Anchors Away Ice Sculpture Festival in Collingwood, Ontario

Federal Government Building, Downtown Collingwood, Ontario

Collingwood, one of our favourite small towns to visit in Ontario, is a two hour drive north west of Toronto. We come here a lot to ski in the winter. It is a pretty tourist town.






It was almost 11p.m. when we finished our game at the bowling alley.

On our way back to the hotel,  we made a detour to see the ice sculptures lining both sides of the main street of downtown Collingwood.

An Anchor

We did not realize that there was an ice sculpture festival in Collingwood, a town with a population of about 19,000 residents.

We have been to this small town before numerous times and this was the first time we came across the ice sculptures so we stopped and took a look at them even though it was in the middle of the night.

This year's theme is called Anchors Away and the ice sculpture festival runs from December 27- January 5, 2013.

Therefore, there were a number of ice sculptures on display, all to do with water.













Though the sculptures were not very large, they were all illuminated with colorful lighting and were fun to look at and for picture taking.

The weather was supposedly to be warming up. So I made sure that we could see the ice sculptures before they were melt away by the warm temperatures in the next few days.

We went back during the day to see a few more ice sculptures. A nice activity when it's too cold to ski on the hill!

There were lot more ice sculptures but I am only showing a few here. I hope you will have a chance to see them in person!

R.T.
Collingwood
Boxing Week

Bowling in Collingwood

 A Snowman in Collingwood

We planned to go skiing in Collingwood and checked in at our hotel.

Our friends came over to visit us at the resort. We had not seen our friends for a little while so I prepared a quick dinner for the five of us at our suite. Er. seemed to like talking to D. and his brother. After a quick store bought chicken dinner, we headed for a game of bowling at the Bowling place.

5 Pin Bowling in Collingwood

It was strange that we have been going to Collingwood for a long time since the boys were small, but we had never gone bowling until now. I was more surprised when Doug told me that he had never gone bowling at all and he has been living in this town all his life!!!







We were unable to get a lane before 8p.m. so we went for the 9:30p.m. lane. It was 5 pin bowling.

5 Pin Bowling can be as fun as 10 Pins

A bowler could get a game for $ 7.00 or you could get a lane for an hour for $40.00. which we thought was a better deal.









We could easily get two games per bowler out of an hour and 15 minutes for which we paid extra. We found that 5 pin bowling is not easier than 10 pins. In fact 5 pin bowling is just as challenging.

During the first game, everyone did not do as well and Doug was skeptical about the experience as he had never done it.

However, as the game progressed, he seemed to be enjoying it more especially when he was able to have a spare and everyone was giving him the high five!

Getting a strike!

E. seemed to enjoy the game and was the most consistent in his scores. He came second in the first game short of a few points but came up the first scoring much higher than his first game.Doug came last out of the five of us in the first game. He improved a lot during our second game. As a matter of fact, he was not the one with the lowest score at the end of the game, I was!

We paid for the extra 10 minutes to finish our second game. Though we were the last bowlers in the bowling alley, the friendly staff person at the front desk waited for us to finish our game without hurrying us out of there. Great service and we definitely will be back to play more games there!

R.T.
Collingwood, Ontario
Boxing Week

Skiing at Blue Mountain, Ontario

Blue Mountain - 2 hour drive from Toronto

One activity which our whole family can enjoy together is skiing! We try to make it to the ski hill every year around Christmas time when our older son is home for the holidays.

Lift Ticket Rates at Blue Mountain

However, as if it is in the movie, something invariably happens each time that dampens our spirit. I remember a few years back, during one of the skiing trip, our car was towed away when one of us must get back to Toronto at a certain time.

South Base Lodge

Last time when we were skiing and having a good time, Er's front tooth was chipped causing him much anxiety as he was due back to work in New York right after the holiday.

This year, we looked forward to our family skiing trip but unfortunately, Jonathan came down with a cold and unable to join us. So the three of us drove to Blue Mountain for our skiing trip.

