My time at Vancouver’s Winter Games
The Winter Games has rolled into dear Vancouver, BC Canada.
There is a LOT of stuff and events to see.
I have decided to attempt to visit one event, pavilion, or place a day and try to go to as many LiveCities as much as possible.
Lines are getting longer and longer.
Expect to wait at least 1.5 – 2 hours to enter any free pavilion.
I’m excited to visit all the different Canadian pavilions all over Metro Vancouver.
So far I’ve been from Richmond to Surrey, and dashed someplace in Downtown Vancouver after work since the Opening Ceremonies on Friday the 12th.
This is once in a lifetime for most of the world to come visit your city instead of yourself visiting every country.
I’m going to try to snap photos and stick them up on my Flickr album.
I’ll see if I’ll make it to any live sports events, or else I’ll stick to watching finals on TV or at LiveCity venue.
I’m going to cross my fingers for Canada, and for more snow at Cypress.
Go athletes and GO CANADA!
January 2010 visit to the Vancouver Aquarium
My first visit to the Vancouver Aquarium was so awesome, I wanted to go again.
Last time I missed the 4D movie showing, so I decided to head out with Anila to check it out on the weekend.
Check out my photos on my Flickr >
Frog mom going into labour?
I ran downstairs to the frog exhibit because last time the Aquarium was closing so I didn’t have a chance to check out all the frogs, reptiles and amphibians.
One of the volunteers/staff ran to the back room to grab a camera. Apparently one of the toads was pregnant was going to give birth. Too bad she decided to lay her stomach against the glass to give everyone a not so optimal viewing…
Dolphin jumping over Nicole
Dolphin show in the rain? Why not?
I packed my 20D and went burst mode like crazy.
Har har har
It’s so hard to shoot through the wet glass, but I managed to get some cute expressions from the Aquarium residents.
WTD is ready for 4D
We expected the 4D movie to be at least 15 minutes.
It was pretty short, and I recommend visiting the IMAX instead for a visually 3D awe-aspiring experience.
Be warned if you bring little kids, the rumbling effects can be a little scary.
Beluga says hi
There is a lot to see and take pictures of at the Vancouver Aquarium.
There’s also some discounts going on during the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
50% off admission at Vancouver Aquarium
Between February 12th to the 28th, 2010, if you get in before 9AM your admission is 50% off!
Mascot Race at Hastings Racecourse 2009
First Mascot Race at Hastings Racecourse-Wingers
Besides my trip earlier to Disneyland this year, it had been one of those days where I was constantly giggling and going “awwwwww”.
Jack from Vancouver Giants and CFOX rocks!
And I wondered if the mascots had cooling systems inside as they “warmed up” in the paddock. Jack from the Vancouver Giants was hilariously causing such a ruckus- he ran into Mike Head’s booth (track announcer) blocking the camera with his giant head, he played around with Farmer Kin’s hat, rough-housed it with Mr. Peanut and many other hilarious things.
Jack's peanut allergies got to him...
Could you bet which mascot won that day?
The finish line at Hastings Racecourse
More of my shots of the day can be viewed in my Hastings Racecourse Flickr set >
Just in case you missed the race, here it is on YouTube >
Powell Street Festival 2009 in Woodland Park
This year the location was changed from the usual Oppenheimer Park in Chinatown to Woodland Park just a block or two off Hastings and Commercial Drive.
There are two main things I love about going to the Powell Street Festival every summer.
1) Food
2) Shopping from local artists and vendors
Takoyaki assembly
As usual, the line for takoyaki was super long.
This line was so long… I think for next year they need to have their booth on the edge or corner of all of the concession stands instead of right in the middle of everyone. So worth it though- so fresh and hot! I even got an extra one just because it was small.
: )
Sushi jewelery by tatsuko
I found tatsuko again at the festival.
Last year I had to order the maki earrings I wanted online after the festival, because she had sold them out last year.
Her chiyogami earrings are beautiful too, but sushi accessories are definitely something handcrafted and unusual.
I was so excited to see an “onigiri” ornament.
I asked if earrings were available, but she said that the ones at the festival were just created before she came to Vancouver from Quebec to attend this festival.
