Vancouver By-Election Voting Chaos

Where I started lining up at 12.20pm today to vote

Today Vancouver held a by-election for two seats on City Council. One was vacated by Christine Boyle, who successfully jumped into provincial politics, and the other by Adriane Carr, who retired after many years in political office.

There were already signs that voter turnout would be big just from advance voting and the number of mail-in ballots requested.

I went during lunchtime (wolfed down a sandwich beforehand) and was shocked -- shocked -- to see a massive line outside the Dunbar Community centre. A woman who was helping to run the election explained that yes this was the line to vote and that the wait would be 50 minutes -- 5-0 she reiterated. 

However, if you were elderly and could not stand long, or you had a ferry to catch, then by all means come to the priority line. Some followed her in, the rest of us waited, luckily in the sunshine.

An hour later, I exercised my right

The line kept moving, but snaked around the atrium before moving towards a very long corridor. Eventually I got to the front of the line, got registered, was given a ballot, and after choosing the two candidates, had to line up again to submit my ballot.

It took just over an hour to complete from start to finish.

Apparently at other polling stations the wait was over an hour, up to three hours.

Part of the reason can be faulted on city staff for anticipating (wrongly) that hardly anyone votes in by-elections. But surely from reading the news and the advance voting turnout they should know that only opening 25 polling stations compared the 50 in the 2017 by-election is going to result in long lines.

The other issue was that many elderly people did not know they could bypass the long line and walk right in. I advised my parents to do this and they were done in less than 15 minutes, while other seniors bravely stood in line not knowing about this priority line. Again this is city staff's fault for not making people aware of this option. 

Why did so many people turn out for this by-election?

It was a chance for them to take part in a referendum on Mayor Ken Sim and his administration's performance so far.

And the results show it is a complete repudiation of Sim and his ABC party.

Of the 13 candidates running, two won by a wide margin: Sean Orr of COPE (over 34,000 votes), and OneCity's Lucy Maloney (over 33,000).

Although this does not change ABC's majority on council, Orr and Maloney will put more pressure on Sim and ABC to be more accountable for their actions.

"While the results tonight didn't go the way that we hoped for... we look forward to working with the two elected officials," Sim told ABC supporters this evening.

City council meetings are going to be more interesting from now on...

Weak Yen Attracts Foreign Money

No cars on the road in the shopping area of Ginza on Sundays

The depressed yen has been a boon for tourism to Japan. People around the world have been flocking to the Land of the Rising Sun for great deals on everything from sushi to clothing. Tourists are lapping up the deals, but leaving those in the hospitality industry burned out.

For example, an izakaya dinner for three including six alcoholic drinks, sushi and king crab, the total bill came to around 28,000 yen (US$190), which is very reasonable by most standards, and for those from Hong Kong, cheap.

When it comes to shopping, bring your passport and the value added tax is deducted at the till -- no need to line up at the airport to process refunds. A friend went to the Ralph Lauren outlet store and bought two pairs of trousers, a pair of jeans and a hoodie for his five-year-old nephew which came to around 69,000 yen (US$470). 

I went on a shopping spree at Uniqlo and the total came to 17,240 -- but with my passport it was deducted further to 15,673 (US$106.80). That was for a pair of jeans, a cotton knit top, an adult T-shirt, three kids' T-shirts and two pairs of kids' shorts. 

Eager to get a pair of sneakers, I headed to well-known brand Onitsuka Tiger, the precursor to Asics. The two-storey shop was swarmed by tourists, grabbing whatever sample shoes they could get their hands on and asking staff to give them the footwear in their sizes.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for the staff, who probably by now are used to aggressive foreigners demanding these sneakers that they perceive as cool. For me though, they aren't comfortable footwear, as the heel area doesn't have much support.

Instead I wandered down the street to an unassuming shoe shop in the basement and there I could browse other sneaker brands without anyone fighting over them. I also had attentive service, trying several shoes before deciding on a pair. 

The Japanese-made sneakers were priced at 19,250 yen (US$130), and with duty free it came to 17,500 yen (US$119.27). 

While tourism does bring in foreign currency into Japan, investment does too.

A Chinese friend I met up with in Hong Kong told me her brother had moved to a small town outside Tokyo -- as an investor. He has put money into a school for disabled children in this town and in return he and his family are allowed to have residency there. 

Apparently they are learning Japanese, his young children go to school there, and they really like the laid-back lifestyle. 

Since 2023, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been strongly promoting foreign investment in Japan, with a goal of achieving a balance of 100 trillion yen by 2030. 

