Over the long weekend, we spent some time with my cousin in Port Hope, Ontario. It was an hour drive east of Toronto, mostly travelling along highway 401. Port Hope is a growing community of about 16,000 residents.
While I've visited Port Hope a few times, I've never explored further beyond my cousin's home, the Independent Gas station (which sells gas much cheaper than Toronto), and the local grocery store. I wanted to see more of Port Hope, so I grabbed my camera and we drove around the residential areas and downtown.
Port Hope is along the north shore of Lake Ontario. There was a public parking lot along King St. so we parked the car for a few minutes and took a few nature shots of the coastline.
Next stop was dowtown Port Hope. What immediately caught my attention was the old-style architecture. We decided to park on the main street, and I took a few photos.
This is a picture of Ganaraska River from downtown. It flows through the heart of town and empties into Lake Ontario.
It's amazing how the waterways are kept so clean that you can literally just fish by river. It is operated by the Ministry of Natural Resources with the help of local volunteers. People are attracted to this river because of the large presence of trout and salmon. Fishing season begins in May and runs toward the end of July. September is the time of the salmon run where you can see 30 to 40 pound salmon swim upstream to spawn.
Here is another photo with someone fishing by the river.
A few weeks ago, my wife sent me an email and asked if I was interested to go to a Filipino event entitled, "Pinoy Fiesta and Trade Show sa Toronto" to be held on June 25. I was intrigued because the term Fiesta, which means festival in Spanish-speaking countries, did not seem to mix with Trade Show. I had pictures in my mind of games and rides, like the Ferris Wheel and the Octopus ride, together with lots of local food that I fondly remember while growing up in Manila. When I realized that this event was going to be in downtown Toronto, the images of the carnival rides immediately disappeared from my mind. But I did anticipate lots of Filipino food and maybe even a handful of game booths. I was also looking for some new inspiration on Filipino culture that was different from the occasional exchanges in Facebook with Filipino friends or the next get together (or "gimmick") with fellow Canadian Pinoys. We thought it would be good for the kids to get exposed to more Filipino culture to develop their understanding. This would also serve as a source for something to write about here in CanadaPinoys.com, so we decided to make a go of it and turn this event into a family excursion.
For some reason, I had been expecting this event to be held outdoors in a venue like Nathan Philips Square, just like the real Fiestas in the Philippines. The night before the event, when I finally asked my wife for more details, she gently reminded me that it was going to be held in the Metro Toronto Convention Center. This was not turning out to be Fiesta atmosphere I was expecting. However, the weather in Toronto had been very unpredictable for many weeks now, so holding an event indoors was probably a wise choice.
I'm not a big fan of parking in downtown Toronto as it usually costs a minimum of $20. The first surface parking lot we went into wanted to charge a $30 flat rate. No thank you! So we proceeded to a public parking facility just across the Metro Toronto Convention Center, and luckily found a spot not too long after (other drivers weren't too lucky even though it was a weekend!). We made our way to the line to buy some tickets which cost $15 each person. My youngest child who was barely 10 years old got in free. As we made our way up the escalator and through the gate, all we could see was a sea of Filipinos... more than I've ever seen in one location since arriving in Canada 10 years ago! We navigated through the crowd and at one point got separated. I managed to catch up with my wife and kids...where else - at the food section!
It was not the Fiesta I was hoping it would be. However I wanted to go out of curiosity, and it would be something nice to write about. More than half of the venue was devoted to a sitting area to watch the show. I was too far from the stage to really have a good view, but the show consisted mostly of dancers, speakers, beauty contestants and a Filipina celebrity. How about the booths? I was looking forward to great Filipino food selections and maybe some game booths. And for the most part, there was a good selection considering it was in downtown Toronto. I had halo-halo. Balut would have been nice, but it didn't feel like the best time to eat one (I actually didn't look for one as holding a big camera and eating balut doesn't mix very well.) As I looked at the booths, I saw the usual services that are a hallmark to Filipinos living outside the Philippines. These are the money remittance services, and padala (ie. courier services from Canada to the Philippines). While the big banks had booths, the small business entrepreneurs in real estate, insurance, clothing, health and beauty had their fair share as well. For the most part, food vendors had the lion share of booth space, and that is to be expected as Filipinos love their food! What I found the most interesting was a booth of a mixed-martial arts instructor. He had a young boy demonstrating his skills in martial arts together with a sample sparring session with the instructor.
Late in the afternoon, a local Filipina celebrity came on stage, and the crowd started to get excited. But the day was dragging on and my kids were getting anxious to explore something new. So we called it a day, and proceeded to go and explore downtown Toronto. As I collected my thoughts about the event, it was not the Fiesta I had hoped for. It reminded me more of what we'd call a Variety Show in Manila. The event centered around a show hosted by a couple of emcees, that brought various talents throughout the day. It was not my kind of show, but I did not regret going. I was quite fascinated with how many Filipinos made their way downtown, attended the event and actually stayed throughout the day. I suppose it's the attraction of seeing a Filipino celebrity that draws a crowd. This event was co-sponsored by one of the large Philippine media companies (GMA) and that helped pull the resources that made this event successful. The rival Philippine media company (ABS CBN) will be doing their own version of a Fiesta and Trade show in late July. Will I go?... it's too early to tell.
On Canada Day, we decided to explore Lake Wilcox in the Town of Richmond Hill, Ontario. Lake Wilcox is the largest kettle lake in the Oak Ridges Morraine.
There are many places to discover within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and the outlying areas. One doesn't have to travel very far to find new and interesting places, particularly for the outdoor enthusiast. Lake Wilcox is mostly visited by the local community. It is a 20 minute drive north of Toronto. Most of the shoreline is privately owned. However it has a public area where visitors can access the lake. We saw a few people in their canoes and someone trying his hand in wind surfing. There is a picnic area to spend those lazy afternoons with family and friends.
We walked around the shoreline and found a small public path into the shoreline of the lake. It had one bench and it was surrounded by vegetation on both sides of the path. It was a nice secluded spot. We spent some time just enjoying the scenery and taking a few pictures. It's nice to imagine that you can escape from the big city and find yourself in a different environment.
I had an opportunity to visit downtown Vancouver in late January, and I took my new camera for a spin. These pictures were taken from the observation deck of the Vancouver Lookout which is 430 feet above street level.
