Visiting the Biggest Mall in Canada - WEM - West Edmonton Mall

The Airport Shuttle Bus dropped us off at the door of the West Edmonton Mall 

We are visiting Alberta and staying one night in Edmonton.

We took this opportunity and visited the most famous and biggest mall in Canada - The West Edmonton Mall.

Since we were staying at a a hotel right by the airport, there was no need to rent a car as we could take the Sky Shuttle and go straight from the airport to the West Edmonton Mall. We were dropped off at the Fantasyland Hotel connected to the mall.



It cost $30.00 per adult for a return trip, not bad at all!

We visited the WEM about twenty five years ago and at the time I thought it was an extremely huge place.

As soon as we entered the mall, we were greeted with the Saint Maria - a replicate of a tall ship with sails placed in the middle of the mall.

If I remembered correctly, years ago when we visited the first time, that was where the indoor skating rink was located.

 This mall has been well maintained and offered many attractions catering to families, ages young and old.

An indoor wave pool in the West Edmonton Mall

Some of the attractions we enjoyed visiting were:

A Water park with a huge water slides zigzagging down into the Wave Pool.

Visitors to the Edmonton Mall can go on the giant water slide, relax on lounge chairs or splash in the pool

This must be a very popular place to go for Edmontonians in the winter when the temperature could be freezing cold but visitors can still enjoy the tropical hot weather activities such as water slides and a cool dip in this wave pool.

Food Court, Edmonton Mall

We got hungry after walking and went for lunch at the Food Court.

Lovely eating area at the West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton, Alberta

Samples of Crepe sandwich & desserts one can order

This was not your usual eat and run fast food place but an elegant eating area with ample seating and furnished with modern and comfortable chairs.

The difficult part was deciding what to order from the great variety of choices of food offered.

I chose a  Ceasar Chicken Crepe while my husband ordered some noodle with chicken from another food counter.

An indoor  miniature golf playing area in the E-Mall

Father and son time on the mini golf course

Mini Golf - a place for fun and for families to enjoy and spend some quality time together.

European designed shopping and resting area

Europa Boulevard - shops and stores with designs of European buildings.

Some of the colorful buildings reminded me of our visit to Venice!

Ample benches in the dining area of the Mall

To rest our tired feet and quench our thirst, we headed over to the eating area of the Western Edmonton Mall.

Beautiful decorations throughout the E Mall

Unlike the fast food take out places one normally finds in a shopping mall, there were numerous nice restaurants and hostesses waiting to serve their tired and hungry customers.

The restaurant area of the mall was a welcoming place, with wide walkway and beautifully decor.

We took advantage of the Happy Hour special and ordered some bear and tasty bites.

Alberta is a province famous for cowboys and beef. We love trying local cuisine and local produced food and we ordered;

Crackling Sirloin Beef, Mini Mikes ( delicious beef sliders) and a spinach dip.

We enjoyed the Happy Hour special featuring Alberta beef

We were not disappointed at all!








For less than$40.00, we satisfied our hungry and rejuvenated  ourselves with delicious good local food!

We could easily find a bench or two to sit and rest 

What I really like were the beautifully designed benches and seating areas placed throughout the mall.

A perfect place to rest and  have a good view of the E Mall

Shoppers and visitors to the mall could take a break and find a place to sit easily anytime they need a rest.

|Displays abound around the E Mall

Besides shopping. there were a lots of things to see around the mall.


There was a display of a super modern design car worth at over half a million dollars.

Fresh and creative floral designs at the flower shop

Some floral displays with fresh cut flowers, miniature plants potted in unique colourful planters.

A huge Chinese vase on disdplay

Anywhere we turned in the mall, there was something that caught out attention. It could be:

A huge Chinese vase standing in the middle of the mall

Exotic animal sculptures greet movie goers at the entrance

 Interesting, exotic creatures perching on tall pillars guarding the entrance to a store

A modern bold design entrance to one of the shops

Stores with modern, bold and loud designs

A calm, quiet and soothing oriental garden

A creative jacket made of recycled calendar pages

A unique jacket fashioned out of recycled old calendar paper

Even the elevators in the mall  have been dressed up and beckoned visitors to enter!

The sliding doors to the Fantasy land Hotel  connected to the WEM

I loved how  ordinary everyday objects  such as the sliding doors have been designed to look so pretty in the mall












 We also appreciated the efforts which the mall designers and management have put forth to accommodate the little ones.