I can’t wait until she gets back to her studio to make my customized onigiri earrings.
Glass fruit by Minori Takagaki
I am also a big fan of Minori Takagaki’s glass beadwork.
I picked up something different this year: an apple pin.
I was surprised to see a mailing list asking if anyone was interested in attending a glass bead making workshop or class.
I asked where was the studio, and Minori said at the moment the details aren’t solidified yet.
She’s seeing if there’s enough interest, and then she would figure out if she can fit students at her current studio on Granville Island or her colleague’s studio near Main and 3rd.
Sushi Plushi by Andrea Shizumi
I found a couple of other Etsy artists at the festival this year.
I said the longest “awwww” when I saw the cute little sushi plushis at Andrea Shizumi’s booth.
Andrea sews all her plushis by hand, and hopefully she will design her second edition of sushi designs soon.
HUG NERD JOY wooden blocks
I really admire Akane Designs’ concept of “refurbishing materials” and transforming them into new adorable handcrafted accessories.
Christina Oguchi had sweater laptop sleeves, coffee cup sleeves, passport sleeves, pillows and so many other cute things.
Rings by Akane Designs
I jokingly commented that she had a lot of soft sweaters.
Christina Oguchi said that she personally goes out and shops for vintage and consignment sweaters so she could make these accessories.
Currently her Etsy shop is empty, and let’s hope it will be up and running again soon.
She can be followed on twitter @akanedesigns
As much as I try to keep my shopaholic frenzy to a minimum,
at least I’m keeping it local or within Canada these days.
Shop local and Happy BC Day long weekend!
Worldwide Photowalk 2009 in Vancouver
I was so excited this year when I got on the list of 50 people to participate in this year’s Worldwide Photowalk.
I wanted to join last year’s for Vancouver, but by the time I found out about the event the signups were closed.
This year, which is the second annual Photowalk, the group of 50 photowalkers of Vancouver walked around Stanley Park from the Sylvia Hotel (near English Bay) to Third Beach.
Man, was it hot from 6PM-8PM. I was boiling under the hot sun.
Thanks again to David duChemin, his models and his crew for leading such a fun walk!
Now it’s time for me to decide which photos to enter…
I’ve uploaded my favorites to my Flickr set >
I’m liking these three photos… which two do you like best?
Help me pick.
: )
Now Wall
Stoney Vancouver
Silver branch
Biting into the Chocolate competition- EAT!Vancouver 2009
From 2008 EAT! Vancouver
Last year I was so excited to come across the results of the two competitions at EAT! Vancouver.
B.C. Chefs’ Association chocolate competition and B.C. Chefs’ Association culinary salon cooking competition.
I was so amazed by the colours and detailing of the details of the chocolate, butter, and food preparation.
My photo set from 2008 Eat! Vancouver can be viewed here >
Broken flames of chocolates
I guess I should have waited until the last day.
I went on Saturday May 23rd, to check out new products, do some sampling and enjoy the sites.
I forgot I went on a Sunday, where I got to see the results of the two different competitions.
We arrived later in the evening, and I couldn’t find the right area of the chocolate works.
It turned out that people were starting to eat off the results of the chocolate competition, so by the time I got to the area to take some photos, the majority of the entries were broken apart.
Inukshuk tray of chocolates
Oh well, there’s always next year.
I’m definitely going earlier on the last day.
Here are more of my photos taken at the EAT! Vancouver festival this year >
Canstruction ‘09 Vancouver
Whole world in our "can"
Between April 23rd- May 3rd, 2009, cans were arranged in such amazing structures at the new Vancouver Convention Centre.
From Canstruction Vancouver site:
“Canstruction Vancouver is a spectacular competition and exhibition that showcases local teams who compete to design and build the ultimate giant sculpture out of canned food. After they’re exhibited to the public for a week, all the cans from these 2-metre high sculptures are donated to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society for hungry families.”
I took a short break from tending to the Metrotown Media Productions booth on the second day of the Spring Vancouver Wedding show during its last hour on Sunday April 26th in the convention hall next door.
Scrabblum
At the entrance, there was a giant Scrabble board to play with.
