Ride to Conquer Cancer

Hong Le July 6, 1951 - October 28, 2010

I am in Vancouver once again, visiting one of my best and closest friends, Luan Le, and his wife, Sarah.  Two weeks ago, they lost Luan’s father to cancer.  As a response, they are going to participate in a 200K ride to raise money and awareness.  Here is Sarah’s plea:

As many of you know, Luan and I just lost his father to cancer. Our world has forever changed and we still don’t know how we will cope with our loss. We have been blessed with so much support and now we are asking for just a little more. Luan and I have pledged to cycle in the 2011 Ride to Conquer Cancer. We will be riding over 200km, from Vancouver to Seattle. Appropriately enough, the ride is on Father’s Day weekend. Please check out the link below and make a donation. If you can’t donate, think about passing the email along to others. Keep checking the link, I will be blogging about our training leading up to the event.

Thank you so much for your ongoing support and love. Together we can make a difference. Together we can change lives.

And here is my plea.  If you’re reading this and it touches you at all, please help me in my quest to raise money toward their ride.  I already have a donation set aside, but I’m asking you to help me help them.  I’d like to ask each of you to pledge $5 – but really, any amount will do.  You can do this on your own (link below), but if you’d like to help out but don’t feel comfortable giving directly, just tell me how much you want to give, and send me a check, or hand me cash when you see me, or just give me an I.O.U.  I’m more than happy to pool our donations together for a large donation after the new year, and will list your name (if you want).  The biggest issue is that they need to raise $2,500 each in order to participate; if they don’t reach that goal, they will be out-of-pocket for the difference.  So I’m trying to help out as much as I can.

If you would like to donate on your own, you can start at their welcome page, or go directly to the donation form.

Please pass this along, and remember that your donation is tax deductible and can even be handled with monthly payments.  I hope you can find it in your heart to help donate to this worthy cause and help fund cancer research for everyone.

No pants? PROBLEM, mon!

So we are in Jamaica enjoying our honeymoon.  We spent the first 5 nights at Moon Dance Cliffs in Negril.  They couldn’t have been more helpful, pleasant and accommodating as we geared up for our big day.  I have plenty of fantastic things to say about the resort, and will do so later.  Today I am in a bit of a foul mood because of some ridiculous hoity-toity rules at the place where we’ll be spending the next 6 nights – Jamaica Inn in Ocho Rios.

The place is beautiful and rustic.  We’ll be posting pictures here and on facebook that will testify to that.  But it’s a bit too stuffy for me.  One of the big reasons for this is that they have a “no shorts after 7 o’clock” policy.  In other words, all males on premises must be wearing pants and a collared shirt for dinner (which doesn’t start until 7:30).

Well, it just so happens that I am in Jamaica because I don’t want to wear pants.  And even if I did, the only pair I brought with me – the bottom half of my wedding suit – is already back in Rhode Island.

There is a great workaround.  For only $5 extra, they will serve dinner to us on our terrace overlooking the Caribbean Sea.  And we can wear speedos or be naked for that.  But it just seems like a stuck-up rule left over from the 1950s.  They’re letting it go for tonight.  The proprietor is wearing long pants for dinner, sure, but Nicole made it very clear that she looked more casual than I do in my basic shorts and collared shirt.  So I don’t know what the problem is… all week we’ve been told “No Problem!”

P.S. Nicole is reading this as I type and wants me to remind everyone that we are in fact on our honeymoon in Jamaica and that it’s pretty awesome.  Things could be a lot worse than hanging out all day with your new wife. 

The Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games

We’re no longer in Vancouver, but we’re living vicariously through Sarah and Luan. Here Sarah recounts her experiences with the Paralympic Games:

While I wasn’t able to watch all of the Opening Ceremonies for the Paralympic Games, I managed to see some very inspirational moments. Videos were shown telling the story of both Rick Hansen and Terry Fox. If you don’t know much about them, their stories can be found at www.rickhansen.com and www.terryfox.org. Betty and Rolly Fox, Terry’s parents, brought the torch into the Opening Ceremony. The torch was then passed around 40 some torch bearers inside BC Place. The final torch bearer was a local teen who aspires to be a Paralympian, Zach Beaumont.

