Edmonton Adventure Continued!

Adventure #4: Alberta Aviation Museum + Legislature Grounds

Along with Farah, my adventure buddy, we set off for the Aviation museum around 12.40pm on Monday, and we got lost. Well we didn't actually get lost, but we didn't get off at the right stop, because I had thought there would be another transit, but there wasn't. So we took about a 20 minute ride further away from our stop, and a 20 minute ride back to where we were supposed to get off. Then another 15 minutes to actually walk and get to the museum. And it didn't seem worth it. Just a bunch of war planes, which I guess was kept in good condition, but that was about it. Took a load of photos and that seemed all there was to it. Well, at least I can say I've been there now.

Then we decided to drop by the Legislature around 5pm and see all the beautiful decorations. The lights were set up well and because it gets dark early now, it was a good time to stop by. We also saw people entering the building but there was pretty tight security to get in, and we weren't that bothered to go through all that to find out what was happening.

 

 

Adventure #5: Muttart Conservatory

This was a great adventure. And we didn't get lost on the way (though we almost missed our stop again). Not as far as the aviation museum was, but we still had to walk a little while to get there. It was good though, because the weather wasn't so cold and there is beauty in nature. There are four pyramids and each pyramid hosts different plants from different climates. Being from a tropical country myself, I can say that the tropical pyramid definitely felt like home. It was also really cool to see all types of plants and flowers, and it was really pretty.

 

Adventure #6: Canadian Christmas Dinner

Having no plans on Christmas day, I was gratefully surprised when a teacher I didn't even know invited some of us to her house for a Christmas dinner. She was my RA's teacher and I hadn't even met her before. I went with three others, one was another one of her students, but the rest of us weren't. This is kindness you can only find in Canada people. Well maybe not, but it's rare elsewhere. Knowing that there were some students who were staying back on campus during Christmas and deciding to give us a meal and share the joy with us, that is what Christmas is about ladies and gentlemen. It was fun and though a bit nervous and awkward at times, the night was a success. The food was delicious and we had some good laughs.



Adventure #6.5: Boxing Day

My first experience of boxing day, and though I was not that crazy to go to the stores at 7 in the morning, I went nonetheless. And I kind of get what the fuss is all about. Stores have major discounts, and though I went to a lot of stores and stayed at the outlets for about 2.5 hours, I only bought two items from the same store. I got a good deal on a very good jacket that I simply love. And I'm trying not to spend so much, but since then I've shopped twice. Once on Sunday and again today. New Years Resolution? I'm not going to spend money on clothes anymore until the summer, when my parents come visit.

 

Happy New Year! May 2015 be even better! 

 

 

 

Edmonton Adventure!

I started my Winter break a week earlier than most people. The last of my finals was on the 12th of December, and unlike most people, I had no travel plans. Home was too far away for such a short break, and I didn't really feel like going anywhere. Then, I figured that I might as well visit the places of the city I'm in! I'm always hearing that Edmonton is "Deadmonton" with nothing going on, but that's not true. I found a site that tells of various activities and events around the city, and my goal for the duration of my break is to go to as many of these places as possible.

Adventure #1: Edmonton River Valley Zoo

I started last Sunday, two days after my last final. I went to the zoo with a friend and luckily I met another friend who had three in his group because we had to walk part of the way to the zoo along an isolated path in the dark. My flash makes it seem really creepy, but it was just dark.
The reason we went at night was because the zoo had this festival of lights thing going on, so obviously we had to go when it was dark in order to see the lights. But it wasn't very impressive and I was hoping to see more animals - especially the red pandas but they were hiding inside. =[

Adventure #2: Art Gallery of Alberta

 On Wednesday, I decided to go for a little cultural learning and went to the art gallery downtown. It was really interesting and the art on display was certainly worth a look or two. I've never been one to enjoy art that much before, but since taking a basic art course my eyes have been opened to the world of art.

