Stanley Park's "Hollow Tree" is a world famous icon.  For as long as Vancouverites have had cameras they have been taking pictures of the Hollow Tree.


Here's a picture of my great-grandparents Ernest Lee and Kate (Chan) Lee circa 1907.  Accompanying them in the photo is Kate's mother Mrs. Chan Yu Tan and Kate's youngest sister Millicent.  Kate's father Rev. Chan Yu Tan was well known in the community and ministered for the Chinese United Church in Victoria, Vancouver, Nanaimo and New Westminster, where he and his wife retired.

One hundred years later, the Hollow Tree had become a Hollow stump, and damaged in the violent wind-storms of December 15, 2006.  Because of further damage and leaning, and safety concerns, the Vancouver Parks Board voted to cut down the tree.  But as of May 1st, the tree is still standing.

Here's the latest on Stanley Park's world famous Hollow Tree

On April 18th, students from Lord Roberts Elementary School visited the tree and sang a special song to the tune of O Canada, led by French teacher Duane Lawrence, author of Sammy Squirrel and Rodney Raccoon, a children's book set in Stanley Park:

"Oh Stanley Park, Our home and favourite land,

Big Douglas firs, Where owls hoot, oh so grand,

With cedar trees and surrounding seas, You can walk there all you like.

There's a little lake, Where the beavers make, The best dams in the world.

Oh, Stanley Park, The animals live free,

Oh, Stanley Park was made for you and me,

Oh, Stanley Park was made for you - and - me."

On April 18th, the Georgia Straight wrote a blog story: The Hollow Tree and the 2010 Olympics highlighting how the Hollow Tree plays a prominent role in the Origin story of the 2010 Olympic Mascots.  The artwork and mascots were designed by Vancouver's Vicki Wong and her creative partner Michael Murphy of Meomi Designs. I first met Vicki at a fall 2006 event for new Children's books, where she introduced her book The Octonauts and the Only Lonely Sea Monster.  I bought it immediately.

See the video: Meet the Vancouver 2010 Mascots
http://www.vancouver2010.com/mascot/en/meet.php

Concerned citizens discuss the Hollow Tree's future yesterday.

As of May 1st, the Hollow Tree still 'standing'.  The Vancouver Province wrote a story about "Supporters hoping to save Stanley Park's famous Hollow Tree from the chainsaw claimed victory yesterday after Vancouver parks staff agreed to continue meeting to discuss its fate."

This festival celebrates the blossoming of the city’s 36,000 Japanese flowering cherry trees and is the brainchild of Linda Poole. I guess it was a sign of times to come when I first met Linda at a special cherry tree planting at Vancouver City Hall in Novemember 2005. That was the symbolic planting of a graft from the cherry tree at Joy Kogawa House, the very tree that has now inspired Joy's new children's book "Naomi's Tree" Check out the many events programmed for Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival. There are photography workshops, cherry trolley tours, picnic lunches and more!   more »

Being in a parade doesn't allow you to take pictures of your group, so it's always interesting to find pictures on flickr. Steven Duncan took some pictures of us setting up. Check out his flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/9057324@N08/sets/72157604144696435/   more »

The 15 foot long Chinese dragon undulated up and down in the air above the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Vancouver’s Granville Street. A mini version of the larger 10 or 20 person dragons used in Chinatown Chinese New Year parades, it jerked hesitantly. Five Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team members carried short poles sporting a yellow body with red scales and blue and yellow ridge...... A Chinese dragon in a St. Patrick’s Day Parade? Didn’t St. Patrick drive the snakes out of Ireland? Ahh… but this is multi-inter-cultural Vancouver. Dragon boaters paddle in kilts, and bagpipers perform in the Chinese New Year Parade. And the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year dinner serves up deep-fried haggis won tons. Welcome to Vancouver!   more »

This is the CTV documentary about my cousin Rhonda Larrabee's struggle to resurrect Canada's smallest First Nations band the Qayqayt.......... Once upon a time the band flourished on the banks of the Fraser River. Then White settlers moved into their territories and renamed it New Westminster. The Qayqayt were put on a Reserve, but that was taken away from them too....... Rhonda's mother fled her homeland territories due to racism and shame. She came to Vancouver's Chinatown, where she met Rhonda's father. Rhonda grew up into her teenage years thinking she was Chinese. Then she discovered she was First Nations.    more »

Happy Chinese New Year - Gung Hay Fat Choy!

