New York, New York

Last week, I took a quick (3 days, 2 nights) trip to NYC to visit friends, go to museums and eat good food. Here are my highlights:

POD Hotel - For the most part, NYC hotel rooms are small. So why not embrace that and save money at the same time? I loved my perfectly-designed double room at the POD, but what I loved even more was that I paid as much for two nights than I would have for one night at an equally stylish hotel. It's also a block away from the 6 train which is very convenient if you're going to hit the museums on the Upper East Side, and because it's in Midtown, it's an easy to walk to most of the main tourist attractions. The only thing to note is that some of the rooms use the bathrooms in the hallway, which can lead to interesting smells and dormlike/noisy frolicking in the public areas, but I didn't really have a problem with this because I have a high tolerance for noise and I had my own bathroom.

Frick Museum - Still my favorite museum, probably because I'm such a fan of "America's Castles"-type residences. But the collection is outstanding if you like beautiful paintings by Old Masters (with some exceptions). My only quibble is that I wished Frick had collected some Sargents, but I'll take the Whistlers happily as substitutes. I thought it was ironic that the special exhibition consisted of paintings from the Norton Simon, but since I love that collection, too, I didn't really mind.

Madame X at the Met - Probably one of my favorite paintings of all time. When I was last in NYC, it was on loan to another museum, but this time, I got to fully admire John Singer Sargent's controversial painting at my leisure.

Tea @ Alice's Tea Cup - Amazing scones! I had "The Nibbler" tea service which consisted of one scone (pumpkin for me) with jam and cream, a rather hearty tea sandwich (Lapsang Souchong Chicken on multigrain bread), various cookies, and a pot of tea (Lavender Earl Grey). I was pretty ravenous, but this filled me up very quickly, so it makes me wonder who would consider this just a nibble.

Sofia Wine Bar - I needed a quiet place near my hotel to catch up with an old friend and found this new wine bar a block away. The sommelier was very accommodating and helped me to zero in on the perfect glass of Brunello.

Lemony mini croissants @ Sant Ambroeus - These came in a bread basket I had during Saturday morning brunch at Sant Ambroeus and I'm still thinking about them. Dusted with powdered sugar, they had a faint lemon flavor that brightened the buttery sweetness. This restaurant/pasticceria/gelateria gets extra points for the sweet but sophisticated design of its branding (the waiters even wore pink button-down shirts to match!)

Food @ MOMA - I like eating at museums when I get the chance and usually the food is okay to good, but I have to say that the food service at MOMA was revelatory. For lunch at Cafe 2, the lemon ricotta manicotti with swiss chard I had was sublime and better than many dishes I've had at proper sit-down restaurants. Later in the afternoon, despite already eating a chocolate chunk cookie at lunch, I shared the inventive MOMA sundae with a friend at Terrace 5: raspberry & fromage blanc sorbets, cheesecake, fresh berries, vanilla sauce. Decadent, but light.

MOMA Store - I bought a new watch here in addition to some other cool things, and spent more money than I had planned. If you like museum stores and good design, you'd probably drop a bit of cash here, too.

Pret a Manger - I loved these grab and go food shops in London and was glad to see them stateside. If only they were in L.A...

AirTrain - This is the first time I've had the chance to take the AirTrain to and from JFK and I have to say that it was very convenient (especially since my hotel was a few blocks away from the subway station.) Previously, I used to take the Grayline Bus from JFK to Grand Central, but I liked this much better. Unless I have more than one suitcase to carry by myself, I will definitely be sticking with the Airtrain for my NYC airport transfers.

I really enjoyed myself on this trip because I didn't have to really worry about orienting myself (which can be a drawback when you go to a new location). I just got to re-experience all the stuff I love, while checking out some of the new things I've heard about. To me, NYC is one of the best repeat travel destinations because it does a fantastic job of preserving its history and character while still moving forward at a dizzying pace. It's always easy to find something to satisfy any one of my many moods and I am never bored there. While I love home, it's definitely a nice change of pace from laidback and less-accessible Los Angeles.

