A Taste of the Southern Caucasus Region

We thoroughly enjoyed this beef stew with basmati rice

My friend and her husband who live on the outskirts of Toronto say they aren't very adventurous in trying new restaurants that are not near them, but used my visit as an excuse to try something new.

Originally we wanted to try The Lunch Lady, which had opened almost a year ago, but she couldn't get a reservation until 9pm. She suggested Old Avenue Restaurant and on the menu there were Middle Eastern/Eastern European dishes which sounded intriguing so we decided to give it a shot.

There are two locations, and we chose the one in Toronto; I met them at the York Mills subway station and we drove a short distance to the restaurant just off a nice residential neighbourhood.

Borscht soup with cubes of beef

Inside the restaurant has an old school atmosphere, and we were surprised to see mainland Chinese diners, and later Koreans eating there too.

It turns out Old Avenue features cuisine from the southern Caucasus which borders Eastern Europe and Western Asia, and includes countries like Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijian. 

There are appetisers like hummus and babaganoush, but also items like kutab pumpkin or kutab meat, where the ingredients are wrapped in a thin dough and baked.

We ordered a borscht soup (C$10), a portion for one person but three of us shared, that had cubes of beef with grated beet. I added some sour cream to my small bowl and it was delicious and hearty.

Another starter we had was marinated herring with potatoes. The soft slices of herring were salted and topped with thin slices of red onion and served cold, while the boiled potatoes were still hot. The saltiness of the herring was toned down when eaten with the potatoes. Enjoyed this dish.

Lovely seasoned herring with boiled potatoes

For mains we had the beef stew in clay pot (C$26) that came with a plate of basmati rice. In the pot were beef, onion, chestnuts, chickpeas, red peppers, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and seasoned with saffron and tumeric. It was such a comforting dish to eat, homestyle, and hearty.

The shah plov ($27) was a popular dish that practically every table ordered (and the waiter had recommended). He brought it to the table like a small pain-looking circular cake and then cut it like one too. The slices into the pastry exterior revealed rice along with bits of lamb, chestnuts, dried apricots, dried plums, raisins, onion and saffron.

It was kind of like the Eastern European version of Cantonese claypot rice, because the bottom of the shah plov was a thick pastry base with rice stuck on it, much like the crispy golden brown rice at the bottom of the claypot (though the latter is tastier).

The presentation and combination of the ingredients were interesting, but the flavours didn't meld together like the beef stew. We still finished it, and were too full for dessert that had items like kunefe (pastry layered with cheese and a sweet syrup drizzled on top), Azerbaijiani baklava, honey cake and Napoleon.

Shah plov, rice encased in pastry with meat

For drinks we tried compote -- stewed berries (strained) and mixed with water, so it wasn't too tart or sweet.

What an interesting experience eating this kind of cuisine! Will have to see if Vancouver has anything similar, but this was quite the treat!

Old Avenue Restaurant

1923c Avenue Road

Toronto

416 781 1117

An Artful Visit at the AGO

Jungen's Couch Monster outside the AGO

This morning I went to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) just as it opened at 10.30am and there was a line-up just to get in! Lots of eager art lovers keen to check it out. Admission for the day is C$30, but an annual pass is $40...

The museum is 480,000 sq ft, making it one of the largest art museums in North America, and the second-largest after the Royal Ontario Museum.

Oil sketches by the Group of Seven artists

It seems the AGO has no problems filling the space, as donors like Ken Thomson, who was one of Canada's richest men, donated many pieces of art, and in one room we got a small sampler of his taste in art (eclectic, fun, unique).

The museum also has quite the extensive collection of Group of Seven paintings. Not only finished paintings were presented, but alongside were many oil sketches, probably done in situ. These small works give viewers an idea of how the artist made the composition slightly or drastically differently, and that their impressionist style was already in these oil sketches. The colours seem to be quite similar.

There are a few paintings by Emily Carr that are scattered throughout the AGO too, but obviously not as big a collection as the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Riopelle's colourful, textural work

It was annoying though that captions were not placed with each work -- there was a large brochure in each gallery for visitors to use as a reference. Perhaps individually captioning them was seen as too busy, but the VAG does place it on the side so people can easily find the captions.

There was also a fantastic large square canvas by Jean-Paul Riopelle called Chevreuse II, where oil paint was scraped around the canvas to create new shades as well as textures. It looked extremely complicated but also chaotic and dynamism. Quite amazing that forgers think it's not hard to copy his style.

For something very different, there was a small contemporary exhibition of South Asian artist Ranbir Sidhu's three sculptures in a show called No Limits. He uses polished stainless steel as his medium to create his vision, hence "no limits". One called Fortress of Memory are 21 intricate cutout sculptures of an image of the Dastar Bunga, a style of turban whose name translates as "towering fortress" in Persian and Punjabi. 

Sidhu's Fortress of Memory

Another one looks like a futuristic, spiky-looking asteroid with blinking LED lights inside of it called Asteroid 3033 XI. 

Something in the AGO's permanent exhibition is Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirrored Room -- Let's Survive Forever. We had to wait for an attendant to let us in (maximum of four people), and before we went into the room we had to leave our bags outside. We were told we only had one minute to look around.