There also seems to be more foreigners living and working there, some doing manual labour like repaving roads, to making takoyaki (ball-shaped Japanese snacks usually filled with chopped octopus) in a street-side stall. 

As the population is shrinking because of the low birth rate, more help is needed, which is why the country has had to become more inviting to foreign workers; it has forced the previously insular, homogenous culture to be more accepting of others.

"Necessity is the author of change", says adventurer Tim Hansel. 

Indeed.

The Sad Goodbye of Hudson's Bay

Need a fancy dress? The Bay has them on sale!

So it has come to this. The Hudson's Bay Company, which was established in May 1670 trading beaver pelts and later became an iconic brand known for being Canada's department store, has declared bankruptcy.

Customers have until April 6 to use up their gift cards and so I ventured downtown to see what was left in the multi-level store on Georgia and Granville streets.

The floors look more empty as stock is snapped up

While a cheery staff member greeted me as I came in, it was definitely noticeable that the place is closing. Shoppers were circling around to see what deals they could get on the ground floor, but there weren't many sharp discounts on items unless they were very old stock. Otherwise most things were 20 per cent off, or still full price. 

I went to the escalator to go up, but it was blocked off. Shut down, presumably to save on electricity. So I made my way to the back of the store where the elevators were (also closed), but that was where the staircase was and made my way up to the second floor.

If you need a floor-length ballgown in size 16 come here and grab one before the store closes. Otherwise there was a lot of clothes that people didn't want, mostly because the design seemed dated, stale, hardly interesting. 

The shoe department was pretty much picked over, and it was surprising to see brands like Ugg and Hunter not completely wiped out. There were tons of kids boots still available too. 

On the third floor were more casual clothes and there were racks and racks of jeans in all kinds of sizes and you had to wade through all of them to find your size. I found two pairs to try on as well as a top and took a while to find a fitting room.

The only way up and down is stairs

The staff manning it were bored, counting down the days until they were let go; they may not be fully compensated for all their hours either, which is terrible.

Magically one pair of jeans fit, and it was 20 percent off $159 before tax. With my two gift cards totalling $39, that made my pair of jeans under $100... was it worth it? Not really, but I figured I will probably wear these jeans for several years to replace ones I've had for over 15 years.

As I made my way down the stairs to the ground floor, others were walking up, looking somewhat optimistic they would find a bargain... hope they weren't too disappointed...

Tokyo: Eating Well in the City

Eating lots of seafood at Andy's Shin Hinomoto in Tokyo

We ate pretty well in Tokyo, but probably not as good as most Japanphiles who specifically head to the Land of the Rising Sun for the marvellous food at cut-rate prices.

Last Thursday we arrived in the evening and by the time we checked into the hotel, it was almost 8pm. Before I went on my trip, my Japanese hairdresser suggested that I try the food at McDonald's because the items would be different than in Vancouver.

McDonald's food in Japan is... different

Even though I hadn't eaten McDonald's in years, that's what we did -- with mixed results.

We tried an ebi filet-o or Filet-O-Shrimp, chicken teriyaki Filet-O, a grape soda, medium fries and two desserts, one that looked like mini churros with a strawberry filling, and strawberry daifuku pie in sakura pink packaging.

The Filet-O-Ebi substituted fish for shrimp with lettuce and mustard and it was not bad, tasting slightly sweet, while the chicken teriyaki burger was smothered in the dark sweet sauce to make the chicken patty palatable. 

Meanwhile the Qoo white grape soda was far from natural juice, but still refreshing, though the fries seemed undercooked, but we ate them anyway. 

Like other McDonald's meals, you wolf down the food, but then don't feel full. For dessert, the chocolate churros, called hitokuchi kuro churros were baked rather than deep-fried, and the strawberry filling was not jam, but artificially flavoured pink. The pie, available for a limited time, had a filling that was part mochi, part strawberry jam which was strange. Nevertheless it was the latter that made the pie taste extremely sweet. I finished off the fries to balance out the saccharine taste.

Meaty king crab served cold

Needless to say, we did a lot of walking afterwards to try to keep the calorie count down.

The next evening we went to an izakaya called Andy's Shin Hinomoto in Yurakucho. It is located under a train overpass, so you can periodically hear trains going by. There are several eateries in each of these moon-shaped deep alcoves that are quite cozy. 

Andy is Andy Lunt, an Englishman from Leicester, who in 1978 married the izakaya's owner's daughter and in 1986 came to Tokyo to help out with the business, and then taking over in 2010.

People can put their bags and umbrellas in little nooks or up above in fishing nets suspended from the ceiling. What a great idea to save space!

