Here in Vancouver, we’ve had snow here and there, but with each snowfall came rain, rain, and more rain. Yesterday, there was a nice pile of snow when I woke up, so I decided to take some pictures!
Later on in the day, I went to Ikea. Took some more pictures.
Pollution …
My favorite picture of the day. 
Love taking pictures. 
Btw, the snow is basically all gone now. White Christmas? We’ll see.
I totally didn’t expect to get another best score. I was just playing and all of a sudden, I finished and the whole type-in-your-name thing popped up!
Yahoo!!
This is a bit late, but that’s okay.
6 years ago, the Twin Towers in New York City were attacked by terrorists and fell, tearing thousands of people’s lives apart. Those moments in that one day have scarred many, many Americans probably for life. It has not been forgotten and it will never be forgotten.
I am not a New Yorker, nor am I American, but I do admire New York for its history and rich culture. And of course, for it being the business capital of the world. I don’t personally know anyone that died on that tragic day, but I do have a relative who was in Manhattan that day for a job interview and she told me her story of that day when I visited New York last year.
I was in Manhattan for an interview, and it was in Midtown. I was [obviously] wearing business clothes and high heels while carrying my portfolio. When I got to the building, someone informed me that I couldn’t have the interview because something had happened to a building. I was confused, and that’s when I saw on TV that one of the Twin Towers had been hit. I walked outside onto Broadway, and I could see smoke billowing from Downtown.
At first, I thought it was a movie. It looked surreal. All of a sudden, the second plane hit. When the buildings collapsed, some people fainted.
I walked to a Burger King, which was the only thing open. Everything else had closed down, and the buses and subways weren’t working. Only 1 subway was working, which was going to Brooklyn. I was especially nervous because my sister-in-law worked in Chinatown and she was pregnant as well.
At Burger King, there were people there crying, all shaken up. I was buying burgers and drinks for everyone, instantly making friends because of what just happened. Then, two women walked into Burger King. I could tell they were from Wall Street because they were covered in dust. Both of them were shaking. I walked over to them and asked them why they were all shaken up. At first, they wouldn’t tell me, but afterwards, they told me everything.
They worked across the street from the towers. Their windows faced the part where the plane hit, and apparently, they saw a man jump out of the building. He was in a nice business suit and everything. There was probably no way out, and he just couldn’t take the heat, so he jumped.
I couldn’t get back to Jersey (where she lives), so I decided to take the subway that was working to my mom’s place in Brooklyn. One of the women that I was talking to lives near me, so she couldn’t get back home either. I offered to take her to my mom’s place, but she refused. She told me that she would stay in a park and maybe sleep on a bench since there were other people to keep her company. So I headed off.
I was already in pain from my heels, so I took them off and kept walking, but that only made it worse. The ground pricked at my feet and they started getting bumps and bleeding. I went down to take the subway, but every single one that stopped was full of people, from the front to the back. Many trains passed, but I still couldn’t get on. Then, I just broke down, crying.
When the next train came, a Caucasian man saw me crying, and he got off the train and pushed me into the train that he came from. Just before the doors closed, he said, “Have a good trip” and waited for the next train to come. I was amazed at how thoughtful and kind that gentleman was, and I could do nothing but give a wave and journey on to Brooklyn.
It took me about 4 hours to get to my mom’s place, while it usually only takes 1. But once I stepped foot into my mom’s apartment, I was so relieved and happy. I ended up staying there for a week after that. Everywhere had pictures of missing family members and friends.
My sister-in-law actually got off 2 stops early for some reason and missed the attack. During that time, I couldn’t get a hold of anyone until I got to Brooklyn because the phone lines had all been cut off. I’ll never forget that day…
So that’s my relative’s story. I visited the WTC site when I went there last summer. I couldn’t believe how big it is. I was amazed by all the tributes to firefighters and everyone that had passed that day.
