Windy day so calmer waters on the wharf

Today was sunny but extremely windy, which made biking to the dyke quite a workout.

Blackie & Number Four

This afternoon, I officially met the two cats that I often come across while biking through Finn Slough.

This is Blackie on the left and Number Four on the right. They are brothers but with different fathers. Blackie is 19 years old and Number Four is 24 years old! Number Four is just as young as me! Amazing.

Biking to Terra Nova

When I was pedaling towards the dyke this afternoon, for some reason, I felt so out of shape. Maybe it was because I was moving against the wind or maybe I just need to work out more regularly.

Anyways, today was relatively sunny with blue skies.

Birding at RNP & Happy CNY

Today is the eve of the Chinese New Year, and this morning, my mom and I went to Richmond Nature Park to see if we can find the Silver Pheasant again.

There were a lot of birds there, but no pheasants.

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

Good birding day to start off February

Another sunny day today for me to go out and enjoy the bike ride to the dyke. Even though I don't bike that often now to the West Dyke Trail, you can definitely see and hear the Red-winged Blackbirds coming back and getting ready to claim their territories.

All the bird feeders along the trail are dominated by these blackbirds, except when I get near and start to take pictures, then they flew away and the other smaller birds start to take over.

A couple of Downy Woodpeckers enjoy the food as well. Now that I looked at the feeder again, the drawing outside is quite beautiful.

Biking to Paulik and Garden City Parks

It was not as sunny as yesterday but still good enough for a bike ride after lunch.

I had to pay some bills today, so I went to Garden City and visited Paulik Park and Garden City Park afterwards.

Paulik Park

A very quiet area where you can just stand still and listen to birds sing.

Finally a sunny day - visiting Minoru Park!

I have been pretty much stuck at home since I last went out on Wednesday, besides the usual break and whatnot, due to the crappy weather.

Anyways, the clouds finally cleared away and the blue sky appeared this morning! My mother and I took the bus to Minoru Park to soak up some much-needed sunshine!

Minoru Park

Dining Out Vancouver & Visiting UBC

Today, my parents and I went out to UBC to have lunch at the Westward Ho! Public House & Grill Room. The restaurant is taking part at the annual Dine Out Vancouver event where people can try out different restaurants at relatively reasonable prices ($18, $28, and $38). This is our first time and so we decided to go for the $18 menu at this restaurant at the UBC Golf Course because of its menu (there are some pictures here, as well as a YouTube video showing the dishes). I wish I have eyes for good taking food photos, like these here by blogger Sam Lin.

We ordered all three appetizers and entrees to have a taste of everything. For appetizers, we like the Tempura Battered Scallops the most, and the lamb for the entree. The three kinds of desserts in one course is excellent too. Overall, the food was good and price was more than reasonable considering the type of food we had. The only negative thing I can think of is probably the slowish service. I probably give everything a 3/4 - good, but not over-the-top excellent.

Anyways, after lunch, I asked to be dropped off at the UBC so I can go to the library and find some research articles.

When I had enough of staring at the computer, I headed outside to enjoy the surprising nice afternoon.

UBC is a beautiful campus when you don't look at the constructions and new buildings.

Good wildlife-watching day; Bad photography day

Life sometimes like to play funny tricks on you. For example, today is incredibly cloudy and a bad day for photography, but yet I saw so many cool critters, e.g. Muskrat, lots of raptors, Mink(! - no photo). Sigh, blurry photos will still serve as a good day.

First, I saw a Muskrat eating vegetation in the ditch. First Muskrat of the year!

Thoughts of a sleep-deprived brain

Note: This will be a pictureless post, so if you are someone like me, who doesn't like long posts without any photos, please click away. This is also a very self-centered post, so no comments will be allowed for now.

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Foreword

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It is quite amazing how your brain operates at a sleep-deprived state - when you go to sleep at midnight, trying to fall asleep despite the loud walking and guitar playing from your neighbor above you, and waking up when your father has to go to work at 4am in the morning. After that, when you want to sleep, your brain decides to work at this time of the hour and your body can't do anything except toss and turn. At this time of the day, your brain processes things strangely and it becomes quite an interesting journey of self-discovery.