Flower & Garden Festival at EPCOT, Orlando, Florida

EPCOT Centre, Orlando, Florida



The last time we visited Walt Disney was during the Christmas break in 1989!

It was more than twenty years ago;  our children were young and they totally loved those rides and were mesmerized by the Disney cartoon characters.

We did have a great time as a family; this is why we are returning with the next generation!

However, what I remembered well was the long line ups for rides and exhibits at Disney.

This time we were pleasantly surprised to find that the lines seemed to be much shorter. We were glad to learn that we could get a FastPass to avoid the long waiting time in line which allowed us to jump on more rides than our last visit.

While we were waiting patiently in line, we were either entertained or were engaged in interactive plays sometimes on giant screens.

Who could resist taking a picture with  Goofy and Minnie?

One of the things our family enjoyed seeing, especially me ( a gardener) and the kids loved to have their pictures taken with the sculptures was the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival currently on display. I was glad that we happened to be there to catch this colorful festival.

There were quite a number of floral sculptures made in honor of the
Disney 's famous cartoon characters.

 Kids, people young and old squealed in delight when they first saw these familiar cute adorable characters.

Mike - the One Eye Monster

I wondered how many students will be enrolled at the Monster University next fall?

The Toy Story Floral Sculpture at EPCOT

Besides visiting the Flower & Garden Festival at Epcot, there were many things to see and do and it could have easily taken us another day to visit and see what we really to see. We did a number of rides and the following were really worth the wait:



The Sum of All Thrills - where we designed our own roller coaster ride and rode in it in later in an enclosed cabin with our feet dangling in air and the cabin moved and jerked by a robotic arm vibrated according to the design we put into the roller coaster. This ride was similar to the one we did at Disney Quest but even more exciting as by now we were familiar with the design process.

Lining up at EPCOT to get to our favorite ride - Soarin`

Soarin’ -  We waited for a little while in a long hallway. The lineup was long compared to the other rides we just got on. 

An interactive screen eased the boredom of a long lineup

While we were waiting, we were entertained by large screens on the wall and some games involved audience participation so it made the long waiting time a little bearable.

After about 40 minutes of waiting, we went into a theater and were strapped down in our seats. 

When the ride began, all the seats started to move and the screen in front of us opened up to a huge wide angle -270 degree movie screen. It gave us a real world experience of someone flying a hang glider over mountains, swooping down a river valley and skipping over the sea coast.   As we moved up and down through a moving and ever changing landscape, we felt as if we were riding on the back of these graceful and magnificent flying birds, gliding through fields and farms, hanging cliffs and roaring waves. 

For a few  brief, exhilarating minutes, we felt we are eagles spreading our wings and flying high above all the creatures below! It was great seeing how excited everyone was and the screams of delight from our family as they were enjoying this ride. This was one ride worth waiting for!!!

Another great ride was riding in a simulated rocket ship -  Four of us filed into a simulated space pod and were strapped in our seats. Each one of us was assigned a particular role with different responsibilities: Pilot, commander, navigator and another one. With our hands on the space ship control handle, we took off from earth and blasted into space experiencing the thrill and super speed of space travel. 

There were two choices for this ride - the Green Team which was milder in speed and the Orange Team which allowed you to experience the G-force and more physical motions. Our group chose the Green Team as one of our members was prone to motion sickness. But we still had fun and had a tiny little taste of the speed and sensation of what a real astronaut might have experienced blasting into space from earth!

R.T.
EPCOT Centre, Orlando, Florida

Disney Quest - Where Kids,Teens & Adults All Had Fun!

It is not easy to decide what and where to visit first once when you are at the Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida.

We have two nephews, A. and T., aged 12 and 10 years old. They have never been to Disney World.

 Which ride should we go on next

We remembered vividly how excited our kids were when we went to Disney more than twenty years ago.  Knowing that the children would really enjoy all  Walt Disney has to offer at their age, we have planned a family vacation with them this year.

What boys would not enjoy a visit to Disney Quest? A place dedicated to all kinds of current video games as well as games going back to a couple of decades ago, and a place where you can play them to your heart's content until your fingers are numb and can feel no more! For $49.00 a day, it is not a bad place to start our Disney adventure!

