Picture of the Day: Spring is Here

Pastel pink cherry blossoms are out

Spring allergies didn't really hit me until today. After days of rain in Vancouver, which is now called "an atmospheric river", we were surprised to see the sun and blue skies!

When that happens you have to go out for a walk, and today was particularly significant as it's the first day of Spring.

Magnolias have begun to bloom

I saw magnolias blooming as well as cherry blossoms.

But after my walk I started having sneezing fits and my eyes watered.

Ten hours later my eyes are still itchy, my nose can't stop dripping.

When I was in Hong Kong I never had this problem!

Nevertheless, still thrilled to see that winter is behind us, even though we had no recorded snow this year. The last time that happened was 43 years ago! 

Picture of the Day: Late Afternoon Light

It was still bright out at 4.15pm today

I go for walks almost daily, but today was sidetracked by other things and didn't head out until after 4pm.

It was relatively bright out after a whole morning of pouring buckets of rain, so it was nice to see blue skies and the sun.

But what a difference one hour makes!

Thanks to clocks being set back one hour a week ago, by around 5.30pm it was already getting dark!

Will remember not to set out so late anymore... winter is coming...

Halloween Trick-or-Treat Report 2025

Giant pumpkin skeleton greets trick-or-treaters

It's Halloween Night and... it was kind of dead... in a bad way.

We went to our usual haunts and the kids were very disappointed to see a lot of houses without their lights on.

Perhaps it's because it was Game 6 in the World Series, with the Toronto Blue Jays battling the Los Angeles Dodgers right when trick-or-treaters are knocking on doors for candy.

These two have waited so long...

Or the weather forecast was for heavy rain so people didn't bother to buy candy, thinking pint-sized witches, Lego men and walking pizza slices wouldn't come. No one went as a Blue Jays fan.

Maybe people's budgets are so stretched, they can't afford to shell out for bite-sized candy bars. 

Another reason might be because people have moved out of the area, though could there have been so many who have fled the neighbourhood?

In any event, we started late this year, just after the rain stopped around 8pm. Some had decorations up, but didn't answer the door, possibly because they had already run out of candy?

We could see some houses with big screen televisions showing the baseball game -- but the Jays were defeated by the Dodgers 3-1, which means the final deciding game is tomorrow!

The houses that still had candy just before 9pm were generous, trying to offload as much as possible to avoid cavities.

Laufey in Vancouver in A Matter of Time

Laufey has so many fans in Vancouver they filled an arena

Last night I went to watch the artist Laufey perform in concert live at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. This multi-talented half Chinese, half Icelandic singer, songwriter, cellist, pianist and guitarist knows no bounds.

She has literally had a stratospheric rise in the last few years after she started filming herself while studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston when the Covid-19 pandemic began. She played her cello, and sang jazz numbers which caught my attention. Her fashion sense is "very demure", mostly covered up, long gathered skirts, lace blouses, and flats, the opposite of the stereotypical female singer who reveals a lot of skin.

Fans wearing bows and crowns

I missed Laufey when she performed in Vancouver at the Orpheum Theatre about a year ago, so when she announced her A Matter of Time tour with a Vancouver date, I was compelled to buy a ticket, which was not cheap -- $180 and that was the early bird price too, sitting in the lower level but at the back.

In the afternoon I passed by Rogers Arena on the way to watch a documentary in the Vancouver Film Festival, I saw crowds of people already gathering outside the venue. They were super early for the concert!

After 5pm I got a quick bite of beef pho at the food court in the shopping mall and did a quick five-minute visit to the Michelin event before heading to Rogers Arena. And there were a lot of fans, mostly girls dressed in Laufey-esque outfits, skirts, ankle socks, flats, big bows in their hair, or crowns; at every concert a super fan is chosen for their outfit and is given a Laufey crown by Mei Mei, her giant bunny.

The opening act was the antithesis of Laufey, Suki Waterhouse, a model, actress and singer who wore basically black lacy lingerie with lacy pants so her form fitting shorts were showing through. A fan blew her hair constantly on stage to give her a sultry look.

After about 45 minutes her set ended and the stage was set for Laufey. The wave went around the arena several times which was fun. 