Each tile was actually a covered box of “nutrious pablum for infants in need” with a letter on it.
I slid S-T-O-R-A-G to the top of the E on the board and checked out the rest of the public exhibit.
The structures were incredibly well built…
However while I was passing by the PNE coaster made of food.. a bit of it fell apart..
At least the whole thing didn’t collapse!
Wall-Y?
I saw a cameraman grabbing some B-roll with his broadcast camera on a tripod.
Honestly I was constantly trying to stay out of his shot.
For some cans, I squatted or even laid on the floor to get a different angle in my “shopaholic” dress…
Eek, John emailed me the next morning saying he saw me on a Global morning broadcast for Canstruction Vancouver 2009….
I rushed back to the Wedding Show next door to wait the announcement of the Grand Prize winners and to help pack up.
Let’s just say, we need two vehicles or a larger truck to rent next time.
Another Disney influence!
Happy Vaisakhi Day 2009 on Main Street Vancouver
I had none of Naan (I wanted to use that joke somewhere...)
Tents were set up amongst on SE Marine Drive, and along the southern streets of Main and Fraser.
Nila and I felt like we were in another country.
It was crowded on Main Street around 49th Avenue.
We took Bus #003 south, heading toward Main and 41st.
I thought perhaps we would grab another bus.
Turned out all transit buses were stopping for the large festivities.
Chai me!
There was such a variety of East Indian eats and treats to have.
I became full after the fourth tent.
Today was really a day for chai.
Chai here and there. Mmm.
We passed through the parade coming along Main to check out the rest of the tents.
I’ll be back for more next year.
: )
Mi Jung Lee and Pamela Martin TV parade float
Happy Vaisakhi day!
Thank you everyone who was involved and gave away such delicious food and drinks!
More photos are part of my Vaisakhi day photo set on Flickr >
Favorite snaps during VanFashionWeek March 2009
Medi-awe (KILLA runway show)
Whooey, first time volunteering with Vancouver Fashion Week 2009.
And like the other first-timers, might be my last.
Preparing in chaos (Behind the scenes makeup)
So much drama, chaos and disorganization… I wouldn’t blame them for not wanting to come back.
We’ll see about the next one…
Anyways, the following are my top five favorite photographs taken during VanFashionWeek during the last week of March 2009.
You can see the rest of the photos on bothVanFashionWeek’s and my Flickr set.
View VanFashionWeek Flickr feed >
View my VanFashionWeek personal set >
Design and Conquer designer and model (Opening Gala at Leones)
Organized rack of Joseph Domingo designs (Behind the scenes)
Justine Brooks necklace (Opening Gala at Leones)
Orange Day
Just taking a quick break from Vancouver Fashion Week to do my best to finish up product videos for a client due at the end of the month…
I love tweeting.
I’m not obssessive about it. Really, do you expect me to read every single tweet?
Whenever I can, I login and check out the latest.
Twitter doesn’t exactly have a filter or an ability to categorize what’s
“news”, “localnews”, “rant”, “comment”…
Plus I don’t want Tweetdeck to be taking up some of my memory when I have to work on stuff with Photoshop and After Effects… I gotta keep “conservative” with my resources. My Superdrive just died, so I have to wait when things quiet down to take it in to the Apple Store to get it fixed (go AppleCare!).
Hopefully Twitter will give us the ability to categorize our tweets besides using hashtags. Sometimes I need something a little more general, because honestly I scan the whole page first anyways…
How much can you squeeze?
Orange Day, originally uploaded by Union Gospel Mission
Anyways, the latest Tweet from Miss604 caught my eye about Orange Day.
There are three steps to Orange Day:
1) Get outside! Go “squeeze as much as possible” out of our free parks and attractions of Vancouver between March 27 – April 10, 2009, and try not to spend any money.
(I hope the weather cooperates so I can participate in No.1)
2) Help the Homeless. Donate online to feed as little as one person or as many as you want.
(Wow, one nice night out for me means I could feed ten other people instead.)
