2012 Challenge: Update

There is this mantra I tell myself, especially, when I'm down and I feel as if life is not going as I had planned/hoped/dreamed, and it goes something like this: Do the things you need to do, and do the things you love to do, and everything will eventually fall into place.  In their right time.  

So, I've been keeping up with my 2012 Challenge: reading, writing, walking/hiking (a lot!), exploring, learning, and trying my very best to live in the present.

I've done 2 out of the 42 Secret Stairs Walks, and the last one I did turned out to be a charming discovery of these small, quaint hillside streets adorned with exquisite homes of varied designs and architecture: stone, Spanish style to modern to craftsman.  Here are pictures from that Hollywood Bowl and High Tower Walk.  (Note: I didn't take pictures of the homes.  I didn't want the residents to think I was some paparazzi taking pictures of them early in the morning.  But I took pictures of the stairs and the breathtaking view.)

the first set of stairs (103 steps)

second set of stairs (110 steps)

the view from the top (it wasn't a very clear day, but still beautiful, i think)

high tower

close-up: high tower

Then, last Saturday, I thought I'd go on a little adventure, and so, I went on the (500) Days of Summer Downtown tour.  I took the subway to Downtown L.A., and spent my afternoon with a group of strangers, exploring L.A. and talking about the movie.  Here are a few pictures from the hundred that I took that afternoon:

i love this mural!

i love clouds!  and reflection of clouds on the buildings, picture of heaven!

angel's flight

view from angel knolls park

view (again) from angel knolls park

catching the sunset reflecting from the building

The tour reminded me of how beautiful (and historical) Los Angeles really is.  Now, I'm obsessed with learning more about this city I love and grew up in, but yet, don't know very well.  I guess, it's never too late to start.  Journeys and adventures can happen even in our own backyard.   

nostalgic L.A.

I've always found it fascinating how foreigners view Los Angeles.  I'm always curious about their expectations of Los Angeles, and interested in how to some extent Los Angeles does or does not live up to those expectations.  Talking to foreigners about L.A. always reminds me of why I love L.A. and why I dislike L.A.  I guess you can say I miss the L.A. I knew growing up, and that I do not care so much for this trendy-Hollywood-brand-name L.A. 

I miss the blue collar neighborhood I grew up in where ice cream trucks were the best afternoon treats, and the two-dollar double-features at the Clinton theater was the happening spot.  Way before the Beverly Center became a trendy tourist attraction, and when Shatto Lanes and the college arcade were the coolest places to go to.  The time when LACMA and the La Brea Tar Pits was the favored after-school hangout.  And when taco trucks just served tacos and burritos at unknown/unpopular neighborhoods. 

I'm nostalgic for old L.A.  I miss the old L.A.   

I miss the old us - the neighborhood kids that came from different cultures and backgrounds but saw no difference in each other.  The neighborhood kids that naturally bonded because we came from similar immigrant-working class household, and we understood how it was to have limited means but big dreams.  I miss the old us that appreciated the smallest treats - a quarter for a scoop of Thrifty's ice cream, or a Big Stick popsicle, or a Caramba soda.  I'm nostalgic for the time when our interracial neighborhood was the most fascinating place because really, it was.  I miss the old L.A.  I miss the old us.   

*photo via americanimages