Seeing Niagara Falls from All Angles

A boat taking tourists around the Canadian side of the Falls

The last time I visited Niagara Falls was over 25 years ago so it was very interesting to see how this famous tourist landmark has developed in the intervening years.

This time traveling with my relatives from Australia, they wanted to do the full Niagara experience so we did practically everything there is to do there.

Watching water fall over the edge

We joined a tour at 10am which started at Skylon Tower, an observation tower that is 160 metres tall. On the ground floor we took the usual touristy pictures against a green screen (look scared going over the Falls in a barrel!) and then went up the tower to see Niagara Falls from a bird's eye view.

It's quite the sight seeing the scale of the Falls from above, though the Canadian side which is horse-shoe-shaped is much more dramatic than the American side. The Canadian side is 57m high, the American is 21-30m high, while the Canadian side is obviously much wider at 790m, the American side is 320m wide.

Our tour guide later told us interesting tales about daredevils who have gone over the Falls -- some 5,000 -- but only a few have survived. 

The first person to go over was a woman, Annie Edson Taylor in 1901. She was widowed and poor, and thought that if she went over the Falls, she could become famous. Taylor first tested her wooden barrel by putting her cat in it and it went down and survived, so she figured she would too.

She did survive with just a scratch on her forehead! However, fortune did not follow Taylor's fame and she died poor.

The American side of the falls

Other people thought they would do it for attention, and chose the Canadian side because it was much more dramatic.

However in 1951, after the death of one daredevil, going down the Falls became illegal and now anyone caught doing it will be fined US$25,000 and your children will have to foot the bill if you don't survive.

We then walked towards the casino, where below it we took a funicular a very short distance to get behind the Canadian side of the Falls. We were issued yellow plastic ponchos so that we wouldn't get too wet and went down a tunnel, where we could peek at the Falls from the point where the water goes over the edge.

It's quite a dramatic sight to see, the clear, blue-coloured water, thanks to the glacial water mixed with limestone, dolomite and shale. The Falls are also causing erosion, as tens of thousands of years ago it was further up, but it has since moved over 10 kilometres south. Both governments have mitigated fast erosion by diverting the water at night and in the winter months so it doesn't erode the stone and rock too much.

Getting drenched up close to Niagara Falls

Then we took the poncho off and walked back towards Skylon Tower and past it, and we were issued red plastic ponchos before getting on the boat. Our guide advised us to stand on the bottom right side of the boat as it will turn counter-clockwise to head back and we can have a panoramic view.

However, as we got closer to the Canadian falls, we were starting to get wet very fast! My face and sunglasses were so wet, and my windbreaker was absolutely drenched. I had to periodically check to see if my phone was still working (it was). Meanwhile the roar of the Falls also demonstrated how strong the water falling was -- more than 168,000 m3 of water goes over the cliff every minute!

A fun fact is that around 4.9 million kilowatts of hydroelectricity is generated by Niagara Falls, which powers some 3.8 million households.

There's dramatic lighting at night

On the boat we saw the American side of the Falls, which is also called Bridal Veil Falls. Separating the American and Canadian sides is Goat Island, which at one time was owned by a farmer who kept goats there. Now it is a park.

It was quite the experience being on the boat ride! Luckily the weather was relatively warm so while we were drenched, our clothes and shoes dried off (except for slightly wet socks) quite quickly. 

Our tour was over, so we walked up Clifton Hill, an eclectic mix of dinosaur-themed pitch and putt, go-karts, shops selling ice cream with rainbow sprinkles, fast-food restaurants and the Niagara Skywheel where passengers sit in gondola cabins.

We split a sub sandwich as a snack before heading out for outlet shopping, dinner at Peller Estates before returning to Niagara Falls to watch the fireworks!

Fireworks on the American side

After 9pm multicoloured lights are shone on both the Canadian and American Falls, and then an hour later is a five-minute fireworks show near the American Falls. Lots of people are drawn to the nightly event and it was great to watch, even if it was only a few minutes long. We joked it was the best $5 we spent on entertainment (though it was actually for parking).