3) Share your experiences about Orange Day. Tag your photos taken, tweets, blog entries, etc online so they show up on www.ugm.ca/orangeday
(Tweet! I don’t see guidelines on what I can add on the Orange Day group on Flickr. So far it looks like only “orange” pictures… )
See you outside!
Opening Gala VanFashionWeek Spring2009
Branching out? Earrings by Justine Brooks
Why did I have the song from the Producer’s stuck in my head?
mmmm...
Wowee, it was super crowded with beautiful jewelery, models and people at the Opening Gala at Leone’s for the showcasing the jewelery designers of Vancouver Fashion Week.
I’m tired, but I had a great time with fine wine and chocolates.
Cathy, Joyce and I teamed up to snap up some photos during the event.
Too bad wireless is not open everywhere in Downtown Vancouver, but never the less, we tweeted and tweetpic’d throughout the gala while walking around admiring the beautiful designers and designs with my iPhone. (I LOVE the Tweetie app!)
More photos are posted online at VanFashionWeek on Flickr >
I can’t wait to see the runways and shows at Storyeum!
Snapshots around the Simpson’s Ride at Universal Studios
The Simpsons...
Continuing with my photos of my Universal Studios trip back in January 26th, 2009.
As soon as our tour group got through the entrance, we ran straight toward the Simpson’s ride toward the back part of Universal Studios.
I snapped some pictures of the Marge and Homer Simpson mascots on our way to the ride, but we hustled over as fast as possible.
I was excited entering through Krusty’s mouth and into the long winding waiting area, which luckily there was only three people ahead of us.
The safety instructional video was hilarious and we felt queasy after got off the simulated ride.
We sat in a car, which then lifted us up to a giant screen, and I the car jostled around like crazy.
I think the graphics on screen made me feel really queasy as I our car tilted to every turn we made.
Simpsons and Duff Cans of energy drink
I missed the time when all the 7-11 around the States and one in Coquitlam, BC were decorated like the Simpsons’ Quik-E Mart. The merchandise store was fully branded as another Quik E Mart by the ride and had so much stuff. Too bad that the Duff cans did not have beer in it, I guess it’s energy drinks from now on.
Pick a view, any view
View from Universal Studios panorama version 1
View from Universal Studios panorama version 2
On the walkway with several escalators between the main and lower levels of Universal Studios, I took a couple minutes with my camera to quickly take a few shots of the view. Travis and I probably went up and down those escalators at least four times, running to try to catch the next “Studio” tour, “Animal Actor’s” showing, and Backdraft.
I thought about standing beside the cutouts on the concrete viewing area in between the two levels, but I didn’t want to look like a Japanese tourist grinning “Hai, cheeee-zu” while holding up peace signs at the time.
The first panoramic attempt was just a row of photos I took in a row stitched together in Photoshop and colour-corrected.
The second panorama is my first HDR panorama. I HDR processed each photo first, then had Photoshop automate the stitching.
Not bad for an off-tripod pano, eh?
March is nearly here
Hulk SMASH!
It’s already the last week of February.
I wonder why February always has to have only 28-29 days, depending if it’s a leap year or not….
Going through HDR processing for the Hulk Statue photo, the bright green reminded me of St Patty’s day coming up soon.
CelticFest has made a couple of big changes for the annual Patty’s day parade.
It’s always held on the Sunday closest to March 17th, when St Patrick’s day usually is.
This year it’s on Sunday March 15th, 2009 and it starts at 11:30AM.
The other big change is that the parade route is along West Georgia Street in Downtown between Broughton and Howe, which is about six blocks.
More info is posted on the CelticFest Vancouver site , with the picture of the parade route.
Wouldn’t it be funny that we would find someone dressed in a Hulk costume walking in the parade.
Talk about being green…
Rest of Disneyland photo editing
Minnie and her dream home?
Finally went through all the photos from my third day of visiting Disneyland.
I processed three more of my favorite poses of the statues by the Disney Castle.
I added three more additions of Minnie, Donald and Pinocchio to my Disney Flickr set.
The next stop, I’m not sure if I want to go through my pictures of the boxing match between Margarito and Mosley at Staples Center or my visit at Universal Studios.
Hmm… we’ll see.
Northern Voice 2009 Kick-off dinner
Viva Las Vegas!