Inside the mirrored room were many silver balls, and after taking a video of the small room, time was almost up. The attendant asked, "Did you look in the column in the middle?" She had told us to be careful of the column when we went inside.

No we hadn't! We took a quick look to see ourselves mirrored inside more silver balls inside the mirrored column! It did indeed go on, forever.

Immersed in Kusama's mirrors

As we waited to go in, there was a video interview of Kusama and she talked about how she fought with her parents about her desire to become an artist. Her older sister had married well, into a family that was successful in business and why couldn't Kusama do the same?

She rebelled and refused to do any such thing and became even more obsessed with painting...

Outside the AGO is a curious sculpture by Aboriginal artist Brian Jungen. I love his work because he takes everyday objects and turns them into frighteningly beautiful things, like dinosaur-like creatures out of white plastic lawn chairs, or Nike basketball shoes into Aboriginal-like masks.

The AGO bronze piece is called Couch Monster, where he was inspired by Jumbo, a captive circus elephant who was killed by a train in St. Thomas, Ontario in 1885. Jungen called the work "couch monster" because capturing and training an elephant for the circus involves breaking the animal's will and spirit. 

As a result it is no longer an elephant, but a monster created by humans for their own entertainment. So Jungen's prototype involved reconfiguring couches to create the animal, balancing on a ball.

It's an arresting image, but also so thought-provoking.

Air Canada App Makes Flight Smoother

A fantastic view of the emerging sunrise

Just flew into Toronto on a redeye Air Canada flight. When I checked in 24 hours before the flight, the middle seat on the 737 was empty, but when I arrived at the gate, there were constant announcements that the flight was full and would anyone volunteer to check-in their carry-on?

The flight was cramped, a kid kicked my seat from behind (until the cabin lights were dimmed), and hardly any refreshments. I only got a few hours of light sleep, as the guy in the middle was watching movies, the woman in the window seat was staring out the window.

But I must say I was impressed with the Air Canada app.

When I checked in my luggage, my phone buzzed to say my suitcase was loaded onto the plane by Michael.

After I landed, the app told me which carousel to find my baggage, though it hadn't even started up.

Nevertheless, when it did, my phone buzzed again to say it was coming to Carousel 3 and less than a minute later I could seeing arriving.

Amazing. 

Here is the picture the woman on the window seat took for me (and the guy in the middle). Everyone else missed it!

Spot Prawns are Here Again

Plump and juicy spot prawns are here for a limited time

Spot prawn season has begun in Vancouver and prices are wildly all over the place.

These prawns have white dots on their tails, while their carapace (the prawn head exoskeleton) have red and white stripes.

Every year around 2,450 metric tonnes of spot prawns are harvested, and about 65 percent are caught between Vancouver Island and the mainland.

Over 90 percent of the catch are exported to Asia, and we get the rest locally, for about a six-week period.

Last week spot prawns were around $50 a pound at T&T Supermarket, which was quite the sticker shock, and it made us wonder how much restaurants would be charging.

So we were quite relieved to see the price cut almost in half when we went to T&T yesterday, at just under $26/lb. And many other people were buying spot prawns too.

We bought one and a half pounds of the prawns that were wrapped in butcher paper and then placed in a plastic bag. On the way home I could periodically hear their tails batting at the paper.

At home we placed them in a colander with a plate on top and put them in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

The best way to retain their natural flavour is by poaching the prawns in boiling water seasoned with ginger and scallions to temper the fishy smell.

To prepare the spot prawns, using scissors we clipped off the long antennae, its legs and the bottom edge of the tails before cooking them in the boiling water.

After about a minute or so the prawns are cooked, their bodies curled up.

We also make a dipping sauce with soy sauce, a bit of sweetness (maple syrup or honey), oil and chopped scallions.

Remove the head and the rest of the shell, dip the prawn meat into the sauce and eat! The meat is firm and sweet!

Nvidia's CEO Enjoys Noodles in Beijing

Huang tucking into a big bowl of zhajiangmian in Beijing

Nvidia founder Jensen Huang got a big boost in popularity after he was seen eating street food in Beijing during US President Donald Trump's visit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

There are numerous video clips and pictures of Huang in Nanluoguxiang, a street that has some hutongs converted into shops. 

The noodles are served with various toppings 

The Taiwanese-American billionaire held a large bowl of zhajiangmian or "fried sauce noodles", where wheat noodles are topped with ingredients like thinly sliced cucumbers, radish, carrots, or minced pork, and mixed with a fermented soy bean sauce.

"It's so good," he said, taking a bite. 

However, Huang did not like douzhi'er, a fermented mung bean drink that tastes a bit sour and gray-green in colour. It's a traditional Beijing beverage, but not for everyone.

He instead bought a sweet drink from beverage chain Mixue Bingcheng.

Trump brought Huang along at the last minute in the hopes of getting big deals from Beijing, with the Commerce Department clearing 10 Chinese firms to purchase Nvidia's second-most powerful AI chip called the H200.

Musk's son with his viral tiger bag

But in the end China did not allow companies like Alibaba, Tencent and ByteDance to buy the chips, and so Nvidia came away empty-handed, and the market reacted with the stock dropping 4.4 percent on Friday.