Blue Mountain, the highest peak in central Ontario, is a two hour drive north west of Toronto.

 It is not a hill for aggressive skiers but good enough for people who are desperate to get out of the city to ski.

One of the trails at Blue Mountain

We used to put up with the eight hour drive to Mount Tremblant in Quebec or Lake Placid in New York when our sons were little and could ski for 3-5 days.

Looking down from the top of Blue Mountain ski hill

Nowadays, they are only willing to travel for two hours for a day of skiing, so this is good for us as long as the family can spend some time together.  

Breathtaking post card snow scenery

We knew that going to the main lodge would be very busy as we went the day after Boxing Day. So my husband dropped us off to get lift tickets while he parked our car at the South Base lodge. The lineup there was much shorter.

We were very lucky as it had been cold for the past week. But the day we went skiing, the temperature was perfect, hovering at minus 1 degree and it was foggy so that we did not have the bright sun blinding us when we went down the hills.

In fact the weather was so mild that skiers did not mind having their refreshments outside.

The scenery on the ski hill was breathtaking! With the soft breeze blowing on our faces, the cool winter air was refreshing and invigorating.  After a few months cooping indoors, this outdoor skiing activity is my most favorite and enjoyable thing to do!

I was nervous at the beginning since this was the first time we skied this season. But I was able to get down the blue hills without a lot of difficulty. You never know how your body would react when you fall while skiing.

 I did fall a few times on more challenging runs but I was not hurt. I guess my regular exercise classes help my body to be more flexible so when I fell, it was not bad at all.

The lights came on shortly after 4p.m. for night skiing

Since we started late, after 1p.m. in the afternoon and Er. had to get back to Toronto by 7p.m., we did not take any breaks at all. We just kept skiing and made as many runs as possible.

There were some splits on the runs and we were separated at the first run. I waited at the bottom of the hill for my family for about 20 minutes and they found me later. I must remember to bring my cell next time in case we get separated, we can text or call each other!

Skiing is a great winter family activity!!!

We love skiing! This is one activity our whole family can always do together.

As long as we are healthy and strong enough to do it, we will always be skiing on the hills during the holidays. We are grateful that we can have fun together as a family!

R.T.
Blue Mountain near Collingwood
Boxing Week, 2013

Spending Christmas with Families During Toronto's Worst Ice Storm

Toronto has just experienced one of the worst ice storms in years.

 Our family celebrated Christmas on the evening of December 22 at my brother's condo. We had a great time seeing family members whom we don't normally see and had a fantastic potluck dinner together. This is our annual big family get together. It is a tradition that has been going on for more than thirty years. Everyone from our family, including the young people studying and working elsewhere in North America, always tries his/her best to make it for this big family dinner.

Some people might be inconvenient, but the scenery was beautiful during the ice storm as all the tree branches sparkled 

We had a great time eating, catching up, meeting the latest new family members and just hanging out together. After all the food, it was our family tradition time - the Christmas Gift Stealing game. Instead of everybody buying a gift for everyone, each person only requires to bring one gift for the gift exchange game. Each of the fifteen cousins takes turn to be responsible for making the rules and leading the game. This year, Jordon was responsible for the game and there was some very interesting gift items.

It was very fortunate that the power outage did not take place until we all got home and were ready for bed!
Those of us living in North York of Toronto were the hardest hit. We lost power on the night of Dec. 22 and did not get the power back until the late morning of December of 24.

We had to stay at Jonathan's apartment for the second night of the power outage. By the third night we were expecting Er. coming home for Christmas and therefore made contingency plan to stay at Dave's guest suites. Staying at Dave's gave us an opportunity to spend sometime with Dave and his family. Since Er. missed the big family dinner, it also allowed him to see some of the family members. He even went to the Christmas Eve's mass with Susan and Mickela! We went to the Untied Church service on Bathurst and Bloor, but were surprised that the church was not even full for the Christmas service.

