Courier article on Foo's Ho Ho Restaurant - one of my favorite restaurants in Chinatown
Features interviews with our "Friends of Foo's Ho Ho" main organizers Jim Wong-Chu, chef Joanne Sam, celebrities Tommy Chong, Red Robinson, and Chinatown Lions Club Robbie Burns Dinner organizer Chuck Lew.
http://www.vancourier.com/li...fe/History/3341852/story.html

I had lunch today at Foo's Ho Ho Restaurant with friends from Heart of the City Festival: Terry, Theresa and Celia.  We talked about my family's historical connections to Chinatown, Strathcona, and DTES.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat comes 2nd overall at Richmond Dragon Boat Festival + wins next year's registration as winner of the challenge course


 
Medals for the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team in Richmond! - photo by Deb Martin

It was a beautiful day at the UBC Rowing Centre in Richmond, just east of the Dinsmore Bridge.  The Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team arrived early and set up their tents and readied their crew.  This year there were only 12 teams entered in the Richmond race, compared to the 30 teams last year.  People kept asking what happened?  Why are there less teams?  My reply is that there are many dragon boat options for teams, with races last week in Nanaimo and Kent WA.  Next week teams will be going to Harrison.  Vernon had originally be set for July 24/25, but was canceled due to low numbers, said the organizers.  As well, last year's race grid eliminated the bottom teams that didn't qualify for finals.  Only the top 16 teams competed for medals + 2 teams for the cancer survivor challenge + 4 teams for the junior challeng.

But the Richmond event went bravely on with 12 teams.

We were warmly greeted by Fred, of the Fraser Dragons teams, who explained to us how tents were being set up on the plastic floor segments that were placed on top of the renovated dike along River Road.  With less teams, there was more room for each team.  Last year there was fresh bark mulch dirt on the top of the new dike that had been raised.  Last year there was long grass along a much lower dike.

The first set of races were head-to-head races with only two teams each.  This meant 6 races.  Teams watched each other race.  Many of the races placed strong mixed teams against all-women teams, that were noticeably slower.  It was a format that was being used to try to find a clear race grid to make  sure all the teams would be placed within their level.  Gung Haggis team raced against Richmond Survivorship.  In the line-up were cheerfully talked with the team of female cancer survivors.  We told our team to race their own race, and to get comfortable with the calls, the Millenium dragon boat, and the paddlers around them, as a few of the paddlers had not practiced with us.

Our roster was filled with many of our team's core paddlers captained by Jim Blatherwick who diligently worked out our lineups.  Tzhe and Christine were our lead strokers with Karen R. joining Jim as mid-stroke.  We also added two new paddlers such as Guillaume who is on a work visa from Belgium, and Chris who had only about 5 practices since joining us after the Rio Tinto Alcan Festival.  Experienced paddlers such as Steve and Cristina joined us from Metro Vancouver 44 Cheeks.  They had raced with our 49+ team at RTA.  Lisa and Dominic are experienced paddlers on other teams, that raced with us last year at Richmond, and join us when they can because they enjoy our team's camaraderie.  Dan first started on our team back in 2004, but joined other teams in the quest for higher competitive levels.  But he always enjoys paddling with us and had also joined us in May for the Lotus regatta in Burnaby, as does Thony, originally from the Phillipine PYROS team, but has now started a team for Phillipine paddlers in Vancouver.

Dominic enjoys paddling with Gung Haggis so much, he turned a tartan sash into a tartan head wrap! - photo courtesy of Dave Samis.

Debbie was our drummer.  Her calls were strong, as we had trained her for the RTA Festival.  Todd was our steers.  As coach for the team, he also looked to see how the team was working together and made changes and critiques where needed.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy had a good start and we quickly out paced the Richmond Survivorship before we paddled under the Dinsmore Bridge from the Finish Line.  Throughout this set of six races, we watched the other team's times to see who were the fastest that we would meet in the A Final.  Three teams had faster times than us.

The second set of races included 3 boats per heat.  Each race featured one of the winning boats from the first set of 6 races.  This helped to further sort the teams.  We raced against two teams that we handily beat.  We now put Keng on the drum seat, and Dave Samis as steersperson.