Finally when the lights dimmed people screamed and the show started off with an intro much like a musical. Laufey appeared in a white spaghetti strap dress with a billowing full skirt.

Here's the set list:

This giant arena was almost all filled last nighte

Act I

• “Clockwork”
• “Lover Girl” (extended outro)
• “Dreamer”
• “Falling Behind” (extended outro)
• “Silver Lining”
• “Bored”
• “Too Little, Too Late” (extended outro; contains elements of "Bewitched")

Act II

• “Seems Like Old Times” (Carmen Lombardo cover)
• “Valentine” (Jazz version)
• “Fragile” (Jazz version)
• “While You Were Sleeping” (Jazz version; shortened)
• “Let You Break My Heart Again”

• 

  The sets were creative and elaborate

  Act III

  • “Carousel” (Live debut)
  • “Forget-Me-Not”
  • “Cuckoo Ballet” (Interlude)

  Act IV

• “Mr. Eclectic”
• “Castle in Hollywood” (extended outro)
• “Promise” (extended intro)
• “Goddess”
• “Tough Luck”
• “Snow White”
• "From the Start" (extended outro)

She removed the billowy skirt to reveal a fringy dress, sang a few jazz numbers in her own "jazz club" in the centre mini stage, and played the piano and guitar a few times, and an interlude on her cello. 

The screens showing Laufey were helpful!

During her costume change, a pre-recorded video of her showed a "backstage" back and forth with Laufey and her sister Junia who is her stylist that was quite amusing. Laufey changed into several outfits, including Snow White that got everyone excited, and it was a song she sang towards the end of the show.

One extra song was inspired by Vancouver's rainy weather, and she sang Misty while playing the piano.

Laufey is one talented young woman, and authentic in what she says. At the end she sang From the Start, as a song to inspire everyone in the audience to chase their dreams, because she did, and now she's filling arenas around the world!

Storm Danas in Hong Kong

Heavy rainfall in Mui Wo, Lantau

A friend in Hong Kong told me about the "crazy thunder and lightning" where she was in Mui Wo, on Lantau Island, and the incessant rain has resulted in the authorities announcing there would be no day school tomorrow, Friday.

That's a first -- usually local officials don't decide until the morning of, leaving parents bleary-eyed watching the storm updates until late at night in a bid to anticipate if there's school the next day or not.

Storm Danas is moving across Guangdong, causing heavy rains and thunderstorms. This morning there was an amber rainstorm warning posted at 8.35am, which turned red, then back to amber at 10.40am, then back to red again two hours later.

"The active southwest monsoon to its south will generally affect the vicinity of the Pearl River Delta [on Thursday and Friday]. There will be torrential rain and squally thunderstorms over the area," The Observatory said.

It warned residents outside to seek safe shelter as soon as possible.

Hopefully there won't be too much flooding or severe damage in the next 24 hours, but it does sound like rain coming down in Biblical proportions...

Vancouver's Green Christmas

Vancouver will have a green, not white Christmas this year

It's going to be a very wet Christmas this year and hopefully Santa Claus is prepared with waterproof boots for the downpours in Vancouver.

These few days there are weather warnings from Environment and Climate Chance Canada of strong winds and a lot of precipitation.

Gusting winds are expected to arrive Monday evening, while on Christmas Day there will be a "powerful frontal system" bringing very strong winds and heavy rain.

On Boxing Day there will be a weaker low pressure storm that will bring more strong winds to the south coast.

Climate change has caused Canadian cities to lose many days below zero, which has severely affected winter sports like skiing, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and skating.

Between 2014 and 2023, of all the Canadian cities, Vancouver has lost the most days below zero at 19, followed by Toronto at 13, Montreal 6 and Calgary 5.

In the same period, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have been the hardest hit, each having lost up to 23 wintery days.

Last year skiing on Vancouver's local mountains was literally a wash out as it rained so much. Last month the ski season started one week earlier with a lot of snow at first, but now the ski hills are wet instead of cold.

Skiing may soon be one of those sports that may disappear with the lack of snow...

Halloween 2024 Report

An elaborate Halloween display

This year Halloween was... wet.

We started around 5.30pm and soon after it started sprinkling and that soon turned into rain.

Even though the kids complained about the precipitation, they were still very keen about getting candy. Lots of it.

