cruising through canada's west coast

this was taken aboard the spirit of british columbia. the background was the vancouver island during an autumn afternoon. we were on our way to the city of victoria, the capital of british columbia.

this is the spirit of british columbia.

vancouver's skyline on an autumn day

this is vancouver's skyline viewed from stanley park. it was a cold, cloudy autumn morning. i was supposed to jog around stanley park's 10 kilometer seawall. but taking picture was more fun than running.

boxes, bubbles, and roller-coasters

this two-canvas painting symbolizes my journey. the circle and the diagonal stream represent life. the squares and the circles on the darker area represent the structures and dreams i've had. the structures can be houses, buildings, companies, organizations, and institutions i got involved with. the dreams are the aspirations i've had--some were successful, some were failures. they are like boxes and bubbles. they come and go. but life goes on. the multiple archs under the circle and the stream represent my roller-coaster-like emotions. some are on their way up, some are on top, some are accelerating down at high speed. in the midst of all these emotions happening simultaneously, life goes on. life necessarily includes boxes, bubbles, and roller-coasters. but life goes beyond boxes, bubbles, and roller-coasters.

i painted this in the summer of 1999 as my millennium piece and it hangs in our kitchen, richmond, british columbia.

revisiting my old painting

we're about to go for a formal dinner. while waiting for my mother and other folks, i had this picture taken with one of my oil paintings. i did this piece in 1992 and left it hanging in our old farmhouse in richmond, british columbia. i entitled it mitosis--living things must go through this process of separation and multiplication in order to grow.

celebrating life with my mother

having a birthday celebration--my beautiful mother and me shares our happiness together. i love her soooo much! she is the most positive woman i've ever known. she intentionally sees her cup as half full instead of seeing it as half empty. her health--in body and spirit--is a result of a faithful application of her favorite proverb: "laughter is the best medicine." while my late father was the one who built a healthy sense of confidence in myself (treating me always as if i have the power to change the world around me), it is my mother who served as a balancing conscience everytime i succumb to an unhealthy kind of pride. her words of wisdom is an ever-present reminder: "my son, all truly great persons are genuinely humble individuals."

morning fellowship with my taichi friends

my taichi master--the gentleman in red--with my fellow taichi practitioner. after their morning session, they always sit together for coffee at the food court in richmond centre mall. i often practice taichi on my own as part of my personal spiritual discipline.

falling maple leaves

these red maple leaves are about to fall. afterwards, these trees will look as if they're dead. through the winter, they will be exposed to cold and seemingly-lifeless and leafless time. there are periods in my life when it feels like autumn--everything seems to fall apart into seeming lifelessness. then it gets worse. winter comes--freezing cold, seemingly unproductive period in nature's lifecycle. during the winter seasons of my life, i must not lose hope and i must remember that spring is coming!

a unique experience of bonding with a bird

this mountain bird seems to be so friendly. there's no fear in his or her eyes. my taichi master once told me that when we are so relaxed and no toxic smell emanates from our body, we can project our feelings to animals and they'd feel our honest intentions. well, i took my master's words. i placed a small piece of bread on my hand and projected my feelings to the bird: "here's my offering to you, friend. i am your friend. i will not harm you." did it work? click here.

cool, huh? wanna see the view from here? click here.

i will never forget this experience in this great, serene setting.

beauty of nature, nature of beauty

whoah! why is this beauty of nature so hidden? we had to hike for hours just to enjoy looking at this breath-taking view! i guess that's the nature of beauty--it's always hard to get.

beautiful, but dry and cold

the canadian rockies is one of the most spectacular places in the world. this is a beautiful sight! and yet, in reality, this mountain is so cold and dry. a heart that is so isolated from the warmth of other human hearts can be so cold and dry as well.

canadian colours

i took this photo in a shopping store in vancouver. canadian nationalism is so constant and yet not imposing -- not as imposing as the loud patriotism of the americans.

spiral driveway, spiral learning

i like the shape of this spiral structure in west broadway avenue in downtown vancouver. this reminds me of my preferred learning process. my learning experience is kind of spiral--i may go through a seeming circular process, but in reality, there's upward progress. a spiral learning process is better than the conventionally measured linear learning process.

jet-speeding through the darkness

everytime i fly across the ocean, i always take a picture of the sky from the plane's window. it's a good assurance that beyond the clouds, the sun is always bright. it also reminds me that when the darkness of the night seems too dark, i must keep moving forward; the faster i move forward, the shorter the night.