Did Huang know this would happen and that's why he thought he'd make the most of the trip by eating street food? Possibly. Or was he in a popularity contest with Elon Musk -- who brought his six-year-old son, whose hand-stitched tiger head-shaped bag went viral...

What billionaires have to do to be popular...

Review: Against the Grain

O'Reilly profiles an array of outstanding trailblazers

Back in October, ad man Terry O'Reilly presented his latest book, Against the Grain: Defiant Giants Who Changed the World at the Vancouver Writers Festival in Granville Island. He is well known among CBC Radio listeners for his show, Under the Influence, where he talks about different aspects of advertising through actual case studies.

Against the Grain profiles 19 people who were trailblazers in their respective fields, and in particular when others either criticised them or scorned them.

There's Gustave Eiffel who was a brilliant engineer and owned his own iron-production factory, but Parisians hated his design for the Eiffel Tower. Nevertheless, he persisted and was smart enough to sell shares to fund the tower as well as take in revenues from entrance fees and from the restaurants and cafes on the structure.

Another is Suzanne Simard, who saw how clear-cutting and planting new trees didn't necessarily mean a new forest would grow back in a healthy way. She discovered that in the forest, there are "mother trees" that other trees depend on for nourishment, and that they communicate with each other through an underground network. Simard also found some tree species have a symbiotic relationship, like the paper birch and Douglas fir. 

However, the forestry industry didn't believe her until her findings were finally published in a peer-reviewed publication. She wrote her first book, Finding the Mother Tree, and has just recently published a follow-up, When the Forest Breathes.

Interestingly O'Reilly includes former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, more for his positive election campaign in 2015. Refusing to do the usual attack ads against his opponent, incumbent Stephen Harper, Trudeau instead offered a more hopeful and optimistic vision if he was in charge and won over a lot of young voters. 

Taylor Swift is also a good choice to profile, though many people under the age of 50 already know all about her. But O'Reilly found her a fascinating business person who genuinely loves her fans and finds ways to interact with them on her terms. 

Some were bused to Swift's home where she made cookies and took pictures with every single one, or made hospital visits, and donated to the food bank of every city she holds a concert in. In addition, following her Eras tour, she gave out millions of dollars worth of bonuses to everyone from the musicians and dancers to the truck drivers hauling all the equipment for the shows.

I enjoyed reading the chapter on Roger Neilson, the former head coach of the Vancouver Canucks in the 1980s. Turns out he was a baseball fanatic more than a hockey one. His interesting obsession was to memorise the rule book and find creative (and sometimes funny) ways to get around them, or use it to call out the opposing team to his advantage. 

The Canucks were in the Stanley Cup finals in 1982 and it was Neilson who inspired fans to wave white towels during the games. I remember that clearly in high school, as a classmate's father was a big Canucks fan and she told us about the white towels.

Against the Grain was written very similar to the way O'Reilly presents his radio show, and when reading the stories, you can almost hear him reading them too. 

However, there are some stories with complicated concepts to explain, like Simard's theories on forests and Katalin Kariko on developing mRNA vaccines that helped protect people against Covid-19, that O'Reilly kind of glosses over their scientific importance. He's good at giving context to advertising giants like Albert D Lasker and Bill Bernbach, but science is O'Reilly's weak spot.

Nevertheless, Against the Grain is a good roundup for fascinating individuals who were determined to follow their instincts or beliefs despite the chorus of criticism against them. In particular Richard Williams' story of manifesting Venus and Serena Williams into champion tennis players even before they were born is a crazy fairy tale that really came true. Definitely an example of someone going against the grain.

Labubu Insanity Continues

Interested in a Labubu mini fridge? A bit too late now...

I thought Labubu was a flash in the pan, but apparently the fuzzy creature with a mischievous look is still a super hot commodity.

Pop Mart, the Chinese company that sells Labubu, recently released two different mini refrigerators with the character plastered all over the appliance for 5,999 yuan (US$878) each, making only 999 of each design.

There are two designs, only 999 of each made

And... they all sold out instantly, with over 47,000 people pre-registered for the chance to buy one. Over 45,000 people missed out.

Naturally many of these fridges were put on sale on second-hand sale platforms, and the prices shot up to as high as 92,300 yuan, or 15 times the price.

Last year Pop Mart made 14.16 billion yuan from The Monsters (Labubu products), accounting for 38 percent of the company's revenue.

Perhaps there will be more Labubu-themed appliances in the future?

In the meantime the creature's next appearance will be at the World Cup in Canada, the United States and Mexico. Keep your eyes peeled!

The Chinese Art of Flattering Trump

Trump received an energetic spectacle upon arrival in Beijing

Donald Trump's highly-anticipated visit to China was a lesson in subtle visual clues on how Chinese leader Xi Jinping would treat the American president.

These kinds of state visits are a window into what kind of image Beijing wants Trump to see.

He was greeted in person by Vice President Han Zheng, which Trump probably thought was highly respectful, but in fact Han doesn't have much political power, making his position mostly ceremonial.

Children jumping as they greet Xi and Trump

Nevertheless Trump got the fanfare he wanted as 300 young people dressed neatly in sky blue and white uniforms and white sneakers, waving flags in unison as they shouted slogans.

