Enjoying Ruby Lake

At least once a year, my friend Maria and her hubby Chris make it a point to spend a weekend at their cabin up in Sunshine Coast. And we're very fortunate to be always invited when they gather up family and friends to take with them for a much-needed rest and relaxation weekend. To be away from the hustle and bustle of city life for a couple of days is always a treat. And with network and reception being bad there, you're also forced to do a digital detox. Yes, that is such a thing now in this digital time. I'm telling you, it is wonderful to be without smartphones and internet for a couple of days - you can actually lift your head up and look around, take everything in and revel in God's grace and goodness. And just breathe.

Hullo world!

Wow, it's been almost a year, eh? But here I am, I'm alive! Going back to basic, to what I love doing the most - pouring my thoughts out. I won't say that I'm back for good to the blogging world 'cause I know that's not gonna happen and always, I'll come and go. I blame the social network sites which have served as my micro-blog for updates and events in my life, but thank them just the same for making it easier to write thoughts and post them in a jiffy!

On Vacations and Getting Back On Track

Summers are always good, no, great, and this year has been my busiest summer in BC so far! It was awesome, no doubt, but I can't deny that by the end of it all, I was so looking forward to getting back to my regular daily life! I even cannot wait for all the busy-ness to die down! I was just spent! Okay, I think you get the picture.

It's funny because it was actually just August. Just a month - but it's all my summer with all the events that took place.

So... Photos time! 

 

Started summer off with blueberry picking! 

A Visit To Whytecliff Park

It was another good sunny day a week before, on a Sunday - too good to waste lazing inside a house. And so like what we've been doing the past couple of sunny weekends, we decided to set out early morning for a drive to Whytecliff Park in West Vancouver. It was a good hour drive from Richmond (ok, that's just my estimated time) and so we got there at a good time, when the sun's rays still wasn't harmful to the skin.

Like all parks or lakes that we've been to, it was quiet, and surprisingly so, not much crowded. There were a few families and some recreational group of friends who went there to scuba dive. The park is surrounded by the Horseshoe Bay, near the BC Ferry Terminal, where you take ferries to go to Vancouver Island. So seeing a speedboat or a jetski in the waters comes as a no surprise. Of course, there's also the occasional BC Ferry ride which would startle the calm waters and send big waves to the shoreline for a couple of minutes. Other than that, it was a really calming place, quiet and reserved.

Blossoms at Buntzen Lake

Some Fun Out In The Sun

Excuse me for the very cliche title, the summer heat seemed to have parched my creative juices. But never mind that, what's important is we have summer heat! Lol! Allow me to explain - we've had quite a gloomy start of the summer that everyone out here in the west thought the sun wouldn't be too present this season. I'm not kidding. For weeks at the start of summer the forecast was variably cloudy, showers and chance of rains - it was mid-July and we're all wearing jackets and have umbrellas over our heads. Summer bummer indeed. 

It was a funny sight too, I remember we had our annual company picnic, it was the 22nd of July and we were out at the park around 12 noon, wrapped tight in our jackets and wishing we could make a campfire. Haha! And one of my co-workers, upon arriving commented, "So it's a beautiful February day." That gave us all a chuckle. 

On to the adventure....

The first long weekend of the summer came and it was a bit cloudy. But because there was no forecast of shower, we set out to Delta and picked strawberries! It was both fun and tiring. It was fun hunting them big red strawberries down and tiring because we had to bend down to pick them. I felt so old because I suffered leg and lower back pain after. Haha!

Spring Is Near ☼

I know it is too early to welcome the change of season, after all, we're just in the middle of February, but I'm just excited to see lively and vibrant colors again. I do like Fall, but I'm not really a fan of the gloomy weather coupled by the rain showers it brings. But I admit there is joy in seeing green change into dramatic hues of orange, yellow, and brown and stepping onto crunchy fallen leaves is a plus as well. And weird as it may be to some, looking at skeletal trees lined up gives me a sort of calm albeit with a tinge of sad. And to some, Fall is a favorite for the fashion it brings - layers and layers of clothing, fun, classic scarves, cute rain boots, coats and topped with an equally cute or nice umbrella - and you're just about ready to sing and dance in the rain, in style! But I'm really not one to talk about fashion, I still have yet to acquire a sense of it!