Viva Las Vegas indeed.
or Vivaaaaaa Northern Voice… viva northern voice…
The clip is my first Flickr video upload with my Canon G10.
Pretty sweet, eh? I just only wish that iPhone could read Flash embeds or content. Oi.
Thanks again to Eagranie Yuh for passing along her kick-off dinner ticket to the Northern Voice 2009 Kick-off Dinner at Federico’s Supper Club on Commercial Drive in Vancouver. Get well soon!!!
I wish everyone an awesome weekend, especially to all the attendees to Northern Voice 2009 this year on UBC Campus. By the time I found out when this was going to happen, all the tickets were sold out.
I’ll keep an eye out for next year’s gathering, and on content tagged with “northernvoice09″ on Flickr and blogs for this Friday and Saturday.
Cheers!
Happy Vday 2009
What what, in the butt?
If you remember Butters his “butt” music video from South Park (Season 12),
that’s exactly what a sung as I discovered the “hatch” to my first Mr. Potato Head.
Happy (belated) Valentine’s day everyone!
Convergence at MoMoVan 02-09-2009
- My Convergence (of) notes, MoMoVan 02-09-2009
Tonight was a gathering of various individuals and professionals of the local web 2.0 and mobile community.
Cathy and I thanked Kurt Shuster, of Noomii.com, for letting us come along with him to MomoVan Mobile Monday Vancouver tonight at Workspace in Gastown.
Being aware of Vancouver’s many content and technology industries, Kurt was very surprised to learn that I am interested local web development community because he first met me as tester for Noomii.com
Yes, the majority of my work is digital video editing and image retouching.
However, I am familiar with various industries and their operations.
For many years as I was independently editing videos, I was always for other creative professional opportunities. I talked to many professionals that worked amongst the gaming, animation, and television industries over that period of time, and currently still do today.
I took part-time television production courses, because I wanted to go through the full-time television production program at BCIT a few years ago. At the time, I was finding that there were (and probably still are) more graduates than jobs available in television production. I became more attracted to the independent, creative and collaborative vibe of the web development community, thus I switched over to study full-time with New Media Design and Development program.
A panel discussion touched upon how different our major content and technology industries are in Vancouver. There are web design and development, film and television, animation, gaming and mobile industries that make up the the content and technology sectors of business in the Vancouver area.
There was a comment made about why it’s so difficult to have all these communities come together by using the latest social web and mobile technology to connect.
Why is it so hard?
I agreed with Rochelle Grayson, of Work at Play, who said that it’s because the people involved in the other industries can be “intimidated” by new social and web technology. The idea of giving away content (IP, or as known as Intellectual property) away for free does not settle well with many. Businesses in TV, film, and animation industries do not like the fact that there has not been a new monetizing business model for the web that generates a lot of revenue that “really works” at this moment in time.
Plus, being involved within a particular industry means one is comfortable with its language or as I call it, industry jargon.
At times, some clients approach her with a great idea for an application, game, or campaign for the mobile phone. When she asks, “Which mobile device do you want us to develop it for?”
Most of the clients reply, “What do you mean?”
We all laughed, because in truth there are thousands of different phones on the market and of course, are not built the same way. Which means to develop a product for the Blackberry, it won’t work on an iPhone, or any other device because it will have to be developed for that particular phone.
When I was younger, I always got the look and comments of disbelief from elder Asian strangers when I did not respond to their comments in Chinese. At times, I did feel shameful that I did not speak Mandarin or Cantonese fluently as my family did. I tried to learn “proper” Mandarin during after-school classes in elementary school. How can anyone really expect someone to pick up a language if there is no immediate need, yearning or positive reinforcement to learn the language?
The majority of the business world communicates in English.
Today, I have mastered (or at least understand) the non-traditional “languages” amongst the web development, television, film production, digital video, and animation industries.
- Success, Live and Carpe Diem on my keychain
Back to our goodbye to Kurt Shuster-
Kurt wished that “back when he was our age” that he knew about these different opportunities and be able to go out to different networking events such as tonight’s MoMoVan. I said it’s probably the fact that information these days is very accessible so anyone could find almost information on anything they wanted compared to a few years ago.