I’d like to go back there one day, because I really do love New York and I think it’s a great place. My heart goes out to all those that have been pained, emotionally and physically, by that day, September 11, 2001.
I recently came back from a trip to HK & China, and boy, is it hot & humid there! The temperature goes up as high as the mid 30s C and if you’re outside for a long time, it gets really sticky. The good thing about it though, is that things are way cheaper than here in Vancouver. Clothes and food are very inexpensive when you convert the dollars.
Here are just some things that I noticed about China & HK. Many of them are exaggerated, but they’re all pretty much true.
———-
In China:
Car honks are their way of life.
Drivers honk like there’s no tomorrow.
They’d die without car honks.
Drivers get mad if anything stops.
They’re insane lane changers.
Road lines are invisible to them.
Cars, taxis, buses, bicyclers, motorcyclists, & pedestrians all get very close to cars, taxis, buses, bicyclers, motorcyclists, & pedestrians.
Pedestrians don’t get their way. Cars do.
Car crashes don’t exist.
Ambulances & firetrucks also don’t exist.
Absolutely everything smells like smoke.
There are ashtrays on every table.
You inherit 50 toothpicks and 5 packs of tissues a day.
Restaurants either don’t give you napkins or they give you a pack of tissues.
You wash your own dishes before you eat.
Married people don’t wear rings.
All the babies are boys. Or girls who look like boys.
Strangers talk to strangers.
Heat & humidity mean sticky all over.
Toilets don’t have seats.
Made up words & bad spelling & horrible grammar mean straight up laugh out loud. (Sorry, but it is funny. )
Everyone speaks mandarin & Cantonese except the hotel.
No one thought I could understand or speak Cantonese.
Hotels don’t have clocks.
It rains 2 minutes a day.
Despite everything, it is surprisingly clean.
———-
In Hong Kong:
An apartment bedroom is more or less the size of a queen bed.
Heat & humidity still mean sticky all over.
Some toilets still don’t have seats.
You inherit 100 toothpicks and 20 packs of tissues a day.
Restaurants still either don’t give you napkins or they give you a pack of tissues.
You still wash your own dishes before you eat.
Hotels still don’t have clocks.
It still rains 2 minutes a day.
Everyone has a cell phone.
Everyone uses their cell phone at least once every meal.
———-
A 12 hour flight gives you 3 meals, a thousand drinks, 3 movies, Chinese shows, news, more shows, and a dark airplane.
Two 12 hour flights make me want to kill myself & my ears pop like hell.
Fortunately, only a day or two of jet lag.
On July 3, a couple of friends and I went to Playland for my friend’s very late birthday “party”. It got delayed a couple days because of the poor weather, but the past couple of days was looking very good, so we decided to go have some fun. After all, it is summer.
I was at Playland in June for a field trip in Marketing class, but I decided to come again with some other friends.
Those pictures were the view of Playland from the new ferris wheel. The old one was pretty scary and also pretty old. It just had a seat with a bar in the front, and if you stopped at the top, the whole thing would swing. The new one swings too, but you’re surrounded all around so it’s not as scary. It can also fit more than 2 people and I was actually able to move around in there, so I took a couple of pictures.
A view of the Hellevator.
In the morning, the sun didn’t peek through yet, but by mid-afternoon, it was boiling, and not a cloud was seen in the sky. It almost looks fake.
I actually thought that there would be more people than there actually were, considering it’s summer and everything, but there weren’t that many people. It looked deserted from those pictures. But it’s a good thing because the line ups for the rides didn’t take that long. The Flume (water ride) had a pretty big line up, probably because it’s a water ride, but it was all good.
That day was a fun day, and I do hope to go back to Playland sometime soon.
Guess you can’t really blame it. I mean, it is Vancouver. And in Vancouver, you always have to expect unexpected weather.
Let’s see… when I woke up this morning, it was sunny with a couple clouds floating around. Then in the middle of the day, it was raining a little. Then it rained harder. And while I was reading, I heard a couple claps of thunder.
