Corn man 

Apples at Granville Island 

Zhanar's favorite florist in Vancouver - Garland's on Broadway. 

We visited the library in downtown Vancouver. It's a great library, with really interesting architecture and a great children's program. 

Zhanar and Dina check out a photo of the pigeons in front of the musician at granville. 

Even the boilers are artsy here 

Interesting boat name... 

Trying to keep the birds under control... 

Feeding pigeons at Granville Island gan get a little out of hand in the morning... 

These are dead leaves. Yeah, you know, just some dead leaves... but I liked the water on them. 

One day Dina moticed that the doorstop mounted to the wall in the bathroom was a little loose. From that moment on, it became her mission to pull it off the wall. She struggled with it for several minutes and finally managed to pull the whole thing out - anchor and all. Look at the joy. Daddy wasn't quite as happy. 

The Taj mahal lantern with a bit of bamboo 

The real heart of the lantern festival is the little paper lanterns with candles inside them. Children get to carry them around and it's very festive. 

Zhanar's favorite lanterns were the jewel covered dogs. They reminded me of the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale about the solidier and the dogs with eyes as big as plates. 

Traditional style photo at the gardens 

This is the season for the Lantern Festival in Singapore. These photos were taken at the Chinese Garden during the light up.  

We also went in the "Dark Caves" where you have to take a guided tour. The guide was a little batty himself. Perhaps a little too much time underground, but very interesting nonetheless. 

Outside the Batu Caves, Malaysia 

There's a colorful temple inside the caves. Everyone told me this place would smell like monkey poo but it was clean enough. there were a lot of monkeys outside though, drinking soda out of discarded cans, cleaning their nails, cooling their balls on the cement. You know, monkey business.

The steps to Batu Caves, just outside downtown Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. An interesting day trip. Our bus driver on the way there was a little insane. He drove like a maniac, forcing customers to board and disembark without stopping... until we caught up with the bus in front of us. Then he took a leisurely drive around the block, much to the dismay of the passengers who knew the route. 

No exercise allowed in this area...  

The Moustache Competition. TJ took the Freddy Mercury award. Brian took the Ben Stiller Dodgeball award, and I ended up with the Pornstar Honorable Mention.