Do not miss these two great floral events if you’re in Tokyo, Japan this week!

Tokyo Marunouchi Flower Weeks 2009
Japan’s Largest Flower Event
“Japan Flower Festival” comes to Flower Weeks in 2009!

The Tokyo Marunouchi Flower Weeks 2009
and
The Japan Flower Festival 2009 in Tokyo Marunouchi

Date: Tuesday, April 21 – Sunday, April 26, 2009

Venue: Tokyo’s Marunouchi area

Estimated number of visitors: 300,000

Organizers: The Executive Committee of Japan Flower Weeks
TEL: 03-5840-1705 / FAX: 03-5840-1901
E-mail: info@marunouchi-flowerweeks.com

Back by popular demand! Marunouchi is thrilled to announce the second annual “Tokyo Marunouchi Flower Weeks 2009” in bloom throughout the Marunouchi area in April 2009. The concept of Flower Weeks is to bring beautiful flowers and plants to the city. The event will showcase a wide array of exotic flowers that will bring Marunouchi to life!

And that’s not all! To coincide with Marunouchi Flower Weeks 2009, the legendary Japan Flower Festival, which is Japan’s largest flower event, will be held in Tokyo Marunouchi. This colorful festival of flowers from across Japan will be displayed for six days and will provide the latest information on flowers and planting and gardening techniques.

One Flower Weeks 2009 display not to be missed is the Japanese wisteria viewing garden. Famous wisteria trees from Ashikaga Flower Park, the world’s leading wisteria garden, will fill the garden with their beauty and splendor. In mid-April, after the end of the cherry blossom season, visitors to Marunouchi will be able to enjoy the spectacular view of this wisteria garden in full bloom. Also not to be missed are the Marunouchi Flower Market, the Japan Flower Selection and the Pre-Flower Boutique.

The Marunouchi area, quickly evolving as Japan’s gateway and Tokyo showcase, welcomes you to enjoy the spring oasis!

1) Floral Street
Venue: Marunouchi Naka–dori Avenue
Marunouchi Naka–dori, which links Marunouchi with Otemachi and Yurakucho and lined with luxury-brand shop, will transform into a colorful floral street with over 130 hanging flower baskets.

2) Wisteria Viewing Garden
Venue: Marunouchi Building
The wisteria trees in blossom from Ashikaga Flower Park, the world’s leading wisteria garden, will turn the exterior of the Marunouchi Building into a wisteria viewing garden overnight.

3) Marunouchi Flower Market
Venue: Exterior of the Marunouchi Building
Professional florists will be selling flowers and giving tips on how to transform your own home into a beautiful garden.

Wisteria Viewing Garden

1) Brand Nippon Booth ~ Japanese flowers are beautiful ~
Venue: MARUCUBE, 1st floor in the Marunouchi building and Gyoko Basement Gallery.
Prefectures from across Japan famous for the production of flowers will have their finest flowers and plants on display.

2) Pre-Flower Boutique
Venue: The Galleria 3rd floor in the Marunouchi Building.
The Galleria will be transformed into a boutique selling handbags, footwear, dresses, accessories, sweets, and paintings, all made from preserved flowers.

3) Japan Flower Selection
Award-winning flowers will be displayed in the Gyoko Basement Gallery. Japan Flower Selection began in April 2006 to meet new and exciting flower cultivators. Approximately 50 to 100 certified new flower cultivators, including cut flowers, potted flowers and plants will be displayed.

4) Centenary Carnations
100 breeds of carnations will be on display.
Venue: Gyoko Basement Gallery
2009 marks the 100th anniversary of the first carnations imported to Japan. Since then, the production and sales of carnations have been in high demand. The special event will commemorate the 100th anniversary of carnations in Japan.

5) Designers Square
Venue: Gyoko Basement Gallery
Flower designers, florists and flower arrangement specialists will display their artistic displays and arrangements.

6) World Flowers Market
Venue: Gyoko Basement Gallery
New breeds and the latest imports and new materials from overseas will be fashionably displayed.

* Please be advised that some programs are subject to change.

