Water for Elephants
I haven’t read the book or watched the movie but Reese Witherspoon’s Vogue shoot with Tai the elephant is just GORGEOUS!! The shoot was done by Peter Lindbergh. Now I need to find myself an elephant 
More at Reese in Vogue
A little dessert for a monday afternoon — japanese purin
I regularly frequent food blogs to get ideas or new recipes to try. A food blogger was talking about japanese purin they bought from a store in Port Moody and decided to try making it themselves. I decided to make it today as it’s very easy to make with regular ingredients which you have in your pantry & fridge all the time.
It’s similar to flan and it’s a bit too sweet for me. I like the smooth texture with caramel. But it’s not something I would want to eat every day
If you are interested, here’s the receipe from About.com. Japanese Purin
October already?
What happened to September?
Firstly, I want to thank those who wrote me asking about sessions. At the time being,I can’t take on any session in Vancouver anymore. One mom-to-be gave me the perfect scenario. Maternity session with hubby & family dog at Kits beach and I had to turn it down. You don’t know how heartbreaking that is for me to say no. I’m trying to establish a presence here in South Surrey In the meantime, I’m volunteering at my kids’ new school and scouting out for new locations.
September was such a glance at the calendar. My 12th wedding (wait, I didn’t have a wedding. Should I just say marriage?) anniversary, my husband’s birthday, then my son’s and just a few days ago, my daughter’s. Phew.
On my kids’ birthdays I’ve always done a short children photography session. This year, we just shot in the upstairs den.
For the first time, I tried a lavander cupcake recipe. It didn’t fuse enough in the cake though. I also made hello kitty jelly.
My daughter just turned 7. I took a couple of pics at night while she was practising her spelling.
I organized a last minute birthday playdate for her friends. As a take home goodie bag, I made Hello Kitty (ok, I like HK, hehe) cake pops and got the kids to draw eyes and whiskers with an icing pen.
The kids had fun. I had fun. 
Still unpacking and finally a new computer!
I’ve replied to some of you who emailed about sessions. As of right now, I’ve just gotten a new computer (after my old trusty one smoked and sizzled!) and trying to get all my software in order. That takes time and I still have to get our new place in order.
I’m thinking of just doing affordable mini sessions (30 mins) in South Surrey/White Rock (which is where I’m based now). I haven’t decided on the new package yet so I will have to sit down and work this plan out. If this doesn’t work, I may have to skip 2010 sessions altogether 
I’m moving!
I’m moving from Burnaby. I thought of announcing this after I’ve settled down into the new home but I’ve received queries. I’m sorry I can’t take on any sessions for the time being. I’ll be introducing new affordable packages too. So stay tuned!
HAPPY 2010!!
Another year comes to an end but a great year is opening up to us. Take your challenge, explore the horizons and be happy.
Have a great new year! See you in spring.
Cool! I’m mentioned on Vancouvermom.ca today.
Thank you, Christine.
Click on the page to link you to the interview.
Had a blast!!
I didn’t expect to enjoy a rock show but I was blown away at U2′s 360 degree gig at BC Place last night. Favourite rendition: Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of. Love the atmosphere. But alas, a Vancouver concert is not complete without the smell of pot.
Black Eyed Peas opened for U2.
Then, U2 hits the stage for over 2 hours!
Pro-D day – every parents’ favourite day…
Not! So, here I am with my kids, at home on this dreadful rainy, cold Friday. I should have maybe not insisted my hubby takes the car to work coz now I’m car-less and I need my shot of McD’s coffee to get through the day.
So, to counter this gray day, here are some fall colour shots I took before all the leaves ended up on the ground. I really should put up pictures of the moms & babies instead.
Birthdays galore!
September is a month of celebration in my family. One week after another.
My anniversary, my hubby’s birthday, my son’s birthday and today, my daughter’s. For the kids, I’ll have a mini birthday photo session with them. It’s so humbling to see them grow up and these pictures taken on their birthdays are mine to treasure.
Been busy…
Since the kids went back to school, I’ve been busy. Added to that stress, I am looking for a bigger place. With all those 500k homes, there is little left to choose.