...or should that be Gung Haggis Fat Choy ?

Province Newspaper reporter Cheryl Chan interviewed me about the multiculturalism of Chinese Lunar New Year, and about my recent Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year dinner.  I told her about how I have been asked to speak at Elementary schools to help them express the Lunar New Year as a multicultural event, that all cultures can share in - not just Chinese New Year, Tibetan Losar, or Vietnamese Tet celebrations.

Gee... like everybody can be Irish for St. Patrick's Day, or everybody can be Scottish for Robbie Burns Day, or all Canadians can celebrate Chinese New Year.... definitely!!!

Then she asked what I was up to for Chinese New Year's Day...  I told her going to see Banana Boys Play... and Kilts Night at Doolin's Irish Pub. The writer included it in a list of events for Chinese New Year.

But darn... she didn't use any of my quotes about inter-culturalism expressed in a dragon boat team!

I am going to spend some time with my Hapa-Canadian niece and nephew today, then go see bagpiper friend Joe McDonald, who has survived 9 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinners, and a dragboat float in the 1st Vancouver St. Patrick's Day parade. 

Some of our Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team members and Kilts Night clan will be having Chinese New Year dinner at Hon's before they head over to Doolin's Irish Pub, Nelson and Granville for Kilts Night and to watch the hockey game before the Halifax Wharf Rats start playing.   I am going to see the 7:30pm Banana Boys show at the Firehall Arts Centre- but should make Kilts Night around 9:30 to 10pm. 

Slainte, Todd

It's Chinese New Year week....

here are some FUN events this week.... after recovery from Gung Haggis Fat Choy Chinese Robbie Burns Dinner recovery....

Tuesday February 5, 2008 - 6:00 PM

CITY COOKS with Simi Sara

Channel 13 in Metro Vancouver
Our cooking dragon boat chef Dan Seto (Chinese Canadian Historical Society of B.C.)

1. Lotus Root Soup
2. Steamed Pork with Salt Fish
3. Green Beans with Fooyi Bean Cake

Check out
TUESDAY to Saturday FEB 5 - 9th
BANANA BOYS
Firehall Theatre
The fun play by Leon Aureas, based on the Terry Woo novel
Back from a hit run last year... manic comedy and Asian identity... or Asian confusion.

THURSDAY Feb 7
CHINESE NEW YEAR DAY
- Kilts Night at Doolin's Irish Pub
FREE pint of Guinness if you wear a kilt.
8:00pm - Raphael to greet you.
Hockey game starts a 7:00 pm - expect music by Halifax Wharf Rats to begin afterwards around 9:30

FRIDAY Feb 7 - 16
THE QUICKIE
- Playwrights theatre centre on Granville Island
- this is the play excerpted at Gung Haggis dinner
- this is by the same group that did Twisting Fortunes last year

purchase tickets online via PayPal at www.scriptingaloud.ca/quickie.
but see them:

Friday, February 15 concert of DEAD Serious 
7:30 p.m. at Vancouver Memorial Services and Crematorium / Hamilton-Harron Funeral 
Home, 5390 Fraser Street) will TAKE PLACE AS SCHEDULED.  
If you would like to make reservations, 
please call 604-325-7441.

It's not every Christmas that you can be snow bound and car-less in the Okanagan, yet spend the day walking dogs in a park, after seeing a bobcat in the morning.  Boxing Day's gift was 15 cm of fresh Okanagan champagne powder snow at Silver Star ski resort.  And this morning I was canoeing on beautiful crystal clear Kalamalka Lake, while it was snowing!  And then there was the company... as I spent Christmas week in Vernon BC with my girlfriend's family.

CHRISTMAS EVE DAY: SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS
Christmas Eve Day started with transferring car ownership papers between father and son at the Vancouver General Insurance Agency in North Vancouver's Edgemont Village.  The Village street lights were decorated like humongous candy canes.  I don't think I've ever seen Edgemont Village so crowded before.  My usual haunts in the village are Delaney's Coffee, 32 Books, Vancouver Kidsbooks, and Village Wines.  My parents got a new car, so I was the lucky recipient of their now former '96 Acura Integra. Wonderful generous Christmas gift!  But now I was about 2 hours late picking up my friends for our trip to Vernon BC, to spend Christmas with my girlfriend and her family.