For the final race, we were joined by our "Buddy Team" Flight Centre, plus Booze Cruise, and the junior team Surgin' Sturgeons.  The river was flowing down faster in the mid-afternoon.  Booze Cruise had the outside lane, we were next.  Flight Centre on our right, closer to shore, and Surgin' Sturgeons closest to shore.  The horn sounded, and we all dug our paddles hard into the water.  Booze Cruise jumped ahead with a mighty start.  We moved into our power series, and started to leave Flight Centre behind.

Keng called some power series, as Dan called "Push" to the backs.  We dug our paddles deeper.  We reached for the front water to pull our boat up more. 

We came 2nd.  YAY!!!!  Silver medals were headed our way.  Much sweeter than the split-second lost last year when we came 4th in A Division.  But last year being in A was an unexpected treat.  This year we knew that we had to be in A - but where?


The team races during the figure 8 Challenge course.  Debbie Drums and Todd steers - photo courtesy of Karen Ranelletta

Next came the challenge race.  A course was set up, and teams had to make a left turn, then turn right around a far boy, then make a left turn on the far side, then come through the narrowly spaced buoys marking both the start and the finish.   We saw the first teams out-shoot the turns and end up making really wide turns.  We saw some teams disqualified because the turned around the wrong buoys or missed the finish gate completely.

As we climbed into the boat, I told our paddlers that Gung Haggis Fat Choy had been the first Canadian team to do dragon boat barrel races in Seattle, organized by Tacoma DBA.  It was myself and Bob Brinson who brought the concept to the Taiwanese dragon boat races, and it spread to Harrison.  I had steered those races and helped develop the concept, so some of our core members remembered those races and how we paddled to make tighter turns.

We did our start through the gates, banking left.  I steered our boat wider to enter the turn, so we would have a better angle with the river's downstream current hit us.  Debbie and I yelled turn, and our paddlers went into action, using a draw stroke to help us get around the turn.  The far buoy turn was tough.  The river pushed us down stream, and I had to turn us slightly upstream to cross the river and get around the final turn.  I made a great turn, and we raced to the finish gate with the best angle that any boat had done.  Our friends on the shore watching, later told us that the announcer had complimented our turns, as he gave us the best time, setting a record fastest time for the course.  As we docked, lots of the fellow racers and dock volunteers cheered for us.  We had the fastest time by 20 seconds.  Wow!

They called up the winners from each of the C, B and A divisions.  They called Gung Haggis Fat Choy and gave us the silver medals for A division.  They asked us to wait, as they awarded us the prize for the Challenge race too.  - Free registration for next year's Richmond dragon boat race!

Everybody on our team had a great day.  We complimented each other, as well as our friends on other teams.


Great team mates, friends and paddlers - lots of smiles on Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team following the A Division Final - photo Deb Martin

Kitsilano Beach, looking west along the seawall of the Kits Pool.  Great sunset with roiling waters.

Monday's windstorm knocked out power in Kitsilano in the morning.  My girlfriend and I went for a walk in the evening.  We watched the white caps in English Bay, as the waves battered the sea wall at the foot of Trafalgar St.
White caps were coming through English Bay, and walkers along the sea wall were wary of getting wet.

Deb tried to write our initials in the sand, but the waves were big and quickly washed anything away quickly.  It was a fun try...

Toddish McWong takes his kilt to
Squamish Nation Pow Wow


Here I am trying to learn a simple First Nations dance step from my 2nd cousin Shelley on my right, as we dance in the closing event at the 23rd Annual Squamish Nation Pow Wow.

I had never been to a First Nations Pow Wow before, so when my 2nd cousin Shelley sent me a Facebook message about the 23rd Annual Squamish Nation Pow Wow, and that she was going to watch her nieces compete in dance competition, I knew I had to be there.

The event was held at X̱wemelch'stn Park, also known as the Capilano Indian Reserve near the South end of Capilano Road in North Vancouver.  I had grown up in North Vancouver since I was 14 years old, and have driven through the reserve many times going to Park Royal.  I had only once before attended and event at the Capilano Longhouse once before in 1990, when the Squamish Nation presented David Suzuki with an eagle feather.  Soon after, I visited Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) where I met carver Claude Davidson, father of renowned artist Robert Davidson, and also traveled to the ancient village site of Skedans.

When I was about 7 years old, my favorite book was titled "Indian Lore and Craft", I became enamored of creating buckskin clothes, moccasins, face paint, bows and arrows and other accessories.  But I never followed up.