Tokyo Marunouchi Flower Weeks & Japan Flower Festival 2009 Map

Source: Japan National Tourism Organization

The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) recently held its 24th International Air Cargo Forum & Exposition (ACF 2008) at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center last week. The Air Cargo Forum is the world’s biggest biennial air cargo industry event that rotates every two years between Europe, Americas, and Asia.

I was assigned to design the floral centerpieces for Emirates Sky Cargo and Mercator, the IT division of the Dubai-based Emirates Group. Emirates had one of the most impressive stands at the convention centre, where they built up a 2-storey display booth complete with reception desks, bars, and meeting rooms.

To complement the Emirates’ logo, the color theme of the floral centerpieces for Emirates Sky Cargo is red, white, and green. For the reception desks and bars, I’ve used a mixture of tropical crab claws, red gladiolus, white dendrobium orchids, and some fatsia japonicas in elegant frosted glass vases.

As for the meeting rooms and coffee tables, the main flowers used were red roses, carnations, and Casablanca lilies. The overall look and feel of the floral designs that I wanted to achieve was understated elegance. I refrained from using fancy vases of different colors and shapes, as I wanted the focus to be on the flowers and the round clear vases helped complete the look.

On the left (below): Small round centerpieces for the tables. The texture of the full-bloomed carnations enhanced the visibility of the tiny hypericums.

On the right (below): One of the floral displays for Mercator, a blend of golden ramsies and green dendrobium orchids, and fatsia japonicas.

It has been a busy early September for me as I was preparing for the official launch of Miel~My Boudoir, my friend’s new fashion boutique at Desa Park City, Kuala Lumpur.

The highlight of the event was a fashion show featuring this season’s latest collection by the boutique and a few local fashion designers. All the invited guests were pampered with some beautifully crafted food and drinks from Delicious by Ms. Read.

The color theme of the event was orange, white, and gray. The small tables for guests surrounding the stage were filled with vibrant floral centerpieces to brighten up the ambiance. The tables were draped in off-white linens, thus we use fresh orange roses and a tinge of bear grass to complement the event’s theme.

For the guests sign-in counter, I opted for a more contemporary design with a mixture of fresh orange roses and sweet angelic roses sans foliage, elegantly arranged in a square glass vase. I wanted to accentuate the contours of roses this way and would like the guests to capture the view of the roses from above as opposed to from the side.

Inside the boutique, green dendrobium orchids were scattered along the stony side path to draw attention to all the featured shoes by Fiorucci, Italy.

I knew great lighting can do wonders to create just the right amount of ambiance. Thus, these dendrobium orchids look amazing together with the gorgeous red pair of wedges.

Needless to say, flowers were abundant with the inclusion of congratulatory floral stands and baskets at the boutique. Pictured below is a huge floral basket filled with over 4 dozens of fresh pink roses, pink eustomas, fuchsia lilies with eucalyptus and monstera leaves. A perfect centerpiece by itself for the coffee table which is to be located right in the middle of the boutique.

Congratulations to Miel! The event was a great success!

Now, where’s my foot reflexologist?

Well, well, well…more on floral festival. Our very own Malaysia Floral Festival has officially begun yesterday, July 18, 2008. This half-month long event will run on until August 3, 2008. “Colours of Harmony” is the theme for this year’s event, where you will witness our very own beautiful blooms parading on floats, created by local and international floral designers.

The Flora Fest Parade will be held on July 26, 2008 at Putrajaya and the floral floats will be showcased at Putrajaya Boulevard for two days. These floral floats will also be competing for awards in six categories; Premier Trophy, Theme Trophy, Creative Trophy, Parade Trophy, Jury Award, and the International Participation Award.

Other events taking place during the Flora Fest this year includes Florathon, Flora Photography Exhibition, Flora Workshops, and a series of competition for Flora Arrangement and Flora Photography. So, put your sunglasses on and get your camera ready for a celebration of our country’s rich floral heritage.

