The sun was shining, the maple syrup was flowing, and 783 party-ers gathered at Tenjin Monolith to become honorary Canadians for the night. This year’s Canada Day was better than ever with succulent lobster tails free for the first 300 guests and delicious, salty poutine being served late into the night. Pork, beef and maple syrup-slathered ice cream were all on offer, and greedily snapped up by the celebrators.
We were lucky enough to play host to native Canadian Neil McDaniel, a nominee for a Canadian folk music award, who now lives in Oita. He kept the crowd spellbound with his two beautiful sets, which included original compositions from his new album. We were also joined by Laurie Peters, Head of Public Affairs at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo, who offered everyone advice on opportunities for study and work in Canada.
MC Thomas, from Saskatoon, Canada, charmed the crowd and kept everyone excited for special events such as the Tim Hortons coffee giveaway and the Canada Dry speed drinking competition. He also gave a special class in Canada-ben, so now we can all talk like Canadians, eh?
There was much excitement at the two huge, panther-like Can-Am Spyder F3-Ss in the lobby, supplied by SPEED Motor Garage. Everyone wanted to climb on and pretend they were in The Fast and the Furious!
The lucky draw was tense. All were desperate to win the exceptional prizes: a free round trip to Vancouver and 3 nights in a luxury hotel, courtesy of our kind sponsors, China Airlines and Shangri-La Hotels. But the lucky man was New Zealand-born Gary Swepson. Congratulations, Gary! We hope you have a fantastic time in Vancouver, and enjoy everything Canada has to offer.
The night ended with a rousing rendition of the Canadian national anthem. Canadians, Japanese, and a whole host of other nationalities came together to drink, eat and generally celebrate the awesome land that is Canada. Happy Canada Day, everybody!
CANADA DAY 2015 GALLERY
The Lucky Draw
>>>Grand prize: A free round trip to Vancouver and three nights in a 5-star hotel for two.
Special thanks to China Airlines for supplying us with a free round trip to Vancouver, and also to Shangri-La Hotels, who offered up three nights at their luxurious 5-star Vancouver hotel. Fukuoka Now’s Nick Szasz presented the award to an ecstatic Gary Swepson, who excitedly told us, “I’ve never won anything before in my life!” Congratulations, Gary! And thanks again to China Airlines and Shangri-La Hotels!
