Calgary Restaurant Review: Moxie's Downtown

Since we stayed at the Sandman Hotel, we thought we would drop in early for dinner before 6 when there are less people around dinner time.  ...

Canadian Summer Trip: Alberta: Day 7: Downtown Calgary and Home

 Day 7 is our last day in Alberta and we went around downtown before we headed to the airport. We spent the morning admiring the wall arts (...

Canadian Summer Trip: Alberta: Day 6 Calgary Zoo

 On Day 6 of our trip, we went to the Calgary Zoo.  I have heard nice things about the zoo, so we were looking forward to going there.  From...

Canadian Summer Trip: Alberta: Day 5 Rocky Mountains, Banff and Lake Louise

 On Day 5 of our trip, we went to the Rockies, Banff and Lake Louise.  We took a bus that required reservations in the summer to the Rockies...

Canadian Summer Trip: Alberta: Day 4 Royal Tyrell Museum (Dinosaur Museum)

 On day 4, we woke up super early and hit the road at 6 am to get to the Royal Tyrell Dinosaur Museum.  It is about 3 hour drive from Edmont...

Canadian Summer Trip: Alberta: Day 3 World Waterpark (West Edmonton Mall)

 We headed to the World Waterpark on Day 3 of our trip.  It is the world's largest indoor waterpark with man-made wave pool and lots of wate...

Canadian Summer Trip: Alberta: Day 2 West Edmonton Mall

 For the second day, we walked around the humongous West Edmonton Mall.  This mall is still the largest shopping mall in Canada and has the ...

Canadian Summer Trip: Alberta Day 1: From Calgary Airport to Edmonton

 It has been 3 whole years without hopping on to the airplane and seeing different things.  I decided to bring my family to Alberta, a provi...

New Batch of Finch Babies...Parents Feeding Kids

The Finches has been quiet through spring this year.  (quiet April and May)  I assumed that they are raising kids. Few days ago, they starte...

Nike Jordan Zion X Naruto Collaboration Basketball Shoes

 I am an anime fan and a basketball fan.  When I heard that Nike Jordan series will have collaborations with Naruto to make 3 different mode...

Burnaby Lake: Chip and Dale Squirrels

 We saw these two cute squirrels near Burnaby Lake during the long weekend. They are so cute and feels like they are the cartoon character, ...

Burnaby Lake: Cedar Waxwing

 We also discover another bird for the first time while walking:  Cedar Waxwing They have wispy crest on the head, black bandit mask on the ...

Burnaby Lake: Purple Finch

 We encounter purple finches far away in our sight while walking around Burnaby Lake.   They are more pinkish then House Finch, and they sin...

Burnaby Lake: Rufous Hummingbirds!

 As I mentioned, we have lots of Anna's Hummingbirds near our area, but I have yet to see a male Rufous Hummingbird.  So, for this May long ...

Walmart: Coca Cola with Coffee

 I saw this new interesting product at Walmart the other day:  Coca-Cola with Coffee. Coca-Cola with Coffee I bought one and tried it.  It t...

Costco: Boba Milk Tea Mochi

 I saw this at Costco the other day:  Boba Milk Tea Mochi. Boba Milk Tea Mochi I love bubble tea, and I thought I would buy it and give it t...

Costco: Popcorn M&M Minis

 I saw this in Costco the other day:  Popcorn M&M Minis It looks very interesting and probably tastes good for kids.  It might be too sweet ...

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

 During the snowy times, I guess the birds are trying to look for any food that they can find. Not only the chickadees are friendly, there w...

Cute Duck Eating Sunflower Seeds with Cute Squirrel in Burnaby Lake

 We went to Burnaby Lake to feed the birds and to see nature on the 2nd day of January, 2022. It is a cold day with lots of snow still on th...

New Kumamon Country Ma'am Cookies in Suzuya

  I saw this pack of this famous Japanese cookies "Country Ma'am" in Suzuya in Burnaby the other day.  In Japan, there are usually many kind...

Winter Birds in Burnaby Lake: Chickadees, Towhee, Junco, Golden Eagle

 The chickadees in the winter in Burnaby Lake are extra friendly because they know the only way to get food is from our hands: So cute and s...

Kitchen Counter Re-Coating

 I redid my kitchen counter top (thin wood part) this winter.  I replace the varnish and coating because they were worn out like below: I re...

More icicles from Cold Winter 2021 - 2022

 There has been a few days of snow during December 2021, and I saw more icicles, so I am uploading the pics: I saw more icicles from my walk...