There were many rides which the boys enjoyed such as the bumper car ride that was different from the regular bumper cars. In this ride, the bumper cars sucked up something like cannon balls into the car every time we drove our cars over them. After we loaded up our ammunition, we could fire them at other bumper cars to make them spin around when hit. That was really fun except it took us to play it a coupe of times before we got the hang of it. We liked it and it was more fun than the regular bumper car ride.

Other ride we really like was the  Cyber Space Mountain - We could design our own dream roller coaster ride on a pre-programmed computer screen.

With an electronic ruler on the screen, we could determine how high the roller coaster would climb and drop, how fast the roller coaster would run and the number of twists and turns, loops it would do. If we wanted, we could have put in as many loops as our stomach could stand and make the roller coaster go as fast as it could. After we designed this roller coaster, we went into the Space Mountain Lab and rode the virtual roller coaster we had just finished designing.  While we were riding this virtual roller coaster experiencing everything we incorporated in our design and screaming our lungs out, the whole experience was being taped and played on a screen outside the lab so that our friends could see our screaming faces!! And if we wish we could purchase the tape for a souvenir.

We got to try many other games too.  If you only have a half day or a late start of the day at Disney, Disney Quest will surely make the kids happy. Instead of spending $89.00 on a day pass per person for the major attractions at Disney, we spent $49.00 at Disney Quest and had a relaxing start of our adventure at Disney.

The best part about Disney Quest - It has lots of comfortable seats where moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas could sit, rest, sip coffee, have a bite or two and relax while the kids could have fun playing their games!

R.T.
Disney Quest, Orlando, Florida 
  

Florida, Here We Come!

After a week of facilitating and presenting to over a hundred of education leaders from overseas, I am more than ready for a holiday!

Heading south during March is a Canadian tradition!

The March Break exodus from the cold Canadian winter to a sunny warm place has been a long tradition  for many Canadians for years. The Toronto Pearson Airport is an extremely busy place comes the Friday before March Break. We are no exception to this Canadian tradition and always look forward to leaving the cold climate behind and enjoy some sunshine in sunny Florida ourselves!

Trying to avoid the mad rush at the Toronto airport, we purposely left a couple days later than everybody and boarded a West Jet flight and headed down south. After a brief stop at the New York Airport, we caught the connecting flight and arrived in Orlando, Florida, after almost a whole day of travelling.

Florida is our destination for this March Break holiday

What a nice feeling when we could just shed our heavy winter jackets, stroll outside with sweaters and shorts, smell the fresh air intoxicated with lush palms and other exotic tropical fragrant flowers and soak in the warm welcoming Floridian sunshine!

Our group has to stay in two separate hotels since everything has been booked up at one of the hotels.

My husband did all the planning of our great getaway!

    My husband and I are staying at the Howard       Johnson not far from the International Drive while Andrew's family is staying at the resort.

What makes us really happy is that our younger son is also joining us on this trip and he will be arriving at 11:45pm.

After we pick up the 7- people van from Enterprise, sign in the hotel, and enjoy a satisfying buffet dinner, we would be heading back to the Orlando Airport ( where we arrived a few hours earlier) to pick up our son.

We have not had a family vacation together with our  sons for a long time. Though E. cannot join us on this holiday, we have invited another family with young children to come and join us.

We are really looking forward to spending some fun and quality time together with our family at Disney and other parts of Florida!

R.T. Orlando, Florida

How to Prepare for Winter Driving in a Cold Country like Canada

Our older son now lives and works in the U.S. However he does come home every Christmas for the holidays and a couple of other times for other special occasions.

He was coming home this weekend for a special annual high school reunion  party with his friends. This reunion party is a tradition among his high school group male buddies and it has been going on for years.
My son comes home from New York every year in the middle of winter for this event. So it must be quite a special time for them! I asked my son what they did at this party, to which he replied, laughing mischievously,

 " All the guys' stuff like smoking cigar, eating, playing cards, spitting etc."

Since my son would fly in Toronto on Friday evening and immediately driving up to the cottage for his guys' party, I have been paying special attention to the weather since last week. Winter driving in Canada can be treacherous depending on the weather and road conditions.

