Experiencing Infinity Mirrors by Yayoi Kusama at AGO – S13E01

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Apologies for the long hiatus on the blog. It’s been tough not covering a lot of live music and other events happening for the past several months.

On Wednesday, I was in Toronto to check out Infinity Mirrors by Yayoi Kusama at Art Gallery of Ontario. It’s been a very popular exhibit as tickets were available online using waiting in line system and they were sold out.

There were six rooms where mirrors and various pieces of artworks from Kusama created. There were unique and very quick because you need to be in the room for 20 or 30 seconds. It was quite tough to use a smartphone and digital cameras to get a good shot.

The waiting in line to see the rooms wasn’t too long. There was room where we could not take photos and it’s “All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins.” The favourite room by far was The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away. That one looked like you stepped in outer space. Ended off with the Obliteration Room where people stuck dotted stickers at any place or thing displayed.

It was a great time going to Toronto for the exhibit and for those able to check it out, it runs until May 27th.

You can view the photos from below. All shot using the iPhone X.
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The #CBCMeet613 Instameet at The National Arts Centre and the Polaroid OneStep 2 – S12E26

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There was a bonus Instameet hosted by CBC Ottawa and in partnership with the National Arts Centre on Monday.

The NAC has been going through renovations and Ottawa Instagramers were given a glimpse of the new rooms and areas. The first phase was opened to the public on July 1st and the second phase was completed in October.

All of the Instagramers and photographers gathered at the Kipnes Lantern by the Elgin St. and then went to the Susan Glass & Arni Thorsteinson Staricase prior to the tour around NAC.

Went to two rooms called Rossy Pavilion and the O’Born Room. The rooms were taken on my Twitter and Instagram.

Overall, it was great time at NAC for the second week as I went on Halloween to check out King of the Yees. You can check the photos from below. Continue reading →

Photos from the iPhone to the Polaroid in Toronto and Polaris Gala – S12E25

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Continuing my time in Toronto, I had taken several photos from the iPhone 7 Plus and the Polaroid SX-70. I tend to forget what I had taken on the smartphone and post it.

I decided to explore some unique and popular eateries in downtown Toronto. I tried to look for the cheap eats in the city. I was able to go KOS Restaurant in Kensington Market, WVRST on King St. West and on the final day, Hokkaido Ramen Santouka on Dundas Street. You will see a few photos below.
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The 2017 Polaris Music Prize Gala – S12E24

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The winner of the 2017 Polaris Music Prize goes to Lido Pimienta’s La Papessa.

It’s quite a surprise as Pimienta was considered a dark horse among jury members and music fans alike.

The short list for the 2017 Polaris Music Prize were:

  • A Tribe Called Red – We Are The Halluci Nation
  • BADBADNOTGOOD – IV
  • Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker
  • Gord Downie – Secret Path
  • Feist – Pleasure
  • Lisa LeBlanc – Why You Wanna Leave, Runaway Queen?
  • Lido Pimienta – La Papessa
  • Tanya Tagaq – Retribution
  • Leif Vollebekk – Twin Solitude
  • Weaves – Weaves

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The Remaining #CBCMeet613 Instameets in August – S12E23

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Throughout the Summer, CBC Ottawa has been hosting Instameet events to showcase Canada’s 150th birthday and to show Ottawa as a fun and beautiful city.

The three remaining events were in August, they were The TD South Asian Fest (Instameet on August 20th), the preview tour of the Canada Science & Technology Museum (Instameet on August 22nd) and House of Paint (Instameet on August 26th).

It was a great event to attend and also nice to meet up with various Instagrammers and photographers in Ottawa. The Canada Science & Technology Museum will open on November 17th. Continue reading →

The Instameet at Algonquin College – S12E22

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Continuing the Canada 150th celebrations, the third CBC Ottawa Instameet event, #CBCMeet613 happened at Algonquin College on Tuesday.

Instagrammers, professional photographers and amateur photographers were giving a tour of Algonquin College’s Horticulture Centre, a glimpse of the kitchen in the culinary department and to go outside on the ACCE building. 

It was quite unique to see hidden gems and marvelous architecture at Algonquin College. At the culinary kitchen, I got to taste the trout and quinoa. It’s amazing that Algonquin College has delivered excellence in their programs. Continue reading →

First Time Trying Out Mad Radish – S12E21

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On a late Sunday morning, I had the opportunity to finally check out Mad Radish in the Glebe. Mad Radish is the brain child of former DAVIDsTEA founder, David Segal and to my own understanding, I did not know Segal was from Ottawa and is currently living there. 

