Building Creative Structures with Unopened Canned Food to Support Local Food Banks - Canconstruction 2025, Waterloo, Canada

Hunger is a not a problem limited to developing or poor countries. It is a problem for many cities in western countries, and Canada is not exempted to this. There are hungry people in many Canadian cities. Fortunately, there are many compassionate people and volunteers who are willing to spend their time volunteering at the local food banks helping needy people to give them some relief.

We went to the Conestoga Mall in Waterloo during the March Break and saw some creative displays by fifteen local companies and community groups that took part in an annual event to raise awareness of the problem of hunger in the city. This event was called Canstruction. Using unopened can food which later on would be donated to the food bank, each particpating company used these cans to design and construct a themed display to highlght the issue of hunger in their community. There were fifteen displays constructed with varied themes and people who saw them could cast a vote on their favourite one. These displays were creative and our favourite ones were: 1. The Birthday Cake with candles on top of it and with a cut out slice ready to be served

2. A City consisting of different houses, highrise buildings with streets and cars as well as a building crane and even some green bottles for trees!

3. Follow the Yellow Brick Road to Giving

'This year, the event collected 34,680 pounds of food and raised $44,322 through donations from both the community and businesses. That’s the same as 117,543 meals. Since 2008, Canstruction Waterloo Region, affiliated with Canstruction, has raised more than 1.9 million meals.' These can constructions were fantastic! They delighted children as well as those who were young at heart. We were that we were at the shopping mall and didn't miss these meaninful exhibition of displays made out of canned food! RT, Canstruction 2025 Conestoga Mall, Waterloo, Canada

Celebrating Our Friends' Milestone Events in the GTA, Canada

It was a very busy weekend for us as soon as we got back home to Canada. We were invited to celebrate Dr. Liem's 60th birthday in Waterloo. Dr. Liem is a much beloved professor admired by his PhD students whom he supervises in their higher education and reseraches. Beisdes his busy career as a scientist and a professor, he also leads a weekly men's group giving them lot of support and assistance consistenlty. A humble man, instead of celebrating his milestone birthday in an extravangant way inviting his frineds in high places, he rather celebrated this milestone event at church with his church family and friends. The celebration began with sing and prasie at a church service, followed by some sharing by his wife and families. It was a joyous and thankful event! After the celebratory service, a church dinner followed. There were much delicious dishes and yummy desserts for everyone. I was glad that we were back in Canada to enjoy this wonderful event!

Another special event we went to was Bea's performance in a young people's theatre show. We were invited to watch it and cheer on her. That was exactly what we did! It was a Saturday morning, we made plan to meet and had breakfast together before going to the play. It is interesting to note that since we live more to the central east of the city, we hardly ever go to the other side of the city. For us, it seemed as if we went to a different city. We enjoyed a nice breakfast together encouraging Bea before her performance in the play.

The small studio was not very big and my hubby and I were seated in the front row of the studio. I could tell that Bea was not comfortable with us being so physically close to her. I wish we could have sat a little furthr from her. But the play went well and we were proud of Bea's performance as she articulated each word clearly and remembered her lines quite well. She was natural in front of the audience. It was fun watching a young people's show which we have not done for a little while. Watch out, Hollywood, a new star will be coming your way in the future! RT, Greater Toronto Area, Canada

Alymer Wildlife Management Area, Ontario, Canada - Best Place to Watch the Tundra Swan Migration in Spring

By the time we finished our UK trip and flew back to Canada, it was almost spring time! One of our friends sent me some pictures she took of the Tundra Swam migration at Alymer last year. We loved it! As it was the right time to observe these magificent animals, we drove to Alymer, Ontario to take part of this annual fantastic sighting.

The Tundra Swam's annual eastern migration is about a distance of 6,000 Km. There are approximately 160,000 Tundra Swams flying from the salt marshes in the Virginia/ Maryland States to Hudson Bay, Nanavut and the McKenzie Delta area.

Alymer Wildlife Centre is perhaps the best location in North America to watch the Tundra Swams up close. Last year, the Centre fed the Swams for 25 days as they tend to take rest at this location in their eastern migration route. The Alymer Wildlife Centre counted 41,564 birds last year, the total count of the daily count for the 25 days.

When we arrived at the Alymer Wildlife area, we were delighted there were two viewing decks opened to the public for free to view the Tundra Swams up close. We could see the swams well from where we were standing. We saw some swams with grey colured necks and leanred that these were young swams. When they get to three years old, the Tundra Swams would be grown and mature and hence their necks will be all white. It was an enjoyable and educational day for us! RT, Alymer, Ontario, Canada

Reviews on Our London Hotels - The Corner London City Hotel and Melbourne House Hotel

We love travelling but we don't wish to spend an arm and leg on hotel accommodations. However, neither do we want to stay at the cheapest places which may not be the safest for us. Therefore, weeks prior to our trip departure each time, my husband works very hard reseaching the best accommodation we could find within a certain budget. We stayed at two places in London recently and would like to share our experience here: The Corner London City Hotel was the first hotel of where we stayed for the first few days of our vacation in London. The best thing we liked about this hotel was its excellent location.

