A North Vancouver weekend - what to do? Explore Lonsdale Quay!

It was a North Vancouver weekend that had started on Thursday night with dinner at West Vancouver's Beach House restaurant, which I first remembered as Pepe's back in the late 1970's.  Cultural entertainment was provided at The Silk Purse, with Romanza (formerly the Canadian / or Maple Leaf Tenors).

Friday was much more laid back... starting with pizza for lunch from Little Caesar's from Edgemont Village.  They had customer appreciation day with any size, and unlimited toppings for $9.99.  Edgemont Village is a nice little neighborhood shopping area.  My favorite places to visit are: Village VQA Wines, 32 Books, Vancouver Kids Books.  There is a very cosy small town feel to this little jewel of a shopping area.  There are quaint shops and eclectic shops such as horse and riding tack shop.  I often drop into Paws and Claws to pick up food or toys for my kitty cat. And then coffee at Delaney's... or that really cute restaurant around the corner, across from the Capilano branch library. 

On Saturday, we went over to Lynn Valley to pick up my new order of contact lenses at  Westlynn optical.  Owner Debbie Fisher is always very helpful, and the store was extremely helpful when I once  phoned them from San Francisco trying to get my prescription because I had accidently ripped the only lenses that I had with me, while on a dragon boat road trip.  Last year, they even gave me a sample of blue contact lenses - that was fun!  Westlynn Bakery always has a special for each day.  Their blueberry and pumpkin pies are delicious.  We bought their carrot cake.

Next down to Lonsdale where my girlfriend had to check out the Echoes store where they sell and trade china sets and place settings.  We next parked on Esplanade and walked down to Lonsdale Quay - playing "tourist in your own town".  We visted Celtic Connections which had lots of books on Scottish tartans and weddings.  I didn't know that there was a proper dress code for kilted weddings before!  I wanted to buy the tin whistle - maybe that will be the first step for me to learn to play bagpipes.  Deb was delighted to discover there was a Cheshire Cheese Inn - with a menu full of British food dishes such strange sounding dishes such as "bangers and mash", "toad in the hole" as well as "shepherd's pie." This might be a place to bring the Gung Haggis Fat Choy for a traditional British /Scottish meal, since we often go to eat Chinese/Japanese/Cambodian after Tuesday night practices. It was interesting to find these two British cultural specialty stores - but nothing Persian at Lonsdale Quay, although there were plenty of Japanese and other Asian restaurants in the food court.

We looked through the stores on the 2nd level, and strolled through the market section.  I spent some time looking at cookbooks, as well as the fresh seafoods, as I contemplated what to cook for dinner.  It was a delight to discover a brand new Mark Anthony wine story that specialized in Mission Hill wines, as well as Okanagan Cider.  We had a lovely chat during a wine tasting with the manager, sampling the Mission Hill Reisling.  A special surprise was that Mission Hill had just released their premium 2003 Occulus Wine and was on sale for $49, instead of $60.  Okay, I picked up a bottle - I still have the 1999 Occulus I picked up in 2002 - still waiting for a special occasion.

Fresh herb fettucini from Duso's was perfect for the evening meal.  It is light and flavourful - definitely a treat from dried pasta.  I was sorry not to see my high school friend Susan there.. as she married Duso - and I sometimes see her there behind the counter with a big big smile for me!  Anyways... dinner was pan-fried prawns in a sweet Thai chili sauce, encrusted with black sesame seeds, served on top of a bed of herb fettucini with ginger soy marinated beef slices, accompanied by stir fried zuccini, carrots and portabello mushroom.  A mix of Asian, and Italian cooking sensations... Marvelous! More things in life should revolve around food and wine.

Romanza: Three Canadian Tenors at the Silk Purse

A beautiful day in West Vancouver... how to celebrate it?  Last Thursday, August 24th, it was dinner at the Beach House restaurant beside West Vancouver's Dundarave Pier and an intimate vocal concert at Ambleside's Silk Purse performing venue.

My girlfriend's father was in town to see friend Phil Grant perform.  It just so happened that he was performing with my friend, Karen Lee-Morlang - who was the piano accompanist for Philip Grant, Ken Lavigne and Frederik Robert, have been identified as "three talented, young, classically trained tenors who have separately been delighting audiences across North America and Europe."  Sometimes called the "Maple Leaf Tenors, Thursday evening's performance was billed "Romanza."  It was an evening of Italian light opera and popular songs such as Finiculi Finicula, La Donna e Mobile, and closed with a  show-stopping O Solo Mio, during which the tenors mimicked the sun breaking through the clouds then fading away - which happened during an actual performance they did in Italy..

These three young and handsome tenors are wonderful showmen, both kidding and flirting with the audience.  And pianist Karen Lee-Morlang holds her own with them, in beauty, musicianship and with witty stage banner. Their humor and warmth shined through, as they interspersed stories about their singing experiences.  And they are "friendly" - Phil Grant waved at my girlfriend, as he recognized her from when he had stayed at her parents home on Kalamalka Lake for the very first Okanagan Vocal Arts Festival.  And pianist Karen waved to me as they walked out to their performance "stage,"  and later questioned through hand motions, if we could hear the performance allright.

