Newport and Balboa

I have to say, there's something about coffee shops over here. It seems to be the social hub of the community. Many people come to the coffee shops to work, to catch up with friends, have meeting with clients, or to just drink coffee.
And i have to say...its grown on me. For a while now i have been into coffee and enjoyed a cup in the morning or in the late afternoon. So you could say i would like the idea of coffee shops, but i guess it's not the same back home, we don't use them as the community hub, but basically just a place to 'buy coffee'.
So I'm sat in a coffee shop in the centre of Glendora, using the wifi and enjoying a 16oz double shot latte with full fat milk (well i had to be American about it!).
Had a busy week this week with plenty of changes, hence the late blog post!! i guess it gets harder as i get more into life out here as more and more things start to come up...
Started the week off with men's group. Took at trip out into the nearby mountains for some food and fellowship. Was really nice as their were about 30 of us that managed to attend. The eatery itself was a lot different to what i was expecting. First of all, the menu, which i persuaded the waitress to let me keep was hilarious. I think they must have let the character 'Tim nice but dim' write it up.
I decided that after being over here for nearly a month that i was going to indulge in an American steak. Little did i know, that when you order it medium rare or any other combination for that matter, you will recieve the same result...well done. I did mention it to the waitress and she was happy to get me another one, however through quick and informational guidance from the others, i changed my mind and spent the next hour chewing gristle...brought me back to the days of mums pork chops, thats for sure!!
Tuesday brought some time at the beach with an old friend. I got to meet up with Caleb, a guy that i had met during my time out in Canada. He's an OC boy born and bred, loves his surfing and is a local lifeguard at one of the Orange County beaches. We headed to Huntington beach for the US Open Surf Championships. Was really cool to see pro surfers in action, especially the best in the world.
On Wednesday night i moved out of Jon and Kim's place into a self contained flat at the back of the senior associates house. John Dix (or JD as he is commonly known) has a wonderful family, full of laughter and fun. Im sure i will enjoy it very much here...
Yesterday i headed out on a company122 trip to Newport Beach. After negotiating the So Cal traffic, we eventually got to the beach at around 3pm. Not to say that it was a bad thing because we got to enjoy the best part of the day at the beach and the waves were huge, reaching 8foot by the end. Definitely a washing machine if your not careful!!
Afterwards we went for some food at a place called BJ's. Its typical American cuisine, burgers, pizza's, wings and the famous 'pazookie', which is a warm cookie with ice cream on top :) WOW!!
Took a trip over to Balboa island just before we headed back home. A could definitely see myself buying a beach house over there, although i think that the price tags of $2million plus might be a stumbling block!!