Free hugs? Yikes!

One house handed out cans of soda, another a full-size box of Smarties. Most handed out chocolates by hand, one or two with a chute, and some just left a box on the front porch with a sign instructing children to take one each. The kids' bags got heavy quite fast, but they were reluctant to relinquish their bags of candy to their parents.

Some of the houses had fantastic decorations, lots of web-like cotton spread over shrubs, graves half opened with feet or hands sticking out, lots of skeletons hanging about. There was even one made of plastic milk jugs. So clever!

One had a pumpkin carved with a gerbil or hamster, while another had three intricately-carved gourds, one with a Celtic weave, an owl and a heart. "They did a lot of work," my nephew remarked about their pumpkins.

The other nephew is terrified of scary noises and refused to go to the houses that had eerie sounds coming out of them. But he would happily go to the other ones "that aren't scary". 

At one point we found shelter at a church that had police managing traffic at the intersection. We got some piping hot chocolate, and the kids got more candy and played with friends. There were other refreshments like hot dogs, mandarin oranges, tea, coffee, apples and popcorn.

Intricately carved owl pumpkin

While the kids played, some parents sat on folding chairs staring at their phones, while others chit chatted amongst themselves. It was a nice respite from the rain before we headed out again.

Amazingly the kids lasted for just over two hours and still keen on collecting more candy when we almost got home. One house had two skeletons dressed up looking out the window...

Picture of the Day: Slugs Surfacing

Moving ever so slowly along the ground...

The last few days have been overcast with showers and last night lots of rain, which is a relief to trees and gardens that are severely parched this summer.

Yesterday I went for a walk in Pacific Spirit Park and like the previous two days I encountered many slugs!

They make their way across the trails at a glacial pace, as people pass them by while walking, running or cycling.

Spotted a green one too!

I had to look up online why I was seeing so many slugs and came across this answer:

"Both snails and slugs rely on moisture to survive. Their bodies dry out quickly when they are active without moisture to support them. 

"This is why they only become active when it rains or when you've recently watered your garden. In addition, most slugs are typically active at night because it's cooler and more humid (plus there are fewer predators to hunt them)."

It's interesting I haven't come across this many slugs before in the forest!

While I was walking, a family crossed paths with me, and the mother said her daughter wanted me to watch out for a slug up ahead! Kids really do care about nature!

Kayaking in Juneau, Alaska

Looking across the bay at Mendenhall Glacier

This morning we arrived in Juneau, Alaska, but by lunchtime it was raining which did not bode well for my kayaking trip. However, by the time we arrived at Auke Bay via a school bus for a 20-minute ride, the rain had tapered off with a slight sprinkle and blue skies opened up.

We got ready with a kayak spray skirt so our trousers wouldn't get soaked, and a life jacket on top. Our guide Michael from Alaska Shore Tours made sure each of us was tightly strapped into our life jackets and then we went to the shore and had a quick lesson on how to kayak even though all of us had kayaked before.

Our kayaks on shore ready for some paddling

Soon after we got into the water and began paddling. Across the bay we could see Mendenhall Glacier, in Tongass National Forest. The glacier is shrinking every year; since 1929 it has retreated 2.82km, and climate change has accelerated its retreat even further. 

In the distance Michael pointed out Admiralty Island where there are a large number of brown and black bears that live there. 

He also told us that we were in high tide so the chances of seeing orcas was slim -- they usually appear in low tide, when the fish and other food are concentrated and easier for the orcas to feed. Two weeks earlier a group of kayakers were able to see a pod of orcas.

The weather cooperated for the most part

Nevertheless, we were able to see three seals in the distance. They can hold their breath for 30 minutes, so if they pop up and then go down, you may not see them again. The same goes for orcas, though they can hold their breaths for an hour.

We also saw a tern, a small white bird with a black-shaped helmet on its head. Michael explained these migratory birds fly as far down as Antarctica. Quite amazing. 

As we made our way back to shore, we encountered sandbars 1ft down and made sure we avoided them -- Michael said if you hear the waves as if they are lapping on the shore, then there are sandbars nearby. Periodically we got sprinkles of rain, but no downpour. We were all so happy the way the weather turned out.

