I love Vancouver! That’s what I kept on saying over and over during our trip. Of course, I’m one of those people who wants to move to every place that I vacation in, so take that with a grain of salt. But, it is a spectacular city that is beautiful, green, clean, modern, friendly and diverse. It’s not that big of a city, so getting around was pretty easy. We took a combination of public buses, taxis and did lots and lots of walking. Aesthetically, I compared it to a jumbo sized downtown San Diego. I was just in love with all the residential buildings in the city. Scattered around the city, there was an awesome variety of super tall apartments, cool medium sized lofts and really nice 2 and 3-story condo units. Overall, it’s one of those cities that does a good job of mixing in the new with the old. I still felt the history of the city with the beautiful old structures, while the new buildings do a great job of freshening up the landscape.

We also did something that was new for me. We were able to squeeze in some paintball action on Friday afternoon and it was a blast! I was a little hesitant at first because I’m a big chicken and I’m kinda scared of guns, but I’m glad we did. My adrenaline was pumping and it was so much fun. I wish I had my camera at the time, because the paintball course was right out of a video game. It was a crazy sight! I found this album of field photos on Webshots.

Having a large Chinese community, Vancouver is also known for their awesome Chinese food. So, we just had to eat Chinese food a few times, and it was pretty good. Most everything was on the same level as the good stuff in LA, but I did have the best Peking Duck and Spare ribs that I can recall. One thing that I do love about Vancouver is how everyone really is super friendly and very open to diversity, something that I always appreciate.

Here’s some photos that were taken while going out and about.

We were stranded for a little bit when we had to transfer buses from the airport. Looking kinda homeless, we decided to walk the last few blocks!

Did some sightseeing. This is on the way down to the Gastown district, the cool retro part of town.

This was the evening view outside our room.

This was Robson street, where we lived like kings for four days!

I had some fun with my wide angle. I pretty much shot at 17mm the whole time. Makes me want to get the 14mm.

More wide angle fun.

The next few are just some fun patterns that I spotted walking around Gastown and Chinatown.

I’m off to Vancouver for a mini getaway trip with the boys. We’ll be staying up there until Sunday and I’m excited to see the city and do a few outdoorsy stuff. I think we have some paintball in the plans but I know it’s raining on Saturday and maybe Sunday, so I hope it’s not too bad. I’ve only been there passing through when we went to Whistler a few years back so I’m looking forward to seeing more of it.

Some of you are probably thinking, why Vancouver? Well, we wanted to leave the country but not go too far. And since we did Mexico last year, we figure let’s head North! And doing a city type vacation would be a new thing, so why not. But after doing more research on Vancouver and BC, it seems like an awesome place. So, stay tuned for a few touring posts.

If anyone needs to get a hold of me, I’ll have my phone, but will only check emails at night. Tey will be available for any questions or concerns. Thanks Bub!

This past Sunday, I met up with Shelley and Dan at a very special place. They both worked at Six Flags Magic Mountain about 17 years ago and this was the first time they’ve been back since. It was so cool to hear them reminisce about their experiences at the park. They still have some park connections, so we were able to get in through the employee entrace, which was a treat in itself. We had a blast at the park and these two were just cracking me up the whole time. They are just so much fun together. You may have seen Dan’s work on TV before. He is also known as the Rocketman. Check out Dan’s site and his listing on Wikipedia. Quite the celebrity! :) They will be married this coming July in Pasadena. Highlights:

I felt like I was shooting for Sports Illustrated on this one. That’s them in the front row.

Dan found some boxes that had his writing on them from way back when. He was excited :)

We met up with Lindsey and Samuel in Pasadena last Friday for their engagment session. We had a blast photographing them as they were so comfortable with each other and were just having fun in front of the camera the whole time. The fantastic scenery didn’t hurt, but it was definitely all them. We came away with some amazing images. They are getting married this coming June in Hollywood.

The buzz in our family for the last few weeks was the big 80th birthday party for our Aunt (Lola Pat) in Loma Linda. So it all went down this past Saturday at the Riverside Marriott. Mom planned the pretty big bash and relatives from all over the world came in for the celebration. You know it’s a big gala when strangers are coming into the ballroom and asking “Who’s getting married?”. The flowers were all put together by my Mom and, of course, everything was beatiful. There was even this cool cake with matching little cupcakes for everyone else. And, of course the night was cholk full of entertainment and Richard Street, who is married to my Aunt, even performed. Too many photos to post, so here are some hightlights. Go to Flickr to see more photos.

Cool cake!

Mom stressing.

Table shot.

My handsome boy! I love this shot.

Another one of Lukie.

Richard Street with Lola Pat

Two crazies messing around. (sara and lucas)

Zachy with some evidence on his lips.

Lola Dely, Tita Din and Lille.

Lucas throwing a fit at his Mama.

Go to Flickr to see more photos.