Auditor General of BC Student Recruitment Video

Yes, I am on YouTube! Here is the student recruitment video I am in. I am the one riding the bike.  Let me know what you think of it.

Another video that talks about Office of the Auditor General of BC and the work I do. Enjoy!

PNE

It has been ages since I’ve been at the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) here in Vancouver. I remember going when I was a little kid with my mom and uncle and all I could remember was being at those home shows all day and complaining about the fact that all I wanted to do was go on rides and eat cotton candy. It was a great day to be out at the fair. Although we didn’t go on any rides, it was really fun to check everything out. Phebe and I enjoyed “Superdogs”, the Motorsport Show, Celtic Legends, Artistic Edge Dance Academy, Farm Country and the bee beard demonstratioin, the parade, the mini-donuts, and of course the home shows.

To see all our pictures, click here

Tofino Camping Trip

August 21-23, 2009

The weekend camping trip to Tofino was great. Although it sprinkled the first day, it cleared up pretty fast and we ended up with gorgeous weather for the rest of the weekend. We camped at Kennedy Lake, which is just on the outskirts of Tofino.  This camping area that we chose was also known as “Redneck Beach”. My friend Chris drives a Saturn and was the “minority” there as we had entered 4X4 land. As you can tell from the name, it was a bit rowdy at night. The first night wasn’t bad but the second was worse.I learned my lesson from my Cape Scott trip and brought some ear plugs! I slept like a baby. However, some people got no sleep at all as people were yelling, screaming, singing, and playing music all night long!

They should have this as a tourist attraction for Tofino

On Saturday we took a trip out to Tofino and had lunch at the Sea Shanty restaurant. It was pretty much the only thing to do that morning as it was pouring down rain. The thing to get there is the oyster burger. One of the best I’ve tasted so far. I decided to get the yam fries ($3 more which is a rip-off) but it was so worth it. Yam fries are the best! Later that afternoon it cleared up a bit and we all headed to Long beach to play some soccer and frisbee and just hang out on the sand.

The oysters were pretty yummy and so were the yam fries

The best part of the day was dinner. Ok, you may think that all I talk about is food but man, it’s like the best part of camping – The Food!! I’m pretty sure we had the best dinner out of all the camp spots at that place. It was super gourmet. For dinner we made bison burgers, smokies (with sauteed onions and garlic, and tomatoes), bbq mushrooms and green peppers all spiced up, salad on the side, and for dessert we had my favorite recipe – banana smores. To make banana smores you basically cut up a banana in half, and alternate adding marshmellows and chocolate in the banana and wrap it in tin foil. Let it heat and melt on the grill for a few minutes and voila  – you have a gewy and tasty banana smore!

Kevin’s famous smores – Ok, it doesn’t look that appetizing but man, it is sooooo good!

For more pictures of our Tofino trip, click here

Eligible to Proceed

PASSED MODULE 6!!! I am eligible to write the UFE this year!! It was such a relief. I have been thinking about this all week and to finally know that I have the whole rest of the summer off to study for this exam means a lot. I want to thank everyone for their prayers and encouragement through this time. I am going to finish strong and work hard these next several weeks and push to the end.

Cape Scott Provincial Park

August 7-9, 2009

Day 1 – The Drive Up
We left our trek to Cape Scott Friday afternoon at around 1pm from Victoria. It was a bit of a later start than we wanted but we did manage to get to the campground before dark. The forecast for the weekend called for rain, rain, and more rain. The drive to Cape Scott was about 8 hours in total including a couple of stops for gas and a bite to eat at Subway. From those 8 hours, 2 hours were spent driving on the logging road from Port Hardy to the trailhead. Holberg was the closest settlement from Cape Scott which is about 16 Km away. Our original plan was to hike about 45 min. and camp at San Josef Bay but by the time we arrived it was already dark and beginning to rain. We stayed overnight at the San Josef Heritage Park Private Campground just a few minutes away from the parking lot and trailhead to Cape Scott.

There to great us at the entrance was a big, barbarous-looking fellow who kind of resembed  bit of Santa Claus and one of the seven dwarfs mixed together. When we told him we were gonna hike Cape Scott, he made this “clumping” sound with his mouth and pretended he was stepping in knee deep mud. It was pretty funny to see actually. If that was a sign of what was to come we were in big trouble. We then asked how much the camping will be and he replied,”It’s by donation…..(long pause)……minimum of $15 dollars“. Huh???!!! What kind of donation is that? We managed to put up our tent in time just before the pouring rain.

Day 2 – The Hike to Cape Scott
It rained the whole night. I couldn’t sleep. The sleeping bag I bought a few days ago kept me warm and snugly all night but the loud rain drops on the tarp kept me awake. Should’ve brought ear plugs! After we ate a quick breakfast (bagels and pepperoni sticks) we were on our way around 9am. There was a light drizzle at the start of the hike. The trails weren’t that bad. I pictured we would be hiking in knee deep mud but it was nothing like that. Sure, it was a bit muddy but it was nothing too hard to handle. Most of the trails were made up of boardwalks which can be slippery if you don’t have the proper traction on  your shoes. It took us around 5.5 hours to hike to Nels Bight where we set up camp. A map of the trails and locations can be seen here.

