89/365: Rice Cooker

Yes Ladies and Gentleman. The highlight of my day was making rice...
I've been getting pretty lazy with my dinners. My mom freezes a lot of soups for me every time I go back, and I bright it all to Nanaimo in a giant Styrofoam box. Then I slowly thaw them out and every night, I'd melt one down and use it as a soup base for my noodles. Needless to say, there are many times when the soup didn't exactly match the rice noodles or instant noodles I put in XD

So what's different tonight? Did I run out of soup? No... Actually the curry I took out finally thawed out enough for my spoon to scoop some out! So lo-and-behold! I shall make rice and have curry with it!


5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/50s; Aperture f/1.4; Focal 50mm; ISO 800

88/365: Marian the Teletubbies

The rolling green hills and random flowers apparently reminded of my friend of Teletubbies... So there she is!


5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/1250s; Aperture f/1.4; Focal 50mm; ISO 50

87/365: Fold-up Stool

No Asian home is complete without one. Doubles as a chair, coffee table, bed-side table and the most unlikely of weapons.

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/25s; Aperture f/2.8; Focal 16mm; ISO 200

86/365: Ferry Terminal

I've had a hectic week what with having to go back to Richmond for some errands, planning my staff meeting at work and my district manager coming around for a visit. I've kept up with the daily photos just I have not had time to post them up yet!

Here's a lovely day waiting to board the ferry from Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal. I really need a teleporter =D

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/8000s; Aperture f/2.8; Focal 50mm; ISO 100

85/365: Kareoke

This guy can sing higher than most girls I know =S
BTW I'm tone deaf, I pity all people who sing Kareoke with me.


5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/50s; Aperture f/1.4; Focal 50mm; ISO 3200

84/365: Sushi Garden

Sushi Garden is arguably one of the best Japanese places around the Lower Mainland area for your money. They recently opened a new branch near Brentwood Mall and my friends and I thought we'd give it a try.

Problem: Canucks play-off game tonight and there's no TV there.

Solution: Take-out and eat in the comfort of our homes... In Richmond.

HAHAHAHA It was delicious, I must agree. And we had two HUGE party platters meant for 6 people, there were only 5 of us and we each only paid $16. I know the sushi looks a little mangled from the take-out process but it was good!! MMmmmmmmmMMmmmm
That also included 5 pieces of Toro. *DRRooooollllls*



5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/40s; Aperture f/2.8; Focal 50mm; ISO 320

83/365: Doubloon

I had an afternoon/evening of fun with a group of friends playing a board game called "Puerto Rico". It's based on Spanish colonies who try to produce goods, trade them for money or send it back to the motherland! It has a very complex system of different crops and plantations to utilize, upgrades on buildings to help reduce your costs or provide additional perks per turn and requirements of having little people to make the world go around...

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/50s; Aperture f/1.4; Focal 50mm; ISO 200

82/365: Photoshoot @ Britianna Shipyard

My sister knows a few other photographers (more professional and serious, they make a living out of it) but invited me along to take a few shots with her and her boyfriend for practice. Well I'm back in Richmond with nothing planned during the day, so why not? I hull out my gear and we head out =D

It was a fun day, finally got to practice more people pictures! But my sister's done this before so she knows more or less how to pose so I didn't learn much in terms of direction. Nonetheless it was a great experience shooting people and with other people too!

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/125s; Aperture f/4; Focal 105mm; ISO 100


So there were 4 photographers shooting today, using three 5D Mk II's and one 7D. We had my lenses, plus 2 more 16-35mm, one 24-70mm, a 70-200mm f2.8, and a 580EX flash with pocket wizard remote trigger. That's a lot of $$ O_o

81/365: Canucks!

Anyone could put a Canucks flag on their car window and drive around town with it.

Who puts a Canucks flag on a BC Ferry and crosses the Georgia Straight with it?


5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/250s; Aperture f/8; Focal 19mm; ISO 50

80/365: N for Nanaimo

I'm trying to start walking around the downtown Nanaimo during my breaks as the weather gets progressively better every week! Its a shame for me to continue spending it in doors either napping or even doing paper work on my breaks =( There's a few interesting boats and quite a few quirky scenes around the neighborhood. More shots to come!

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/2500s; Aperture f/2.8; Focal 50mm; ISO 100

79/365: Take 1 down, Pass it around...

Disclaimer: Work Rant. I started typing this describing a particular coworker but ended up changing all the "her"s to "you" so it will all be in 1st person, me yelling at all of you =D Enjoy

Work was distressing today to say the least! My favorite coworker pulls out all the stops to hinders my every effort! It's incredibly infuriating, even when I'm trying to inform you of what just happens so I can keep you in the loop. However, you'd give the most obnoxious answer about a conversation you had, several days beforehand, as if my information is invalid! WTF? I just got off the phone with an administrator that's WELL above the RN you were speaking with AND the information is more up to date! And why the heck didn't you tell me about the conversation you had?

Next is your relentless resistance on any of my initiatives to help improve work flow! You believe I make change just because I think I need to change something as the new kid on the block. You believe that the department has survived so far, and things run "fine", QED nothing needs to be done. Why fix it if its not broken right? Too bad your simplistic mind can not comprehend the vast concepts of work flow and staying ahead of the game.

