I went this afternoon with a few of my friends. I don’t normally travel into Richmond and naturally, my airhead of a friend told me to take an exit that basically led us to New Westminster–not where we wanted to go. Thank god for the iPhone and GPS. As I drove past the Oval, my jaw dropped. That place is massive.

There was quite a lineup outside of the Oval but it went faster than expected. Many people brought their own skates, and according to one staff member, 90% of the people he had talked to in the lineup had never stepped foot into the Richmond Oval before.

We headed upstairs to where the rink is, and it was exactly how I had seen it on TV. Obviously. Crowds of people were swarmed around sitting on chairs, putting on their skates, making their way to the entrance of the rink… The entire process was pretty fast considering the number of people that were present. Music blasted while we skated, and during one of the breaks (when the Zambonis came out and did their thing), they played Nikki Yanofsky’s “I Believe”.

Now, I’m not a skater. I’ve never learned how to skate. I don’t know how to skate. I can walk on it just fine and glide around like a total noob, but I can’t skate. This is why you have people called friends. We all took 2 tumbles throughout the ~ 1.5 hours (total) that we skated around, which consisted of losing balance, one skate hitting someone else’s leg, a friend trying to save my ass from losing balance which just made him lose balance… but it was all in good fun. We laughed it off.

Being a worse-than-amateur skater doesn’t mean that I stop snapping photos though.

After some fun on the ice, we walked around to check out what else was happening in the building. We happened to see a Paralympic gold medalist in a wheelchair, taking photos with people. I had no idea who he was, but I just went, GAAASSSSSSPP, basically because I wanted to hold that gold medal.

I’d held medals at the Mint during the Olympics, but this seemed different. Maybe because this time, I wasn’t wearing a white glove saying “I touched a gold medal”. I was aware of how heavy the medal was going to be, but somehow, I was still surprised.

I Google’d up the Paralympian and it turns out it was Darryl Neighbour, wheelchair curler. He’s in his 60s and really nice.

After we finished scouring the top level and went back down the stairs, we saw a still pretty big lineup for those wanting to get in, and the Oval was to close in about 2 hours time.

There’s an area in the Oval called “Field of Play”, where you go up a set of stairs and end up basically in the middle of the whole place. There’s a blue podium where you can take photos and you get a nice view of everything around you. The entire section inside the track is concrete/wood, and there’s a huge area for basketball and/or volleyball right now. That area looks bigger than my high school gym.

The words there (part of it cut off) are supposed to say “With Glowing Hearts” (and maybe some stuff after that), which is the Olympic’s slogan. The other side of the rink says something like “Vancouver 2010″.

After tomorrow, when the Oval closes to the public, they’ll be turning away from the long track speed skating configuration for a layout that will be able to accommodate ice, track, court, paddling, and fitness users. The end result will be three levels high with all 512,000 square feet filled out.

Can’t you just picture yourself on the 3rd level, running the treadmill, and looking down to see a fun hockey game, a volleyball practice, some basketball being played, and track and field, all at once?

Imagine that.

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As this is the last day of summer (for students like myself), I’ve decided to dedicate this blog post to recapping what I did this summer. I have to say, this summer was one which will hold the most memories.

(06.26.09 – 07.04.09) My summer started off with a bang, jetting back to the iconic New York City that I hadn’t seen in 3 years. While there, I walked down 5th, saw West Side Story on Broadway, walking past the Pride Parade that one Sunday, and even going all the way to Greenwich Village to see the Friends apartment (I know they didn’t even film in New York).

(07.07.09) Soon after arriving back in Vancouver, I was among the first group of people to see the VIP screening of the new 4D Theatre at the Vancouver Aquarium. I’ve seen the same thing 3 times already and quite frankly, I’m sick of it (until the next “movie” comes out). I do have to say, it is a very entertaining (and scary) 12 minutes.

(07.17.09) Before I knew it, I was gearing up to host my summer party for about 20 friends. We ate and talked and chilled until the sun set and we all had a ball.

(07.29.09 – 08.01.09) Now, what’s summer without going to the beach and waiting for hours on end for the spectacular fireworks? This summer was actually the first year I’d gone to the fireworks, and I must say, I am impressed with the outcome of my photos (most of them, at least).  It’s unfortunate I didn’t see South Africa’s, which I really liked after seeing it online.

(08.03.09)And it’s right back to the Aquarium for the sea turtle encounter. I was able to feed Schoona the green sea turtle and touch her shell.

(08.04.09) One of my friends told me about Teen Shakespeare’s Macbeth at Granville Island so a bunch of us went to see that.

(08.06.09) I decided to check out the track and field portion of the Police & Fire Games. It got pretty boring after a few hours so off to Granville Island I went for some fish and chips.

