I'm a little potato all mashed up.
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My online journal of my amazingly boring life. Don't expect anything juicy. I write those in my real journal at home safe away from prying eyes. Except for maybe my sister.
If you are craving more Harry Potter and don't have the coveted advance screening passes to Wednesday night's screening, you may want to check out the 'Harry Potter Relive The Magic' event at Chapters. They say it is all Chapter stores across Canada but you may want to call in to confirm.
It's hard to believe that the Harry Potter saga will be coming to an end soon. Don't miss the finale HP7: Part 2 in theatres this Friday July 15. I can't wait to see it!
K won Metropolis Hot Seat tickets and she invited me Sunday night to watch the NKOTBSB concert from the Metropolis at Metrotown suite at Rogers Arena. The suite was on the 5th floor and it's the first time I've ever been so high up in that building. There were about ten people there including the Metrotown social media team. We were treated to yummy food as soon as we arrived. There was a cheese platter, veggie platter, fruit platter, popcorn, chips and drinks. We pigged out on snacks while watching Matthew Morrison sing and dance the opening act. He borrowed a lot from Glee. Even his intro had Sue Sylvester in it. Later the hot foods arrived - there was BBQ chicken wings, breaded prawns and mini-burgers. SO GOOD.
But enough about the delicious food. NKOTBSB were amazing! Rogers Arena was packed with screaming fangirls (and fanboys). I recognized quite a few songs - more from the Backstreet Boys than from NKOTB. It certainly brings back a lot of memories. They had great audience interaction. At one point the singers pulled four lucky girls onto stage, gave them roses and sang to them! They also walked around crowd. Everyone wanted to touch them! One girl lunged at one of singers and had to be pushed back forcefully by security! Yikes! But other than that there were no other incidences. I loved the atmosphere, the energy and the excitement that permeated Rogers Arena on Sunday. It was an awesome concert and I had an amazing time. Thanks Metropolis at Metrotown!
For your chance to win tickets to the suite, visit the Customer Service booth at the mall and enter at the contest kiosk. Also follow @MetropolisMet on twitter and tweet with the hashtag #MetropolisHotSeats or like them on Facebook.
Here was the opening sequence on Sunday night:
Later I saw Bollywood dance performance and a giant robotic snake, which I thought was so cool! The BC Lions mascot and other costumed characters were walking around taking pictures with kids. If you get thirsty, no sweat! There were water fountains set up around the site and Dairyland was also there giving away small cartons of chocolate milk and Armstrong Cheese was offering cheese samples to people. The chocolate milk was very popular since it was so hot out. It was great to just kick back in the shade and enjoy the cool milk.
The Mint had there own booth and was hosting a giveaway of a prize pack which includes a Sasquatch coin. You are suppose to find the answers to a quiz which are located on Sasquatch coin signs around the kid zone. But in reality, you only need to fill out the form since they don't check the answers to the quiz.
All the food vendors were located in another area and there the Vancouver Aquarium was giving away coupons and also tickets to the aquarium but only if you manage to spin onto the WIN slot on the wheel. Two players from the BC Lions were at the next booth signing autographs.
After I walked around the entire site, the bus lines heading out of the park was long too so I walked back downtown. I passed by the Rose Garden and snapped a few photos. So pretty and they smelled nice too.
Now I'm pooped! I did so much walking my feet hurt. I had fun though and enjoyed the awesome weather.
A free three day festival to celebrate Vancouver's 125th anniversary starts today. There will be over 180 performances featuring Mother Mother, Daniel Wesley, The New Pornographers, Neko Case, Dan Mangan, Dr. L. Subramaniam, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra conducted by Bramwell Tovey and Spirit of the Wes. All sorts of activities including Kite-making, boat-building, and juggling workshops, canoe races, giant board games and family sports. For those taking the transit, a free shuttle bus from Waterfront Station runs from 11am to 11pm each day, and a free, secure bicycle compound will be available for cyclists.
I might go check it out on Saturday. It sounds like quite a fun summer event!
Date
Time
10:00am - 2:00pm
Location
No. 2 Road Pier, London's Landing, Steveston
Fish for Future promotes sportfishing and other outdoor activities to youth and families in BC. Participants will get to learn tasks such as fishing for local fish species, flycasting, fly tying, fish identification and much more. If you are under 16, then all the fishing activities are free. There will also be prize giveaways for kids. Free juvenile saltwater fishing licences will be available for participants under the age of 16. If you are older you will need to purchase a Tidal license which can be obtained at Nikka Fishing & Marine, 3551 Moncton Street Richmond or online: http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/licence-permis/index-eng.htm
You can RVSP on Facebook but it is not necessary to participate in the event.
