About the Canadian Tulip Festival in Ottawa

The Canadian Tulip Festival is held for 3 weeks in May of every year in Ottawa and Gatineau, Canada. I had the great opportunity to visit this year, although it was unfortunate that it rained throughout the whole weekend I was there. I still managed to get a great first hand glimpse of the beautiful flowers that decorated around Parliament Hill. The festival features over 1 million tulips and receives over 500,000 visitors annually. This is a really enjoyable event to visit in Ottawa if you ever get the chance to go.

Canadian Tulip Festival 2011 Photos

The Toronto Jazz Festival has become one of North America’s premier jazz festivals and takes place annually during the summer in June and July with most events located at approximately 40 locations around the Toronto downtown core. It began in 1987 and now attracts more than 500,000 people over 10 days, with 350 performances and 1,500 musicians.

The core of the Festival is located at Metro Square, the heart of Toronto’s Entertainment District which offers free events to the public. I visited Metro Square on June 25, 2011 for some free jazz music. It was so lovely to enjoy the summer with some jazz music along with fellow Torontonians in the middle of the city!

TD Toronto Jazz Festival 2011 Video

TD Toronto Jazz Festival 2011 Photos

Every year Toronto hosts Canada’s largest street weekend festival: Taste of the Danforth which welcomes over 1.3million people to the event. The Danforth is home to Canada’s Greektown and is closed for the event. There are dozens and dozens of food stalls for you to taste the flavours of Greece! Because so many people attend the event with their hungry stomachs, be prepared for super long lines for every stall! Food prices range from $3 to under $10 so it’s easy to walk along the Danforth and saviour a few items.

SammyliciousTV: Taste of the Danforth Festival Video

SammyliciousTV: Taste of the Danforth Festival Photos

Lamb from Avli

Ribs from Avli

Chicken Rosemary Pie & Lamb Rosemary Pie

Toronto was lucky enough to host the International Indian Film Awards (IIFA) on June 25, 2011. Many many famous Bollywood stars came to Toronto for the prestigious event and in celebration, Toronto also hosted the Samsara Festival which was full of Indian culture – music, culture and fashion. There was also a lot of Indian food available.. mmm, yum!

SammyliciousTV – Samsara for IIFA 2011

Samsara for IIFA 2011 Photos

About the Crown Casino Chinese New Year Festival at Southbank, Melbourne

Each year, Crown Casino holds a festival in celebration of Chinese New Year. I’ve been to the festival once before and enjoyed it so we went back again this year.

Southbank is filled with bright red hanging Chinese lanterns, hawker (street) stalls and hungry hungry people. There is also light entertainment with traditional Chinese dances and the most-loved lion dance. I love all the street food and the colourful dances!

Holding a festival for Chinese New Year at Crown Casino is perfect – since Asians love casinos and they all flock to this event. I don’t normally like Asian festivals because they’re overcrowded and dirty, but Crown Casino always makes sure that their events are classy and well organised.

 Chinese New Year Festival 2011 at Crown Casino Photos

Here’s me with Denny and my mum on Southbank.

I especially enjoy visiting the Crown Atrium (where the hotel is) to see what decorations they have in store.

The annual Canadian National Exhibition took place this year from August 20 to September 6, 2010. It is usually on every year and signals the end of summer. Everyone tells me “you know it’s the end of Summer when The Ex starts!” which was really true, because on the first day it commenced it was the first day it was breezy cold! I had to borrow a jacket from Kaori!

The great thing about The Ex is  it’s proximity to Downtown. Just take the 509 Streetcar from Union Station and it will take you right to Exhibition Place (very close to Lake Ontario).

The Ex is similar to the Royal Melbourne Show which I only recently discovered that I had quite a liking for. The Ex is full of typical fair rides and games. I love that fair feel – everything and everyone is lighted up and having so much fun. It’s so joyous and full of laughter and joy.

Here’s the Ferris Wheel which you can take and see really gorgeous views of the exhibition and the city!

