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Every year, the PNE opens for 2 weeks at the end of the summer for everyone to enjoy everything from Superdogs shows to concerts to buying goodies from the Marketplace. This year, I went on the 1st day (Aug 22), where there was free admission from 9am-12pm.

One of the first things I did was go to grab a spot at the Superdogs show @ 10am. Normal days at the PNE don’t have Superdogs shows in the morning. This was a special one, some sort of “opening ceremony” with Raymond Louie (the chair of the PNE, something or other).

Some of the dogs at the Superdogs show were really, really cute.

Look at the shaggy one up in the middle front!

Shaggy doggy has a ponytail!

Any time you’re at the PNE, the crowds will be right there with you.

Just look at that pile of people leading from the PNE side to the Playland side and vice versa. Crazy!

Global BC has their amphitheatre set up here, and this is where concerts and whatnot are played. Red Robinson and others perform on this stage.

This barn-like place houses animals from horses to sheep to pigs to chicken eggs.

This sheep would not quit “bahhh”-ing! And he was SO loud!

More crowds of people outside the Pacific Coliseum.

I also saw a lumberjack show. It was as lame as the one up at Grouse (Mountain). And worse than being packed like sardines in a can. Because you’re sitting there and legs are climbing all over you trying to get up and down the bleachers.

I also saw the RCMP Musical Ride, which consisted of about 32 horses and RCMP officers “dancing” to music. Raymond Louie was also at that show. The show was really good.

Here they are in windmill formation.

This formation was supposedly on the old $50 Canadian bill.

Then, there’s Miller Drive, which features things like the sand castle competition, which hadn’t started yet on the 1st day of the PNE.

Of course, there is much more to see at the PNE like different concerts every night and painting the art cars, but that’s the gist of what I saw while I was there. Now here’s something cute.

KC! He’s the mascot for Playland or PNE or both.

Adorable!

Wouldn’t you love to meet and feed a sea turtle? That’s just what I did last Monday @ the Vancouver Aquarium. It was all part of the Aquarium’s Animal Encounters, where you get to “go behind the scenes and find out what it’s like to feed and train the animals of the Vancouver Aquarium alongside their trainers.” Of course, you have to pay a hefty price, but it’s worth it.

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.

Hm. I’m not sure what to say about China’s fireworks (“Through the Looking Glass”). I mean, the fireworks themselves were very nice, but personally, I found their show too slow-paced, making it kind of boring. I’m sitting there, camera in hand, expecting huge blasts of light and sparks, but there was nothing that gave me chills (uh, the chills that make you think, “OMG that’s amazing!”). The choreography was outstanding of course, and I’m sure their fireworks were something the judges were looking for, but it didn’t do it for me. I wasn’t too fond of the music either.

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).

All I can say is, UK night (“Parasols Over the Pacific”) was spectacular. UK > Canada. I can’t exactly compare it to South Africa’s because South Africa’s was really good too, and I didn’t watch it live. But hands down, UK’s was much better than Canada’s. The only thing is that UK’s 20 minute mark really should’ve been their 25 minute (aka ending) mark. I’m sure many people, myself included, thought the amazing bursts of gold and whatnot was the end, but a quick check of the watch clearly stated there were 5 minutes left.

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!

Saturday was… interesting, to say the least. The plan WAS to go to see the South Africa fireworks (“Tapestry of Colour”), but that took a turn for the worse (or better?) when the rain and thunder and lightning started happening. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

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.

On impulse, I decided to hit the beach and watch some fireworks this past Wednesday. Some friends and I wound up at Kitsilano Beach, much emptier than English Bay although not as good of a view, but I prefer less crowds over a better view any day of the week.

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.

Well, I’m off to New York in a few days and I just spent about 4 hours today finishing off my itinerary. Needless to say, I am very detail-oriented. The hardest part about planning a trip to a place like New York is figuring out how to get to all of the destinations. I mean, I could easily just list out everywhere I want to go and leave it at that, but no one really wants to waste precious time in a foreign city, lost.

The biggest challenge is “deciphering” New York’s subway system. I know how it works and everything, but trying to figure out how to get from one place to another can be quite a pain. It’s a good thing there’s Google Maps. Google Maps has been a god.

In any case, I have not started packing yet. But I’ll get to it tomorrow morning. Before I go to school. For the final time.

Now, I discovered something pretty cool a few years ago. I took a gazillion shots of the Brooklyn Bridge the last time I was in New York and one was actually pretty neat that I developed and have hanging up in my room. I also have a 2007 New York calendar from the Empire State Building and one of the photos was surprisingly similar to the shot that I took. Check it out.

Taken July 15, 2006 @ 8:44am NY time. I just grayscaled the photo.

This is the April 2007 photo from the NY calendar that I have. Sky is obviously photoshopped?

I just found that pretty interesting. And I’ll be there again in no time!

My 1st part to Dinosaurs Unearthed featured the T-rex, feathered T-rex, and a bunch of fossils. If you’d like to know how fossils are made as well as find out more about other fossils, pay close attention. (Note: Again, various pieces of information have been taken from the signs and displays.)

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!

This is a contest from MonsterBuzz.

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I have a big problem!

I want to watch English movies but which one should I watch?

So I decide to make an easy contest for all of you. I’ll give 10USD to any of you who suggest most interesting movies for me!

Read more for the details of this contest.

This contest entitled “10 English Movies That I Should Watch“.

Prize: 10USD (Through Paypal / Maybank2U)

How to join this contest?

1. Retweet this post. Copy and twit this:

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Contest: 10 English Movies That I Should Watch. Win 10USD now! http://tr.im/oZAj

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2. Make a simple post on your blog telling the others about this contest. You’re required to put the link to this contest in your post. I only accept post in English and Bahasa.

3. Choose 10 English movies which you think that I should watch and state them in the comment section below with the URL to your post and your Twitter ID.

Example in the comment section:

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1. Movie 1
2. Movie 2
3. Movie 3
4. Movie 4
5. Movie 5
6. Movie 6
7. Movie 7
8. Movie 8
9. Movie 9
10. Movie 10

Post URL – http://myblog.com/contest-from-monsterbuzz
Twitter ID – yourTwitterID

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* You’re not required to state the movies in your post.
* I accept ANY English movies no matter it is new or old.
* I accept ANY English movies from any genres except pornographic materials.

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4. Done!

Rules:

1. You can suggest English movies ONLY. And you have to FOLLOW all the steps given.

2. Only one entry per person. 2nd entry will not be considered.

3. The participant who suggests most interesting movies for me will be the winner.

4. You might suggest the same movies with others but I can’t tolerate if your suggestion is too similar with the others.

5. Any comments other than contest submissions will be deleted. If you have any question, feel free to send your question to me through the Contact Form.

This contest will end on 1st July 2009. Winner will be announced and we will contact you for the prize transaction.

That’s all. Thank you.

Now suggest 10 English movies that I should watch and you might be the winner! =D