First day of the trip

So I’m on my way to Yellowstone National Park.

Well…I can tell you that I’m !$#$@# excited.

So first day…it was a long ride but we still managed to stop by an outlet and shopped for awhile…In just 2 hours, my family already spent hundreds on shoes and clothes…quite efficient eh?

Didn’t stop much after, only stopped for a few minutes at Moses Lake in Washington state. Took a shot, then gotta haul ass back to the bus and continue on the long ride to Spokane.

The boring Moses Lake…well it isn’t a ideal spot for tourists..

Gonna spend the night in a decent hotel at Spokane, so far enjoying the trip..all thanks to the comfy chairs on the bus, haha. Those seats are like sofa, I’m not even kidding, I can sleep all day on those seats.

Wind turbines, lots of them on the way to Spokane.

Hopefully, I’ll be lucky enough to have free wifi in the hotel tmr in Montana so I can keep y’all updated and yes…travelling across Idaho within a day, it’s gonna be a fun ride 🙂

Enjoy your summer, people.

 

 

Jack & Sid

So my friend, Jack wants to get a black lab in the summer, so he wants to try to ‘take care’ of my gf’s yellow lab as a trial to see how things work.

Well, what can I say…he spent most of his time petting Siddy, the yellow lab, and of course, feeding her cookies..and then he took Sid for a walk, and almost murdering the dog in the process- (Sidney almost had a heart attack).

Jack fails at walking sid…

I think he’d have no problem taking care of a lab…the fact that labs are easy-going and probably the friendliest, and the smartest(or the opposite) type of dog…but his family would have to deal with the constant shedding…like he wore a pair of black pants and when he left…he left with his pants coated with yellow fur. lol.

Sid yawning

Sid refuses to walk after a short 5 min run…lol.

I’m excited to see his new puppy, perhaps next week, and he’s still finding a name for his black lab..I gave him a lot of names and he didn’t quite like the sound of them…so if you have any suggestions, leave a comment and we’ll consider it!

Feel free to browse around in my flickr to see more photos of Sid 😛

Grad 2012

Long time no post- and man, time goes by fast. Graduations are already done.

Well. Highschool- what can I say…4 years of my life..that shaped who I am now.

Just a week before school officially ends..and that feeling is bittersweet. Happy, excited that I’m finally done school..no more catching up on late work..and getting yelled at by the amazing teachers for fooling around in class..having lunch with your best friends and putting/drawing weird things on people’s back. Those are all the good time that I will remember forever, even if we set out to achieve our goals in different places and be separated for years.

I really want to thank my friends for the amazing years, having to cope with my retardation, and well, my sense of humour (none, really). The friendships are the ones that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life, and I hope to catch up with all of you during the summer before you go elsewhere! I’ll miss you guys so much. Forever Bros 😉 My highschool life would be just full of !@$!@# without all of you, it’s you that make highschool life such an important and fun part of my life. Again, I thank you for all the things you’ve done, even if it’s just a minute-long convo we had last week, I’ll remember it.

Next I want to thank the teachers…though some are really harsh and strict, and just. Meh. I still have to thank you all for putting your efforts into educating the future generation…from nothing to something. Really, I wish you all the best, and maybe end the strike alrdy? Get a payrise? idk. Just don’t want the grad next year have such a complicated and annoying grad year.

Hmm.. then I gotta thank my family for supporting me throughout my life, not just in highschool and there’s that. Meow.

Last but not least, gotta thank my love, for all the support and sacrifices for the past 2 years and a bit. It’s not that long since we first met, but that connection with you..just feels like we’ve known each other forever. Thank you so much, and I love you, Cat. (btw, only 5% of highschool relationship actually can carry out to marriage, so no pressure, haha)

Well got my words out. and yeah, took some photos at the graduation ceremony and dinner etc, had a fantastic time.

Once again, thank you, and meow.

 

Busy. and tumblr.

Yup. I haven’t posted for the longest time. A bit caught up with school..so need to focus on the exams coming up first.

Anywhoo. Started tumblr.

Go visit, that will be my secondary blog, posting just photos, without my long/lengthy paragraphs.

http://francongphotos.tumblr.com/

Day trip to Tulips farm!

Spring…hmm..the smell of tulips floats all the way from the US to Vancouver..and in reply to the call of tulips..My dad and I decided to have a day trip there with our family friends.

Smaller trucks stacked up on a huge truck in a rest area on our way to the oyster farm..

We didn’t wait long at the borders as there wasn’t much people going at 7am..So first stop, we paid a visit to this oyster farm 40 mins from the borders..and my dad tried some fresh oysters, and I just spent the entire time taking pictures of the sea 🙂 Didn’t take many pictures..so it felt like we only stayed for 15mins, though we spent 45mins there..