One of the things I had been looking forward to in September was the Pet Shop Boys concert on 19th. I’ve been a fan since their first album “Please” came out. I sweared Chris Lowe would fall in love with me (I didn’t exactly know “what” was “really” happening then) but 25 years on and I’ve finally met him, there was nothing! On my part or his!! He’s this goofy guy who can really talk a lot. He’s a genius at the keyboards and looks fantastic in his designer clothes.
My friend & I were lucky to take a picture with Neil Tennant. Apparently, taking a picture with either one of them (Chris doesn’t do pictures anymore) is a miracle!
The concert itself was pretty energetic. I didn’t have high hopes of the production being very techy (like Madonna’s); they had collapsible boxes piled up as background and 4 dancers dressed in boxes. But it was a good party. I enjoyed being a teen again and I had a fantastic front row seat right in front of Chris ( stared at him when I wanted to).
Next in October… Black Eyed Peas and U2!!
My gripe about Budget & Save Painters
So, I needed to repaint my entire condo. Didn’t really know any painters so hubby circled someone in the Yellow Pages called Budget & Save Painters. The projects he showcased in the website was a bit impressive. He got Pottery Barn and Starbucks. Initial correspondence with Kerry Jamie Williams was fast and he came to check out the place and gave me an estimate of just over $1000 excluding paint & materials. This doesn’t cover the ceiling but all walls, trims, doors and baseboard. Since my walls have mostly nicks and dents, I didn’t want to do it myself. He said he would come on Monday to do the prep work, then work till Friday. After Monday, change of plans. He hadto finish an exterior work and as the weather was forecasted to rain from Thursday, he said he would only be back on Thurs. I said ok. So, we lived two days with all our stuff muddled in the centre of the rooms. He told me he charged $49/h and he would do 2 coats. Guess what? He used this thick hi-hide paint which if your walls are ok, he wouldn’t even do a 2nd coat. He would even lied to say he did. (I saw he didn’t and I asked. He said he did!) Even if he did, he just streaked a huge M across the wall and that’s his 2nd coat. Prep work was very badly done. There were so many nicks & dents that he didn’t bothered to fill and sand. He painted over it. He only worked 4 hours a day and he jumped off to his other site in the afternoon. This whole week, we have been living with a huge mess of a place.
On the third day (yesterday), I googled him and found his site called www.homestars.com. Oh man, Kerry Jamie Williams have two reviews and both were bad and they were exactly described. He was lazy, incompetent (he always say “I’ve been doing this since 1953″. What a BS!) and unprofessional (doesn’t arrive on the time he said he would). I was pissed off at him for arriving an hour late yesterday and after reading the homestars review, I just got him to work on all touch ups. He complained this and that but I think he knew I was angry.
Today, being the last day of the project, I monitored his every paintbrush he did on the doors and trim. He kept saying “You are making me nervous.” Well, he should be. I pointed out at some parts which weren’t painted and he said “I’m not done yet.” but he had already moved on to another door.
At the end of it, I just wanted to pay him to get rid of him. Of course, the total bill was over estimated by $900 (charged me $59 an hour instead). I paid for all paints but he wanted to keep them. At least, I got him to pour out that expensive high gloss $72/gallon paint. I guess it’s a standard practice by contractors to charge materials and keep them if unused but next time, I’m buying the paint/materials.
I still have a couple of touch ups to do by myself.
I am sure there are honest and professional contractors out there. You just need to find them. Before you hire someone, read the reviews in homestars.com or google.
I’ve learned my lesson.
3 more weeks till school!!
Yay!! But the downside is that I have to start waking uo at 7am again.
Early August, we took a coach trip to the Canadian Rockies. On paper, it sounded wonderful. 4 days 3 nights. From Vancouver to Kamloops, Banff, Jasper to Calgary to Kelowna and back. In reality, it is one tiring journey. We decided to take this tour because (1) 2 other families we know were going (2) we didn’t want to drive because my kids especially our daughter always whine when she’s gonna get there and how bored she is every 5 mins. That drives us nutty even when we only drive to Maple Ridge. (3) we took the discounted package (less meals)
Sitting on a “luxurious” coach has its advantages. We are seated high up and the AC’s great. The down side to it are you can’t really photograph the scenery as reflections appear on the windows and too much information on minor stuff but still I learned a lot about the Fraser River and the mountains and how important everything is. Rightly so. And secondly, the driving takes about 2 hours from anywhere to somewhere.