So we saw Niagara Falls during the day and night, from above and below, and right on the water. 

It may be a while before I go back there again!

Vancouver Will Have One Night of Fireworks

The city will have a fireworks show this year

What does $2 million (US$1.46 million) buy you in Vancouver?

A two or three bedroom condo in Kitsilano or downtown, or perhaps a detached house in East Vancouver.

The $2 million could be used to keep libraries open seven days a week, or give to food banks to ensure people have food to eat, fix potholes, or fund arts groups so they can hold their annual events.

But no, Mayor Ken Sim and his ABC Vancouver majority have voted to spend $2 million on fireworks for an hour this summer.

The three-day Celebration of Light, a fireworks competition that was held for three decades was cancelled indefinitely last year because of the lack of federal funding, and Sim felt it was necessary to bring it back -- kind of.

He said it was a "deeply personal" issue, claiming his family had "struggled financially" when he was young, and really looked forward to free events like the fireworks.

Sim added the city had "never pulled our support" from the fireworks, and "had already committed $1.4 million to the event", so the increase is actually $600,000.

Sounds like someone is trying to massage the numbers.

His opponents on city council were not impressed, smelling smoke.

Green councillor Pete Fry, who has also announced he will run for mayor later this year, said that the event was not financially viable.

"The reality is that it was a business model that was not sustainable," he said. "They couldn't make it work, for a variety of reasons, including the lack of federal funding. We need to recognise that we are in this austerity budget. ... We're talking about the allocation of $2 million at a time when this city has talked about a zero means zero austerity budget."

In November City Council voted for a zero percent increase in property taxes, but that meant 400 jobs cut, while utility fees for water, garbage and sewer will go up 4 percent.

Meanwhile COPE councillor Sean Orr also questioned if it was worth spending $2 million on a one-hour fireworks show.

We also wondered that too. The fireworks show would be literally burning money in the sky for an hour. And then what?

While there are complaints that Vancouver is a "no-fun city", now isn't the time to put on something so frivolous. 

It's Sim's attempt at getting in voters' good books before the upcoming civic election later this year. Will voters return the favour?

Festival Funding Going up in Smoke?

The team from Yukon lit up the skies in Vancouver last night

Last night was the first of three kicking off the Honda Celebration of Light fireworks festival at English Bay, where tens of thousands flocked to see team Yukon showing off their pyrotechnic skills.

However, there are concerns that this year may be the last one for the fireworks competition because government and corporate funding has dropped significantly.

Federal funding fell from $450,000 in 2023 to $250,000 last year and nothing next year, while provincial support has dropped from $250,000 to $100,000 next year.

There may not be enough funding for next year

The City of Vancouver covers police overtime, traffic control, and sanitation, worth about $1 million.

The annual event draws more than 1.5 million visitors and generates $40 million in economic activity for British Columbia, mostly through tourism and hospitality spending.

It costs about $3million to put on the event, and since 2010 a special ticketed area for VIPS to have a prime viewing spot with food and drink brings in about $1 million.

Organisers believe corporates are in a shaky position with the economic situation at the moment and can't commit financially at the moment, while another reason could be a lot of resources -- around $740 million -- have already been promised for next year's FIFA World Cup in Vancouver.

But it's not just the Celebration of Light that's hurting. Other events like the Vancouver International Jazz Festival has seen reduced sponsorship, while this year's Pride Parade is just barely going ahead later this year, with corporate funding slashed from $900,000 to $500,000 and provincial support from $115,000 to just $45,000.

How are festivals supposed to do more with less? There's only so much they can do, particularly when a lot of the budget is spent on security and traffic control. It's a sad situation when Vancouverites and visitors look forward to participating in these events that are big ones in the city's calendar...

The Non-Casino Macau Tour

Even the stairs are painted with cats in Macau!

After lunch at Miramar in Macau, my relatives took me on a stroll in Coloane Village. First stop was to get half a dozen egg tarts from Lord Stow's. As you approach the unassuming shop, you can smell the butter baking in the oven. 