Your trust level for coworkers is reserved to say the least. The capabilities of your subordinates are only what you are willing to train and guide them to. And the concept that someone must be paid extra for every additional thing you teach them is RIDONKULOUS! If that were true, your starting salary should have been at zero and personally, I would not offer much more than $10 for the stunts you're still pulling now! Seriously after a year of being in the position position, AND you only have ONE real responsibility given, you still find new ones of making at least 1 mistake on it every schedule! Then you has the balls to come to me and TELL me how to fix it? I don't think that's how it works buddy.

And you complain about issues around the department I haven't had a chance to address. Yet... you'd disagree with my delegation of tasks so I can free up my time for my important matters that need my attention. BUT you would leave work for me everyday that anyone else in the department could have done and continue to volunteer my time to do menial tasks for the rest of the staff... Then I tell you no and I'll leave it for you to do instead and it doesn't get done either... Hmmmmm

Ok, 1 last thing (for now). How the heck do I SHOW you something will work without putting it in place first? There's no simulation programs for our department. If there was and I had access to it, I would not be in Nanaimo working my ass off. I'd be in the Bahamas sipping rum and laughing at her instead. Seriously, sometimes you just gotta work it out, do all the "homework" beforehand to address issues that may arise, and just run with it to see how well it works.


5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/50s; Aperture f/2.8; Focal 50mm; ISO 640

78/365: Angel

There's an angel watching over this place... an Angel of Love perhaps?

Taken at the Modern Cafe in downtown Nanaimo. The only place I know that's open till 12am.

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/2s; Aperture f/5.6; Focal 50mm; ISO 3200

77/365: To the Tree!

I worked quite early today so when I got off, I felt the urge to make good use of the daylight! It was quite overcast though so none of my pictures looked too cheery. I walked out to Maffeo Sutton Park near DT Nanaimo just to wander. There were lots of people fishing for crabs! A few families with little kids enjoying the sight of live crabs and jumping back in excitement. I still don't dare take pictures of kids for fear of being called a stalker =S But today's best picture was indeed the one in my mind, the smile of kids playing on the harbor side, enjoying the day.

You get to see the 2nd runner up, this walkway up from the docks towards the tree elevated up on stairs coming from the water.

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/160s; Aperture f/2.8; Focal 16mm; ISO 100

76/365: Photoshop Actions

Ok today's picture is not much of a picture. In fact, it's more of a recycled picture from yesterday's. But I learned how to set up custom actions in PS and it's perfect for my laziness!! I've programed PS so that i press 1 button and it'll resize my photo, frame it and watermark it for me =D I love automation!

Check this out to learn how! I did discover one thing though, the position of the text is effected by pixel density... My landscape pictures straight from my camera come as 72 pixels per inch but if I edit it in Lightroom, it gets converted to 240 pixels per inch! And I couldn't figure it out for a few days why it only works sometimes until today... so I'm glad I got that setup and hopefully I'll be a little more consistent with my posting! It'll give me more time to develop creative shots right? hahaha..... RIIiiiiight.....

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/160s; Aperture f/4; Focal 24mm; ISO 100

75/365: Evil Penguin

I have an evil penguin looking at me.

His eyes BURN holes into me =S I look and he looks right back......

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/40s; Aperture f/2.8; Focal 50mm; ISO 200

74/365: TV box

Its actually more like Tv on top of the box... Belle was quite fascinated by this when she visited. For me it was a stroke of genius! Neck was getting sore from looking down so often, the angle produced less than ideal contrast on the LCD monitor and it simply lacked style. Enter the cardboard box. Minimal and resourceful re-use of a cardboard box. Belle fears it will collapse on me but I have faith the integrity of said box will hold. Besides, it's made of cardboard, it'll cushion the TV's fall right?

And yes, the A80's been collecting dust on the floor for awhile now....

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/20s; Aperture f/7; Focal 16mm; ISO 2000

73/365: Alice in Wonderland

So I tried to borrow the book a week before the movie came out. Due to its popularity, especially with the movie, wasn't able to get it until now! Like... a month or more later? In any case, I have some reading material now to make myself look smarter =D

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/30s; Aperture f/7; Focal 35mm; ISO 800

72/365: Pasta

Colorful pasta left behind by the previous tenant. Yes, I ate it. HAHAHAHAHA

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/15s; Aperture f/7; Focal 16mm; ISO 1600

71/365: Reaching in the Fridge

I've always wanted to do one of these shots. However, after several attempts I noticed my face always looked spooked. I'm just not natural on the other side of the camera...

Lets see, in my fridge I have:
half a dozen containers of home-made soup
16 eggs
Aloe drink
4L milk
Crown
Coke Zero
Pasta sauce
Left over "siew yok"
My hand


5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/20s; Aperture f/7; Focal 16mm; ISO 640

70/365: Breakfast of the Champions!