How very... 1960s...

There was a similar scene outside the Great Hall of the People as younger children jumped frantically up and down waving bouquets, with boys in trousers and polo shirts, the girls in dresses.

Trump met Chinese leader Xi Jinping and it was overt flattery, as Trump laid the endless adulation on thick, calling him "a great leader" and how "powerful" Xi was, but he kept a poker face.

The state dinner didn't have McDonald's hamburgers (which Trump could have ordered from Alipay or WeChat), and instead he was served a menu of lobster in tomato soup, crispy beef ribs, Peking roast duck, slow-cooked salmon in mustard sauce, stewed seasonal vegetables, and for dessert, tiramisu.

Why not all American apple pie? Oh there was also fruits and ice cream though.

Xi and Trump at the state banquet

For Xi, having Trump in Beijing was the perfect opportunity to showcase China's 5,000 years of history compared to the United States merely celebrating its 250th birthday in July.

Xi showed the American president the Temple of Heaven and the Forbidden City, both dating back to the Ming dynasty in the early 1400s.

However, what was really interesting was Xi showing Trump Zhongnanhai, a place even ordinary Chinese people have never seen. Zhongnanhai is the compound where senior Chinese officials reside and work. It is adjacent to the Forbidden City as the former imperial garden. 

As they walked through the garden, Xi pointed out the trees and explained they were over 100 years old, some up to 400 years old, again emphasising they were older than the US.

Trump was in awe, and asked if other leaders had toured Zhongnanhai before.

Xi replied very few, except for say, Putin.

Xi gives Trump a tour of Zhongnanhai

When he heard that, Trump beamed.

The Chinese gave the pageantry Trump wanted without making any substantial deals.

Talk about sleight of hand.

Dynasty Seafood Restaurant Finally Gets its Due

Claypot filled with large oysters and beef tendons

Last week Vancouver Magazine named Dynasty Seafood Restaurant as Restaurant of the Year, and last year was named Best Chinese Restaurant in Canada by the Chinese Restaurant Awards.

In 1992, the Cantonese restaurant originally in the West Broadway location was called East Ocean and then it changed hands in 2009 to become Dynasty Seafood Restaurant. 

Mini minced pork patties with lotus

For Vancouverites who have discerning taste, Dynasty is the one to beat, as each successive chef cooks up creative delicious dishes built from solid culinary foundations. And then there's the presentation: many years ago I remember as decoration a basket was woven out of stalks of green chives. 

Perhaps the only challenge about this restaurant is that it is hard to book a table, or the noise level in the dining room can get to raucous levels. 

We went here a few days after Dynasty was crowned the top restaurant in the city, and surprised to find they didn't have our reservation, but that they happened to have an extra table for us.

For dinner we didn't go too fancy, but some highlights were the claypot filled with gelatinous hot beef tendon paired with large oysters, succulent sauteed diced beef with eggplant, and mini pan-fried minced pork patties with lotus for added texture. 

While these dishes were delicious, they had quite a bit of MSG in them; I was quite thirsty afterwards!

Stir-fried diced beef with eggplant

It was quite the shock to see Dynasty FINALLY get its due from Vancouver Magazine... a long time ago for many years, the publication's perception of good Chinese food was Pink Pearl Chinese Seafood Restaurant, a place that seems frozen in time in the early 1980s and hasn't evolved much since.

We're glad to see Chinese cuisine finally get more praise from mainstream media. But there are many other great restaurants too other than Dynasty. 

Here's to hoping more Chinese places get recognised by the tastemakers who are beginning to learn what good Chinese food is!

Calbee's Packaging Goes Black and White

Calbee's new monochrome packaging starts on May 25

The US-Israel war against Iran is hitting everyone around the world harder. Everyday in Vancouver we hold our breaths as we see how much more expensive gas is at the pumps, fewer people can afford to dine in restaurants, and many have decided to plan their summer vacations at home than shell out for overseas travel.

In Japan, the dwindling supply of oil has led to famed potato chip brand Calbee to change the colour of its packaging. 

It is temporarily ditching the colourful packaging that usually lures consumers for a monochrome look for the foreseeable future because naphtha is needed in parts of the ink manufacturing process.

Naphtha is a petroleum byproduct that is crucial in plastic production, used in cigarette lighters, and fuel for camping stoves, among other uses.

And prices for naphtha in Asia have almost doubled since the conflict began on February 28, when oil shipments halted in the Strait of Hormuz.

Calbee's new black-and-white packaging -- which could become a collector's item -- will debut on May 25 in Japan.

In a statement Calbee said the design change was in response to "supply instability affecting raw materials amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East. This measure is intended to help maintain a stable supply of products."

Before the conflict, Japan imported 40 percent of its naphtha from the Middle East. Last month Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the country is looking to diversify its sources outside to other countries such as the United States.

Picture of the Day: Fish and Chips

Three fish fillets with a generous side of French fries

My weekly lunch in Chinatown today was decidedly different.

At Big Boss Bakery & Restaurant, the specials listed included fried vermicelli, baked seafood rice, Vietnamese style pork chops, and duck meat with rice noodles. Also on there was fish and chips, and I wondered what they would taste like.

