As owners in the building, it was a particularly exciting milestone to celebrate for my wife and I. We toasted the success of this iconic development and the future of City Centre with a full house of other new owners who socialized in the unique Ultra Social Lounge & Patio, designed for community living.

The event was catered by nearby Central City Brew Pub who brought kegs of their award-winning beer, so we celebrated in style.

VIDEO: Exclusive Look at “West Village” in Surrey’s Future Downtown

From a 22nd story balcony in the building overlooking Central City Tower I spoke with Brendan Mann, VP Sales and Marketing for WestStone Group about the social concepts within the design of Ultra. He also gave us an exclusive look into the future of Surrey’s downtown plan and what will come to be known as “West Village!”

NEXT:

Ultra – 40 Stories Above Surrey. Exclusive Tour Inside New Tallest Tower

Join Fatima and Daman as they explore inside Ultra, Surrey’s brand new tallest residential tower.

Ultra is a 40 floor concrete and glass high-rise comprised of 362 urban condominiums, in the heart of Surrey City Centre.

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VIDEO – Join Fatima and I as we explore inside Ultra, Surrey’s brand new tallest residential tower. Ultra is a 40 floor concrete and glass high-rise comprised of 362 urban condominiums, in the heart of Surrey City Centre.

From our rented condo across the street we’ve been watching this building rise up, along with many others nearby.

From the video: we sit in our car before going in, reflecting over the past 3 years (with the help of our own actual footage taken in 2010 while scoping out the location!).

It was our first time stepping inside. The building was incomplete at the time of filming so we had to wear safety vests and were restricted from certain areas.

First time home owners.

Here’s an excerpt from Urban Village, Ultra Living by WestStone’s website which had us completely sold!

WELCOME TO ULTRA – IN THE HEART OF SURREY CITY CENTRE.

ULTRA is Phase III of WestStone’s billion dollar Urban Village master-planned community. ULTRA sits in Surrey City Centre’s ultimate location adjacent to Simon Fraser University, SkyTrain, the new Surrey City Hall, Civic Plaza, the new Library and the future Performing Arts Centre. Seldom can real estate be found with such explosive potential.

Surrey City Centre has the benefit of billions of dollars in public sector infrastructure being created, which in turn is bringing thousands and thousands of jobs to the area. That is one reason why Surrey City Centre has been tagged as the “Number one place to invest in British Columbia,” by the Real Estate Investment Network for two consecutive years. It’s all happening on ULTRA’s doorstep.

ULTRA’s 40 floors tower over the City Centre and the building sets an entirely new standard in trendy urban living and lifestyle. Its prime location ensures that you will benefit from the solid equity growth that will occur as Surrey City Centre builds out. It’s destined to become a thriving cosmopolitan community that is the commercial, residential, educational, entertainment, civic and cultural heart of the city.

ULTRA has a lot to offer the urban home owner or the savvy investor. You know it makes sense to own real estate, which lives up to the statement made so proudly by the City of Surrey… “The future lives here”… because the future really does live in ULTRA.

We purchased the condo before the ground was broken where this 40-story now sits after just being completed. We knew with the extensive growth projected for Surrey’s downtown, this was the best place to invest! Join us in the New Surrey. We’re moving in this month.

RELATED:

Ultra West Village – Exclusive Look at Surrey’s Future Downtown Living

Join Daman next with further coverage of the Ultra Tower as he speaks with Brendan Mann, VP Sales and Marketing for WestStone Group at last week’s “Meet Your Neighbour Open House” at Ultra.

Brendan tells about the social concepts behind the design of Ultra and an exclusive look into the future of Surrey’s downtown “West Village!”

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Surrey604′s Esmir Milavic caught up with speaker Gord Hume after his keynote. Hume is one of Canada’s leading voices on municipal government, cultural planning and creative cities. Mr. Hume answered Esmir’s questions about Surrey’s future, transportation and need to improve Canadian literacy.

