Four Days In Vancouver: Family, Food, Fun

It was nice to catch up with family...

and eat all that food.

Four Days In Vancouver: Golfing With Family

The family reunions on my Father's side always come in the form of a two day golf tourney. This year is no exception.

Four Days In Vancouver: Catching Up With Amanda Messer

We had a great time in Amanda's 'gaybourhood'. After checking out the digs, we decided to go for some sushi during that mid-afternoon gap when no sushi restaurants are open. So after trying unsuccessfully to get in to a sushi place, we decided to kick it ol'scwol and go to Earls and order some of our favorites.

It was too awesome to shoot the sheet with Amanda again!

After that we hauled to my second cousin's for a BBQ finishing off a great day two in Vancouver.

Four Days In Vancouver: Visiting Family In Fort Langley

The first day in Vancouver we were whisked away to ol' Fort Langley. It was nice to have most of the Noricks together for a big home cooked meal in my Uncle Jerry and Aunt Brenda's Condo.

We went for a nice walk of historic Fort Langley, the first official settlement of B.C. The town is all done up like it would have been hundreds of years back and has a very 'small town' feel to it (minus the new condo development on the other side of town... errr).

We didn't make it to the fort but enjoyed views of old community hall and the old white church.

A Run I Soon Won't Forget: Running With A Superpod of Killer Whales

With the thin rains that have gripped Victoria for the past 20 hours letting up, I took a welcomed reprieve from my studies to go for a run. There is always something very pure and refreshing about a run after a long rain. Nature ignores the constant presence of humans and all too often shows its face.

My normal circuit of running through Beacon Hill Park and along the sea routinely allows for some good encounters with the islands wild, but usually its just foul or the odd ground squirrel that I encounter. Monday morning I encountered the regulars- Mr. Squirrel, Mr. Blue Heron, a few families of ducks.

But as I made my way to the same spot that I had proposed to Alissa a few months ago. I spotted what seemed to be a few Killer Whales just a few hundred meters off the coast.

What had first seemed like a few turned into many. In shear amazement, I stopped running and just stared. One of the large mansions that overlooked the ocean had a few whale watchers on a deck. I invited myself up and joined in the coffee drinking and whale watching through high powered telescopes and pricy binoculars.

It was nice but so unnecessary. The whales were so close that the details of their dorsal fins and white and black patchwork could be seen just as easily with the naked eye. Either way, these well-to-do of Victoria informed me that the whale with the enormously large dorsal fin was a male from the J-pod. They educated my po' praire self about how the pods are named by letter, how there are resident killer whales, how they had rarely seen whales off this stretch of coast, how they had never seen them this close, how they had never seen them traveling so slow, and how they had never seen so many altogether like that.

I spent a good hour or so on these friendly people's deck and out on the rocks just watching the whales. They seem as if they were in no big hurry with nothing too important to do. Instead of going out to sea they swam around the bay. There was something beautifully peaceful about the sound of the breath shooting like a geyser out of the water.

One time, I had counted 18 dorsal fins at surface (there was likely more under water). It turns out that there were 3 different pods mingling together. This whale watching blog claims that J,K,and L pods formed a 'Superpod'!' Click here to check out their photos of this rare event just meters of the Victoria's coast.

Later as the whales drifted into the distance, I followed them, running beside them until muscles were sore and it was time to turn back home.

Gemma (Ji Yeon) Kim Comes For A Visit!!!

It was too bad Gemma could only make it to Victoria for 24 hours after cutting her trip shorter than planned. We knew that we had to show her a good time before she headed back to Korea the next day.

Matthew picked Gemma up at the bus station and had a few drinks at Canoe Brew Pub & Marina overlooking the yachts in the harbour. Before getting too slicked, we rented a two person kayak and paddled around the inner harbour. Gemma really liked watching the propeller planes take off and land right beside us!

Matthew and Gemma went back to our place to meet Alissa and get a few drinks in us before going out. We had planned on going to the big Luminara Lantern Festival that night but an unexpected downpour forced us back to our place.

The next morning we went for a stroll down the beach, through Becon Hill Park, and up Becon Hill Point. Then we did a bit of shopping at the street market before sending her off.

Fun 24 hours with Gemma Kim!

Victorian Style, A Painted Lady In Victoria British Columbia: Some More Exterior Shots of The House We Live In

It seems only fitting that we live in a Victorian Style house now that we live in Victoria right?

Cheesy jokes aside the house is beautiful. It was built in c. 1892 so is Victorian in Era and Style. During this era the Industrial Revolution allowed for the mass production of hardware and supplies with which allowed the emerging middle class to experiment with new housing designs which strove for elaborate exterior features and bold colour schemes.

The exterior of our house is a wonderful example of Victorian Houses. Look familiar? Well it should. ... Hmmmm... what if we drop you a hint... 'Full House'.

This style of house, called a 'Painted Lady', is featured in the opening credits of our famous childhood sitcom Full House.

Painted Lady houses incorporate the use of three colours that are used to pull out at the architectural elements of the house. These houses are characterized by high vertical fronts and long horizontal sides. Painted Lady Houses create the illusion of reaching to the heavens.

Heavenly indeed.

Canada Day and a Spontaneous Visit From a Korean Friend!!!

The last few days have been quite a change from our normal pace.

The days leading up to July 1st, we really began to grapple with the fact that we are finally in Canada after years of being away but still were unable to spend the holidays with our loved family and friends.

We decided that we were going to try to make the best we could of Canada day even though Alissa had to work an evening shift that night. We packed a picnic and headed to the beach once again. With the pathetic waves softly rustling against the smooth round rock beach, we took the early afternoon to chill and enjoy the mid-twenties weather and lack of wind- pretty much as good as it gets in Victoria.

After that, we walked along the bay before cutting towards the legislature buildings. When we got there some local acts were on stage. Sprawled out on the green grass, we just took in the hot sun and not that hot talent. It was especially cool to hear some speeches by a group of people that got awarded there Canadian citizenships earlier that day.

Alissa went to work but managed to escape a bit early just in time to rush home so we could catch the firework show on the Inner Harbour.

The next day while Matthew was getting ready for work. We got a phone call from our Korean friend, Hae Jung. She just flew into Vancouver a few weeks ago and was to be living with her (ex-)boyfriend before the hite hit the fan.

Hae Jung spent the last few days with us and we had a blast. Going to Beacon Hill Park and to the beach, touring the Cragdarroch Castle and the gardens around Government House, prosing Chinatown, watching the sun set over the peacful harbour, and chilling out at the Victoria Jazz Festival, and of course, reminiscing about Korea.

When she left we all felt we had some new perspectives on where our lives are.

Our New Home

We love our little heritage home on Vancouver and Richardson.