Interesting ten travel destinations in Canada

If we walk in Canada, there is a region which offers many interesting sights diversity. Ontario .. yes it is the most populous province in the country of Canada. However, the province offers many diverse tourist vacation spot of fun and exciting.Here are 10 suggestions if you are visiting Canada.
Pelee Island
Pelee Island is a charming place for hiking, biking, swimming, and shopping. There are also some cultural and historical sites to explore such as Pelee Island Winery, the Pelee Island Heritage Centre, and ancient Native North American Indian site known as Hulda's Stone.

The Elora Gorge
Elora Gorge is located on Grand River and is famous for excellent fishing. It's quite an impressive sight to see the river flowing. Besides the nearby cliff is about 70 feet tall and gives a great view of the ascent to the place and you will find under the water is full of tubers.

The Grand River
The Grand is one of the largest rivers in southern Ontario. The river flows through several communities such as Elora, Grand Valley, Fergus, Cambridge, Waterloo, Paris, Kitchener, Brantford, Cayuga and Caledonia. This is ideal for fishing, canoeing, and kayaking. There are also many camping and conservation areas along the river that provides approximately 2,500 campsites for outdoor enthusiasts.

Webster Falls, Hamilton +
Niagara Webster would not also known as Niagara Falls, but it's one of the most popular locations to visit in the province. This is an ideal location as a sunny day and quite easy to reach. There are two drops suspended over the main waterfall and you'll find an old stone bridge that crosses over Spencer Creek.
Rouge Park
Rouge Park sitting just to the east of Toronto, Canada's largest city. This is the perfect place to escape to if you want to go from the hustle and bustle of the city. You will find path for biking and hiking along the beautiful Red River. This park offers a rustic life in the big city.

Manitoulin Island
Charming island sits on Lake Huron. This is actually known as the largest freshwater lake in the world. You will find one of the most popular sites are the Bridal Veil Falls trail. There are also a 1.5 mile stretch of the dramatic cliffs that reach more than 200, known as the Cup and Saucer. Already there are some beautiful wilderness area here making it ideal for fishing and hiking.
Grand Bend
This small town cottage situated on the shores of Lake Huron. Has beautiful beaches, many restaurants and bars, shopping, golf courses and a racecourse. This town is a popular summer tourist destination coast, where ii is quite popular among young adults.
Niagara-on-the-Lake
Picturesque town of Niagara-on-the-Lake sits a few miles down river from Niagara Falls. This is very strange and offers beautiful gardens, markets, spa, and wine tours. There is a planet of shops, cafés, and restaurants as well as professional theater to comedy and drama performances and festivals.
Collingwood
Collingwood popular destination in summer as in winter huts and a ski area. However, the Scenic Caves Nature Adventures, which is one of the newest attractions in the province. You will be able to enjoy the breathtaking caves and foot suspension bridge here.
Niagara Falls
No trip to Ontario would be complete without a visit to Niagara Falls popular and historic. This place has everything, including museums, casinos, upscale restaurants and hotels, attractions, parks, shopping, theme parks, marine parks, towers, and of course, Niagara Falls.sekamat enjoy your holiday .. hopefully this article useful ..

Of Lightsabers, Awards And Other Miscellaneous Stuff

Hey, everyone! How's it going? Does anyone have any houses I can clean? No, seriously. I've spent the last two days cleaning houses (one due to renovations, the other because some friends of ours were moving -- and that meant we had to clean both of their houses. At least our house is clean.

Barriss on her blog Opine of Mine has awarded me with... *checks stats* The Jedi Master Award! Thanks, Barriss! To accept it, I must answer seven questions.

1. Who is your Jedi Master?

Hmmm. Well, I would like to say Ferus Olin, but since he never made it to Knight, I'll go with Galen Marek.

*receives suspicious stares* What?

2. What is your Jedi name?

*laughs* My real name (not my screen name) is actually used at least three times in the Star Wars Universe, and, yes, one time, it's for a Jedi. (I'm also a Queen, and I can't remember where I read the third one.)

I seem to be in quite the pickle here, as I'm not going to give out my real name. Let's just say my name is Scarlett -- like my Master, I live under code names.

3. What's your lightsaber color?

Blue.

4. What is your home planet?

Onderon. (hinthint)

5. What is the name of your ship?

Well, it's technically not my ship, as Galen refuses to let me fly after that "incident" near the black hole, but I practically live in the Rogue Shadow.