In Vancouver's West End, my dragon boat team mate Stephen loaded up his gear in the Integra's trunk.  My accordion took up most of the room, but we rearranged our backpacks to fit.  Once on our way, Stephen told me that he heard my name mentioned on CBC radio.  He said that there aren't many Chinese-Canadians writing a blog about inter-cultural adventures in Vancouver.... so it had to be me.  Margaret Gallagher, the co-host of the radio show Flavour of the Week had read my contribution to their  Flavour of the week Facebook group, answering the topic of Favorite Christmas Dishes.  Read my contribution here: hint - (it's stuffing!)  Stephen was surprised to learn that Maggie Gallagher was half-Chinese... but not too surprised to learn that she was a friend or that she had ridden on our Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat float for Vancouver's St. Patrick's Day parade.

Next we picked up my girlfriend's friend Zsuzsanna.  The trunk was full, so her suitcase sat on the passenger backseat beside her.   And off we were, 1:30pm, only 2 1/2 hours later than my hoped for departure time.  But the sun was shining, and the traffic was light.  We took turns choosing music for the drive.  B.B. King Christmas was followed by Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen, and Yo Yo Ma's Tango album.

The weather was good into the Fraser Valley, but beyond Hope the weather turned wet and nasty.  Sleet accompanied up up the Coquihalla, quickly turning to snow as we climbed higher.  Past the toll both, we drove to an almost clear moonlit sky all the way to Vernon.  We arrived for Christmas Eve dinner by 7:20pm.  We made good time.  And we were quickly ushered in to meet the dinner guests of my girlfriend's parents. 

CHRISTMAS EVE DINNER: INTERCULTURAL  ORIGINS & CAROL SINGING
While eating a sumptious dinner of Cornish Game Hen, we discovered that one couple had recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.  He had been born in England, she in South Africa, and they met in Cairo during WW2.  It  sounded romantic, out of something like Casablanca or The English Patient. The other couple were neighbors up the street accompanied by their adult son, named Fraser.  Of course we made our usual jokes about Toddish McWong's origins at Simon Fraser University, and that Fraser should come join the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team.  Well... maybe it will happen.  We did talk about birth and cultural origins, as Stephen was originally from Thunder Bay, and Zsuzsanna was from Romania.  And we also talked about universal themes of Christmas such as love, joy and peace on earth - when we weren't being cleverly cynical.  I was definitely the only "Asian" sitting at the table. 

After my girlfriend's delicious dessert of a flaming brandy-doused plum pudding served with alcoholic "hard sauce" - we retired to the living room, where Zsuzsanna and I led a musical duet of piano and accordion for a group singalong of Christmas songs and carols.  Quite the busy Christmas Eve... snow was falling softly and I we all were asleep by 11pm, giving Santa plenty of time to fill the stockings.

CHRISTMAS MORNING: A GIFT FROM NATURE
Christmas morning was definitely a White Christmas.  We got up late, enjoyed breakfast with cinnamon rolls, sausage rolls, bacon and scrambled eggs.  But before we could open our stockings... Mother Nature gave us a surprise present.  Outside the window, we watched a bobcat stalk a pheasant.  My girlfriend's father said that they had never before seen a bobcat outside the house, in 35 years of living beside Kalamalka Lake.  Wow!  The bobcat slinked across the snow, while partridges pecked unawares closer to the house, beside camper.  The bobcat sat still, behind a rock. And we waited with cameras in hand. And waited.... Finally it slunk off under the trailer without it's quarry.

After the bobcat sighting, Christmas gifts seemed anti-climatic - but we had lots of fun.  Presents opened, we took the doggies out for a walk to Kalamalka Park. We walked along the cliffs and the beaches in the snow.  The youngest dog kept bringing us pine cones to throw for her to chase.  A car-less Christmas Day, spent walking in the snow in one of BC's most beautiful parks.  Stephen was amazed, and kept taking pictures as we stood on the crest of Rattlesnake Point.  A bald eagle circled the small peak about Dog Beach.  Snap snap - more pictures.

