Random Thoughts

I love Petite Ecolier cookies....

P randomly says...."Petite ecolier, grose ecolier".

"small schoolboy, big schoolboy"

I'm still laughing... There's never really a dull moment chez Et & P...

Visiting IMAX

We decided to be tourists in our own town today and go watch an IMAX movie down at Canada Place and use up our discount coupon. So we walked down to Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver and took the Sea Bus over to Vancouver.

This is the view from the other side of
Burrard Inlet looking at North Vancouver.

The cruise ships were all in, tourists walking amongst us.
Some of the tourist were certainly German on this Norwegian Liner.


IMAX Flag

Famous Sky Train I use daily.

Here's P and I posing with our Bug Eyes before the show.

I took a long shutter shot of some of this HUGE theater.

We saw Deep Sea 3D which told us about how precious our eco system is and how Sharks play a big part of how the great barrier reef lives.

Did you know that corals in the Gulf of Mexico spawn once a year at precisely 1 hr after sunset during the 8th day in August after the Harvest moon? We also learned about Mantis Shrimp, Irish Lords, Sand Tiger Sharks, Giant Pacific Octopus, manta rays only eat plankton and more...

The Mantis Shrimp is able to back up his attitude with an impressive set of front claws, which can be flicked with such speed (it has been clocked at the speed of a 22 caliber bullet) and force that they can shatter not only the hard shells of prey, but also double safety glass.

We learned a lot in the movie and thought it was worth going back again to see another short feature or the website, which takes a very long time to load.

The Harbour Centre and parts of Canada Place of Vancouver.

This will all be full on Tuesday for Canada Day Celebrations.

Photo Hunt - Bright

This weeks Photohunt Theme is Bright

I really didn't have any bright ideas for this theme. It was especially hard seeing that today was very overcast and grey outside.

I walk by the Olympic Village daily (at the end of South East False Creek) and visited the dragon boat festival last Friday. Here are a few bright pics of the flags.

(This photo is not reversed, I was.)

A bright Flag

See it was pretty Bright.

I am off for 4 days now, celebrating Canada Day on the last.

Wishing everyone happy celebrations for the first week of July.

What type of Dog are you?

What Breed of Dog Are You?

My Result: Chihuahua

No bones about it, you're an energetic, devoted Chihuahua. For your breed, size definitely doesn't matter. After all, sometimes the best things (diamonds, car keys, Godiva truffles) come in small packages. Honest and straightforward, you're never afraid to speak up for what you believe in, especially if it's a cause near and dear to your heart. Having such a passionate personality can come with a few drawbacks, though. You can be moody at times, and people often find it hard to live up to your high standards. But once you make a friend, it's for life. Saucy and intense, your energy and unfailing loyalty make you a great companion. Woof!

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=dogogt&c=50652

What Breed of Dog Are You?

My Result: St. Bernard

No bones about it, you're a dedicated, trustworthy St. Bernard. Loyal and good-hearted, you're as reliable as they come. Your naturally protective personality is reflected in the way you treat people close to you. Sheltering your nearest and dearest from harm (or bad news, for that matter) is high on your priority list. That attitude earns you lots of gold stars, not to mention respect. People admire your strong morals — and how well you stick to them! Focused, steadfast, and determined, you always aim to please. It's a breed like yours that makes the world a better place — woof!

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=dogogt&c=50652

I prefer both. :)

Photo Meme

Here is a super fun meme. Give it a try! (I found it in Ola's blog)

These are the rules:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.
(I think you can register if you don't have flickr.)
d. Save a copy of the mosaic into your computer and post in your blog.

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Let me know if you do it too, I'll come visit!

Vancouver Sun Joke

A Classic Laugh - Only in Vancouver...

First Day of Summer

This weeks Photohunt Theme is Water.

This is the type of water color I love.. It's overlooking Kits Beach and down town Vancouver. I took this photo about 2 years ago or so. It's such a wonderful place to go and hit the sand with all of the other people.

Happy first day of summer and happy hunting!

Vancouver is #4 in 2008

The world's best places to live 2008 rankings have come out. And again, Vancouver is in the top 5 places to live. But there are 3 cities in Switzerland which are in the top 10 also, all of which seem to have a large number of expats.

The Rationale behind the ranking.

Consultants rated each city on a variety of factors including the level of traffic congestion, air quality and personal safety reported by expatriates living in more than 600 cities worldwide. Cities with a high quality of life are not necessarily the most exciting. "There are a lot of 'sleepy' towns that got high ratings."

Cities are compared to New York as the base city, with an index score of 100. The quality-of-living survey covers 215 cities and is conducted to help governments and major companies place employees on international assignments. The survey also identifies those cities with the highest personal safety ranking based on internal stability, crime, effectiveness of law enforcement and relationships with other countries.