Once we avoided this hurdle we paddled hard to get back to shore. After we took off the life jacket and kayak spray skirt there were some snacks waiting for us, as well as some warm apple cider. Michael kept asking us if we had a good time -- he was eager to have a good review on Google -- and then we got back on the bus.

Beautiful blue skies on our afternoon kayaking

Definitely a memorable trip and a fun arm workout!

Watery Weather Woes

The continuous downpour in Vancouver has been depressing

Since the massive snowfall ended last week, Vancouver has been soaking wet. It was great to have the rain help melt the snow away quickly, but now the endless rain is pretty depressing.

And this weekend Environment Canada has warned that heavy rainfall could cause flooding in parts of Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast and Metro Vancouver.

The heaviest rainfall is expected between Sunday night and Monday.

Lots of snow paralysed parts of the city

Not only that, but warmer temperatures mean freezing levels will be higher. What would freeze at 2,000 metres, will now freeze at between 2,500 to 3,000 metres.

That means rain and now snow on local mountains. It was so bad that Mount Seymour had to close today (Saturday) because of weather, while on Grouse Mountain, lessons after 1pm were cancelled. Cypress Mountain was the only one fully open.

This year's ski season has been a washout. Literally.

On a bright note, yesterday I managed to get a walk in the forest without a drop of precipitation. However, about two hours later as forecasted, it began to rain and it has not let up since.

What a January! Freezing temperatures, massive snowfall and now a deluge of rain...

Picture of the Day: Ice Sculpture

A sculptural orphaned piece of ice left over from snowstorm

Hard to believe the massive snowstorm was a week ago. It's been raining pretty much continuously since last Friday and the vast majority of snow is gone save for a few bits here and there.

This one I spotted seems like a sculpture a la Henry Moore, or Georgia O'Keefe with her studies of bones...

Vancouver's Unusual Deep Freeze

Patches of ice in this running stream in the forest

Since Thursday, Metro Vancouver has been in a deep freeze, with temperatures well below zero not only overnight, but during the day as well.

The snow on the roads disappeared somehow, resulting in the city experiencing a dry cold winter. It was so cold that people were skating on some local ponds.

To walk outside, one has to seriously bundle up with a toque, scarf, puffy jacket, long johns, sweater, socks and boots. Oh yes and gloves too. Anyone wearing less than that would be considered mad, like the guy I saw this afternoon wearing shorts.

In the early afternoon there was a weather alert to say the arctic outflow warning had ended, and that warmer temperatures were coming. 

That means tomorrow's temperature will be a high of -2 degrees Celsius during the day, and -6 degrees at night.

Whoohoo!

On Tuesday things get interesting with the possibility of snow in the afternoon or evening until Wednesday morning and then it will warm up to 6 degrees!

And then rest of the week will be raining... back to regular Vancouver weather...

Illuminating the Garden with Festival of Lights

Lovely reflections make for great photos

With a friend visiting Vancouver for the first time, it was apt to take him to an annual Vancouver tradition -- the Festival of Lights at VanDusen Botanical Garden to get into the Christmas spirit. 

It's a clever way to get people to visit the garden during the winter months by decorating it with hundreds of thousands of lights which makes it a stunner for pictures. Many families go with senior members to the littlest ones for family photos, or young couples take selfies. 

After dark the lights make the garden stunning

The previous years I've gone the low temperatures meant we had to really bundle up -- including wearing long underwear to keep warm. But this year it's a very mild 8 degrees and we were very comfortable walking around without the need of gloves or a hat.

Every year the garden is decorated slightly differently to keep it interesting for visitors who come annually. Other years have featured well known cartoon characters like the Grinch and Olaf from Frozen, but this year it was Frosty the Snowman and his family, as there were two other snow people that were slightly smaller. 

Upon entering the garden a security guard made sure people didn't bring in food or drinks because they wanted visitors to shell out at the various food kiosks scattered around the garden. Strangely there were Japadogs, banh mi, arancini risotto balls, and popcorn, as well as hot chocolate and mulled wine. Oh don't forget the mini donuts, made right before your eyes by an automated machine!

We arrived as the sun was setting, so it wasn't until it was darker did the illuminated garden really shine. The pond was particularly amazing with the reflection in the water, and the periodic flashing of lights to the music.

