LONG DISTANCE HERO: If Thich Huyen Quang...

LONG DISTANCE HERO: If Thich Huyen Quang wins the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize, he’ll have a Republican he has never met to thank. Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) has nominated the monk, who heads the Unified Buddhist Church in Vietnam, for the prestigious prize. . . . Quang is now in a Vietnam re-education camp. “That means he’s in prison,” says Royce assistant Young Kim. . . . The congressman made the nomination at the request of several local Vietnamese American groups.

ALICE’S RESTAURANT: Restaurant waitresses may come and go, but Alice McCoy is the exception. For 28 years, she’s been on the breakfast shift at Hof’s Hut on Beach Boulevard in Westminster. . . . “The customers kept me going,” she says. “Some have stayed with me so long, I’ve watched them raise their families.” McCoy raised four children of her own, as a single parent, on her waitress salary. . . . Management of the chain is throwing a huge retirement lunch party for her Wednesday, at the restaurant.

SISTERHOOD: The members of MANA, a Latina group of professional women, threw themselves a party last week at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, complete with serenade by a 14-piece Mexican band. . . . Herlinda Sullivan, co-founder of the group--its name is short for hermana or “sister” in Spanish--explains: “We wanted to pat ourselves on the back and let people know what we do. Like Ginger Rogers used to say, ‘We do it the same as the men and backward even and we still don’t get the recognition.’ ”

PECS CITY: You get a bonus if you’re going to Disneyland today. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be there, working out as part of the Anaheim amusement park’s Family Fitness Day. . . . The muscular box-office star is chairman of the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. He’ll be joined near Sleeping Beauty’s Castle by Olympic decathlete Bruce Jenner and fitness pioneer Jack LaLanne, plus local young gymnasts. After a morning workout, Arnold will even ride in a special Main Street parade.