Jernie's Hub

The Suites

The Family Suite. Check this link for other types of suites:
http://www.greatwolf.com/niagara/suites/suites

We were all so excited when we had a glimpse of the water park from the elevator area. We first stopped to collect our towels and proceed to the park area. The place is amazingly beautiful and huge. We had to deposit our cameras in the lockers provided inside the park so we could all go together for the rides. There are quite a number of activity areas around and every area has a dedicated Life Guard who looks after everyone. They give the parents the freedom to enjoy the activities instead of watching their kids. But of course the toddlers cannot be left alone.

The Rainbow Lake ( a wave pool). I love this, it is so much fun surfing with the waves.

Recreation Pool. The family can enjoy basketball games and other fun activities here.

Kiddie slides area.Grizzly, Eagle, and Bobcat Falls- the Three tube slides covering 1,100ft. Twisting inside and outside the Lodge before dropping into a plunge pool below.

The bar by the Rainbow Lake.

Kiddie tube rides

The Canada Vortex, this ride though short but exciting. You will go around three times before you will be dropped into the water.

The Niagara Rapids Run - is a roller coaster ride. So far the best of all rides. Highly recommended.

We are not so happy with the long wait to these tube rides. The queueing time is definitely a lot longer than the ride.

At 8pm, the guests are invited to the lobby for the story-time.

The souvenir shop at the lobby. There are not many interesting stuff around.

The Restaurant

It is very important to note that during breakfast time there is a very long queue in this restaurant. It was already past 9am but still guests are on queue. I learned that some suite rates include free breakfast. Certainly, not a good idea.

The Northern Lights Arcade - where you can enjoy video games and redemption games.

The Forest Friends Show

At the Lobby - I love the theme interiors.

The Facade

After check-out, we drove to Lundy's Lane where a popular Canada One Outlet Mall is located. It was not my first time here. This time, there were not really good deals as last year. We scanned through the boutiques but we didn't find much interesting deals. Subsequently, we headed back to Mississauga. The weather was so great, it felt like summer. However after just few hours, an unexpected storm hit us. Fortunately, we were already home. It was such a wonderful weekend for us. I do recommend it for families especially during winter when the outdoors don't offer anything to do.

Friday morning I walked down to the Christ the King Catholic church behind our building. After a series of call to the church I couldn't get hold of anyone. So I had no idea what time was the mass. I was constantly checking from our balcony if people started arriving at the church. There were just few and it was already 10pm so I decided to just go. The notice board shows that the mass would be at 12:30pm. Alone, I just did the "Way of the Cross" and recited the "Rosary". There were a number of families who were doing the same. It brought me back memories of the "Holy Week" celebration in my hometown.

Good Friday is a holy day for us. Apart from the fasting that we usually observe, we were also pre-occupied with religious activities. It would start with the morning mass then a procession around the town to commemorate Christ's 14 Stations of the Cross. Then at 1pm, we would all go to the church to hear Christ's Seven Last Words. Later in the afternoon, we would again convene at the church for another procession around the town remembering Christ's death. In the evening, there would be a vigil at the church. Black Saturday is a quite day. I remembered that we were strictly prohibited from playing any music at all from Good Friday until early morning of Easter Sunday. On Saturday afternoon, we used to prepare a sort of stage where the re-enactment of Jesus Christ's and Mother Mary's meeting at Sunday early morning will be held. Children done their angel attire with their wings and would sing songs in Latin. The men would take Christ's statue from one direction and the women would take Mother Mary's statue from opposite direction and subsequently would meet at the stage where the angels were singing. The moment they met, the Angel would sing and take the black veil from Mother Mary and the rest of the angels would throw flower petals from their baskets. I was once an Angel who sung during this event but at that time we had to do it inside the church because the rain poured endlessly. Thereafter, everyone would go to the church for the Easter Sunday mass. After the mass, we would have a good breakfast and would be in a festive mood celebrating Christ's Resurrection. The children in the angel attire would be going around town, singing at every house-hold. We would give them some amount of money. For the rest of the Easter Sunday, we would spend time with the family. I had never celebrated Holy Week and Easter Sunday solemnly but in my hometown.

Anyway, when I get back to the apartment we had breakfast. No fasting at all. Thanks to the Pinoy TV channel, I had the chance to watch "Christ's 7 Last Words'. Late in the afternoon, we headed to our friend's house for a small get-together. On Saturday, we drove to Niagara on the Lake. Herbert's cousin and family were there. We had a fantastic time with the children playing games and doing some crafts. It was also a good time to catch-up on many things since we haven't been together for some time. We missed the children's activities on the Easter egg hunting as we arrived there at lunch time.

with the kids playing domino

We did some of their crafts. Our Easter crowns looks nice, isn't it?

Nice bags, eh?

Thayia busy with her puzzle.

Sunday morning, all of us went for a brunch at the Hilton Hotel and subsequently parted ways.


The weather was so nice that day. While driving along the Ontario Lake, we enjoyed the fantastic view of the lake. We could even see Toronto and Mississauga skyline from the opposite side of the lake. As we were approaching Mississauga, we decided to drive south to take a walk by the lake. We ended up at the Port Credit. There we spent good hours of the afternoon. It is a beautiful place.

Beautiful sights from the lake side.

I loved listening to the sound of the water as it rushes to the the shore. I took a really deep breathe, trying to imagine that we were in Loreto (my home town in Dinagat Island).

Nice apartment, at its perfect location. We were wondering if there are some units for rent. It is a lovely place to stay during the summer.

At the Gellera's places in Scarborough (North-East of Toronto). Since the very popular Filipino Restaurant "Remely's" is just a few minutes drive, we treated ourselves to authentic Filipino dishes. Being a Saturday, no wonder the place sa packed. We run through quickly to the food on display and placed our take-away orders and drove back. For a moment, I felt I was in the Philippines. You can check their website for their menu. http://www.remelys.com/welcome.htm

Dinner at Annalou and Erich's home in Burlington. We were treated to a sumptuous home-made dishes. Annalou's family is our neighbour back in Manila.

with the Natividad's at our place

With the three girls around, we had a blast the entire time. Roselle and Ian are both my ex-colleagues in Dubai.

A wonderful afternoon with the Wolfes. After a great lunch, we headed to the Lakeshore for a stroll.

A view of Toronto from the Lakeshore.

Oh my! I wish it's cholesterol free. Nevertheless, we enjoyed it.

A get-together with the Ocabas and Wolfes at our place. We spent the afternoon at the recreation area. Too bad the swimming pool and the bowling alley were closed then for maintenance.
Lunch at our place.

Oh, I will surely miss these kind of gatherings when we go back to Germany. It really felt like we're just in Manila. There's just a little room for homesickness in this part of the world.