Our host had already ordered the king crab and it was boiled, but served cold, and the parts chopped up, but not cracked liked they would be in Chinese restaurants. Instead they were cut open with incisions here and there to help make it easier to extract the sweet meat aided by a skinny long metal tool.

Large plump clams cooked in sake

We were also served a plate of sashimi, long, meaty gyoza, tempura, and wagyu croquettes. The tempura were subpar, same with the croquettes, which were actually three patties of minced beef mixed with mashed potato. However, the highlight was the large clams cooked in sake, and the meat was so plump and juicy.

With beers, highballs and a plum drink, the total came to 26,000 yen for three. Again we walked off the meal by walking to the Imperial Palace, which had strategically placed strong headlights to prevent people from coming too close. 

We walked to a place near the subway station that sells taiyaki, a fish-shaped pastry that has different fillings. We had the custard and red bean one. They were very hot out of the waffle iron, and a good way to keep warm as the temperatures began to drop. 

Tender cuts of beef for yakiniku

Another excellent meal was at Yakinikutoraji Honten, which has several branches, and we ate at the one in Shibuya that had three floors. Our host did the ordering and we didn't mind not knowing what we were eating over a hot charcoal-fired grill.

We started off with thin slices of beef tongue that were delicious and then moved onto other cuts of beef that I was unfamiliar with, but everything was tender, despite not being marbled. Some cooked meats we wrapped in lettuce or shiso leaves, and grilled the odd slices of peppers.

Service was great, as after each round the staff came by to replace the metal wire rack over the charcoal. For dessert I had two scoops of soybean ice cream with a caramel sauce drizzled on top. This meal cost 2,000 yen less than the izakaya!

Our final dinner was at Savoy after our visit to Tokyo Skytree. The pizza place opens at 5.30pm and we didn't know we could make reservations so when we arrived there was luckily a short lineup ahead of us. The first group ahead of us was eight people including four young children; the parents couldn't decide if they wanted to order take away or eat in... Luckily we didn't wait too long, perhaps half an hour or so and we were the next batch of people to go in.

The best seats in the house were near the entrance where the pizza oven was located, with a roaring fire, but we were led to the back kitchen where salads were prepared and dishes were washed. It was kind of strange to have a open view of the back of house, but perhaps they felt they could take advantage of hungry diners eager for any kind of view.

A watery Margherita pizza at Savoy

The pizza menu had changed since my friend last came, with fewer pizzas to choose from. Nevertheless we ordered the classic Margherita and the Blue fin tuna from Yamayuki which looked intriguing. But first we ate an appetiser of octopus with peppers and fennel lightly dressed with oil, vinegar and parsley. Delicious.

We also had some meatballs covered in tomato sauce and some sprinkled melted parmesan cheese that were very tender and total comfort food.

Not long after we finished the meatballs the Margherita pizza arrived. It looked great, with the slightly burnt crust. But when I pulled a slice away to eat, I could see the tomato sauce was quite watery, which dulled the taste of the pizza. I still liked the crust which was airy and held up to the watery filling.

Excellent blue fin tuna pizza

Our waitress thought we were finished after this pizza and began collecting our plates when we told her we were still waiting for the second pizza. Guess they are in a hurry to get the next batch of hungry customers in.

Finally (and giving us a bit of time to digest), the Blue fin tuna pizza came with a side of wasabi and we were not disappointed! This was definitely a memorable pie. Since there's only a few slices of tuna, they were all bunched up in the middle and seared from being in the pizza oven; some bits were still a bit raw. 

The combination of the slight sashimi taste of the tuna combined with cheese was so smooth and sweet, and the roughly chopped spring onions added a bit of crunchy texture. We did not need the wasabi to liven things up. It was already so good.

For dessert we didn't only have one but two tiramisus, very light, almost fluffy light and a hint of the espresso-soaked ladyfingers underneath. We walked out feeling sated and happy to make it to this place. Our total eating time: 45 minutes. 

Tokyo: Looking at the Japanese Capital from Up High

Looking up at Tokyo Tower at night

A good way to have a grasp of a city you're visiting is to see it from up high, and Tokyo, a metropolis built vertically, has not one, but two towers from which you can perch from and look down. 

When I went to Tokyo for the first time in the mid-1980s on a school trip, going to Tokyo Tower was a big deal. I still remember the guide book I bought and some souvenirs like key chains. 

Fantastic night scenes of the city

Shaped like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, but 9 metres taller, Tokyo Tower was built in 1958 and stands 332.9 metres and has an observation deck at 150 metres, and a higher one at 250 metres. We went after dinner and were surprised to find there was no line up. We just bought tickets and went up the elevator to see Tokyo at night. 