From here, it’s about another 2 hour hike (4 hour r/t) to get to the Cape Scott Lighthouse. We quickly set up our tarp and tent to ensure we got the best spot.  About a 5 minute walk from our camp spot was a place we could get “fresh” water. It turned out to be brown with floaties in it! Just to make sure we didn’t get sick, we treated the water with iodine and also boiled it to death.

It took awhile for us to set up camp but we did manage to leave around 3:45pm to the Lighthouse. Along the way it cleared up considerably which made the beaches more enjoyable. The 2 hour hike to the Lighthouse felt like a breeze without our backpacks on! As we were walking along the trail, I spotted from a far distance what looked like a bear! When the “bear” caught my eye, it came towards me. As it came closer, I realized it wasn’t a “bear” but  “wolf”! It was now running faster than before. I was scared. When the “wolf” came a bit closer, I noticed it wasn’t a “wolf” after all but a dog! Phew! It was one of those wolf-looking dogs.

I must say I wasn’t too impressed with the Lighthouse. I do not want to give it away but it was not what I pictured it to be. Don’t get me wrong, it was nice to see the northern tip of Vancouver Island but it was strange sight to see. We made record time on the hike back to our camp spot. I think it was due to the fact that we were ready to eat the biggest meals of our lives. The menu was beef stoganoff and stir-fry (onions, garlic, carrots, celery all spiced up to perfection)!! Words cannot describe the awesome sensation of this meal. It was the ultimate flavour explosion!

It had cleared up considerably near the middle of the day and at night. After dinner we enjoyed a nice campfire and star gazing at night.

Day 3 – The Hike Back
We woke up to a wet morning. It had drizzled the whole night leaving the tent area pretty wet. That didn’t let us down though. We started the day with the breakfast of champions. Two packets of maple and brown sugar instant oatmeal for starters and then a huge package of Korean noodles with celery and carrots in the soup. It was soooo good! We packed up all our gear and said our final goodbyes to the beach and we were off. About an hour into the hike it started to pour down rain. The trails got a bit muddier as our legs and feet got a bit sorer. Chris’s right knee was also acting up but we still made record timing on the way back! Tired, thirsty, and wet, we made it back to the car at around 3:30pm. We got all our wet clothes and shoes off and slipped into something more dry. Such a relief! We make a quick detour to go see the “Santa Claus-dwarf man” to get some fresh water before our big drive back to Victoria. I should’ve gotten a picture of him!

We wanted to make it back to Victoria as quickly as possible. However, maybe we were too quick. Chris got pulled over by the cops around Port McNeil. He was clocked at around 125 Km/h in a 80 Km/h zone. As the cop was approaching the car, I could see Chris starting to shake. He has never gotten a ticket before let alone being pulled over. He was pretty nervous. We acknowledge how fast we were going and gave the cop our ID’s and registration. Several minutes later, the cop comes back and acknowledges the fact that Chris has a perfect driving record. Because of this, the cop gave Chris a warning! The speeding ticket would have been $196 but we left without paying anything! Oh yah! The drive back to Victoria was a bit slow and cautious after that but we did manage to arrive safety at around midnight.

For all the pictures click here

Ready to Rip the Trails

This weekend I’ll be going to Cape Scott Provincial Park. In case you don’t know where it is, it’s on the very northern tip of Vancouver Island. I’ve been waiting to hike this since my friend Chris and I hiked Della Falls last summer. It’s about a 7-8 hour drive from Victoria depending on the traffic. We checked the forecast and it doesn’t look too promising. There is a 70% chance of rain with about 10-15 km/h winds. Yikes! Just our luck too. The past few weeks have been scorching hot and we’ve been having the hottest summer yet. To prepare for this trip, I bought a new sleeping bag. I pretty much had it with the other one I had. I would get cold at night since the bag and no shoulder protection or hood. So I decided to get a down mummy bag. It’s a Raven sleeping bag from MEC and you can take a look at the specs here. The only downside to this is that if it gets wet, I am hooped. I’ll let you know in a few days how it turns out.

To give you an idea of some of the supplies and food we are bringing, you can click here. We bought one of those mountaineering/hiking packaged meals. We ate one the last time and it was da bomb. When we were at the MEC store, there was a group that just finished the West Coast Trail and recommended to us the Beef and Strogenoff. They said it was their best meal ever camping. We’ll see how it turns out. We will also attempt to make some stir fry on this trip. I brought along some onions, garlic, carrots, celery. Mix that up with a few spices and butter and shaabang! you’ve got a flavour explosion!