When we arrived back to the house, we were introduced to another family friend.  Susan had just arrived back from Somalia after a stint with MSF, more popularly known as Doctors Without Borders.  We had a wonderful time talking about cultural differences and challenges, as well as the adventures of working with such as group.  They are usually the first NGO aid agency into a challenged country.  Wow!  My university studies in international political studies and medical anthropology gave me plenty of understanding to talk with Susan, and yet she was equally interested in learning about Gung Haggis Fat Choy, as we showed her the recent write up about me in the grade 5 textbook Literacy in Action.  We did agree that understanding cultural differences, and stopping racism and cultural discrimination would certainly help to bring more needed peace into all corners of the world, whether the war lord controlled countries like Somalia or our many race issues in Canada.

BOXING DAY: OKANAGAN POWDER SNOW
Boxing Day gave us a present of 15 cm of fresh Okanagan powder snow at the Silver Star ski resort.  Stephen had never every before skiied on snow so light, or so deep.  I probably bored him with tales of me skiing Silver Star as a child of 10, 11, 12 and 15 when my parents would take my brother and me for a week of ski lessons.  But Thunder Bay doesn't have the close proximity of incredible ski resorts that Vancouver or the Okanagan has.  It was a fantastic day for skiing and we made the most of it, starting with my insistence that we rent high performance shaped skis for Stephen.  We skiied all over the mountain, beginning with the Comet 6-pack Express that took us to the peak.  We checked out Christmas Bowl and found some fresh powder on At-Ridge.  In the afternoon visited the Powder Gulch Express lift in the Putnam Creek area, as we skiied along Eldorado, the longest run on the mountain at 8km.

"Are you Toddish McWong?... I mean... are you Todd Wong?" a lady asked me in the lunch-time cafeteria line-up.  Every now and then, I meet somebody who had attended on of  my Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner events.  Debbie had attended the 2004 and 2005 dinners.  Hosting and meeting 300 to 590 people can be kind of hard to remember names.  Debbie said she had had a great time at the dinners and introduced me to her 10 year old daughter Lizzie.  "We have Scottish and Chinese ancestry both in our family, " said Debbie.

After skiing, we met up with my girlfriend Deb and her friend Zsuzsanna at the skating pond.  Each Christmas, Deb and I have a wonderful time skating a Silver Star, and we always invite friends to join us.  But this year, the ice was terrible.  There were cracks in the ice that people kept tripping on.  As we were holding hands skating, Deb caught the crack and fell hard, banging her knee.  She limped to the seating area to rest.  I went in to the skate rental office to demand that the ice be fixed and the dangerous cracks marked with orange pylons. 

"Don't be so grumpy," Deb called to me after another woman had shared that the skate rental attendants didn't seem to care about the bad ice, when she had complained.  When the manager said that it was "pond ice" and not much could be done, I explained that if they weren't going to refund people's money, pylon markers were needed to prevent people injuring thermselves.  I stopped short of saying that easily preventable skating injuries were the last thing one of Western Canada's premier ski resorts needed for their reputation.  Pylons were soon out on the ice, and the cracks were soon marked.  I thanked the manager for being responsive to my concerns.  There's a line between ignoring preventable injuries and negligence, and after being on successful campaigns for head tax redress apology, saving Joy Kogawa's childhood home, and the recent Vancouver Library strike - I am not going to let a stupid thing like not marking potential ice hazards go unaddressed.

DEC 28th:  CANOEING IN THE SNOW
Who goes canoeing and skiing on the same day?  We would have if we could have.  Silver Star had another 14 cm of fresh snow this morning... but we passed in favour of canoeing before heading back to Vancouver.  There was maybe 4 cm of fresh snow outside the house this morning.  Stephen and I cooked breakfast for everybody.  Bacon, raisin bread toast, and my baked omelette stuffed with mushrooms, onions and green peppers and served with melted cream cheese on top.  Yummy!

After breakfast we bundled up and went to find canoe paddles, and personal floatation devices.  But everything was already stored away for the winter - not like when we last paddled in July after winning a gold medal in the Greater Vernon Dragon Boat Races. After convincing my girlfriend's father that we were serious about paddling, the equipment was released to us, and we carried the beautiful hand-made cedar strip canoe down to the dock.  The water was so clean and clear we could see 10 feet down to the bottom.  It was amazing paddling across Jade and Juniper Bays in Kalamalka Park.  The water colours changed with the depths of the water from shallow light tourquoise green to deeper emerald greens, and really dark green.  We paddled around Marmot Point, where we had hiked past on Christmas Day.  We paddled around Rattlesnake Point, below the observation point where we had taken so many pictures on Christmas Day.  We would have kept going, enjoying the calm water and beautiful scenery, but we knew we had to get back to the dock, so we could begin our return journey to Vancouver. 