Watch the Surrey Community Summit Archived Videos

The City of Surrey streamed the event live through their Google+ Hangouts. If you missed out, you can watch the archived Mayor’s Address with keynote speakers Gordon Hume and Matt Hern here: Surrey Community Summit Highlights…

On Saturday, April 27th Central City Plaza was transformed to “party central” for Party for the Planet for Earth Day.  It was a day of pure excitement and activities for the whole family. It was great to see the community out for an event that educates and encourages us to be environmentally conscious.

Nature play hosted by the Surrey Nature Centre.

From Surrey and beyond, people came to take part in the day even though it started off  a little rainy and wet! I had a chance to talk to the Clarke family who came all the way from Mission to watch the musical acts and participate in the activities. We all enjoyed being out and about meeting some new people and talking about the music, activities and the informational booths. As we strolled around visiting the booths, adults and kids were being introduced to and informed about environmental issues in a fun way.

Youth displaying their enviro art. With Mayor Dianne Watts and Councillors Tom Gill and Mary Martin.

The topics were related to agriculture, tree planting, transportation, streams and wetlands, sustainability and energy. There were opportunities for the kids to participate in eco-crafts and learn how to appreciate and take care of the environment. Information was also provided about on-going events run by groups in the community such as the Surrey Youth Stewardship Squad.

Bee Bop Beluga, mascot of the Vancouver Aquarium mingles with the crowd.

One of the highlights of the day- the Water Bubble Pool!

We managed to dodge most of the rain for the concert featuring live entertainment from great artists such as Lights, Hey Ocean!, Fighting for Ithaca, The Matinee, Shane Philip, and Woops-a-Daisy for the children. The sun even started to peak through and people enjoyed the music for the rest of the evening.

People gather in front of the Main Stage to enjoy the music of Hey Ocean! at Party for the Planet.

Featured performer, Lights takes the stage at Party for the Planet 2013.

What a great day to celebrate Surrey’s many sustainable initiatives and environmental partnerships. Surrey showcased how our communities work together to make the City of Surrey a greener healthy place for all the residents. One of the enviro-friendly ideas that caught my eye was the water fill-up station where you can fill up your favourite water bottle all day. I would love to see the City incorporate water fill-up stations at all of their future events. We hope everyone was inspired to do more in their households and in their communities to help preserve our environment.

Watch our video highlights from Surrey BC’s Party For the Planet 2013!

Visit Our Facebook For More Party Coverage!

Check out Surrey604′s Facebook Page for tons more photos!

Related Posts

Check out our coverage of Last Year’s Party For The Planet 2012!

They appeal to audiences a tad bit more mature, who have more important things to cargo than cold six-packs. Things like children and groceries. You know, grown folk stuff.

Test Driving the 2013 Ford Escape Titanium

Enter the all new 2013 Ford Escape Titanium. Daman and I were given the opportunity to test it out for a week and we never say no to driving new cars.

Comfort reigns supreme in the Escape world. Sitting in the car is akin to being in a decent sized condo. You have enough room to avoid feeling crowded, but not to the point where it’s overkill. Luxuries like leather heated seats, dual climate controls and a giant sunroof will soothe the discomforts of any irritating commute. The Escape is a five seater with generous trunk space. I hauled a few friends up Burnaby Mountain and we all sat spaciously without being squished together like canned sardines. Hooray for not having to know how warm another man’s thighs get!

Ford Escape Technology

The Escape is equipped with many of the same high-tech gizmos as the Lincoln MKS we reviewed last year. Park assist, lane merge sensors and the automatic lift gate are great features to have if you are willing to shell out the money. The dreaded navigation and entertainment system from the Lincoln came back to haunt me once again though.

The two-litre engine pumps out an impressive 240 horsepower. Ford has made tremendous strides in fuel efficiency and is on the right path with its EcoBoost technology. Unfortunately, the six-speed automatic transmission was a let down. I floored the gas a few times just to see how it would respond and the gears couldn’t switch fast enough to match my lead foot.

