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Welcome to GungHaggisFatChoy.com
Home to my passions for my inter-cultural adventures, Gung Haggis Fat Choy: Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner event. Save Kogawa House campaign, Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dragon Boat team, Find what you are looking for by 1) scroll the topics links, 2) use the search function ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2009 TICKETS Available in October 2009 WHAT: GUNG HAGGIS FAT CHOY: Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner - 12th Annual Dinner, celebrating 250th Anniversary of Robert Burns' birth + Chinese New Year's Eve. WHEN: 6PM January 25 2009, SUNDAY doors open 5pm WHERE: Floata Chinese Restaurant, #400 180 Keefer St. CULTURE: Our Performers create something special for us every year with traditional and contemporary performances featuring everything in-between and beyond! FOOD: A quirky fusion/mix/buffet of Scottish Canadian and Chinese Canadian culture 10 course Chinese banguet dinner In 2004, we presented the debut of Gung Haggis Won-Ton including haggis served with plum or sweet and sour sauces.! For 2005 it was haggis lettuce wrap! 2007 saw the creation of Haggis dim sum appetizer buffet - Watch for more surprises in 2008! On-line tickets at Tickets Tonight - Vancouver's Community Box Office or NEW PHONE NUMBER 604-631-2872 $2.50 extra Description of 2006 Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner featuring performers: Rick Scott & Harry Wong, The Shirleys, Joe McDonald & Brave Waves, Sean Gunn, author Joy Kogawa, with co-host Prem Gill . Media Inquiries Call Gung Haggis Productions 604-987-7124 cell: 778-846-7090 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Join the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dragon Boat team for lots of summer fun, fitness and friendship. We are a social team full of cultural vigor, that likes to eat. We have been featured on television, local, national and international. We have a unique and internationally famous fundraiser dinner event. We practice Sundays 1pm -3pm and Tuesdays 6pm-7:45pm We meet at Dragon Zone clubhouse - just south of Science World in Creekside Park above the Aquabus and dragon boat docks. Our coach Todd Wong has over 12 years of experience including novice, recreational and competitive levels, and both community and corporate teams. Our 2005 Season brought us the David Lam Award for being the team that best represented the multicultural spirit of the Alcan Dragon Boat Festival, and Bronze medals at the Vancouver International Taiwanese Dragon Boat Race. We also raced at Harrison Lake and Sea Vancouver regatta. For more information: Click on Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dragon Boat team information phone: 778-846-7090 e-mail: gunghaggis at yahoo dot ca ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GungHaggisFatChoy 2007 Performers
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Monday, March 31
Tartan Day proclamation for City of Vancouver
by
Todd
on Mon 31 Mar 2008 06:04 PM PDT
I solicited SFU Scottish Cultural Studies to created a proclaimation, which I passed to city councilor Raymond Louie.
Kilts Night "Tartan Day" celebration happening at Doolin's Irish Pub - after the hockey game... or between periods?!?!
details TBA
more »
Head Tax issue not going away... interviews on CBC Early Edition, CTV + Canadian Press
by
Todd
on Mon 31 Mar 2008 01:08 AM PDT
I was interviewed by CBC Radio's Jackie Wong Sunday morning, only hours after I posted my blog article. Jackie informs me that: "There is a clip with comment from Sid and a voicer with you and Sid on the head tax application deadline set to air on CBC radio news tomorrow morning. Newscasts are on the hour, I believe."
Sid Tan will be interviewed live on CBC Radio's Early Edition at 6:15am and CTV Canada
AM at 7:00am
Sid also writes that there is a mistake in the article below:
"There are 150 people in hopper for approval. How could anyone know how many eligible claimants have not
applied?" more »
Sunday, March 30
Vancouver Sun: 100 Influential Indo-Canadians in BC
by
Todd
on Sun 30 Mar 2008 11:59 PM PDT
Like Chinese-Canadians who have come from a diversity of geographical origins such as South African, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Guyana, Malaysia, Singapore, Brazil, The United States and Europe, the Vancouver Sun's 100 influential Indo-Canadians count their geographical origins as being from India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Kenya, Uganda, Fiji, Trinidad, Tanzania, England, Sri Lanka and Barhrain.....
