happy steps

“If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know.”
Louis Armstrong

One thing that Pori is famous for is its annual international jazz festival which started in the year 1966 and since then is known throughout Europe as a prestigious music festival. This year is the 43rd festival which kicked off last July 12 and will end until the 20th. Various concerts are held simultaneously in different locations within Pori, with the main stage and arena at Kirjurinluoto Park, and more concerts held daily at the JazzStreet along the Kokemäenjoki river, the Radio Nova stage, Klubi, Theatre, Otava Factory and other venues.

Being an international music festival, it has drawn many notable performers such as Miles Davis, Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Sting and lots more. This year’s event highlights performances by Santana, Bob Geldof, Shaggy and Mary J Blige and tickets are already sold out.
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This sunshiny summer month of July is a great time for vacation and entertainment. At Wildwood New Jersey, an exciting series of concerts will be held at Morey’s Piers amusement park. Aside from being New Jersey’s largest, with many rides, concessions and having two beachfront waterparks, Morey’s Piers is a good place for Wildwood events, beach parties, educational class trips, musical shows, school affairs and more.
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The Rauma Biennale Balticum 2008 art festival is currently ongoing at the Rauma Art Museum in Old Rauma, Finland. The exhibition, which started last June 14 and will end on September 21, features prominent Biennale artists such as Aija Zarina, Krista Leesi, Lutz Mommartz, Malgorzata Markiewicz and many others with this year’s theme ‘Flower Power’ which showcases a blend of contemporary art and tropical inspiration.
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The upcoming championships for the Wimbledon tennis tournaments will be starting soon on June 23 next week with the top three seeds for the Gentlemen’s Singles being Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic and the Ladies’ Singles top seeds are Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Maria Sharapova. So who among them are your favorite tennis stars?

Tennis enthusiasts and fans of these top seeds would surely not want to miss this series of exciting events and travel all the way to England to see the action live on the courts. I bet they have already bought some Wimbledon tournament tickets months ahead before they would be sold out.
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What’s up in Canada next month? My cousin who’s based in this country famous for its Niagara Falls told me that it is gearing up for the Canadian Grand Prix 2008. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the event to be held at the legendary circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal on June 6-8, 2008. The open house will be on Thursday June 5th from 9 in the morning till 1 in the afternoon. Lots of grand prix fans from all over the country and even abroad are expected to watch the show. It would be great to watch this exciting show but I’ve already made my own travel plans to Europe.

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“Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible.”
Marion C. Garretty

Throughout the world, Mother’s Day is celebrated on different days. In Thailand it coincides with Queen Sirikit’s birthday on August 12, while it’s December 8 in Panama, second Sunday of June in Luxembourg and December 22 in Indonesia. Most countries such as the US, Australia, Canada, Finland, Czech Republic and the Philippines celebrate it every second Sunday of May, thus it’s going to be May 11 for 2008.

This lunch time, while my sis was feeding her baby, I commented to her that a baby’s life is uncomplicated - just eat, sleep, play, cry, giggle and do her usual heartwarming antics. It made me think of how our Mom cared for us when we were still kids – from changing diapers, to giving baths and feeding us. Being a mother truly entails a lot of patience and understanding. It is just fitting that they are being honored and given recognition on a special day every year.

I’m sure the malls will be busy with shoppers looking for gifts for their mothers and anticipating some clothing or jewelry sale, and the restaurants will be filled up on that day as well. For those who want to give something special and lasting, without leaving the comforts of their homes, they can browse online for Mothers Day jewelry at MyJewelryBox.com where they have a Mother’s Day jewelry gift guide with items categorized into diamond flowers, pearls collection, birthstones collection and more. Those who are on limited budget can shop by price range.

Mother’s Day gifts such as jewelry are long-lasting and should be handled well. Aside from their wide range of products (emerald pendants, diamond rings, gold earrings, gemstone bracelets, bangles and more), MyJewelryBox.com also provides an educational page about diamonds, gemstones, gold and silver and how to properly care for your jewelry collection. Mothers would surely love receiving gifts such as this, though it’s really the thoughtfulness of the giver that counts, whether you bake her favorite chocolate cake or simply give her lots of hugs and kisses.