After we said goodbye, I thought about an acquaintance, who was in her early 30s, who I chatted with at our friend’s birthday party last year. She asked me what did I do for a living, and I said “mostly video editing but I also do image retouching and some web design.”
“Wow, you do so much and you’re so young! I wish I was like that when I was younger…
It’s funny how my mother was doing office work for 25 years, and right now she’s basically doing similar things like you. She’s 54 now, and she has been coding websites for the past couple years. She picked up on that real fast.”
I believe why let age be an excuse?
If you set your mind to it, there’s no stopping you from accomplishing anything you want.
Learning the basics of Adwords
A page of the intro to one page adwords workshop
Eeps, I was running late with my lunch meeting so I slipped into my SEO workshop on Smithe a little late.
Luckily I was not the only late one, another person came in a few minutes after me.
Phew.
Darn computer died a few minutes, so the writing I was doing earlier disappeared because I didn’t save while typing in MS Word. The whole MS doc disappeared. Argh! My laptop only lasts 10 minutes if I’m not plugged into a power source… why why why why?!
So far in the class, our instructor is going over how to use AdWords and how to optimize your keywords to stretch your daily budget.
In the back of my head, the lyrics “Moooney makes the world go around, the word go around…”
Gotta get back to learning about traffic.
I’ll be twittering “interesting” things during this class anyways.
Fog + Holey= Fogey?
Caved-in roof at Opsal Steel Limited building
Fog fog fog.
What the heck is going on with the weather?
I’m actually beginning to miss the typical rain of Vancouver.
Why are all of our heads in the clouds?
So much mist… so hard to see…
Wrong coast.
I’m just tying up a couple of projects at the moment while I’m at Travis’ office.
I look outside and it’s a reminder of how much the weather can affect anything.
Across I see the eye-sore of a heritage building- Opsal Steel Limited.
I heard there’s no one currently occupying that space right now, but could you imagine that roof falling in on you.
Gee- I get chills thinking about that.
Happy New Year 2009
Happy New Year cupcakes hand-made and decorated by yours truly
Happy 2009 everyone!
For Jackie’s NYE party, I brought my baked cupcakes for everyone to “clink” at midnight.
May everyone look forward to another year of happiness and joy!
Happy New Year!
And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter >
Finally got around to creating an account.
It’s beginning to look a lot like (a white) Christmas
Holy moly, the snow is coming down here in Vancouver.
I think it stopped for a bit, but I am so glad that I’m inside so toasty and warm enjoying my hot chocolate.
Some holiday sites to see around Downtown Vancouver for December >
Four Seasons Hotel Festival of Trees (at Pacific Center)
View details >
November 19, 2008 through January 4, 2009
Various local companies and businesses participate in this annual event decorating trees to raise funds for the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. There are many beautiful trees up and I love the fact that most participants decorate their trees with toys so that they get donated to the Foundation when the Festival is over.
Gingerbread Lane 2008
Hyatt Regency Vancouver
November 25th to December 28th, 2008
I think it was either last year, or a couple years ago where I saw at the entrance of the Hyatt Regency a giant Gingerbread man… this year however there is a giant Gingerbread house entrance.
The work is always mouth-watering and amazing and the funds raised go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
See my photos the set “Christmas in Downtown 2008″
Be prepared to stop
I’m excited to start photoblogging with my frequent posts to my Flickr account.
I have decided to host my WP blog off my site, so “be prepared to stop” by more often for my updates on my newly designed site.
Helvetica the Film on iTunes
Helvetica may seem just “plain” to the regular eye.
But this typeface is applied in many different situations and places.
Celebrated its 50th anniversary, “Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which celebrated its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives.”
If you missed the documentary screenings in Vancouver back in August last year (they were quickly sold out), now you have a chance to have it on your iPod and your iTunes library.
helvetica on iTunes screencapture
Well… unfortunately just for US iTunes users as noted on the graphic link on their site.
Sigh, wasn’t Helvetica screened internationally?
Will they make the digital download available in iTunes in all countries?
Just like the iPhone, looks like us Canadians have to wait.