I gotta say I had a wonderful week in Nanaimo! One of the most enjoyable by far due to several reasons... My friend joined me mid week to help out at work and we were able to hit some of Nanaimo's attractions together, then my high school friends came over to visit me this weekend! It was such a blast having someone else to share Nanaimo's scenic views with, and then to relax at home and actually talk out loud (and have a conversation with someone other than my walls).

Normally I'm very lazy when it comes to food. With people over, it was nice to have a very balanced meal for a change. Even for lunch, my friends and I went to the local grocery to pick up an assortment of vegetables and chicken thighs to cook! Its been the most nutritious week I've had here! Hahaha, however, none of us are really morning people though so for breakfast we did not have much to choose from... I have a stash of milk and cereal as my staple. This morning, we spiced things up and had something different: Fried eggs, some instant noodles and sun chips left over from the night before! With this I definitely feel motivated to take on the rest of the day!


5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/300s; Aperture f/2.8; Focal 16mm; ISO 125

69/365: Rusted Engine

I was walking along a beach in Nanaimo, very close to someone's backyard in fact, when I came across a cove sheltered from the icy Georgia Straight wind. In this cove was a collection of things someone seemed to have placed as an extension to their own backyard! The hedges were well groomed, there was a small pagoda just up the hill, and well maintained set of wooden stairs leading down to the beach and a large, although neatly, stacked pile of fire wood. I enjoyed the view as I stood in the warm spring sun just soaking it all in...

... then my friend pointed out something off to the edge of the beach. Amongst the jagged rocks of Nanaimo's shoreline there lodged an engine. Not an entire engine, but just the block! Someone had the nerve to throw out an engine here?!

Public dumping aside though, I must admit the colors and texture a rusting engine block gave were one of a kind! If it wasn't so orange and geometric, the thing would fit right in on the rocks! Well maybe I'm exaggerating but I enjoyed seeing it there for the afternoon sun was just able to highlight park of the engine and I was able to create today's photo!


5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/125s; Aperture f/6.3; Focal 60mm; ISO 100

68/365: Caught!

Had a wonderful stroll today through Piper's Lagoon. Clear skies... Gentle ocean breeze... Calm waters... It was perfect setting for this birdie to snatch itself an early dinner!

On another note, there's a restuarant in Nanaimo that must be tried, even if you do not plan on going to Nanaimo. It's good. It's delicious. It's fantastic. It's COZY!
How cozy? Like snuggle up on a couch cozy ;) Pictures you ask for? It only would have ruined the atmosphere... *TEASE* mwahahaha

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/160s; Aperture f/4; Focal 24mm; ISO 100

67/365: Reaching for Nan Bread

Its such a great change having someone around =)

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/13s; Aperture f/2.8; Focal 16mm; ISO 3200

66/365: Slippers

These are my slippers. The bears keep me company and the guard my place when I'm at work. I like to think they don't throw parties while I'm gone but I guess I just turn a blind eye to things...

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/50s; Aperture f/2.8; Focal 50mm; ISO 400

65/365: Socks

I worry about my feet getting cold from walking on the hardwood floor. I also worry about my chair's legs getting cold from standing on the hardwood floor. *heart Socks

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/50s; Aperture f/2.8; Focal 50mm; ISO 2000

64/365: The Tie

At work the guys have to wear ties. We just look hotter that way. Unfortunately, when you forget to bring a tie, you stand out. A LOT. Interestingly enough, no one mentioned it until the store manager came by. Hahahaha I guess I scare my staff enough from asking me?

Anyway, I had to make an emergency run this morning to pick up a tie otherwise it would be 3 weeks before I'd look good again ;)

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/80s; Aperture f/1.4; Focal 50mm; ISO 100

63/365: Rabbit Hole

There's a tunnel about 15 minute walk away from my house. It's long and dark... but as you approach the end, you find yourself in a strange forest, sided by odd looking animals that just doesn't look quite right...

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/80s; Aperture f/4.5; Focal 65mm; ISO 100


5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/160s; Aperture f/8; Focal 24mm; ISO 100

62/365: Sailing

Hop on board Allen's sailboat to Never-never Land... Where scripts are plentiful, the line-ups never end and the phone constantly rings!

I leave my camera on aperture-priority too much... Who takes a landscape picture in bright daylight with maximum aperture?! Ooops

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/2000s; Aperture f/4; Focal 105mm; ISO 100

61/365: Druggie

Observe this creature in his natural habitat. He's closely examining the contents of his bag, inspecting each pill vial and drug inside...

I really have no clue why my friend had such a large zip-lock bag of drugs. *shrug*

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/50s; Aperture f/1.6; Focal 50mm; ISO 3200

60/365: Back focus

So the story for this is I was in my car and tried to take pictures of a fly. I realized that for some reason, my camera just wouldn't focus on it and only the area just behind it is focused. I'm thinking my lens back focuses a little (only noticeable when I take photos of a bug I guess?) but thought I'd test it out later...

Well I didn't end up taking any pictures the rest of the day and so this is really the only picture I have. So enjoy the blurry fly and sharpness of my car door window sill.

5D Mark II; Shutter speed 1/5000s; Aperture f/1.4; Focal 50mm; ISO 100