Runyon Canyon Hollywood

Yes, you read it right,  This place really is located within the city confines of Hollywood, Los Angeles.  It is approximately a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the Walk of  Fame, Mann's Chinese Theater and other iconic Hollywood landmarks.

You can actually get to this place by the riding the LA Metro Red Line and getting off the Hollywood Highland station.  Walk about half a mile west, then head north once you reach N Fuller St.  There are also westbound Metro buses on Hollywood boulevard if you do not feel like walking.

But I do hope you feel like walking as Runyon Canyon is mostly about walking a 3.5 mile (5.6 kms) canyon trail loop with very minimal shade.

This place has gone to the dogs

The canyon is also popular with LAs's dog owners who wish to have a large exercise area for their pooches' exercise.  The park allows dogs to be walked off leash, so don't be surprised if you see a large pit bull walking without a leash.

As mentioned earlier, you will unlikely find good shade in the canyon .  There are very few trees here with the vegetation consisting mostly of  SoCal (Southern California) desert shrubs.  As such, be prepared with adequate water and sunscreen, especially during the summer months (June - Aug).  I hiked this trail during the peak of summer and by noon when I exited the park, I was drenched with sweat, even if Southern California has low humidity.

Trees are quite rare here

I hope a dog didn't say goodbye to the cruel world;
perhaps an owner just forgot the dog's leash

At least you really know you are moving up in Los Angeles

Early birds get a giant park bench as a reward

Though the elevation of the canyon's trail peak is lower than that of other Los Angeles trails. e.g. Griffith Park, the views here are still awesome.  It is enough incentive for one to soldier one despite the brutal SoCal sun.

Latecomers get a regular bench, but still with awesome bird's eye view of Los Angeles

Well, if the view are not enough for you, this MAY still be the place for you if you want to meet a real breathing Hollywood celebrity, not like those museum wax figures.  Runyon Canyon is often mentioned as Hollywood celebrities' favorite park for walking their dogs, due to its close proximity to their homes. 

I didn't see one though, since I was not really looking for them.  Also, I highly doubt you would recognize a celebrity without make up and wearing a baseball cap, sweat pants and other un-Hollywood clothes and accessories. Unless of course, you stalk them for a living.

the mansions of Hollywood's elite

So I suggest you just come here for the view and the nice exercise you would be getting here. If you do spot a celebrity, well I guess that's cherry on the sundae for you.

Other Important Things to Consider
For those who are driving to Runyon, Canyon, please note that it may be difficult to find parking space in the area if you do not arrive really early in the morning.

Though it easily accessible from other Los Angeles attractions, keep in mind that this is still a hiking trail that requires you to wear the appropriate clothes and shoes.  It is probably not a good idea to come here in the dress and shoes you wore as a Red Carpet A-Lister hopeful at the Walk of Fame.

Runyon canyon also offers Yoga classes at the base of the trail.

*These photos were taken about 5 years ago when I was still using film.  Don't worry the park is still there.  LA rarely converts wide open spaces into shopping malls.

Taal photo heritage workshop

Last summer, I saw on the Federation of Philippine Photographers' (FPPF) website an ad for a  one-day heritage workshop to be held in various locations within the Taal - Tagaytay area.

Though I have been shooting for several years and have done events and portraiture professionally in the US and the Philippines, I still decided to join. The timing was perfect since I would already be in the Philippines on the day of the workshop.  Also, I had attended FPPF's basic photo (SLR) workshop like centuries ago (majority were then still using film!) so was I sort of curious on how it is now.

So I paid P3,800 (US$90) for the workshop, which included roundtrip van transfers to/from Metro Manila, breakfast, lunch, dinner and workshop fees.  FPPF instructor Amir Alba and an assistant accompanied  the class of 14 participants.

The meetup points for the van pickup were along different points along EDSA. Unfortunately, there was an ongoing construction on EDSA in the Ortigas area, so we were stuck on that stretch for more than 2 hours.  We were supposed to be in Tagaytay 7AMish, but it was almost 10 when we got there.

To ease our agony, our assigned van's manong driver played some music videos during the Tagaytay drive.  For some strange reason, played a lot of Taylor Swift videos.  Hmm... he must have been still in agony over the two Taylors' breakup back then.

First stop of the workshop was the Taal volcano view from one of the numerous  observation points along Tagaytay Highway.  The instructor focused on giving helpful tips for postcard quality landscape photos.