Overall, the Escape was a nice change from my compact sports coupe, but not one I would welcome permanently. If you are in need of a large family vehicle and want to avoid driving a dorky mini-van, the Escape should suit you well. The base model starts at just over $22,000 and if you want all the bells and whistles, be prepared to spend in the neighbourhood of $45,000.

Watch Surrey604′s 2013 Ford Escape Titanium Test Drive & Review

Check out the video for a closer look at the Escape and enjoy the bloopers!

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The adventure in Music, Dance and Community-Building continues May 30 – June 8th.

The Vancouver International Bhangra Celebration (VIBC) Society is thrilled to once again host the HSBC City of Bhangra Festival this spring, allowing the organization to build community for all through the celebration and joy of Bhangra. VIBC is also pleased to welcome back HSBC Bank Canada as the event’s title sponsor. This spring marks the ninth year the VIBC has held the festival.

Highlights of the 2013 Festival:

• One of the Festival’s favourite intercultural mash-up events, rePercussion, will be presented in both Surrey and Vancouver this year
• Presenting artists from the UK who have never performed here before
• 20 hours of free programming
• Partnering with Surrey Art Gallery and with Music on Main
• Opportunities for international and local artists and fans to meet and exchange ideas

The HSBC City of Bhangra Festival celebrates the music and dance of Bhangra in all its variations, with its potential to attract disparate communities and shatter barriers between people. It’s about community. Its roots are in harvest celebrations of the northern Punjab. After Partition some of today’s popular rhythms and dances were first developed. The diaspora brought Bhangra out of South Asia. Driven by the dhol drum, performed in eye-poppingly brilliant and detailed costumes, Vancouver and Surrey are home to dozens of Bhangra teams. Once a year this region is a home-away-from-home for Bhangra dancers, musicians and DJs from around the world.

Our popular rePercussion returns – May 30 at the Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre at SFU Woodward’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts in Vancouver, and June 6 at the Surrey Arts Centre. Vancouver Community College’s Sal Ferreras, widely known for his intercultural work, has once again curated and programmed a stunning percussion mash-up, representing South Asian, Brazilian, and First Nations traditions as well as street music and more.

Featured in repercussion, Sunil Kalyan is returning to HSBC City of Bhangra Festival for a second time. He is famous the world over for his own percussion style. Master of Indian percussion, he has given birth to a 4th dimension in the Punjabi industry, as Punjabi MC in the Bhangra and mainstream industries, featured on “Get Your Freak On” by Missy Elliot, “Beware of the Boys”, and recording with Timbaland.

Sunil Kalyan. Photo VIBC

A Raw Folk singer hailing from Punjab, Saini Surinder was brought forward to the world in 2010 by rapidly expanding label E3UK. Saini Surinder quickly made his name with the release of the singles “Mundra”, “Get Funky” and “Gabru Rangeeleh”, and is set to release a massive collaboration alongside Dr Zeus on E3UK!

A talented producer and musician, Gupsy Aujla has been an ever-present name in the UK Bhangra scene for nearly a decade now. He has been behind some of the biggest singles of the past few years alongside Saini Surinder: “Bhangra”, “Get Funky” and “Sida Sada” all having released on E3UK Records.

For more than a decade, DJ Anjali and the Incredible Kid have played a transformative role in the Portland, Oregon club scene. They are most known for incinerating dance floors with the South Asian sounds of Bhangra and Bollywood, but the duo scours the globe for any hard-hitting music that combines local musical traditions with window-rattling production.

DJ Anjali and the Incredible Kid Photo VIBC

Bhangra on Main also returns – June 4 at Heritage Hall on Main Street – featuring DSarb. Still a teenager, he was born and raised in Oxford. He first began performing when he was just 3 years old playing Dholak alongside his father at weddings. He then went on to train under Ustad Nafees Irfan where he groomed his vocal, tabla and harmonium skills. His talents caught the ear of Urban Desi music producer D-Boy who signed D-Sarb to his new record label, BeatCircle in 2010.