Mad Radish is a fresh new spin on fast casual eating mainly on salads and going for healthy eating. Everything is fresh and made from scratch. None of these processed and pre-made foods that are common in usual fast food restaurants.

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The Final Day of La Machine – S12E20

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For the past 4 days, a giant spider and dragon invaded the streets of downtown Ottawa and the countless of crowds couldn’t get enough of seeing the two gigantic creatures.

Sunday was the culmination of La Machine. It started at the Supreme Court of Canada where Kumo the giant spider and Long Ma the dragon were awakened. Then both were wandering around downtown.

The final spot of their battle dubbed Static Scene ended at Lebreton Flats with a grand spectacular showing. There was a pagoda and an orchestra set up making it as an outdoor theatre.

The event was a big hit with over half a million (about 750,000) attended and wandered throughout Ottawa to follow the spider and dragon. Best of all, the weather was great from Thursday to Sunday.

These fun and free events is continuing the Canada 150th celebrations in Ottawa. Onto the La Machine withdrawal.

You can check the photos below.

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Kontinuum and Get Up – S12E19

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On Thursday, there were a couple of events that I was able to check out. The first was Kontinuum, it is an underground experience located at the Lyon LRT station.

This multimedia production is immersed in light and sound. It is produced by Moment Factory and the original concept by Ottawa 2017.

The experience is very unique as I got a glimpse of the future LRT station and it’s nice to get a portrait of myself. You can check the photos from below.

The event is free until September 14th. Even though it’s free, you need to order the free tickets.

Get Up Art Show
The second event was an art show, it was called Asma Inam Presents: GET UP.
I was told from a friend about it and was convinced to go check it out. It was held at the Makita Kitchen Bar in the Glebe. There was some Hip-Hop tunes spun by DJ Hyf.

I had the opportunity to try out the steamed buns. They were the pork belly with hoisin bbq sauce and the other being with falafel with pickled turnip.

It was her first art show exhibition and dedicated to everyone. It was a nice surprise to see a few people I know at the event.

Luckily, there was a “panda” that dropped by for a bit.

As well, I got to shoot some Impossible/Polaroid photos. It will also be posted on my Instagram.

You can check the photos below and see the artwork.

La Machine
Another event as part of Ottawa 2017 is La Machine, it is a traveling urban theatre happening in downtown Ottawa from July 27-30.
Unfortunately, I didn’t fully see Kumo, the giant spider get out of the church, I got until Sunday to see the dragon and spider duke it out. I took photos of the giant spider before the move. Long-ma, the horse-dragon was at Ottawa City Hall and wasn’t able to go there.

One last word, just letting you know that I’m continuing season 12 on the blog. It will extending a bit later.
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How Cantopop Influenced Me From The Hong Kong Handover 20 Years On.

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It’s very rare I usually do an essay/commentary on my blog. For those who know me, I’m a total Cantopop fan/lover when I combined that genre with Canadian indie music when I had a weekly radio show.

Being as a Chinese, my mom used to rent videotapes from Hong Kong’s TVB. Ranging from dramas to music shows, it’s been ingrained since I was young.

How did I become hooked on Cantopop? I would say that the Hong Kong Handover in 1997 affected me because I had relatives living there and my parents were from there. I didn’t want to lose that part of my cultural heritage. It wasn’t until towards the end of high school where I was listening to Hong Kong radio on the Internet and my love of radio came back in a different approach. 

In my University phase, I still kept listening to the classic Cantopop songs and some newer music. 2003 struck when Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui died and the Cantopop industry was never the same since. In the mid-2000s, I was not able to listen to one of the popular Hong Kong radio stations because of the audio streaming and switching to the Mac computers. 

An article published on July 22, 2017 from SCMP explained the decline of Cantopop and who can be the next star to regain the footing. The link can be read here.

Getting into Beyond
Aside from the tragedies, one impact that still hits the mark among Cantopop fans has been the death of Beyond’s frontman, Wong Ka Kui. I’ve been entrenched with their music because their range can soft, slow, fast and heavy. They were mainly a rock band unlike the conventional singers in Cantopop.

Their popular tracks were often love songs towards the end of 1980s and into 1990s, it was getting into the political message.  Continue reading →