Admittedly it was difficult to make out everything in the dark, but it was enjoyable with less visitors. As it is sakura season, the observation deck area was decorated with a fake sakura tree and pink petals decorating some of the windows (making it harder to take pictures). Nevertheless it was a clear night and so our night pictures were pretty good.

A day later we had afternoon tickets for Tokyo Skytree, which is also a broadcast and observation tower, the tallest in Japan at 634 metres. And because it opened in 2012, visitors are more interested in coming here than Tokyo Tower.

Women in kimonos at Sensoji Temple

We first went to Sensoji Temple and it was packed with people, as it was a Sunday and beautiful weather, and most importantly sakura or cherry blossoms had bloomed. Many young women were dressed in kimono, but we could only tell where they were from when they opened their mouths -- some spoke Cantonese, others Mandarin. Then there were a few non-Asians who managed to squeeze into the kimonos, and one guy went barefoot, perhaps because there were no socks in his size...

They rented these outfits in order to have their pictures taken by professional photographers. 

Looking across the river we could see Tokyo Skytree in the distance and began walking towards it. Along the river are restaurants and cafes, while others sat on the grass or ground and had hamani, or picnics to appreciate the cherry blossoms.

We walked around 20 minutes and arrived at the base of Tokyo Skytree, which includes a shopping complex with various brands, and yes McDonald's, and other cafes.

Walking towards Tokyo Skytree

Luckily we decided to line up "early" for the 4pm slot because others had already begun standing in line. We soon realised that it zig-zagged around and it was quite the ordeal waiting for one of three or four high-speed elevators to get up to the observation deck. 

Finally after 4pm we finally made it to the front and allotted to an elevator where we had to wait for it to go up and then come down before opening its doors to collect us. We got the combo tickets where we could visit both observation decks at 350 metres and 450 metres. 

I could see how tiring it was for the staff to corral people all day, repeat the same spiel about Tokyo Skytree every 10 minutes or so and to bow as the elevator doors closed, then repeat. Again and again.

There was a tour group from India and they were able to bypass lines to get their own elevator spot; the Tokyo Skytree staff were used to this and gave them priority, making the rest of us wait another several minutes.

But once we were up on the 350-metre high deck, it was quite the sight. Seeing Tokyo by day it made me realise how many rivers there are snaking through the city, and as a result there are numerous bridges. 

The observation tower at 450 metres high

We could barely see what we going on down below, just tons of buildings like Lego bricks poking up from the ground and standing straight, while the curves of the river forced the structures to conform to the shape. The city stretched out as far as the eye could see, with a population of over 14 million. 

There were some glass skywalks inside, where there was nothing holding you up except the thick glass. Some found it scary, others exhilarating. 

One young woman was dressed up in a cosplay outfit so that she could take pictures at Skytree; many were willing to pay for the privilege.

We walked up an incline to get to the next elevator at 450 metres, but here it was even higher and everything looked even smaller down below. There were also more supports on the windows, which didn't give clear views for photographs.

Many rivers snake through the city

Getting back down was also an ordeal, again waiting in line for the next elevator, though once we were in (at the 350 metre level), we were warned we couldn't go back up again, and that was that. Lots of souvenir shops below, though none of them sold any printed guidebooks. 

Finally getting out of Skytree we were relieved to get away from the mass crowd of visitors. It must be so tiring for the staff dealing with so many people everyday.

Liberal Candidate Stands Down after Controversy

Chiang has stepped down running for the Liberals

The Canadian federal election has put Hong Kong on the spotlight after Liberal candidate Paul Chiang made controversial comments suggesting people turn in Conservative candidate Joe Tay because the Hong Kong government has a HK$1 million (US$128,500) bounty on his head.

Chiang made the suggestion during a Chinese-language press conference, saying: "To everyone here, you can claim the one-million-dollar bounty if you bring him to Toronto's Chinese consulate," he said, according to the Toronto Association for Democracy in China (TADC).

The activist group later released the translated comments to English media which quickly led to the embattled Chiang to apologise to Tay, who did not accept it, and then resulted in Chiang stepping down as a candidate despite Liberal leader Mark Carney's support for him.

HK government has HK$1M bounty on Tay

"As the prime minister and Team Canada work to stand up to President [Donald] Trump and protect our economy, I do not want there to be distractions in this critical moment," Chiang wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter just before 9pm Pacific Standard Time.

"That's why I'm standing aside as our 2025 candidate in our community of Markham-Unionville."

It's quite bizarre for Chiang to suggest turning in Tay because the Liberals have denounced the bounties.