Oyster in the foreground...and sea in mid with the blue sky in back! it's just perfect..probably my favorite seascape shot so far.

Next up we move on to another type of farm..a colourful farm of tulips! It was like a sea of tulips just surrounding everyone..those vivid colours just make everyone a happy child…I just spent most of the time kneeling and lying down on the ground to take some cool macro shots, and of course..with my 70-200mm on hands..I took some creeping shots of others 😉

Baby boy wandering in the field of tulips

Panorama of the tulip field

It just looks like we're in Holland, eh?

 

We spent an hour and a half at the farm..then the ladies gotta get to work…Yup. to the premium outlet just 45 mins from the farm..I didn’t want to buy anything, so my dad and I went to Tulalip casino to have a brunch buffet instead..it was alright..not much varieties but still got me full at last.

Random bird singing when we were walking to the casino..

Bacon strips!

Macro shot of my cup of Ice tea

CHEEEEESE CAKE ahhhhh

Gotta have some fruits!

After spending hours at the premium outlet..I only bought a 10 dollar T-shirt. haha.

It was a wonderful day trip..but coming back home..realizing that it’s sunday night..meow: School starts tomorrow and it’s gonna be a heck of a week..filled with tests and stuff..

Revisiting Burnaby Mountain.

Clear sky..so decided to go up to burnaby mountain to take some shots. Lots of people around..with people picnicking on an Easter sunday..

Oh right. My bird feeder..it’s somewhat of a success..I’d say..couple chickadee came by..and saw a stellar jay…so yeah..it was fun to watch the birds 🙂

So this time..kinda make up for the bad weather when I went couple months ago..and I also went for a little hike with my gf..well it was more like a short walk around the mountain.

Love the view from up top..the landscape was just truely amazing 🙂

People taking a rest on the grass field- looking down at the beautiful Vancity..

Little girl with her dad and grandpa- just enjoying their time together.

Rawr. Woodcraft of a bear

A cargo ship passing by the inlet..

Another view from the top of the mountain..

This is it. Gotta start studying tonight..and school starts in 36 hours…arghhh 😦

 

Awesome day spent in N. Van.

Sunny day=day full of awesomeness and surprises. Started the day with a brunch at a golf course with my dad..Had a turkey bacon melt…it was goooood. The food was nice..but the service..well..when you only got 1 waitress working for 30 people…you know it’s gonna take awhile before they can get the bill to you.  So we waited for 30 mins after finish our meal..but it was fine, we just watched Family Guy on the big screen hanging from the ceiling.

Then we are off to Mount Seymour..the way up there’s got like 4 hairpins..and it was fun just driving up there. The road there reminds me of the Morocco F1 track..haha…KINDA resembles it.

Anyways..so went up to the snowy mountain-surprising there’s still lots of snow..but slowly melting..and so the mountain still attracts a LOT of skiers and snowboarders.

So my dad and I just kinda roamed around the area..and in the mean time..I took some creeping shots of the people around..and snowboarders showing off their leaping skills- though some of them kinda failed miserably, but I’ll be nice and only show some of their bests 😀

The view up there was phenomenal..just love it. The people around were so nice too! and I met this puppy on my way back to the golf course..her name’s Jolie 😉

     

Kids are just having fun sliding down the hill..

Still quite a lot of snow stacked up..and a mountain from afar

A raven overlooking the people at the mountain

Kids skiing towards the finish line!

Hey! Your cap!

Snowboarder showing off..

Taking off the snowboard looking down the mountain is just awesome. lol.

Pro snowboarding

Meet Jolie-just fetching in the snow

Kinda looks like a coffine..doesn't it :S? weird.

So went back down to Northland golf course..there’s a hiking trail around it, so my dad and I ended up hiking for an hour or so..and it was kinda boring. Just plain walking..though we managed to find bird or two..and a deer! There’s also a pond in the golf course..and I thought it’d be pretty cool to get a few shots of it with the reflection..

Cool reflection..can't be done without the nice sky and my ND filters, of course.

So many random animals lately..this dog just came out of nowhere..seemed lost.

Oh dear! it's a deer.
Get it? haha.

A warbler..

So after a tiring day-in the search of birds and animals..I’ve decided to go to superstore and picked up so seeds for wild birds. And picked up a bird feeder at Zellers..

Yup. I’ll let the birds come to ME because I’m getting lazy. haha.

Went home and set it up on top of a tree..and since it was already past the birds’ feeding time..I’ll just need to wait till early morning..Hope it’ll attract some birds 🙂

I’ll let you know the results tmr haha…if it works of course.