+ my comments on the Vancouver Sun article more »
Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival is happening! The city is turning pink!
by
Todd
on Sun 30 Mar 2008 10:19 PM PDT
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 »
Joy Kogawa will read her new book "Naomi's Tree" at Vancouver Kidsbooks
by
Todd
on Sun 30 Mar 2008 09:23 PM PDT
I LOVED the book Naomi's Road. It was written as a children's version of her award winning novel Obasan. It tells the story about the World War 2 internment of Japanese Canadians from a child's perspective..... Joy Kogawa is coming to Kidbooks!!
Come celebrate Joy's new book, Naomi's Tree, illustrated by Ruth Ohi. This beautiful picture book, based on the characters in her classic children's novel, Naomi's Tree looks at the internment of Canadians of Japanese descent during the Second World War. more »
Saturday, March 29
Chinese head tax redress deadline March 31st: now it's time for inclusion of sons, daughters of pre-deceased head tax payers
by
Todd
on Sat 29 Mar 2008 11:58 PM PDT
If my grandfather was alive, he would have been 140 years old. IMPOSSIBLE!!!
He worked hard to pay back the head tax, most likely borrowed from relatives and family friends. $500 was charged from 1903 to 1923, after initially imposed at $50 in 1885 and raised to $100 in 1900..... It is time to fulfill the CCNC's proposal to the Conservative government submitted in 2005. Or did Stephen Harper and Jason Kenney conveniently forget about the sons and daughters left behind by their pre-deceased head tax payers and spouses. more »
Friday, March 28
Join the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team: fun, fitness, friendship and the occasional haggis
by
Todd
on Fri 28 Mar 2008 06:10 PM PDT
Hope you can join us for a wonderful season of dragon boat paddling. 2007 was an AWESOME year for the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team. Our vision is to expand to 2 teams for twice as much fun for 2008. We welcome our new and old paddler friends from CC Dragons to add lots of experience and fun to our team. more »
Monday, March 24
Gung Haggis Fat Choy goes Californian in Santa Barbara, this Vancouver idea really goes south!
by
Todd
on Mon 24 Mar 2008 11:59 PM PDT
Gung Haggis Fat Choy is spreading to California. 2008 marks a suprise appearance in Santa Barbara. ..... I guess it was a clandestine Gung Haggis Fat California event. I hope I can get invited to the next Santa Barbara "Gung Haggis inspired event." I like Santa Barbara. It's nice and sunny. Okay... I haven't been there since 1989, after driving up the coast from Los Angeles after visiting Disneyland. I wonder if they have any dragon boat races in Santa Barbara?
Check out this newsletter and report from:
http://www.scottishsocietysantabarbara.org/recent.html more »
Ice skating with your kilt on - John and Sinead Kerr in Scottish Highland dress
by
Todd
on Mon 24 Mar 2008 12:14 PM PDT
A brother and sister team from Scotland, they are 5 time reigning British champions, winning their 5th national championship in January 2008 amidst some controversial scoring giving them many deductions......
According to a webpost for the 2005 Skate Canada event:
Bagpipes were invented to stir fear into Scotland’s enemies. The strange sound of this strange instrument would travel in advance of the kilt-attired marching soldiers. Poor unsophisticated folk who had never heard such noise or seen such beings with their painted blue faces would flee in terror before the battle even began. more »
Canadians wine 3 medals at Worlds ice-skating - Chan and Leung out of medal range
by
Todd
on Mon 24 Mar 2008 11:07 AM PDT
Patrick Chan, the 17 year old teenager who is Canada's current reigning Men's National winner finished ninth in his World Championships debut. Chan only last year had won silver at the World Junior Championships, and last November won gold at the Grand Prix in Paris.
Mira Leung finished 14th and Canadian nationals winner Joannie Frechette missed the podium at 5th. But all is not lost... There is good talk that this is Canada's strongest skating team in years, and Canada's hopes for Olympic gold in Vancouver for 2010 will be strong in ice-skating. Bet that Vancouver's Chinese-Canadian community will strongly be following Vancouver born Leung, and Toronto's Chan. Pretty amazing that these two are still teenagers. more »
Sunday, March 23
Vancouver Courier reviews EATING STORIES, anthology of Chinese-Canadian and First Nations food, family and history
by
Todd
on Sun 23 Mar 2008 11:58 PM PDT
EATING STORIES is getting close to selling out its first run. It's a wonderful anthology of recipes and stories about food.........