Deb and Zsuzsanna took pictures of us as we returned to the dock.  Okay, we requested that pictures document our paddling in the snow adventure.  It only took a little gentle coercion to convince them to take a turn in the canoe.  Soon they wanted to keep going, and not come back.  Paddling was a wonderful way to end our Christmas vacation in Vernon.

Guns, muskets firing, marching men in kilts, veterans and Remembrance Day ceremonies and beer in a football stadium... what could be better? I have never been to a military tatoo at Edinburgh Castle, but after watching the video of the 78th Fraser Highlanders "Salute to the Veterans" at BC Place, during the Nov. 3rd BC Lions half-time show... and feeling the stirring sounds of bagpipes... I could well imagine. I shoulda been there!!!   more »

Vancouver Women Love David Beckham


Our Gung Haggis girls, Linda and Wendy, hold up their souvenir towels with LA Galaxy soccer star David Beckham somewhere in the background down on the field - photo Todd Wong/L.Daly collection

We had a group of 11 Gung Haggis paddlers and 4 friends join us to go to the LA Galaxy vs Vancouver White Caps game featuring David Beckham on November 7th at BC Place Stadium.  We were all there to see soccer superstar David Beckham, but the females in our group were more vocal about being happy to attend the game and especially happy to see Beckham.  Julie, Wendy, Linda, Jenna and even Keng!  When Beckham took off his game jersey to give to a young fan, they declared it a bonus seeing the topless Beckham.


David Beckham at centre field - photo L. Daly

I haven't seen a lot of soccer games.  The last time was a White Caps game was back in the 1980's, and it was at BC Place Stadium.  But in the large stadium, it was generally easy to pick out the blonde-headed Beckham.  The man carried himself with presence.  His image was often up on the large video screen.  The crowd cheered when he got the ball.  And... the entire arena got excited when Beckham took two corner kicks in the 2nd half - but neither were dangerous.

Soccer is a very multicultural sport.  It is played almost everywhere in the world, probably even at the research stations on Anarctica.  When I was growing up in East Vancouver during the 60's and '70's the best soccer players were the Italian and Portuguese-Canadian kids.  They were usually taller and faster than me and my Chinese-Canadian friends.  But sometimes we would get together and just have games with Asian kids - then we were pretty well all the same size and still having fun.

Over 48,000 fans attended the game, the 4th largest in White Caps soccer history.  I saw people from many ethnicities and heard many different languages at the game.

Todd, Wendy, Jonas and Linda - sitting in the stands - photo Victor/L.Daly collection

Attending the game was a great way for our dragon boat team members to socialize during the off-season.  While in the stands, we talked about how much we knew or didn't know about soccer.  We talked about learning a new paddling technique, about going to different races - like Hawaii if one of us won that night's $35 Million 6/49.

My library friend Kay took a video of Beckham's corner kick.  Kay saw Beckham play many times for Manchester United while she lived in England.   Kay also used to paddle for a UK junior dragon boat team that raced at the World Championships.  Maybe one day... Kay will come paddle for the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team. She sent me this review of the game:


A man proposed to his girlfriend on the video screen while the game was in progress during the second half.  She said yes.  But the biggest cheer of the night went to a streaker who ran up the East side of the field, across the North side, then down the West side before he was finally tackled.

The streaker had a good run. - photo L. Daly - Click on this link for the you tube video by Kay.

Check out the story on Beckham star attraction for 48172 soccer fans in Vancouver

It was Saturday night in Vancouver's East End, and the Parade of Lost Souls was taking place throughout Grandview Park, the Britannia Oval, along Commercial Drive and throughout the immediate neighborhood. We were a band of dragon boat friends from the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team. Some of us had adopted the theme of angel wings to coincide with a "life-affirming" take on the "Celebration of Life" theme for the event organized by the Public Dreams Society.    more »

It's definitely fall when you can jump into a huge pile of leaves, We've had some cold weather for awhile... I've paddled and picketed through the recent rain. But this weekend, the weather warmed up, and all the leaves have started falling on the ground. I started my Sunday off with a Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team practice....We walked around Kits Beach,    more »

Shh.... Salt Tasting Room is a Vancouver secret


Todd Wong hold up his glass at the Salt Tasting Room, with the daily menu chalkboard behind on the wall. - photo Judy Maxwell

Salt Tasting Room

Back in early September the Vancouver Sun published Vancouver slurp-and-swirl a top-five secret - it was a story about the results of a  Travelocity.ca poll which asked members for their top Canadian local secrets.  I couldn't find an entry about Salt Tasting Room - but I did find a link for British Columbia local secrets.

