What to see: Kemary at CoRK

Kemary? That's me!
CoRk? CoRK Arts District Corner of Rosselle & King St.

I'm starting a photo series called "Hello Life." As you may know I love to take photos of everything. I decided to start a challenge for myself and that is self-photography. I figured if I pull this off well then I'll be super satisfied. All I needed was a camera, tripod, and wireless remote control. The photos I took today was more of a practice for my actual Hello Life series. It was a little distracting every time a car drove by, some would slow down to watch, wave, and I think all the women smiled. It's not every day that you see a person prancing around in a tutu and tiara. Here is a peak of my work.

Stay tuned for my full "Hello Life" photo series on my self-titled website. www.kemarychan.com

You know what else is happening in Jacksonville? University of North Florida's Spring Commencement Ceremony on Friday, April 25th, 2014. I am graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication: Public Relations and minor in Sociology. Yay! One of the photos in this post is of my class ring with my birth stone. I love it. If you can't make it to the ceremony then you can watch a live stream of it. UNF Commencement

Where to go: Jaxsons Night Market

Jacksonville just keeps getting more and more exciting! One Spark 2014 was such a great success and Downtown Jacksonville has never looked so alive! Now that it is over there are still other things to look forward to, such as the Jaxsons Night Market.

Starting Thursday, April 17th, 2014 and continuing every third Thursday of each month, Jacksonville's foodie and beer lovers will have another reason to love Jacksonville. Jaxsons Night Market will take over the corner of Main and Adams Street from 6:30-9:30 pm.

The market will feature local growers, artisan makers, and street food vendors. Intuition Ale Works' fans will enjoy the Beer Garden under the stars.

Remember several posts back I was so excited about the opening of Hawkers Asian Street Fare? Well they are going to be one of the food vendors at the market as well along with other places like Pele's Wood Fire Pizza and The Hyppo Gourmet Ice Pops (Love the Hyppo & Intuition Ale Works mashup pops).

Where to go, see, and eat: One Spark

The world's crowdfunding festival is returning to Downtown Jacksonville April 9-13,2014! This amazing 5-day event brings Jacksonville to life with streets filled with beautiful minds. Lets cross our fingers and hope it doesn't rain this year!

The One Spark Creators, which are artists, innovators and entrepreneurs will display their projects throughout the streets that spans out to 20-square-block. If you follow the signs then you will find some inside buildings as well. Creators will pitch to you as to why they deserve your vote. Some may give you a card with their Creator number so when you go to vote you'll know which number the Creator is.

I am a foodie as well which means I am very excited about the Food & Beer Villages that is suppose to be even bigger this year. The Food Village will be presented by the San Marco Dining District and Jax food trucks. Beer Village will be presented by Sea Best Seafood where you can try two craft beers that are brewed exclusively for One Spark by Intuition Ale Works.

Here are some photos I took from last year's One Spark event!

Click here for more information on One Spark

Where To Go: Eastern United Temple - Khmer New Year 2014

April 11th-13th, 2014 will be the Cambodian New Year celebration at Wat Kanteyaram also known as Eastern United Temple. To Cambodians, we call it "Chaul Chnam Thmey", which in translation means "Enter the New Year." Chaul = Enter; Chnam = Year; and Thmey = New. There goes your foreign language lesson for the day.

The main festivities happens on Sunday April 13th. This celebration gathers people from and around Jacksonville as it is one of the biggest events to the Cambodian community each year. Each year we see more diversity in people who attend this event and we welcome them in and always hope they enjoy themselves.

Why does this event last three days long? In Cambodia they celebrate on April 14th (New Years Day) through April 17th. The reason why it is different in the U.S. is because the majority of us work on weekdays and therefore we have to celebrate during the weekend. The first day of celebration is called Maha Songkran.

The first day marks the ending of the year and the beginning of the new year. Here in Jax we have vendors that set up at the temple to sell food and other goods. We celebrate the night with live music and dance. People may light candles and incense sticks at the set up shrines to offer thanks to Buddha's teachings.