I found lots of aspects of interculturalism happening at the Pow Wow:
Click on each of the pictures for an enlargement on my Flickr account.



Here is a video of two of my favorite male dancers at the event.  The dancer with the Purple top, has a green & crimson red tartan as a loin cloth and also on his hat.  The dancer with the eagle head mask is wearing a vintage RCMP red serge tunic with HBC blanket leggings.  Watch the background for a female dancer in a red & black jingle dance costume - that's the niece of my cousin Shelley.  At the end of the video, watch for a young boy in a white tunic with a yellow porcupine headdress with 2 eagle feathers - pretty intense performance, eh?


This video is a very intense... This is the two finalists for senior male fancy dance.  It was a great way for the dance competitions to end!

The Land Conservancy of BC is hosting Canada Day events at some of his historic and important sites throughout BC.

Here is a list of events created by TLC Director of Operations Kathleen Shepherd.  I am on the board of TLC and have been involved with TLC, since they stepped in to partner with the Save Kogawa House campaign in 2005.

The Gorge Canada Day Picnic will include Craigflower along with other great things to do (and I’m sure, things to eat). http://www.gorgetillicum.ca/picnic.php

BC Binning House will be hosting their 2^nd annual Canada Day Open House: http://blog.conservancy.bc.ca/2010/06/canada-day-at-the-b-c-binning-residence/

For those in the Kootenays, TLC’s Associated Site, the SS Moyie will host Canada Day celebrations: http://www.klhs.bc.ca/events.htm

While not quite on Canada Day, Keating will open for summer teas on Sunday: http://blog.conservancy.bc.ca/2010/06/keating-farm-estate-summer-open-hours/

Abkhazi, Wildwood and Potholes are also open for their regular hours, check the TLC website for more information.

Happy Canada Day!

www.conservancy.bc.ca

15 Piping bands including the World Champion Simon Fraser University Band

220 Highland Dancing Competitors

30 Heavy Event Competitors (these are the caber tossers)

30 Venders (with all sorts of food and items galore with a Scottish twist)

21 Scottish Clans and Societies

Plenty of rides and activities for the children

And 16 Haggis

Yes, again this year those mythical Haggis will be hiding throughout the stadium grounds for the wildest hunt you have ever seen.  Spot enough and you become an Official Haggis Hunter!  They are elusive, fast, and can usually be found lurking around Tartan.

Highland Games are about competition and we are happy to report some of the best dancers, drummers, pipers and throwers are back to defend their titles.  The caliber of sport is exhilarating!

Our entertainment this year includes the Jocelyn Petit Band and Blackthorn.  Both will be playing on the main stage.  They are the best of our local talent and showcase our deep talent pool here in BC.

The Beer Tent, British Car Show, Whisky Tasting, Sword Dancing, Cultural Tent and even a second Beer Tent are back!!

Gung Haggis dragon boat team goes to Burnaby and places 5th in the top final at the Bill Alley Memorial Dragon Boat Regatta.


Gung Haggis dragon boat team gets ready for their first race of the season, as they paddled to the start line.   photo T.Wong

It was an exciting day of dragon boat racing, as the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team opened their race season at the Lotus Sports Club's Bill Alley Memorial Dragon Boat Regatta, Saturday, May 1st, 2010, at the Barnet Marine Park in Burnaby.

Weather threatened rain in the morning, but sunny periods turned to full sunshine by mid afternoon.  Winds and tides picked up in the afternoon to make racing more challenging.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team won both of their first heats to advance to the top division final - The Bill Alley Division, above the gold, silver, bronze and jade divisions.  This was the first time the Gung Haggis team has advanced to the top division.  As well, the team competed in the Mixed Adult A Challenge race.  Gung Haggis came 5th in both race finals.

Great racing, and Great team work!
Everybody worked well together off and on the water.

Lots of challenges for today's weather, waves, and new team mates. 

Gung Haggis paddlers line up for the first race of the day!
See more pictures: click here

Congratulations to our ROOKIES!
you havenow been baptized by the waves of Barnet Marine Park.
Jennifer, Gena, Adam, Evan Resnick, Evan Pownall.
Great racing - all of you!

Thank you to our steers people Dave and Steven - keeping us on track as usual.

Thank you to our captains Jim and Steven - making the line-ups, getting us into the top 5, and the wonderful leadership on and off the boat.