 It was evident in the bathroom where an under the sink stool could be pulled up for little people as well as a tiny toilet seat installed beside a regular one. So that so mother and her little one can visit the bathroom at the same time.

There is something for everyone at the West Edmonton Mall! It is more than  a mall!

It is a meeting place, a family place.
It is a beautiful venue where friends can meet; families can enjoy and easily spend a whole day to have some great fun together!












For anyone visiting the city of Edmonton, this is a must do activity!

R.T.
West Edmonton Mall,
Edmonton, Alberta

I Felt Blessed with My Friends as Our Prayer Warriors!

We left Toronto early this morning .

Our plane flying near the city of Edmonton, Alberta

As our plane was flying towards Edmonton, we could see the dust and smoke from the uncontrollable wild forest fires from the distance.

We could see the dust and smoke of the wild forest fires from the distance 

We just checked into a hotel in Edmonton. 

We will meet up with our Short Term Mission Team and drive to a native reserve located in northern Alberta of about 2000 people, tomorrow morning.

The aboriginal people on this reserve have experienced many tragedies and hurt. There have been many suicides among them recently.

We need our Christian family members and friends' earnest prayers and support. 

I sent them an email asking them to pray for the health and safety of each one of our short term mission team members.

Every mission trip is a spiritual warfare and we need our prayer warriors to counter the dark forces.  

This is very personal for me as my husband suddenly got very sick during my mission trip to Cambodia two years ago. 

But praise God! Through our incessant prayers, he is getting better and is on his very first mission trip with me!!!

However,  we need to have people's permission in order to put their names on our prayer warrior list. As a prayer warrior, they will receive update of our trip throughout the duration so that they can pray for us and the mission.

I feel so blessed! Minutes after I sent out my emails, I am getting replies from my friends who are support us and encouraging us with their kind words and prayers.

I also pray that God would bless and use us in this mission trip to glorify His name!

R.T.

Edmonton, Alberta

A Walkathon for Visually Impaired People in Mississauga's Hazel 5Km Event

Getting ready at 105 Gibson Centre

We could not have asked for a better day like yesterday to do our 5Km walk.

It was a beautiful day with temperature at around 10 degrees C and a clear sky.

A physiotherapist volunteered her time to take care of participants

We met with our group- Joy Beyond Vision Community - at the Cultural Cafe shortly after 1:00p.m at the 105 Gibson Centre.





There were a few people already there picking up T- shirts, discussing directions and getting ready for the walk/ run.


Someone got injured a few weeks ago and a physiotherapist was there offering free service to help anyone who needed it before the event.

Everyone was getting excited!

Pastor Danny and his team organized and encouraged members of  the Joy Beyond Vision Community group to take part in the event.

There were ten visually impaired people taking part in the 5km walk!

Many volunteered offered their help to the VIP's ( Vision Impaired People)

For each runner, there were two volunteers with normal vision supporting them before and during the event.

Warming up for the  5km Walk!

Participants and volunteers were at the Gibson Centre chatting, encouraging each other and taking pictures.
There was an air of excitement at the Cultural Cafe. Everybody was excited about this event!

Going to Mississauga!

A school bus picked up everybody  including the runners, helpers and some family members who were there to cheer on their loved ones.

The school bus took us to the Carmen Carbassan Community Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, about half an hour drive from Toronto.

Shuttle buses taking the runners/ walkers to the starting point of their routes

We were dropped off at the community centre's parking lot, and boarded a shuttle bus taking us 

to the 5Km run starting point at Front St. and Lakeshore Drive in Mississauga.

People waiting and taking picture before the run

After about a 15 - 20 minutes' ride, we were at the 5K starting point.

Participants were of different ages and diverse background

There were a lot of people, young and old. Everyone was in a good mood, excited to get started.

VIPs warming up at the Mississauga site

Canada is a multi-cultural country and we pride ourselves of our diversity.

The participants in the Mississauga sports event reflected the Canadian spirit.

Participants from the Joy Beyond Vision Community and their volunteers in the Mississauga sports event

People from all different background, abilities, ethnic groups were here together for one purpose.














We were all there to participate in a sport event and raise fund for a good cause!


It was a lot of fun being with so many people and
waiting for the run/ walk to start.

Some people did a marathon while some ran/ walked a 10 Km route or did the 5km route.