Although the hype from the 2010 Olympics may have dissipated, it hasn’t disappeared completely. On Sunday Luan and I went downtown to check out some of the pavilions that remained open after the Olympics were done. Unfortunately, the lines were still quite long. The ziptrek line was over 3 hours; the mint over 2. We opted to skip these events and check out another Vancouver landmark – Fatburger. Yes, we ate at a place called Fatburger. I definitely don’t see what the hype is about here – I’ve had better burgers at home. Nonetheless, here I am at Fatburger.

While we were walking around downtown, looking for a quick line (which we never found), we saw a cluster of people taking pictures of someone. It was RICK HANSEN and RICK MERCER!!! Two of my favourite Ricks! (Okay, I don’t know of any other Ricks, but these men are still awesome). Rick Mercer was conducting and interview; but I was able to get my photo taken with Rick Hansen.

I was quite thrilled with how our Paralympic experience was starting out. Our first event was Wheelchair curling on Monday. As we were enjoying the walk from the Canada Line station to the venue, we heard a familiar, yet unwelcome sound – Swiss Cowbell. Yes, they were there AGAIN! My only hope was that they weren’t sitting near us. It turned out that everyone was sitting near us. Our seats were at one end of the arena, and most of the sides were empty. Thankfully the Swiss moved shortly after arriving and took some of the vacant side seats.

The curling was only a little bit different from our previous curling match. Three of the players stayed at the top. The person throwing the rock used a long stick to help him/her along, while the other two braced his chair with their own. The other curler was at the house end indicating where to aim the stone. There were no sweepers so the skill remains in how the rock is thrown down the sheet. The Norwegian curlers also had funky pants.

Tuesday night we saw our first of two ice sledge hockey games – USA versus Japan. To show my allegiance to Nicole, I was cheering for the US. Luan was showing his dedication to his Asian Brotherhood by cheering for Japan. The periods were shorter, only fifteen minutes. The game was really interesting to watch; we had never seen ice sledge hockey before. The players have customized sleds built to fit their individual needs. Each player has two sticks to help them move around the ice, also allowing them to pass the puck with both hands.

The US won 6 – 0. Tomorrow night we are watching Sweden and Korea battle it out.

- Sarah

A new picture emerges…

The other day my good friend Dan Malette sent me this picture:

This was a slightly different angle than any of the other pics we had seen to date. Thanks Dan!

Jodi Folkes, a friend of Dan’s wife Julie, spotted this picture on her friend’s Facebook page. She said, small world, I know that guy! Unfortunately the caption on the picture said, “some American guy proposed to his Canadian girlfriend.” Well, close enough, I guess. I’m just waiting for some evidence of our 15 minutes of fame to show up on Kevin Bacon’s Facebook page…

More importantly, I am still waiting to hear back from CTV about getting a copy of the video of the event. Rather than a few stills, it would be great to have a video as a keepsake, never mind to play at our wedding! Wish me luck.

Looking back on two weeks in Vancouver

Nicole and I wanted to collaborate on a quick post reviewing our recent trip to the Olympics.  Nicole’s comments are in this color.

First and foremost, we want to extend a huge thank you to our gracious hosts throughout the Olympics: Luan and Sarah Le .  Without their generous hospitality (and residency requirements for entering ticket lotteries!), this trip wouldn’t have even happened. (And let’s not forget Nesta, the Le family pup, for her generosity–mainly letting us have her spot on the couch and her bed for two whole weeks!)

I am pretty sure Luan is relieved that the games are winding down to a close.  He worked his butt off while we were there, and got very little sleep for two weeks straight.  Thank you for opening your home to us, and working us into your schedule.  We had a great time, and hope to have you here in the future. I’m sure he’s reading this and saying “yeah-okay” in his wonderful half-laugh…memories of which had Aaron and I rolling in laughter on the flight home. Apparently Luan has been doing this for as long as he and Aaron have been friends, but Aaron only realized it once I pointed it out. We will miss it!!