6. Which war do you fight in?

*facepalm* I'm so embarrassed to be saying this, but I can't remember what the war is that takes place in the Original Trilogy. A little help here? I think I'm thinking of the Galactic Civil War...?

7. Who is your worst enemy?

Darth Sidious.

8. Will you stay loyal to the Jedi?

*roguish grin* Look at my Master. I'm no Jedi. Of course I'm not loyal to them.

Now I must award five people.

Leauphaun gets the Jedi Padawan Award, since she'll be accepting this award on her Day In The Life Of An Artist blog, which is much younger than her other blogs. *shouts* You hear me, Leauphaun??

I don't know if Ley Firewalker has been awarded this yet, but I'm giving it to her anyway.

And anyone else who wants to take this, since not all of my follows are into Star Wars.

Here are the guidelines for the award:

In order to win the Jedi Padawan Award, your blog must be 3 months old.

In order to win the Jedi Knight Award, your blog must be at least 8 months old.

In order to win the Jedi Master Award, your blog must be at least a year old.

In order to win the Dark Jedi (Sith) Award, your blog must be at least 7 months old.

Oh, yeah, and Happy Canada Day!!! Eat some poutine in honor of Canada, eh?

Not entirely sure what a penguin has to do with Canada, since penguins live in Antarctica (maybe in honor of Sidney Crosby?), but he is kinda cute.

~God Bless~

Gallup Releases Latest National Wellbeing Poll Results

Gallup's deserted front desk. Apparently everyone
was out doing surveys. From The Woodlands Texas.

The Atlantic reports that Gallup, one of the world's leading statistical organizations, has released its 2010 list of countries ranked by wellbeing. Here are the top five, along with how many of its citizens are "thriving" by their own admission:

1. Denmark:  72% thriving
2. Sweden:  69% thriving
3. Canada:  69% thriving
4. Australia:  65% thriving
5. Finland:  64% thriving

Some other interesting factoids:  the U.S. ranks 12th with 59%, which is between Panama and Austria. Also, the United Kingdom ranks 17th with 54%, which is just ahead of Qatar, but just below the United Arab Emirates. It'll be interesting to see if the U.K.'s rank improves once its Gross National Happiness measures kick into gear. As far as I know, none of the countries in the top five has official measures like that (except possibly Canada in the future).

Like the gap between the rich and the poor, there is also a huge gap in wellbeing. In 19 countries, the majority of citizens consider themselves to be thriving, yet in a whopping 67 countries, that percentage falls below 25. Russia is one of these, with 24% of its population thriving. So is China with 12%, which is even lower than Iraq, Libya, and Tunisia. The Chinese government apparently has a long way to go if they're serious about focusing on happiness (which they probably aren't).

The African nation of Chad comes in at the bottom of the list with only 1% of its population thriving. Of course, there may be worse countries out there, but those aren't even well enough to report statistics.

Happy Voters More Likely to Vote

Hmm, yes, this picture confirms the research!
From NY Daily News.

Today The Montreal Gazette reports that people who are happy are more likely to vote. This information comes from research to be published in a forthcoming issue of The Journal of Happiness Studies. The researchers compared American survey respondents' voting habits and political participation (displaying a yard sign or working for a campaign, etc.) with their overall happiness. They found a positive correlation, even when controlling for income, sex, race, education, and interest in government.

According to study authors Patrick Flavin and Michael J. Keane, these results ran counter to their original hypothesis. "We went in with the theory that people who were satisfied with their lives would be less likely to participate; they're doing fine, so there's less reason to get involved in politics or to change the status quo," says Flavin. "But we found that people who (said) that they were very satisfied, as compared to not very satisfied, were about seven percentage points more likely to vote."

This perhaps means that once a country reaches a certain level of stability and prosperity, happy citizens can vote on things they didn't have time to care about previously--like the environment--so they come to the polls in greater numbers. The researchers add that that the results do not work the other way around; in other words, there is no evidence that voting increases happiness.

It seems kind of backward, since you would think that unhappy people would want to vote for change, but that's apparently the way it is! (You can read the actual 30-page study in PDF format here.)

Puppet Show Teaches Pakistani Children about Peace and Happiness

From TheSpec.

Today TheSpec reports on a new puppet/storytelling/art show that aims to teach the children of Pakistan about peace and happiness, states of mind that children in especially war-torn regions may have never experienced.

As Jahan Zeb, the project leader, says, "When we were growing up, there was peace. There was happiness in those villages … towns and cities. Now our children, our (second and third) generations, they don’t know. Was there happiness? Was there some hope? They don’t believe. They don’t know what is hope."