Kaori and I

View from the Ferris Wheel!

The Swing Tower

About to ride the “Swing Tower”!

This is the “Crazy Mouse”. We didn’t manage to have enough time to ride this one.

Kaori and I on the “Crazy Surf”

Upclose and ready to ride!

Here’s me and Kaori’s husband, Jose on the where you feel like you’re flying.

Here is us in motion! It was so fast & circling, it made me feel nauseous after.

Here are some of the games you can play to win some prizes!

WIN WIN WIN

Hoop Shots. Can you shoot the ball through the hoop and win?

Can you pick the right duckie to win?

The Prizes!

Will you win some big money?

Here’s Kaori trying to shoot the star. You have to shoot the entire star before all your bullets run out to win!

Here’s Jose trying to give it a go

Here’s how they went! Unfortunately – no win :(

The Ex also features various shows from Ice Skating to Acrobatics to Dog Shows. Here’s some photos of the ice skating show featuring the Canadian olympic gold medalist duo! I have to admit that they were really good. The others weren’t so much… Haha.

The Ex also features various exhibitions such as the Home exhibition, and also showcases crazy things like Sand sculptures and rock balancing. It had quite the variety of things to look at!

It was a good thing we went on the first day because there were all sorts of specials. Adult Admission tickets were only $8 and you could pay $10 for 5 rides. Pretty awesome! Normally tickets are $16 and 5 rides would probably cost you about $25.

OH MY GOSH! It is now the final countdown until the SGI-Canada Youth Festival which is on May 15, 2010. This means that there is only twelve days left. TWELVE!

This has been a long anticipated event. One whole year of planning has gone into this day and I’m sure it will be spectacular. Out of 3,000 tickets available at Roy Thomson Hall, there is under 500 remaining! I’m sure it will end up being a packed house and full of Soka Spirit! Remember, if you haven’t got your tickets for this event yet, you can purchase tickets online at Roy Thomson or directly at the box office.

Just to reiterate, this event is an event in conjunction with two wonderful organisations, Me to We and Free The Children. SGI Canada have partnered with these two organisations as they share the same values of empowering youth and we hope to work together to create many good things for this world. The co-founder of Free the Children, Marc Kielburger, will be guest speaking at the event.

Last weekend we had our dress rehearsal in the Ikeda Hall (main hall which we have our large meetings) and it was all cleared out to simulate the stage. It was a long day (10am to 5pm), where we had two run throughs and then leaders including Tony Meers (SGI Canada General Director) gave their encouragement and sincere thank you to each and one of us who has put their time and effort into making this event such a success.

This includes all the performers (Hip Hop Dance Group, Latin Dance Group, Youth Chorus, Youth Band, Musicians) and the Behind the Scenes group (marketing, public relations, hair & make up, people movers, coordinators) and so on and so forth! There are so many people participating in this event that I just know that the weekend of May 14 to May 15 is going to be amazing!

Here are some photos of the dress rehearsal and another sneak peek of the event!

Here’s Mai (Public Relations) and Louise (Hip-Hop Dance Group Coordinator)

Below are the hip-hop dance group getting their make-up done!

Leslie, Sammy and Young Chul after we got our hair and make-up done.

Here’s us being “gangsta”.. hahahaha

Above are the boys being gangsta..

Funny how there’s that little girl in the bottom-right hand corner! Haha.

Youth Chorus rehearsing while waiting to be called on stage.

Latin Dance Group waiting for their turn to go on stage. Do you recognise where they got their costumes from? It’s a H&M Dress from the Spring Garden Collection. Aren’t they lucky!!

Below are the youth band! Their shirts look so sharp and spiff! Cute!

Please keep in mind that there are so many other performers and segments that I haven’t shown in this post. The youth of SGI Vancouver, Ottawa and Montreal are also making their way to Toronto to perform with us!

IT IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!!!!!

On Saturday October 3, 2009, I went to Toronto’s fourth annual arts event – Nuit Blanche. it’s a massive celebration of contemporary art and is featured all over Toronto.

