how high?

a strangely skewed photo of the balconies at pilgrim towers, one of pasadena's retirement communities. 

after several years of taking photos, i'm still not quite sure on why some pictures turn out looking warped as this photo does.  i'm sure it has something to do with the curvature of the camera lens, but that is as far as i get.

walking back to the waterfall

just a small glimpse at some of the path to get back to the eaton canyon waterfall.

eaton canyon waterfall

last saturday a group of youth and adults from our church took a hike at eaton canyon - all the way back to the picturesque waterfall.  this was especially monumental because after more than three years in pasadena i had never been back to this waterfall.

i'll show you a few more pictures from our hike over the next few days.

inviting?

i'll let you be the judge of whether this photo feels warm and welcoming - but i felt that the faint glow coming through the stained glass window at messiah lutheran church was drawing me in.

fallout shelter

i'm going to have to reach out to our wonderful public information officer to give us the stor of this fallout shelter sign located near city hall.

an old relic from the cold war?
a place to hide from palm branches when it gets windy in the fall?
a hidden clubhouse for those who work in and around city hall?

el pollo unico

some consider this the place for chicken in pasadena.  just the yelp reviews alone meant that i should have visited this place a long time ago.  but it wasn't until this week that i finally jumped in and experienced el pollo unico.

the menu is stripped down and simple.  you choose how many pieces of chicken you want and choose from a handful of sides - tortillas automatically included.  while we weren't blown away with the side dishes, the chicken was wonderful - clearly some of the best i've ever had. 

el pollo unico used to be across north lake avenue in the 7-11 plaza, but has moved to a refurbished newer location (which includes this odd poster, seen below).

temple sky

a glimpse of the sky and a bit of architectural detail at my recent visit to the hsi lai temple.

more skywatch friday at the skywatch friday website.

daddy's girl

our little girl just keeps on growing! 

i love this recent photo of us showing off our toronto blue jays hats, and i just had to show it off.  i'm sure there is some element of foreshadowing about her hand silencing me...  i'll have to look back on this photo in a few years.

fo guang shan hsi lai temple

as part of my current internship with occidental college, i recently took a trip to hacienda heights to visit a buddhist temple.  if you've been to this particular one, you realize how massive this complex is - and incredibly ornate.  modeled after the ming dyansty archetecture, it is a powerful experience just to walk up and approach it.

we had a great time, and i highly recommend checking it out if you are ever in the area.  they frequently offer tours, and there is a fantastic vegetarian cafe in the basement for you to grab a bite to eat.

a dark alleyway

i don't often think about old town pasadena as a dark place, but this image turned out almost frighteningly bleak.  the wet pavement, the dim lighting, and even the old red brick exterior made this image appear to be from some other town entirely.

exhibit hall a

something about this looming entryway to the newly renovated pasadena convention center caught my eye as i was walking by.

and that is how a photo ends up as today's entry.

which would be a good reason to remind you that i'm always open to suggestions - things from pasadena that you think i should feature on this blog.  fire away!

intelligentsia pasadena

i'm way behind on this one - many local bloggers have already visited and given their two cents on pasadena's new upscale coffee destination (here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).  but high end coffee just doesn't excite me too much.

then i heard that they partnered with my favorite local brewery to make a coffee laced belgian beer known as "stimulus".  uh oh.  i guess that meant it was time to head to old town.

i made the trip and checked it out.  intelligentsia is a trendy place to grab a bite to eat or your favorite beverage (the beer was spectacular by the way).  a bit upscale, this place reminded me of a cool coffee shop in a college town - except in pasadena, it becomes a sneaky way to serve well made quality items at premium prices.

it is certainly one of the coolest places in old town to hang out - and the fact that they serve great beer just made them that much cooler.

skywatch friday on saturday

i interrupted the regularly scheduled program to bring you the sand mandala, so today we're bouncing back in time to bring you some skywatch friday on saturday.

with a view like this one at the pasadena high school athletic fields, i wonder how players concentrate on playing their sport of choice??

more skywatch friday can be found, as usual, right here.

sand mandala

 a hearty thank you needs to go out to my fellow pasadena daily photo blogger petrea, for passing on the news that tibetian monks were creating sand mandalas right here in pasadena - and that you could go see them FOR FREE!  so i abandoned plans for a skywatch friday photo, and grabbed my camera.
 
i packed up the family and made the short walk down to the pacific asia museum.  it was spellbinding watching these four men create visual works of detailed art with nothing but colored sand and some simple tools.  as you can see below, they worked in a small space, but created beautiful images!

if you are interested in going, they will be there for a few more days.  you can find details right here.

crepes!

pasadena's newest crepe destination, "crepe studio", is now open for business.  it was late at night, and i was too full to stop by and sample their food when i took this photo, but i hope to make it sometime soon.

after all, those who read brigham yen's fantastic blog know that he is offering his readers a tasty discount.

out of treats?

look closely at that sign in the window.  on halloween night, stores in old town pasadena offer treats to youngsters dressed up for the occasion.  when they are out of treats, they place this disappointing sign in the window.

but - take a closer look at the image.  that store is FILLED with treats.  okay, so maybe they ran out of bite sized snickers, but so what?  they should have started handing out the other incredible chocolaty treats they have on hand!

in all fairness, temptations wasn't the only store who ran dry well before the 9pm trick-or-treat end time (poor kids), but their store front just seemed too ironic to not snap off a photo to share.

fatburger pasadena - open!

 first off, congrats to mr. earl's san francisco giants - 2010 world series champs.  i haven't been a dodger fan long enough to find this news totally disheartening, and actually kind of took pleasure in seeing the underdog team take home the trophy.

speaking of exciting times - did you hear that fatburger is open in pasadena after a several year hiatus from our lovely city?  we stopped by yesterday and enjoyed their delicious burgers, crispy steak fries, and hamburger stand vibe.

it was crowded but the service was fast when we arrived in late afternoon, while some friends who passed the restaurant around noon said that the line spilled out on to the sidewalk.

november theme day: public transportation

 los angeles county isn't exactly known for its public transportation system, but it is getting better.  pasadena is linked in by several bus lines and the metro gold line, pictured above, a light rail system that runs to union station.  plans are in motion to run the line further east - eventually all the way to azusa.

as usual, on the first of the month, hundreds of bloggers from the city daily photo world are working with this theme.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

happy halloween

last night we got together with a few people from our church for an evening of pumpkin carving, food, and it's the great pumpkin, charlie brown.  we even did a little reverse trick-or-treating, where the youth went door to door handing out fair trade chocolate.  fun stuff!

oakland community garden

i've noticed the oakland community garden before, but i know very little about it beyond the fact that i live close by.  they have a sizeable space, and seem to grow a good variety of produce - almost year round - but more information is hard to come by.

but - while searching for more details, i found out that there is a new group trying to get an official community garden started in pasadena.  you can learn more about the group at their website, right here.