What’s up in Negros Occidental? It’s a week-long event that’s not to be missed by the Negrosanons, the Panaad Festival which is dubbed as the “mother of all festivals”. This annual event showcases the arts and culture, tourist attractions and local products of the different towns and municipalities in the province of Negros Occidental, from faraway places such as Kabankalan, Himamaylan, Toboso and Calatrava to nearby cities Talisay and Bacolod.

Held at the Panaad Park and Stadium, this festival just started last Saturday April 26 and will end on May 3. This year’s highlight is the special tribute to the late Gov. Joseph Maranon and the SMART PBA All-Star games held at the West Negros College.

Note: Above images were taken April 2006 and featured in my other blog ideasnpink’s Tatak Negros (Proudly Negros Made). This year’s Panaad Festival photo from happysteps? Not yet…I will be posting soon after our visit there within this week. Stay tuned.

Update: We haven’t gone to the Panaad Festival as expected because of our hectic schedule. sigh.

Aside from boxing events, another entertaining show to watch in Las Vegas is the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). Mainly sponsored by Wrangler, this is a big event to look forward to every December. Organized by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), this year’s Golden Anniversary event on December 4 to 13 will be even bigger. To be held at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, this Super Bowl of Rodeo is a must-see for rodeo fans. I bet they will be buying ahead those Wrangler National Finals Rodeo tickets before they will be sold out.
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Some of the reasons for travel and going places are not only for sightseeing but for attending important events as well – concerts by your favorite artists and stars and must-see shows such as boxing matches are big tourism attractions too.

This year, another big sports event to watch out for by boxing fans is the upcoming rematch of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya who did one of the richest boxing fights last May 5, 2007 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Arena in Nevada. Where will the September rematch be this year? According to Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, the site could be at the 27,000-seat Home Depot Center or the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, though other venues are interested to host this big event. The fight would also be on HBO pay-per-view for those who can’t travel all the way to see it live.

For those who are big fans and plan on watching the rematch live where the action is, just remember that those Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Oscar De La Hoya tickets are selling hot, so it’s best to buy them before they will be sold out. Being a boxing fan, I bet this would be another show Dad would be looking forward to watch on TV.

I have been reading in the news about this year’s business process outsourcing (BPO)trade show. It’s the 2008 E-Services Global Sourcing Conference and Exhibition recently held at SMX Convention Center, Philippines last Feb. 11-12 participated by over 100 exhibitors. During this e-Services conference, fifteen regional information and communications technology hubs were being promoted as potential areas for offshore outsourcing services giving offshore outsourcers a wider choice of location, not just Metro Manila. These 15 regional hubs will have their own trade show displays, the cost of which is said to be subsidized by Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

I haven’t visited this E-services exhibition. But I’m assuming that some of the trade show booths were built using the portable collapsible or compact modular truss that can be easily set up without tools. Or they have one of those telescoping banner stands that can be used as a single or double sided unit, and with the horizontal and vertical telescopic poles that allows the exhibitor to present banner graphics from specified width and height. I hope the exhibition was able to showcase the investment readiness of cities outside Metro Manila and outsourcers have now chosen where to invest.

It’s another year for us, another page in our lives. 2008 brings much hope, and I say it with a lot of positivity, especially with regards to my travel plans. *winks*

The first evening of January was the schedule for Talisay city’s annual fireworks display. Everybody was in anticipation of this great event which was held at the old municipal building grounds. The skies didn’t cooperate though when it rained heavily and the event didn’t start as scheduled. Oh well, we also planned that evening to go the city to witness the affair and I even thought of bringing my camera. The rains took away our enthusiasm as we content ourselves with watching it later in the evening at our backyard. The next day, one of our friends told us there were still many people who watched despite getting soaked in the rain.

Anyway, let’s just have some reminiscing. I’m sharing with you these photos taken from the same event last New Year 2006.

The skies were clear that time and lots of cars and people were on the streets. We joined the other residents watching the spectacular display while exclaiming our ‘wows’.

Photo credits: Bytes of Cookie