Talking about weather is a daily topic in our lives as we are keenly aware of the impact rain, freezing rain, snow, ice, blizzard, storm, temperature, wind chill etc can have on the driving conditions. Driving in bright daylight can be difficult if there is a heavy snow fall or in a white out condition. However, driving in the night is even more difficult and dangerous because the temperature can drop and plunge down between ten to twenty degrees from day to night.

Each year, there are inevitably Canadians get stuck in traffic accidents on the highway or remote area during the cold winter days. Many are lucky enough to come out unscathed while at times some lost their lives under these unfortunate circumstances.  Being well prepared for winter driving is crucial for driver and passenger safety. The weather condition can change quickly and temperature could plummet which can drastically affect the driving condition. Therefore, it is imperative that there are emergency supplies in the vehicle if one is driving out of town or traveling for a long distance.

Since, E. would not have time to stop in Toronto long enough to prepare for his winter driving, I made sure  he has the following supplies in case of an emergency:

- Things to keep warm - a warm blanket, warm clothing, gloves, hat
-  Food - water, juice boxes, chocolate, cookies, high energy food bars
-  Safety - flash light, candles and a box of matches, orange safety vest, box of salt to melt ice, air compressor,and some tool in a tool box

I thank God that His has sent angels to protect us in our travels. Even though we have never  used these emergency supplies for the past many years, we still need to do our part and be well prepared for winter driving in Canada.

R.T.
Toronto

Getting my Writing done in My Crazy World

My younger son came home for this week. He wanted to get away from all the distractions in his own apartment in downtown Toronto so that he could have some peace and quiet for a little while. He was as good as his words, leaving his laptop behind and bringing himself only to our house.

Due to the cold weather and the long months we have to stay indoors, Canadians tend to furnish their homes with all sorts of toys and entertainment gadgets so that we could stay indoor comfortably and be entertained.
For those who can afford it,  we love to surround ourselves with 52 inch screen TV sets, video game machines, karaoke singing machines, exercising bikes, rowing machines ( though we rarely use them!) sauna, hot tubs ( though we may only use them a few times a year) etc. We have made our homes so comfortable and self sufficient that we just want to stay there, relax and enjoy ourselves.

I have the same relaxing attitude when I am home. I also find my own house too distracting as well. I can be puttering around all day in our home without getting anything accomplished. Turing on the T.V set, I would  be relaxing on the couch, sipping my tea and watching a bit of news, or I can cook up something over the stove in the kitchen, or I could re-arrange the cushions and furniture in the living room, watering the plants and deadheading them or trying on my clothes and tidying up the closets. There are so many things to keep me busy at home that I could hardly find time to write or do anything.

When I really want to write, post a blog or something, I find that I am much more efficient and productive if I work away from home. Finding a cafe close by, be it a Second Cup, Starbucks, Tim Hortons or McDonald's, I plunk my laptop down, purchase a coffee grande and start pecking on the keyboard. This is the only way I could get my writing done, away from my quiet comfortable house and seated in a restaurant or cafe with many people and activities around me!

Occasionally, I would like to get away from it all: obligations, commitments, daily chores and distractions.
Through my research, I found a couple of places.

1.  Queen of Apostle in Mississauga - www.qoa.ca, This renewal centre is about 40 minutes drive from Toronto. A calm and quiet place for people who wish to get away for a day or two to reflect and mediate in a natural beautiful setting.

2.   Marylake Monastery - 905-833-5368
 
At times when I need to get away without going too far, I will book myself and maybe my husband into this place to refocus my energy and reflect on the priorities in life.

R.T.
Toronto  

Exercising at the Gym but Forgot to Eat Breakfast

I was so darn busy this morning! I am leading a retirement life but I am as busy as ever. In order to keep up with my computer skills and my mind sharp, I took up a consultant job at one of the high tech companies and with the agreement that I only work there one day a week. However, this is enough to keep me hopping around as I have also agreed to work more hours when the company needs me in special situations.

This morning, I rushed to the company for a meeting and did not have time for breakfast. I realized that was not good for me as I was going to a session with Joyce at 11:30am. Instead of cancelling the training session, I told Joyce, my personal trainer, that I would not be able to do strenuous exercises such as weight lifting as I did not eat much breakfast except for a cup of coffee with sugar and a glass of orange juice.

