Lots of moms pushing strollers.
My son-in-law commutes to Irvine -- indeed theres not much work in Belmont Shore. Rent on a modest place there is close to $2000 & purchasing starts at half a million, very low end. Crazy! Nevertheless nice.
But theyre giving serious thought to relocating to Busan, or Beijing, or Africa. I'm rooting for Africa, it'd be a swell excuse to visit. |
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guangho
Joined: 19 Jan 2005
Location: a spot full of deception, stupidity, and public micturation and thus unfit for longterm residency
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| Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:39 am Post subject: |
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| Schwa, I'm just curious how Africa managed a spot in the rankings next to Busan and Beijing? |
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2005 1:39 pm Post subject: |
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| schwa wrote: |
I spoke on the phone tonight with my daughter & her Korean husband, they live in Belmont Shore (Long Beach) a couple doors up from the beach. Its sweet, & an easy stroll from a "village" that features some cool shops & international restaurants. I visited last year. Lots of moms pushing strollers.
My son-in-law commutes to Irvine -- indeed theres not much work in Belmont Shore. Rent on a modest place there is close to $2000 & purchasing starts at half a million, very low end. Crazy! Nevertheless nice.
But theyre giving serious thought to relocating to Busan, or Beijing, or Africa. I'm rooting for Africa, it'd be a swell excuse to visit. |
I might have explored that area of Long Beach.. really impressive.. tons of shops and stores everywhere.. and you could walk to the beach as well. Ideal setting.
Outside of that area of Long Beach (going north and away from the beach).. the town itself gets real ugly. Although I quite liked all the Cambodian restaurants on Anaheim Avenue.
For the cost of living though.. for me, would be even more interesting to be in Honolulu - that is if willing to try to even attempt to pay that much in rent or housing or whatever else.
Interesting choices of your daughter and son-in-law though.. I've heard great things about expats going to Beijing for opening up various types of businesses. Seems like a lot more things are accessable for foreigners in Beijing than they are in Seoul or Korea from what I hear (although I'm guessing your son-in-law might be able to get around that with his Korean background).
I'm also curious of their interest in Africa and what they might do there or where they might live. |
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schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
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| Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 2:47 am Post subject: |
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Son-in-law's a dentist. He was doing highly specialized work here but US regulations have reduced him to general family practice. Pays well enough but boring, is the sense I get.
His sister lives in Beijing with her trader husband & theyre thriving. High on the opportunity scale, evidently. Wouldnt mind a family connection there.
Africa would be a volunteer stint for a year or 2, to do good & have an adventure. I dont think theyve looked at specific locales but there are lots of available situations.
But yeh, Belmont Shore CA isnt a bad global option either. |
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SuperFly
Joined: 09 Jul 2003
Location: In the doghouse
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| Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 1:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Tiger, You drove around the Huntington Beach area but you didn't pass Bolsa Chica road (one or two blocks from Westminster and a few more from B | |
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