It would have been awesome if Taal exploded while we were shooting.
The perfect shot!

It was a little cloudy and the noontime sun was almost upon us, so my shot of Taal volcano was a bit hazy.  Plus, I forgot to bring my circular polarizer.   Hey, I'm still somewhat on jet lag mode as I had just flown in from Los Angeles two days earlier.

 

Translated into English, the plaque above reads "The Taal Basilica:  It was first established in 1575 by Fr Diego Espana in 1575 in the town of San Nicolas, which was originally part of Balangon.  It was destroyed in 1754 when the volcano exploded, then rebuilt at its current location in 1755.  But it was destroyed again in 1849 by an earthquake. It is considered the biggest Catholic Church in South East Asia.  Rebuilding the current basilica was started in 1856 according to text by architect Luciano Oliver. It was inaugurated in 1885."

Note to Pinoy blog readers: d ba si Maya ay taga San Nicolas?  :-)

The church's towering facade dwarfs a participant

Church entrance arch

Oops there was an ongoing wedding that Saturday morning.  Congrats to the newlyweds, whoever you are. Here's to your marriage surviving the test of time like the Taal Basilica.

Since we did not want to be gatecrashers and disrupt the solemn ceremonies, we just shot at a separate chamber of the church on the right.

Yes I know this shot has been done to death.
with a gazillion similar photos on the Internet
Might as well make it a gazillion and one

Our next stop!

The Taal Galleria was originally an ancestral house converted into a museum. The design is similar to the houses one would find in Vigan, Ilocos and Las Casas de Acuzar in Bataan.  Those two are the other famous attractions when you are talking about Spanish colonial style Filipino houses.  

This museum is an extremely critical stopover as this is where...

...we are having LUNCH. Woohooo!! 

Lunch consisted of the usual Filipino staples: adobo, grilled pork, and an eggplant dish. They also served tilapia freshwater fish, which is usually caught in the lakes of Southern Luzon.

The workshop participants had a blast during the meal, as they exchanged pleasantries and naughty jokes.  It is as if we were all long time friends, not strangers who had just met that day.  Some of the participants were classmates from recent FPPF basic photo classes, though.

Also, there was enough food to have seconds, much to everyone's delight, especially this hungry blog writer.  While waiting for the portraiture segment to commence, some of us toured the vintage camera exhibit of the museum.

we saw the usual Nikon F series SLRs

but there were Canons as well

Plus some Rollei cameras.  I wish they were for sale!

I also took some photos of the museum's well preserved architectural features.

Traditional window frame of the musem

double framing?

The portraiture segment consisted of shooting a Filipina model with the Capiz windows of the museum as our backdrop.

We also had a human interest portrait wherein an elderly lady was knitting something (I think it was a tablecloth).  We also had some fun as a few of our classmates pretended to be knitting models as well.

workshop participants waiting for departure from Taal Galleria

Casaysay church

We visited a smaller church in nearby Casaysay town for our next stop.   Though the church's design was similar to most churches in Philippine provinces, it had a nice interior deserving of several snaps from our DSLRs.

Ceiling painting

Outside the church, young kids were offering to light a candle for a P20 (US$ 0.50) donation.  Some of us obliged, especially those who needed photo subjects for their advanced photography classes with the FPPF.

We kinda got lost looking for another landscape photography location, which was a rustic countryside scene located near a bridge and a lake. If I remember correctly, there was supposed to be a final sunset shot elsewhere, but we were quite delayed due to a few wrong turns.

Nevertheless, it was just a minor hiccup as the scenery for that bridge location was perfect for that golden hour.

After the sun set, we headed back to Manila
 but not before having dinner at Jollibee Tagaytay.
 I lab you Sabado! 

Traffic going out of Tagaytay that Saturday night was also bad because it rained. But this return trip was more exciting, as we chose a perfect movie for the drive back to Manila.  we watched a movie from the Final Destination series, wherein young people desperately attempt to cheat Death to avoid getting killed in bizarre accidents e.g. vehicular.  Nice.

Angels Flight and Knoll

I was organizing and editing photos during this weekend trying to figure out what to post.  I was thinking that it had to be somewhat related to summer as it is starting to feel like summer here in Southern California. Plus, IT IS already summer in the Philippines.

Angels Knoll

Anyway, I narrowed down my list to the usual summer destinations of beaches, mountains, hotels, tourist traps, or whatever place remotely linked to summer.  But as I was organizing my photos, I stumbled onto a file folder containing photos from an old cellphone.  Voila! this is going to be THE post for summer for this week.