(08.07.09) Well that was a fun day, driving up to North Van to the Capilano Suspension Bridge, getting clogged in traffic on the Lions Gate Bridge, and going up to the Vancouver Lookout with a friend from the States.

(08.09.09) Seeing as I could get into Grouse Mountain for free, I took advantage of that and took the Skyride up to Grouse for a day of looking at grizzly bears and birds, and watching a (really lame) lumberjack show. It wasn’t the best day to go, but it wasn’t horrific either.

(08.11.09) Maplewood Farm was another place I could get into for free, not that it’s that expensive to get into anyway. Cute animals there.

(08.12.09) I’d never been down to Steveston (in Richmond) before, so I went to check it out on a nice, sunny August day. I also checked out the Buddhist temple close by.

(08.22.09) Of course, there was the PNE the first day it opened. Can’t forget about the annual two-week event, complete with Superdogs, concerts, and tons of people.

(08.23.09) With the Canada Line opened for about a week, I went to ride it for my first time to Aberdeen and the airport. Definitely new and modern, but full of delays that day.

And that about wraps up my summer. I mean, of course, there were other random outings in between, but that’s the gist of it.

Now, I’m about to start a whole new chapter in my life. Not sure if I’m excited or nervous about it. Indifferent at the moment, I suppose.

Schoona (SKOO-na) is the resident sea turtle at the Aquarium. She has been there for a number of years now and is estimated to be between the ages of 10 and 20. She was brought to the Aquarium after being found along the coast of BC/Alaska, lost, alone, and starving. 6 of the 7 species of sea turtles out there are not meant to swim all the way up to places like BC as it is much too cold for them (considering they’re cold-blooded and all). A fisherman found her and rescued her, some other things happened, she was rehabilitated, and wound up at the Aquarium. She was unable to be released because nobody knew where she was from. They could’ve put her back out by, like, Mexico or something and for all they know, she could’ve gotten lost again.

That was the gist of the story of Schoona we were told during the Encounter. We also learned about sea turtles in general, their shell, and other facts about them. After that, we went up to an area behind the scenes to “make” Schoona’s lunch. Sea turtles are mainly vegetarians, so the trainers give her red peppers, string beans, broccoli, lettuce, some fishy/squid stuff, a gel diet (this block of dark green stuff), and a vitamin E capsule. She needs so many grams of everything so what we did was weigh everything out.

Then, off we went to the shark penthouse (basically the area above the shark habitat).

Yes, Schoona swims with the sharks. Stingrays and some fish too. In order to section Schoona off from everyone else swimming around and to feed her, a pair of really bright lights (which is supposed to have vitamin D for her shell) is turned on, a red paddle is dunked into the water, and a shaker is rattled. Schoona immediately swims into this little section and a clear plastic board is placed so she doesn’t get out.

I was on one side of this sectioned-off area and some others were on the other side, both with our bowl of food for Schoona. From there, she basically swam around in circles to get each piece of food put into the water for her. Of course, we didn’t plunk our hands into the water to put food in. She could easily bite a finger or more off, so instead, we used plastic tongs (the nicer ones that are used to pick up scraps of garbage) to put in a piece of food at a time into the water, making sure we released the food before she could get a bite of the tongs as well.

That went on for about 15 minutes, and I had the privilege of touching her shell, which is pretty smooth.

Here she is taking a breath. During the duration of the Encounter (which was 60 minutes long), she took about 4 breaths.

She’s reaching for a string bean here. From above the water, Schoona is enormous compared to when I usually see her swimming around (not above water).

She’s heading to the other side for some more food. The green plastic bowl clearly shows her food sitting in there. Look at that giant shell!

Schoona gets fed only once a day and usually, it is the people doing the Animal Encounter that feed her. Cute.

I have to say, I really liked South Africa’s despite not actually seeing it live. Their fireworks may not have been as creative as China’s, but their music was incredible. The Pirates of the Carribean theme song always gets to me. I could watch that minute and a half over and over again. UK put on a great show as well. It’s unfortunate they didn’t leave their big blast for last. And as for Canada, well… after watching it online, complete with music, I didn’t find it all that great. The Wizard of Oz music was never meant to accompany fireworks. The fireworks were just blasting away however they liked and the music was just there for the sake of being there.

Nevertheless, I’m glad I went to the fireworks this year. Being out in the summer night, driving (aka idling) in the fireworks aftermath, chilling with friends, ah. Will look forward to next year’s fireworks.

Enjoy the following photos. And South Africa FTW!

Onion rings look-alike much? This is actually fried calamari from Watermark (the restaurant @ Kits Beach). Needless to say, they look remarkably different from last Saturday’s fried calamari. Apparently, they changed things around to be all Ocean Wise, thus the new look and way of cooking and taste. All I can say is… yuck. (Sigh, and they changed it because of something the place I volunteer at started.) Fried calamari isn’t the same when there isn’t a crispy surface.