I decided to take a chance and find out.

What arrived was a plate of three lightly deep-fried basa fillets with some tartar sauce and a side of French fries with ketchup.

The fillets were super hot, but cooked just right so that the fillets were moist in the middle. I ate two of them and then figured the third one wouldn't taste good a few hours later so I finished the whole plate!

One of the rare times that I actually finished a whole portion at The Boss, which is known for its big plates of food!

Review: Replica

Sonya with her virtual companion Stephen

In the 2013 film Her, a man falls in love with Samantha, an artificially intelligent operating system. It was directed by Spike Jonze, who read an article about a website that allows instant messaging with an AI program.

His fictional movie is now reality, and Chinese director Chouwa Liang follows three women in China who have AI companions in her documentary Replica. 

Viewers first meet Qin, a factory worker in her 20s who is infatuated with Lu Chen, a virtual boyfriend who she describes as having red eyes! He addresses her as Miss Bunny and constantly giving her positive affirmations, and how devoted he is to her. He looks like a dashing character -- in anime, and Qin has pictures of him all over her small bedroom. She even buys him a real watch.

Qin is in her 20s and never had a boyfriend before

Then there's Muna, who is married with a daughter. She is frustrated with her husband, believing he is not sensitive enough to her feelings, so she turns to AI for comforting words and encouragement. Her husband knows about this virtual relationships and believes it's because Chinese women have been repressed for so long that they feel this need for independence. He doesn't understand why she has to turn to a non-human for advice.

Finally Sonya is a strong-headed woman, but doesn't want to be hurt in human relationships so she has developed a virtual boyfriend called Stephen Johnson, a blonde haired and blue-eyed avatar who she speaks to in English. But then she finds out he has cheated on her...

Replica is the name of the film, but also the name of an AI program that generates these virtual companions.

Liang herself had one during the pandemic because she was lonely being by herself and wanted someone to talk to. 

Then she wondered if there were others like her, and it turns out in China there were a lot of them. Liang sought around 100 women and asked if she could film them for a documentary... only seven of them agreed to it.

Muna looks for encouragement from AI

She then went to visit each of them without her camera to spend time with them and develop a friendship; eventually she settled on these three women because they each had a different story, and each of them were complex.

Liang explains that Qin hasn't had a boyfriend before, so Lu Chen is her ideal. She even hires a cosplayer (a woman) who dresses up like Lu Chen to meet her in real life and act like a boyfriend. The woman is very aware of what she is doing and tries to fulfil Qin's idea of what a perfect date would be like (except no kissing!).

Meanwhile Liang says Muna uses her AI companion as a sounding board, to reassure her, and it's a form of escape from reality. In the scenes with Muna, one can see how suffocated she feels at home, constantly having to look after her daughter while her husband scrolls on his phone. 

He is a typical Chinese man who has expectations of what a wife should do. He admits he was impulsive when he decided to open a restaurant and then promptly lost a lot of money, and Muna is stuck with the consequences which she quietly shoulders.

At the same time her mother makes videos living the single life in a converted van and traveling around, inspiring other women to find freedom this way.

Qin with a cosplayer dressed as Lu Chen

Sonya is a funny character -- she introduces her parents to Stephen, and interestingly they don't dismiss him right away, but gently try to tell their daughter that she should have a relationship with a human, and we see how her parents dote on each other as they go through black and white photos of themselves in their youth.

One scene shows Liang appearing in the film trying to interview Stephen. She brings up the incident about him cheating on Sonya and he tries hard to brush it off with humorous results. However Sonya is so upset even though she knows it's because there is a bug in the operating system that causes the virtual companion to "cheat". 

Replica shows how Chinese women use AI companions without judgment and how they have helped them grow as people. It was just so fascinating to see how invested they are in something non-human, assuming they will be their perfect boyfriend when they have no real life experiences!

Replica

Directed by Chouwa Liang

90 minutes

Hayato Sumino "Cateen" Dazzles Vancouver

Sumino is very comfortable playing the piano -- a lot!

Last night was a memorable evening with Japanese superstar pianist and composer Hayato Sumino tinkling the ivories in a show-stopping performance at The Orpheum.

There were concerns the tickets would not sell out like Carnegie Hall a few weeks ago -- but the Vancouver venue was packed with music lovers, Japanese fans and the rest of us eager to watch Sumino make his debut with the Vancouver Recital Society.

An upright piano adjacent to the grand piano

And the 30-year-old delivered finesse and more, with a two-hour concert (with an intermission) that flew by. On stage was a Steinway grand piano, and perpendicular to it, another Steinway, but upright, with the front panel removed to reveal its strings and hammers.

In the first half of the concert, Sumino played Bach's Chromatic Fantasie and Fugue in D minor BWV 903, and Chopin's Nocturne in C minor,  Op. 48 No. 1, and Scherzo No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20.

In between Bach and Chopin Sumino played his own compositions, one a riff off of the latter, Recollection (after Chopin). Sumino's own works sound like movie scores, ranging from a bit of drama to tenderness, his fingers caressing the keys.