However, we were glad that we could spend time attending a church service together as a family.
Next year, we will plan better so that our whole family will go together to a church service on Christmas Eve to celebrate God's best gift to mankind!

While many Torontonians spent their Christmas without power, we were fortunate that we live in one of the most orderly and civilized compassionate cities in the world.

Every branch of each tree was encrested with ice during the ice storm

Though at the height of the ice storm, some 600,000 people lost power and for many living in high rises and were without power for more than a few days while some lost power up to seven days, we were proud to know that there were no looting, no vandalism or any disorderly or unruly incidents.

We live in a highly civilized, respectful and peaceful society

Neighbours were helping neighbours and strangers were helping each other. Many warming centres were open up across the city to provide food, water and beds for those who needed them. We did not hear of anyone suffering too much in Toronto's worst ice storm.

We thank God we live in Toronto and we are proud to be a part of this great city!

R.T.
Toronto
December, 2013

Christmas Celebration at the Preston Mennonite Church in Kitchener - Waterloo

Quilts Decorate the Basement of the Church

We have been going to Kitchener and Waterloo monthly for the past seven years serving some of the residents in that area. We have made numerous friends in that city and this year we were honoured to have been invited to celebrate Christmas with two different congregations. This was our first time attending a Mennonite Christmas dinner.

Since we knew that we were driving to Waterloo on that Saturday for dinner, I paid special attention to the weather forecast a few days ago learning about the weather and be prepared for the driving condition.

Good thing we did that as there was a warning of a big snow storm.  We drove ahead of the storm to Waterloo avoiding the big headache of being stuck in the traffic.

The Christmas dinner was held at the Preston Mennonite Church  in Cambridge which was nicely decorated with many beautiful quilts made by members of the congregation.

\Christmas tree decorated with knitted mittens by members

I love the fact that the church was warmly decorated with all the crafty items such as this Christmas tree hung with mittens knitted and donated to some needy families in the community.

A Centre Piece at the Christmas Dinner

Instead of pots of poinsettias, the centre pieces on the dinner tables were miniature Christmas trees which could easily be planted in the spring in the garden!

the dinner brought the two congregations together

The  Preston Mennonite church extended their hospitality and invited the congregation of a newly formed Chinese church that borrows a room in their church building for their weekly worship.

I thought that was a very kind and welcoming gesture indeed!

The seating arrangement was done in such a way that members of both congregations were mixed so that there were ample opportunities for dinner guests to get to know one another.

We sat opposite a Mennonite couple and others from other parts of the world.

A delicious homemade turkey dinner with all the trimmings

Waterloo, Ontario has a sizable German/ Dutch Mennonite settlement. In fact the annual Oktoberfest in Waterloo attracts many tourists to the city each year.

After dinner musical performance

Many Canadian Mennonites are engaged in the farming industry and operate very successful agricultural business. They even have their own banks.

Very often when we visit Waterloo, we see horse buddies running on the highway and learn that Mennonites lead a very conservative way of life but we rarely have the opportunity to get to know them.

Story Reading

This time, we were not just treated to a delicious homemade turkey dinner but were also given the opportunity to converse and get to know the Canadian Mennonites on a more personal level.

After dinner, there was musical entertainment, story reading as well as a Canadian rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas which got everyone involved in the singing and performing the appropriate actions.

A house all lit up to celebrate Christmas in Waterloo

My husband and I had the privilege of sharing the love and grace of Christ with other people and having fun together and getting to know and understand other cultures. What a great way to celebrate the birth of Jesus and experience the best gift from God!!!

R.T.
Kitchener- Waterloo
December, 2013

A Tree Decorating Party - Creating Our Own Tradition

Since our kids have grown up , working and living on their own, I really miss having them around before they come home for the Christmas holiday. There are so many happy memories when they were young around this time of the year:

We used to put up the Christmas tree and decorate it together in early December; the church celebrations, the huge family gatherings, and yes, our skiing holidays - We piled the whole family into the family vehicle and went on skiing holidays with Christmas music playing on the radio while driving through beautiful snow scenery to our skiing destinations - Collingwood, Mt. St. Anne, Lake Placid, Mont Tremblant etc.