Market Greens

They redeemed themselves (sort of) with their delicious (and obviously overpriced) Tiramisu Cheesecake.

The view of Kits Beach from Watermark

Last night’s sunset was the fastest I’ve ever seen in my life. You could seriously just sit there and see the sun move behind the mountains within minutes.

And now, time for the fireworks photos themselves. (Fireworks mode FTW again.)

And that pretty much wraps up the Celebration of Light 2009. I’m hoping South Africa will win, but part of me doubts they will. I don’t know when the winner will be announced, but I do know I’m already looking forward to next year’s fireworks (hopefully they won’t be briefly cancelled again like they were this year).

Last night was also the discovery of fireworks mode!! They really make the photos pop. Check them out.

First, a sunset photo from Kits Beach.

Before I discovered fireworks mode. Doesn’t it just look kinda… blah? But I’ve gotta say, the view this time was much better than on Canada night. I like the silhouettes of people.

Everything following this photo will have been taken using fireworks mode.

I believe this last photo here was @ the 20 minute mark. Awesome.

Well, that’s 3/4 Celebration of Light nights. China night, the final night, will be this Saturday. Looking forward to it!

The day was looking pretty good actually, nice and sunny, maybe a few clouds here and there. No one would’ve expected a thunderstorm. The weather forecast mentioned no such thing. But sooner or later, the sun disappears and the clouds turn grey.

Nevertheless, my friends and I made it to Kits Beach and ate dinner @ the Watermark Restaurant. Check out the food.

Fried Calamari

Seafood Chowder

Classic Caesar Salad w/ Chicken Breast

Herb Chicken Breast

Delish. Soon after we left the restaurant was when it started raining. Then the thunder and lightning started. Yet we still walked along the beach in search of a spot not too gross, but after maybe half an hour of sitting and standing around, having rain blown in our faces and seeing large strikes of lightning and claps of thunder, we decided it wouldn’t be worth it to wait another two hours for a 25-minute show. And despite the fact I’ve heard that the fireworks were so worth waiting in the rain for and that the lightning made it that much better, we went on to have an absolutely awesome night. Plus, South Africa’s Tapestry of Colour show is viewable online, so I was able to watch it in the comfort of my own chair sitting right at home, and you can view it too!

This is Global BC’s video feed showing raw footage of both Canada and South Africa’s shows: http://bit.ly/woWte

Also, check out this time lapse video of Saturday, July 25: http://bit.ly/e2vgJ Take note of 0:50. Seeing that was my favourite part of the day.

Next up will be the UK’s fireworks show tomorrow (July 29)! It should be a steaming hot day tomorrow. That’s summer for you.

The Celebration of Light is an annual fireworks show, basically, and is free to watch from beaches and parks. This year, there are 4 teams in the competition: Canada (July 22), South Africa (July 25), UK (July 29), and China (Aug 1). The shows start @ 10pm on the night of and last about 25 minutes long (at least Canada’s did).

This Wednesday was Canada night, and Canada’s fireworks display had the theme of The Wizard of Oz. Music can barely be heard on Kits Beach (will bring a radio tomorrow) but the fireworks were still a sight. And the ending was awesome, complete with loud blasts and colourful poofs of sparks and light.

I don’t have very spectacular photos of the fireworks. Just photos.

The word “fossil” literally means “dug up”. Fossils are very rare as it takes special circumstances for fossils to be in the state they become. They only form in sedimentary rock, so when a dino dies, it has to be quickly covered by mud, sand, or silt to keep air away and to slow down decay.

Most tissues disappear over time, so what are left are bones and teeth to be covered by more layers of sediment. Water that goes through to the bones carry rock minerals that replace calcium and other minerals in the bones. Soon enough, all of the original bones disappear and what’s left are exact copies made of stone. There are also times when mudstone sediments save impressions of dinosaurs’ skin, feathers, fur, and footprints.

This claw is from the Plateosaurus (PLAY-tee-uh-SOAR-US), or a flat lizard. They were discovered in 1834. Plateosaurus’ hand bones were very big and had five digits, the large ones probably used for feeding and defence.

Another cute sign.

These are ferns and tree fossils found right here in BC. As you can see, they don’t look much different than today’s plants. As a matter of fact, some specimens like sequoia and ginko trees are still alive today.

This scapula comes from the Omeisaurus (oh-MY-ee-SOR-us), a Mount Emei Lizard. What’s a scapula, you ask? Well, it forms part of the shoulder girdle in both humans and animals. In other words, it’s the shoulder blade.

This is yet another scapula, this one clearly larger, from the Supersaurus (super-SOAR-us). The entire scapulacoracoid (fused scapula and coracoids portion of the shoulder blade) of an adult Supersaurus could be as big as 8 feet in length. The Supersaurus could have stood 18 feet tall at the shoulder.