Here’s a map of our route.
Day 1: Kamloops for lunch at Tim Horton’s. Earlier we went to a ginseng factory. We weren’t that interested in the process. My mother-in-law requested me to buy 2lbs of cut ginseng for her but the price was exorbitant! Then off we went to Spahats Falls. It’s a bit impressive to me – the sheer height of the ridge. My daughter will tell you that there were too many mosquitoes chasing after her. It was a surprise to see someone you know from the city visiting the same Falls.
Then it’s another 2 hours to Valemount for the night. The next morning, we had to be at the bus by 7:15am. We drove a short way to Mt Robson Visitors Centre. The early morning cloud was shrouding the top of Mt Robson but it was a beautiful morning. (pic below: Mt Robson on the right)
Then, we drove again to Athabasca Falls. I am more impressive with his fall because the water was like thundering down crazily from a very lazy river. I guess like macho waterfalls.
Atabascha Glacier is next. The last time, I was there in 2001 it was November and bloody cold. Now, in summer it’s pretty warm. What hasn’t changed is how bloody touristy it is over there and the food is still as expensive as ever. Nevertheless, as much I like to groan about it, I like sitting on that snowmobile and being on top of that glacier.
Top Pic: Panorama of Atabascha Glacier.
Left: Going up the glacier.
Below: My kids on the snow mobile.
To be continued.
Our trip to Nanaimo in July
We had an enjoyable time. We went with three other family friends for 2 days/1 night.
Parksville Community Park
The dog loves it too.
Picking oysters at Nanoose Bay.
Goats on the Roof at Coombs
On our ferry ride home on the Coastal Rennaisance.
2009 season is now closed
Hi everyone
I am not accepting anymore sessions for this year. Next season starts April 2010 but depending on what happens in my life, I may or may not continue with this venture. We will see.
Apologies for not updating much here. Life is hectic.
Enjoy your summer with your loved ones. Have a good one.
Thanks for all the enquiries…
but I need to kick myself out of hibernation to start updating the gallery with pictures and finalizing my 2009 pricing.
Happy Birthday to me
I am still here and today, I am 28 again! :0
Although I’ve officially closed my 2008 season, I won’t say no to requests for photography as long as I am not expected to have the session “within this week” (why? because I am a natural light photographer and heavens know, we only have one good day in a week nowadays) OR you want to buy 50-100 digital images for the price of $150.
I’ll be using the christmas holidays to update my gallery (I’ve procrasinated so far) and my pricing (I don’t expect much changes).
In the meantime, have a look at my birthday cake. Hubby bought it from T&T. I think it’s Mango mousse.
We didn’t do anything special today for my birthday but I think our family buying our first 6 feet christmas tree is very special. We finally found one we like at Zellers’ Coquitlam.
While taking this break, I will be busy with my kids’ school and stuff. I’ll be stopping by here to show the pictures I’ve taken so far this year including some pics from our Hawaii trip. So drop me when you have the time.
ALOHA from Waikiki!!
It’s our second day here in this gorgeous part of the world with beautiful hot sunny days and the atmosphere on the beach is just fantastic. I am not trying to get a tan here.. who will see it when I get back to cold, rainy Vancouver?
It’s our first time here on the island to celebrate my 10th wedding anniversary. The kids are jet-lagged, the water’s great and things are so darn expensive!! But life is good… we go to the beach at 6:30am!
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On a sadder note, my dear aunt is very, very sick. I love her dearly and things aren’t looking too good. She’s very old and has lost some memory — she can’t remember who I am at times. As much as I am prepared for the worst, I want her to get well. This is not the way to go for her… Not the way at all after so much has happened to her.
I am just sick and devastated…
to read that another black bear was killed by the RCMP in Coquitlam. I was at McD watching the news on TV and it showed the bear up in the tree. It was then shot with a dart and the poor thing fell down to the grown. Minutes later, you see someone shot the bear at close range (which was on the ground). Shot! Poof! Smoke! The bear seemed to jump up and then it’s dead. (I am crying as I write this).
