Camping at Diablo Lake 1-3 May

It was Jason B.'s brother's birthday (his name is Aaron too!) so his siblings and friends decided to go on a camping trip at a lake 2 hours from their home in Burlington. Trish arrived that week, so after her first night in Vancouver, we all packed off to take a drive down south! They camp a couple times every year...when we asked whether this camping was vacation, they said it's life!

Vancouver: North-West on the map

A: Jason B.'s home

B: Diablo Lake

Friday 1 May 09

Made a krispy kreme stop before stopping by at Jason B.'s place to pick up the camping stuff. The coffee was US$0.99! 1937 prices :)

While on the drive out to the lake, made a pit-stop at a look-out...a little cloudy and the sun was setting, so not much nice pictures. But it was steep!

Can you spot Tricia? :)

Jason B.'s ride - he jumpstarts it! I'll put up the video/pictures one day.

By the time we reached the campsite the sun was setting, so first things first - set up tent, and START FIRE! :)

Getting all cosy around the fire

Austin - Aaron B.'s dog. Too bad I don't have a better picture of him...he's a sweet pooch! He absolutely adores Aaron B., and actually whines and gets depressed whenever he's separated from him! Aww how sweet. I think it's the same for Aaron B. too :p

Enjoying home-made chilli soup, made by Jason B.'s sister...who is also called/spelled Tricia! Getting way to confusing here :p

Tricia B. and Aaron B.'s girlfriend, Sarah

Hunting for good marshmallow sticks! 

Tricia T. & Aaron B.'s friend, Brett

Steps to make a marshmallow stick:

1. Carefully select and pluck off a thin long branch from a tree. The trick is to pluck it while it's still green so it does not catch fire over the campfire. Also, ensure it is a comfortable length to allow you to stand a distance from the smoke.
   
2. Shave off the marshmallow end to make it pointy, if not pointy enough
3. Burn the pointy end in the campfire to 'sterilize' it
4. You're ready to load on the marshmallows!

Throughout the 2 days and 2 nights, the guys were busy chopping wood (dead & fallen) for our campfire! Man were they kept busy. Although it's back-breaking work, they actually enjoy it...they just kept continuously at it even though we had enough :p But we enjoyed the fruits of their labour - our 2nd/last night was so comfortable - we felt the warmth of the campfire from inside the tent! I didn't even wake up once :)

Brett (in blue), Aaron B. (in cap) & Joe (another of Aaron's friends)

The girls enjoying the warmth of the campfire :) It felt quite shiok sitting around doing nothing...the girls weren't expected to lift a finger!

Campfire marshmallows! 

 

Saturday 2 May 09

More wood! It's the big/thick ones that give the warmth...the twigs just catch fire easily.

The girls:

Rach, Tricia B., Tricia T., Sarah & me

We were bored so we decided to help hehe. 

Trish trying her hand - under Aaron B.'s watchful eye! 

Yowza!

Time to open Aaron B.'s presents! This is the one that Rach, Trish & I got for him..nicely wrapped by Trish in the moving car...kudos.

(With Austin looking on)

This one's from Jason B. - super comfy, ultra-padded flip-flops!

After opening the presents - my turn to chop wood! 

I was paranoid that I'd miss and hit my shin instead @_@ (That's what Brett told us he witnessed before...) But actually all you need is a good amount of concentration, hand-eye coordination & momentum. 

Teehee.

Disclaimer: After all that chopping, all 3 of us still couldn't get a chunk off -_-

Can't remember what flower this is...taken by Jie. Apparently quite rare to find it wild?

We played disc golf! 

So it was one of my favourite parts of the camp - steak lunch! It was an awesome deal - angus steaks (6 slabs) for only US$10! We marinated them and grilled them...oh yum.

Joy.

Joy joy.

Burger patties!

This is the view from the public toilet (that's why Trish is holding a toilet roll!)

I like this jumping shot! :)

So after the energy from lunch, Trish & I continued hacking on that small piece of wood...and it FINALLY CAME OFF!! Woooo!

Aaron B. trying out one of his birthday gifts!