Lord Stow's famous egg tarts

The staff have boxes of freshly-baked egg tarts ready to go and were doing a brisk business when we arrived. It wasn't busy, but a small steady stream of customers.

Then we walked along the waterfront, and in the distance you could see Zhuhai, like the distance between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. 

As we walked along the side streets, we spotted many colourful murals, many painted by art students. It's a great and inexpensive way to bring some vibrancy and character in the neighbourhood, and many visitors take pictures too. 

There are also many green thumbs in the area because in front of people's homes they had small gardens and made the most of the space they had with lots of potted plants and flowers that beautified the streets.

At one small shop selling souvenirs and coffee was a sign that said "Macau Cultural and Creative Ice Cream". We were curious to find out what this meant and asked the two staff there. One came over to where we were and pulled out the freezer to show us Macau buildings in different colours on a popsicle stick. So that's what they meant by cultural ice cream! Clever! They were 25MOP each so we didn't get one...

This pond will be filled with water lilies later

Then we walked down a mosaic staircase to Wetland in Avenida da Praia, which has a view of the giant casinos in the area: Galaxy, Morpheus, City of Dreams, Venetian and Paris to name a few. There's a giant shallow pond where later in the summer it will be filled with water lilies and lily pads. A few fish were swimming in the muddy water, but it was extremely shallow for them. 

At the other end of the pond were restored homes of Macanese officials. We were able to visit one of them that was furnished with antiques to give visitors an idea of what life was like in the 19th century.

For example the families were so religious that they had prayer benches in their bedrooms, and had religious effigies of Christ, or paintings of Christ around the home.

Nearby was also the former IEC Long Firecracker Factory. The complex is made up of several old and abandoned buildings, though no one is allowed inside them. They are one or two storey concrete huts and in between them are barriers built to hopefully prevent the spread of explosions in case any of the firecrackers were set off accidentally. 

Fireworks were manufactured in these buildings

Apparently at one point Taipa was home to five fireworks factories, but by the 1980s production slowed down. This village was set up in 1925 and closed down in 1984.

While it was a hot and humid walk, it was a great way to see the other side of Macau (the non-casino version)!

Financial Secretary's Expensive Plan to Lure Tourists

Fancy a monthly fireworks show at the tune of HK$1M each?

In an effort to revive tourism in Hong Kong, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has a brilliant idea -- hold a fireworks display once a month that will cost HK$1 million.

He said this during his annual budget address, setting aside HK$1.1 billion for monthly fireworks and drone shows over Victoria Harbour to boost visitor numbers.

But some residents are concerned that after a few times the pyrotechnic show will be boring and suggested focusing on getting big name artists to perform in the city.

Chan believes it will keep tourists in HK longer

But Chan said holding monthly fireworks and concerts were not "mutually exclusive", and that tourists could schedule their stays around the fireworks.

That would make the city flooded with tourists once a month, kind of like a mini Golden Week, but monthly.

He also left the task of making the fireworks interesting to watch to the Hong Kong Tourism Board... talk about passing the buck in case it doesn't work out...

Others felt the HK$1 million could be better spent, say, helping those residents in poverty, particularly the homeless. Why not put that HK$1.1 billion towards providing them stable low-income housing? Wouldn't that help give the impression the city was wealthy by getting the homeless off the streets?

Setting off fireworks is literally like burning money. How about putting it to good use instead?

Night Market Stalls Due to Power Supply

Struggling "night vibes" in Wan Chai from power issues

"Night Vibes Hong Kong" has kicked off in a bid to get more people out in the evenings and spending their hard-earned money, but so far it's been a struggle for vendors thanks to not enough power supply.

There are some 90 vendors, 44 of which are selling food and drinks along the Wan Chai Promenade, but on the first day there were issues with the unstable electricity supply. As a result vendors had trouble heating up food or taking electronic payments.

The night market meant to evoke dai pai dongs

One was Singaporean skewer shop Satay Pop. "They told us it would be fixed at 3pm, then it was 6pm, and now, it's still nothing," said owner Anson Lau.

