Free Concerts on Culture Days at Koerner Hall - Toronto

For the past three days, we have had a Culture Days in Canada and there were culture activities all across cities in Canada.

Free concerts at the Koerner Hall during the Culture Days event in Toronto

There were events all over Toronto and they were all free!

Intersection of Bloor Street & St. George

We went to one event held at the Koerner Hall, located at the intersection of  Bloor Street and St. George Street in downtown Toronto.

Koerner Hall - Located in the Telus -Centre for Performance Art building

The Koerner Hall is located in the Telus Centre for Performing  Arts, the new addition to the Royal Conservatory of Music.

The stage was thrown open to any aspiring artists willing to perform there

It is a beautiful concert hall!

The stage was literally thrown open to the public for those who wish to perform in a concert hall.

Each performing group was given a maximum of five minutes to perform.

Each group was given five minutes to perform and strut their stuff

There was a huge timer counting down from the five minute mark projected on the screen as soon as the performer(s) started their acts.

Scampers Scampers was one of the many groups  performed on the stage

All of the performers we saw were amateurs with musical talents and most of whom performed the original songs they composed themselves.

This young musician composed, accompanied herself and sang her original piece.

Some talented young musicians composed, sang and accompanied themselves during their performances.

This young lady sang a song she composed about a nightmare she had.

Others got on the stage during the last minute, without preparation ahead of time but did a decent job of improvising and performing for the audience.

What a talented group of performers!

Another performer came on the stage; the clock started again

We appreciated this event and loved the idea of having the stage of the music hall thrown open to the public and watching our aspiring artists performing!

The old building looks just as magnificent as the new addition

Life is short; taking a risk in front of others and having an opportunity to show what you love to do is just fantastic!

Koerner Hal- an excellent example how the old and new architecture can look great together!

If I had the talents like these folks, I would have done that myself! Bravo, Toronto Culture Day!

There was a collection of pianos on display at Koerner Hall

R.T.
Culture Days
Koerner Hal, Toronto

p.s. Loved the opportunity to visit and see the inside of this beautiful building!

Blue Flag Beaches in Toronto!

 The Beaches is one of the most beautiful and unique neighbourhood in Toronto.

It has many interesting shops, cafes, and restaurants. 

The Beaches - a unique and lovely neighbourhood right in the city of Toronto

We are in the middle of September and the first week of fall..  But it was a sunny, balmy day in Toronto with a high of near 20 degree C.

There are a number of hiking trails in the Beaches area

Since it was such a nice autumn day, we decided to take to the outdoors and explore the Beaches.

We went to the Balmy Beach and the Ashbridge's Bay Park for an afternoon of hiking in the city!

We walked for about 2 kms on this boardwalk along the beach

The Beaches district is easily accessible by public transit, merely a twenty minute street car ride takes one from the Beaches area to downtown Toronto.
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Suntanning// strolling on the beach - a great way to enjoy a beautiful autumn day in Toronto !

Sand castle building, anyone?

We always enjoy walking on the broad walk.

This beach is special as it is a Blue Flag beach.

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Kites were flying high on Balmy Beach, Toronto

The Kew / Balmy Beach

has been awarded the Blue Flag beach status by the  FEE  (Foundation of Environment Education), an international non government organization.

The Blue Flag status is awarded to this Toronto beach for achieving high standards in the following areas:

-  Water quality

-  Environment Management

-  Environment Education

-  Safety and Services

Toronto is the first municipality in Canada awarded this Blue Flag Status

Beach Volley Ball - a popular game in the Beaches area, Toronto

Toronto is not the great white north covered with knee deep snow year round.

We do have beaches,  beautiful places where beach volley ball games are very popular and played often.

The beach volley ball area is quite large and there could be 10- 15 games going on at the same time on a fine sunny day!

The Beaches and Cream Cafe - where people can rest and enjoy an inc ream

There are ample places to sit, relax read, or to enjoy an ice cream cone by the water.

Walking his dog the modern way

I envy the local residents who can stroll, walk, run, come here to walk their dogs on a daily basis.

A street dancer in the Beaches area

The Beaches is truly a unique area to visit, pause for a moment to breath the air off the lake, or simply observe and enjoy the activities going on around us.

Watching Sunset on the Beach, Toronto, Ontario

Time seemed to have flown by!

Before we realized it, the lights inside the houses in the neighbourhood were coming on and the sun is disappearing fast into the horizon.



































I captured these beautiful moments in my camera and we were glad that we came to the Beaches and spent a lovely afternoon there!

R.T.
The Beaches ( Queen and Woodbine)
Toronto, Ontario

International Leadership Course by OPC

Teaching is my passion!

It was a wonderful week! Though I retired as a school administrator, my passion has always been teaching.

A group activity during the leadership course

Anytime I could get in the classroom and stand in front of other educators to share my experience, I just love it!