It was a super cute tiny fishing pole! (He cringed when I said that...he told me I can't call guys' toys "cute" haha...it's like calling guy's motorcycle "cute". No guy buys a motorcycle cos it's "cute"!) Meant for hikers...to fit into their backpacks. Was thinking of getting it for Dad but it couldn't really flick very far :/

Aw!

Didn't get too far either.

View of Diablo lake

2nd night where we playing cards games, eating non-stop, reading books & watching the campfire. Tricia B.'s pointy hoodie was a scream :)

Sunday 3 May 09

Packing up to go home!

Keeping the mega tent that kept us warm :)

Last flames from the fire.

Mesmerizing

Check out Amanda's expression at 1:35 - priceless.

Monday 27 April

Tulips are springing out from the ground! :)

Went to Nat Bailey Stadium just down south of our place: UBC Thunderbirds v Lewis-Clark State Warriors. It was sorta Thunderbirds' warm-up game for regionals. It was originally $4 entry but by the time I got my butt off the sofa and down to the stadium, they were playing 6th inning so it was 2/3 over...and the guy just let me in for free :) Was a good thing too - didn't wanna really stay and watch for 3 hours!

My first baseball game I watched was back in 2006, and we were sitting SO far up I couldn't really see the action, except from the big screen. But this was a non-pro college friendly, so I could get really close to the action! The skills were good enough for me to try and observe their play! It was exciting nonetheless :) Definitely not the same atmosphere as pro games like the Indians I saw in Cleveland, but it was interesting to watch :)

Pitcher no. 12 from UBC - he was fantastic! Very consistent, and 'out-ted' at least 2 batters!

Gearing up for the swing!

Baseball players are HUGE. They looked so tall and intimidating! Well, so are the umpires...in a different way. They all had huge tummies...they looked like they were going to tip over any second.

Final score: 11-2 to UBC!

I was so tickled at how they manually change the score teeheehee. There are actually people behind the scoreboard to change the numbers. What a boring job...hope they get to at least watch a bit of the game.

(As I was cycling back) Pretty street!

Passed by Vancouver Community College - it has a city campus, with a small greenery but overlooking the city...beautiful view.

Tuesday 28 April

Tuesday is house dinner - Ingrid grilled salmon! Oh yum.

Wednesday 29 April

Yay! She received the flowers :) Happy Birthday Mum! 

Wish we could be there...

I wanted to be cultured and attend a free string quartet lecture concert at UBC. And I didn't wanna spend $$ taking the bus, so I ambitiously decided to cycle from the East side, all the way to the West where UBC campus is.

14km. I think I was mad.

This was where I officially gave up, and got off to walk for the first time. I was already near UBC, but I just couldn't bike up this hill!

I was utterly confused biking on the streets of Vancouver...it wasn't anything like Copenhagen at all - no structure no fixed lanes. In cph you had to have hand signals, and you had to cross the street before you turned left etc. Here when I cycled on the road the buses honked at me. When I cycle on the pavement the pedestrians block me...and I felt kinda silly wearing a bike helmet and cycling on the pavement -_-

Was a nice park bench where I decided to rest...a sweet dedication to a couple.

I FINALLY reached...after 2 hours! @_@ Was a good work out I must say...probably won't do it again. I'll just pay for the bus ride :p So I met up with Jason & Jie, but by then we were 15min late for the lecture concert, and it was kind of a private setting so it wasn't nice to go in...so we just headed straight for dinner :p So much for being cultured!

Heading towards Jason's truck. I couldn't cycle no more...so he took over!

Vancouver School of Theology (VST)

the other theology grad school.

MEGA tulips...the size of our heads!

(I like this picture :))

Prayer Labyrinth

You're supposed to walk and meditate...very cool. I only had time to walk till there :( 

Still walking to Jason's truck parked at Regent...

Jie decided to hitch a ride! :) I like this pic too!

We went to Dentry's for dinner where I had fish & chips and 12 wings :p I was hungry after so much bikiiing. It was Jason's friend's birthday - didn't know majority of the people there, but it was nice to see a familiar face from last year. Looking forward to the class I'm auditing at the end of May - Spiritual Discernment!

