Flavors of Laguna Tour (Part 2 of 2)

Flavors of Laguna
Laguna Beach, CA 92652
(949) 464-8830
http://www.flavorsoflaguna.com

Continuing our Laguna Beach tour....

Cafe Zinc
350 Ocean Ave
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
(949) 494-6302
http://www.zinccafe.com



Cafe Zinc is a vegetarian cafe/bakery. We visited the market side, and everything inside the display case looked yummy.

Flavors of Laguna Tour (Part 1 of 2)

Flavors of Laguna
Laguna Beach, CA 92652
(949) 464-8830
http://www.flavorsoflaguna.com

Last weekend Dr. P and I went on the Flavors of Laguna tour in Laguna Beach. We go to Laguna Beach often, but always go to the same places. We were hoping to discover more neighborhood gems and learn more about this beautiful beach city from the tour. And we sure did!

Here are the places we visited:

La Sirena Grill
347 Mermaid St
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
(949) 497-8226
http://www.lasirenagrill.com


Chips / Guacamole / Salsa

La Sirena Grill was our starting point. We started with homemade chips, salsa and guacamole. Their guacamole is seriously good!

OC Tastefest

OC Tastefest
OC Fair and Event Center
88 Fair Drive
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
http://www.octastefest.com

Dr. P and I went to the first ever OC Tastefest. Regular ticket was $12/person, and it came with 10 tasting tickets. We got our tickets on one of those daily deal website for the same price of $12/person, but it comes with 20 tasting tickets.



The tasting event was held at OC Fair Ground. We imagined it would be a big event, but it was really tiny. We went on Saturday, and some of the participating restaurants that we wanted to try wasn't there. They were there on Friday instead. Also we thought 20 tasting tickets means you get 20 tastings. But actually every taste cost different amount of tickets. Some cost up to the entire 20 tickets. You can buy more tasting tickets for $0.50/each.

OC Pet Expo 2012

We went to Pet Expo two weeks ago. It was so much fun! There were so many dogs I wish I could take home.... I didn't take too many pictures because I was too busy playing with the animals.

Morning Stroll at Laguna Beach

After our brunch at The Cottage Restaurant, we went for a leisure stroll at the beach.

OC Brew Ha Ha

Lucky me! I won two tickets for OC Brew Ha Ha from Yelp. I entered the beer fest contest for Dr. P because he loves beer. I wasn't too excited about it since I am not that into beer. But the event turned out to be so fun that we both want to go back again next year.



The event was held at Hidden Valley Private Park, which is right between Verizon Amphitheater and Wild Rivers. Parking is free, which was great. As we were entering the park, we saw some hot beer promo girls. One of the guy from the group walking behind us said, "Look! There are tourists here." A girl replied,"Tourists? They're not tourists! They're beer girls. You think tourists from Germany would really dress like that?" haha....

Soka University

Soka University
1 University Drive
Aliso Viejo, CA 92656
(888) 600-7652
http://www.soka.edu

Soka University is the most beautiful college I've ever seen! I can't really remember who told me about it. It was some random people we met somewhere. We told them we live in Aliso Viejo, and they told us we have to pay the beautiful Soka University a visit. Glad we listened to their advice!



This was the view we saw when we enter the school. This is a college? Seriously? This seems more like a luxury resort! So there's this "lake" and lots of water fountains. Then there's a really nice lotus pond in front of their library. Lots and lots of green grass with lots and lots of seating area. The students there must feel like they are on vacation everyday.

Laguna Beach Stroll

After dinner at Mosun, we had a nice walk around Laguna Beach.



We walked into this little plaza. There was a band playing live music on the outdoor seating area. We saw this tiny little chihuahua sleeping on the table. Super cute!

[Trabuco Canyon] [Winery] Hamilton Oaks Vineyard & Winery

Hamilton Oaks Vineyard & Winery
31111 Hamilton Trl
Trabuco Canyon, CA 92679
(949) 459-6913
http://www.hamiltonoaksvineyard.com

I bought a wine tasting at Hamilton Oaks Vineyard for 2 for only $10 from Groupon. We went and enjoyed some wine on a sunny afternoon.



I didn't even know there is a winery in South Orange County. This is a very small winery. Actually this is the owner's house. He operates his business from home. The house was divided to two sides. One side is where he and his family lives, the other side has a wine bar with patio seating area for wine tasting.