Happy New Year!! 2022!

 Happy New Year, Everyone!  It is already 2022....so fast. Time passes by faster and faster in the Covid era, and everyday seems the same in...

Canadian Tim Horton's New Tim Biebs

After our walk to Burnaby Lake today, we went to Tim Horton's for the new advertised "Tim Biebs", promoted by Justin Bieber. Basically, it i...

Burnaby Lake, BC, Canada: American Coot

 Coot Family looks like ducks, but they have no webbed feet.  Their feet look like blueish large chicken feet.  They have black heads, white...

Burnaby Lake, BC, Canada: Mandarin Duck? Foreign Visitor or Escape?

Lots of non-local species are often found in Burnaby, and some are extremely invasive.  Plants like water lilies multiplies and totally co...

Burnaby Lake, BC, Canada: Double-crested Cormorant

Today, we went to Burnaby Lake on a cold cloudy day near 0 degrees.  However, we saw so many kinds of birds near the lake. We saw these ma...

Finch Couples Like My Branches

We have quiet a few finch families that comes to our place, but this pair comes more often: They are liking our branches right now. We have ...

Peaceful Co-existence Between Hummingbird and Finch

 Here is a picture of a hummingbird and a finch sitting peacefully together on the same branch. So cute!!  So peaceful~~ Hummingbird is okay...

BC Flood, Panic Buy and Food Shortage 2021 (Part 2)

 Today is November 25th, 2021, and it is already quite a few days after BC flood.  There is still nothing in Walmart in my area: They say th...

Lego Minecraft Bumble Bee Set for My Son's Birthday

Lego released a Minecraft bumble bee set, and I bought it for my son's birthday.  (One of the gifts he got)  Lego Minecraft Bumble Bee Set T...

Cute Squirrel Following Me Near Park

 There is a very friendly silver squirrel nearby my building near a park.  Everytime, when we go out for a walk, it follows me.  (probably l...

Handsome House Finch Are Bright Pink or Red

 They say that bright red or pink finches are more popular with females and genetically can gather more food than others.  We have a few han...

November 15th, 2021 BC Historical Flood and Food Shortage (Panic Buy)

 BC had an once per 100 years, historical flood that cripple the highway and rail systems.  The supply chain system was also disrupted, and ...

Animal Crossing Update and Series 5 Amiibo Cards

Animal Crossing had a very large update last week, and they also released a new series of amiibo cards (Series 5).  All the websites had sol...

Beautiful Moon Pictures on a Sunny Night

We rarely have sunny days and clear nights during winter in BC, western Canada.  We took some nice pictures from our large telescope!  One o...

Finch Family and Finch Eye Disease

Different finch families will come visit everyday.  They are so cute as they move as a family unit. They like this bird swing:   Unfortunate...

Steller's Jay

 In BC and western Canada, we have a lot of Steller's Jay everywhere.  They are opportunistic feeding birds.  They will remember the locatio...

Chickadee and Christmas Decorations

We decorated our balcony with plenty of Christmas decorations for the birds. The chickadees enjoyed playing with all the branches and decora...

Changed My Kitchen Lights for the 5th Time

So I changed my kitchen lights for the second time in a few months. These days, even brand name "Philips" kitchen light don't last long... I...

November 7th, 2021 Rained Hail

 At around 11pm at night on November 7th, 2021, there was hail outside.  We heard loud raining sound but did not sound like rain.  It sounde...

The Birds Love This Bird Swing

My wife got this bird swing for the birds to play and eat food on the platform. As you can see from the picture, the chickadees and Finches ...

Wal-Mart Halloween Sale: 50% Off Goods and Signages and Decorations

 Walmart usually has 50 percent sales after holidays, and they had it for Halloween, too. I went on November 1st morning to check their sale...

Changed Toilet Seat Covers: Huge Rusted Screws Needed To Be Sawed Off

 I tried changing my toilet seat covers in the weekend because they were 30 years old. I have noticed that the screws that keep the seat cov...

First Time Seeing "Crab Apple"

 The other day, I saw this kind of apples, called "Crab Apple" in the local market.  It is the first time seeing it, so we bought some home....

Thousands of Crows Migrating!

  I have always wondered about how many crows are there in Vancouver area.  Thousands?  Millions? Yesterday, after raining, the sun came out...

Salmon Fishing: Late Pink?

 I think the pink salmon, which comes every 2 years, are lingering around longer this year. I went to Chilliwack looking for some King (Spri...