Here's the list. It seems that many cities always tie.

No. 1: Zurich, Switzerland (#1 in 2007)
No. 2 (tie): Vienna, Austria (#3 in 2007)
No. 2 (tie): Geneva, Switzerland (#2 in 2007)
No. 4: Vancouver, Canada (#3 in 2007)
No. 5: Auckland, New Zealand (#5 in 2007)
No. 6: Dusseldorf, Germany (#6 in 2007)
No. 7 (tie): Munich, Germany (#8 in 2007)
No. 7 (tie): Frankfurt, Germany (#7 in 2007)

No. 9: Bern, Switzerland (#9 in 2007)

No. 10: Sydney, Australia (#9 in 2007)

Weekend Wrap Up

We went from 10C roughly all last week in Vancouver to jumping up to 20C for the weekend..

I told my parents we had a rather warm weekend. They replied asking me if it hit 60F yet... Roughly 17C...

I worked on sorting out photos rather than posting them. Maybe I will have a few to post this week as we round out the longest week of the year and by far my most favorite time.

Emotions - Photo Hunt

This weeks Photohunt Theme is Emotions.

This weeks Photo Hunt I had to find a photo I had not used yet. I decided to post a few really cool creations which are made by Montreux Gardeners every year. Their work is simply incredible.

Now how cool is that?

If you are ever in Montreux from the winter to spring season, you might come across these Ice Age characters. Montreux makes these emotional characters with a different theme every year.

A Weekend Walk

Here are a few impressions from the weekend.

The weekend was a little wet and rainy, typical for North Vancouver.

The rain stopped but the wind started up a bit.

We went to inspect our ever diminishing
view from City Hall and the Library.

Before we know it, we won't be able to see
any decent views of Vancouver.

Flowers are never far away.

This one reminded me of Alien Antennas.

The North Vancouver Poppies are fading fast.
A touch of architecture which I adore.

Unseasonal Chill

We've had a great last two months, with plenty of sunshine..

See there's the picture proof..

But this month of June has started off and stayed chilly!

It's looking better already, but I'd sure like to feel like summer is around the corner instead of later autumn at 10C nearly every day.

I really love what a Vancouver Tourism website has to say about our weather..

"There is one word to describe Vancouver's weather, unpredictable. There is no such thing as a reliable forecast for Vancouver. Local weathermen usually try to cover all bases. A typical forecast sounds something like "Sunny with a possible high of 25 C, a chance of showers, possibly turning into light flurries or hail". It does rain a lot in Vancouver. Most Vancouverites are very touchy on this subject and will likely be very evasive, or will simply lie about it. If you are from the southern UK, you already have a pretty good notion of what our weather is like. Vancouver holds the title for the wettest major city in Canada, but still receives about 2000 hours of sun a year. Despite its Northern Latitude (49 deg), the warm Japanese current gives the city a mild climate, and the latitude also means daylight till 10 PM in the summer months. In early summer or fall, days often start out cloudy, due to marine air, but clear by noon. Climate changes rapidly in BC as you move inland, 300 kilometres from the coast, its desert.

Vancouver is also a city of mini-climates. This is due to the close proximity of the mountains. It can be raining cats and dogs in North Vancouver and bright and sunny in the southern suburb of White Rock."

I think it does sum up Vancouver's weather - unpredictable always...

A wonderful Treat

A slice of Heaven...

And I got to sample a piece of it...

Ah the Swiss Bakery, my favorite reminder of something close to Switzerland..

Bad Hair - Photo Hunt

This weeks Photohunt Theme is bad hair

I searched high and low for a photo with me and bad hair. It was very hard to find since I just don't get bad hair days often.

I did come up with a hair style that I absolutely hated as I was in the middle of growing out my hair in my school photo. It certainly was bad hair. I decided to keep the year, for laughs. I was in 7th grade. And yes my hair was very blond back then.



And P hasn't cut his hair in a while so he can have bed head and a bad hair day when he first wakes up in the morning. I prodded and he let me post this funny photo of his bad hair and no shave after just waking up one morning.

Happy Hunting...

One Year Ago

One June 5th, 2007 I became a landed immigrant of Canada - nearly 4.5 years after deciding that was what I was going to do...

Immigration definitely was not a short journey as I look back to January of 2006 in my post about immigration and already a good 4 months into my application at that time.

It's been 4 years since I've left Switzerland.

4 years since I've been back in North America and not a day has gone by that I wished I could move back to my previous dwelling a la Suisse.

And 3 years and counting since I started this blog and planning my first trip with P to Switzerland.

And so I figured why not put a photo up from 4 years ago, only one month after returning from Switzerland.