Date
Sunday July 10th, 2011
Time
12:30pm - ???
Location
Hastings Racecourse, Vancouver
The 3rd annual Mascot Race is being held again at Hastings Racecourse. It is a fundraising event benefiting the Variety the Children's Charity and family friendly. Company mascots gather to race including including BeBop from the Vancouver Aquarium and Philbert from Purdy's Chocolate. Cobs Bread’s mascot, Breadhead is the defending champion who won two years in a row! Will he be able to win it three years straight?
Here was video of last year's race. Poor Philbert tripped and fell when he mistimed a jump. I'll be rooting for him on Sunday! See you there!
Movies
There are always movies to watch. Out today is Horrible Bosses and Zookeeper. Both are comedies. And while I haven't seen Zookeeper but I'm pretty sure Horrible Bosses > Zookeeper.
Canada turns 144 years old tomorrow so it's time to dress up in your patriotic red and white colours and celebrate! There is no shortage of celebratory events happening around the Lower Mainland - it's hard to choose which ones to attend!
Here's some of the events happening around Vancouver:
Canada Day at Granville Island
Starting at 8am and going on 'til midnight, there will be lots of food, free jazz performances, kid-friendly activities, and a parade. The 12th Annual Canada Day Parade is begins at 1:30pm starting at Ocean Construction and ending at Ron Basford Park.
Canada Day at the Olympic Village
Celebrate Sustainability on Canada Day with WE CANADA in a multi-city event. There will be food, music, dance, documentary films and sustainability workshops and much more.
Stevenston Salmon Festival
Starts at 6:30am with pancake breakfast, 10am Canada Day parade, then the famous salmon barbecue starts at 11am. 1200 lbs of wild salmon are going to be grilled over over fire pits in Stenston village in Richmond
North Vancouver Canada Day Celebrations at Waterfront Park
Lots of performances and kid-friendly activities
North Shore Canada Day Parade
Pancake breakfast starting at 8am-9:30am and a parade at 10am.
Free Pancake Breakfast at Park Royal
10am-11am free pancakes, music and balloon artists for the kids.
Lonsdale Quay Market
Music, face painting, balloons for kids.
So New Water had me in the mood for looking at housing. We went to MacPherson Walk next and took a look at some suites. They were almost sold out of Phase 3 and where offering discounts on the remaining suites. It looked so nice and the sales person was so convincing I got sucked in to purchasing one of the last ground suites which has a small yard instead of a balcony. I was ready to sign some papers but we took another walk around to survey the area and it looked too close to the skytrain for our taste so I backed out of the offer. I still have second thoughts though...it looked so nice and owning my own home would be awesome. Someday...
Right after the Canucks game I headed to the "secret" location to see what was up. It was only 8pm but there was a lot going on already. The Green Lantern street team were set up and parading up and down Granville street with their big Green Lantern posters taking photos with hopeful Canuck fans and handing out swag. A shaved ice machine was set up and there was a long line up to get the lime flavoured treat with a green glowing stir stick in it!
A huge crowd started to build as it got closer to 9pm. The street team did a great job of handling the crowd given how big it was. Rings, t-shirts, coasters, foldable water bottles, drawstring bags, temporary tattoos, glowsticks and Green Lantern toys were all given out. 17 lucky people also received a advanced screening pass to go see the movie tomorrow!
I usually don't see such events happening for movies held in Vancouver; they are usually reserved for bigger cities like Toronto, but Green Lantern is filmed in Vancouver and the star Ryan Reynolds was also born here! I hope last night's success will mean more events like these will be held in Vancouver!
Green Lantern is coming to theatres this Friday! I can't wait to watch it!
Please update your bookmarks to http://www.mashedthoughts.com
On Sunday I went to EAT! Vancouver for the first time. EAT! Vancouver Food + Cooking Festival is an annual food convention where celebrity chefs, popular local restaurants, food and beverage manufacturers, wineries, retailers and many others from the culinary world gather for three days of food heaven! I went with an empty stomach and left at the end of the day stuffed full of delicious food and bag laden with samples. There were many displays and vendors giving away samples - Yoghurt, beef jerky, Clamato, McDonald's iced coffee, candied salmon, humus just to name a few.
Rob Feenie of Cactus Club Cafe was also there presenting on the main stage. I stayed to watch him for a little while but my hunger got the better of me and we purchased some tickets to trade in for food. There was so much to see and taste! EBO Restaurant and Milestones were there. I thought EBO's presentation of their food was the nicest! There was also a junior chef competition. USA won gold, Canada took silver and Chile placed third.
Just looking back at the pictures makes my mouth water! I can't wait go again next year!