Another was Christopher Prezemyski, owner of Bistro Concepts, which has several eateries in Sai Ying Pun, and at Wan Chai he was selling lobster rolls, sushi, tacos and pulled pork sliders with alcoholic drinks.

"The only issue is, I still don't have power, which is actually a little disappointing. We only have basic power for the fridge, but for our hot foods, it's still not working."

He was unable to reheat or steam some of his food offerings as he had prepared to cook with electricity, though the government had allowed vendors to cook with an open fire, in a bid to evoke a dai pai dong atmosphere...

It seems like the Hong Kong government hadn't thought out the logistics of having 90 vendors and the amount of power needed in an area that only has a few spotlights along the harbourfront. 

Government officials hope this helps revive HK

To add insult to injury, vendors were shocked when they were told not to run their businesses on the evening of October 1 when a National Day fireworks display will finally be put on after a five-year absence.

On that day the open-air market will be open from 10am to 4pm and then the vendors will have to close for crowd control measures.

They said the move was "ridiculous". One vendor said it was ironic that the night market was to entice people to come out, and that the market and the fireworks complemented each other.

With the night market closed that night, vendors would be forced to watch the fireworks as people walked past their "closed" stalls.

It's quite amazing that Hongkongers are willing to take a chance on setting up stalls like this and encountering so many issues. Is it because they are desperate to make a buck or they see the potential in a government-run initiative?

Hong Kong's Late Night Bang for Your Buck

Lots of smiley-face fireworks on October 1 this year

Post-Covid there's revenge traveling, revenge shopping and in Hong Kong, revenge fireworks.

It has been yonks since the city has had fireworks. They were cancelled in October 2019 because of the protests and then the Covid-19 pandemic happened soon after.

So the upcoming National Day holiday fireworks are going to be nothing short of a blast. 

Tai Hang Fire Dragon returns in late September

The 23-minute display will be fired off from an unprecedented nine Victoria Harbour launch points (three barges and six pontoons), and will cost HK$18 million (US$2.3 million). 

The fireworks show is part of the Hong Kong government's bid to revitalise the city's nightlife, with various activities and events to encourage people to go out in the evenings.

They include having museums like the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong Science Museum and Hong Kong Space Museum open until 10pm; the Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance for three days around the Mid-Autumn Festival; Lunar New Year fairs open until the early hours; shopping vouchers that can only be used in the evenings; and night bazaars held in the promenades at Wan Chai, Kennedy Town and Kwun Tong.

Even attractions like Ocean Park and Disneyland need to stay open later, free admission to the Happy Valley Racecourse on Wednesday nights, and late night movie tickets. Oh and to help you get around, you can have a free ride for every five rides taken after 10.30pm, and free parking in some shopping malls.

Hong Kong Museum of Art to open late

While we appreciate the effort to create things to do, looking at the offerings they are piecemeal and pretty pathetic. Who wants to go to the Museum of Art at 9pm? Wouldn't you rather go to M+? And the night bazaars don't sound appealing... what are they going to be selling? 

The effort to promote nightlife in Hong Kong may backfire, as overcrowding may discourage people from gathering... or I maybe totally proven wrong! 

Picture of the Day: The Philippines' Fireworks

Stunning fireworks lit up the sky

Just came back from another amazing spectacle of fireworks at the Celebration of Light, this time by the Philippines competing for the first time and the country did not disappoint.

There were an array of pyrotechnics that wowed the crowd, and it was the large explosions that got loud cheers and claps. The show was better than Mexico's in terms of its pacing, and number of fireworks, though I didn't watch Australia last Saturday.

Nevertheless there seemed to be a lot more people out on the streets tonight at English Bay, as evidenced by the massive lines for the porta potties! 

Picture of the Day: Celebration of Light with Mexico

Dazzling fireworks from Mexico this evening

The annual Celebration of Light has returned to Vancouver where different countries compete in showing off their best pyrotechnics in the sky.

Tens of thousands gathered at English Bay early to grab a spot and watch the sunset before the fireworks began at 10pm.