I have really missed these fun times!

Therefore, I decided to create a Christmas tradition for our family and have a tree decorating party every year.  I invited our best friends to come, have dinner with us and decorate the tree together.

People are busy with their own lives. It was really fun having our friends over, enjoying a relaxing homemade dinner, lingering over desserts, catching up with each other and decorating the tree together.

Our friends also enjoyed the time together as they thanked us profusely for the great time together.
They would like to come back again and also make it a tradition for themselves spending time with their best friends each Christmas.

I am glad that we started this tree decorating party tradition. We will certainly continue it year after year if God allows us the health to do it.

R.T.
Toronto

Remembering Nelson Mandela - 1918 - 2013

Starting in the afternoon today, there was non stop television reporting about the death and life of Nelson Mandela, the bravest,  greatest and most admired hero of our time.

We always remember exactly when we are when we hear of something really important happens. Though a very young girl at the time, I still remember where I was clearly when Neil Armstrong took his first step on the moon and later when Kennedy was reported assassinated.

I was shopping for grocery in a neighbourhood supermarket and people were talking about Mandela's death.

Mandela was the son of a chief, the first to attend school in his family. He was a boxer, a lawyer, a revered hero, a father of a nation.

Due to his fight against apartheid, Mandela was imprisoned for twenty seven years by the South African government. He was released on Feb 11, 1990.

From a prisoner to have become the first black president of  South Africa,  receiving the Nobel Peace Prize to becoming a global icon of courage and statesman, championing for human rights and equality, Mandela was an extraordinary human being, courageous, compassionate, peaceful and a man of high principle.

Instead of being revengeful and seeking justice for wrongfully imprisoned for twenty seven years, Mandela turned the other cheek like Jesus did and advocated racial reconciliation with the oppressor.

Canadians admired him greatly and Canada had a special connection with Mandela who paid three visits to this country.   In 1984, the Canadian government fought Margaret Thatcher against the idea of apartheid and lent its support to Mandela's fight.

In June of 1990, he came first to Canada shortly after his release from prison and received a hero's welcome from Canadians.

Mandela was a honorary Canadian. In 1998, he was awarded the Order of Canada, the highest honour given to a Canadian. He was the first foreign leader presented with this prestigious award.

There is a school in downtown Toronto named in his honour. Students in the Nelson Mandela Public School have the honour of learning about him, his belief and his fight against injustice.

Mandela did have one regret in his life. He said he should have worked harder against AIDS as he lost a son to AIDS in 2005.

Throughout the day, Canadian leaders paid tributes to this great man, and most remembered him as:

 " A man with a  mind closed to settling any score after twenty seven years imprisonment."

  "  A man with a complete absence of malice against those who imprisoned him."

" His capacity to forgive inspired us all."

 The death of Nelson Mandela is a lost for all humanity; he was and will be an inspiration to generations to come. He will be remembered along the great leaders  as Gandhi and Martin Luther King, and as President Obama summed it up, " He now belongs to the ages.".

R.T.
Toronto
December 5, 2013

Feeling Bad for Rob Ford, Our Toronto Mayor

I am afraid of turning on the radio or television set these days. I really do not want to hear or learn more about what Rob Ford, our Toronto Mayor, has been accused of in the latest round of reporting by the Toronto Star or other media.

At the beginning, I was amused that big shot entertainers such as the host of the daily show, Jon Stewart, poking fun at our little mayor south of the border.  Being Canadians are not easy, we are always living in the shadow of a big powerful brother. In our travels overseas, I have learned that everyone knows about the movement and news of the U.S. The whole world knows about Obama, but very little is known about Stephen Harper, our Prime Minister for Canada for more than eight years.  So when our Toroto Mayor made it to the U.S. network news, we kind of felt - Wow!!!, they do notice us! How flattering!