"One finger lift to the sky" - Gung Haggis paddlers lift rookie lead stroke Jennifer up into the air, in a Gung Haggis dragon boat team tradition. - photo D.Martin

Special thank yous to our paddlers who helped with the dragon parade, and the lion dance.  Over $300 was raised for the Lotus Juniors "Bill Alley Memorial scholarship fund."  I did know Bill - who was one of the founding members of Lotus Club.  A few years ago, he was hit by a car on Barnett Hwy.  His widow Barb helped us load the boats. 

We are grateful and appreciate our long time friendship with Lotus Sports Club.  Steven's uncle and brother were founding members.  Dave Samis is a club member and has brought Nancy, Debbie, Walter and Christine to paddle outrigger canoes with Lotus.  My first dragon boat coach in 1993, is Grace Morrisette - one of the race organizers.

Grace and Jane - event organizers sent us this message.

Fellow nominees for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize: Larissa Lai for "Automaton Diaries" and Fred Wah for "Is A Door".  Fred will be interviewing Larissa Lai for an upcoming issue of Ricepaper magazine.  Fred was the eventual winner of the poetry prize!  The banners of each prize hangs in the background.

It was great to attend the 2010 BC Book Prizes. Very happy to see my friends Fred Wah and Larissa Lai nominated for Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize - Fred won! and Charles Demers was nominated for Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize.

My pals!  Fred Wah with Cara Ng and Charles Demers - who was nominated for the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize.  Charlie was going around saying I was responsible for his expected niece/nephew.  In actual fact, Cara's brother met his wife on the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team.  Fate took its course as they fell in love, married last year, and are expecting a baby this year.  I am still trying to recruit Charlie and Cara and Fred to the dragon boat team.  We will have the "most literary" and "most poetical" dragon boat team in Canada!

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas and Masako Fukawa & Stanley Fukawa, and Dal Ric...hards nominated for Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award. Great to make new friends with many of the authors such as Ian Weir, Lori Culbert, Ehor Boyanowsky.  

Todd Wong, Masako Fukawa & Stanley Fukawa - authors of  "Spirit of the Nikkei Fleet: BC’s Japanese Canadian Fishermen", and Ann-Marie Metten.  Ann-Marie and I are the executive director and president of Historic Joy Kogawa House Society.  We invited Masako and Stanley to come do a reading at Joy's childhood home.


Terry Glavin, last year's winner of the Lieutanant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence, accepts for Stan Persky, the 2010 winner!  Shirley Yew, president of the West Coast Book Prize Society and Lt. Gov. Steven Point present the award.

Ian Weir, author of Daniel O'Thunder - nominated for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, chats with Charles Demers nominated for non-fiction.

And always great to spend some time with Shelagh Rogers!

Shelagh Rogers emceed the BC Book Prizes Gala at Government House.  I emceed the BC Book Prizes Soiree back on April 7th, in Vancouver.  Shelagh is a great supporter of Historic Joy Kogawa House and the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner.  I hope soon to have a Gung Haggis dinner in Nanaimo or Gabriola Dinner with Shelagh as my co-host!

And of course there was dessert!

Here I am, back in Vernon, or more specifically Coldstream for the 2009 Easter weekend.  My girlfriend Deb and I drove up yesterday to spend some time with her parents and their border collie dogs.

It was a long tiring trip through the light rain, light snow on the Coquihalla and Connector highways.  Thankfully, there wasn't a snow storm.  We didn't get the big windstorm that hit Vancouver, but there were moderate winds pushing the car along the highways.  Lots of Canadian content on the cd player including Michael Buble's "Live at Madison Square Garden", Bruce Cockburn's live solo album "Slice O Life" and Gordon Lightfoot's "Gord's Gold."  After hearing that Lightfoot had re-written his lyrics of "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", I have decided to write new lyrics to his classic "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" to include a Chinese-Canadian perspective.  Maybe I will call it Chinese-Canadian Railroad Trilogy or Chinese-Canadian Railroad Tragedy... we will see how it pans out.

One of the first things I did upon arriving at "The In-Laws" was to pet all the doggies greeting our arrival.  Val literally jumps on me, trying to lick my face, while the younger dog Tess simply brings me a pine cone to throw for her.  Finally, she has somebody to throw pine cones for her again.  Definitely a "fetchit" dog! 

