April 6th is Tartan Day the whole world over.  And now there is Scottish Week.

The Centre for Scottish Studies, at Simon Fraser University, organized a conference on "Robert Burns in Transatlantic Context."  I was invited by Dr. Leith Davis to perform on the Tuesday evening, and give a presentation on Wednesday afternoon, and attend the closing reception on Thursday evening.

Tartan Week in Vancouver was also the final stop for Scottish Parliamentary Minister of Culture, Michael Russell, who started his week at the Tartan Day parade in New York City, visited Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, then Vancouver again.

Toddish McWong meets Michael Russell, Scottish Parliamentary Minister for Culture, External Affairs and Constitution,
Scottish Development International - photo T. Wong

Last year I was featured in a Vancouver Sun story about Tartan Day.  Vancouver Sun: The next celebration - Toddish McWong helps to spread the word about Tartan Day  

Then I helped organize a proclamation by the City of Vancouver: Tartan Day (April 6) proclaimed in City of Vancouver, April 3

This year the major events were organized by Dr. Leith Davis, director of the Centre for Scottish Studies, SFU.

The week started out with a Tuesday evening of music and song for the "Musical Celebration of Burns in North America," featuring Jon Bartlett and Rika Reubsaat, performing "Burns Songs in BC", and also Kirsteen McCue and pianist David Hamilton performing Burns Songs by Serge Hovey.  This was really interesting because Kirsteen is from Scotland, and she explained that these were the musical arrangements that Burns himself had used, but were only discovered a few years ago.

The third set of the evening featured Gung Haggis Fat Choy performers.  After a poem by visiting Scottish professor Dr. Robert Crawford, Dr. Jan Walls explained about Chinese clapper songs.  Jan is former director of International Communication at SFU, and also a former cultural attache for the Canadian embassy in Beijing.  At this year's Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner, Jan performed a song about Robbie Burns to chinese clappers.  Leith was knocked out by Jan's performance.  This evening Jan performed the Burns poem "John Barleycorn."

Leith's idea was to introduce all the travelling Burns scholars and conference attendees to a little bit of Gung Haggis Fat Choy.  She told them all that it was the "best Burns dinner" she has been to.  And she was amazed at how the Gung Haggis event incorporated and promoted cultural fusion.

Todd Wong apologizes for being unable to "roll" his "r's" due to Chinese DNA which has no "r-sounds"in the Chinese language.

Leith asked for a performance of "The Haggis Rap" or "Rap To A Haggis", in which bagpiper Joe McDonald and I rap the immortal Burns poem, "Address to a Haggis."  I introduced it by saying that Joe and I had performed this on CBC national television, and our MP3 version had also been played on BBC Radio Scotland two years ago.  Meanwhile, Joe had found a haggis in the kitchen.  Gung Haggis dragon boater Debbie Poon followed Joe into the hall carrying the haggis.

Joe McDonald pipes in the haggis for Scottish Week.

We closed off the evening by leading a singalong of Auld Lang Syne with the first verse and chorus in Mandarin Chinese.  Then dragon boaters Steven Wong and Debbie Poon helped lead some "volunteers" in a Chinese dragon parade, complete with two children carrying the Chinese lion masks.  It was fun, and lots of people thanked us afterwards with positive compliments.

On Wednesday there was a Community Research Forum on "Burns In BC."

Jon Bartlett and Rika Reubsaat started the forum by talking about the history of Burns dinners in BC.  They were followed by Robert Barr who gave a history of the Vancouver Burns Club.  I followed with a history of Gung Haggis Fat Choy, its origins and its cultural fusion context.

I explained that BC is a young province.  While we are celebrating the 250th Anniversary of Robert Burns' birth, we only just celebrated the 150th anniversary of the colony of BC.  Vancouver is only 123 years old.  I explained that to me, the "Two Solitudes" of BC are the Scottish and Chinese.  Each arrived from an opposite direction, and lived in conflict.  I explained that if the Scots hadn't been in political power, there probably wouldn't have been a Chinese Head Tax or an Exclusion Act to keep the Chinese out of Canada.  To which many people applauded my statement.  I went on to say that many generations later, there are many Scots and Chinese intermarried, and sharing Scots and Chinese DNA, just like in my family.