Festival of Lights is an annual Christmas tradition

Also the weather held up and didn't rain which was a big plus. 

Investigation Into Illegal Structures at Tai Tam

The slope is unstable at Redhill Peninsula following landslide

Today Hong Kong's weather has heavy rains, and in parts of Kowloon and Sai Kung there are even flash floods. Seems like the city can't get a break from the rain, let alone have enough time to clear all the drains so that the water can be removed from roads.

In the aftermath of the record-breaking rainstorm, there are now questions as to whether there are illegal structures built in the tony area of Tai Tam. 

One house at 72 Redhill Peninsula had to be evacuated because of the landslide caused by the heavy rains, while the two houses next to it, 70 and 74 will undergo safety checks, as they could be affected as well.

Linn says the homes will be inspected for safety

An initial investigation revealed illegal structures at all three houses, including digging below to create basements. The occupants not only violated the terms of the leasing conditions, but also the extensions occupied land that belongs to the government.

"As to whether there are unauthorised building structures or unlawful occupation of government land, our initial evidence shows there is indeed some breach of leases and unlawful occupation, but our primary focus at the moment is to stabilise the slope to ensure public safety," said Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho.

Government contractors will inject cement into the slope in a bid to stabilise it, Linn said.

Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki said the authorities would strictly enforce the law in response to discovering any illegal structures.

"We place a lot of importance on that, as [the illegal structures] could affect public safety," he said.

Will the occupants be prosecuted if illegal structures are found? An NGO that focuses on land and development research found satellite images that suggest a garden extension at 70 Redhill was done 13 years ago.

Landslide reveals possible illegal structures

Mostly celebrities and wealthy businessmen live in these houses that can cost some HK$112 million for 3,136 square feet.

Jason Poon Chuk-hung is a structural engineer who says the digging at Redhill Peninsula to create basements could have aggravated the pressure on the slope.

He said the Buildings Department would need to issue a demolition order to the owners of the three sites if illegal structures are found on their properties, and this could cost some HK$10 million per property.

"But the slope has collapsed, which cannot be rebuilt. The best the government can do is to build an artificial slope, which will cost about HK$50 million," Poon said. "Whether or not the government can claim the construction costs from the property owners will depend on the courts."

Poon added the three houses would be plagued by structural risks going forward, and their property prices would drop by 25 percent.

It has now been reported that the owner of 74 Redhill Peninsula refuses to allow government teams to inspect the house, and so the authorities are currently applying for a court warrant to investigate any other illegal structures.

Get out the popcorn, folks. It's going to be a a dramatic show.

Hong Kong Deluged by Flooding

A bus submerged in the torrential rains that flooded HK

A few hours ago pictures and videos of the epic flooding in Hong Kong were posted all over social media -- the muddy waterfall pouring into Wong Tai Sin MTR station, vehicles plowing through water in the Cross Harbour Tunnel, a woman still holding onto her umbrella as she slid about 50 metres along a street, trying to grab onto the railing.

The city is still under a black rainstorm warning 14 hours after it was posted, with rain falling 158.1mm deep between 11pm and midnight last night, an unprecedented amount since records were kept in 1884. In total over 400mm of rain has fallen.

Needless to say today schools are closed, and most people are working from home as the black rainstorm warning is expected to continue until midnight this evening.

Wong Tai Sin MTR station deluged by water

Chai Wan seems to have received the brunt of the intense rain left over from Typhoon Haikui. The New Territories also suffered with the Shenzhen government giving very little notice to its Hong Kong counterpart that it would discharge water from the reservoir -- that knock-down effect left 15 minutes for residents in the area to prepare to evacuate.

So far there are no reports of fatalities, but residents are not impressed by the government's response, with the Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki holding a press conference right now (2.30pm HK time) to report on what the authorities are doing together with the Security Bureau some 12 hours later.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu didn't make any public statements and instead published two social media posts urging people to stay safe. Hongkongers bombarded the comments section questioning why the government's response was so behind, compared to the preparations made when Typhoon Saola was approaching the city.

One commenter by the name of Veronica Law wrote: "Not everyone was on Facebook. Why wasn't even an SMS sent to residents in this kind of situation?" Another user named Emi An said: "Is the chief executive sleeping? Are you aware of the severe flooding out there?"

