On Friday, as I was coming home, I saw a huge plume of white smoke at Jenny Wong's Beauty Spa. This spa has been around for a while and I always found their building to be quite unique. It was such an out-of-place house stuck between a ravine and a busy shopping plaza. Anyway, I was quite shocked when I saw the many fire trucks at the scene, and the entire roof being burnt through. It was almost unreal.
According to MingPao's account, there was some roof repair work being done earlier that day. The spa had been in operation for ten years, and they were afraid that the roof was getting too old and would leak water through, so they decided to get some routine repair done. The cause of fire is still undetermined but may be related to the roofing job. Ironically, the spa doesn't have a roof now, and they have a very big water "leak"/flooding problem.
I was chatting with RC (Rich) afterwards, and gave him the shocking news about his favourite spa and how I wanted to take my dSLR out to grab some pics. It was the perfect opportunity for my SLR camera to make its first trip outdoors to the real world. On the other hand, I just didn't feel right taking pictures of other people's suffering. Rich told me he'd do the same thing, so I decided, what the heck.
By the time I got back to the scene, the fire had been put out already, and I missed most of the action. What a poor reporter I'd make. lol. I felt really uneasy standing alone on the sidewalk taking pictures. Photographing the building was alright, but taking pictures of the people was really awkward. But I really wanted pictures a firefighter in full gear, so I snuck a few shots in when they weren't looking at me.
As I have been for the past few days, I'm still surprised by the colour quality of these pics. Some of the pictures were slightly blurry, but without the VR, they would have been a lot worse. For the last picture, I was standing on the sidewalk in an unsupported position, with my zoom fully extended (300mm). The picture came out clear! I love TochiCam and TochiLensVR.
I was discussing some of my camping plans this summer with some friends. One of them asked whether I'd heard of Polar Bear Provincial Park. The park, located in the northern fringes of Ontario, definitely has a cool name, so I inquired more. After reading official description from the Provincial Parks website, this park is apparently not for the faint of heart.
Some highlights:
Remote, and accessible only by air...
Wow, inaccessible parks. Sounds a little like Lake Chelan and Stehekin. So far so good.
The land is basically flat with a few inland ridges that indicate the location of former shorelines.
Okay. The land is flat. That's okay, there must be some interesting stuff to see.
The simple plant cover decomposes into the uppermost layers of the peat soils, bogs, and muskeg that carpet the terrain .. North of this invisible limit, no trees grow. South of the line, stunted willow, spruce and tamarack masquerade as scrub...
Maybe not...
In early summer, the tundra becomes an exquisite heath of plants in delirious bloom. Adding to the spectacle, the many ponds that dot the landscape turn rust, yellow, green, turquoise, black, ivory, brown, and other colours, depending on the plant micro-organisms and minerals in the water.
Eewwwwwww. "Rust, Yellow, Black, Brown..." Not colours I'm particularly interested in.
It gets better....
There are no visitors' facilities. The only evidence of human habitation in the park is an abandoned radar station, part of a former military defence line. It consists of squat metal buildings, oil tanks, radio towers, and a few radar dishes and a landing airstrip.
It seems like the Ontario Parks Ministry wants to keep people away instead of welcoming us with open arms.
Visitors to Polar Bear should be prepared for any eventuality. They should bring at least one week's extra supplies in case their departure is delayed due to bad weather.
They couldn't have made this any more explicit, except by posting a big wooden sign saying, "PARK CLOSED." So, anyone interested in a camping trip? Maybe Polar Bear 2009? :-)
Sometimes in life, one needs to pause and reflect. Today was one of those days.
This morning I got news that someone I know was involved in a serious accident. Lost a close relative as a result. Given certain events over the past year, I just feel kind of numb when I hear such news. A really stark reminder of the realities of life, and how we need to treasure the present moments and opportunities. It's too easy to forget this at times.