I shared how I first wore a kilt for the 1993 Burns ceremony at Simon Fraser University, and how the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinners grew from 16 people in 1998 to 550 people in 2009.  A CBC television performance special was aired in 2004 and 2005.   And with the SFU Recreation Department, I helped create the SFU Gung Haggis Fat Choy Festival in 2005 with dragon cart races, and later with the human curling event.  It was a good talk that also included how I was chosent to play Robert Burns for the Celticfest's inaugural "Battle of the Bards" which I won against actors playing Dylan Thomas and W.B. Yeats.

Making Burns relevant in a global 21st Century, is what Gung Haggis Fat Choy events do.  The growth of copycat dinners in Ottawa, the Yukon, Seattle and Santa Barbara, demonstrate that Gung Haggis is reaching people in a positive way.  While promoting Burns, it also addresses multiculturalism and racism.

Thursday's Scottish Week finale is a reception for Michael Russell, Scottish Member of Parliament.

Every year Gung Haggis Fat Choy attracts media attention and finds new ways to explore cultural diversity.  Here's a look back at 2008.

There were a number of media articles prior to the 2008 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner event.  We were mentioned in the Vancouver Sun, Co-op Radio, Georgia Straight, and Shaw TV's "The Express".  On Robbie Burns Day, Todd was interviewed on Rock 101's Brother Jake Show with Vancouver councilor Raymond Louie, then with bagpiper Joe McDonald, Todd and Joe performed and excerpt of their "Haggis Rap" for CBC Newsworld television.

ON THE BURNER - by Mia Stainsby
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/arts/story.html?id=360efbd6-f817-4340-a770-f53c6e9bbcca

Todd Wong featured interview on Co-Op Radio's Accordion Noir

Georgia Straight - Blog  - Jan 16
I will wear a kilt’ to Robbie Burns dinner, Coun. Raymond McLouie ...

Gung Haggis Fat Choy with Sukhi Ghuman on Shaw TV's The Express
Rock 101's Brother Jake Show with Vancouver city councilor Raymond Louie

CBC Newsworld update for Todd Wong & Joe McDonald appearance:

What to expect at Gung Haggis Fat Choy 2008 dinner - how to enjoy and have fun!

Metro News posts story and picture of Gung Haggis Fat Choy

Gung Haggis Fat Choy in Province Newspaper today for Chinese New Year

Full of surprises.... Gung Haggis Fat Choy celebrates 10th Anniversary for Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner

From the Brunei Times to the Scottish Sunday Post, Toddish McWong is becoming known the world, o'er

Tonight: George McWhirter and Fred Wah featured for Gung Haggis Fat Choy World Poetry Night at Vancouver Public Library

Georgia Straight pokes fun at "Gung Haggis Fat Choy" becoming a icon of cultural diversity


Eric on the Road podcast with Gung Haggis Fat Choy - hitting US pod cast waves

Gung Haggis dragon boat team team hits the water with a Global TV cameraman filming them to celebrate BC's cultural diversity

Feb 24

Seattle Gung Haggis Fat Choy II, sells out and sets new standards!

Our Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner always great for incredible images and memorable moments.  Joe McDonald and Todd Wong perform the "Haggis Rap", Catherine Barr leads a kilted male chorus in a "Toast to the Lassies", celtic band Blackthorn perfrom on stage...

a) Children's lion head mask
b) Host and creator of Gung Haggis Fat Choy - Todd Wong aka "Toddish McWong"
c) Co-host Catherine Barr and Todd auction off bottles of Johnny Walker Red Label scotch
d) All the performers sing O Canada
e) Hot & Sour soup - vegetarian style
f) Ginger crab
g) Blackthorn celtic band
h) Joe McDonald + Jim McWilliams bagpipe the haggis, while Hareesh drums the dohl drum.
i) Hareesh drums for Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan
j) Joe Mcdonald "raps" and slices the haggis.
k) some of the many tasty and savoury dishes including the haggis lettuce wrap.
l) Grace Chin and Jim Wong-Chu read his poem "Recipe for Tea" - a Gung Haggis favorite
m) Ji-Rong Huang and Todd Wong perform "The Horse Race" on erhu and accordion
n) Catherine Barr poses with her kilted male chorus from the "Toast to the Lassies"

Metro News - Rafe Arnott

Metro News Vancouver posts a story Mixing it up with haggis won tons by Andrea Woo, and a picture by Rafe Arnott.

