Scavenger Hunt Dec. 4th

This is my last Canadian scavenger hunt before I head Down Under for a 6 week vacay with the family. My next post will be from Adelaide, Australia.

On a more somber note, I am having no luck with cameras lately...I just got my DSLR back from Nikon (very happy), but managed to lose my Nikon Coolpix S600 in a cab in Vancouver on the weekend (very not happy)...Oopsies! I lost a lot of fun Friday night pseudo-family dinner pics and after snapping Granville street at 3am I jumped into a cab and left it on the seat when I got out...Perhaps I had too many Christmas libations...I don't care about the hardware, but I would have liked to have seen the drunken snaps I took...the photos are now memories imprinted in my mind and a little harder to share on a photography blog. The sad thing is that the cash I was going to use for a flash will now go toward getting a new Nikon. Bah humbug!

1. In My Home

2. It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like...

Our friend, Kam has created a winter wonderland in his house in Vancouver. I saw the Citadel Theatre's version of 'A Christmas Carol' last week, and thought this guy looked like Bob Cratchett. Where's Tiny Tim?

 3. A Sweet Treat

It isn't a trip to Vancouver without a taster at the Granville Island tasting rooms. This is their winter treat, a chocolate stout. Nice, Nice, Very Nice.

 

4. Time

Movember in December...Chad was proud of his mo. It takes time to cultivate and create a mo that is worthy of keeping into December...he kept it to show his mates in Vancouver. This is the last photo of the mo before it got shaved off.

 

5. Everyday

My favourite place in Vancouver is Spanish Banks. I could look at this view everyday and live right here for the rest of my life. This view is so amazing that I had to include 2 pictures.

 Merry Christmas and a big thank you to our mates in Vancouver who look after us so well every time we visit. You know who you are...

Scavenger Hunt: November 14

No Camera for 2nd week!

I don't have my Nikon s600 or my D90...I feel naked. Here is my best shot at a scavenger hunt armed without a camera.

1. self-portrait

An attempt at a pan shot taken in Tokyo, July, 2o1o. This photo creeps me out. I look a little like Tracey Morgan.

2. handmade 

Attempt at using Ashley Sisks/Paper Heart Camera 'in the fairy garden' technique. This photo looks like a Christmas bauble.

 

3.orange

I took this many years ago after the Seattle AIDS walk.

4. candle 

Our candle arrangement in our apartment.

5. traffic sign 
This is a cool installation in a park in Vancouver. We would run by this park many times a week. The other side of the stop signs are painted bright pink. Not sure why they are there like this, but it is cool nonetheless. 

Shutter Love Tuesday: BROWN

I Heart <3 Brown

Brown is my favorite colour, so I couldn't resist this week's Shutter Love Tuesday. Only, I have so many photos in sepia/featuring the colour brown that I couldn't choose just one picture. I'm not in it to win, so I will share all my favourites. Again, my camera is still out of action, so I am pulling from the archives (all photos are from 2010).

#1: False Pretense Story True

Very cool installation at Kits beach, Vancouver

 #2: Oh Myles

Myles the french bulldog. He looks sweet and innocent, but packs a punch.

#3: Tunnel of Love

Jenn and Ali getting down in a tunnel. I love this picture because they look like young, innocent children (they're not).

 

#4: Movember

Posted the spirit of Movember. Chad is growing a mo to support Prostate Cancer research. His moustache will probably end up looking like this by the end of November.

Donate here to support his 'stache!

http://ca.movember.com/mospace/1034422/

Scavenger Hunt

November 7th Entry

These photos were taken recently on my D90 and s600. Still waiting for my D90 to be returned to me...sorry for breaking the rules a little!

1. BOO
This week, I had to send my camera away to be fixed, so my "boo" equals "boo hoo": I cried the day it was sent away!

2. BLACK

'Black' was difficult, but I found this photo and thought my shadow would suffice. This was taken on Kitsilano Beach, Vancouver. I like the contrasting textures of the image. This shot is also very Canadian to me: only in Canada are there logs on the beach.

3. Texture

This was also taken in Vancouver while sitting on the patio of Elysian coffee shop with Jenn and Tamir drinking Intelligentsia coffee after a morning of Dim Sum at Kirin restaurant. It was a super warm day, and the roof over looking the patio was striking against the bright blue sky. The sky was this colour: a rare sight in October in Vancouver.

3. Wet

There is nothing better than a lovely glass of Barossa Valley Shiraz with a nice cut of AAA Alberta steak. We wet our whistle on this bottle of red last weekend to celebrate our 9th anniversary. Bethany is one of our favourite wineries in Adelaide. The best part is it is a mere 20 minutes away from where my family lives. We bought this bottle back with us to Canada in 2004. We are looking forward to returning to Bethany at Christmas time.

 

5. Language

Japan is an amazing country, and is a country that has good tasting cigarettes. I guess that is what this advertisement is trying to convey. We tried to re-create the picture with Mark as the buff male model. He does a good job! 

Last Days of Autumn in Vancouver

View from Chamir Chalet

It is so much more fun to be a tourist in Vancouver than to actually live in the city. I'm not saying this to make it okay that I moved away from Vancouver, but when you are in the daily grind and commuting in heavy traffic it leaves very little time to just enjoy the surrounding environment and the seaside vistas.

This trip wasn't really a planned holiday. It was more of an 'escape to save my sanity' adventure. The Edmonton honeymoon period is over; life is getting boring and mundane. I have run out of intellectual Vampire novels to read. Cleaning while watching The View is more glib than convincing.  One day, I found myself in Chapters scouring the self-help section flipping through novels titled 'How to live a Happy life' so I decided to book a trip to Vancouver while Chad went to San Antonio for a conference. Lucky that I did. It gave me a chance to collect and rebuild my sense of self, spend copious amounts of time inhaling the sea water and eating good Dim Sum and Japanese food whilst reflecting on my time spent in Edmonton so far.The more I leave a place, the more I can put my time there into perspective, to see what I have and what I haven't done yet. I came back more excited about living on the Prairies and experiencing a different Canada.

But before we get to enjoying the snowy prairies, Vancouver treated me to its final days of Autumn - blue sky days and colourful leaves, spectacular 'pee your pants' sunsets and sunrises. Staying at the Chamir Chalet overlooking the water and mountains gave me ample opportunity to run on the sea wall and to reconnect with moisture. My Edmonton dust cough dried up. My hang-nails disappeared. JJ Bean and Intelligensia coffee kept me lubricated and energized. Fig and blue cheese martini's from Chambar revitalized and soothed my weary soul. Kirin Dim Sum and Shiro Japanese satiated my hunger. 

I took almost 1000 pictures in 4 days. It was a good trip. Here are the some of the photos I took. The rest are posted to Flickr. Enjoy!

 Enjoying the Peruvian Pan Flute

Fig and Blue Cheese Martini, Chambar

Tapas plates from Chambar

Sanity Restoring Evening at Chambar

Lighthouse Park

Jenniwa from Suweto

Lighthouse Park: Taken by Tamir

Oh Myles.

Yay for Autumn!

Building Inukshuks

False Creek

Cool art piece at Kit's Point. It is meant to be frozen water.

A choice moment in time.

My attempt at an impressionist piece.