Where the wild things are

The Vancouver Stanley Park Zoo housed many animals such as black bear, polar bear, monkeys, goats, seals, whales, raccoons, wolves, emus, bison, kangaroos, penguins, beavers and much more.  Most of these animals were moved when the zoo was officially closed … Continue reading →

Tour Guide Not Needed

This gallery contains 3 photos.

Come and visit. This is the easiest place to get lost and still find your way around. It’s a small city with so much to see and do. All you need is wear your walking shoes, pack a lot of energy … Continue reading →

Sweating with Fear – Saturated

Can one get any wetter?  Wet is wet.  That’s it.  These were my thoughts as I was feeding the ducks at Stanley Park and another thought pop up.  Do ducks get wet?  Or does water just roll down on their backs?

What an introspective mind I had that afternoon for a simple activity of feeding the ducks when I can just easily enjoy the moment.   And I did.

These ducks are smart when they see humans.  They very well know that we can’t resist feeding them even when there is a sign “DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS.”  Ignoring the sign, I have half a loaf of baguette that I do not want to waste.

Papa Raccoon across the lagoon

Papa Raccoon swam on my side of the lagoon

On the other side of the bank, I saw a racoon.  Go away, bandit, you are not invited.  Do you think the bandit understands?  Of course, not!  Bandit had his eyes on the bread.

What happened next, bandit went for a swim across the bank, on my side of the lagoon.  Then bandit started calling his family: “Come and follow” in bandit’s purring sound.  A Mama and a baby raccoon heeded his call.

Mama and baby raccoon

Swimming across the lagoon

Now what? How am I going to get out of this situation?  The exit is where the raccoons are.

Please note that this may sound like slow motion but this incident happened in a flash.

Panic set in.  I started to sweat and wanted to shout “Go away”.  Too late, they came charging towards me and all I can do is jump on the bench.

Quickly jump on the bench

Safe. I am off the ground.

Help ~ thieves ~ bandits; these raccoons are stealing the bread. I threw the bread to the other side of the lagoon, they run after it. I quickly jump out of the bench and ran out faster than a speeding bullet.

Bread or your life?

Yum, yum, yum

Sweating with fear during this incident, wet and saturated with my perspiration.  I am safe and sound.

A Celebration In The Park

Happy 125^th Birthday, Stanley Park.

It was a two-day event celebrating Stanley Park’s 125 years on August 24 and 25, 2013. 

One could easily get lost in a 400 hectare of land and many trails within the park.  Just to walk around the wall is about 10 km and takes me three hours. 

There were over 200 activities going on.  Too many to choose from.  Staying at The Lost Lagoon could practically occupy me the whole afternoon.  There is music, sports, walking tours, opera, adult zone, kid’s zone, flower zone, you name it, spread all over. 

Since I wasn’t prepared, I asked the volunteer which is the best place to go?  She pointed me towards Second Beach.  When I arrived at the beach, it’s mostly for an adult section with beer garden.  Of course, on the beach, there is more human skin showing than clothed people. This is not my kind of place and entertainment.  I’m too young for this kind of activity. 

Off I go and did a 180-degree turn, retraced my steps and walked in the opposite direction headed north. 

Lucky me, this side is more picturesque and a place to relax. There are so many shades of summer in the Rose Garden that it took my breath away. 

 

I pretended that this is my garden and filled my being with the freshness of the garden. 

And who is Lord Stanley?  He was the Governor General of Canada in 1888 and helped keep the park.  

 

Vancouver Racers Go Extra Mile in Boston’s Honour

This was the headline on the newspaper.  Vancouver Sun Run became Boston Sun Run.  The event official colour was blue and yellow in memory of Boston.  Many runners at the run wore these colours of Boston Marathon’s colour, too .  It was a success. 

The weather cooperated that day.  The sky was sunny and the bed of flowers was all in bloom as the run around Stanley Park.  It was perfect day for 48,196 participants in all walks of life. 

At the last-minute, more runners signed up to be united with our neighbour, United States of America.  The first female that reached the 10K run finished it in 32 minutes and second was from USA.  For the men’s, the first man to finish was from Kenya took him 29 minutes and second was from USA. 

Two of my nieces, Nicole and Andrea, joined the run,  Nicole wore blue.  They were proud to be part of it and so is the whole family for taking the courage to support others as well.  They called this triumphantly as Sun Fun Run in their face book.

Finish Line

Definitely, this will be an unforgettable experience for most people with a tinged of sadness.  They were all racing for Boston. 

And they did it! 

Related articles

• Vancouver Sun Run registration soars to 47,000 (globalnews.ca)
• Support for Boston strong in 29th annual Vancouver Sun Run (vancouversun.com)
• Vancouver Sun Run to donate $10 per late entry for Boston Marathon victims (globalnews.ca)

This is my Quest…

A writing challenge: New Year’s Resolution not a dream, not impossible… 

Many times I resolved to make a resolution, a total failure.  Therefore, I resolve to fail less… three is doable.  It will be more of a goal, and not a resolution.  I make my goals fun and enjoyable, not a chore.    

• Every year, I make sure that I do one thing that I haven’t done in my life.  For example, last year, I learnt how to bake cookies and cakes.  I was well liked by those cookie monster and cake fiends.  A very expensive way to learn.  Done.  Next?  Next is learning how to bake a traditional ham or turkey that my family always make.  The guinea pigs are my next door neighbour who made me mushroom soup for Christmas.  And I did, ham first.  We had it for New Year’s Day.  Now my neighbour wants it to be a tradition.  Are you kidding me?  The turkey has to wait.  The guinea pigs will be my nieces.  I promised them to have a YaYa cousinhood at my place.  They were pinning since they have not set their foot in my sanctuary.  They saw the pictures in the Facebook and how they love to check it out.  Yah, right.  It will be a dry get together, I said.  They agreed.
• Gardening.  What new plant would I want to try this year starting from seeds?  This would take time visiting Garden Centres, reading Garden Magazines and visiting Community Gardens.  I enjoy gardening and it’s so much fun.
•  Walking.  This is a must since I am planning to join Walkers’ World this year to Santiago de Compostela.  It’s vital that I am able to walk at least 10k a day.  That is equal to walking around Stanley Park in Vancouver, BC.  Not a big deal, since I do walking meditation and I have now a camera to take pictures along the way. Can’t wait.

A Prayer of New Beginnings by St. Mary

God of new beginnings, we are walking into mystery.
We face the future, not knowing what the days and months will bring us
or how we will respond.
Be love in us as we journey.
May we welcome all who come our way.