Andrea and Rafe showed up at Floata Restaurant, as I was up to my eyeballs in challenges as we prepared the 2008 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner for a 5:00 opening.  They were very patient waiting for me to give some direction to our volunteers from the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team, then change into my kilt, and my red vest with chinese dragons. 

Andre is Chinese... and maybe Rafe is Scottish... 

Rafe took an amazing picture with the Scottish flag in the background, and me holding a small Chinese lion head mask.  And... I am sporting a goatee beard and moustache.  One of the few times I have ever had a goattee/moustache and dared to wear it in public.  I think it makes me look more Scottish d'ya ken?

Gung Haggis Fat Choy made it to the CBC Blog and

Check out:

As well as being the time of year when kilted men address a haggis, it is also getting close to the time of year when many people say, "Gung Hei Fat Choy," addressing the Chinese New Year.

Todd Wong does both. He's a Chinese Canadian whose family has been in B.C. since the 19th century. Some years ago he was asked to help out with a Robbie Burns day celebration, and this is what it led to -- a fine example of cross-cultural Canadianism, with the annual celebration of Chinese New Year's AND Robbie Burns day, called Gung Haggis Fat Choy.

Last night, Vancouver Poet Laureate George McWhirter read an incredible poem especially for the Gung Haggis Fat Choy: Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner.  It delves into the rich history of Scots and Chinese Canadians.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy World Poetry Event
7pm Vancouver Public Library
Alice Mackay Room

FREE EVENT

Featuring:

Vancouver poet laureate George McWhirter

Governor Generals Award for Poetry winner Fred Wah,

with other contemporary Scottish-Canadian and Chinese-Canadian poets.

Todd Wong's accordion

Joe McDonald's bagpipe

Rebecca Blair's celtic harp

It was a memorable night - the BEST Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner ever!

Joe McDonald "raps" and slices the haggis

The Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner 2008 is Vancouver's 10th annual East/West multicultural Fusion banquet for 400 people.

There was an incredibly warm vibe full of surprises... and we went and rolled with it.


a) Children's lion head mask
b) Host and creator of Gung Haggis Fat Choy - Todd Wong aka "Toddish McWong"
c) Co-host Catherine Barr and Todd auction off bottles of Johnny Walker Red Label scotch
d) All the performers sing O Canada
e) Hot & Sour soup - vegetarian style
f) Ginger crab
g) Blackthorn celtic band
h) Joe McDonald + Jim McWilliams bagpipe the haggis, while Hareesh drums the dohl drum.
i) Hareesh drums for Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan
j) Joe Mcdonald "raps" and slices the haggis.
k) some of the many tasty and savoury dishes including the haggis lettuce wrap.
l) Grace Chin and Jim Wong-Chu read his poem "Recipe for Tea" - a Gung Haggis favorite
m) Ji-Rong Huang and Todd Wong perform "The Horse Race" on erhu and accordion
n) Catherine Barr poses with her kilted male chorus from the "Toast to the Lassies"

Who would have expected:

...being greeted by complementary scotch tastings by Johnny Walker - Gold and Green labels?

...that following Catherine Barr's reading of the Selkirk Grace, that the Blackthorn men to spontaneously rise from their seats and lead a song, followed by all the good strong Scotsmen in the audience?

...an erhu/accordion duet with Ji-Rong Huang and Toddish McWong?

... the depth and complexity of Scots and Chinese issues imortalized in a poem by Vancouver Poet Laureate,  George McWhirter?

...Catherine Barr's rap version of the Toast to the Lassies would include a male chorus in kilts including Vancouver councilor Raymond Louie, and MLA Gregor Robertson?

...the creative visuals and story of The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam, with Chinese-Scottish-Irish-Swedish-Austian Hapa-Canadian Ann Marie Fleming?

... The Quickie's snappy words about dating Asian or White Men?

...a Chinese cowboy in the audience?  Where did those cowboys come from?