Make a date with flowers!
July 20, 2008: Flora Run (Florathon) – Merdeka Square, Kuala Lumpur
July 26, 2008: Flora Fest Parade – Putrajaya Boulevard, Putrajaya
July 26–28, 2008: Static Display of Floats – Putrajaya
29 June – 21 July: Floral Photography Exhibition

Here is their official website for you to drool over the wonderful photos taken during last year’s event.

The Singapore Garden Festival is back! The much-anticipated floral event in the region will be featuring some of the top award-winning garden and floral designers from all over the world, namely, New Zealand, United States, Canada, France, China, United Kingdom, Norway, India, Australia, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore.

Some exhibition highlights include Landscape Gardens, Fantasy Gardens, and Floral Windows to the World. By the way, there will also be an Orchid Show for all of you orchid lovers out there!

Festival Dates: July 25, 2008 – August 1, 2008
Festival Venue: Suntec Convention Centre, Singapore
Opening Hours: Daily 10am to 10pm

Ticket Price
Adult Ticket: S$6 (Mon-Fri), S$12 (Sat & Sun)
Child, Student, Senior Citizen: S$3 (Mon-Fri), S$6 (Sat & Sun)
Family Ticket (2 Adults & 3 Children): S$18 (Mon – Fri), S$36 (Sat & Sun)

Visit their official website for more information.

A floral parade in Putrajaya will be the highlight of the four-month long Flora Fest 2008 themed Colours of Harmony.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said at least 15 floats would be participating in the parade on July 26. The floats, which must use at least 70% of fresh flowers, would then be displayed in Putrajaya until July 28.

Flora Fest 2008, which started on March 1, is divided into seven segments including photography competition and exhibition, flora workshop, Florathon, design arrangement and decoration competitions, floral parade and float showcase and bazaar.

“Malaysia has almost 8,000 species of flowers and its flora and fauna should be given as much publicity as possible.

“Many of our indigenous flowers have yet to gain international recognition because they have not been given enough publicity and not because they are inferior in terms of beauty and colour,” she said at a press conference on Flora Fest here yesterday.

Bigger plans are also in store for next year, said Azalina who intends to make it a Flora and Forest Fest in 2009 to get locals and tourists to further appreciate nature.

“The Fest goes beyond parades. We are looking at incorporating nature walks and other eco-tourism activities for next year.

We also want it to be promoted in more destinations in the country,” she added.

Source: thestar.com.my

by Bernard Cheah

GEORGE TOWN (May 28, 2008): The Penang Floral Festival 2008 has been postponed to end of the year amid recent “clashes” between the state and federal governments over tourism promotions and funding in Penang.

State Tourism Development, Culture, Arts and Heritage Committees chairman Danny Law said the relevent parties, including federal government’s Penang Tourism Action Council (PTAC), were informed of the postponement late March.

The festival was initially scheduled to be held from last Sunday (May 25) to this Sunday (June 1).

Law told reporters today the festival had to be postponed to December because of the change in state government and the appointment of Botanic Gardens director Nor Wahida Hassan in January.

“We want to organise this properly and not just rush into it,” said Law, adding that there will be a mid-scale floral exhibition in August.

Nor Wahida said the annual floral festival had to be postponed as “we were too preoccupied with the Penang World Music Festival 2008 (May 2 to 4) which was staged in gardens”.

“This year’s exhibition will entail more preparations as it will be staged in a bigger scale. We will be inviting participants from Asia, including Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines,” she said.

PTAC chairman Datuk Kee Phaik Cheen, when contacted, said there should be a good reason or explanation if any event in the tourism calender is to be cancelled or postponed.

However, the information on their website (http://www.tourismpenang.gov.my/) was not updated on the postponement of the event.

“There should be some damage control by the state government,” she said, adding that flora enthusiasts should not be saddened as the Golden Anniversary Orchid Show and Sale is showing now.

Organised by the Federation of Malaya Orchid Society (FOMOS), the event in the Arena Horticulture Centre car park on Jalan Kebun Bunga, Penang ends on Sunday.

FOMOS president Shamas Mohd Sofi was aware of the postponement of the festival and decided to take advantage of the postponement to hold the orchid show which is participated by 37 stalls.

via sun2surf.com