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On The Radio

Added on by the ikebana shop.

Miyako and one of her students, Jean, were featured on a short radio documentary that was broadcast last February 7th on CKDU 88.1 FM in Halifax NS.

Here is the clip, which we put together as a slideshow.  It was too bad we were not able to take photographs during the actual interview.  (In fact, during the interview, we were not even sure what kind of piece would come out!)  So we just used some images from our archives to complement the presentation.

Many thanks to Emily Kitagawa, a student in the School of Journalism at University of King's College, Halifax NS.  You did a splendid job!

Erratum: The 80 variations that the narrator talks about actually refers to the 80 lessons of the basic curriculum of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana.

Sayonara To The Penny

Added on by the ikebana shop.
IMG_7533.jpg

As of today, Feb 4th, the Royal Canadian Mint will start phasing out the use of the penny.  The coin will no longer be distributed.  This means sooner or later, we are going to run out of pennies.

The penny is still legal tender and we will accept them indefinitely...so don't throw them away just yet!  We still have a small stash of pennies left so we will be able to give exact change for cash transactions in the coming days.  However, once we run out, we will not be able to get new supply from the bank and so we will adopt the rounding guidelines as recommended by the Government of Canada.

The total purchase amount, including HST, will be rounded up or down to the nearest 5-cent increment.  This is applicable to cash payments only.  Credit card and debit transactions will continue to be charged the exact amount as usual.

For more information: http://www.mint.ca/store/template/default/pennyinfo.html

(Photo and infographic by the ikebana shop.  All rights reserved.)

With A Little Help From Our Friends

Added on by the ikebana shop.

Any entrepreneur will tell you that setting up a new business is never easy.  Back in 2008, as newcomers, we found it doubly hard to set up. Apart from not really knowing the rules of the game, we lacked that built-in network of family and friends.  You know how it goes...you need to find out about something or need to get something done, you ask your elders, your cousins and your friends.  Sooner or later, somebody somewhere will turn up and say, "Hey, I know this guy who can help you...."  and thus, you move one more step forward towards your objective.  

Thankfully, for newcomers to Canada, there are the immigrant services organizations.  In Nova Scotia, they are ISIS - Immigrant Settlement and Integration Services.  ​

The people there were literally our first friends in town.  To any immigrant who is serious about settling and setting up shop in Nova Scotia, ISIS is a gift from heaven and we cannot thank them enough for helping us on our way.  Now we have our little shop and things just keep getting better!

For sure, you have to have the ideas and you have to do all of the legwork.  They won't spoonfeed you but they do have a vast network to help answer your queries, introduce you to knowledgeable people and provide guidance along the way.  So if you are a new immigrant to Nova Scotia, get in touch with them now.  You won't regret it.  Promise.  (http://www.isisns.ca/)

In the video, make sure you watch from 4:47.  You'll get a glimpse of the inside of our shop! (^_^)