...the incredible cultural fusion of bagpipes with funky bass lines, and the tabla and dohl drumming of Brave Waves.... Wow - Hareesh really liked drumming for the Mayor!

...then wrap it all up with Blackthorn on stage for "Todd Wong - where's your trousers" and a very warm circle singing of Auld Lange Syne.

Big thank you especially to the good hard and admirable work by:
Carl Schmidt - song technician and Charlie Cho - stage manager.  They pulled it all together and kept it tight - despite the challenges of the room configuration, poor house speaker system, competing with a Chinese New Year dinner in the room beside us, and technical problems for the dvd and screen projection.

Our performers are absolutely incredible, and so were our volunteers from the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team.  We couldn't have pulled off last night with out you.  I am impressed and amazed.... and dedicate this coming year to finding grants, sponsorships, events and networking that will highlight your wonderful talents.

The evening was our fundraiser for very worthy organizations in Metro Vancouver - Joy Kogawa House, Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop and Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team.  These organizations help highlight the Asian-Canadian history of British Columbia, as well as contemporary arts and culture, as well as the integration of multiculturalism and interculturalism in our society.

Our Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner always great for incredible images and memorable moments.  Joe McDonald and Todd Wong perform the "Haggis Rap", Catherine Barr leads a kilted male chorus in a "Toast to the Lassies", celtic band Blackthorn perfrom on stage...


Next year's Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner will be:

January 25th, Sunday, 2009 - the 250th Anniversary of the birth of Robbie Burns

and we will be holding one of the largest Burns dinners in North America...

oh, and did you know that January 25th is also the Eve of Chinese New Year?

Big big surprises coming up for next year....
organize your table now...

Gung Haggis Fat Choy 10th Anniversary dinner is going to sell out at 400 seats!

We have a limited number of seats left available.
Tickets Tonight stopped sales this afternoon, 24 hours before the event.
Many tickets were sold by the table...

If guests want to purchase tickets at the door, or participate in the silent auction, please bring cash or cheque.

Thank you!

What to expect at the Gung Haggis Fat Choy 2008 Dinner

The Arrival

Arrive Early: 

The doors will open after 5:00 pm, if everything goes well... All tables are reserved, and all tables are placed in the order that they were ordered.

If you bought your tickets through Tickets Tonight, come to the reception marked Will Call - Tickets Tonight

We have placed you at tables in order of your purchase.  Somebody who bought their ticket in December will be at a table closer to the stage then somebody who bought it on the day before the event.  We think this is fair.  If you want to sit close for next year - buy your ticket early.

If you reserved a table, then come to the reception marked Will Call - Reserved Tables.  We will give the organizer the tickets to distribute... or check the guests names off as they arrive

The Bar is open:

We expect a rush just prior to the posted 5:30pm reception time.  This is the time to go to the bar and get your dram of Johnny Walker Red or your order of Guinness beer. - specially brought in for tonight's dinner.  Diageo is the distributor of these fine spirits, and we are pleased they have become a sponsor for our event.

Johnny Walker Red is a favorite at Chinese New Year Dinners because the colour red is considered good luck in Chinese Culture. Johnny Walker Green is a special blend of four single malt whiskies: Talisker, Linkwood, Cragganmore and Caol Ila.  Diageo is donating some bottles of Johnny Walker to raffle/auction off, plus a special gift basket.  Please support our sponsor by purchasing their products at the bar.

Buy Your Raffle Tickets:

Please buy raffle tickets... this is how we generate our fundraising.  We purposely keep our admission costs low to $60 for advance regular seats so that they are affordable and the dinner can be attended by more people.  Children's tickets are subsidized so that we can include them in the audience and be an inclusive family for the evening. We have some great door and raffle prizes lined up.  Lots of books (being the writers we are), gift certificates and theatre tickets + other surprises.

Click here to see some of the prizes

FREE Subscription for Ricepaper Magazine:

Everybody is eligible for a subscription to RicePaper Magazine, (except children). This is our thank you gift to you for attending our dinner. And to add value ($20) to your ticket. Pretty good deal, eh? Rice Paper Magazine is Canada's best journal about Asian Canadian arts and culture, published by Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop,

Kogawa House 1944?