This is the horn of a Triceratops (try-SER-uh-TOPS). The horns were probably used for mating rather than for defence. Triceratops were herbivores and may have traveled in big herds. As much as Triceratopses look like modern rhinoceroses, they’re not related.

Remember that 24 foot tall T-rex? Here are some additional facts to give you some more insight into them.

• Scientists used to think that T-rexes had an upright posture like a kangaroo. Now, it is known that its posture was almost parallel to the ground with the tail extended behind the body to balance the weight of the head.
• T-rexes were once thought to be cold-blooded, but based on evidence of growth rates in young T-rexes, we know that they were warm-blooded because their metabolism was comparable to mammals and birds.
• T-rexes are actually more closely related to birds rather than lizards. Tissue that has been found in fossils has been previously found only in ovulating birds.
• As evident from the little T-rex, it is thought that T-rexes actually didn’t have scales throughout their lives. Instead, they had a downy covering of feathers that were lost as they grew.

This dig site represents a small portion of the discoveries at Dashanpu Quarry Zigong in China. Right now, scientists are working there, an area that could contain the single greatest concentration of dinosaur fossils ever found. Plant-eating dinos like the Sunosaurus and Omeisaurus have been discovered there as well as predators like Yangchuanosaurus and reptiles, mammals, and prehistoric fish. Nice.

Well, that’s all for dinos, folks. Hope you found it interesting to learn about the T-rex, fossils, how they’re made, and everything else I talked about. I sure found everything entertaining and blog-worthy.

Oh, and someone wants to say hi.

Dinosaurs Unearthed. That’s what’s been going on @ Metrotown since June 12 and will continue all the way until September 20.

Here in the Grand Court stands the 24 foot tall T-Rex, an animatronic model that roars, moves its little hands, and blinks every ~ 10 minutes.

It just stands there, glaring at you as you mosey on down the escalator to see what else is new. Or… old.

This sign is particularly amusing.

There’s a lot to see here, and this dino exhibit isn’t just in the Grand Court of the mall. The other side of the mall in the Atrium Court features other fossils and things about these million year old creatures. (Note: Various pieces of information in this post are partially taken from the signs and displays from the mall, not things I’ve written up.)

Tyrannosaurus rex, King of the Tyrant Lizards, was the last great carnivore of the Cretaceous Period. Fossils have been found all over North America in places like Alberta, Colorado, and Montana. Its nose structure let it deliver crushing bites to capture prey and to fight others. The lower jaw of the T-rex could deliver force like that of a semi-trailer. Yikes.

The feathered T-rex here is on display for the first time ever in Canada. Research shows that juvenile T-rexes had a down covering that resembled a hair-like structure. All of this was shed before adulthood, and feathers developed most likely to regulate body heat. As the dinosaur grew older, it had to quickly shed any stored body heat.

This is a life size poster mounted on the wall of one of the panels to the exhibit. I compared myself to these dinos and obviously, those things were huge. The T-rex’s foot was probably taller than me!

This skeleton can be found in the Atrium Court. This is a Yangchuanosaurus (Yang-chew-ON-uh-SOR-us), which means a Yangchuan Lizard. They were found in China and resemble the North American Allosaurus. The head is long, flat, and heavy and jaws are full of sharp teeth. Its huge claws were probably used to bring down its prey, and the blade-like teeth were then used to slice through the flesh.

The skull of the Allosaurus (AL-uh-SOR-us) can be seen here. More fossils of this dinosaur have been found than most other ones. They used their serrated teeth for slicing through flesh, and it is likely that Allosaurus’ ambushed their prey as opposed to running after them.

The skull of this belongs to the Hadrosaur (HAD-ruh-SOAR). Its beak-like snout had no teeth but the jaws did. Some species had up to 960 teeth! These dinosaurs are known as duck-billed dinos because of how similar their head shape was to ducks nowadays.

Look how huge that forelimb is! It belongs to the Mamenchisaurus (mah-MEN-chih-SAWR-us), a Mamenchi Lizard. They were found in China 150 to 145 million years ago. The foot, ankle, and limb bones of this dino resemble the North American Apatosaurus. The full name, Mamenchisaurus constructus, refers to the fact that the first fossils were discovered during the building of a road.

The last one I’ll show today are dinosaur eggs. This is Placoolithus, or flattened fossil eggs. Fossil eggs are not named after the dinosaur, but for their shape or structure. There have been fossilized embryos found in some fossil eggs before. A giant Apatosaurus hatchling wasn’t much bigger than a modern day ostrich hatchling.

Upcoming…

Do you know how fossils are made? Do you want to see more fossils? Stay tuned for more!