Vancouver Day 2

Jie's room - it's really neat! 

Was surprised at how neat she kept it hehe.

The view from her window - her room is on the 2nd floor.

Rach & Ingrid

Our lunch - a mixture of leftovers! (doesn't look too bad huh)

Her house is really happening...full of music and chattering. AND the smell of coffee...whoo :)

Melissa & Nance jamming on the front porch on a sunny afternoon!

Basking in the sun :)

Took a walk down Commercial Drive after lunch...I love how the streets ends with so much greenery :)

Beautiful flowers (not sure if it's cherry blossoms) against a white house.

After doing some errands we parked ourselves in an cafe along Little Italy (which doesn't look very much like Little Italy to me...it's too clean :p) and drank really strong coffee @_@ and chilled.

The in-your-face gaudy decor...which yeah, was the whole point I guess!

Cherry blossoms! :) 

Haven't seen so many cherry blossoms before...saw some in DC at the basin (but it wasn't blooming yet :/) and at Copenhagen during the Sakura Festival at Langelin Park...but those were not more than 8 trees I think? Beautiful :)

I have so much time to blog now...cos Jie doesn't have a TV! @_@ gasp. It's so strange not to have a TV in the house. Gives me time to do other stuff I guess! 

Prob one of my last flights on SQ...

Jellyfish at Vancouver Airport

Jason & Jie picked me up at the airport!

As the plane descended, I was reminded of how beautiful Vancouver really is...the scenery was lovely! A city so close to snow-capped mountains. And the weather was fantastic! Cool and sunny...Jie said that it just had a turn for the better just this week! Yay :)

Jie's cosy little townhouse-like home, where she lives with 4 other gals.

Jie cooking dinner for us - basil tomato-based pasta

(LOOK AT THE HUMONGOUS TOMATOES!)

Jason getting in on the action :)

He does this twisty thing to make sure the pasta gets cooked evenly...

and voila!

Oh yum.

Watched a bit of Ip Man before crashing...had a little headache upon coming here - think I'm still jetlagging a little! Had quite a flight...sat next to an elderly lady who didn't speak much english...and as I found out, could get quite...restless when sleeping. Was watching Departures (some Jap show about preparing dead bodies...btw, bad idea to watch it while eating meat. Felt a bit sick throughout the rest of the journey), when her hand flung over to my side and nearly hit me on the face! I was quite shocked and amused at the same time. But I decided not to risk it and moved to another empty seat when I wanted to sleep :p no offense granny. 

I love the shining sun this morning...Jie's housemates are sunbathing on the porch as I type this! :) 

Haha I only just saw Carol's blogpost...that's how detached from blogging I've been (only saw it 3 weeks after??).

Excuse me while I shamelessly link her post here...well yeah, because she mentioned me (I'm privileged!), but also...a reminder of times in school that I will look back with a smile! Thanks Carol for blogging :)

ps: yeah the CPR/resuscitation is not working out too well.

So here's the thing...

There's this deadly virus that's slated to attack our computer hardware, and the local newspapers advises all of us to log on to www.singcert.org.sg to get rid of the virus. 

But lo and behold, here's what I see when I go to the website - 

A sign of impending doom...?? #_#

posted by: a proud macintosh-user 

(yea I just had to add that in)

Psalm 51

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

CPR

*degghead is attempting to perform CPR on her dead blog*

watch this space for a continuation of adventures in Eastern Europe...

Christmas Ding

Whodunnit?

How observant are you?

WHO DONE IT:

Advertising Agency: WCRS, London, UK
Creative Directors: Yan Elliott, Luke Williamson
Art Director: Kit Dayaram
Copywriter: Tom Spicer
Agency Producer: James Lethem
Director: Chris Palmer
Production Company: Gorgeous
Editor: Paul Watts at The Quarry
Post-production: The Mill
Audio post-production: Wave

hvor, hvor, hvor...

Why is it that I feel like blogging only when I have a million and one other things to do??

StudyIN' God

Yes, we can.

click here.

me thinks they fired the Internet Banking staff too...