This dinner is the primary fundraising event for:

The Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dragon Boat team continues to promote multiculturalism through dragon boat paddling events, and puts a dragon boat float each year in the Vancouver St. Patrick's Day Parade. 

Since 2001, Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop, has been a partner in this remarkable dinner event.  ACWW are the publishers of RicePaper Magazine.

Save Kogawa House committee joined our family of recipients in 2006, during the campaign to save Joy Kogawa's childhood home from demolition.  The Land Conservancy stepped in to fundraise in 2005 and purchase Kogawa House in 2006 and turn it into a National literary landmark and treasure for all Canadians. Now that the newly registered Historic Joy Kogawa House Society is registered, more money is still needed to restore it to the 1942 qualities when Joy and her family were forced to leave it, as well as create an endowment for future programming.

Please support our missions of supporting and developing emerging writers, organizing reading events, creating a literary and historical landmark in Vancouver,  and to spread multiculturalism through dragon boat paddling!

The FOOD

This year haggis dim sum appetizers will again be on a long buffet table - available at 5:30 pm.  This is going to be culinarily exciting.  We have featured deep-fried haggis won ton since 2004. Last year we introduced haggis pork dumplings (su-mei).  Don't worry - there is also vegetarian spring rolls and shrimp dumplings (haw gow).

Soon after 6:00 pm the dinner formalities begin. People are seated, and the Piping in of the musicians and hosts begins.  We will lead a singalong of Scotland the Brave and give a good welcome to our guests, and have the calling of the clans - all the reserved tables and large parties of 10.  This is a tradition at many Scottish cailles (kay-lees), or gatherings.

If you want to eat, you have to sing for your supper! (which should appear by 6:30 pm).

From then on... a new dish will appear every 10 to 15 minutes - quickly followed by one of our co-hosts introducing a poet or musical performer.  Serving 40 tables within 5 minutes, might not work completely, so please be patient.  We will encourage our guests and especially the waiters to be quiet while the performers are on stage. Then for the 5 minute intermissions, everybody can talk and make noise before they have to be quiet for the performers again.

The Performances

Expect the unexpected:  This year's dinner event is full of surprises. Even I don't know what is going to happen.  The idea is to recreate the spontaneity of the very first dinner for 16 people back in 1998 - but with 400 guests.  For that dinner, each guest was asked to bring a song or a poem to share. 

We will alternate singalongs, poetry reading, musical performance, movie excerpt, mini theatrical reading, along with a 10 course Chinese banquet dinner.

I don't want to give anything away right now as I prefer the evening to unfold with a sense of surprise and wonderment.  But let it be known that we have an incredible array of talent for the evening. 

Todd Wong, aka Toddish McWong will be the host for the evening.

Joe McDonald and his celtic-fusion band Brave Waves is again our "house band." We always delight in having Joe and his bagpipes.  This year Joe and the band will deliver a Canadian music with a multicultural twist.

This year, Joe and Todd think they have perfected their rap version of Burns' immortal poem "Addres to a Haggis" and performed it LIVE on CBC Newsworld on Robbie Burns Day.  Last year they released an MP3 version produced by No Luck Club's Trevor Chan, which aired on CBC Radio One, CBC Radio Canada International and BBC Radio Scotland.

Blackthorn, the celtic music band, is really looking forward to the cultural fusion mix that Gung Haggis Fat Choy.  Vocalist/flautist Michelle Carlisle really loved the taste-testing dinner and played a duet of Loch Lomand with host Todd Wong on his accordion, for Shaw TV's The Express with Sukhi Ghuman.

Vancouver Poet Laureate George McWhirter really appreciates the energy that Gung Haggis Fat Choy brings to Vancouver, and we are honoured he is our featured author.  Born in Ireland, his family ancestors travelled back and forth between Scotland and Ireland.  George has written a poem especially for the occasion of our 10th Anniversary.

The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam by film maker Ann Marie Fleming features a cinematic retelling about her great great grandfather magician.  Fleming is a new board member for Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop - a recipient for this increasingly famous fundraiser dinner.



Generations: The Chan Legacy is a CBC documentary - which features Todd Wong and his Gung Haggis Fat Choy creation.  Wong is a 5th generation descendant of Rev. Chan Yu Tan who arrived in Canada in 1896.