During the intermission fans rushed towards the stage to take selfies with the two pianos. They seemed to anticipate something more amazing was going to happen, and they were right.

The first half was just the prelude to what Sumino was capable of. He walked on stage and with a microphone greeted the audience and explained he had a big cat and the next piece he was playing was called Big Cat Waltz in a dedication to this cat who likes to jump around.

And indeed one could imagine a furry feline jumping onto the piano, or trying to distract his master from practicing on the keyboard.

Sumino has a science and engineering degree

Sumino then unleashed a lot of energy and emotion into playing his own arrangement of Gershwin's An American in Paris; Sumino seems to love riffing off of others and one could imagine he makes each performance slightly different. He brought out a melodica, a tiny keyboard with a mouth piece attached to a tube. 

In some parts he played the melodica with his right hand, while his left stayed on the grand piano; he went back and forth to playing the small instrument to the piano, and then ended with such an energetic finish!

He left the stage and moments later returned to play Ravel's Bolero. When the orchestra plays this work, it's the drummer who has the toughest job keeping a steady beat, but here it's Sumino who has to keep his "drum" going. He went to the upright piano and with a piece of felt fabric, the hammers on the piano created a gentle thud that he started and then was able to continue automatically.

Sumino straddled both pianos at first, and then focused mostly on the grand piano, continuing the drumming with his left hand throughout while slowly building the crescendo in the nine-minute piece. What dexterity and talent! We all jumped to our feet after!

Vancouver got three encores

Was there any doubt there would be at least one encore?

He performed Chopin's Etude in C major, Op. 10 No. 1, the audience couldn't get enough so he came back and played  Kapustin's Toccatina No. 3 from Eight Etudes Op. 40, and again the crowd was clamouring for more and Sumino played his signature 7 Variations on Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

Throughout the concert Sumino looked like he enjoyed playing the piano and re-interpreting the music he way he likes to play it. At the age of three he began learning the piano, but when he was in university he studied science and engineering at the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Information Science and Technology. He graduated just as the pandemic was starting in March 2020. He was also a drummer who wanted to play in a rock band!

But perhaps the piano was calling him, as two years earlier he won the Grand Prix at the 42nd PTNA Piano Competition, a Japanese piano competition, which helped start his fan base at home.

In 2021 he participated in the XVIII International Chopin Competition in Warsaw (where Canadian Bruce Liu won), and Sumino advanced to the third round.

He also seems to enjoy performing with other people, from fellow pianists to orchestras; when he played his own arrangement of An American in Paris, it would have been even better with him performing with a bassist, saxophonist and drummer, each with their own solo.

Nevertheless, Sumino has done a lot for classical music, garnering a lot of young fans thanks to his Youtube videos, showing them classical music doesn't have to be stuffy and boring!

 

Hong Kong Designer Wows Met Gala

Roth posing with a mannequin

Watching the Met Gala this year I was very impressed to see Hong Kong-born designer Robert Wun crushing it with eight celebrities wearing his fantastic creations -- more than any other fashion label.

One social media influencer said that as soon as he heard the theme was "Costume art", he immediately knew Wun would be in demand.

He graduated from the London College of Fashion in 2012 and two years launched his eponymous fashion brand.

Osaka before her red reveal

Wun's pieces are so sculptural, three-dimensional, playful, colourful... they definitely elicit "wow" from the audience. How he was able to pull of eight completely different looks and all executed so beautifully is quite the feat.

However, Wun has said that he is very flexible when working with people, trying to make their ideas into reality with his own stylish flourish.

Tennis star Naomi Osaka in a long white coat with puffed sleeves with specks of red -- blood? -- and underneath reveal a deep red sparkling curvaceous dress with thousands of Swarovski crystals in four shades of red.

Wun has worked with her before on her Australian Open entrance with a jellyfish-inspired outfit. 

How about arts producer Jordan Roth with a faceless mannequin hovering behind him, while he wears a long grey velvet dress with gloves. He interacted with the mannequin creating a spooky look. 

Kpop star Lisa also had some extra pairs of hands holding her floor-length shimmering veil. Wun 3-D scanned her arms in different traditional Thai dance positions, and these arms are wearing Bvlgari jewellery too! 

Singer and rapper Audrey Nuna may have been inspired by Jackson Pollack's splatter paintings for this black and white dress suit together with a hat. The black bits are actually 15,000 Swarovski beads. It's quite the dramatic entrance.

Four hands are all over Suphap's black dress

It must have been interesting for Bangkok-born fashion consultant and influencer Nichapat Suphap to have mechanical arms moving over her breasts all night. Two pairs of silver hands are over her chest and thighs on this black mermaid dress with a corseted back. The hands are apparently inspired by Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam.

Indian businesswoman and singer Ananya Birla turned heads with her metallic helmet that looked like a fantasy skull, and underneath she wore a shirt, jacket and voluminous black pleated skirt. Oh and a giant diamond choker necklace.

Then there was Norwegian billionaire Gustav Magnar Witzoe wearing a body suit that looked like abstract musculature that definitely adhered to the theme "Body as canvas".

