happylife

Snow again

It is now snowing again in Vancouver before the fallen snow melts away. The roads around Downtown are in dangerous conditions so called "Eisbahn" in Deutsch. It's almost crazy to drive in such days without wearing snow tires. I know it well but I drove tonight. I had to drive because I found I was running out of drinking water. I was thinking that I had one more large bottle of water in the refrigerator but I didn't. I'm not sure whether the boil water advisory was released or not, but the tap water in my room is still a little bit cloudy. I decided to drive to the supermarket in Kitsilano to get drinking water again. I chose main streets on the way to prevent being captured in the snow. Fortunately, I have completed this mission without any problem and came back to my room with four bottles of water. It was really dangerous because I couldn't distinguish the lanes covered with snow.

Blue to pink

I rarely watch a sunrise view for two reasons. One is that my apartment room is facing south west and simply I can't see the east sky from my room. Another reason is that I'm usually sleeping when the sun rises. It wasn't that I woke up early this morning, but that I had been up overnight and happened to see this pink sky. The snow covered Bowen Island was reflecting the red sun light and everything looked pink in color. It was so beautiful that I couldn't help getting out to the freezing balcony and taking some pictures. It was a precious experience for me and I wished to see the sky change in color from blue to pink next time. Anyway, it was so cold outside that I had to take a hot shower before going to bed.

To play in the snow

It is usually silent in snowy days because snow has a character of absorbing noise. However, it was very noisy all day long today. My room is facing towards a small park on the bank of False Creek and it provides a very good slope for sledding. Lots of people were enjoying sleds from morning until night. They were sledding so many times that the slope was stripped of the thick snow here and there. Anyway, I think Canadian people are very good at playing with simple games such as Frisbee, Hacky Sack, Roller Blades and sleds. They were competing how far they can slide down the hill without rowing. That's the only rule and furthermore, most of them were using a piece of cardboard or plastic garbage bag instead of a real sled. What an enjoyable and reasonable amusement!

Vancouver in the snow

Most people might have an image that Canada is a freezing country. It is almost true except for Vancouver. Thanks to the warm sea water, we rarely have snow even in winter. We had the first snow on Saturday afternoon. Different from the usual snow, it kept falling down until Sunday night and we are now in white world. This is very exceptional. Though we have small problems such as partial blackout or car accident, most people including me are enjoying this precious white snow. Some people were playing with sled on the downhill in front of my apartment. Dogs were running in high. As for me, I drove to a supermarket. It was a really thrilling adventure because I had to take much care not to slip on the snowy road. Engaging the clutch on uphill slopes and gently braking on downhill slopes were difficult but enjoyable. We are rather happy with this snow because it is rare and it is whiter than the usual gray clouds.

To keep a cat

Many of my friends have a cat in their home. I like to play with a cat when I visit them, but I have no intention to keep one of them by myself. Actually my apartment prohibits any pets, but it is not the main reason. If I wanted to do it, I will do anything to do it. I doubt whether they really deserve all kinds of my efforts to keep them. Once I had it, I would have to feed them every day, clean the room more often, pay a lot of medical costs without insurance and they wouldn't work for me at all. Plus, they would limit my life a lot; I can't travel for a long time, I can't live in my favorite room if it has no-pet conditions. All I can get from them is healing. Is it a so precious thing? Some one might say, a cat is a family, but I can't understand the feeling. I think a cat is a cat and not more than that. They might want to love human before doting on the pet.

Missed the blue sky

This is what I saw first when I waked up this morning. More precisely "this morning for me" I should say, because it was after six in the evening and the sun was already under the horizon. I could see the precious blue sky through the clouds. I regretted a bit. I should have waked up a few hours earlier. I had missed the blue sky which is really rare in this season. My everyday life started with the sun set and the moon rise. Can you see the moon at the center of this picture? Is it too thin to see? I realized that it was long ago when I saw the moon last. It might be more precious than the blue sky because it is way smaller and sometimes wanes.

The illumination season

The illumination season has started in Vancouver. We can see quite a few lights here and there in the town notwithstanding they are public buildings or private houses. This is the illumination of St. Paul Hospital which is lighten up every year to collect contributions. It seemed more gorgeous than last year when they were in financial crisis, but it was almost in the same brightness according to my last year blog. The illuminations are going to be brighter over the coming Christmas until next February. Why are they so popular in Vancouver? I understand the reason very well. It is because of the dark, rainy and depressing winter weather. People need lights to some extent.

Granville Island

Granville Island is a famous tourist spot in Vancouver. There is a good public market with a lot of  stores, music players and seagulls. An art school in the island adds an artistic atmosphere to this island. As it is located on the opposite side of my apartment over the False Creek, I sometimes visit there on my boat just for fun or for shopping. We can buy a fresh seafood at a reasonable price. I hear this island, though it is not exactly an island, used to be a warehouse town and was renovated into a tourist spot years ago. I think this renovation was a great success because I can't imagine Vancouver without Granville Island. When I walked over Granville Bridge a few days ago, I watched this island from above for the first time. Interestingly every building has the shape of a warehouse.

Variation of Korean restaurants

I didn't know the fact that there are some styles in Korean restaurants, but it is quite natural for a country to have variation of food styles. The Korean restaurant where I had dinner with my friend tonight was different than the ordinary one I'm familiar with. It had no chicken dishes and most menu items were not so spicy. We ordered three items for two; tofu soup, vegetable fried rice in a stone bawl and seafood pancake. All of them suit my taste. I felt they were better than the ordinary Korean menu items which are extremely spicy. As you know, when we order something in a Korean restaurant, it will come with several side dishes such as Kimci and sweet potatoes. Fortunately, this good habit was alive in this restaurant. We were happy to enjoy lots of taste at one time.

The second ear

The pop-corn in my room has born the second ear of corn at the joint part between the leave and the stem, adjacent to the first one. It is smaller but has the same kind of corn silk. How many ears of corn does an ordinary corn tree bear? My pop-corn tree has now six large leaves and the bottom two of them have born ears. It is quite possible that the other four leaves have own ears, but I wonder whether the stem can hold so many ears. It is not so thick. I don't expect "sextuplet." All I want is the first child grow healthy, and if possible, I want to cook and enjoy this second generation of pop-corn.