Catherine Barr, media columnist is going to introduce a Burns dinner tradition never before presented at a Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner.  Watch out for a Toast to the Lassies and Rebuttal, like you've never seen or heard before.  Definitely YouTube worthy.

A sneak preview of The Quickie, a new play by emerging playwright Grace Chin.  Burns so loved the ladies.  But do Asian ladies prefer Chinese guys or White guys?

The Quickie cast:

Poetry by Robbie Burns and Chinese Canadian poets.  What will it be?  We often like to read "Recipe for Tea" - a poem by Jim Wong-Chu, about the trading of tea from Southern China to Scotland

Our non-traditional reading of the "Address to the Haggis" is always a crowd pleaser.  But this year, audience members might be reading a different Burns poem to tie their tongues around the gaelic tinged words.  Will it be "A Man's A Man for All That," "To a Mouse," My Luv is Like a Red Red Rose," or maybe even "Tam O-Shanter?"

I hand-pick members of the audience to join us on stage to read a verse.  Past participants have included former federal Multicultural Secretary of State Raymond Chow, Qayqayt (New Westminster) First Nations Chief Rhonda Larrabee, , a descendent of Robert the Bruce, a doctor from White Horse, a UBC student from Scotland, somebody doing a vocal impression of Sean Connery.

Who will it be for 2008?  We leave it up until the evening to decide.

The evening will wrap up somewhere between 9:00 and 9:30 pm, with the singing of Auld Lang Syne - with a verse in Mandarin Chinese. Then we will socialize further until 10pm.  People will leave with smiles on their faces and say to each other, "Very Canadian,"  "Only in Vancouver could something like this happen," or "I'm telling my friends."

Todd Wong and Joe McDonald will appear today, January 25th
LIVE on CBC Newsworld at:

12:45pm PST.
(not broadcast later for PST- as previously thought)

This means Todd and Joe will be either the Vancouver Public Library South Plaza or in the CBC studio.

Todd is bringing a haggis... and doing an interview.
Joe McDonald will step in and they will do a rap version of Robbie Burns immortal poem "Address to a Haggis" - 60 second short version 2 verses.

The full 3 minute version is dowloadable on MP3
click here
Gung HAGGIS RAP Choy - Robbie Burns Address to a Haggis set to rap music

This year's dinner will be a mix of announced performers, traditional singalongs, surprise guests, documentary movie excerpts + sneak preview of a brand new Asian Canadian theatre play + lots of raffle prizes.

To recognize our 10th anniversary... we are trying to recreate the spontaneity of the very first dinner for 16 people back in 1998 - but with 400 guests.  For that dinner, each guest was asked to bring a song or a poem to share.  We will alternate singalongs, poetry reading, musical performance, movie excerpt, mini theatrical reading, along with a 10 course Chinese banquet dinner.

Please read below for descriptions of 2008 performers, and planned events.

Media Alert

January 25th, 2008

Gung Haggis Fat Choy!
Chinese-Scots-Canadians deep-fry Robbie Burns and lettuce rap the haggis.

10th Annual Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner features special guests and surprises... like the anticipation of Vancouver councilor Raymond Louie wearing a kilt!  Mc Louie and McWong will start off Robbie Burns Day by a joint appearance on Rock 101's Bro Jake Show.

January 27th, 2008
5:00 reception, 6:00 dinner
Floata Seafood Restaurant
#400 - 180 Keefer St.
Vancouver Chinatown.

"This is shaping up to the best Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner yet!" states bagpiper Joe McDonald, who has piped in the haggis for 8 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinners beginning in 2001.  Joe and organizer Todd Wong will be featured on CBC Newsworld's 6pm tv broadcast to the nation on January 25th, when they will perform a short rap version Robbie Burns' immortal poem - Address to a Haggis.  McDonald and his cross-cultural fusion band Brave Waves provide a sonic setting for many of the evening's singalongs.


