New Year Tradition: Polar Bear Dip

Not all countries in the world celebrate the new year at the same time, in the same way. Different parts of the world use different calendars and have different traditions.

In British Columbia, Canada, there is a traditional polar bear swim, where people of all ages put on their bathing suits and plunge into the icy water surrounding Vancouver.

China. The Chinese New Year lasts about 15 days, beginning some time between Jan. 17 and Feb. 19, depending on the moon. The Chinese have the Festival of Lanterns, which is a street procession that lights the way for the new year.

Netherlands. In the Netherlands, the Dutch burn their Christmas trees in the street and launch fireworks to purge the old and welcome the new.

Spain. The Spanish eat 12 grapes at midnight on New Year's Eve to ensure 12 months of happiness for the coming year.

Japan. The moment the New Year begins, the Japanese begin to laugh to bring themselves good luck. They also forgive misunderstandings and grudges from the previous year.

United States. Probably the most famous tradition in the United States is the dropping of the New Year's Eve Ball in Times Square in New York City at midnight. Thousands gather to watch the ball make its minute-long descent, while millions more watch on television all around the world.

Another popular American tradition is the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day in Pasadena, Calif. It includes a parade of elaborate and inventive floats, later followed by a football game.

There are some widely observed New Year's symbols and traditions, such as resolutions, fireworks and noisemaking. It's believed that the Babylonians were the first to make New Year's resolutions.

People all over the world have been making and breaking them ever since. Noisemaking and launching fireworks on New Year's Eve is believed to have originated in ancient times, when noise and fire were thought to dispel evil spirits and bring good luck.

Around the globe, colorful celebrations will mark the beginning of yet another year.

Happy New Year to all!

Good bye 2004

2004 in many ways has been a good year.

I thank all my friends and family for making this year yet another memorable one.

Here are some of the highlights of 2004 on my end (in no particular order of importance), all of which I'm grateful for:

1. Discovering the joys of blogging and being able to find new things to talk about.
2. Seeing old projects flourish
3. Finding new tech opportunities
4. Meeting new friends
5. Connecting with old friends (mostly through friendster or email)
6. Finishing Oxford

Canada Place

One can never miss visiting Canada Place when coming to Vancouver. The five white sails roof mimics the Sydney Opera House. Directly under the sails are the Vancouver Convention Centre, the Pan Pacific Hotel and the CN IMAX, for movie enthusiasts.

From Canada Place's angle, one can see the northern mountains, Stanley Park on the opposite end and the whole Vancouver harbour.

Festival of Lights

Supposedly an Indian tradition, I went with my family and Assad to the Festival of Lights park in downtown Vancouver. The park features several pavilions, miniature lakes with water fountains highlighted with different lights dancing in sync with Christmas music.

The most popular spots in the park were the lamp post heaters as it was drizzling and chilly.

Coal Harbour in Downtown

Coal Harbour is a community set in front of the sea with the northern mountains posterizing the whole scenery. It's a relaxing and serene environment even if it's right in downtown Vancouver.

Vancouver Sea Wall

A picture taken by Assad while walking by the sea wall at Stanley Park.

Touchdown in Vancouver

Second Day* - Disregarding the obvious presence of jet lag in our fragile frames, we drove to downtown Vancouver for our second day. First stop was at Stanley Park. We had lunch in front of the Pacific Ocean coast line, trying oh-so hard to wash away the morsels of stress from the 30hr travel time. Assad, the ever-so hungry fella had to have food again as it's 3 hours since we had lunch. We went to MetroTown (a mall), where we had Tim Horton's donuts (Canadian Krispy Kreme).

First Day -We might not have completely succeeded (from shaking off the jet lag), but we wanted to eat a lot and be merry. Our first meal was in a Japanese restaurant near the Vancouver airport. We had a huge meal with california maki, tempura shrimps, chicken teriyaki, soft-shelled crabs, spicy tuna sushi among others. It's nearly 11pm and we look forward to our second day in Vancouver. *-Our first day at Vancouver commenced 20:30, so I start talking about the second day in this blog entry.

Transiting for 12 hours in Amsterdam

I'm in amsterdam now at an internet cafe. I just have one minute left.

I walked around duty free shops and it's quite nice. I haven't bought anything.
We spent 10 minutes walking around and ended up not getting to a proper restaurant. We just bought sardines and pringles chips from a small store because all the restaurants have closed when we discovered it was nearly 10pm.

Will post later when I arrive in Vancouver.

X'mas Bear

A number of Limited Edition Oxonian Bear key chains will be on its way to Vancouver this X'mas.

Last Trip to London

These red double deckers that roam around central London will be taken out of commission the next few months. Taking my last snap of it. We do however still have a handful of red open-air double deckers in Oxford.

My friends and I spent a good day in London capping it with a dinner at Leicester Square and a short walk around Picadilly Circus (supposedly the Times Square of London). What I will miss is the bustling environment of this city when I go home to a laid-back Vancouver.

A picture taken on my way to Kensington to attend a social function. This sculpture known as the Fountain of Life graces Hyde Park in Central London.

Delayed

My flight back to Vancouver is delayed as I still need to complete a few more things before I leave Oxford. My friend Assad will be spending X'mas with me in Vancouver. We will be flying to Seattle, USA sometime next week and will be taking a 3-hour bus ride to Vancouver, Canada.