So here are some images from way way back, like 5 years ago. And I will reveal later why I chose them as my summer related topic.

Angels Flight
S. Hill St. Los Angeles, California

Angels flight is a unique historical landmark in downtown Los Angeles, just one block north from the Pershing Square station of the LA Metro Red Line.  It was established during the early 1900s as a railway system to serve residents of what used to be an apartment complex located much higher than street level.

The tracks are very steep at around 30 degrees inclination, but the total length of the railway is only around 300 feet. I haven't seen the actual trams move, but this would have been an extremely short train ride even if they moved at a snail's pace.

Since the two trams for the railway were not operational when I visited, I just took the stairs right beside it to reach the top.  I read recently somewhere on the Internet that they are operational now with a fare of 50 cents or a discounted 25 cents if you have the Metro TAP card.  I will probably give this a try when I visit downtown Los Angeles again.

Since there is nothing really much to do here other than stare at a hundred year old inclined mini-railway, I moved on to the next tourist spot right beside Angels Flight.


Angels Knoll
S. Hill St and W. 4th St. Los Angeles, California

The less famous view of Angels Knoll

This park is actually closer to the Pershing Square station as you hit it first before the old railway. But I decided to proceed to the railway first as back then, the Knoll was just another nondescript small park in Southern California. But it has a really nice view of the LA skyline if you looked south from this park.


However, it is the park's eastern view which made this park really famous. In 2009, that view was featured prominently in a RomCom movie, which became a sleeper hit.  The park was the favorite spot of the movie's main character, Tom (played by Joseph Gordon Levitt).  And this is where he often brought Zoeey Deschanel's female lead character.   Her name in the movie: SUMMER.

Just move a little more to the right and
you get the same view that Tom and Summer had.

*Sorry I do not have photos of the exact park bench where they sat.  There is actually now a commemorative plaque on the back of that bench.  I saw a lot of images on the Internet and there were some photos of couples having their engagement (prenuptial) photos on that bench.  

Hmmm....I don't know these people really watched the movie and knew what happened to Tom and Summer.

After this weird blog post, I will go back to regular programming of having beaches, hotels, mountains and other more"normal" travel destinations.  I could not decide on whether to feature Baguio, Mt Baldy, a Japanese garden, and more Las Vegas features

 Disclaimer:  I'm not really into RomComs.

Red Rock Canyon Nevada

I got to visit Las Vegas again during the weekend after Easter.  I've always planned to visit but never usually had the time to do so.  But for this particular Vegas trip, I was determined to finally head out to Red Rock Canyon national conservation area, which is around 30 miles west of the famed Vegas strip.

Even the drive going there is a scenic one.

It was a Saturday afternoon during spring time so there was a long line of cars entering the park. However, it only took us less than 5 minutes to line up and pay the US$7 vehicle pass to start the scenic drive.

Despite the numerous visitors, the park has ample parking space.  While you may just drive the 13 mile scenic loop, it is better to stop and park to fully appreciate the park's beauty.

the canyon truly deserves its name

With so many scenic views, Red Rock canyon is teeming with photographers and their fancy gear.  But you  do not have to worry about finding a place to set up your tripod as there is so much real estate here.

The park is so massive that even a  large influx of visitors does not make the place feel crowded.  You would not think that rowdy Las Vegas is just a mere 30-45 minute drive from Red Rock.

these hikers look so small  against the monolith in the background

It is truly a place wherein you can just sit there for hours to experience solitude and commune with nature. And the park has some basic necessary facilities such as rest rooms in the parking areas.  But do remember that these are just facilities in the wilderness, so do not expect restrooms like those in the hotel casinos.

And remember that bottled drinking water can only be obtained from the visitor center near the park entrance.

Red Rock even has litter bag stations for our furry little friends.  Keep in mind though that there are possible encounters with  wild animals such as rattlesnakes and scorpions

One parking area we visited even has benches

The scenic drive may be enough for some....

But hiking and biking offer a richer way to experience Red Rock

Very important sign to read: Desert Safety

I took some photos of the park signs with useful info for would be visitors.  Initially, I though the bottom left instruction was about checking in on Facebook. Unfortunately, you can't really use FB or other Internet apps  for letting others know your whereabouts as cellular and 4G coverage here is really weak or non existent even.

Hiking distances of trails

Park hours

Leaving Las Vegas, oops I  mean Red Rock Canyon