Zeb became motivated to start a peace project when the Taliban took over the Swat region of Pakistan, where his wife's family lived. He created the Art and Peace Education Exchange (or APEX) with Journey of Peace.

The project itself is a 16-part series of stories told through puppets. The stories deal with a displaced Afghan family and have been included in the school curricula of Afghanistan provinces Kandahar, Kabul, and Samangan since 2007. In Pakistan, the stories will be translated and adapted from dealing with landmines, which are prevalent in Afghanistan, to dealing with terrorism and suicide bombing.

The project just had their first show in Canada at The Pearl Company.

Germany Apparently Wants to Copy Rest of World, Measure Happiness

A view from Munich. From Geographic Guide.

According to this story from The Swedish Wire, Germany may join fellow bandwagon members Britain, France, and Canada in measuring Gross National Happiness. Speaker of parliament Norbert Lammert led the happiness committee, which will give its recommendations two-and-a-half years from now. They are considering a method that would survey quality of life along with GDP.

As many of you probably know by now, Bhutan has been the trend setter when it comes to happiness measures. They've measured Gross National Happiness since 1972, an unorthodox choice for a developing country. In the past few months, we've seen a flurry of countries start to think about national happiness measures for some reason. Why are they starting now? I have no idea, but maybe the economic depression has something to do with it.

Take a look at my Gross National Happiness tag for the most recent happenings on this topic.

Canada May Also Jump On Gross National Happiness Train

Here is the royal Canadian coat of arms,
in case you care about things like coats of arms.
From The Canadian Design Resource.

Tired of Canadian news yet? Good, here's some more:  according to The Globe and Mail, a group of experts in Ottawa has convened to discuss whether Canada should join Britain, France, and trend-setter Bhutan in measuring Gross National Happiness.

Mel Cappe, head of the Institute for Research on Public Policy, says he would welcome Gross National Happiness metrics because GDP numbers reward the production of stuff, which just leads to high volumes of garbage. The idea could still use some tweaking, but British Prime Minister David Cameron's endorsement of GNH has meant a lot. "The fact that Cameron said what he said is really a sea change," says Cappe.

Not everyone is on board, however. Don Drummond, another member of the convention, says that measurement of GDP does not necessarily mean that governments only pursue money. For him, voter happiness is already built into the election process itself, so there's no need for another metric.

These are all interesting points, but we'll have to wait and see what happens. Canadians, it's up to you!

Marriage Links Happiness Levels Between Spouses

You'd better like how your fiancée feels, because they'll be
your emotions soon enough! From Public Records Search. 

Are you often in the same mood as your spouse? You're not alone. According to the Calgary Herald, married couples share happiness levels as long as they're together. The University of British Columbia's Christiane Hoppmann led the study of existing self-reported mood data from Seattle, Washington. The data came from 178 married couples between 1956 and 1991.

Compared to data of random pairs of men and women, married couples show a closer link in happiness. Hoppmann says, "Not only did spouses report similar levels of happiness when they entered the study, but when there were changes in happiness in one spouse, that did have an effect on the other spouse as well." These effects may take place because spouses share many of the same experiences and same stressors.

The study does leave room for speculation, however, because it did not look at same-sex marriages or long-term unmarried couples, though Hoppmann theorizes that the results would likely be the same.

Toronto is Canada's Least Happy City

Feeling sad yet? From wallpaperbase.

Hey everyone, guess what:  holiday's over. We'll have to wait an ENTIRE month for the next one, so get back to work!

As you're shuffling to your jobs, be happy. Why? Because you don't live in Toronto. According to this story from The Star, Torontonians are the least happy citizens in Canada. These results come from a study called Does Money Matter?: Determining the Happiness of Canadians.

The researchers theorize that Toronto's low happiness scores come from its long commute times (sometimes reaching two hours), high stress levels, and lack of community feeling due to sky-scraper living. It is also Canada's "immigrant capitol," which effects happiness because immigrants often have difficulty finding jobs.

If you DO live in Toronto, take heart:  Canada is still an excellent place to live. It often ranks among the five happiest countries in the world, and is the happiest member of G7. If the big city is REALLY getting you down, however, you might think about moving to the North Shore of Vancouver.

So how was everyone's Thanksgiving? I didn't really do much, since I'm half the country away from my family, but I'd still like to hear about everyone else. Then it'll be like YOU are my family! AWWW!