Then it stopped. After, the sun came shining through a bit and all was dry. Then more rain. Then sun and clouds. Then rain again??
I can’t even keep track of it. The weather changes so suddenly.
Some of my friends and I were planning to go to Playland today, but we canceled it last night because today was supposed to rain. At first, I thought it wasn’t going to rain, but then the grey clouds rolled in. And when I heard the clap of thunder, I went YEEEEEEEEE-EESSS!!
I wouldn’t normally pump my fist in the air and shout for joy when I hear thunder and see lightning, but it just meant that we were right in canceling Playland.
We’ll go to Playland another day. 
Maybe part of the reason why the weather keeps changing is global warming. :O
Could it be??
YEAHHHHH-HOOOOO!!
School’s out and I get 2 months of somewhat relaxation.
This year was a hectic year but it ended well. So that’s good.
I can’t believe it’s almost July. :O Half a year’s already gone. It seems like yesterday when we celebrated the start of 2007. But I guess time does fly. In a good way.
Finally!! There’s sun again!! Too bad Spring Break was last week. If it was this week, that would’ve been so great. Oh well. There’s always… next year. But I’m so glad it’s sunny now cause I hate going home in the soggy rain and everything. Eugh.
And it’s slowly starting to get warmer. Spring is in the air!! And then summer vacation and everything.
Everything seems so much happier with the sun shining. The atmosphere’s lighter. And the sky’s not grey, like it was last week.
Sunshine!! Yayy.
Today, my friend and I went to Granville Island despite the continuous downpour of rain. We took the skytrain to Waterfront Station and waited outside for the 50 False Creek South bus to take us to GI.
Once we got off the bus, we turned a corner or two and there was GRANVILLE ISLAND!!
We walked right in and went looking for the Public Market and the Net Loft. Along the way, we saw 2 propellers, supposedly from a ship??
Well, we continued walking around under the drenching rain…
… and proceeded to the Net Loft, where we went into Paper-Ya, a place that sells notebooks and stamps and whatnot and are really unique. We spent like a whole hour there cause everything was just so interesting.
After that, we went to Beadworks, also in the Net Loft, and took a look at a whole array of beads that you can make into necklaces, bracelets, etc. yourself.
Next, we decided to go to the Public Market to get something to eat.
There were absolutely no free tables at the Market, so we ran under the rain back into the Net Loft and ate our lunch there.
While we were eating, these 2 violinists and then a guitar player/singer were “entertaining” us. They left after about 20 minutes or so.
After that, we went BACK to Paper-Ya and I got something for my friend’s birthday and the same thing for me too. Then, we went BACK to Beadworks and decided to make 3 identical necklaces for us and our other friend. It took us forevvvveerr (probably 2 hours) but it was really fun. I went to get 2 muffins while my friend was working.
After that, it was getting kinda late, so we left Granville Island and took the bus to Granville Station this time. We kinda got lost and while we were walking around, lost, there was this guy in a big recycling bin who popped up when people passed by him. We were walking and all of a sudden, she’s like, “omg there’s a guy in that [box]” and I was like “huh??” when he opened the lid and made a kind of hissing noise and I screamed and we laughed, running away. 
So after we finally got directions to Granville Station, we made our way there and took the train home. The outside of Granville Station reminds me of New York’s subway stations because it goes underground and everything.
While going from 29th Ave to Joyce Stations, the lady on the speaker said “the next stop is Joyce Station”. So we were walking our way to the door when she said again “the next stop is Joyce Station”. I looked at my friend and she said “we’re probably about to crash” and then right after she said that, the skytrain screeched to a halt and everyone that was standing in the train lurched to one side. The skytrain had stopped and the doors hadn’t opened, but we had reached Joyce already. A few minutes later, the skytrain started moving again and we were like “uh oh” but it only moved a few feet and the doors finally opened for us.
So that’s my funny, weird, bizarre trip to Granville Island today.
Yayyy!!! 