But enough is enough! I feel really bad for Rob Ford.  I worked as a Toronto school administrator for a number of years. I know how it felt when everyone of my actions and decisions was scrutinized and questioned by my school community. I also know how it felt that no matter what I did, with the best intentions and the best interests of my students at heart, I was challenged and questioned. I know exactly how Ford is feeling - the feeling of being watched constantly, challenged and questioned of his actions.

However, I do admire Ford's tenacity and his toughness in the midst of  the daily overwhelmingly negative reporting. Many people, I, for one would have broken down or fallen ill due to the constant stress, pressure and anxiety caused by the unrelenting media reports.

Rob, I wish you all the best! I like you as a Mayor because you did do what you have promised you would do for the people of Toronto. However, we are human and human do make mistakes.When we have made mistakes, it is better to be man enough to admit them, face the consequences rather than prolonging the lies and deceit.

There is a lesson that can be learned from Letterman, the U.S. late night show host. He was very smart and made a fast and intelligent decision when faced with a possible scandal and blackmail situation a few years ago.  He himself took the step and  announced to the world of his affair with one of his staff members rather than facing  a life of blackmail trying to cover it up for the rest of his life. That news broke and was in the headlines for a little while and the entire episode was forgotten. The  American people forgave him and he is still one of the most popular show hosts in the States.

I truly believe that the people of Toronto are equally forgiving when given the opportunity.

I really hope that Rob Ford will take a break, a personal leave from all of this. There is nothing wrong in taking a leave of absence from work when the going is too tough. It doesn't make you less of a man.  I do hope that Ford will take care of his health, retrieve to a quieter place to reflect on all that has happened and to regain his strength.

Sometimes, we need to take a step back, before we can move forward in life.

R.T.
Toronto
P.S. feeling really bad for Rob Ford!

The Cavalcade of Lights at Philip Nathan Square, Toronto, Canada

Every early December, there is a light festival called Cavalcade of Lights in Toronto to celebrate the arrival of the Christmas season.

Christmas lights at the Nathan Philips Square, Toronto

                                                                             It is a festival that lasts for a few weeks with music and entertainment in the Nathan Philips Square at Queen Street and Bay.

The Chanukah candle in front of old City Hall

                                                             



  The Cavalcade of Lights Festival started last Saturday and for the first time in a long time we were free on this Saturday and went down to take in the festival, enjoy the sights and sound of the Christmas season in downtown Toronto.

Since Canada is a multi cultural inclusive society which is reflected in our celebration of the Christmas season and everything we do. Besides the traditional Christmas lights, there was a gigantic  Chanukah candle lit for the fifth day in a row in front of the old City Hall building.

People skating in a great festive atmosphere at the Nathan Philips Square

Beautiful display of lights

Besides the concerts,  another really popular activity at the Nathan Philip Square was the free public skating rink where kids, teens and adults could enjoy the festive atmosphere while skating to Christmas music.

If you don't have a pair of skates, you can easily rent a pair for $10.00 at the square.  Plenty of food and hot drinks were available to fill your stomach and warm your cold hands and feet.

Inside  the Eaton Centre, just a stone throw away from the Square, there were more lights and Christmas decorations on display.

This three story high reindeer stood proudly at the entrance to the Eaton Centre - a popular shopping mall in Toronto. The reindeer was among some of the beautiful decorations during the Christmas season  in the mall welcoming shoppers looking for their perfect gifts for their loved ones.



Over at the Dundas Square at Dundas and Yonge Street,
three lighted polar bears welcome visitors to this busy square

Across from the Eaton Centre, the Hudson Bay Company put on the its annual miniature Christmas scenery displays - a must see for kids who will be marvelled at the details and intricate craftwork.

We were there by ourselves, two grown adults without any kids. We had a great time looking at all the lights and displays wile soaking up the Christmas spirit. A great way to enjoy some outdoor air and spend a Saturday evening!

R.T.
Downtown Toronto

Christmas decorations at Dundas Square



R.T. Toronto