At the time, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said. in a statement in December: "This attempt by Hong Kong authorities to conduct transnational repression abroad, including by issuing threats, intimidation or coercion against Canadians or those in Canada, will not be tolerated." 

As a result, Cheuk Kwan, co-chair of the TADC called Chiang's comments "shocking."

"Mr Chiang openly encouraged people to assist in China interference and transnational repression," Kwan said in a statement. "Rather than protecting Canadians, he betrayed them and jeopardised their safety."

Kwan raised the alarm of Chiang to English media

Chiang regrets what he said, calling it "deplorable", but this just shows how desperate he was to play up to the local Chinese media outlets, all of them practically pro-China. It's outrageous of him to even suggest something like this, even though he is a former police officer. 

Needless to say it is extremely disappointing to have this coming from a Liberal candidate. Every vote counts and now there is no Liberal running in a big Chinese riding... did no one warn Chiang about the consequences of what he said?

In the meantime Tay, who is a former TVB actor, was originally running in Chiang's riding but is now hoping to represent Don Valley North. 

Tay probably caught the Hong Kong government's attention for his YouTube channel that promotes democracy and free speech. He is also the co-founder of Canada-based NGO HongKonger Station.

Conservative leader Pierre Polieve has totally taken advantage of the fiasco, and rightly added Tay is "afraid for his life."

Tay has also said online that he has not accepted Chiang's apology and has been in contact with the RCMP about personal protection.

In any event this raises the attention of Hong Kong's transnational repression of activists abroad yet again, and with Trump threatening to take over Canada to be the 51st state, Canadians need to be aware of how precious our democracy and rights are in these dangerous times. 

Tokyo: Snoopy Museum

A family-friendly, fun place to visit

A friend and I have a mutual love of Snoopy. Mine goes back to when I was a child, reading the Peanuts comic strips and watching A Charlie Brown Christmas. The comics and characters reflected how kids felt at the time -- and they still hold up today! Snoopy projected our fantasies, from being able to dance to being the World War I Flying Ace shooting down the Red Baron. Oh and observations about cats and dogs were so true.

So when my friend told me about the Snoopy Museum in Tokyo I had to go visit. It is the only satellite museum affiliated with the Charles M Schultz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, California.

One of the first Snoopy comic strips by Schultz

The Snoopy Museum Tokyo opened in 2016 and was located in Roppongi, but closed two years later and re-opened in the outskirts of Tokyo in Minami-machida Grandberry Park, a kind of outlet store outdoor shopping area in 2019. Just last February it finished renovations.

It takes about an hour to get to Grandberry Park, southwest of Tokyo, but once you get there you can see how appealing it is for families, with lots of outlet shops -- tax free for tourists -- and activities for children to do, as well as the Snoopy Museum.

There are Snoopy statues along the way to point you in the right direction, but soon you will come across a giant Snoopy with his mouth open, indicating the entrance to the museum. We got tickets online in advance, and in exchange we received paper tickets that were each Peanuts comic strips and two stickers too.

From there we were invited to go up to the third floor and work our way down. There are some rooms where we couldn't take pictures, as they were photographs of Charles Schultz as a child or family pictures, but other than that lots of large-scale comic strips that were reproduced.

Snoopy trying to hit a golf ball with an audience

There were also sections dedicated to each character, and themes like homework, the school bus, and baseball, introducing these from an American perspective. There was also a room with a massive sleeping Snoopy, and up on the rooftop garden lots of Snoopys watching one trying to hit a golf ball. 

Some of the comic strips were animated which was fun, like Charlie Brown watching TV, and Snoopy trying to get his attention and sleeping on top of his head; Charlie Brown gets annoyed and walks to the door, outside and flings Snoopy onto his red dog house to sleep.

Interestingly not much about A Charlie Brown Christmas, though a lot of jazz was played in the museum which made it relaxing to be in there.

And of course the other best part of the museum was the gift shop! All kinds of merchandise were available, but strangely no children's T-shirts, but lots of stuffed Snoopys, plastic folders, stickers, cookies, notebooks, key rings and so on.

Giant sleeping Snoopy... you can't touch though

If that wasn't enough, just outside the museum was the Snoopy Cafe where we had cups of latte in ceramic cups on plates that could be purchased in the cafe. The most popular item seemed to be the Charlie Brown milkshake, with a chocolate wave around the inside of the tall glass.

It was a fun trip down memory lane, but also impressive to see how Schultz's comics still stand the test of time!

Snoopy Museum Tokyo

Tsuruma 3-1-4, Machida-shi

Tokyo