Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

My new iPhone 4s

I’m so excited! Just bought myself an iPhone 4s! It was about time I upgraded my phone. Now u know what I’ll be doing over the holidays!

Adjuno Wins!

Congrats to my friend Chris Todorov and his team who won the €50,000 prize for his start-up company Adjuno. Way to go! You can read their success story here.

 

 

Canucks Game

I went to a Vancouver Canucks game yesterday! It was my first time buying a ticket from a scalper. It was really a spur of the moment kind of thing as my friend Lisa and I were downtown Vancouver and thinking of things to do. We checked out several scalpers just outside Rogers Arena but the offers were all too expensive. The best time to buy tickets is a few minutes before the game starts since it will be a sunk cost to them if they don’t get rid of them. We managed to get a very good deal and got upper bowl centre tickets for a reasonable price. The seats were pretty decent. The game we saw was against the Minnesota Wild. I thought the game would be a bit boring since Minnesota plays a defensive type game but it was actually fun and exciting. I think the drunk people sitting behind us helped make it excitig! Haha.  The Canucks managed to win 3-2 in OT from Sami Salo’s slapshot. The best part of the game was when the drunk fan sitting behind us was critizing the Canucks play early in the game and blamed their poor play on Luongo, the goalie, even though he wasn’t even playing that game! Classic!

Hockey Pool – 2011/12 Season

Alright! Another hockey season begins! I can’t wait to start watching some hockey games and see my players score some points. I am in two hockey pools this year. One from my work, and another through my co-workers friends. My office pool has 13 people and my friend’s pool has only 8 people. Here are my picks. As you can see, my friend’s pool is stacked since there were less people to choose from. I am happy with my picks. Also with my friend’s pool, I can alternate players during the week but I can only use 14 players during the week to which points are counted during the year (9 fwds, 4 defensemen, 1 goalie). The rest of the players are used as spares in case my other players get injured or if I know a certain player is heating it up. Let the games begin!

Office pool:
Steven Stamkos
Jonathan Toews
Brad Richards
Jeff Skinner
Joe Pavelski
Phil Kessel
James van Riemskdyk
Keith Yandle (D)
Alex Pietrangelo (D)
Carey Price (G)

Friend’s pool:
Alexander Ovechin
Evgeni Malkin
Patrick Kane
Joe Thornton
Zach Parise
Claude Giroux
Phil Kessel
Jarome Iginla
David Krejci
Mike Green (D)
Dan Boyle (D)
Alex Edler (D)
Jack Johnson (D)
Ryan Miller (D)

Alternatives: (I can use these during the week or in case the players above get injured)
Mikko Koivu
Justin Williams
Brandon Dubinsky
Cam Fowler (D)
Cam Ward (G)

The Lions

The Lions, or the twin sisters, is a popular day hike in Vancouver. It is located near Lions Bay, about a 40-45 minute drive from Vancouver. The views from the top are simply breath-taking and out of this world. Pictures definitely do not do justice. The peak offers amazing panoramic views of Capilano lake, Howe Sound, and the city of Vancouver.

We left our apartment at around 7am, picked up breakfast at Tim Hortons and were on our way to the trailhead. For directions of the hike, see below this blog. We arrived a bit late to get a parking spot at the trailhead so we had to settle for the elementary school parking lot which was 1 km (or 15 min. walk) away from the trailhead. The trail starts on a logging road and then goes steadily up for about 35-40 minutes until you see a “cute” sign to turn right. After this, you will go through some flat areas and even pass a water fall on your left. After a slight incline you will see another sign to turn right where you will be a short decent to the bridge at Harvey Creek. Coming here will take you about 1.5 hours or so.

After the bridge, the bulk of the elevation is ahead of you and this is where the strenuous climb begins for about 2.5 to 3 hours. There are several viewpoints along the way overlooking Howe Sound and Lions Bay. The trail is well-marked by orange or pink ribbons so it’s hard to get lost. However, if you are not sure where to go, just stay to the right of the trail and you’ll be fine. Around the 3 hour mark or so, you will come across a nice little area where there is a beautiful view of the mountains and your first glimpse of the Lions. We stopped here for a necessary break.

After the break, we came across a huge section of snow that we had to hike through. This was a tough section. Hiking in the snow is definitely tiring, especially when you are going uphill! The good thing about hiking in the snow is that when it gets hot you can just lie down and let the snow cool you off!

We reached the base of the Lions in about 4 hours and 45 minutes and to reach the view top of the West Lion it took us an additional 45 minutes. In total, it took us about 5.5 hours in total to reach the summit of the West Lions from the parking lot including breaks. We could have done this hike a lot faster if it weren’t for my friend Johnson who slowed us down.

The views from the top are simply breath-taking. We were on the top for about an hour enjoying our lunch and taking crazy pictures. The hike down took us about the same time, 5.5 hours back to the parking lot.

As for our traditional epic meal, we decided to go to Fatburger on Denman. I had the double fat burger which is basically two big fat juicy patties and double cheese. I didn’t order any additional toppings but I kinda wish I need. There’s always next time! That burger definitely hit the spot and I would definitely recommend it.

Click HERE to view all pictures of The Lions

Incredible views!

The uphill section of the snow

The Lions or Twin Sisters

View from the top – You can see Capilano Lake and city of Vancouver out in the distance

On top of the world – The peak of the West Lion

Reflection – Overlooking Howe Sound

View for the top

The East Lion

Enchantment Lake – the other side of The Lions

Unnessessary Mountain and Howe sound

Howe Sound overlooking Bowen Island

Three buddha’s and a lion!

Notable facts

Distance: About 15Km
Elevation: 1646 m (West Lion), 1606 m (East Lion)
Time to hike: About 7-9 hours
Rating: Intermediate to difficult (in some snow and steep rocky areas)

Directions to the Lions
From Vancouver, drive north to Lions Bay on Hwy 99 (the highway heading to Whistler). You will take the Lions Bay exit. I’m not sure what exit number it is but there should be signs telling you to exit at Lions Bay. We missed this exit and had to drive back! Please note that other blogs and trail posts tell you to turn right on Oceanview Road. However, there will not be signs from the highway to turn right on Oceanview Road! Also, you don’t really turn right on Oceanview Road. Once you exit into Lions Bay, the road will automatically will turn into Lions Bay Ave (slight right). At the intersection, turn left on Cross Creek Road. Do not turn right on Oceanview Road! Follow Cross Creek for a bit and then turn right on Centre Road. Go left on Bayview and drive for a few km and then left on Mountain Drive. Once you reach Sunset Drive, turn left and you will see the parking lot for the trailhead. This parking lots gets full fast so my advice is to head very early in the morning to get a spot. We had to park 1km down at the Lions Bay Elementary School on Bayview Road. It’s not much of a walk but after a long day of hiking, the last thing you want to do is hike back in the hot pavement back to your car!