Next I walk down to private dock that sits on Kalamalka Lake.  It's a beautiful lake, nicknamed the "Lake of Many Colours".  I am hoping to do some paddling this weekend in canoe or kayak.  But now, it's time to socialize, catch up on news, then have a great dinner. 

After dinner, we fall asleep watching Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" .  Darn - I had really been looking forward to the movie, with its portrayal of jazzy cajun spiced New Orleans, and its inaugural debut of African-American characters and culture.  Maybe it is too politically correctly sanitized, or stereotypically traditional, or maybe my sense of disbelief cannot be suspended.  A talking firefly that survives multiple hits, and never becomes bug splat?

Saturday, I wake up to the heavy splashing of white capped waves on Kalamalka Lake.  No kayaking today.  I joke that maybe I could take a kayak out and surf the waves to Alexander's Pub, and somebody could come pick me up.  No takers.  Chances of being cold and wet are high, and I dislike the combination terribly.

There are no dim sum restaurants in Vernon.  Too bad.... but I have a wonderful lunch date with Betty "McChan" and her husband Don.  Betty is a former Canadian National Highland Dance Champion.... and she is Chinese-Canadian.  The picture I saw of her, was an archival copy of Chinatown News from the late 1950's.  I first met Betty in 2006 when she came to Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner.  This past New Year's was the first time we visisted in Vernon.  We have a wonderful chat about Gung Haggis Fat Choy, local Vernon Viper hockey, Larry Kwong the first Chinese Canadian to play in the NHL, dim sum, tai chi, and whether or not Betty will borrow, hire or purchase a Chinese Lion dance costume. 

For our first visit to Betty's place, just after New Year's, she had made a wonderful classic Cantonese style Won Ton soup.  This time it was her husband Don in the kitchen.  He made a delicious omelette with a side dish of corned beef hash brown potatoes.  Spontaneously, I asked if he had ever made a haggis hash.  He hadn't, but he liked the idea.  I told him about the a capella group The No Shit Shirleys who had performed at the 2006 Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner, and how whenever the group performs their version of Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower) they tell the story about haggis-fried rice that they had at the dinner.  They thought it was soooo delicious.  Betty and Don had attended that dinner and they thought The Shirleys were wonderful performers, and the fried rice was good too!

On my way back to my Vernon home-base, I spot the Vernon Sausage Company, and it's delicatessen Helmut's Sausage Kitchen.  I have tasted some of Oyama Sausage at Salt Tasting Room in Vancouver, and decide to purchase some local tastes for tonight's appetizer plate.  I select a few slices of the Soppressata salami, Prosciutto Westphalia, Bauern schinken (a cured beef), 1 slice of the huge corned beef, and 6 slices each of the Helmut's Farmer Salami and the Kirsch-Salami.  I also pick some cheeses: Provolone, Smoked Gruyere, and Smoked Gouda.  The meats only cost me $3.12... wow!  It's a wonderful cured meat and cheese platter.  Everybody is complimentary.  And much cheaper than going to Salt Restaurant, but without the incredible comfits and sauces that they match to their platters.  I eat so much that I don't have as much room for the wonderful turkey dinner we have. 

Hmmm.... did I use the word "wonderful" too many times.  I like my visits to Vernon.

Todd will be on Canada AM on CTV, Sunday morning

- must be there at 5am so Toronto people can see a brief interview between 8 and 9am.. I will do the interview at Robson Square, which is part of the the BC Canada Pavillion.

Then will do an interview and filming at Chinese New Year parade with ZDF tv from Germany.  We will meet at 8:30am, as the parade starts at 9:30am in Vancouver Chinatown.

Now....Must get ready to attend the Women's hockey Canada vs Slovakia today at 5pm

Gung Haggis dragon boat team paddles False Creek and takes in pre-Olympic sight-seeing.


We have a dragon boat team of keeners.... who wanted to paddle in February.  It was our first paddling practice since early November, when we had a few practices after paddling in the Ft. Langley Cranberry Festival Canoe Regatta.  Fifteen people jumped into the dragon boat for 11am practice on Sunday Feb 7th,

And... I think... I really needed to paddle to get myself warmed up for paddling in the dragon boat flotilla that will accompany the Olympic Torch Relay on Feb 12th, for when Gold medalist Olympian Hugh Fisher will pass off the Olympic Torch from a dragon boat to Olympian Kamini Jain in a voyageur canoe.