Gung Haggis Fat Choy is a dinner like no other.  Jam-packed with cross-cultural references to the Scottish and Chinese pioneer history of British Columbia, it feeds its audience a cultural-fusion cuisine of deep-fried haggis wun tun and lettuce wrap in a 10 course Chinese banquet.  It looks forward to the future of Chinese-Scottish-Canadian mixed DNA, and present-time Hapa-Canadian culture of mixed ethnicity.

Vancouver poet Laureate George McWhirter has written a special poem for the event.  He unveiled it at the Tuesday night rehearsal dinner to a very pleased private audience.



Blackthorn, the celtic music band, is really looking forward to the cultural fusion mix that Gung Haggis Fat Choy.  Vocalist/flautist Michelle Carlisle really loved the taste-testing dinner and played a duet of Loch Lomand with host Todd Wong on his accordion, for Shaw TV's The Express with Sukhi Ghuman.



















For more information
Call Todd Wong
h: 604-987-7124
c: 778-846-7090
email: gunghaggisfatchoy.com
www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com

Here are the latest media appearance and stories about Gung Haggis Fat Choy:

Friday January 25
Bro Jake Show Classic Rock 101 FM
with Vancouver City councilor Raymond Louie - some time between 7:30am and 8:45am

Friday January 25
The Express on SHAW TV - channel 4
Interviews and footage from the taste-testing rehearsal
at 10am, 11am, 11:30am, 2pm, 3pm

January 25
TIME CHANGE
CBC News World 12:45pm PST
CBC TV 26 - Todd Wong interview + Haggis Rap by Todd & Joe McDonald

Georgia Straight - Straight Choices - Jan 24
King of Culture - page 19

Vancouver Sun - January 23
On the burner - Mia Stainsby,
Gung Haggis Fat Choy: This Scottish-Chinese-Canadian tri-brid event celebrates its 10th year

Georgia Straight - Blog  - Jan 16
I will wear a kilt to Robbie Burns dinner, Coun. Raymond McLouie

Raymond Louie will be kilted for Gung Haggis Fat Choy

News Flash...
Raymond McLouie and Toddish McWong will appear on the Bro Jake Show on Rock 101.
January 25th, Robbie Burns Day
somewhere between 7:30 and 8:45am

The rumours are true.  Vancouver city councilor Raymond Louie will be seen in attire other than his dapper suits. Raymond has supported Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinners in the past, bringing his family to the 2006 dinner featuring children's entertainers Rick Scott and Harry Wong.

‘I will wear a kilt’ to Robbie Burns dinner, Coun. Raymond McLouie promises Gung Haggis Fat Choy organizer Todd Wong

No longer considered a cultural fusion hybrid event... Food critic Mia Stainsby calls us tri-brid! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON THE BURNER - by Mia Stainsby http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/arts/story.html?id=360efbd6-f817-4340-a770-f53c6e9bbcca    more »

Watch The Express on Shaw TV today and Friday - for Gung Haggis Fat Choy interview with Todd Wong and Michelle Carlisle!

Sukhi Ghuman did a really nice story with the Gung Haggis Fat Choy gang for Shaw TV's The Express - "that brings an in-depth look at the fascinating people, events, recreation and attractions from Greater Vancouver."

TIME CORRECTION!

Watch Shaw

Thursday January 24 - Robbie Burns Day Eve
at 6pm, 6:30pm, 10:30pm, 12am

Friday January 25 - Robbie Burns Day
at 10am, 11am, 11:30am, 2pm, 3pm

She brought cameraman Zac Radcliffe and they both sat down with us to enjoy the haggis wun tun, shrimp balls and other tasty dinner courses as we taste-tested our 2008 menu.  They also met some of our featured guest performers such as: poet George McWhirter, Blackthorn flute singer/vocalist Michelle Carlisle, film maker Ann Marie Fleming and media columnist Catherine Barr.

Sukhi is absolutely cute as a button and could inspire us to create a Lion-headed, kilt-wearing, bangra dancing entry for the Vancouver International Bangra Competition - for which she is Media correspendent.

