CNE 2010

CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) aka The Ex, is an annual event we have in Toronto. It only goes on for 2 weeks and always end on Labour Day. There are tons to do and tons to see! My favourites are watching the Super Dog show and shopping haha. I will share my experience from this year's visit in this post =)


Inside EXpress train. (Very clever name, The EX, EXpress, get it? Haha)
I was expecting to see the air show that day but it was cancelled due to the weather condition. I don't blame them, it was so windy my hair was going ten thousand different directions. It was so cold that I probably stayed inside half of the time to keep warm. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe this is the first year they've decided to have the EXpress train. It's basically a little train that drives around the whole exhibition (6 stops in total). Let me tell you, it is NOT an "express" train. It probably takes just as long to walk on feet than to ride this thing. I think it's more suitable for elders and people who have disabilities rather than someone like me. It's free, seriously - that's what it says on the train lol. The little monitor is useless, it doesn't show anything sexy other than the CNE commercial, I think.


Calligraphy Artist Mike Wang's stand.
Right by one of the entrance doors of the Arts, Crafts & Hobbies exhibit is a stand by Calligraphy artist Mike Wang. I believe this is his wife on the left of the picture? And O-M-G he is another homie of mine (remember the Coach incident from my last post? Gosh). I was talking to my sister in my dialect  and he heard us and started talking to us back! EMBARRASSING I tell you because I was saying how the chains for the rice necklace will tarnish and that my sister should get it on the black string. At least I didn't bash his work thank goodness. I'm a fan of anything crafty and handmade actually so this building was perfect for me.


Working on a rice necklace.
In the making of my sister's rice necklace. You think it's hard to to write letters on rice? He writes Chinese characters too!!! I saw the pen he uses, the sharpest pen ever. He charges $12 for the necklaces which I think is very fair because it's something custom made and you are paying for real art!!! Ahh.. I would've gotten one if I didn't already have one hehe.


Sample necklace. He was also featured in Toronto Star!
This is a sample he had on display. Somehow we started talking about school and he asked me where I go to school. I told him and he guessed my major right O_O It's rare that people have even heard of my school *sigh* He told me that I could have a great future in what I'm studying but I could also become a starving artist. I totally agree with him because it's not the first time someone had said this to me. Well, only time will tell right?


Doggie doing a jump!
Super Dog show!!! I've been watching this show every year for the past 3-4 years! They change it up slightly every year but I can never get bored of watching it. Let me warn you though, if you want a good seat, you have to start lining up for the show half an hour early.


Big doggie pulls small doggie!

Musical Matts
At the end of the show, you get to see some of the dogs up close and pat them too =D I want a dog but my family thinks they are too dirty. Here are two clips I took of the show as requested by a follower =)

Fair Food!
On to the food portion! Most raved about food item this year is deep fried butter! So I had to have my own oder of it right? *chuckles* We also got chocolate covered bacon and deep fried Mars bar. It's $5 a plate - kinda pricey but it's fair food so the price was expected. We waited 35 minutes in line in the freezing cold just to try out these heart clogging food! See what I do for my blog and your entertainment? Just kidding =p But after we got the food, we had to go inside the building to keep warm lol.


Deep fried butter!

What it looks like on the inside.
I really enjoyed this one. I do think it was hyped up way too much but nonetheless very yummy. I wasn't expecting it to be sweet but it was! While indulging on it I felt the melted butter! So worth the $5 and will buy again next year!


Chocolate covered bacon!

It was so cold that the chocolate hardened.
I don't get this one. It's chocolate and bacon. I can distinctively taste both in my mouth so I don't know what's this "perfect blend of sweetness and saltiness" that people are talking about :s Just imagine having one bite of chocolate and one bite of bacon. There you go, not worth the $5. Also, the weather was so cold that the chocolate hardened immediately lol.


Deep fried Mars bar!

What it looks like on the inside.
This was so sweet that my teeth were about to fall off -.-'' I don't like the regular Mars bars for the same reason and this was no better. It was mushy on the inside because of the melted chocolate and caramel. If they had deep fried KitKat then I probably would've really enjoyed it =D Skip this if you don't like Mars bars.


Kobe hotdog.
Inside the Direct Energy Center was a Kobe beef stand. Apparently Kobe Bryant was named after their beef from Japan? Interesting... and it tastes just like.. regular hot dog! The beef was actually very fine tasting and you can tell the difference between this and say a hotdog from a downtown vendor. But at almost triple the price ($7), I don't know if it's worth it.  I'd skip this if you are not a crazy hot dog or beef fan.


95.3fm radio tent
Lastly, I saw this tent at CNE and what do you know? Another ad Helen had worked on in school =) My professor actually made a campaign for this radio station and our assignment was only to rearrange the elements from her ad and give it a different vibe. So the idea for this ad is not mine.


*Note the microphone is actually a hairbrush. Ahaahaaa. It's suppose to have a 60's, 70's and /or 80's vibe to it since it's retro music - vinyl get it? Okay bye.