Fred and I decided to check out the Summer Matsuri at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre since the past two years we missed it due to being in Vancouver. Just our luck, it was raining on the way there and traffic was horrible. Next time I think I want to go a bit later or earlier to beat the crowds.
We both forgot to bring umbrellas so luckily it stopped enough for us to make a mad dash to the centre. It was held indoors due to the rain but I wonder how it would have looked if it took place in the giant parking lot outside. Speaking of parking, we had to park at an empty lot next door which was ticketed and we had to pay upon exit. I wished there were some clearer instructions on parking instead of being re-routed by personnel...
Anyway, aside from that, there was tons of food options including shaved ice and cold soba noodles. Admission was free, you only had to pay for food inside. I never got the chance to explore the cultural centre in its entirety so there was lots to see.
Small models on display.
In another room there were performances going on.
Then last last weekend (when it was 45 degrees with the humidity) I wanted to check out the Allen Gardens. I'd seen pictures of it before and it looked really pretty, and reminded me of the Queen Elizabeth park dome that I visited in Vancouver.
It was several green houses attached to one another and inside it was even hotter! It was not a good idea to come here on such a hot day but luckily I wore something breathable... it was a lot bigger than I thought it'd be! Unlike QE Park, it was free and at least three times larger.
There was hardly anyone inside so it felt very calm and relaxing being surrounded by all the greenery!
There was even a small koi fish pond!
Unlike QE Park this place doesn't have any tropical birds, just small songbirds from outside that somehow managed to get in, but this garden had a LOT of turtles!
There were many different and interesting looking plants here.
There was also a big greenhouse devoted solely to succulents. It was a lot drier in here but even hotter than the other rooms. The succulent collection was amazing though, they had some really huge ones! I would love to come back and spend more time here, maybe when it wasn't so hot... haha.
Then this past weekend I attended the Toronto Pin & Patch Show, just to check it out because it was free and we needed an excuse to go downtown, not that I collect pins or patches. It was my first time going and sadly I didn't bring my DSLR with me so I didn't get any photos of the event. The venue was nice though and vendors were separated into different rooms. It was still crowded as hell though, because it was free... it opened at 12pm and we had to wait in line for at least half an hour. When we got out at around 2pm there was no line so next year I'm going later to beat the crowds! There were so many amazingly talented artists and so many pins I wanted to buy... but I knew that if I bought one pin, I'd want more, so I stopped myself and only bought a bracelet. Phew!
And that's about it for this post. I hope to have more adventures before the summer is over! Thanks for reading & until next time!!
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