I google-mapped Iona Beach last night and decided to check out this place that I’ve never been to even though it’s super close to where I live. I wanted to take pictures of birds, with my Zuiko 50-200mm telephoto lens combined with my 2x tele-converter. Went there quite early around 9:30AM and there were already crowds of cyclists gathered around the parking - apparently a really popular place for cycling. I saw on the map that there’s this really long/narrow pathway but I ended up not checking it out since I spent so much time in the wasteland area. After I parked I wandered into some grassy area with super narrow paths (less than a feet). It was quite challenging to walk around since not only the paths were narrow but there were thorny branches that stuck out from everywhere. I didn’t see too many birds probably due to the strong winds, but I did saw a huge amount of blue tailed damselfly and I think they are fairly common in Vancouver. I took quite a few shots of them (had to lay on the ground to get close) with my Sigma 105mm macro lens. The lens was so sharp… Anyway that place was like a maze. I got lost and had to use the GPS navigation on my Blackberry to locate myself….

In the afternoon I went to the Home Depot to check out some mosquito repellent/lantern that I could use in the patio. Ended up getting this lantern made by “Cutter”, that has an oil-filled tank and all I have to do is to light up the wick and let it burn. It says one bottle of oil lasts 12 hours.. we’ll see. I also bought a set of six patio lights (come with the power supply as well). They were quite pricey but suited my needs.. I thought they were easy to install (really should have been easy) but due to the fact that I had to make sure all wires are hidden inside the fence (where I set them up) plus there were plants around some of the places where I set them up, I got super tired (and dirty). I think I spent around two hours screwing / nailing them in place, plus wiring them up so that I could control the lights from inside the house. Now it’s all done and they look AWESOME. Pretty happy with the result

Got this set from a home decor store on Granville (Farmhouse Collections) during the weekend with Wendy. I first noticed the set when I was driving by few days ago and I was already thinking that it would perfectly fit in my patio, and I liked the lines. They weren’t cheap, $35X including tax, but they turned out to be a nice additional to my tiny patio space :D. I’ve also gotten a steel chain and two locks to lock them up in case people think that it’s too nice and decide to tuck them home.

Today I added a new addition to my harddrive family (I had six, now the 7th). Got this Seagate Freeagent Desk 1.5TB drive from NCIX today (there was a firewire version but it was like $90 more expensive so I opted for the USB cheapass version instead.) They had it on sale for $159 from $199, so I took the excuse of the discount and paid for it right away. It’s cheap… 1500GB of space, it’s going to be my main photo storage device for the next few years. I’m sure I’ll need lots of space especially that I’m going to get the Panasonic ZS3 12X zoom camera which takes huge HD video files. Anyway, the drive looks pretty sleek, silver casing with cool white light gradually turning on and off. It looks just like my older Freeagent drive except that the old one had an orange colored light. The drive is really quite, which is GREAT!

Had a grilled whole chicken for lunch, that I got from Superstore this afternoon. It was really tasty this time, usually it’s not salty enough but one I got today was perfectly cooked! I almost forgot to take a picture of it and when I realized it I had already ate up one of the thighs….lol I finished half of it in about 10 minutes since it was too tasty…. the other half will be my lunch for tomorrow

I’ve also been watching this Japanese drama called 33分探偵 starred by Tsuyoshi Doumoto/堂本剛. It’s a real comedy I couldn’t stop laughing every time I watched it. Going to review it when I’m done. Okay time for more work…got a demo to the client tomorrow at 12PM….argh…

Went to the Vancouver Central Library with Peter for some books on photography. The place was pretty huge, and there were lots of people but most looked like students. I got my new library card for free and went straight up to the 6th floor for the books I need. They had a LOT of books for photography, I think four huge standalone shelves of them. It didn’t took me too much time to find some books that interest me (those with tons of pictures). I ended up finished reading one book on filters and borrowed five. Also took a couple shot of the interior of the library since it was so nicely built with this curvy sides and tops - perfect subject for my 8mm fish eye lens. Took some exterior shots as well, and it was just as stunning.

Rest of the day was just work.. as usual. I finally deployed the app that I’ve been working on since April 3rd to the QA environment for the testers to test. After almost two months of intensive non-stop work, I really hope that the app will turn out okay…

Today sucked a lot. Got up by a production support call in the morning….spent couple hours fixing/monitoring the servers, then got another urgent support call in the afternoon, and I was asked to debug something that I was totally unfamiliar with. It was super urgent so I had to force myself to figure it out since I’m on call for this week. Spent about 3 hours, no clue, freaked out. Asked others for help but the guys in the States were all out because of the long weekend….so I was all alone. I pretty much felt like an orange that’s being squeezed hard and all the stuff inside was bursting out, really harsh feeling. Anyway since I had no choice I had to keep working on it and after 8000 tries, finally at the end of the 4th hour, I got it figured out. It was such a relief…. I was feeling so hungry since I had only ate two pieces of bread for the entire day. This was no fun.

Have been super busy this week and of course it was due to the project that I’ve been working on. I’m feeling pretty uneasy as the launch date gets closer…. I’m working my ass off in order to hopefully finish everything quicker so that people can start testing it.

Got my car insurance renewed today…$12xx…gone. Even though it’s something that every car owner expects to happen but I’m still feeling ripped. Same thing with all the rest of the yearly payment like property tax, utility bill….etc.. They just have to rip me every year.

At least I did something that made my day which was to goto the foodcourt to get my favorite milk tea and to-go dinner =D I got a fish fillet with rice and mango sauce, Chinese soup, and milk tea. I love eating things that are cheap and tasty =D

There were these local people with their kids having dinner in the foodcourt, I was surprised since they all knew how to use the chopsticks and as far as I could see they were quite good at it (even the kid was using them). It’s really nice to see local people that appreciate the Chinese culture…