Dinner in the Dark ( at 105 Gibson, Markham) Walking in the Shoes of the Vision Impaired for an Evening

Cultural Cafe - powered by Visually Impaired People at 105 Gibson Centre

Recently, we attended an event called Dinner in the Dark at 105 Gibson Centre located in the Steeles and Warden area in the city of Markham, an immediate suburb of Toronto.

This is also where Cultural Cafe, a cafe run by VIP's ( visually impaired people)  is located.

Dinner guests registered at the reception Desk

My husband and I looked forward to this event as this was something quite unique and meaningful .

We arrived at the centre shortly after 6 pm by we were not allowed into the dining area where the event was going to be held.

Some guests were already there chatting and taking pictures.

Each registered guest was given a new blindfold

After signing in at the reception desk, each guest was given a blindfold to ensure he/ she would be in the dark.

After the guest put on the blindfold, each person was led by an usher with normal vision.

Each Dinner in the Dark guest was escorted  safely to the dining area

The usher guided each blindfolded guest to his/ her table. As a person with normal vision, we would never understood how a blind person feels.














This evening, we had the opportunity of being in their shoes.

Many people took part in this meaningful learning experience

It felt strange, insecure as I was led to my table.  I sat down, not knowing  where I was, who was sitting beside me or who were at my table.

I arrived at my table and joined my fellow blindfolded guests

I waited and listened to the conversations going on around me. Someone told me my husband was right beside me and we were reconnected.

Wearing blindfolds, we ate the three course dinner in complete darkness 

The guests started introducing themselves  to one another. I learned that the couple sitting beside me were parents of a child born blind. They were here trying to experience what their child experiences each day and gain a glimpse of his world.

Each one of us was served with a bowl of hot soup as the first course. Though, we could not see what we were eating, the soup was delicious! It was not difficult to take in the soup as I could hold the bowl with one hand and spooned it into my mouth with my other hand.

The second course was  the main course which I found a little challenging. I had no idea what I was served and did not know where to start to eat from the plate.  Eating slowly and gingerly, we enjoyed the dish served to us.   In between the dinner, Pastor Danny and his team who organized the dinner explained things to the diners.

Pastor Danny & one of the VIP's

There were nice conversations taking place at our table while we were enjoying our dinner. Time flew by and we finished our last course in no time.

Dinner guests share their experience of being temporarily being blind

One guest shared her experience

At the end of our dinner, we could take off our blindfolds and were back to our normal selves.

Pastor Danny asked the dinner guests to share how did we feel about the experience of being blind temporarily.

A few of us did and were touched by the experience that evening. There was quite a bit of sharing among the participants.

Pastor Danny thanking his wife's support at the dinner

The Dinner in the Dark event was a practical and insightful lesson for those of us with normal vision. We were fortunate to have this rare opportunity to get a tiny glimpse of what the visually impaired has to deal with on a daily basis.

This event came about as a result of a lot of planning and hard work by Pastor Danny and his wife

Pastor Danny acknowledged in front of the dinner guests and expressed his appreciation for his wife's tireless and unwavering support.

It was a deeply meaningful evening and we were glad that we were a part of it.

Thank you, Pastor Danny, for your leadership and advocacy effort in educating the rest of us to gain a better understanding of the VIP's world and the challenges they face everyday!


To encourage the VIP's ( Visually Impaired People) to participate in more public events and to raise fund for the Joy Beyond Vision organization, Pastor Danny and the VIPs'  will be taking part in the
Mississauga Marathon 2016  this coming Saturday, on April 30, 2016. They have been training for weeks for this event.

If you are in the Toronto GTA area, we would like to invite you to take part in the run/ walk marathon this coming weekend. If you are not in the Toronto/ Mississauga area, please go online to learn more about the Joy Beyond Vision Community charitable organization. I sincerely hope that you will show your support and make a donation to the event!

R.T.
105 Gibson Centre
Markham
   

Celebrating Our Sister's 60th Years Birthday in Markham

Rosie celebrated her 60th Birthday!

How often can we celebrate our sibling’s birthday with all our brothers and sisters in good health, on the same continent and all in attendance at a beautiful place?

We did last night !   We celebrated my sister’s 60^th birthday at her birthday bash and had a marvelous time!