In addition to providing spicy meals with very few vegetables, non-stop transportation assistance and a vastly expanded spectrum of sarcasm by which to judge ourselves, Sarah was key in helping select the engagement ring — she and Nicole happened to have a casual, “what if…?” conversation earlier in the trip.  So Sarah, thank you very much for everything you did to make our trip enjoyable! We were two peas in a pod! I’m so happy I met you…you will be a dear friend for life (especially now, and I guess we have Aaron to thank for that, huh? Well done honey!)

(I soooo wish you put that picture of Sarah with the crazy eyes during our hike here. Don’t fret readers! You can find it in our photo gallery!)

I think it will come as no surprise that the highlight of the trip, for me, was proposing to Nicole during the speed skating event on Wednesday.  I am working with the venue to get a copy of the video segment where I proposed to Nicole in front of about 8,000 people.  When I get a copy, I will post it here. I *guess* this was the highlight for me too. It was an amazing, amazing two weeks. Two weeks out of an amazing two and a half years. It’s funny to look back now to the conversation I had with Aaron on our way out to Vancouver, “Honey…I’m worried. Figure skating is my very first event once we get there. I’m afraid the rest of the two weeks is going to be a total let down compared to that.” Hee hee, if I only knew then what I know now!!

We brought home very few souvenirs, however: every time we tried to go to The Bay downtown, the line for the Olympic Superstore was wrapped around the block.  And the smaller outlets at malls were sold out of everything except kids’ gear.  So, we’re hoping that once the Olympics are over, the online store will be stocked up again (I’m sure there will be overstock from somewhere) and we can order all of the stuff (mitts for everyone!) that we couldn’t get while we were there.  If not, well, we have lots of pictures (you are SO lucky you didn’t say something snide about the amount of pictures Sarah and I took), and lots (TONS!) of memories.

As we write this, there are still some important Olympic events to come (*cough* hockey *cough*…and re-runs of the women’s skating that I missed while we flew home!), but we certainly had an adventure that will last a lifetime.

Finally, we want to thank everyone who has sent along their best wishes and congratulations. Your support and thoughtfulness means a lot to us!

Proposing on the big screen, at the Olympics…

Yesterday we attended the medal race for womens’ 5000m speed skating. But I had other plans.  As soon as we arrived at the rink, I excused myself to go the bathroom.  In truth, I was going to find some media people who could help make this day special.  The information booth hooked me up with CTV, who were absolutely awesome about the whole thing.  They would come to our section, get on the big screen, announce that it was Ontario Day at the Olympics, and then try to find a “random” person in the audience from Ontario.  That would be me.  So that’s exactly what happened.  Before the halfway point (where they flood the ice between heats), the camera crews started to arrive in our section.  Nicole was none the wiser.  The reporter got on the big screen, and when she called for Ontario people, I stepped right into the aisle, pulling Nicole along with me.

Nicole wasn’t sure why she was coming along for the interview, because when asked where she was from, she had to say Rhode Island.  Then we had to explain that it was hard to hear over the Dutch, who were sitting behind us to the right, and couldn’t seem to keep quiet for two seconds throughout the whole event.  I was hoping they would be a little quiet as I was about to propose:

So after the pleasantries, the reporter asked me if I had anything else I wanted to say.  I turned toward Nicole, and said, “yes, I’d like to ask Nicole if she’d let me spend the rest of my life with her.”  The crowd cheered as I got down on a knee and presented the ring, but Nicole was shocked and didn’t seem to understand what was happening.

She did eventually say yes.

We were instant hits.  A lot of people in our section gave their congratulations, asked to see the ring, etc.

After the races started up again, Nicole and I went to get drinks for the group.  Even people in the hallways and volunteers who had seen us on the screen instantly recognized us and gave us their best wishes.  We happened upon the reporter again, and she was talking to a guy from CTV.  I shot her a quick, “Thanks again!”  But she stopped us in our tracks, and he asked us if we wanted to appear on the CTV Morning Show to talk about our Olympic experience.  We exchanged details and he said someone would be calling later that night.  After watching Canada win three other medals, we knew that we wouldn’t be getting the call; that certainly trumps our news.