Hike #4: Monrovia Canyon Park: Bill Cull Trail

Since I was going hiking with TB today, I decided to choose a trail that was a little farther into the woods than I would normally go alone. I wanted to see a waterfall, so I chose the Bill Cull Trail at Monrovia Canyon Park, which juts into the Angeles Forest. The trail starts out high above the canyon:

...before meandering around a pretty stream:

...and then ending up at the waterfall:


Along the mostly-shaded way, you are surrounded by a beautiful overgrown woodland with rocky canyon walls and lush greenery:

My favorite shot of the day:

Hike #3: South Coast Botanic Garden

Yesterday, I was in the South Bay for a christening, so since I was down there anyway, I decided to visit the South Coast Botanic Garden in Palos Verdes for an easy hike:

The photos I took focused on pattern and texture:





Reflected pattern:


The alien landscape-like White Floss Silk Tree:


Snowy cactus with berry-colored buds:

A little ladybug:


I tried not to take too many pictures of flowers since I think I did enough of that at Descanso, but I couldn't resist this one:

A lone calla lily amongst the deep green leaves.

On the way home, I took a detour to visit the Bluebird Cafe in Culver City, trying their chocolate and coconut cupcakes. They weren't bad, but they didn't crack my top 5. Someday, I'll get around to posting my cupcake rankings (along with the macaron ones.)

Hike #2: Lower Arroyo Seco

For the second hike, I wanted something easy but with lots of visual interest, so yesterday I chose the Lower Arroyo Seco Park Trail. I spent a lot of time taking pictures of bridges:

An abstraction:

A stab at black and white artsy-ness:

With the sun setting:

Golden light touching the arroyo (again, I'm a sucker for this kind of landscape):

And dappled on this quaint path up to the street (yes, it's a little Thomas Kinkade-ish, but it was gorgeous in person):

I was glad that I started this hike in the late afternoon, because the quality of the light was so beautiful. As such, it's my favorite time to take pictures. Instead of trying a new food place afterward, I actually went to Europane beforehand. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to try their famous croissants, but I had a wonderful carved turkey sandwich on their olive bread along with a giant pistachio macaron, which had great cream filling, but was a little too chewy for my taste. I'll have to come back for the pain au chocolat.

Hike #1: Debs Park

Last week, I went to Debs Park in Highland Park for the first of my 60 hikes. After parking at the Audubon Center and deciding on my route, I ascended up the hill on the City View Trail (obviously named for its views of Downtown L.A.):

...which eventually led to a nice little pond at the top:


I wandered around a bit (I can't resist taking pictures of dappled light):

...before finally descending and checking out the LEED Platinum-rated Audubon Center (which my company worked on):

Overall, it was a good hike with several decent climbs to work out your calves. To reward myself afterward, I hung out in South Pasadena, eating a fantastic caprese sandwich at the Heirloom Bakery (see my tweets) and trying out the cupcakes at My Sweet Cupcake. Then, I went to the Pasadena Museum of California Art:

I've been wanting to go here for awhile, and though it is a small museum space, it does have its own charm. My favorite exhibit was of 3D images of Mars, courtesy of JPL and Caltech. After putting on the requisite specs, the Martian topography really popped out with the perspectives changing as I walked along the large prints.

Anyway, from one type of landscape to another, it was quite a full day!

How I'm Going to Spend This Weekend (and at least 60 others)

60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Los Angeles (on Google)
Eat: Los Angeles (the Web site and blog)

Hiking endlessly beautiful trails (burning calories painlessly) + Eating amazingly good food (gaining calories happily) = Perfect Weekend Equilibrium

Photo Excursion: Descanso Gardens

Yesterday, I finally made the drive up to La Canada to visit Descanso Gardens. Since I'd never been, I took the tram tour (which I recommend for a good overview), and afterwards, I walked around and took some pictures, mainly of flowers:
Cherry blossoms:Mini Daffodils (I love yellow flowers!):Lilac from the Lilac Garden:

The gardens are known mainly for their camellias, which are everywhere:

Probably my favorite part of the grounds, though, were the green grassy knolls punctuated by the wild, beautiful coast live oaks (very popular for film/photo shoots):

This is the kind of landscape I love. I got a taste of it while I was up in San Luis Obispo this past week, and now I'm planning an extended trip to the central coast for more.