A blind runner being guided by his/her helper

The event was an inclusive event as it was designed to include people with various ability levels.

People getting ready and doing their warm up exercises

Some warmed up by working on the rowing machines

With popular and inspiring music playing, runners/ walkers did warm up exercises to get themselves ready.


Some prepared themselves on the rowing machines set up on site.

After we sang O Canada, and right on the starting time. all the participants started their run/ walk!

The entire route was well marked 

The route was well marked out with clear big signs leading us towards the right direction.

We passed by beautiful scenery during our walk/ run event!

We passed by the Port Credit Habour, beautiful scenery and residential areas with beautiful homes fronting the lake!!!

\VIP's and their helpers running/ walking side by side

The vision impaired runners were doing very well, enjoying the event and were able to keep up with other participants.

It felt great as we saw the crowd lining the final stretch of the route near the finished line!

Reaching the finished line

As we were heading towards the finished line and unbeknownst to us,  our arrivals were captured on video by Sports Stat.

A food and water station at the finished area to refuel the participants

 After entering the finished area, each runner/ walker was given a aluminum foil blanket, water, cookies, bananas, pita rounds, and energy bars.

There were  a number of tents set up; some volunteers gave  out free food and souvenirs. But we were attracted to the tent with music and musicians performing.

One of the proud participants who finished the event!

It was quite a celebratory atmosphere!

Pastor Danny and Brian 

Participants were tired, but were jubilant as they had accomplished their goals and finished their routes.

I felt great as I saw the bright huge smiles from grin to grin on many of the faces from the Joy Beyond Vision Community group.

It was a great day for all who participated!

R.T.
Mississauga
Ontario

Picking up Our Running Kits for the Greater Mississauga Spring Marathon, 2016

We picked up our running kits a day prior to the Mississauga Marathon

Today was a pretty interesting day for us. It was our first experience with a city wide running event.


We were helping out with the Joy Beyond Vision Community charitable organization composed of vision impaired people who would be taking part in the Mississauga Marathon / running event on Saturday. April 30.


We met up with Pastor Philip and Clement and drove to an arena to pick up the running kit for all the runners the day before the run. My husband and I did part in the Terry Fox Run for a couple of years when our children were young.

Since we were not involved in the organization of the run, we knew very little about the workings behind the scenes of organizing a city wide fundraising marathon event.

I thought we would just park our car outside the arena, and went in to pick up the kits and then head home. It would not take too long, right?

Wrong!

We were in the arena for over an hour because there were a lot to see!

Before we could reach the area to pick up everything we needed for tomorrow's run, we had to walk through a maze of sponsors and vendors winding down the path leading to our destination.

We enjoyed the different samples of protein bars offered at the booths

A number of companies were there with  booths set up, enthusiastically promoting their products and giving out free brochures and samples. We had fun looking at all the displays, trying samples of different energy bars.

The behind the scene organization was awesome!  Everything was arranged in order and the flow and traffic was very smooth; everyone got through the process with little waiting time.

Friendly staff manning the merchants\ booths

These were the stations in sequence to help runners to pick up their running kit efficiently:

1.  Business and Vendors' Booths - They were set up at the entrance to the lower level of the arena.      Everyone entering the ares must go by these booths.

Participants pick up their Bib number from the main desk 

2.  Bib Number Pick Up Station - We picked up the forms for our group, double checked each name on our list with the Bib number and picked up the safety pins to attach the bib.

Runners' Bib numbers were scanned by machines set up by Sport Stats.

3.  Scanning Station - We scanned each one of the Bib with the runner's number on it on a scanner so that we would get a report about our run.

The T- shirts were laid out according to gender and size on the tables. 

4.  T-Shirts Pick Up Station - T shirts were neatly displayed on a row of long tables with size and categories clearly marked on the wall above the tables. Though we are not running the marathon tomorrow, this would be our first T shirt for our run

5. The Goodies Station - A goodie bag with free gifts and samples were handed out to each registered participants.

The whole experience was quite pleasant and efficient. The only problem we encountered was a couple of our runners name did not have registered number assigned to them.

Pastor Philip had to spend some time finding out the reason and locating their number so that they could be in the computer system.

After a few tries, the Greater Toronto Spring Marathon organizer was able to finally located the names and assigned each a number.  Mission accomplished! We were happy and look forward to the run tomorrow!!!

R.T.
Mississauga
Ontario