The second day is called Virak Wanabat and this is the day where people donate money to charities and the less fortunate. In Jacksonville the festivities continues with music, dance, games, and food all through the night.

The third day we call T'ngai Leang Saka. Monks and Buddhists cleanse the Buddha statue and their elders with perfumed water. Bathing the Buddha statue is a kind deed that will bring happiness, luck, prosperity, and longevity in life.

Wat Kanteyaram
4057 Hunt St.
Jacksonville, FL 32254

Where To Go: The Date Thing

I am so excited to introduce a new project I started a few weeks ago. I often get asked where does one go for a cool date besides the movies. I even found myself in that predicament when I started dating again a couple months ago. There are so many places out there that no one would think of going on a date. Going to the movies on a first date is a bad idea, in my opinion. How are you supposed to get to know a person if you're just sitting quietly in the dark next to them.

Then I created The Date Thing in Jacksonville. It is my soon-to-be website and mobile app. I am currently populating the website so it is not quite official yet. So far I've added places such as The Edge Rock Gym, Doing Dishes, Painting with a Twist, Publix Apron, and A Social Affair Dance Studio. Below is a screen shot of what the current homepage looks like. You'll notice the categories I have listed as well. The website still has a lot of work to do and it will take some time since I am doing this by myself.

I call this The Date Thing because...well I just think it is easier to remember and it is kind of different. I kept calling it the date thing as I was speaking about it to a friend about my idea and it stuck. I didn't want to call it "Date Night" or "Night Out" because it just seems too cliché. The Date Thing is easier to use in a conversation, well maybe it's just me.

"Hun, what do you want to do tonight?"

"I can't think of anything, check The Date Thing."

In the meantime LIKE TDT on Facebook and FOLLOW TDT on Twitter.

Jacksonville Hidden Locales

This is a map of hidden gems in Jacksonville called "Jacksonville Hidden Locales" that was created and collaborated by students from my Understanding Emerging Media course at UNF. I had the toughest time choosing just one gem! If anybody knows me then they know that I know a lot about local businesses in Jacksonville. I chose to add Silver Cow, an awesome watering hole in Riverside.
View Jacksonville Hidden Locales in a larger map

Regina Huffington is the sweet owner of Silver Cow who worked hard to get her business to where it is now. She is very involved and visible in her business, which is what locals like to see.

Silver Cow currently offers 28 craft beers and 2 ciders on tap. They also have a great selection of bottled beers as well as wine and champagne. Recently, Silver Cow introduced the "Bovine Airways," a beer flight with (4), 4 oz. pours of your choice. You will also find a food menu so you can have some bites while enjoying your drinks.

The name Silver Cow derived from Silvertown and Cowford. Silvertown is what the Riverside of Jacksonville was known as and Cowford is the former name of Jacksonville.

What To See: Land of the Tiger

"Sumatran Tiger 1," © 2012 Tony Hisgett, used under a Creative Commons Attribution license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

The Land of the Tiger exhibit opens Saturday, March 8th, 2014 at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. The exhibit will include five tigers - three Malayan and two Sumatran. The Land of the Tiger is an expansion of the Asia precinct that also features Asian exotic animals such babirusa pigs and wrinkled hornbills.

Fun Fact from WWF
- Protecting tiger habitats in Malaysia safeguards other species like Asian elephants and mainland clouded leopards too.

- The island of Sumatra is the only place where tigers, rhinos, orangutans and elephants live together and the presence of Sumatran tiger is an important indicator of biodiversity in a forest. Protecting tigers and their habitat means many other species benefit—including humans.

Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens is located at 370 Zoo Parkway Jacksonville, FL 32218. They are open Monday thru Friday 9am-5pm and Saturday & Sunday from 9am-6pm.
Click here for more information on exhibits, attractions, and admission at the Jax Zoo & Gardens.