Adventure #3: Capitol Theatre

There's a small theatre in Fort Edmonton Park and conveniently, the way to get there was to stop at the same place I got off to get to the zoo. But I didn't have to cross the river to get there, and I went during the daytime with a friend. The show we went to watch was called It's a Wonderful Life: Radio Show, it wasn't the traditional theatre with acting, but more of voice acting. Though the actors and actresses were in front of us, it was done so that it gave the pretence of a radio show. They were reading from scripts and when they weren't speaking they sat on the couch behind the microphones. It's a pretty small stage but they manoeuvred it well and they had sound effects that was made manually. That was cool to watch, and the synchronization was impeccable. (On the left of the picture above, you can see a table with bottles and glasses, that area was where they made all the sounds from.)

Fort Edmonton Park itself seems pretty small and doesn't seem to have much. It did look like the buildings themselves were two-dimensional and felt like a set of a movie or something. Maybe because it was winter break and nothing was open that gave off that feeling. People say it's a bustling place in the spring and summer. I shall be back then!



I'm not going to count this as an adventure, but more of an outing. I went to Chinatown today with two friends to eat Dim Sum! A traditional Sunday brunch type of meal for Chinese people - though now any day of the week works fine for us. And as always when I have dim sum, I ate way too much. The thing is, you don't feel full until the end and you realize you still have lots of food on the table. Anyway it was worth it! Haven't had dim sum since I got back from home, and the food was good.

However, we had a bit of drama added to our meal. There was this drunk guy at the table next to ours who at first kept staring at my friend, so I offered to change seats with her. We didn't realize he was drunk then but after awhile, when the manager refused to get him another beer he started making a fuss. I don't know why they didn't get rid of him sooner, because he came over to our table twice and started talking nonsense. This is why you don't go to Chinatown at night people. Daytime is already scary and dangerous enough. I was hoping they would give us the meal for free, or at least a discount for having our lunch disturbed, but we weren't so lucky.

Two more weeks of adventures to go! I may post again next week, lots of stuff planned! Oh, and if you're interested in the site I get the events and stuff from, here it is: http://exploreedmonton.com/

Have a Merry Christmas!

KidSport UofA After School Program

 

There's a KidSport club at the University I'm in, and if you don't know about KidSport, its an organization that aims to let children of whatever background have access to sports resources. My University club recently established a trial run for an after school sports program to be held at an elementary school every Friday. The first session was two weeks ago on the 14th, and I was part of that group. We had about 8 volunteers, which fit perfectly to a 1:1 ratio of children who showed up. It had been a half school week that week and presumably the other children just forgot to show (20+ kids had signed up). We did some warm up exercises and some basketball drills (dribbling, passing) before going into a game (the sessions are only an hour long). Though I want to work with children when I graduate I had forgotten how much energy kids have, and it's really refreshing.

 

Because of the amount of volunteers who signed up, we had to be split into two groups with each group alternating going on Fridays. Another group went last week and I was supposed to go today, but unfortunately it was cancelled due to road conditions (it's beginning to snow pretty bad). Since this was a trial run, there is only one session left next week, which the other group will be doing, and I was disappointed.

 

However, I have just gotten news that this program will be continued next year and I'm so excited for it! Kids need the opportunity to expend their energy and playing sports as well as interacting with older kids (like myself) who can act as other role models for them is, I feel, very important. I'm so glad this opportunity came along and I can't wait for next year!

Right to Play UofA Tunnel Ball World Record

On Wednesday, the official Right to Play club at my University-- the University of Alberta, attempted to gather enough people on the Quad to break the Guinness World Record for highest number of people to participate in tunnel ball. It was supposed to start at 3 o'clock but by then it looked like we didn't even have 50 people, so we waited, and waited. And then we begin a demo round around 4 which turned into practice which kept going for about half an hour. In the process we got more people to get in and by the end we had 129 people! The previous world record was a 120 people. I didn't think it would be that difficult to find 120+ people in a university setting but I guess it was. So glad we did it and managed to raise funds for the Right to Play organization. Definitely go check them out!