Going back to the topic at hand (for a minute there I was lost in Fall), this post is really but a poor excuse for me to post some photos I edited way back, but I've been lazy to post at that time. As apparent as it is, timeliness in blogging is something like a "Whut?" to me. Haha!

A little backgrounder, these photos were taken in the Summer of last year when we were enjoying the sun and clear skies of Victoria's Butchart Gardens. I felt absolutely like a girl in love (you know, when you feel like flowers are blooming around you 'cause of giggles of love). So yeah, this might just be me when I am blissfully in love with someone. ♥

Once Upon A Spring In Seattle

An early birthday treat last Spring presented itself when a friend of mine had the chance to go to Seattle for a conference. Thrilled with the thought that I'd get to see one of my friends again, we made plans to go tour the city that started the Starbucks' craze. And with it being only a couple of hours away from Vancouver, it made it oh-so-convenient for us to rendezvous. How fortunately convenient it is that I only had to take one bus to get there, right?

Now let me tell you a story. Months before that, I'd imagine myself listening to Owl City's Hello Seattle and will actually be really on my way to that city. Imagine my joy when the prospect of that coming true was revealed! So, armed with a chock-full of pasalubongs in my suitcase and Hello Seattle on repeat on my ancient iPod, I made my way to my first solo flight ever! The joy of going by myself with a suitcase on hand to a city 200 kilometers south of where I live was truly exciting, I could've been smiling all the way! I don't have any idea what will happen once I get there, I don't know the city and the people, but I didn't care! I just ignored the fear and went on - let the city itself be my guide! Plus, exploring the unknown with a friend by my side just made it more appealing.

I stop writing now and just let you see the adventure Brimen and I had in Seattle, Washington! :)

The Space Needle

Tickets. Of course, we have to go to the Space Needle!

On our way to Pike's Place Market

Having Caramel Macchiato at the first Starbucks

A hearty meal. Nomnomnom

At some sports bar for dinner

Brim and Me. The cheesecakes here are to die for!

With Brim's firends

Spring! I'm blending in. Haha!

While shopping/window shopping. Haha!

Next birthday stop? Vegas, please! :)

Serenity in Cultus Lake

May 24th marks the celebration of Victoria Day, one of the holidays commemorated all over BC, giving us another long weekend to enjoy. And for us, that only meant one thing - go out of town and discover the great backyards of BC! As Hello BC ads say, "We go out there every chance we get!" (Or something along that line anyway.)

All the planning for the holiday was already planned a week ago and we've decided our stop would be at Cultus Lake in Chilliwack, BC. So with our luncheon packed and cars fueled to the brim, we began out an hour and a half drive on early Monday morning (despite weather warnings of just "sun breaks").

We were greeted by the crisp cold morning air upon our arrival and the inevitable clouds. The first thing we did was jog around to warm ourselves up, really!


All warmed up and ready to explore, I took it all in and fell in love with Canada more. It was just a sight to see, and it wasn't even the top tourist spots in BC! The lake just screamed serenity everywhere you looked. It was picture-perfect.


You could imagine yourself having a vacation home there and going there with your hubby/wife and kids and doing outdoor activities - fishing, kayaking, cooking up some barbecues, swimming, sun bathing, playing frisbee, reading your fave book stretched out on the shore, jogging, walking your pet, biking, do yoga, and the list goes on. It is just a dream.

Being there just made me more grateful to Him who has given us much more than we deserved, than we asked for. It has also stirred up that feeling that's become so familiar to me - missing my family back home. Both my brother and I have become nostalgic that day, wishing that our cousins and other relatives were with us there. After all, the more the merrier, right? We have hope, that by next year another family will be with us here, experiencing everything we are enjoying right now. Till then, I continue to pray for that dream to become a reality.

Next stop: North Vancouver to do some crabbing! Weeeee! Can't wait! *big grin*