Another View of the Granville Dig (by Pender St)

Feb 27, 2007, 1311hrs: this time I used my Lumix FZ10 camera with a 24mm wide-angle converter (it might be more like 26mm, though). I stitched together 5 photos. I probably could have done it with less overlap and gotten more of the scene in the panorama shot. I'll try it next time.

Chinese New Year Parade

Sunday, February 18th: This was the first time (that I can remember) I've been to a Chinese New Year Parade in Vancouver's Chinatown. I arrived at Keefer Street at around 11:45am. The parade route was only 7 city blocks (around 1 kilometer), and the parade started at noon. I didn't go to the beginning of the route as it was too crowded. So I stood on the sidewalk at the halfway point of the route. I saw the first marchers of the parade at 12:25pm, and the last group passed by me at 2:15pm.

I came prepared to shoot lots of photos, and even a few short video clips. I shot more than 500 photos, so here are 24 of them:


There were very few motorized vehicles in the parade; it was mostly marchers and dancers. At various times, people lit firecrackers that made lots of noise and a stinky smoke. I saw 12 or more lions (each lion costume had 2 people inside) in the parade. After the parade ended, it looked like all those lion dancers were at work going from store to store and getting those cabbage and red envelope prizes.

The Last Valentine's Hearts

Wednesday, Feb 14th: Since my last posting of the Valentine's hearts, there have been three more put on the wall on the 4th floor. Note: the one that says "Happy Valentine's Day Team #3", was put up on the 2nd floor.

The Granville Street Dig (between Pender St and Hastings St)

Friday, Feb. 16th, 2007: I looked out a window on our 4th floor and took 5 photos of the digging going on underneath. I used Autostitch (a free program) to join the 5 photos into one large panoramic image. For these photos, I used my old 2-megapixel camera using a 38mm focal length. Next chance I get, I'll use a 24mm wide-angle lens to get a more encompassing view of the scene.


Earlier, on January 29th, I saw an interesting light show as a guy did some cutting. In the top half of this montage the camera's shutter speed was 1/8 second, while in the bottom half the shutter speed was 1/4 second:

2nd Floor Valentine's Hearts

Friday, February 9th: In the afternoon I checked out the second floor and noticed all these new hearts posted up on the wall.

Another Lunch at Imperial Restaurant

Friday, February 9th, 2007: Lunch at Imperial Restaurant. Rosie (Bernadette's sister) joined us. It was her first time to this restaurant.

Glenn, Tammy, Shirley & Rosie:Rosie, Bernadette, Joanne & Elaine:

Here are four dishes that I didn't have the last time I ate here: egg plant, seafood & tofu, BBQ pork buns, and fried squid.

Kimono Japanese Restaurant

Thursday, February 8th, 2007: Six of us went to the Kimono Restaurant near to our office. I hadn't eaten there for over a year.

Most of us chose an $8 combo plate such as this:

Evelyn, Debby & Glenn:

Lunch with Janet and Raymond

Friday, February 2nd, 2007: a group of us went to the Pacific Mall Food Court to meet with Janet and Raymond. Janet was going to leave on Monday to Taiwan. She'll stay there for a year or longer. Raymond is currently working at Bank of Montreal, in the Metrotown area.

Janet & Karen:

Brandon, Raymond & Glenn:

Valentines' Hearts on the 4th Floor

Valentine's Hearts were on sale for $1 each (to go towards our staff charity fund). As of February 7th, there were only 6 hearts posted on the designated wall.