A shopping mall in Chai Wan flooded

At the press conference going on now, acting director of drainage services Chui Si-kay said Hong Kong's drainage system could not cope with the torrential rainfall, and denied that Shenzhen releasing water from the reservoir did not cause flooding in the New Territories, that it was all from the rainfall. 

One may never be quite sure what the situation was there, but for sure the city will have a lot of water and sludge to get rid of in the streets, in shopping malls, MTR stations, and people's flats. 

There are still questions on how the city's authorities and the Hong Kong Observatory did not prepare residents with the possibility of a deluge of rain...

Visiting Squamish on a Foggy Day

A brief break to see blue skies through the fog at the top

The other day I took a quick side trip to Squamish, which is just over an hour away by car, north of Vancouver. 

We set off early in the morning at around 9am, and despite the one-lane traffic going across the Lion's Gate Bridge, we were able to get to the Sea-to-Sky Gondola in less than an hour and a half, which is just before the municipality of Squamish.

We were supposed to see this mountain...

The gondola takes visitors up 885 metres to have reportedly stunning views of the mountains, but the day we went it was lightly raining -- a good thing since it has been so dry and hot this summer -- but it was really foggy when we went up to the top.

Tickets are not cheap, at C$65.95 for adults, C$59.95 for seniors, but we made the most of it. The ride up was smooth, and less than 10 minutes was up at the top.

We couldn't see much, but could imagine the views were stunning if the fog had lifted. In any event we had a quick bite to eat in the cafeteria (sandwiches, tacos, poutine) before trekking one of the 12 hiking trails, six frontcountry, the others backcountry, from very easy in 20 minutes and short to a long eight-hour hikes. 

Panorama Trail was recommended to us so we took the frontcountry route that was estimated to take 30 to 60 minutes. If you don't stop at various scenic points along the loop, it will take 30 minutes, and for us relatively fast walkers, we finished in about 40 minutes.

The trails are very clean and natural, and we were most impressed by the diversity of the trees and plants. It seemed much more diverse than in Pacific Spirit Park, a place I frequently walk in. Here there were different species of trees, such as cedar and pine, along with various plants and huge boulders.

Walking along the Panorama Trail

Scenic stopping points encouraged people to try to spot birds, though there was another sign pointing out various wild animals like cougars which was not very reassuring! 

We did see a tiny chipmunk, sitting in the middle of the trail eating something. At first it seemed completely unaware we were there, but as soon as we pulled out our phones it ran away into the trees.

Overall we enjoyed the easy walk and if we had more time we would have chosen a longer route.

The gondola was opened in 2014 after a year of construction, but was plagued by two incidents of vandalism. Someone cut the table of the gondola on August 10, 2019 and it took months to repair, but was vandalised again on September 14, 2020. Still to this day no one has been arrested for these crimes.

We also made a quick trip to the municipality of Squamish which was a short distance from the gondola. The main street is lined with small shops, cafes, and restaurants. There's a ramen/sushi place and another to get Vietnamese food. There are many coffee places as well as for wine. A sign on the sidewalk read: "Day Drinkers Welcome."

A welcoming mural in the town

Xoco is a shop that makes local chocolate. The salted caramel chocolates are apparently best sellers and they are packaged in boxes designed by the artist in the next door gallery. 

What a great way to support the community!

Picture of the Day: Autumn's Disappearance

A few days ago Vancouver looked like this

Where has autumn gone?

Only a few days ago I enjoyed an invigorating walk in the forest, the sky was blue and temperatures at a warm 10 degrees. The autumn leaves looked even more vibrant.

But today the rain came back, sprinkling at first in the morning and then the weather became more showery and wet. 

By late afternoon the rains were heavier.

I walked 10 minutes to the bus stop, and before I reached it, my socks were wet -- I wasn't going home for another five hours which mean cold, wet feet.

On my way home the winds picked up and I was freezing and wet! Not a nice combination.

As I walked home I tried to remind myself I was almost there, and the first order of business would be to remove those wet socks that made my feet so cold! Is this what winter is going to be like and even colder?

Tomorrow the rains are coming back even more so. Boots are a must!