Being close by to the famous attractions such as the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge, the waterfront and many good restaurants and shops, we enjoyed our walk and got a lot of exercises each day. Another thing we liked about this hotel was the breakfast buffet served in the hotel's nice dining room. It was a delicious hot buffet breakfast with a great variety of hot n cold food items at a reasonable charge.

We enjoyed the breakfast so much that we also booked our Valentine's dinner at the hotel's dining room. It didn't disappoint us at all! The Corner London City Hotel also has a nicely furnished sitting area on the main floor where hotel guests could enjoy coffee/ tea, read a book or play games.

The only downside we found with this hotel - our room was too small to have a side table or small table for eating our take away food. But after we talked to the manager, he was kind enough to make some changes to accommodate our needs. Overall, it was a nice clean hotel situated at an excellent location with good service and delicious food that met our budget!

The second place we stayed in London was the Melbourne House Hotel which has been converted from a rowhouse into a guest house. We noticed that there were a lot of renovations going on in London and many houses were undergoing the transformation from private homes to tourist accommodations particularly for houses near the downtown core of London. Close to Victoria Station, we were able to walk to buses and the London underground with just a few minutes' walk. We liked being in a different part of London and got to experience another neighbourhood. Not a big place, the Melbourne House didn't offer any breakfast service. Our room was smaller and located on the third floor therefore we had to climb a few flights of stairs before getting to our room with our luggage. If someone has a mobility issue, this would not be a good place for that person. Both places were clean, quiet and comfortable and we were happy with our stay there. RT, London, UK

A Review of Our Hotel in Brock Street/ Royal Crescent Area - Bath, UK

We visited Bath, UK recently and stayed there for 3 days and 2 nights which was a good length of time for this beautiful city. My husband worked very hard doing a thorough research before booking our hotel in Bath. His efforts paid off as we loved our hotel stay there.

We relaxed in our tastefully decorated private unit within a townhouse built about 250 years ago, before the American revolution. Located in the old town of of Bath, this townhouse is one of the twelve townhouses on Brock Street built between 1767 - 1770 by John Woods, a well known architect of the period. Occupying the prime real estate location, some of these townhouses are now used for commercial purposes such as restaurants and small hotels. Our unit has been renovated containing a nice bedroom with a huge fireplace, though no longer functioning. Outside the bedroom, there is a private bathroom as well as a sitting area where guests could enjoy their morning tea/ coffee. That was what we did before heading out to explore all the shops and interesting sites close by..

This house is a fine example of Georgian architecture, a style popular in Bath during the 18th century. My husband is a history buff and we both enjoy learning about the history of the area where we stay in our travels. Our town house - on Brock Street which is a key link between two of Bath's most significant locations - the Royal Crescent and the Circus. It was only a 30 second walk for us from our townhouse to the Royal Crescent - a crescent-shaped row of 30 terraced houses designed also by John Wood, the Younger, same architect who built the townhouses on Brock Steet where we stayed.

Along with other landmarks in Bath, the Royal Crescent contributed to the city's designation as a UNESCO WORLD HERITAGTE SITE in 1987! The Brock Street/ Royal Crescent area is quite an interesting and classy area. We were told by some local residents that there were no house numbers on some of these houses as Nicholas Cage had a townhouse there and it drew curious fans knocking on some doors of these rowhouses from time to time. We loved staying at this lovely small hotel as we could experience part of its glorious historical past. We highly recommend it to other visitors to Bath! RT, Brock Street/ Royal Crescent Area, Bath, UK

Piccadilly Circus - A Vibrant Area of London, UK

Piccadilly Circus is a famous and popular tourist attraction in London. My hubby visited London almost three decades ago and he was excited to bring me there to explore this area on our recent trip to UK. We hopped on a bus from Victoria Station taking us right into this famous tourist area. The first impression I had of Piccadilly Circus was how busy and how bright the area was! There were lots of toursit attractions to explore in this neighbourhood such as the the Shaftesbury Memorial, Criterion Theatre, London Pavilion and numerous retail stores, nightclubs, restaurants, bars etc.

Piccadilly Circus has been known for its illuminated advertising signs on buildings starting in 1908. No wonder we found the place super bright and colourful with all kinds of marketing signs when we were there. At the south-eastern side of the Circus, we saw many young people gathered around the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, erected in 1892–1893 to commemorate the philanthropic works of Lord Shaftesbury, but was moved to its current place after World War ll from its original position. The evening we were there, the place was humming with buskers singing and rapping while some spectators were singing along as well.

The city of London has much to offer to visitors, the Piccadilly Circus gave us a glimpse of London's energy and creativity.

Lots of things to see at the Piccadilly Circus area. Strolling along the street and soaking up the vibrant atmosphere, we were attracted by a large crowd watching something interesting in a store. It was a show put on by Outernet London - a gigantic colurful everchanging digital art show playing on huge wrap around screens accompanied by upbeat music for anyone interested to watch it together with other people in an open public space. This was a free show taking place in a spacious area where people of different ages were sitting while some lying down and enjoying it together, a shared experience. It was a great and inviting atmosphere!

We totally enjoyed our evening at the Piccadilly Circus1 I was glad we went there on the last night of our visit to London! It is a must visit place for anyone visiting London! RT, Piccadilly Circus London, UK