Universal Orlando Resort - Day 0 - City Walk

Arrived an hour late due to a mechanical problem with the plane, then delay at the airport as the shuttle ticket agent had a problem with our transportation voucher. Westjet vacations have not started off on the right foot...

Check-in at the Loews Royal Pacific was a breeze - whew. The rooms are adequate, but no balcony so you have to head to the pool area to relax outside. Not great if you just want to have a drink and relax in privacy. Also, had dinner in the hotel and it was a little disappointing for the cost.

However, there is a small games room for the kids with a few interesting video games, enough to keep them occupied for a little while in the evening.

Headed to City Walk to check out the stores, restaurants, etc. and found quite a lot of selection and interesting things to see and do. More mature than Disney, which is a theme we will continue to see over the next couple of days.

Factory Theatre - Iceland

A tragic intersection of three lives, flashes back to illuminate why and how each character ended up at this point.

The acting was superb. Highly charged emotional dialogue was balanced with tongue in cheek humour, and slow, thoughtful drama. All three performers were strong and authentic.

I definitely recommend you see this show !

Off Mirvish - Dancing with Rage (Mary Walsh)

Mary objected to the reference "fearless" as this connotes without fear and that is not who she is. But to us, however humble and so comfortable in her own skin, she is fearless in how she takes on controversial characters, both in her skits and in real life as she accosts them on the street. With plenty of references to these various encounters (are you going to call 411) and lots of self deprecating jokes and political jabs and more than a cameo from the princess warrior, Mary kept us laughing all evening.

A nice surprise at the end, where Mary Walsh was awarded the ACTRA Women of the Year award, timely for the one day a year where women are recognized - International Women's Day (you had to be there ...)

The show just opened, so get your tickets quickly, before they are sold out .....

National Geographic Live - Catherine Karnow - Journey to Vietnam

We really enjoyed this third segment of the series. The photos of Vietnam Nam included breath-taking scenery, gorgeous people, abject poverty and exploitive riches. The photo of the magnificent high rise office tower with only two floors lit and a helipad that could not be used as the wind would whip any helicopter trying to land into the side of the building is a stark example of the skills shortage and corruption at high levels, holding back development. Fascinating.

CanStage - Spotlight Japan - Sayonara and I, Worker

Sayonara - Pretty awesome android. The short vignette with the replica female android was somewhat eery as her responses were strangely conversational, yet stilted in the way one might expect. The android was soothing and quite fascinating.

I, Worker - I loved these little robots. Parallel love stories, with two robot servants who look after the needs of their human "clients", who are experiencing some marital discord, while at the same time trying to understand how to deal with their own emerging feelings for each other. Very sweet.

CanStage - Spotlight Japan - Haptic and Holistic Strata

Haptic - I don't get modern dance and I certainly didn't get this. With electronic music, more like very loud buzzing and beeps, and rapid movements of alternating limbs, I found this to be pretty vapid. Although the dancer was superb, in his fluidity and execution.

Holistic Strata - The stage was simply a completely white floor and back wall, perfect to provide a very cool effect with projections of graphics across the entire space. Dots were splayed all over, like stars, and they alternated in volume and tempo. Set to electronic music, at the beginning the dance movements were very slow, but then they began to speed up with the graphics and it all really came alive. Really interesting visual effects, both in the display and in the concurrence with the dance.

Toronto Festival - Icefest

My daughter and I wandered over to the eighth annual Bloor-Yorkville ice carving competition, which offered delicious hot snacks and drinks from exotic outdoor vendors (not your typical hot dog carts here), to consume while wandering along Cumberland street perusing the ice sculptures. I was surprised to see such Iincredible activity with crowds of people taking their pictures with the sculptures. A very nice way to spend an hour or two in a lovely area of town....