Two Young Finch Males Eating

It is rare to see hummingbirds share space to eat in Canada.  Humminbird males don't really share space.  They chase each other off. However...

Northern Flicker is here (Not like I want it here...)

 Today, Northern Flicker (a type of woodpecker) showed up on my balcony today. (Looking for food?)  However, it kind of scared off other bir...

Starbucks You Are Here Collection: Canada Edition: Stainless Steel Mug

 I needed a winter stainless steel mug, so I went to Starbucks to look for one. I bought the Canada edition of the "You Are Here Collection...

Restaurant Review: Ryu Japanese Kitchen - Richmond Outlet

 I went to the outlet mall in Richmond the other weekend, and I wanted to eat ramen, so I dropped by Ryu Japanese Kitchen to try it. I order...

Morning Buffet: Big Bird Party

 More and more birds are coming for breakfast in the morning.   Sometimes, there are up to 10 birds at the same time in my tiny tiny balcony...

Hummingbirds Love Our Decorated Branch

We picked up branches from the park and my wife put decorations on the branches. They look like real walnuts and cranberries, and the birds ...

Bright Pink Anna's Hummingbird

 My wife got a couple of nice shots of Anna's Hummingbird. It is so cute!!  Bright pink!! Pink Anna's Hummingbird It likes to stand on guard...

Queen Bee?

 Couple of days ago, we caught this strange looking yellow jacket.   It is considerably bigger than the usual wasp. Is it a queen bee? Its n...

An Hour Wait for Medical Card BC Government Customer Service

 I thought the days of waiting on the phone for a customer representative for hours is over, but it is not. The other day, I received a lett...

Dark-eyed Junco is so cute!

 During the thanksgiving weekend, we were at my parents' place.  I noticed a cute, small black-headed bird, but wasn't sure what it was.  We...

Honest Advice About Pet Insurance

 From my experience of owning dogs, I would like to offer honest advice about pet insurance. For a long time, I have wondered, is the insura...

Beautiful Flying Hummingbird

  Sometimes, it is hard to get a good shot of hummingbirds because they fly so fast! However, this morning, we got a beautiful picture of a ...

Hummingbird on a Rainy Day - Perching

  Birds like to perch... On a rainy day, I find hummingbirds like to perch on my balcony branches for a rest so they can stay dry for 10 min...

Getting Close to Chickadees and Offering Food...and Reactions

 I find chickadees very friendly and curious, and I have always wondered if I can get them onto my hand. Today, I was on the balcony cleanin...

Lots of Chickadees On My Balcony...Chickadee dee dee!

Lots of chickadees now come visit in the morning.  Sometimes, I feel maybe the flock is about 10 or more, and they visit my place non-stop. ...

Multiple Bird Species Share the Same Space (3 or more species)

I have always wondered:  Do birds of different species share space?  If yes, how many kinds? What happens when they all want to eat the same...

Hummingbird: Boy and Girl Meet!

  Hummingbird males are very territorial, and males always chase each other away. However, when girls are here, things are very different: b...

Female Hummingbirds

  We have quite a few Anna's Hummingbirds coming to our place everyday. I got a couple of cute shots of the female hummingbirds. This one is...

Chickadees on Lights and Branches

 More and more chickadees are showing up in the morning. At any given time, there are 4 chickadees coming in and out of the balcony. There m...

My Balcony is a Chickadee Playground

 We are making our balcony into a chickadee playground. We have set up branches for the birds to perch, so birds can always rest and even hi...

Baby Finch Growing up

 All the finches of the finch family are growing up bit by bit. This baby must be the youngest one of the family, but even it is getting ind...

Cute Bright Red Daddy Finch

For weeks, the father finch has been taking care of his family, feeding them. Sometimes, he does come alone to eat himself.  I guess just li...

Halloween Decorations 2021

 We have a small place, but we try to decorate our place every season for every occasion. Easter, Halloween, Christmas, Japanese New Year, J...

2020 Pumpkin Patch Flashback: Bought Lots of Small Pumpkins

 I bought lots of small pumpkins to decorate my room last year (2020). I bought all kinds of colors: orange, white, yellow, pear-shaped, "mo...

Chickadees Playing Around: Even on Christmas Wreath

Chickadees are very playful.   I have lots of decorations on my tiny balcony.  Chickadees are the kind of birds which will hop on all of the...

First Day of 2021 Autumn Pumpkin Season: Rondriso Farm Pumpkin Patch

 Yesterday is the first day of fall pumpkin season for most pumpkin patches in Canada. Our family usually go to the pumpkin patch once a yea...