Beyonce was absent from the Met Gala for 10 years until Monday night. She arrived last with husband Jay Z and daughter Blue Ivy Carter, who made her debut. In front of the crowds she wore a sparkling dress with a skeleton form, but inside the party she changed into a Wun-designed figure-hugging dress in dazzling black and gold with a veil.  

Residents of Wang Fuk Court Blaze Retrieve Items

Some managed to retrieve items in their flats

It's heartbreaking to watch first-person footage of victims of the Wang Fuk inferno last November go see their burnt out flats, possibly for the last time.

Those who could walk up the stairs showed the reporters gathered what their former homes looked like. 

Some were able to find cherished items like watches, jewellery, and pictures, while others were left with charred belongings that were hard to identify.

The media ask residents about their experiences

One man brought his camera to take pictures from the window to preserve his memories of the view he used to see everyday.

Another somehow managed to find the ashes of his two cats and discovered some clothes that were not burned in the fire; even if he removed them, could he remove the smell of smoke from them?

The Hong Kong government says 6,265 people from 1,674 households registered to go to the towers, with only 50 households not participating.

According to the government's data, one family visited their flat for only four minutes, while the longest was four hours and eight minutes, longer than the three-hour stipulation.

The authorities received 800 requests to go back to collect more items. One was a man surnamed Mak who is a furniture designer who lived on the fifth floor of Wang Shing House.

He could only bring back small furniture items made of rosewood, and had to leave bigger furniture pieces and paintings behind.

"We feel quite helpless," Mak said. "But what I hope for the most is that justice is served. Those who should be held accountable must be punished, and those who should be jailed should be put on trial."

Taking pictures of burned out photo albums

A resident surnamed Wong lost his parents in the fire last November. He was hoping to salvage his mother's jewellery and any mementos.

His eyes welled up when he said his father died on his birthday.

"I did not have any chance to wish my father a happy birthday," Wong said. "I hope they rest in peace."

Meanwhile a woman surnamed Au felt overwhelmed when she returned to her home, and was only able to retrieve a charred safe and some valuables.

The mother of three was gratified to be allowed to leave food and flower offerings to pay tribute to the 168 people who died, and almost 5,000 residents displaced. 

"Every step back to the flat is very difficult," she said. "Everything we know about the court, the park, and even the lobby entrance has changed. It has become so unfamiliar to us."

This is also possibly one of the last times Au saw her neighbours, now dispersed around Hong Kong living in different places and trying to rebuild their lives. It's a tragedy that will continue for years to come.

Hong Kong Diaspora Get Together

The Mister Softee ice cream truck's jingle drew in customers

Today was the fifth Hong Kong Fair held at The Shipyards in North Vancouver today. It's become an event that brings together the Hong Kong diaspora, from those who immigrated decades ago, to recent arrivals, all with the common love of the city.

I tried to get there right after my Pilates class via bus and then Seabus. Already there were many people lining up for food, which is what I should have done, but I mistakenly walked into the cultural section first; when I tried to leave, a volunteer warned me I would not be able to get back in after I left! They really need to make this clear when walking to the entrance...

Does this describe a Hongkonger in Vancouver?

So I wandered around the stalls, many of them selling Hong Kong-related trinkets, like crochet versions of egg tarts and pineapple buns, milk tea kits, dog treats, postcards or prints of scenes of the city, tote bags with designs of White Rabbit candy or the old school Airplane game, jewellery, and books.

There was one picture book of Hong Kong that really resonated with me and probably many others -- the hand-drawn illustrations captured the flavour of the city. But instead I bought a 1,000-piece puzzle featuring a city scene of Hong Kong.

I finally left the culture area and tried to find the stall selling seafood congee. Holy Duck Chili Oil teamed up with Eat Fish seafood supplier and Masterchef runner-up chef Dez Lo to make two kinds of congee, seafood (featuring wild BC fish and seafood like jumbo prawns) seasoned with halibut stock, and shimeji mushrooms with vegan XO sauce.

Seafood congee was delicious

The queue was much longer than I thought and in the heat! It snaked along further so I must have waited about 45 minutes so I was very hungry by the time I got to the front. Dez was there, running off her feet, but in good spirits.

The seafood congee was ready to eat so I ate it as I waited for the mushroom one. I also chatted with the owners of Holy Duck Chili Oil, who were also selling their sauces as well as T-shirts. 

Both congee were fantastic -- the seafood one choc full of salted chunks of fish, giant prawns, and octopus, while the mushroom one was full of umami and had lots of mushrooms in it to give it a meatier texture. I later heard they were sold out of congee by 2pm! 

After having stood in line for so long I was not motivated to do that again and looked for the shortest queues. Snackshot had a very short line so I had some curry fish balls. There was a modified Mister Softee ice cream truck playing the same recognisable jingle, serving soft serve sundaes. 

Then I wandered into a large covered area where people were playing mahjong at several tables, and I saw my friends at the UBC Cantonese table. One showed me how to type Cantonese using Jyutping, the romanisation system for Cantonese that was developed in 1993.

Tote bags with nostalgic designs

She showed me how to download an app called Type Duck (打得) and the spelling is not what I'm used to, but it immediately shows different characters with similar sounds so it helps you learn more words. I will try to play around with it more.

It was almost 3pm when I decided to go home... and I was exhausted!