Plus it features the secret recipe for deep-fried haggis won ton, from the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinners........
It was a pleasure to take part in the writing workshops organized by the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC, and contribute to this anthology..........
Check out the Vancouver Courier review by Lisa Smedman. more »
Thursday, March 20
North Shore News: Three North Shore residents recognized with BC Community Achievement Awards
by
Todd
on Thu 20 Mar 2008 11:48 PM PDT
Manisha Krishnan, North Shore News
Published: Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Three North Shore residents are among 45 British Columbians who have been recognized by the province with B.C. Community Achievement Awards for making outstanding contributions to their communities.
Premier Gordon Campbell and Keith Mitchell, chairman of the British Columbia Achievement Foundation, announced the winners last week. They included North Vancouver residents Todd Wong and Gordon Barrett and West Vancouver's Jack Farley. more »
Tuesday, March 18
Vancouver Sun: The next celebration - Toddish McWong helps to spread the word about Tartan Day
by
Todd
on Tue 18 Mar 2008 02:10 AM PDT
The Vancouver Sun wrote a story about Tartan Day coming up on April 5th, and how it isn't grandly celebrated in Vancouver. New York City has a huge celebration which they call Tartan Week. Last year we had a wee celebration at Doolin's with a kilt fashion show and a scotch tasting by Johnny Walker. Our Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team participated in the kilt fashion show, and we ended up on the Kilts Night poster for Doolin's. more »
Monday, March 17
Gung Haggis Fat Choy parade dragon and paddles on flickr
by
Todd
on Mon 17 Mar 2008 12:17 PM PDT
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 »
Sunday, March 16
Gung Haggis Fat Choy puts a dragon (not a snake) in the 5th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.
by
Todd
on Sun 16 Mar 2008 11:36 PM PDT
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 »
Saturday, March 15
Friday, March 14
Rhonda Larrabee, chief of Qayqayt First Nations, in CTV's One Women Tribe
by
Todd
on Fri 14 Mar 2008 02:46 PM PDT
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 »
Thursday, March 13
Toddish McWong's "Robert Burns" wins Battle of the Bards at Celtic Fest
by
Todd
on Thu 13 Mar 2008 11:59 PM PDT
Three actors playing W.B. Yeats, Dylan Thomas and Robert Burns traveled from Irish pub to Irish pub reading poetry, in a Poetry Slam styled contest. It was the Battle of the Bards literary pub crawl on Thursday March 13th. Four Irish pubs. Three Celtic poets. One winner...... Robert Burns/Todd Wong took an early lead at Doolin's
but fell into 3rd and last place at The Atlantic Trap and Gill, where Yeats took the lead.
At Johnny Fox's Irish Snug... the score was Yeats 76.5
with Dylan Thomas and Robert Burns tied at 75.5 more »
Todd Wong named BC Community Achievement Award recipient for 2008
by
Todd
on Thu 13 Mar 2008 04:04 PM PDT
"It's a great honour to be chosen," says fifth generation Vancouverite Todd Wong. "I hope that my activities can help inspire more people to become active in their communities, and help make a difference. I love community service. It's a great way to help shape the world we want to live in. I am indebted to the many community organizers that have both helped to mentor and support me." more »
City Councilor Raymond Louie officially declares his quest to be Vancouver mayor
by
Todd
on Thu 13 Mar 2008 04:01 PM PDT
Yesterday, I was one of a dozen community leaders invited for a photo with Raymond for the Vancouver Sun. We met at the Chinese Cultural Centre, beneath the large Chinese arch. This was the exact site where I first met Raymond in 2002, when he joined Larry Campbell, for Mike Harcourt's endorsement of Campbell for Vancouver Mayor. The rest is history. Campbell became Mayor. Louie became city councilor. more »
Courier: Wong celebrates Celtic Fest's kilty pleasures
by
Todd
on Thu 13 Mar 2008 01:18 PM PDT
Last week the Vancouver Courier interviewed me for a Celtic Fest story about tonight's Battle of the Bards. Photographer Dan Toulgoet met me at the Robert Burns statue in Stanley Park, which had been erected 80 years ago.