We encroached bear territory by building more homes up on the mountain especially those expensive houses up at Mountain Plataeu. We are killing those bears for being bears. We preach on living co-existing with wild animals like bears and cougars but we expect them to act like trained dogs. If they attack us, well, that’s what wild animals are. It’s too expensive to move them so we just kill them. Or the RCMP officers are just itching to use their guns so they use it on a helpless animal. They said they had to kill it because it was acting aggressively and they couldn’t control it. Heck, if you were the bear being surrounded by all these people, you would show your aggressiveness.
Watch the video here: black bear killed
Rest assured I still photograph…
just that I am on a cupcake craze right now. I am not booking any sessions this month so I feel so much freedom to explore another artistic side of me.
That said, I’ve been working till midnight these couple of days. I’ve finished proofing over 100 pictures for a repeat client and she placed her order on the same day. Actually, within a couple of hours after I emailed her the gallery link. And Holy Smokes, it’s a BIG order. Thank you, Ms. M. She said, “Geez Yogi…. Once again you have outdone yourself…the pictures are amazing! We had a real hard time picking the ones we ordered…you are so talented..we are thrilled..”
Yay!! I love working with Ms M. In fact, she’s the only client who places her orders within the same day I email her the proof gallery links. You don’t know how grateful I am for clients like her. So now she wants me to do some work for her website. Isn’t that fab news?
Ok, back to cupcakes. We were invited for bbq yesterday (Happy Belated Canada! Didn’t have time to post something). I thought of doing the maple leaf decor (picture in previous postings) but it was so difficult to cut the template on a cardboard and everything gets so messy. Still inspired by Bakerella I opted to do a beach theme decor. You can see Angie’s marvellous Bikini Beach Bears HERE.
I used a simple banana cake recipe and a vegan chocolate recipe. The vegan cupcakes were for hubby as he’s lactose intolerant. The vegan cupcake recipe uses soy instead of milk. I Googled and found the recipe on Chow.com, specifically HERE. The recipe is actually from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. Link to Amazon. The cupcake was pretty good and moist.
I didn’t invest in more stuff like candy pens (to draw eyes, noses etc on the bears), mini punch umbrellas or ring gummies. Micheal’s has good selection in their cake/cupcake/candy aisle but holy, it’s expensive. Winners next door sell some of the same things for 1/3 less. I don’t know how Michael’s get away with it.
So, here are my beach theme cupcake decor.
This is my first try with the vegan frosting. It doesn’t hold enough to look like water although it looks like blue sand. I only use tube icing to draw the bikinis. Pretty difficult as the tip is not narrow enough to draw finer lines and the icing sticks here and there making drawing not fluent. Bears are Honey Graham Cookies.
I whipped up a new batch of buttercream frosting. One blue coloured and one white (for waves).
Right: Bear tanning on the beach. (Crunched some cheerios for the sand). Left: Bear swimming in the water.
Surfer Dude!! My favourite of the lot. Surf board and towel are from Fruit to Go.
Bikini Bear sunning on the beach. Umbrella is from Fruit to Go.
Sailor Bear. In order to make the bear stick in the frosting, I had to insert it into a slit on the board.
Bear Boy and Girl walking on the beach. My kids were going, “Mommy’s gonna make the bears kiss.” and when they didn’t, my daughter went,”The bears are not kissing.” hahaha
Bear swimming against the waves. I should have added a shark fin in it too. Then it will be Bear trying to get away from shark
My kids got the chance to decorate a cupcake each. Their versions. I don’t quite know why they need to skewer the bears like that.
I gave the whole lot to my friend who was hosting the bbq.They loved the decor. I hope they love the cupcake too.
Got an urgent SMS from my “little brother” in Edmonton..
“Sis, r u getting BSB tickets? Presale in 45 minutes. “
Lucky, I don’t care much about BackStreet Boys. I caught New Kids on the Block on Much Music Video Awards and well, all five of them think it’s a joke. They were out of tune in parts and they weren’t sure of their choreography. I paid for their tickets for their show in November so they better have improved by then