But we had our moment, and that’s what counts.

P.S. The pictures above were taken by Luan.  I will post more to our photo gallery later.  And Sarah posted photos on Facebook as well.  Thanks guys for making our event so memorable!

Tree teats, Avatar and saganaki … oh my!

Today we took a break from the Olympics.  Well, if you don’t count watching curling in the morning and ice dancing in the evening.  Nicole and I worked until a little after 3:00 PM (closing time back east of course), then we decided to go for a ~6 km hike in Golden Ears Provincial Park.

This was a pretty nice hike, and all along the trail you see the evidence of old, old trees.

And there are plenty of examples where stumps have died off but serve as “nurse logs” for trees that sprout up from within.  This isn’t a very good example of one (check the photo gallery for several others) but I liked the way this one came out.  That tree in the middle of the frame is growing out of the stump at the bottom of the picture.

We also saw some weird coincidental shapes in fallen trees; this one kind of looked like an alligator.  We were tempted to Photoshop some fake teeth but somehow resisted.

At one point Sarah tried to dump Nicole into Gold Creek.  I think this was still a remnant of the argument about whether the DuPont sisters look more like bunnies than hares.  P.S. I checked it out, and the water was pretty cold.

We saw a really cool Inukshuk along the way.  Nicole tried to add a rock to the top, and I thought for sure I was about to be involved in a game of Jenga gone horribly wrong.

I don’t recall exactly what we were doing here, but it looks like I’m doing the Saturday Night Fever move, and Nicole is doing the robot I guess.  If you zoom in (click on the picture to embiggen), our facial expressions are priceless.

Anyway the entire area was beautiful… everywhere you looked there was a snow-capped mountain, or impressive forest, or raging waterfall.

After the hike we gorged on Greek food (again) and Dairy Queen ice cream cake (again). We deserved that after the hike, right?

Oh, and ice dancer Meryl Davis looks an awful lot like Avatar’s Neytiri:

- Aaron

Hurry up and wait

Curling – sliding stones across ice to see who can get closest to the button (the bull’s eye). But really, it is much more – sweeping, blocking, rules, and rabbits…yes, I said rabbits. Let me start at the beginning.

Friday night turned into a late night and we took advantage of a later starting event (2 pm) to take our time on Saturday. Do you see where this is going? So admittedly, we got off to a late start. We needed to get downtown, transfer to the Canada Line for a ten minute ride, and then walk 15 minutes to our venue.  Knowing now that security tends to be pretty quick, we really only needed to be at the venue around 1 or 1:30 pm.  So what happened? We got downtown at 2:30 to find an hour-long queue for the Canada Line. Not wanting to miss any more (or the rest) of the event, we sucked it up and took a cab. Best $20 ever. We were in our seats by 3. And thus began the Le Inquisition. I proceeded to bombard Aaron with any and all questions I had about curling. He was a fountain of information for me, and for those around us. After half an hour or so, I felt that I knew enough to understand what was going on. I had never realized before that when you watch curling on tv, there are multiple games going on simultaneously. This actually made it quite exciting. When there was a pause in one lane, you were able to switch focus to the other games.

The first game ended between Russia and Sweden in end 6. Two of the other games continued into curling overtime (extra ends).  Believe it or not, it was exciting. After watching just two hours of curling, I’m hooked. I think it’s time I actually try it.

Anyway, the excitement continued beyond the curling rink. We planned on heading to Granville Island for dinner then to see Sam Roberts. The queue for the Canada Line heading back downtown was once again longer than we were willing to wait. Being somewhat local, we opted for the bus. As we are somewhat local, we missed our stop and ended up on the wrong side of the bridge. Rather than trying to head back to Granville Island, we decided to grab a bite to eat then head to LiveCity Yaletown for the concert. After a few minutes of wandering, we realized it might be better to check out the line for the concert and see what we were facing, as it might sway our choice between street meat and sit-down dinner. The line up was an hour, just to get inside the venue, then another two-hour wait for the concert to start. Standing for another three hours did not appeal to any of us. Sayonara Sam.