It's always interesting to find out how other people perceive Gung Haggis Fat Choy, and what they think about my persona as "Toddish McWong." more »
Wednesday, March 12
Wayson Choy gives "spirited" reading for Vancouver Cultural Olympiad
by
Todd
on Wed 12 Mar 2008 09:31 PM PDT
Wayson Choy came back to Vancouver to read from his upcoming book, "Not Yet a memoir of living and almost dying," Wayson is famous for his first novel "Jade Peony" and its' subsequent prequel "All That Matters"which was nominated for a Giller Prize..... On Tuesday night, Wayson talked about his second heart attack, and his conversations with ghosts. more »
Celtic Fest opens in Vancouver: Robert Burns (Toddish McWong) is guest poet on Co-op Radio's Wax Poetic
by
Todd
on Wed 12 Mar 2008 08:36 PM PDT
Wax Poetic recognized the first day of Celtic Fest by highlighting the "Battle of the Bards" event featuring celtic poets Dylan Thomas, William Butler Yeats and Robert Burns, played by Todd Wong.......
Diane and Steve asked Todd about the origins of Gung Haggis Fat Choy http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com and how he became interested in Robert Burns......
Todd also read poems "My Luv Is Like a Red Red Rose" and "A Man's a Man For A' That and A' That". more »
Monday, March 10
CBC Radio's arts reporter Paul Grant interviews a preview for Battle of the Bards and gets a donnybrook in the studio
by
Todd
on Mon 10 Mar 2008 11:57 PM PDT
Mark Donnelly is playing W. B. Yeats. Damon Calderwood is playing Dylan Thomas. And I, Todd Wong aka Toddish McWong, is playing Robert Burns.
It went really well. Upon arrival, I gave everybody a can of Guinness beer. We got a wee bit tipsy, and started challenging each other.
Then Paul Grant realized his recorder wasn't working. We had to redo everything. And I was 10 minutes late for work. more »
The secret is out: Fortune Cookies aren't really Chinese...
by
Todd
on Mon 10 Mar 2008 11:42 PM PDT
They were always written in English, never in Chinese. Our friends had their own Fortune Cookie factory near Chinatown. I even toured in it.
Jennifer 8 Lee has now written a book called The Fortune Cookie Chronicles. She writes how so-called North American "Chinese food" is really not Chinese at all - but Mainstream American......
Lee exposes all the myths about North American Chinese food, myths that Chinese-Canadians and Chinese-Americans have known for generations - but White Americans are just learning about. Geez... first the Easter Bunny, then Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, and now Fortune Cookies! more »
Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC honours Brandy Lien-Worrall
by
Todd
on Mon 10 Mar 2008 11:22 PM PDT
On Saturday Night, CCHS honoured Brandy Lien-Worrall for leading the CCHS writing workshops, which singlehandedly helped fund and make a reality the Edgar Wickberg scholarships for students studying Chinese-Canadian history. Brandy really is an amazing and inspiring person. Not only did she succeed in editing the Eating Stories anthology over the summer and seeing it through to publication in November, but she did it while fighting a serious bout with breast cancer. On January 1st, I named Brandy to a list of Chinese Canadians that inspired me for 2007. more »
Recommended Robert Burns poems for Celtic Fest "Battle of the Bards"
by
Todd
on Mon 10 Mar 2008 12:12 PM PDT
We will go on a pub crawl reciting poetry to (un)suspecting patrons starting at Doolin's Irish Pub at 5:30pm. Then we will go to Atlantic Trap and Gill for 6:05. Johnny Fox's Irish Snug at 6:45. Then the finale at Ceili's Irish Pub and Restaurant for 8pm, where we will be accompanied by a DJ and a celtic fiddler..... Not being a complete expert or scholar on Robert Burns, I asked my friends in the Burns Club of Vancouver, as well as Ron MacLeod, Chair of the Scottish Cultural Studies program at Simon Fraser University for advice. They readily obliged: more »
Saturday, March 8
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