Mboko Beats Osaka to Win National Bank Open

Canada's new tennis darling Mboko who won the NBO today

Tennis phenom Victoria Mboko has catapulted from No. 333 nine months ago to No. 25 following her win over Naomi Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 at the National Bank Open in Montreal.

Mboko had the crowd nervous when she lost the first set, but she powered through her wrist injury and as fans cheered her on, this may have unnerved Osaka, and Mboko used this to her advantage to defeat her in the second and third sets.

She gave a shoutout to the fans in the stands

"It's been an incredible week here in Montreal," Mboko told the crowd in a post-match ceremony. "Montreal, je vous aime!"

She got praise from Prime Minister Mark Carney and Billie Jean King among others.

What's not to love about this an amazing fairytale run for Mboko, who was a wildcard entry into the tournament. But now she has been assured a spot in the US Open -- where she has never played before.

Mboko is the youngest of four children, her parents originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The family moved from North Carolina where Mboko was born to Burlington, Ontario, where all four kids learned tennis, with their tennis dad. Two of her siblings played at the college level, but Mboko has gone the furthest.

Osaka (right) visibly upset following the match

A former coach describes her as very athletic on the court, hitting hard like her idol Osaka, but Mboko has the mental ability to mistakes aside quickly and focus on the present, which makes her very resilient.

She is now the No. 1 Canadian women's tennis player and after winning the National Bank Open, takes home $750,000 in prize money.

Unfortunately Osaka was a bit of a sore loser, not congratulating Mboko on her win. Nevertheless, Osaka has done well this tournament too, getting this far since giving birth to her daughter Shai in July 2023. She has changed coaches a few times and perhaps is more settled now.

Mboko could play in the Cincinnati Open which started today, or withdraw and focus on the US Open which starts on August 19.

Mboko Blazes Trail in Canadian Tennis

Mboko fought hard in the semifinals to win tonight

She did it -- again!

Tennis phenom Victoria Mboko rallied hard to defeat Elena Rybakina 1-6,  7-5, 7-6 (4) in the semi-finals and the Toronto teen will meet four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in the final on the National Bank Open in Montreal. 

"Incredible match, thank you to everyone for supporting me," Mboko told the sold-out crowd in French. "It was really difficult, but anything can happen."

Osaka (above) meets Mboko tomorrow in the final

Indeed!

Mboko is the fourth Canadian woman to reach the final at the Canadian Open, the last one to do that was Bianca Andreescu in 2019.

The 18-year-old Mboko is also the first Canadian player to defeat three former women's singles Grand Slam champions in a single WTA event in the Open Era, and has a spot in the US Open.

This fairytale run will help move Mboko up to at least 34th in the world rankings, a massive jump from outside the top 300 at the beginning of this year.

Unfortunately Mboko doesn't have much time to rest -- she suffered a wrist injury during her match against Rybakina -- and will face Japanese-born Osaka tomorrow in the final.

Regardless of what happens tomorrow, Mboko is on everyone's radar and has quickly become a trailblazer in Canadian tennis!

Picture of the Day: Feeding the Neighbourhood

Cucumber and zucchini from a neighbour

The other day I finished walking around Pacific Spirit Park and was on my way home on a street I don't usually walk on, and one of the homes has a vegetable patch in the front yard.

By the steps to the house is a cardboard box with a sign saying "Free veggies". Inside were four zucchinis!

Apparently with the warm weather we're having, many people with vegetable patches are harvesting their zucchinis.

I took the smallest one, which was already quite large and brought it home.

The next day I went back to the same street and inside were cucumbers! I took the smallest one when I got home I peeled the bumpy skin and sliced it up. It was so crisp and fresh!

Tonight I stir-fried the zucchinis with shallots, garlic, ginger and dried conpoy, and it was delicious!

I shall check for more veggies later!

Vancouver Art Gallery's Financial Woes on Show

Strangled by Growth, by Emily Carr, 1931

Last week I brought my relative visiting from the United States to the Vancouver Art Gallery, and it was eerily quiet.

The lobby was hardly bustling with visitors so there was no line to buy admission tickets. Inside there were probably 20 people looking at art in the entire art museum.

Interestingly there is a rate for British Columbia residents at $29 compared to $35 for everyone else. Children up to 18 years old are free! The VAG may want to rethink allowing teenagers to be free with the severe belt tightening that's going on.

Sans titre, by Riopelle, 1950

In early July there were news reports that the art gallery cut about 30 percent of its total 129 staff. In June, 16 people took voluntary leave benefits, while another 18 were laid off since.

"We're really looking across the institution, trying to leave no stone unturned, and we really tried to save as many roles, as many jobs as possible," explained Eva Respini, the VAG's interim co-CEO.

"This is an incredibly difficult moment," she said. "It's quite literally every department in the museum that has been affected in one way or another."

We could see that. It seemed that some staff took turns acting as security guards, while the ones in uniform didn't seem to know much about the gallery. We asked one a question about an art work and they politely apologised and said they didn't know, but didn't offer to help us find the answer either.

Another way the VAG will cut costs is the number of exhibitions it holds each year, from 12 down to eight, while more shows will feature the gallery's permanent collection. Which means more Emily Carr...

Untitled (Toothpicks), Tara Donovan

The gallery is planning to exhibit more of the BC artist's work from its collection as it has some 250 pieces of Carr's. 