Granville Island, take two. To get there we took a ten minute ride on the AquaBus (a local ferry that holds about 15 people at a time).

Once we got there, we were faced with more lines for restaurants. Again, we opted to skip the lines and find somewhere else to eat dinner. At this point our best bet was to leave the downtown core of Vancouver and head back to the car.

(Here’s the light show that we saw from the island on our way out–pretty impressive!)

Dinner ended up being a fantastic meal at a Greek restaurant. Aaron and Nicole introduced us to the best part of Greek cuisine – saganaki.  Essentially, its deep fried cheese. What’s not to love? Fried food – good. Cheese – good. Beer – good.

All in all, despite our own scheduling delays, it was a pretty fantastic day.

Sarah

PS: Still wondering about the rabbits? Check out the Dupont sisters on the Denmark curling team. Tell me they don’t look like cute little bunnies.

(This is me arguing with Nicole that they really do look like Rabbits, not Hares.)

A sad day for Canadian hockey

Today Luan and I went to see the Czechs take on Russia in hockey; we missed the USA-Canada match by one in the Olympic ticket lottery.  It was a really good game, but of course we would have rather been at the game that I’ll talk about more in a little bit.

There really isn’t a bad seat in Canada Hockey Place (the name of the venue will revert to GM Place after the Olympics are over).  We were in row 15 of a section in the 300s – which means our backs were against the wall up in the top corner of the arena.  Here was our vantage point for the game, and I have to say it really was a good view, in spite of the distance:

I’m not sure why, but I always like to take a picture of the zamboni.  This time we were on the side of the ice where you could read the Olympics logo at center ice:

The opening face-off was pretty exciting – to see Ovechkin and Malkin line up together must be pretty rare these days (obviously outside of an event like the NHL All-Star game):

And finally, I took a picture of Jaromir Jagr pleading his case to the ref, after his penalty led to a Czech goal (in his defense, he was wrongly penalized, IMHO):

After the game, we headed to the SkyTrain and headed back to Luan and Sarah’s place.  We got home just in time to see the opening face-off for Canada vs. USA.  What a disappointing showing for Canada here… they just didn’t seem to want to win bad enough.  Brodeur was, for the most part, awful in net.  The rest of the team had flashes of good play but overall they seemed tired and indifferent.  There were some bad penalty calls against our team, but even more failed opportunities, never mind some pretty bad giveaways (including one by Brodeur early on that led to a goal, and just poor pursuit when USA scored their empty net goal).

Let’s hope that we can pick it up and turn it around against Germany, and give us some momentum going into the medal rounds.  I am not overly optimistic about even this game, after our poor showing against the Swiss.

Northwest Territories night

Yesterday we stayed home while Luan and Sarah went to work; I actually got a lot done this week once I learned that using a laptop in front of constant Olympics coverage is not the most productive thing in the world.  Then last night we went to the medal ceremonies at BC Place – the same building where opening ceremonies were held.  Each night, the medal ceremonies are preceded by a presentation for each province; last night, it was Northwest Territories night.  I have to say that if the purpose is to make me think, “I’d like to go to the Northwest Territories some day,” they’ve done a great job.  Though I am pretty sure that if I were to go, I would go in the summer; last night in one of the performers’ home towns it was 40 below (and at that point, it doesn’t matter if it is Celsius or Fahrenheit).

Then the medals.  The first presentation went to the womens’ halfpipe winners, then we switched to video to see the medals being awarded at Whistler for mens’ Super G and womens’ cross-country combined. It was quite amazing to see bronze and silver medalists who were actually excited to be on the podium, as opposed to a certain jerk from Australia.  Here we are at the ceremony:

After the medal presentations, Theory of a Deadman put on a show.  This music wasn’t in any of our cups of tea, so we left the ceremony and headed downtown.  We walked around Robson St. and it was like Mardi Gras for about a dozen blocks:

We then went to a Korean BBQ place with amazing food (and a really annoying waiter).  We finished off by the night by taking a walk on the waterfront, visiting the flame and circles again:

Today we are going to womens’ curling (no Canadians this time) and then hopefully to see a free Sam Roberts show in Yaletown tonight.