I only paddled for half the practice. if that... I also coached some of the paddlers a bit for some 1-on-1 coaching  for only half the time.   I steered for the remaining half, after switching with Stephen Wong, who started off steering for the team.

The team met at the parking lot for False Creek Yacht Club for 11am, then had a quick warm-up, then headed to the boat for 11:15am, headed over to Alder Bay to pick up Debbie, then back to FC Yacht Club to pick up a paddler named Tony who arrived late after his morning meeting.  Next we paddled towards and past the Burrard St. Bridge to show paddlers where the lights are for the from the nightly spectacular light show.

I pointed out where the boat launch for the Burrard Marina is, where dragon boat paddlers for the flotilla that will accompany the Olympic Torch Relay will organize.

Next we paddled Eastward to Granville Island to identify the Ferry dock at West Side of Granville Island, where the torch will be handed to torchbearer Olympian Hugh Fisher.  We looked over at the bright yellow building, formerly known as Bridges Restaurant, that is now being transformed into the Swiss Pavillion.  At the North end of the Granville St. Bridge is a floating hotel lodge that has been towed down from Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) that is normally lodged at Langara Island.

We took a little stretch, then switched sides.  I took a turn at steering, and let veteran paddlers Stephen Wong take his turn for paddling.  Just East of Granville Island is the Spruce Harbour Marina, where nearby, is the area where Hugh will pass the torch to Kamini Jain in the middle of False Creek.    Hugh will be in the dragon boat, and pass the torch to Kamini in the voyageur canoe.  There are great viewing areas from both the North and South sides of False Creek, so it is perfect for cameras and television crews to set up for a unique photo opportunity.

We spotted the big black pontoon floats that are being used for security to block off the boat traffic in the East Bay, that are positioned along Cambie St. Bridge.  We paddled along beside it and waved to the officers in the Police Boat, guarding the perimeter, that includes the Olympic Village.

Next we paddled near the Yaletown ferry dock, where Kamini will hand the torch to a runner, after she climbs out of the voyageur canoe.   The torch will then proceed up the streets towards Georgia Street, where it will arrive at the First Nations Aboriginal Pavillion where there will be a blessing ceremony.  This will be one of the final stops of the Olympic Torch before it travels to the Opening Ceremonies about 2 blocks down the street to BC Place Stadium, later in the evening.

It was a good paddle, and our paddlers were happy and pleased that I would be a part of the dragon boat flotilla accompanying the Olympic Torch Relay.  But most of all, the paddlers were all happy to be paddling again, and in friendly company.  Many times I heard somebody say, "I'm just here for the social aspects" as we paddled back to FC Yacht Club.... by about 12:30pm.

The next plan was to have lunch.  I promised that I would treat everybody to dim sum lunch, if they came paddling.

We were at Floata Restaurant for dim sum, at 1pm, at least my car was.  Other people got re-routed by traffic diversions.  By the time they arrived, there were lots of dim sum selections on the table.  Haw-gow shrimp dumplings, Siu-mai pork dumplings, Lo-bak-goh pan-fried turnip cake.  We also tried a special appetizer plate that included jelly fish,  crispy pork skin and bbq pork.  There was also shanghai style dumpling with shrimp meat and green vegetable, steamed pork bun, sliced-almond covered shrimp balls, fish cakes, and more!  I also ordered house special chow mein with crispy noodles, and Geurng-chow-ngor-hah flat rice noodles with sliced beef.

This was Katie's first time having dim sum in Vancouver.  She's originally from Ontario, and only been in Vancouver almost a year.... and somehow never found her way to dim sum yet.

Georgia pronounced that the meal was "heaven"

GREAT LUNCH!!!  and we finished off with Chinese egg tarts for dessert.

Dragon boat to carry the Olympic Torch!

The last day of the Olympic Torch Relay Feb 12th will feature Dragon Boats and Canoes as Olympic gold medalist Hugh Fisher, from a dragonboat, will hand off the torch to Kamini Jain, in a voyageur canoe, in the middle of False Creek.   This event will take place on February 12th in Vancouver BC.  Details and exact times will be released soon.