The birthday dinner was held in a restaurant in Markham

The birthday celebration was held at a beautiful seafood  restaurant located at West Beaver Creek and Highway 7 in the city of Markham.

Traditionally,  a Chinese restaurant is one big open dining space with little privacy for diners.

A seafood restaurant with nice decor

This is a nice place with elegant decor and a number of well partitioned rooms ensuring privacy for the patrons attending the dinner.

The birthday girl with her sis's!

We got there a little before 5pm and many people were arriving at the same time.

It was an intimate gathering of all Rosie's brothers and sisters and her immediate family members including her children and grandchildren.

Our dinner presented for inspection before they were served

About half an hour before dinner was served, a waiter reeled in a cart with two containers containing the 14 pound fresh live lobsters, Alaskan King Crabs for the host to see.

The fresh seafood was stored in the restaurant\s tank

This was to ensure that the seafood we were going to have was freshly picked from the restaurant's stock pool.

Brandon and the pretty grandma!

Rosie, the birthday girl, dressed in a red sequined dress looked radiant, youthful and energetic. She hardly looked like a 60 year old grandmother of two at all!












 To the envy of many 60 years old, she looks more like a forty something! ( Asian Chinese secret at work again!!!!)

Greeting and welcoming the guests at the table

She was there greeting the guests, welcoming each one warmly and taking pictures with them

We had a private room for an intimate celebratory dinner

We had our own private room and there were two large tables set up for guests.

Delicious desserts beautifully displayed

One small table with the birthday cake and a beautifully decorated cake stand topped with delicious looking desserts set up and displayed by Wendy.

There was a big screen TV set up along with a karaoke machine and two microphones ready to be used for whoever wanted to sing and entertain during the course of the evening.

A fun family get together

As far as I could remember this was the first time when all our brothers and sisters and their spouses
 ( except for the birthday girl!!) were sitting together  in all our celebrations!

Rosie and Hubby popping the champagne

Family is very important to my sister, Rosie, as her husband pointed her in his toast to congratulate her and welcome the dinner guests.

             They popped open the champagne to start the dinner and party.

Freshly cooked seafood served throughout the evening

We were informed that this would be a special seafood dinner with lots of fresh seafood and a lot of singing in between each dish was served.

Everyone enjoyed the lobster dish served with crispy small fish and noodles and julianned vegetables that evening!

Since the karaoke machine was there, Rosie and her other half got up and started their singing and having a great time.

Rosie encouraged other guests to participate and people did take turns to the mic and shared their singing talents.

In between dishes, we sang our hearts out!
While some were shy, but many were not.

Ruby and Rosie dancing away

There were many songs sung throughout the evening. However, there were a couple of them that really got everyone excited and going

The grandkids joined in on the action

The song" Shanghai Tan" sung by Rosie brought back so many memories of our childhood in the early 60's that we were on our feet singing loudly with her.

 She definitely got an ovation and a big round of applause for getting everyone going down to their memory lanes and in the mood for singing.












Then there was Ruby joining in the dancing and the grandkids too got into the action.

The kids were kept busy all evening at their seats

The three grandchildren were extremely well behaved, sitting beside their parents and working on their own activities for the entire evening.

It was a great party! How often can you get all seven siblings together and had such a marvelous time?

" Grandma, let me help you blowing out the candle!"

 We need to seize the opportunities and enjoy each happy moment and deposit it to our memory.

We treasure each joyful; moment together

When we get old and when our loved ones are far away from us, we can then make withdraws from our memories and recall those happy times!

You look absolutely smashing! With your kindness and your inner beauty shinning through,  you are the best looking 60th years old I have ever known!

Happy Birthday , Sis!

In my book you certainly have beaten Jane Fonda!!!

Happy 60th Birthday, Sis!

R.T.
Toronto

Team Building Exercises and Training for a Short Term Mission Trip Team

We are getting excited as we will be participating in a mission trip within the Canadian north. There are thirteen of us from our church who will be visiting and staying with the local families in a native reserve in Alberta in May. We did not know each other therefore our leader arranged a series of meeting to help with team building. This afternoon, we had a meeting and learned how to build a united team.

