Santa Delivers Festive Spirit to Ipswich

Santa has a chat on Saturday with excited youngsters Blaise and Corey Wyatt.

SANTA Claus made a spectacular arrival in Ipswich aboard his sleigh, pulled by real-life reindeer Vixen and Cupid. 

Hundreds of shoppers turned out to welcome Santa and Mrs Claus as they weaved their way through the Riverlink shopping centre on Saturday. 

Their arrival was celebrated with a magical parade featuring fairies, angels on roller-skates, a gingerbread man, elves and carollers. 

Families lined the aisles as the procession made its way around the centre before concluding at the Gasometer area outside Cold Rock, where children were able to pet Vixen and Cupid and the other baby reindeer. 

The parade was complemented by a Christmas elves song and dance stage show, face painting, craft demonstrations and Christmas carols. 

HO, HO, HO: Santa with his helpers and reindeer tour Riverlink Shopping Centre on Saturday

Riverlink marketing manager Robyn Bannister-Tyrrell said Santa's arrival was well received by customers.

"We wanted to get shoppers into the Christmas spirit and enjoying themselves while doing their Christmas shopping," Mrs Bannister-Tyrrell said 

She said Santa's arrival would be followed by a series of family fun and entertainment events, including carollers and visits from the man in red in the lead-up to Christmas. 


Children will be able to have their photo taken with Santa daily in the East Mall, near Medicare, until December 24.

Winners All Round as Favourite Takes Cup

PUNTERS were out in force – and style – as Melbourne Cup fever hit Ipswich yesterday.

And the result couldn’t have been better for Ipswich race fans as the hot favourite Fiorente,

ridden by three-time winning jockey Damien Oliver, stormed home at Flemington.

Loud cheers erupted around friends Aislinn Dwyer and Jessica McGill inside the Char’d restaurant as the number six horse charged past the post, securing a first Melbourne Cup victory for legendary trainer Gai Waterhouse.

“I had a feeling,” an ecstatic Ms Dwyer said. “My uncle’s mother said number six and I had a weird feeling for Fiorente.

“She had me saying six all day and I thought I’ve got to win.”

Nigel Bates was thrilled with his small win, saying he always backed a Gai Waterhouse horse.

“I went with the favourite, but I’m a huge Gai Waterhouse fan,” he said. The PA Hotel was awash with colour for the fashions on the field event, but it was Sheree Thorton, of Bundamba, who took out the style stakes with her eye-catching lime and black number.

Metro Hotel Ipswich International was the next best thing to being trackside at Flemington, with party-goers enjoying a picnic-themed luncheon and all the action on the big screen.

Eat Drink and Be Merry - Christmas in Ipswich

Celebrate this festive Season with Some Christmas Cheer!

Metro Hotel Ipswich International will play Santa, with drinks, finger food and great venue!

To receive this offer, staff must show council ID at the bar.

RSVP to:

Eventsipswich@metrohg.com OR Call 07 38128077

Metro Hotels Provides Spiritual Book to Guests as a Source of Inspiration

In a world-first, Australian-owned hotel chain Metro Hotels will place a book called Jing Si Aphorisms in all rooms in its NSW and Queensland properties, to enable guests to learn more about the Buddhist compassionate relief organisation, Tzu Chi Foundation.

The Foundation first came to the attention of the hotel chain when it went unasked to the aid of Ipswich residents, giving out care packages following the devastating 2011 floods. 

The hotel chain’s Ipswich property, Metro Hotel Ipswich International, built a relationship with the Foundation and offered to put books in its rooms so that its guests would learn more about the work and philosophy of the organisation.

Metro Hotels decided to extend this offer to other properties, with Metro Hotel Sydney Central General Manager Earl Muir yesterday accepting a special presentation of the books from Julia Wu, principal of Tzu Chi Foundation, Gold Coast, and Stephen Kan, CEO of Tzu-Chi Sydney.

The book, Jing Si Aphorisms, translates the essence of the Buddha’s teachings to exemplify life lessons. ‘Aphorism’ means original thought, or definition, and rather than being a religious text the book is meant to be an explanation of the Buddhist faith. 

Mr Muir said the Tzu Chi Foundation, which lives by the creed that it is more of a blessing to serve others than be served, believes in service to the community and has demonstrated its commitment to this belief through its actions in Ipswich.

“This organisation has shown tremendous compassion and service to Australian communities when they are in need and Metro Hotel believes it is an organisation which Australians may want to know more about,” he said.

“Placing Jing Si Aphorisms in our hotel rooms gives guests another reading option to the Holy Bible. The book is being supplied as a source of inspiration to our guests. This is not about converting people from one religion to another but rather promoting harmony and diversity.” 