Fisher won Olympic Gold and Bronze with Kayak partner Alwyn Morris at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.  Kamini Jain competed in K-1 single kayak events in 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Games.  Fisher is one of the founders of the False Creek Racing Canoe Club which has helped to shape dragon boat racing in Canada and also influence it's development in North America. 

Kamini is the current head coach of the FCRCC, and took the Mixed team to gold and silver in Sydney Australia for the 2007 IDBF World Championships.  FCRCC-cored Premier Mixed: 2nd at 500m (by 0.51 secs!), 4th at 200, 1st at 2K

It's going to be exciting as 6 dragon boats (20 paddlers) and 6 outrigger canoes (6 paddlers) make up the escort flotilla, that will accompany the torch bearing boats.  It will bring back memories of the torch first arriving in Canada after landing at the airfield, and then arriving to BC's Provincial Legislature Building in Victoria, carried by First Nations cedar canoes.

And I will be one of the paddlers in the flotilla!  Yippee! 


Here's the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team at the 2009 Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival.  One of these BuK boats will probably be used to transport the Olympic Torch in the final legs of the relay to the Opening Ceremonies at BC Place Stadium.

The six dragon boats and outrigger canoes will be paddled by False Creek Racing Canoe Club, and some other clubs.  I think I will be on a boat where paddlers from different teams have been invited to participate.  I am very excited at being invited. 

Back in the summer, I did a video audition to be a torch bearer for the City of Vancouver, as two library workers would be included amongst the selected workers from police, firemen, city workers and parks workers.  Sadly, I wasn't chosen - but I know our library workers are deserving and wonderful people, especially my friend Judy Caldwell, who is a librarian, and dragon boater.  Judy is one of the founders of the Abreast in a Boat dragon boat team of breast cancer survivors, and we were both awarded the 2008 BC Community Achievement Award.

I've been involved with dragon boats in Vancouver for many years.  I attended the first dragon boat races on False Creek in 1986 during Expo 86.  I joined my first team in 1993.  Soon I was coaching other teams, and competed in Victoria races in 1997 and San Francisco in 1999.  I was invited to join the Alcan Dragon Boat Festival Race Committee in 2000.  In 2003 I helped to found the Vancouver International Taiwanese Dragon Boat Race, as board member of the CCC Dragon Boat Association.  The Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team has been active since 2002, and dedicated to promoting multiculturalism through dragon boat paddling.  We have put Taiwanese dragon boats into the St. Patrick's Day parade in 2004 and 2005.  The team has been filmed for tv documentaries for French, German and Canadian television, and also for an upcoming documentary movie.



This is one of my favorite pictures of the Gung Haggis team, at the 2007 Vancouver International Taiwanese Dragon Boat race!  Imagine holdin the Olympic Torch from the head of the dragon - but these Taiwanese boats won't be used for the Olympic Torch Relay.


Here is information about viewing the Olympic Torch on False Creek from the False Creek Racing Canoe Club Website:


For more information on the Torch Relay and other Olympic events visit vancouver2010.com

http://www.fcrcc.com/events/olympic-torch-relay

http://www.canadianoutrigger.com/messsubj.cfm?pid=2721

http://www.vancouver2010.com/more-2010-information/olympic-torch-relay/olympic-torch-relay-interactive-map/

http://www.vancouver2010.com/more-2010-information/olympic-torch-relay/stories-from-the-road/day-106---alternative-modes-of-transportation-in-vancouver_236610kB.html

I usually help organize a team social for attending the Winter Solstice events at Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens - but this year I must attend AGM and Christmas Party at Joy Kogawa House. Check out my past stories about attending Winter Solstice events here: http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog?cmd=search&keywords=winter+solstice Check out the official Winter Solstice events here: http://www.secretlantern.org/ My friend Devon Cooke is performing "Fire tossing" at the Round House Community Centre. Devon loves being involved in many cultural activities and also paddles on the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team.   more »

I wrote the section on Vancouver Chinatown. The book is edited by Gail Buente, my coworker friend at the Vancouver Library. Back in May I sent her my final draft which she edited. The book has just been released now in November in time for the anticipated visitors for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. Maybe some of them will find their way into Vancouver Chinatown.   more »

Uncle Daniel Lee is colour guard for Pacific Unit 280 at the Remembrance Day ceremonies at the Chinese Canadian Pioneer Monument in Vancouver Chinatown   more »