Spectacular Sangeet is presented in collaboration with VIBC at the Surrey Art Gallery, from April 13 through June 15. Music and dance have long inspired visual artists to make pictures. More recently, South Asian performing arts traditions have sparked visual artists around the world to re-imagine ‘Sangeet’ (music and dance) in a variety of electronic media and innovative forms. This exhibition features artists from Canada and England who engage with South Asian music and dance traditions to illuminate questions about the body and music, the individual and the group, gender and spirituality. Including photo-paintings of Bharatnatyam dance, Bollywood poster collage, and kinetic photo-sculpture, the exhibition incorporates diverse genres of Sangeet: from Giddha to Rock, and classical dance to contemporary movement. Featuring Chila Kumari Burman, Oliver Husain, Harminder Singh Judge, Project Rainbow, Ron Sangha, Jack Shadbolt, Ikbal Singh, and Meera Margaret Singh. Co-curated by Naveen Girn and Jordan Strom.

On Saturday, June 1, InFlux with VIBC’s Media Arts Mehfil is a fabulous evening of live music mash-ups, Hip Hop dance battles, and art projections returns to the Surrey Art Gallery. Featuring a twist on the traditional mehfil style, this informal gathering of digital media artists, musicians and dancers brings together new collaborations grounded in the mehfil’s emphasis on improvisation, collaboration, and a sense of play. Featuring performers Mohammad Assani, DJ A-Slam, Sammy Chien, Tad Hozumi, Rup Sidhu, and others. For ages 19 to 30.

The HSBC City of Bhangra Festival winds up on the weekend of June 7 and 8 with a festival in itself. Downtown Bhangra offers dozens of performers from overseas (including those above), plus Bhangra teams from all over North America and Metro Vancouver in two-days of non-stop concerts and performances on the Vancouver Art Gallery Plaza. This open-air festival attracts Bhangra fans, hipsters, shoppers, families, and hip seniors to the incessant, infectious rhythms and colourful sights onstage. Friday, June 7 from 6 to 10pm, and Saturday, June 8 from noon to 10pm.

More exciting artists and activities will be announced in coming weeks!

Connect:

facebook.com/VancouverBhangra
twitter.com/VIBC
youtube.com/VIBC
flickr.com/vibc

Seymour Schulich speaking to students at University of Western Ontario.

Becoming a success in the business world is an intricate tango that is difficult to master. No one knows this better than I.

As a business student at Simon Fraser University and a hopeful entrepreneur, the process of becoming successful seems utterly overwhelming at times.

Luckily, there are those that have mastered this tango and are willing to pass on some wisdom to the rest of us. One of those masters is Seymour Schulich. Mr. Schulich is an esteemed Canadian born and bred billionaire, yes billionaire with a “b.”

We are excited to share an exclusive on Mr. Schulich via Michael Zipursky, on valuable lessons that will come in handy for business and life.

Michael is the founder of the wildly popular FreshGigs.ca. FreshGigs.ca is a Canadian talent recruitment website (hooray for local businesses!) that connects talent in the marketing, communications and creative fields with great opportunities.

Read below as Seymour Schulich drops invaluable gems that can help you achieve your dreams of success.

5 Lessons on Life and Business from Canadian Billionaire Seymour Schulich

By Michael Zipursky

Seymour Schulich is a self-made billionaire. He made his fortune in the resource industry with a career that spanned stock brokerage, investment counselling and mining industries. He is has also donated over $200 million to universities and music institutions.

Here are 5 life and business lessons from one of Canada’s best known billionaires.

Create Your Own Career

Young Canadians face too much pressure when it comes to getting into the “right career” early on. There really isn’t a right career or a wrong one to get into. Don’t be afraid to try different careers to get a taste of what’s out there and explore. You’ll then get to find out firsthand what kind of career you really want to get into and specialize in.