Chickadee and Finch Eating Together

These days, my balcony is full of life during breakfast time in the morning around 8am. Hummingbirds, chickadees and Finches will come for b...

Handmade Bird Swing for Hummingbirds, Finches, and Chickadees

 My wife made a very fancy, colorful bird swing for the birds that visits us: Fancy Bird Swing All you need is some strings from the stores,...

Chickadees Are Playful

  The chickadees nearby are coming to my place more often now.   They come for the 3 meals and snacks and are very playful.  They hop onto a...

Birds Like Branches to Rest On and Curious Hummingbirds

  The other day, my wife had this idea: "Birds like to perch, what happens when I find nice branches for them to perch on?" As people know, ...

New Koala's March: Pokemon Collaboration

  I found this one new Koala's March in the supermarket again.   This time it is a Pokemon collaboration! The box has Pikachu and Cinderace'...

New Koala's March in Canada Review: "Bitter Chocolate" and "Milk and Cheese"

 Recently, I found two new Koala's March snack boxes in the nearby supermarkets. There are two new kinds of tastes:  "Milk and Cheese" and "...

Finch Family Visiting Everyday Now: Members

We are so glad that the finch family is coming almost everyday now.  Sometimes, multiple times a day.  Here is the older brother (Teenager F...

Black-Capped Chickadee Is Here

 Black-capped Chickadees are one of the most common bird in North America.  They are everywhere on the trees in the neighborhood, and they m...

My Grandma's Passing

On New Year's Eve, my dad's side's grandma passed away. I was very shocked when I heard the news before boarding the bus to work. Then, ...

Happy 2016

It is 2016 already. I think I won't get used to the number 2016 till March of this year.  It is still 2015 in my mind. Every year seems ...

Hawaii Is Paradise (November 2014 Trip)

I have always dreamed of going to Hawaii but life usually gets in the way. I usually think, "is it really like a paradise?" We finally had...

Chum Salmon 2014 at Stave River, Maple Ridge

This posting is for the Chum Salmons I caught last November.  I know I have not posted for a while.  Too busy with different priorities in l...

Restaurant Review: Miku (Downtown Vancouver)

During Canada Day weekend, I decided to bring my wife out for a good outing for an awesome meal. We decided to try the high end restaurant...

My First Rainbow Trout from Como Lake

We have been fishing for small Perch and crabs for a while.   However, I have yet to catch a bigger fish.  (My wife have caught flounder, b...

First Trip to Whistler

I have never been to Whislter despite living in Vancouver for more than 20 years. In the beginning of August, I decided to bring my family...

New Super Mario Bros Products!

I have always been a big super mario bros fan since I was small.  I have always wished we had as many toy selections as the kids now.  They ...

Cooking as a Husband: My Rookie Dishes: Teriyaki Chicken and Pork Belly

My wife is a wonderful cook, and I occasionally feature her dishes on this blog. However, I had to say that I am totally new to cooking, a...

Barnet Marine Park: Spring 2014 Dungeness Crabs

It was spring, so we decided to test the waters to see if there are big dungeness crabs. (this is a late post) Barnet Marine Park Rail...

Easter 2014: Coca Cola Bunny

...This is a late Easter post... While I was shopping during Easter this year, I saw this huge Coca Cola wall display in a supermarket (Sa...

Nexus 5 Cell Phone

Finally, 6 years after smartphone has been invented, I bought my first smartphone. It is the Google Nexus 5 phone by LG. It is super ...

McDonald's Poutine (Canada) Review

If you are a Canadian, you will know that Canadians love poutine, a dish that originated from Eastern Canada.  It is fries covered with chee...

Lego Store Again: Lego Architecture, Lego Sushi, Fast Food and Parisian Restaurant

In February, we went to the Lego Store in Surrey again because I wanted to get the Eiffel Tower from the Lego Architecture series. I love ...

Lego: Valentine Heart House with Mushrooms in the Garden

We brought the kids out to Lego Store in Surrey's Guildford Centre. It is actually our first time in Guildford Centre and could not believ...

Olympics Oreo Cookies

My wife found a new product on the shelves in Walmart:  Olympics Oreo Cookies! Olympics Oreo Cookies I guess they started the marketin...

2014 Already?

I still do not believe time passes by that fast.  It is 2014 already?! Where did my life go? Kids do make our lives very busy, and I jus...

UGG Classic Boots

UGG boots has gained so much popularity in the Northern Hemisphere especially in cold places. If a girl likes fashion, she has to have one...