More photos at my flickr- http://www.flickr.com/photos/franco_ng/

A day full of odd encounters…

Mom left for Hong Kong today..and it was really sunny out..so I decided to go for a walk around town.

So while on my way to the skytrain station..there’s this ginger-coloured cat just wandering around the streets..I thought it was just a home cat which escaped..and I thought it was just gonna run away..but surprising that kitty wasn’t afraid to approach me! I LOVE CATS. THEY ARE AWESOME. and this one was no exception..just came purring and rolling around..it was such a cute little fur ball.

Cool guys don't look at explosion..so...Cute cats don't look at cherry blossoms? I don't know. lol.

That ginger..

Kitty rolling around..meow.

So after playing with the cat for awhile..I got back on track-literally, and went to grab lunch at Brentwood mall..

So..while having sushi..saw a crowd of people around the dental office. I was like what on earth is going on? So I went to take a peek..and saw this french bulldog just sitting in this dental office..quite odd..so I went up and too a few shots.

The little pup.

The guard dog of the dental office..

After that..off I go again..to Burnaby Lake, final destination of the day.

Took some pictures of ducks/birds, as usual..but this time..I actually got a BIF shot!!!! I didn’t even realize it until I got back home to process my photos…

This shot was hard to get...need to stalk this Black bird for awhile till he lifts off for a flight..then just spam away.. 🙂

Two ducks dual...fun stuff.

Fighting ducks..always fun to watch..
When one starts losing..he gets chased 😛

Water running down the stream.....

Cherry blossom! Love it.

Today was such an awesome day. Quite an odd day..with numerous odd encounters-random cat-random bulldog..random duck fight..and random bird-in-flight shot..heehee. Today was a good day, really enjoyed it. Hope everyday was like this.

 

Grandma.

Well. I thought it was all over. But the truth is, I still can’t get over it. Mom’s leaving for HK to attend Grandma’s funeral tomorrow. Been working on the slideshow showing her life..Everyone in the family wrote some thoughts/messages for Grandma..I won’t share with you the family slideshow, but I’ll share with you all my last thoughts/message to my Grandma.

“Dear Grandma,

I really miss you, PoPo. I’d cry my heart out every night, knowing that I’ll never get to see you again, knowing that I’ll never get to talk to you, knowing that I’ve made too many mistakes, knowing that I’ve missed too many opportunities with you, and knowing that I’ll never be able to recover from this loss no matter how hard I try.

You were my North Star, and you guided me since my heart first beat. Now that the North Star’s fallen, and no one will ever be as bright and high-up as you were; I’ll never be the same anymore. Without you guidance, I’ll be lost for awhile in the pitch-dark world, but I’ll rely on myself as much as I can from now on, and perhaps, wait till the sun rises from the earth and get back on track again.

18 years has gone by like the speed of light, but I still remember the memories we had when I was still a kid..From riding the bike, to running around, and knocking you down then dropping your dentures..It was all good memories, for me anyways. Those memories still leave me a smile whenever I dream of them. I’m sure I was the toughest kid for you to raise, because I was such a brat, probably still is, and was extremely ‘active’ all the time. I’m really thankful to have you as my grandma and raise me up like no other…the hands of Death was laying upon you, I saw it coming. I tried to prepare for it. But I still can’t accept the fact that I’ve just lost the most important and influential woman of my life. I still regret that I’ve never said the words to you– ‘I love you’, I guess it’s a lil’ late now. But I’ll say it here anyways. I love you and miss you a lot, PoPo..

Rest in Peace,

Franco”

Here’s some flowers for you, Grandma..

In memory of my beloved Grandma...who raised me up to what I am today...

Long Time No Post..

Busy week. Argh. But after tomorrow, I’ll be free! 4 day weekend..but I’ll probably need to start preping for my AP exams..blah.
Anyways..Went to do some groceries with mom afterschool and picked up a “double down” at KFC…third time eating the beast..and this time I bought my camera along 🙂 to show y’all what’s this beast made out of..

Yup. Chicken fillets as buns, with cheese and bacon and hot sauce in between. Yum. And though it looks quite small..it was quite filling. I didn't have much for dinner after conquering this beast. haha.

Then went home and realized the flowers are all opened! Quite surprised and since it’s such a nice day, I quickly grabbed my tripod and my camera to take some macro shots.

     

So yeah. that’s about it for my everyday normal day. Pretty tired…and still gotta need to prep for a test tomorrow. After tomorrow..all’ll be over..(not really, just trying to be optimistic here) Life’s just great. meow.