Be Positive

It may sound corny but the power of positivity is great. Each week, if not each day, we face challenges. What sets us apart is how we handle them and coming out the other end with a positive attitude is the key. Schulich provides a great example from a colleague who used to suffer during Canada’s cloudy winter days. Then one day they read a book by Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski that described the suffering the sun causes for many people in Africa. The author wondered if people living ‘North’ appreciated their weather…we all know most Canadians don’t. This brought a change of attitude and the colleague no longer saw the cloud days as a negative, but was rather thankful for what they had. As Schulich says, “positive people form the vast majority of life’s winners.”

Be Patient

In this day and age it seems like successes are made overnight and everything needs to be quick, quick, quick. Schulich proposes that patience has been proven as critical to business success. Avoid rushing into a career or business without first fully researching it. The most successful investors act quickly, but only after they have gathered the necessary intelligence. While their decisions may seem quick, they have often been waiting patiently to pounce on the right opportunity knowing full well what they are getting into.

Become an Expert at Saying “No”

Life will throw all kinds of opportunities at you. The most successful people have learned to say “No” to 90% of the deals and opportunities that come by their desk. They only go after the most meaningful, lucrative and best ideas. This principle can be applied to a wide variety of daily issues. Learning to say “No” to meetings, new projects, and even socializing when the fit isn’t good for your life and goals may be hard to do sometimes, but again, it’s what sets you apart.

Don’t Change People

One of Schulich’s most powerful lessons is on relationships. It’s just as applicable in a personal setting as it is in a business one. The concept is this, don’t try to change the way people are, because you can’t. Many of us enter into personal or business relationships with the notion and hope that we wield the power to change our partners. That over time they will ‘mold’ into the shape you envision best for them. The reality, however, is quite the opposite. In almost all situations you can’t change people. They are who they are. The more you try to change someone the more frustrating it will be for you and for them. The result will be a strain on the relationship and nothing good can come of that. So when you enter into a relationship, regardless of what kind it is, be sure you’re ‘okay’ with the positive and negative characteristics and habits of your potential partner.

Michael Zipursky is co-founder at FreshGigs.ca, a jobsite specializing in marketing, communications, and creative jobs in Canada. He’s also the author of 5 books on Consulting and Customer Loyalty. His work has been featured in FOX Business, the Financial Times, Maclean’s, HR Executive and other media.

The very first  Surrey Community Summit will take place on April 6th with the cooperation of 38 different organizations as well as businesses and residents.

The Surrey Community Summit was born as a result of last year’s series of Town Hall meetings that aimed to learn more about residents’ needs and problems and discuss ideas for the future.

The upcoming Summit will provide an opportunity for communication between the City, community and experts involved in many of the important areas of urban development and transformation.

The Chairwoman of the Summit, Councillor Barinder Rasode, who leads the community communications process and was involved in organization of the Town Halls in 2012, says that the aim of the Summit is to connect the City with people in an inclusive and collaborative way. She also pointed out that “in order to build a stronger city we need to inspire and engage that community, and involve them in the civic process”.

Mayor Dianne Watts and City Council, are often credited for Surrey’s transformation over the years. Mayor Watts states about the Summit:

“The Summit is a unique opportunity for us to engage the community, listen, share information, and bring together leaders in urban planning in order to create an interactive forum for sharing ideas and best practices”. 

The event will take place at SFU Surrey, on April 6th, from 9am to 4pm, featuring Gord Hume as the keynote speaker. Hume is one of Canada’s leading voices on municipal government, cultural planing and creative cities. Hume’s experience ranges from  broadcasting, newspaper publishing, to municipal government.  He has also authored four books: 10 Trends for Smarter Communities, Taking Back Our Cities, The Local Food Revolution and Cultural Planning for Creative Communities.

Participants and residents will also have the opportunity to learn more about the revitalization of neighborhoods from “Better Block Project” founder, Jason Roberts. Roberts is well known as the leader of numerous non-profit organizations and projects concentrated on alternative transportation, including the Oak Cliff Transit Authority. In 2010, Roberts organized a series of “Better Block Projects” transforming properties in Southern Dallas into temporary walkable districts with pop-up businesses, bike lanes and cafe seatings. His experience and insights are sure to be valuable to us as we develop our City Centre.

