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This is Part 3 of the Niagara Falls Canada trip. Here are part 1 and part 2. The following photos were taken on Wednesday, August 25, 2005—my last third day at UWO (University of Western Ontario) for my NORTH dental research.

This album showcases 360º aerial views of entire City Niagra and Niagra Falls Parks from the top of Skylon Tower. The ticket costs $11.50 CAD including taxes. The weather was super nice and sunny that day, so the views were magnificent and spectacular. I could actually see the Toronto CN Tower and the nearby dome-shaped Rogers Centre from Skylon Tower. No kidding!!! In addition, skyscrapers in Buffalo could also be seen from Skylon. Simply amazing. I took pictures of CN Tower and Buffalo highrises, so you can see them for yourself from my photo album. However, the photo resolution isn’t as great as in-situ observation of the eyes. I could see them very clearly from the tower, but the photos may not be as clear.

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Last December, I applied for CADR-IMHA Student Research Awards Competition. CADR, Canadian Association for Dental Research; IMHA, Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis from CIHR (Canadian Institutes of Health Research). I didnt expect I would win this award, although I did hope for one. Last night I received an email from CADR-IMHA, indicating that I am the second place for the Junior Category of the award. So happy. The first place goes to someone that I knew during my North Dental Research at University of Western Ontario; that is, Andrei Ionescu.

Here are the result and recipients of the 2005-06 CADR-IMHA Student Research Awards Competition. Two of the following six winners will further receive Hatton Award—a travel grant to IADR (International Association of Dental Research) conference in Brisbane, Australia from June 28 to July 1, 2006. Please note the second recipient from the top.

Category Junior

(first place) IONESCU, Andrei - U Western Ontario
(second place) TSAI, Sam – U Alberta

Category Senior - Basic Science

(first place) VAN BEEK, Jonathan – U Western Ontario
(second place) VIRDEE, Inderpreet – U Toronto

Category Clinical or Public Health

(first place) CHERETAKIS, Chrisovalantou – U Toronto
(second place) LAGRAVERE, Manuel – U Alberta

Andrei is a UBC dental student and was also a NORTH student this past summer at UWO. That was how I got to know him. Some similar situations happened to us both. We are from other universities (me, university of alberta; him, university of british columbia), but both of us did summer research at UWO. Both of us were NORTH research students. After the research, we went back home on the same day and on the same flight unknowingly. Now, we applied to the same award and got the same award unknowingly once again. I didn’t know he applied for the award until I saw his name in the email. How coincidental!

Ok, below are Andrei’s pictures.
At Caffe Demetre, eating dinner and ice cream.

At Toronto Pearson International Airport, just got off the plane.

A huge TV screen at Toronto Airport.

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This is Part 3 of the Niagara Falls Canada trip. Part 1 and 2 are filed under NORTH dental research category. The following photos were taken on Wednesday, August 25, 2005—my last third day at UWO (University of Western Ontario) for my NORTH dental research.

This particular album features a walk behind Niagara Falls and the horseshoe view of the falls. Magnificent view, especially standing right beside where the water starts to fall.

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This is Part 2 of the Niagara Falls Canada trip. Part 1 can be viewed here. The following photos were taken on Wednesday, August 25, 2005—my last third day at UWO (University of Western Ontario) for my NORTH dental research.

This particular album showcases a ride on Maid of the Mist Steamboat. Actually it’s not a steamboat because I didn’t see any steam coming from the boat. Don’t know why it’s called such. Perhaps real steamboats were used in the past. Pictures show close-up views of American Falls, Canadian Falls, Observation Tower (USA side), and the Rainbow Bridge (USA-Canadian Bridge). Rapid torrents under the Canadian Falls. What a thrill. Everyone who goes to Niagara Falls takes this ride. It’s a must on the to-do list. Unforgettable experiences. BTW, I didn’t use a water-proof camera to capture these images, though. Just a regular digital camera. So, how did I protect my camera from the water and mist?

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The following photos were taken on Wednesday, August 25, 2005—my last third day at UWO (University of Western Ontario) for my NORTH dental research.

My supervisor was very generous, giving me an extra day off, so that I can visit Niagara Falls since it’s so close to London. When I was at Niagara Falls, I took >500 photos during that single day. I took Greyhound bus from London via Toronto to Niagara Falls. Since there wasn’t any direct bus from London to Niagara Falls, I had to pass Toronto. Hence, a 2-hour trip became 4-hour. Two hours from London to Toronto and then another two from Toronto to Niagara Falls. When I told this fact to people in the lab, all of them were shocked to find out it took 4 hours from London to Niagara Falls, since it takes only 1.5-2 hours from London to Toronto and London is even closer to Niagara than Toronto.

When I booked my trip, I wasn’t sure how big Niagara Falls is and how many scenic sites there are. So, I booked an early trip in hope to see the entire Niagara in one day. I took Greyhound at 4am in the morning, which means I woke up at 3am. That’s early. By the time, I got there it’s 8:50am. Yep, the bus was late. Unsure where I was heading after getting off at a Greyhound station, I trusted my gut, followed the sun, and headed toward south in search of the Falls. Initially I thought I was going in the wrong direction, because I couldn’t find any sign of the Falls, except for many residential houses. I expected there would be lots of people, shops, restaurants, etc, but all I saw was a very quite place with lots of residential houses. Then I saw a lady watering her garden and asked her the direction to Downtown. She said, “That way,” with a finger pointing toward north. Apparently my face showed a puzzled, shocking expression. She then asked, “Where are you going?” I was hesitant a few seconds because initially I wanted to say “Niagara Falls”, but the entire place is called Niagara Falls itself. That wouldn’t help me if I said that. I’d better come up with a unique name, hence I told her Read the rest of this entry »

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