Icelandic Pianist Olafsson Wows Vancouver

Olafsson received many standing ovations

The first Icelandic musician I knew of was Bjork, and then most recently Laufey. But I should have probably known of pianist wunderkind Vikingur Olafsson, who gave a spellbinding performance at the Chan Centre at the University of British Columbia last night.

The 42-year-old Icelandic musician has received numerous accolades recently, including a 2025 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for his interpretation of J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations, and a Gold Medal from the Royal Philharmonic Society, is the highest honour given to an artist for their musicianship, and previous recipients include Johannes Brahms, Sir Edward Elgar, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Richard Strauss, Leonard Bernstein, Isaac Stern and Yo-Yo Ma.

He is praised for his musicianship

Olafsson started learning piano at an early age, taught by his mother, and then he later studied at Juilliard School in New York. 

In 2023 he started touring, just performing Bach's Goldberg Variations -- 88 times. Later that year he made a recording which was released by Deutsche Grammaphon.

Not only does Olaffson interpret music on the keys, but also educates the public about it through TV and radio programs. After he finished performing for an hour and a half straight, he was very comfortable coming back on stage and speaking to the audience.

What's also interesting about him is that he has synesthesia, a perceptual phenomenon where he can see colours in musical notes. For example, he associates F minor with blue, A major with yellow, and B major with purple.

Last night he performed a program featuring Bach, Beethoven, and Schubert with pieces all in the key of E (which he sees in green). 

Olafsson comfortable speaking to the audience

Prelude in E major BWV 854 by Bach

Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90 by Beethoven

Partita No. 6 in E minor, BWV 830 by Bach

Sonata in E minor, D 566 by Schubert

Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109 by Beethoven

He performed them one after the other without any breaks. At times he would lower his head so far down that as I was watching from the far left, it seemed as if his head was missing! If he finished a piece he would lean back dramatically with fingers on the keys lingering for an extra moment before launching into the next piece.

At first we the audience were trying hard not to move too much, but after a while we realised his style of performing was without any breaks so people would shift slightly when he started a new piece or movement. It's hard for people, particularly seniors to sit completely still!

Nevertheless, they were all excited when he finished the program and everyone jumped to their feet to give him a standing ovation several times.

Laufey and Olafsson!

And he obliged with three encores, two of which were his own arrangements: Bach's Air on a G String, and Icelandic composer Sigvaldi Kaldalons' version of Ave Maria. The third piece was Rameau's Rappel des oiseaux.

He's not just strictly classical either -- on the internet I discovered Olafsson enjoys Chinese-Icelandic Laufey's music and he has even reinterpreted her song Bewitched!

Artist Emily Carr's Art in Nature

Only a few of Carr's paintings focus more on the sky than trees

Artist Emily Carr (1871-1945) lived an unconventional life, challenging norms and traditions at the time, and became an artist in her own right. She is best known for her paintings deep in the forest, trees in simplified shapes, but the brushstrokes have a lot of movement and energy.

The Vancouver Art Gallery is showing an extensive assemblage of her work in That Green Ideal: Emily Carr and the Ideal of Nature until November 8 this year.

Wood Interior, 1909

The exhibition shows over 100 works from sketches and charcoal drawings to numerous oil paintings focused on her love of nature and keen interest in Indigenous culture.

There is also a lot of background information about Carr's life. She was born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1871 into a privileged family. Carr was the second-youngest of nine children, her father intent on carrying on English traditions. 

It's surprising to see the exhibition reveal some personal details about Carr, such as when she was around 12 years old her father decided to talk to her about the birds and the bees that completely turned her off from sex... one wonders what he said to her which caused the conversation to have such a profound effect on her for the rest of her life.

Her childhood and life drastically changed when her mother died when Carr was 14 years old in 1886; she believes her father was heartbroken and died two years later. As a result Carr's oldest sister Edith was her guardian.

From a young age Carr showed artistic leanings and her father encouraged her to develop her talent. But it wasn't until two years later in 1890 that she studied art at the California School of Design in San Francisco for three years, then returned to Vancouver Island and then went to England to study painting; she also went to Paris later in her career.

Tree Trunk, 1931

Meeting Lawren Harris of the Group of Seven in 1930 made Carr feel like she was part of a community of painters who had similar philosophies, inspired by nature.

"Find the forms you desire to express your purpose," she wrote in her journal in June 1931. "When you have succeeded in getting them as near as you can to express your idea, never leave them but push further on and on strengthening and emphasising those forms to enclose that green idea or ideal."

Most of the paintings are vertical, showing the height of the trees she painted, admiring their trunks and leaves -- she used a lot of green paint! One painting called Wood Interior, 1909 shows trees at ground level, but with the morning light shining in between the tree trunks. 

Another called Tree Trunk, 1931, focuses on the simplified form of the tree trunk, which looks similar to a Georgia O'Keefe painting in its sensuous curves and earthy palette. 

Only a few works are horizontal, or only show sparse trees, or from a distance and instead focusing on the sky with clouds.

It's such an extensive exhibition, that it is quite an intense Carr retrospective! 

That Green Ideal: Emily Carr and the Ideal of Nature

On until November 8, 2026

Vancouver Art Gallery