Topics to be discussed at the Summit :

• Municipal 101 – Getting to Know City Hall
• Becoming an Inspiring Community Leader
• Where’s the Family?
• Welcoming Community for New Canadians
• Ideas Fair: Surrey 2020 – The Vision
• Connecting with Youth Today
• The City and Sustainability
• Community Gardens and Urban Gardening
• Revitalizing Communities
• Connecting Neighbours/Urban Isolation
• City Beautification
• Resources and Funding – Asset Mapping

For more information, and/or to register, please visit: www.surrey.ca/engagement. There is a maximum attendance of 200 and the cost is $12 per person (includes lunch).

You can also follow us for comprehensive coverage on the Summit on Twitter  @surrey604com and Facebook.

Upon entering the library, we were greeted by the Imagine Surrey registration desk where they invited us to create a name tag and introduced us to the “Saying Hi” program. The purpose of the ‘Saying Hi’ program is to create connections by simply saying hello to someone you don’t know. I really enjoyed exchanging hellos with some new people – it’s amazing how a  friendly hello can lift the spirit.

Gordon Price speaks about Surrey’s urban renewal

There was also a number of community groups and businesses with information booths set up in the main floor of the library lobby. Visitors checked out local grassroots and volunteer organizations, to the latest information on city developments and expansion. Photo renderings and models of a number of Surrey projects were also on display. This family friendly afternoon also included a lego challenge for the kids.

 Village Surrey transition initiative information booth

Model display of the Surrey Memorial Hospital expansion project

Looking through the #imaginesurrey tweets throughout the day, there was definitely a lot of excitement, concern and discussion around the future of Surrey’s new downtown. We look forward to an ongoing exchange of ideas and information as we experience this major transition in our City.

Aubrey Kelly discusses the plans for Surrey’s new downtown as construction happens next door

Thank you to the City Centre Library, volunteers, the guest speakers and the community organizations/businesses who made this event possible and informative.

CONNECT:

City Centre Library 

Twitter: @surreylibrary

Facebook: SurreyLibraries

The City Of Surrey

Twitter:  @cityofsurrey

Facebook: TheCityofSurrey

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Yesterday, motivational Speaker, Surrey BC’s Marco Pasqua, spoke with Fiona Forbes & Peter Verge about how motion and voice technology is enabling people with limited mobility to create custom templates for mapping their natural body motions and verbal input to any arrangement of keyboard and mouse commands needed for their favorite Windows software, which opens up the world of gaming for differently “abled” people.

Marco (@Marco_Pasqua) will be speaking at TedxStanleyPark on March 16th in Vancouver.

TedxStanleyPark: Think the Unthinkable

Marco Pasqua is an accomplished athlete, avid gamer, inspirational speaker, and owner of The CUBE Principle, a company that encourages people to “Creatively Utilize Your Best Energy” to break free of personal limitations and to accomplish their goals. Marco will be speaking with Sean Sibbet, owner of Reality Controls, about the utilization of motion and voice technology to enhance the process and resiliency of rehabilitation strategies. Together, Marco and Sean have developed software for gamers with physical disabilities, providing them with a customizable, motion-controlled gaming experience.

ABOUT TED:

TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to sharing ideas through global conferences. In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created TEDx, a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.

Read full speaker profiles, purchase tickets ($97), or learn more about TEDxStanleyPark here…

***UPDATE: April 28, 2013***

Exciting news, Marco’s TEDx Presentation video is finally up on YouTube! We’ve added it below! The thing is, we really want to help Marco get his message out there, but only the videos with the most views on TEDx will be featured on TED.com.

So we’re asking you on Marco’s behalf, to click and watch his video and help get his numbers up – it’s worth it anyway to hear his TED Talk! This technology will change lives. Help Marco get the word out!