Principals took turn to present their ideas

I did just that last week, got back into the routine of going to bed and getting up early, hitting the road and making the commute, being in a classroom and be ready for my work with a group of visiting school administrators from Asia.

The visiting principals were in Canada for a professional development course and to learn about the Ontario schools and education system.

There were lectures by guest speakers each day from various educational communities on a variety of topics.


 

It was a pleasure working with the visiting principals!

We shared and exchanged ideas about our schools.


It was great for me to share my experience and learned from our Chinese counterparts as well. 

Presenting a souvenir to a Toronto school principal

One of the leadership programs the principals really enjoyed was visiting Ontario schools and observing Canadian students, teachers and principals in action.

Principals were warmly received at the school

This time we visited two Toronto schools and they received and welcome the principals warmly into their schoos.

Beautiful wall art in a TDSB elementary school library

Wall art created by students at a Toronto school we visited

The visiting principals were keenly interested in our schools.

 They took pictures of everything they saw ( they knew that they could not take pictures of students), and observed the students, instructional material and curriculum with great interest.

They were very impressed by how hard Ontario schools work at reaching all its students and how funding and resources were allocated to needy schools.

They saw how schools in low economic areas of the city were just as well equipped as those in rich neighbourhood.

Sharing a light moment with the visiting school administrators from China

After a week of intensive study of the Ontario education system and visiting schools in Toronto, the visiting principals from China have gained a better understanding of how students learn in Canada. On the last day of the leadership course, we had an informal closing ceremony, celebrated a week of learning and exchanging of ideas from educators across the Pacific.

It was time to say goodbye and I will definitely miss the good time we have had!
I do hope that our paths will cross again in the future!

R.T.
Suon College
Toronto
Sept. 2014

Grace Ko has tied the knots!

Grace and Gareth

Some thirty years ago, I was in the middle of my labour for the birth of our young son at the East York General Hospital when I ran into a girl friend of mine who was in the exact situation of mine.

Grace, a beautiful, smart, kind and wonderful woman, is finally swept off her feet and got married last Saturday!


As guests arrived, they were greeted warmly and invited to write their names on a balloon shaped piece of colourful paper. These balloons were added to a huge poster with both the bride and groom holding onto the balloon tree.

What a great idea this was for collecting all the names of the wedding guests and making it a wedding souvenir for the new couple.

 On the reception table, there were a bridal cage and a gift deposited box nicely wrapped in silver coloured wrapping paper for guests to deposit their wedding cards and gift envelopes.

The church was packed for Grace's wedding

Since Grace's father, Pastor Ko, is a church pastor and had been ministering and helping people for the past thirty years in and around GTA, the church was packed with many well wishers for this happy event.

We ran into a few friends from our old church where we attended over thirty years ago!









The wedding ceremony was held at the Agincourt Pentecostal Church at Finch and Kennedy, Toronto. It was a lovely fall day, dry and warm! A perfect day for a wedding.

Elegant candles and flowers decorated the church

The church was decorated elegantly with flowers and candle sticks sitting on long elegant stands.










Rev. McKenzie was the officiating minister and he shared with the bride and groom a beautiful message from Ecclesiastics.

 He talked about how strong the three cords - one cord represents the wife, the second is the husband being held together by the third cord, God himself binding the cords together and making it strong and hard to break.

A humorous moment occurred when both the groom and the minster made a mistake on separate times during the ceremony but the bride stepped in right away to correct them both.

Everyone bursted into laughter when Rev., McKenzie commented that Grace had already begun doing the right thing correcting her husband's mistake!

The brides maid in a cream coloured gown

 Another touching moment during the ceremony was when Belinda accompanied herself on the piano and sang for her sister - Jesus, Lover of My Soul, while the new couple signed the wedding registry.

The bride, groom and her bridesmaids

We were sitting quite far away from Pastor Ko and his wife. But I could imagined the joy and contentment they felt as the last of their three daughters got married.

The new couple and their guests

What a joyful event that is for parents seeing their children all grown up and finding their true love and starting a new life together!

After the ceremony, guests were arranged to have their pictures taken by groups with their colleagues, friends, and relatives.

Everyone got a chance to be in the new couple's picture!

A reception was held for all the guests

Since there were too many people to be invited to the evening's wedding banquet, a reception was held for all the guests immediately after the ceremony.

It was a beautiful reception for such a large group of guests!

The bridal limousine ready to take the bridal party to the various venues

In the mean time, a stretch limousine was waiting outside the church ready to transport the bridal party to the various venues for pictures and other Chinese wedding traditions such as the tea ceremony for close family members.

What a great idea! Renting a bridal limousine and keeping the entire bridal party together as a group so that no one has to wait for the other or worry that someone has to much to drink and can't drive. Good idea for a wedding!

As for us, we had a fun time seeing our old friends and having a coffee at Tim Hortons afterwards!
We were there for a couple of hours catching up with one another!

R.T.
Toronto
Sept. 21, 2014