The Silk Purse is a very tiny performance venue.  It's really a converted cottage beach house just West of the Ambleside Pier.  The performance was sold out, so Deb and I sat on the porch, watching and listened through the open doors and window, while waves lapped on the seashore, sea planes and boats  travelled in the distance, and sea gulls cries all created an ambient soundscape to the beautiful music happening in this warm little cottage.  As I strolled along the pebble beach, standing on a log, if seemed almost surreal.  A wonderful little jewel of a "Vancouver experience" outside of mainstream entertainment

Accompanying us to dinner and performance was Edette Gagne, who had recently conducted the "Mikado" for OVAF, and is herself a gifted singer and conductor.

Victoria: intercultural or a faux British tourist trap or hotbed of Chinese history?

Just back from a wonderful and fun dragon boat weekend in Victoria, which seems to be in the tourist news a lot right now.  On the Friday, the headlines were that the Empress Hotel had lost a "signed" major convention because the "convention scouts" didn't like the "agressive panhandlers."  On Monday, another newstory targeted the "tacky tourist" shops on Government St, with "50% Off" and "Clearance" signs used to draw in tourists.

For some of the paddlers in the Gung Haggis Fat Choy / Pirates dragon boat team who had never been to Victoria before - it was a wonderful weekend.  We walked around the inner harbour, enjoyed the Dragon Boat festival activities, walked through the shopping district, and through Chinatown.  We experienced the nightly streetlife with the pubs, restaurants and buskers along the inner harbour.  Were there panhandlers?  Yes.  Have we become immune or desensitized to them?  Maybe.

The visiting Californians from the DieselFish team were all very enthusiastic about Victoria.  During their 2002 visit, they raved at Victoria's cleanliness.  This year they stated that Victoria was the "total package" - everything interesting and within close walking distance.  They enthusiastically want to come back for next year.

The faux British thing?  They were amazed all the stores with British references such as "Irish Linens" and the "Irish Times" pub, and of course "The Empress Hotel."  They didn't make it to "High Tea" or a visit to the Royal BC Museum - but they did want to go for "Fish and Chips."  They also visited the "Sticky Wicket" pub both on Friday and Saturday - known for its preponderance of paddlers hanging out during a dragon boat weekend.

For myself, following our mini Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner at the Golden City Restaurant on Fisgard St, near Chinatown - our Gung Haggis group went for a walk through Chinatown, looking for some ice cream, then along the Inner Harbour sea walk.  On the way back I dropped off from the group, and went to the Irish Times Pub.  There was great fiddle music and I quickly struck up conversations with some ladies about my kilt.  Where is but Victoria, could you meet a Chinese-Canadian wearing a kilt during a dragon boat festival weekend, or have haggis in a Chinese restaurant?

My family has a lot of history in Victoria on both my father's side and my mother's side.  Victoria used to be the largest Chinatown in North America at one time.  It was the first landing site for all boats coming in across the Pacific Ocean, and my father's father Wong Wah, used to manage the largest Chinese dry goods store.  My great great grandfather Rev. Chan Yu Tan, spent some time ministering to the Chinese community, and his daughter Rose settled in Victoria.  Whenever I visit, I always try to contact my grandmother's cousins - my "Auntie" Roberta, and "Uncle" Victor.  Uncle Victor Wong fought during WW2 and was stationed in Burma with special forces, during the time when Chinese Canadians born in Canada, could not vote in BC.  Times later became less prejudiced and my Auntie Roberta's brother-in-law Ed Lum became the mayor of Saanich.

On the Sunday evening, I had dinner with my cousin Winston's family and their dinner guests.  Of course they asked me about the dragon boat races and the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner.  Before the evening was over, we had made plans to hold a dinner event for next January, and I had brought out my accordion to lead singalongs of When Asian Eyes Are Smiling, and Scotland the Brave - as well as a mini version of Hungarian Dance No. 5.  The conversation included topics such as our multi-generational Chinese Canadian heritage, and the Chinese head tax.  On Monday before I left Victoria, my cousin took me to 2-for-1 Fish and Chips at the Picadilly Pub in Oak Bay - an English Pub, owned by the same owner as the Irish Times.  When I returned to Vancouver - I met some friends at Doolin's Irish Pub after 9pm,  for my pint of Guinness.

Qiu Xie He of Silk Road Music sends this invitation: We are just back from China and had a wonderful and very successful time performing in Guangdong China. If you happen to have some time on this Friday, please come down to Silk Road's concert at the Chinese Garden, so we can share the stores with you and play some music. For those of you who want to see some photos of JouTou in China, please see this blog: http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/joutou/   more »

I travelled to Kalamalka Lake, just south of Vernon, to swim and hang at one of BC's most scenic lakes. Set in the Okanagan Valley, it is high desert country. The picture above reminded me of my travels in Arizona. There are many micro-climates in the Okanagan Valley, with rain shadows on one side of the lake contributing to desert climate, while the other side gets the rain to water all the ponderosa pine and other trees. Kalamalka Lake is a deep Lake with many interesting colour hues. It is known as the "lake of many colours." Deb says that swimming is only good for an 8 week window, so we had to take advantage of the warm weather.... PICTURES   more »