I went to the September 11 Memorial and Museum in the summer of 2012. I came across this sculpture of the old New York sky line. The medium was a salvaged piece of the World Trade Center. Definitely not junk.
Theme: Junk
When we travel abroad, we noticed in large cities there tends to be a lot of parks. What is shocking is that people actually use them and use every amenity available from soccer (football) fields, gym equipment, playsets, and open space to practice yoga. The afternoons in Paris were filled with elementary school children playing in the park. When the sun is out, people come out to the parks to celebrate good weather by running, walking, wandering, using the gym equipment, and simply people watching.
Luckily living in Los Angeles, people do use parks and green spaces. There are some parks I drive to and times there are no spaces for me to park my car. But I think Los Angeles falls in the minority compared to other large American cities who have parks. One time when we were visiting our in-laws in suburban San Diego, we took our dogs to a dog park nearby. Sadly we were the only people and they were the only dogs at the dog park. There is another neighborhood park nearby my in-laws’ home and most of the times it is deserted. You would think in suburban neighborhoods people would be encouraged to go to the parks — it uses so much land. Also, it is not like people in the suburbs play in their large backyard with a swimming pool and plastic playground set. Instead I’ve observed most of the suburbanites tend to stay indoors playing on their smartphone or their Xbox.
Tuesday Photo Challenge Theme: Yard
When I do long walks or run long distance, I always keep my eyes peeled for any markers. It indicates that I am going on the right path and it is a way of how I measure progress. I remembered when I ran my first half-marathon, each mile marker I crossed meant I was closer to the finish line.
For this week’s theme, Number, I want to feature the Walk of the Gods  (or Sentiero degli Dei in Italian) in the Amalfi Coast. It is a 7 km hike between Bomerano and Nocelle (the town above Positano). My husband and I started from Bomerano. It is a fairly easy hike. Along the way, you will find these numbered markers. From Bomerano, it starts at 15 and counts down. If you are starting from Nocelle, it counts up.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Number
This photo goes back to 2005 when my family and I went to Paris one summer. We were on a bus and we saw all these rollerbladers. It appeared to be an impromptu parade by the Parisians. There were also runners, people dancing on parade floats, and music — though I do not have any pictures of that. Anyways this parade was a campaign bid for Paris to participate in a future summer Olympics. It was lively to watch.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Action
I’m blogging from Paris. I’ll be on vacation for the next few days so the timing of posts will be a little funny.
Anyways, this is a photo I took at the Getty Villa in Malibu last year. It is like a smaller version of Hearst Castle in San Simeon. I do envy the statue who gets to relax in the pool. It looks like he is on a pool float rather than a rock.
Tuesday photo challenge: Rest
I do not have any cats of my own. But I do have this photo of a feral cat. I took it when exploring the little Italian fishing village, Riomaggiore. It looked like it preferred being left alone.
On another note, I know I haven’t posted a lot lately. I”ve got plenty of posts in draft mode waiting to go live. It just needs a little bit of polishing.
The most underrated thing about Los Angeles is the nature. You don’t need to drive very far to find it.
Let’s see if I can keep up this weekly photo challenge.
In Florence (Firenze), Italy, 2015. I could not help but pose next to this little door.
My husband and I went to Italy for our (finally) honeymoon. I am excited to come back to Italy five years later.
Tuesday Photo Challenge: Portal
I am still in the process of organizing my photos for my SmugMug site. Now since I feel like I’ve settled, I can use this opportunity to organize my SmugMug site and share some photos I find on the way. I’ll perhaps use this time to do a little reminiscing.
To start, Cusco is a charming city worth exploring. If you are going to Machu Picchu, please do not overlook Cusco. On our first day of exploring, we found this large patch of green and I could not help but admire it. It just looks relaxing.
For years when I go to the Bay Area, I would take a plane ride. It only took 45 minutes from LA to SJC.
Then again, most of my trips to the Bay Area were related to work. When I had to work somewhere in Southern California, I drove a lot. My long travels for work made me hate driving.
When I went to Hearst Castle at the beginning of the month, we drove. I almost dreaded the idea of driving so many hours because it brought back a lot of irritating memories of driving long distances everywhere. But I no longer work there, and I now take public transit for work. I need to remind myself that I can now drive for fun.
But also I forgot how wonderful the central coast is.
We get to pass by the cute Danish town of Solvang. Enjoy split-pea soup for lunch at Buelton.
Admire the golden hills in San Simeon.
…and of course, admire the coastlines. We passed by a cute little beach town called Cayucos. We did not spend too much time there. We stopped by for a bathroom break and got some coffee at Cayucos Coffee before heading back home.
My summer will mostly consist of reading, writing, final grad school project, and home remodeling. Somehow we were able to fit in some excursions too. They’re not too far… One is even 30 minutes away from us.
I have not been to Hearst Castle since I was in elementary school. A couple of weekends ago, I went to Hearst Castle for the second time, and I have to say, it is opulent as I remembered. It only a 3-hour drive our house. Maybe next time my husband and I will sign up for the grand rooms inside the main house.
The tour guide showed us one of the more unadorned places in the compound. The owner, William Randolph Hearst, was always changing his mind throughout the process; thus, it never finished.Â
Other than admiring the grand architecture and grand views, don’t forget to look closer and appreciate the details from ceiling to floor.
Check out the rest in my Smug Mug Gallery!
Eat, Play, Live 