A pro is a pro!!! Joyce did not get upset at me, she understood my busy schedule and considered my physical condition and came up with an alternative group of exercises for me so that I would not waste my time coming to the gym. ( Neither did she want to see me fainting from low blood sugar while doing my training!)

I enjoyed these exercises and they were effective in reducing the pain in my hamstrings. Today's exercises included:

1. Body weight squat- 12 times, a warm up exercise, no problem   for me!

Mid hang Clean Press

2. Mid hang clean press - This was a new exercise for me and it took me sometime to get the sequences of this exercise. It is an excellent exercise as it combines three exercises into one:

The squat, weight lifting and and hand and grip strength

I like this exercise as I could feel I am gaining strength in my hands!






3. Step up
4. Step up with weight ( 15 lb dumb bell) on my shoulders

Getting Ready for the V Boat Pose

V Boat

5. V Boat - The V Boat works your core and lower back.
It looked easy but when I tried it, I could only hold my body in this pose for a maximum of 48 seconds. I hope to improve in this exercise.

Froggie Leaps

 6. Froggie leaps - This is a cardio exercise and I could really feel it after I did my first set of 10 times.

I finished my previous year's training sessions and because they helped me so much in building up my strength and reducing pains that I have just signed up for another year of training with a personal trainer. Joyce L. really rocks! She is the best trainer anyone could have from the Goodlife Gym!

Thanks, Joyce for motivating me and keep me on track in my fitness program and keeping me healthy!!!

Retired Boomer, Toronto
February 20, 2013
p.s. All Pictures in this entry are from Google Images

Salute to the World's First Armless Certified Air Pilot!

I was at my friends' party, when her one year old son was trying to climb up the stair to get to the second floor of the house. This little kid was quite careful, pressing on each step firmly with his two hands. After he placed his hands on the step, then he raised one leg, placed it on the lower step, then the next leg.  When he achieved stability on one step, he proceeded to the next step with his two hands again. I was watching him admiring his determination to climb these steps

All of a sudden, his mom came screaming, telling him to stop, picked him up and carried him away saying that this was too dangerous for him.  I have parents lamented to me on numerous occasions about their kids  not strong enough to do certain things and would not allow them to go on camping trips.

This same protective attitude repeats itself many times on  playgrounds, in schools and even throughout the lives of some university students. I heard of those parents who cooked, packed and labelled all the meals for their university aged sons/ daughters to take back for the following week when they come home for the weekend from university. Some even drive and deliver these meals every weekend to them at the university campus. Small wonder why some of these university graduates could not do things or find jobs for themselves upon graduation because some parents would not allow their grown children to find a job outside of their home city.

This parental overprotective attitude contrasts sharply with the young woman reported on news last weekend.

Jessica Cox - an armless woman, caught my attention as I listened to the BBC news in our kitchen. Jessica, born in Arizona, USA, made history last weekend as she became the first armless certified pilot in the world!

It was amazing watching her performing all the daily tasks with her feet such as combing her  hair, getting dressed, playing piano, eating with chopsticks, driving etc. It seemed that there was nothing Jessica cannot do for herself.

It would have been so easy for Jessica to simply give up, do nothing, sit and complain all day about how unlucky and unfair life has dealt her. Instead, she accepts the disabilities in her life, works hard to overcome difficult barriers and seeks alternative ways to carry out her daily chores.

Though armless, Jessica leads an independent and productive live. Refusing to be held back by her physical disabilities,  Jessica has a very positive and determined attitude towards life. She appears to enjoy life to the fullest, taking part in various sports and is having fun while doing it.

I love hearing inspirational stories such as this and I admire brave people like Jessica. They are our real hero in society. While so many people complain about what they don't have in life and are dissatisfied with what they have, Jessica inspires us with her positive can do attitude. Next time, if your friend grumbles about the misfortune life has given him/ her, tell her about Jessica and how she has made a wonderful life for herself!

For parents who are afraid to let their children do anything on their own, please look at what Jessica could do for herself! Never underestimate what children/ people can do when they are determined to do so!

R.T. Toronto