On the other hand, I got news that someone else I know may be on the verge of a BIG milestone. The first couple to see the finish line, beating M$ G to bringing new life to this world. It's pretty amazing. Even I can feel the excitement, anticipation and nervousness. (OK, someone is already calling me Uncle... that's just freaky).
And to think, today was a "big" (and costly) day for me.... but my news pales in comparison to these stories of life and death.
My trusted mower had been with our family for many years. Unfortunately, as true as its heart was, age got the better part of the mower and it didn't wake up from its winter slumber. After honouring its accomplishments over the years, we disposed it and went looking for its successor.
Now, my property is a pie-shaped lot, so the backyard is fairly wide and the front yard isn't too shabby either. Our yard isn't very big, but it definitely isn't small. We needed something that can live up to the task.
Shopping for a mower was an interesting experience. I was surprised by the selection of electric lawnmowers available. There were a lot of advertisements trying to get people to move to electric mowers to reduce pollution. Unfortunately, I was caught with the dilemma of the environmentally friendly option vs the tried and tested option. I didn't know whether the electric mowers were powerful enough and in today's wireless world, I didn't like the idea of dragging a cord behind me. Cordless versions had the issue the rechargeable battery dying after a while. I needed a mower that can last for years, so with much reluctance, I made the executive decision to go with gas mower early on. :(
After some debate, I settled on Cub Cadet CC-550SP. I was leaning towards cheaper push models, but this self-propelled version was only CDN$50 more. This model got very good online reviews too.
After giving this machine a spin, the self-propelling feature is so awesome. I'm literally just walking the machine while using a little effort to guide its direction. The single drive speed is a limitation, as I could used slower speeds when navigating around corners and edges. However, I can make do by turning off the drive mode and using the lawn mower as a push mower in these situations. All in all, after a single use, I'm in love with this machine. I still hate mowing the lawn though.
Update (May 19, 2007): After using CC-550 SP for a few weeks, I have a better feel for the mower now. It's definitely not as great and super as its initial impressions, but it's still a very decent mower.
Pros:
- Auto propulsion system is really helpful, though the single speed is a little difficult to maneuver at times.
- The wheels and bearings are smooth. Effortless gliding across lawn.
- 19" wide. While it is just 2" smaller than the typical 21" mowers, the missing inches makes the blade holding noticeably smaller.
- Mulching slightly wet grass is problematic. The smaller blade assembly makes mulched grass easily caught in the holding. I've had the engine stall on me a few times due to this.
- The motor is ridiculously hard to start after a stall. I thought the motor died on me when I couldn't start it. My older mower never had this problem.
Spring is definitely here, as Paramount Canada's Wonderland is opening this weekend! I'm not getting a season's pass though. :) With the recent discussion on amusement parks and roller coasters, I remembered that I had promised several people my Superman: Ride of Steel video from Six Flags. So last night, I finally dug out my backup CD's and found the clip. Coincidentally, yesterday was four years to the day from when the video was shot.
The video was shot from the first row of Superman: Ride of Steel from the former Six Flags Darien Lake. Some quick formalities - for Kabitzin and Catnipped - "The following program contains scenes of violence. Viewer discretion is advised." Everyone else - Enjoy!
For those who want to appreciate the speed of the roller coaster, this is a picture taken from the initial incline. The coaster traveled quite a distance in a short time.
I kind of wish I had blogged about the trip back in the days. Looking back at the picture and videos, only selected memories are floating up from that trip. Toyo in a disabled / smoking bumper car (He took the last one in the corner!) was definitely the highlight. I would post the video, but need Toyo's permission first. We spent quite a bit of money on darts getting those "Tweety in a Cage" prizes. Of course, there was also Toyo with his candy necklace.
In other semi-related news, while sifting through the CD's, I found this GEM. The infamous ISPI GUM video! Shot in the same year at Magic Mountain. lol. I-spy I-spy.
When it comes to youtube, I'm still quite a newbie. However, today, I got my first spam message from some guy telling me to post my Superman video to motiono.com. lol. No thanks.