The drastic cuts are due to attendance at the gallery never returned to pre-pandemic levels. 

It's quite sad seeing the VAG so empty and has affected morale in the place. 

The exhibitions we saw were of Emily Carr, Riopelle, and pieces from the collection of a couple who are VAG patrons. One work featured a cube made entirely of toothpicks...

Municipal, provincial and federal governments are all focused on the World Cup next year, making it very difficult for arts and culture institutions to get more money to keep going. 

It seems so tone deaf for the VAG to continue planning for a new gallery space, but apparently it still has funds from various levels of government and donors. A new architect will be announced in the fall.

Labubu's Panda-monium Promotes Hong Kong

Yeoh posing with her special edition Labubu with twin pandas

Academy Award-winning actress Michelle Yeoh has become the latest Labubu fan after she was gifted a custom one holding two panda cubs that are celebrating their first birthday in Hong Kong.

Yeoh posted pictures of herself on Instagram holding the doll with a mischievous grin with a giant bucket of popcorn, another with British actress and singer Cynthia Erivo, and a shot with fellow Wicked actor Jeff Goldblum.

Jia Jia and De De were born in Hong Kong

"Celebrating Hong Kong born Panda Twins first birthday (and my birthday too) with Labubu in the Hollywood Bowl!!! Thank you @discoverhongkong for sending the greatest companions!" she wrote.

Yeoh is one of several celebrities who received the specially-designed Labubu doll as part of a collaboration between the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau and the toy's creator, Hong Kong-born Kasing Lung, to mark the twin pandas' first birthday and promote the city... of course.

The cubs, Jia Jia and De De, who were born on August 15, are the first pandas to be born in Hong Kong and this promotion is a way to prolong panda-monium a bit longer.

Seems like just about everyone has caught onto the Labubu craze, and the government is riding the wave with this special doll. 

Will it catch on with Labubu fans? The sales numbers will tell.

Canadian Victoria Mboko Stuns Coco Gauff in Montreal

Mboko excited with her stunning upset over No. 1 seed Gauff

Canadian women's tennis has gotten more exciting these days, and tonight may be a sign of what's to come.

Torontonian Victoria Mboko, who is 18 years old, definitively defeated No. 1 seed Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 in a stunning upset at the National Bank Open in Montreal today.

Mboko, who climbed from No. 333 to No. 85 this year, crushed the American in only 62 minutes, and advances to the quarterfinals on Monday.

Gauff (left) beat Mboko in May at Italian Open

The teenager entered this tournament as a wild card and is the last Canadian standing in the singles draw, for both men and women.

Mboko thrilled the sold-out crowd in Montreal with her deft placements of the ball, making it near impossible for Gauff to return.

When Gauff had an enforced error, leading to Mboko's victory, she covered her face with her hands, in shock that she'd done it.

"I don't even know what to say still," she told reporters an hour afterwards.

"I was kind of shocked about it all. Everything kind of came so fast. There were so many people. I feel like tonight I'll let it soak in a bit more, but I'm still kind of on a high, a little bit.

"I'm super happy, and I'm just really content with how things went today and that I get to move on to the next round." 

Three months earlier Gauff beat Mboko at the Italian Open in Rome and today the teen said she had flashbacks of that match.

Mboko in shock, crowd shouted in delight

"I just remember when she kind of came out playing even better and stepped it up a bit better when I played her in Europe, I was thinking about that. I kind of wanted to step my game up a little bit more and make sure I matched whatever she was producing and I wanted to stay right there with her."

Mboko sure did and more, while Gauff could not find her rhythm, with several enforced errors.

Now Mboko is waiting to see who the winner will be in the match-up between Zhu Lin of China and Jessica Bouzas Maniero of Spain.

Hakka Style Salt-baked Chicken

Salt-baked chicken Hakka style at Southern Delicacy

The other day we went to Southern Delicacy restaurant in Vancouver and tried salt baked chicken, a traditional Hakka dish.

My mother remembers her mother stir-frying coarse salt in the wok for a long time before burying a chicken wrapped in parchment paper in the salt and cooking it for about an hour.

Chicken wrapped in parchment paper

She remembers it being hard work, constantly shovelling the salt to prevent it from burning.

The one we tried was fantastic -- the meat was cooked through, but tender, juicy, and seasoned perfectly, not salty at all.

It sounds similar to Italian salt-baked cod, which isn't wrapped in parchment paper at all, though the skin acts as a barrier between the salt and fish meat.

In the case of the chicken, I looked up the recipe and it doesn't look too difficult?!

Take a raw chicken and rub Shaoxing wine on it, as well as sand ginger powder, salt and white pepper. Then let it marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

The next day take the chicken out and let it warm up to room temperature, tie up the legs and wrap it in parchment paper. Meanwhile get some coarse salt, the same weight as the bird, and in a clean wok, stir-fry the salt for about 15 minutes over medium heat, until the salt turns light brown.

Have a Dutch oven ready and pour some of that salt in there, add the wrapped chicken and then cover it with the rest of the salt.

Wrapped chicken in coarse salt

Cover the Dutch oven and have it on the stove on medium heat for around 35 minutes, then turn off the heat and let it sit for another 30-40 minutes.

The chicken should be done by then.

Some recipes suggest the presentation of the chicken should be deboned, while others, including the restaurant, serve it chopped with bones attached.