See this press release and more at Metro Hotels News

Ipswich Fashion Festival Delights With New Looks

IPSWICH’S much anticipated Fashion Festival kicked off in style on Friday with a Gala Fashion Evening at the Metro Hotel Ipswich International.

Fashion lovers gathered in the venue’s Grandchester Ballroom to see some of the latest offerings from local designers.

Among the designers on show was Leigh Buchanan, a former Bremer State High School student who was a runner up in the first series of Project Runway Australia.

Mr Buchanan showcased his collection alongside established Brisbane fashion designer Vanessa Hoe who presented items from her When Freddie met Lilly’ label.

Also featured at the runway were collections from Naked in the Night Clothing Co, Queensland Bridal Design and Pret a Porter.

The festival continued the next day at the Retro Rockabilly Fashion Fiesta in Ipswich City Square, with a fashion parade and stalls packed with vintage and retro clothing and accessories.

The fiesta was followed by the Catwalk Collections’ fashion parade at Riverlink which showcased designer pieces, bridal fashion design, retail ready to wear and the PFAFF Student Design Award winners.

Photos by Rob Williams

Melbourne Cup Event at Metro Hotel Ipswich International

 Find out more about this Melbourne Cup Event at Metro Hotel Ipswich International

Samuel Johnson is Riding Around Australia on a Unicycle to Raise $1 Million for Cancer Research!

Samuel Johnson is riding around the Australia on a unicycle to raise $1 mill for cancer research!

MISSION:

Samuel Johnson’s sister Connie is dying of Breast Cancer so he’s setting out on an epic challenge. He’s riding around the Australia on a unicycle!

It’s all about keeping his promise to Connie:
- Raise a million dollars for Breast Cancer research
- Raise awareness of the disease that’s killing her
- Break the Guinness World Record for the longest distance on a unicycle.

It sounds insane, but Samuel’s good to go. He’s been training, he’s ditched the beers, he’s eating... well, he’s eating, and he’s frozen some of his sperm - under advice of doctors - in case the uncomfortable journey has a lasting effect on his closest mates.

Too easy? Connie thought so. That’s why she’s asking Australia to come up with some tough sponsored challenges.

Samuel and Connie want to remind every Australian woman about the need to be 'breast aware' in an effort to promote early detection and improve survival rates.

Their message is simple: 'Don't fall into the booby-trap, be breast aware!'

THE STORY:

Samuel and Connie were born a year apart, so they’ve always been close. Growing up they played together, explored the neighbourhood together... and fought cancer together.

Connie has fought cancer three times in her life and Samuel has been with her every step of the way. This time things are different. Connie is dying and she doesn’t have much time left.

ABOUT CONNIE:

Connie is vibrant, loving, compassionate, tough and inspiring. She's a mother of two beautiful boys. She's 35 years old. And she's dying of Breast Cancer.

This is her third battle with cancer. At the age 11 Connie, with the help of early detection and chemotherapy, fought off a very rare and aggressive bone tumour in her leg. At 22, she overcame a tumour in her womb, again with the help of early detection and treatment.

This time Connie has Breast Cancer and it’s terminal. It has spread to her lungs, liver, pelvis, spine and knee. This time it's terminal and she has a life expectancy of 6-12 months.

Nothing can prepare you for to say goodbye to your kids at such a young age. That’s why Connie is hard at work to raise Breast Cancer awareness. Early detection is the key to survival and Connie wants everyone to know it, so she’s sent her brother around Australia on a unicycle.

ABOUT SAMUEL:

Samuel is one of Australia's most recognisable personalities in the Australian entertainment industry.

He's best known for his roles on The Secret Life of Us, Crackerjack, Underbelly II and Network Ten’s Rush. He’s made a number of TV guest appearances... and he’s the voice of Vodafone, Suzuki and Pedigree.

Plenty of career accolades have come his way. He’s enjoyed multiple Logie nominations, an AFI Award and an Australian Centenary Medal in the 2000 Queens Honours list. He's very proud of all of this, but none of it is as important to him as his sister.

That’s why he’s setting out on this gruelling journey around Australia. Nothing will stop him keeping his promise to Connie.


THE WORLD RECORD:

There are plenty of Guinness World Records to break, but it’s hard to find one as tough as this: The longest journey travelled on a unicycle.

So how far is that exactly? Well the current record holder, a bloke by the name of Lars managed 14,686.82km across 48 states of America. Pretty impressive!

We’re not sure why he stopped, but Samuel is determined to push the record past the 15,000km mark. And he’s going to do it across Australia.

Website: http://loveyoursister.org/

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/loveyoursister