Pastor Ed. started the session by sharing some scripture passages and discussing with us the
factors which would help building a healthy and effective team. They are:

1. Forgiveness - being able to forgive is important. When someone has wronged us, we need to forgive and let go of the anger. Otherwise the anger will build up in us and we are the one that would be hurt.

2. Humility - Don't feel that we will be there to save the world, but to learn and understand each other. This spirit of humility helps to build a united team

3. Love - Showing our love to team members by being considerate of others.  Smiles and encouragement will help to lift each other's spirit.

4. Obedience - Pastor Ed. shared with us that what broke apart a team was usually mutiny.
Our host - Philip would be our leader and we'd need to be humble and to submit. A lot of times when we'd be doing things or making decisions, it is not about right or wrong,  but about preferences. For example,  do not worry the colour of chair you are sitting on, but be thankful that you have a chair on which to sit.

5. A Servant Heart
Pastor Ed asked the team " What is one thing that really bothers you by members of your team?"  He asked everyone to take turns and share what  what really bothered him/her. We all did and
below were some of the behaviour that would bother members on our team:

Being late to meetings etc
Breaking promises
Complaining about everything
Not pulling his/ her weight on the team
Ill mannered people
Talking too much
Being treated like a kid - from a young person
People don't take time to listen
People not paying attention to instructions so they have to be repeated
Inconsistent
Being tired and can't handle the situation

Pastor Ed then asked us: " If I have done something to make you upset, what would you do?
How do you resolve the issue? Do you need time to figure out or deal with it right away?"

We had a good discussion on resolving conflicts and about our impending cross cultural experience and we learned that the following would be important:

a. Having a learning heart - want to learn more about the people we are visiting, and try to be a blessing to them. Because we will be visiting a remote community, our presence will be a blessing to them. In addition, we will need to listen,be supportive. Listening rather than giving people answers as we haven't heard their stories yet

b. Serving heart

The more we immerse in their culture, the more we would feel the culture shock.
The team plans to bring some cultural gifts to our hosts as well as each person would bring one bible and give it away on the trip. The following are bibles recommended to bring with us on our mission trip:

Messages
New Living Translation
Children's bible

We will be visiting twelve to fifteen households while we are there on the Reserve. I am really excited and look forward to visiting our aboriginal people in the Canadian North!

R.T.
Toronto

How to Make a Beautiful Rose with Tissue Paper

North York Public Library is easily accessible by subway in Toronto

I am always interested in making beautiful things from inexpensive and easily available everyday household items.

Recently, I saw a flyer advertising a Rose Making Workshop in my neighbourhoold cafe. I signed up for myself and my mother to attend as I knew that she would enjoy this outing with me.

The Rose Making Workshop was held in the North York Library located on Yonge Street and Sheppard Ave. in Toronto,  easily accessible by the Toronto subway system.

North YOrk Public Library is a modern, spacious and beautiful public space

It is in fact sitting on top of the North York Centre Station on the subway system,
After church, on a nice Sunday afternoon, my mom and I attended the workshop while my husband occupied himself with the reading material in the library.

The Library has space and programs catering to different ages

The North York Public Library is a beautiful building with many sections catering readers of  different ages.



It is also a community hub where a lot of free activities and community events take place on a regular basis.



















There were a few people in the community room already engaging in the activity. We just loved what we saw on display!
















Wow!!! Such beautiful life like flower arrangements all made out of paper!














My mom and I were really motivated to learn how to make these gorgeous flowers with paper!








To make a rose, we started with a strip of green tissue paper and a wire for stem.


We needed to glue the green tissue paper to cover the entire piece of thin wire.








When this was done, we were given  a strip of read tissue paper cut from a red paper napkin!

We wrapped this red strip of paper at the top of the wire, carefully not making it too tight as it resembled the bud of the rose.









Using a pattern given by our instructor,  we used the same red napkin, traced, and cut out the petals.













We used a little bit of glue and attached the petals one by one onto the stem with the red rose bud we just formed.















We kept adding each petal to build up the layers of the rose. Slowly, the tissue paper petals were transformed into a life like rose in front of our eyes!







After we finished building the rose with different layers, we used a few green leaves also cut from tissues paper.

My mom enjoyed the outing and this rose making workshop.

When she was happy; I was happy too!

R.T.
North York Public Library
Toronto, Canada