Even though I hadn't been to the Salt Tasting Room yet, I felt that I was already in on the secret because I had a gift certificate for the restaurant.  It had been sitting on the shelf since April 21st when I won the door prize at the BC Book Prize soiree event. (read my  my article).

I finally went last Sunday.  It was a cold drizzly Thanksgiving Day Sunday, the kind best spent indoors with wine and cheese.  And besides, I was moving pretty slowly after paddling 3 canoe races Saturday at the Ft. Langley Cranberry Festival Canoe Regatta.

The first remarkable thing you notice about Salt, is that it isn't the usual restaurant on a street - it's down an alley...Blood Alley is so-called because there used to be many butcher shops along the alley way... or is it because of Gastown's pioneer days there used to be lots of muggings?  Owner Sean Heather writes on the Salt blog that "Salt’s location will have the look and feel of NY’s meat packing district, right down to the cobblestones."  I recognized the location across from Salt as being used in the Catwoman movie with Halle Berry.

You can sit in the window, at the zinc bar (very cool and shiny) or at the long 18 ft spruce table made from a 700 year old tree in the main room.  I chose the window seats so my friends could easily see me when they came in.  The first thing we talked about was walking down the alley.

Salt is rightly called a tasting room.  There is no kitchen.  Cured meats are served, hence the name salt, along with fine cheeses and nice wines.  The concept is to match cured meats and artisan cheeses, with delightful condiments and great wines.

For $15, you choose a platter of 3 items. We asked the server to select her favorite things for us.  Ash Camembert and Comte cheeses arrived with Mike's Corned Beef.  They were each paired with their own matching condiment.  Ambrosia apples, balsamic reduction and Guinness mustard. We also ordered a side dish of Coppa meat which the server behind the bar suggested. 

Our wines were deep delicious reds.  I had the Shingleback Cabernet Sauvignon, and my companion had the blended d'Arenberg Shiraz Viognier.  Everything was very tasty - perfect for sampling this and that... looking out the window and feeling warm and cosy inside.

Our third companion arrived and I ordered another plate.  This time I chose the sea salt chorizo, and artigiano salami while Judy chose the bleu de Gex cheese.  The setting was great.  Not too crowded, but still warm and cosy in this post-modern West-Coast wood, zinc and concrete decor.  And too soon... our time shared was over.

There's a great opening blog that details how the restaurant was put together.  It includes the trials and tribulations and pictures of how the large tables were put together... fascinating.


Donna Green, Todd Wong and Judy Maxwell - enjoying cured meats, cheeses, condiments, wines and friendship. photo J.Maxwell

I am back from a weekend in Victoria celebrating Chinese-Canadian and Scottish-Canadian activities such as the Victoria dragon boat races, visiting Craigdarroch castle, a Chinese banquet in Chinatown with a Portland dragon boat team, and kilt wearing in the Irish Time Pub.   more »

On Saturday night... I organized a Chinese dinner for 40 paddlers from Wasabi Team Huge and Wasabi Mixed. I brought my accordion and taught them to sing Scottish songs and recite Robbie Burns "Address to the Haggis" - just like last year in Victoria for the Dieselfish team, the Cultus Lake Dragonflyers and the Pirates/Gung Haggis team... Everybody loved the dinner. On Sunday, people kept thanking me for organizing the event, and saying they had fun.... and there was lots of dragon boat racing too + pictures links    more »

Every Friday night at Robson Square in Vancouver, there is dancing... Last Friday night was tango night. I joined some Gung Haggis dragon boat food and social club members,for dinner at Primataste Singapore style restaurant. 570 Robson Street, ~~~~~Then we walked the block over to Robson Square. Tonight was Tango Night. While I have played tangos on my accordion such as La Cumparsita and El Choclo... I have never before danced a tango. "Step, step, step, stop, rock, rock, back..." The instructors were good and Asian!!!    more »