The Grouse Grind

Dear Sumihal br Sembiring,
Last summer Debra and I went to North Vancouver, which is a half hour drive away, to climb "The Grouse Grind". The Grouse Grind is a very steep uphill incline trail, an ascend of 800 metres over only 3 km distance. It is a difficult trail, but very popular for hikers. Certainly it is not for the faintest of hearts. You need to be fit and have a lot of energy and perseverance. You need to have surefooted too, because one misstep can have dire consequences. In summer the trail is crowded with hikers, mostly by young people or people young at hearts. The trail most of the time is narrow, so authority has strongly advised hikers to go one way up only, and to come down by skyride gondola. It took us 2 hours to reach the top with countless stops in between. You could see us on the photo shown here, gasping for air after reaching the summit, totally exhausted but happy because of "mission accomplished". The view of Vancouver from the top of Grouse Mountain was magnificent. You can see Lions Gate bridge, Stanley Park, the city skyline and in the distance to the right was the Endowment Land where the University of British Columbia located. That day the weather was really nice and warm. It was no wonder why there were so many people up there. Most of people coming up by the skyride gondola. After having lunch at the Grouse Mountain restaurant "Observatory", we went for a tour of the ski resort, a "bird of prey" demonstration show, a tram ride going up and down a ski hill, a bear and wolf refuge areas and a lumberjack show. We also watched the helijet took off and landed with visitors departures and arrivals. There were quite a number of wooden sculptures mostly about wildlife, displayed around the place. Coming down from "The Grouse Grind" was the easiest part, just step into the skyride gondola and enjoy the view. A little too crowded perhaps, but the view was spectacular.
PS. The food at the "Observatory" was pricey but delicious.

Buntzen Lake

Dear Banta Tarigan,
There is this pristine place near Anmore, a suburb of Vancouver, a 45 minutes drive away from where I live, called Buntzen Lake. It is very popular place for summer recreation between June-September: picnic, hiking and canoeing. It is so popular that sometimes it has to be closed for later arrivals. There is no entry fee. In 1903 the first Lower Mainland hydro electric power station was built 1/2 km away to tap in energy from the lake. But many other hydro electric dams were built somewhere else ever since, so that now Buntzen Lake is more important for an attractive recreation area for public enjoyment. I come here a few times every summer, mostly for hiking. You can walk around the lake, up and down terrains, through wooded trails and surrounded by tall cedar trees, in less than 2 hours. And that will be good enough for your heart and lungs the exercise they need in a clean and fresh environment.

Space exploration

Dear Bachtiar Abbas,
Recently I went to a seminar at the University of British Columbia, that was attended by 5 astronauts from NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). It was a discussion about "the need of humans instead of artificial intelligence in space exploration". All 5 astronauts including Mr. Ulf Merbold shown here (an astronaut from West Germany and a physicist by trade), gave a short speech about the topic. Some with well design chart and visual display to dramatize their reasonings. Needless to say that they were all "pro" (as oppose to "con"), that humans need the "hands on" expertise in space exploration. There was a 30 minutes "question and answer" period after the speeches.
The "con" is that, with the rapid advancement in artificial intelligence technology, a robotic can be made to do all the necessary task in space exploration in a very harsh environment. So why risk human. What do you think?

Dashing through the snow

Dear Basita Ginting,
I probably will get all my wishes this Christmas from Santa, because I sent my wish list early: a purple shirt, a pair of New Balance runner and a DVD karaoke player. I plan to get you the latest of the Play Station 2, but evidently you have to line up at the store a night before the sale. So instead I am getting you a Polaroid izone 300 digital camera. But wait a minute, don't you think that we are doing this all wrong? This is pagan ritual, consumerism of the worst kind. Whatever happened to the "Peace on earth and goodwill towards other people". So let us wish everybody Merry Christmas. But get the heck out of my way, right?

Kelowna

Dear Eka Mustikawaty,
Last September 2006, I went to visit a friend Tom in Kelowna for a couple of days. It took me 6 hours to drive with some breaks along the way to reach Kelowna. Kelowna has about 100 000 population and is famous for it's Okanagan Lake and the orchards of apples, pears and grapes . The grapes are used mainly for making wine. Legend has it that a friendly serpent "Ogopogo" lives at the bottom of the Lake. From time to time it comes to the surface of the lake, not to harm anybody, but to make sure everybody is allright. Tom took me around to see the orchards and pick some apples, that are crunchy and very sweet to bring back to Vancouver. We also went to see "Pyramid Winery" shown here on the photo overlooking the Lake, one of the biggest winery in Kelowna.

Chehalis River Hatchery

Every year between October -February, salmon in different varieties, after spending 4 years at the open ocean, come in hordes instinctively to their origin of "birth". Many "birthplaces" of salmon - "hatchery" in British Columbia. The one shown here is the "Chehalis River Hatchery", about 2 hours drive from Vancouver. Workers at the hatchery remove the "eggs" and the "sperms" from the salmons and "processing" them until the "birth" of baby salmons. After 3 months old, they are released back to the Chehalis River, or to other rivers in different part of B.C. that are lacking in salmon. Thus the life cycle of salmon continues.


Indonesian:
Setiap tahun sekitar October-February, ikan2 salmon dari berbagai jenis, setelah merantau 4 tahun dilautan bebas, datang berduyun2 secara instinct ketempat "lahir" mereka.Banyak tempat "lahir" salmon-"hatchery" di British Columbia. Yang terlihat disini adalah "Chehalis River Hatchery" sejauh 2 jam dengan mobil dari Vancouver. Pekerja2 di "hatchery" mengambil "eggs" dan "sperms" dari salmon dan di"proses" sampai anak2 salmon "lahir". Setelah umur 3 bulan dilepas balik ke "Chehalis River", atau sungai2 lain di B.C. yang kekurangan salmon. Demikian lingkaran hidup salmon diteruskan.

Patullo Bridge

It has been drizzling on and off all day this Sunday December 17,2006 at the Lower Mainland. But there was a brief sunny break when the Skytrain crossing the bridge from Surrey toward New Westminster. A somewhat clear sky appeared on the Tri Cities area.