Sukhi writes:

Poet George McWhirter was amazed. Media columnist Catherine Barr was in awe! Film maker Ann Marie Fleming had smiles on her face! Blackthorn flautist Michelle Carlisle loved it! ~~~~~~~ We went to Floata to test-taste the 2008 Gung Haggis Fat Choy menu. We started with a deep-fried haggis/shrimp wun tun, shrimp-filled haw-gow, haggis/pork su-mei, and vegetarian spring rolls... that was our appetizer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sukhi Ghuman arrived with her cameraman Zak to shoot an interview and help taste-test some food for an upcoming episode of The Express on Shaw TV. "The Express is a lifestyle magazine program that brings you an in-depth look at the fascinating people, events, recreation and attractions from Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley." Sukhi asked me about the origins of Gung Haggis Fat Choy, and how I came to create this cultural fusion event that blends Chinese and Scottish traditions.   more »

Where is Toddish McWong and his kilt? Lots of events popping up in Vancouver and in the media. The following events feature Todd Wong, Gung Haggis Fat Choy, or are associated.   more »

Our selections are not a real "traditional" Chinese New Year dinner menu - but a blending of favorites, and brand new fusion-fare. It is created to help introduce "real Chinese banquet fare" to Scottish-Canadians and to help make "haggis" safe for Chinese-Canadians. And if you are Ukranian-Italian-Japanese-First Nations... that's alright too! Here is the menu for 2008, subject to change at my whimsy and the kitchen's demands:   more »

Our Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year dinner always has raffle prizes to further help raise funds for Asian Canadian Writers Workshop, Historic Joy Kogawa House and Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team. We try to find prizes that reflect our themes of BC's Chinese-Canadian and Scottish-Canadian history and culture. In particular we try to help promote Asian-Canadian arts and culture. ~~~~~~~ The dinner actually costs quite a bit to put on, plus additional production costs including sound technician and additional equipment plus publicity and posters. We hope that our guests will further help us raise funds for our very worthy organizations, by purchasing lots of raffle tickets!   more »

10 more days until Gung Haggis Fat Choy: Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns Dinner. Yesterday and today, I received calls from Matt Burrows from the Georgia Straight asking what was happening for the 10th Anniversary celebrations for Gung Haggis Fat Choy. We have celtic band Blackthorn, Vancouver poet laureate George McWhirter, our house band Joe McDonald and Brave Waves + an sneak peak excerpt from Grace Chin's new theatre play. "Sorry, I can't tell you anything more because everything else is going to be a surprise," I told Burrows. "I am looking at some of the best memories, performances and elements over the past 10 years and trying to find a way to make the dinner have the same remarkable spontaneity that the first dinner of 16 guests had, but now with 400 guests.    more »

Another Gung Haggis Fat Choy exclusive!!!

TF Productions' playwright Grace Chin is back with another "set in Vancouver" play that resonates sexual and racial intercultural politics and social customs.   Last year  Grace and her writing partner Charlie Cho previewed their first play Twisting Fortunes at the 2007 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner which I reviewed Twisting Fortunes is just like "real dating.

This time the writing is all Grace... and she will be performing a sneak preview excerpt onstage with fellow actor Emily Chow, as characters Susan Fan and Regina Cho.

What do women really want?  Did Robbie Burns have the answer?  We know that Robbie Burns LOVED the fair sex and wrote many many poems dedicated to them - the most famous being "My Luv is Like a Red Red Rose."  But does a rose smell as sweet whether it is red, or white, or yellow?  And what about men and women.... do they smell as sweet whether they are white or yellow? 

Check out this spicy excerpt that will be presented January 27th at the 2008 Gung Haggis Fat Choy : Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner.

You are invited to the

January 27th, 2008 - SUNDAY
Floata Seafood Restaurant
#400 - 180 Keefer St.
Vancouver Chinatown.

click on poster
   
Details for 2008 event to be released soon.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy -
The infamous Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner.
The "little dinner that could" and did:

To celebrate our 10th Annual Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner....
Look for the return of:

Joe McDonald and Brave Waves


New for 2007:
George McWhirter - Vancouver Poet Laureate
Blackthorn - Celtic Band
+ many more musical and literary surprises!

This is a fundraiser event for
Historic Joy Kogawa House
Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop / Ricepaper Magazine
and
Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dragon Boat team


For Tickets:
stay tuned....
tickets will be sold through Tickets Tonight - Vancouver's Community Box Office
NEW ORDER BY PHONE # - 604-631-2872