There were tons of people, as the Chinese expression goes, 人山人海, basically meaning "people everywhere". There were several food trucks lined up next to each other, and each one having a queue of hungry customers for hotdogs, popcorn, Thai food, and tacos. 

We are lucky to have an amazing view of the dazzling spectacle, though we too had to arrive early before the roads were closed off to traffic.

While the half-hour show wasn't as full-on as Australia's was, there were lots of interesting shapes and colours as well as a variety of fireworks on display from Mexico.

Closing off the event on Saturday is the Philippines, making its debut this year. 

Hong Kong's Nightlife Perks Up

People visiting bars and nightclubs no longer need RAT tests

Hong Kong's re-opening continues with bars and nightclubs thrilled at the news that its patrons no longer need to show a negative rapid antigen test to enter, or at cinemas, museums, amusement parks and performance venues. 

While the cap on banquets at 240 people has been lifted (how did they even come up with that number?), the rules that a maximum of 12 per table and wearing masks in public still remain.

Lee will visit Beijing on Wednesday

It seems the Hong Kong government doesn't seem to care how the lifting of social-distancing measures has had on the healthcare system, with over 14,500 new infections, 4,105 need to be hospitalised. That said there are 41 patients in ICU.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu warned the number of people receiving hospital treatment surged to over 4,000 -- four times the figure of when arrivals to Hong Kong underwent "0+3".

"The consideration is that we have to gradually open up while putting the risk under control," he said during a press conference announcing he would travel to Beijing on Wednesday until Saturday.

On the agenda? Talks to reopen the border with China, and ask about the progress for Beijing for its interpretation of the national security law on whether overseas counsel were allowed to take part in relevant cases, and in this case Jimmy Lai Chee-ying.

But back to the lifting of Covid-19 rules -- people can finally freely patronise bars and nightclubs, and restaurants and hotels are doing brisk business, why is it that people can't gather to watch fireworks still?

The government released a notice saying the 2023 Lunar New Year fireworks display would be cancelled. 

Yet another lunar new year without fireworks

"While there have been adjustments to the anti-epidemic measures recently, allowing the staging of more large-scale activities in society, this year's Lunar New Year Fireworks Display could not be organised in time, as it normally takes two to three months to arrange," it said.

Seems like the government was either caught completely off guard by the recent developments or it's a cost-saving measure. Either way it has sucked out the fun of the upcoming Year of the Rabbit already.

Booming Light Display

The show began with a big red boom

After two years of the pandemic shut down large gatherings, the Celebration of Light, a fireworks competition is back on in Vancouver.

Three countries compete, and this year it's Japan, Canada and Spain in this order. Last Saturday it was the Land of the Rising Sun, and today it's Canada's turn.

We had the opportunity to go to a family friend's apartment right by the water in the West End where we could get a totally unobstructed view of the barge. However, that meant getting there very early as the police close the roads. 

Lovely sunset this evening in the West End

It says 7pm but we got there at 6pm and they were already blocked off and no officers manning them so we had to drive through an alley to get to the apartment building.

We brought dinner with us and heated it up, chatted for a while and then had our meal of ribs, rice with Chinese sausage, chicken and mushroom, and stirfried vegetables. 

Then we had to wait and wait and wait for the sun to go down -- for the show to start at 10pm.

We were not disappointed! As there has been no fireworks in Hong Kong (OK except for tiny ones on midnight January 1 this year), I've been looking forward to seeing this show. 

There's two barges attached to each other lengthwise, hardly like the three to four barges in Hong Kong.

Nevertheless the crowd seemed much more appreciative here, with people hollering and boats in the area blowing horns.

There were a few fireworks I hadn't seen before, including half circles, and even a rectangular-shaped one! The Canadian team made good use of the low-flying fireworks as an opportunity for the skies above to clear a bit, and some red fireworks even landed in the water and continued to glow for quite a while.

Enjoyed the view from up here

After it was all over, the crowds started leaving, but we had to wait until the area was cleared, which meant waiting at least another hour and a half. So we cut up a sweet watermelon and enjoyed several slices before finally the roads were cleared and most people had gone.

Late night but it was still worth it for the view!