Banff and Elk Island National Parks

 

Banff

Last Saturday, I went to Banff and got to see Lake Louise! It was simply gorgeous and too beautiful for my eyes. The water was crystal blue and behind the lake was a spectacular snow topped mountain. Fortunately, I found out that my camera had a panorama option and took a few of those. I took photos of the lake in different angles so many times but couldn't get enough.

And the town of Banff was so quaint and beautiful as well! A major tourist attraction.

Elk Island

 

And then today, I went to Elk Island National Park and was hoping to see some wildlife, but only got to see Bison, which I guess was a great experience as well. There was actually one right on the trail we were walking but walked away once it saw us approaching. They're huge! But pretty docile I think. Apart from that, and maybe a beaver and a squirrel, we were not able to see anymore wildlife. Bummer.

And the weather was really quite cold today, not a good day to be outdoors, though the onslaught of Fall did bring pretty colours along with it.

The Colour Run 2014

On Sunday (yesterday) I went for the Colour Run KL, 2014. Basically its a 5 kilometre walk/run (whichever you prefer) and at every kilometre are stations with different coloured powder that gets thrown at you. The slogan for this Colour Run is The Happiest 5k on the Planet.

 

I was not expecting so many people to attend. I arrived quite late because of the traffic getting in, and also to find parking. But it didn't matter because the runners went in waves and there were at least 5 waves of 100 or so people in each.

The weather was, thank heavens, not scorching. But then again it was quite early morning. I woke up at 5.15AM and headed home around 10.30AM. It felt like so much time had passed but really it's because I woke up early.

To be honest, the colour run wasn't all that. Supposedly the happiest 5km on the planet was just 5km with coloured powder, and a mini rave at the end. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if I had went with friends, but I couldn't find any to go with and so went with my cousins plus her friends and my mom and her friend who got free tickets. In my opinion this event was overrated and overpriced. We didn't even get much merchandise from the run itself except a shirt, a headband and temporary tattoos. I saw others wearing colour run sunglasses (which they bought) and that would've been a cool souvenir to keep.

Well it was still quite fun, but not fun enough to be RM75. (The clean up must have been hell, unless they just left the colours on the road.)

TEDxKL 2014

I'm sure everyone has at least heard of TED talks. No? Well here's their website; http://www.ted.com/ They go by the slogan, Ideas Worth Spreading. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend TEDxKL. Basically, TED talks first originated in California which attracted worldwide attention, and now, the conference has expanded globally. However, it is the local groups who organize and mainly local speakers who present in the talks under TED. The reason TEDxKL has and 'x' in it is because it stands for, "independently organized TED event."

I really did not know what to expect but was feeling pretty hyped about the whole thing. Of course, I had watched TED videos before, and even attended a talk by a speaker for TED while in University, but this was the real whole day conference. There were a total of 18 speakers and the topic varied from economics, humankind, the environment, to music, magic and robots. Here's a list of the presenters: http://www.tedxkl.com/presenters-2014/
It was really interesting to hear about topics that I knew of and to learn on others I knew little about.

However, I feel that there were quite a lot of economists, or speakers speaking of economics. And for some speakers, I had no idea what they were talking about or heading towards, which was a little tedious. Plus the theme for this TEDx talk was 'The Open Future' and though most tried to relate their talks to that, some did not and so felt a bit out of place.

Saying that, it was still a really great experience. The incorporation of a few music performances was a fantastic idea; it livened the audience and was really captivating. The magic performance as well was really fascinating, though it probably would have been better if he was not the last speaker, as a lot of people had left and some were rushing to leave (including myself).

And I did feel that the audience were not as responsive as could have been. I guess I am to blame as well. If any of the speakers are reading this, I just want to say that you all did a fantastic job and I was really impressed. Thank you so much to the presenters, sponsors, organizers and volunteers who helped to make this happen. I will not forget this experience, the first time I ever attended a TED talk!