It goes throughout the whole night until sunrise! I didn’t stay out that late, as we walked around a great deal and was extremely exhausted already by about 12:30am. But it was really fun and interesting!

Even though I didn’t have a tripod (as you would normally need one for night photography), I got a few decent shots. Please see below!

My favourite was when they had carnival rides on Bay St! Bay St is Toronto’s version of Wall St – the heart of the Financial District and it represented the ups and downs of the market and the horrific fall into the current recession. It had a very creepy feel to it.

In November 2007, I was in NYC for the Thanksgiving Parade and loved the silver bunny that was paraded around. It was so big and shiney! I was so excited to see it inside the Toronto Eaton Centre! What a massive bunny.

This display was really interesting. It’s called the “Four Letter Word Machine” and everyone huddled at the Toronto City Hall to see the next word. Above is supposed to show “FEAR” but I got impatient and just took the snap. It was freezing cold!!!!

I took this shot at Toronto City Hall. October 3, 2009 is actually the same day as the Chinese Moon Festival – when the moon can be seen at its fullest. Really beautiful reflection on the water along with the pretty lights.

This is me at the BCE Building having a rest. Was so exhausted!

This is at Union Station. The lights were all dimmed and there was fog everywhere. There were voices of commuters being played in a loop. Was a very interesting atmosphere to experience.

More photos:

Nuit Blanche 2009 Flickr Set
60 Photos

One of the biggest sporting events in Melbourne is the annual Spring Racing Carnival which is held during late October to mid November (the spring time). In Australia, the cricket and tennis are the most popular sports during the summer, whilst the Australian football and rugby are the most popular sports during the winter. However in the autumn and spring it is racing season and almost everybody comes out in celebration.

Whilst there are many carnivals held at different racecourse around the city of Melbourne (Caufield Carnival, Flemington Carnival, Sandown Carnival, Moonee Valley Carnival, Geelong Carnival), the most famous and popular carnival is the Flemington Carnival and attracts the most attention from the media and the wider community. It spans across four days starting on Saturday and includes the four following events.

Flemington Carnival (Spring Racing Carnival) 

• The Victoria Derby is held on the Saturday before the Melbourne Cup. It is a set-weights race for three-year-old horses. There are also other major races held on this day as well, making it the biggest day in racing.
• The Melbourne Cup handicap race is held on the first Tuesday in November, and is a public holiday in Victoria, but the Cup is witnessed by those all around Australia as well as internationally.
• The VRC Oaks race is held on the Thursday following the Cup. It is a three-year-old fillies race, and traditionally it has been known as ‘ladies’ day’.
• The VRC Stakes day is held on the Saturday following the Oaks, and traditionally it has been known as ‘family day’.

Out of all of the four events, the Victorian Derby is known to be the classiest. It is held annually on the first day of Melbourne’s annual Spring Racing Carnival and marks the beginning of Melbourne Cup Week. The total prize money for the race is A$1,500,000 and $10,000 trophy.

Whilst the major focus of Victoria Derby Day is the stars of the turf (since it is the only race day in Australia where each and every race has Group Status), in recent years the annual ‘Fashions on the Field’ celebrations have shared the limelight. ‘Derby Day’ is traditionally a ‘Men’s day’ in the Fashion Stakes, and every year increasing numbers of fashionable gentlemen competing for prizes and a spot in the social columns. Traditionally black and white are worn on this day by women and morning suits by men. The flower of the day is a blue cornflower.

I had so much fun at this event, sipping on champagne and checking out all the other girls hats and dresses. I wore a black and white hat, a black and white scarf, a black dress and a black blazer. All the guys looked spiffy in their grey suits but I didn’t see many who wore the traditional blue cornflower which was unfortunate. If you’re ever in Melbourne during the spring this is a MUST-GO event with Derby Day being the event I recommend the most! You will have so much fun!

More Derby Day 2008 Photos