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

Art Gallery Gone Wild

Lambie has covered the entire rotunda is a riot of colours

This afternoon I went to the Vancouver Art Gallery to check out its latest exhibitions. There's a comprehensive examination of Emily Carr, her life and work on the ground floor that I'll talk about in another post, and in the rotunda is a wild almost psychedelic art installation!

The rotunda area is usually neutral, grey to complement the marble, but the curved staircase and foyer are covered in a riot of lines and colours.

It's called Zobop (Colour-Chrome) by Scottish artist Jim Lambie, who is also a DJ and musician.

Zobop is his floor-based installations he has done since the 1990s that mesmerise and attracts visitors to interact with the space.

Lambie uses inexpensive, ready-made materials for this work, and here he uses industrial vinyl tape to contour the space, so each one is site specific.

The concentric patterns amplify the geometry of the space, resulting in a playful yet disorienting effect.

Placing this work in this particular area of the gallery is ideal, because as visitors go up or down each floor they get a different perspective on the space and colours.

And of course people can't help but take selfies here!

Tremendous Display of Tulips

Tulips galore! The tulip festival on until May 3

Tis the season for tulips!

These flowers only bloom for a few weeks and yesterday we drove to Harrison to see the Harrison Tulip Festival by Onos Farms. It's a two-hour drive from Vancouver, near Harrison Hot Springs.

The festival started on April 10 and will finish next week on May 3.

These tulips look like peonies

When we arrived it was overcast and actually a bit chilly from the wind. Nevertheless we were thrilled to see the tulips -- some 150 varieties and colours. 

Around the corner from the entrance were some unusual tulips that were large and looked similar to peonies. There were other tulips with the bulb shape, and with beautiful colour combinations like white with burgundy, orange and green, pointy-shaped petals, mauve with frosted edges.

Then after some lunch (lamb and chicken donairs, Greek salad, and hummus with tzatziki and pita bread), we wandered to the giant field where there were rows of tulips in different colours. 

If you walked around the whole show garden, it would probably be over 2km. We were told to only walk on the wide paths, not in between the rows of tulips. A staff member in blue would occasionally tell off visitors, many of whom English was not their first language...

So many rows of tulips in various colours

Nevertheless it was fun to see all these tulips and take lots of pictures of them and with them. Despite the chilly weather, many women wore sleeveless dresses to film themselves prancing around the farm. Some even wore heels, when the website advises visitors to wear comfortable walking shoes because you are on a farm...

Apparently there are some 14 million of them grown on the farm. At the gift shop we asked about buying tulip bulbs, but they are not available until October! So that was a bit disappointing. But my mom hasn't had much luck planting them -- animals like squirrels and racoons like to dig them up and eat them!

After our tour of the farm we made our way home, taking another two hours!

Harrison Tulip Festival

5039 Lougheed Highway

Agassiz, BC

Picture of the Day: Bridal Falls

The waterfall has a veil-like effect

We went for a car ride today to Harrison, a two-hour drive from Vancouver. But before we got there, we made a short detour to Bridal Falls, just east of Chilliwack.

To get to the falls, we walked about 10 minutes on winding an incline through the forest, hearing the sound of the water crashing against the rocks get louder. 

When we arrived, it was a beautiful sight, seeing the water fall 60 metres over a smooth rock face, which creates the veil-like effect.

We took pictures from a safe distance, though others ignored the danger sign and climbed on logs and boulders to get closer to the falls.

Review: Kiki's Delivery Service

Kiki and Jiji fly to a seaside town

Yesterday morning I watched the remastered 4K version of Kiki's Delivery Service at the Park Theatre. Sadly the cinema only had about 20 people, but the little girls who came had bows in the hair; one child even had her dad have a bow clipped to his head.

I hadn't watched this Hayao Miyazaki feature length animation before and purposely didn't research it much before I went to see it on the big screen.

It's about Kiki, a 13-year-old girl who must leave her parents for at least a year to complete her witch training. She gathers some belongings in a satchel along with her cat Jiji and they fly off on her broom at midnight with her parents' blessing.

Kiki finds a job working in a bakery

She finds a seaside town and tries to survive day-to-day and make new friends as she starts a delivery service.

What's wonderful about this film, based on a book by Eiko Kadono's 1985 novel, is that most of the main characters are women who readily welcome Kiki and support her in her endeavours. 

There's Osono, the owner of a bakery who gives Kiki and Jiji a room in exchange for work; Ursula, an artist who helps the young witch, who in turn inspires her painting; and an elderly woman who is grateful for Kiki's help around the house.

It's so refreshing to see female characters encouraging Kiki, while Tombo is a boy who takes an instant liking to her because she can fly on a boom stick, and he wants to know how she does it.

Kiki is a strong character, resourceful and kind. When she starts meeting her delivery customers she begins to see the personalities of the recipients, in particular ungrateful children, which sharply contrasts with how she was brought up. 

Tombo is interested in Kiki as a witch

Even though Tombo is from a privileged background, he is more impressed by her independence than her dowdy appearance, unlike his pretentious friends.

Jiji is a sarcastic cat, providing most of the humour in the film; it's as if he speaks what the audience is thinking at times.

We watched the English-dubbed version, which meant the voices were of Kirsten Dunst, Jeanane Garofalo, Phil Hartman, and Debbie Reynolds. The credits had a tribute to Hartman, who was tragically killed in 1998.

Kiki's Delivery Service

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

102 minutes

Picture of the Day: Braised Fish Maw

Large pieces of braised fish maw surrounded by goose webs

The other night we went to Sun Sui Wah for a 私房菜 or "see fong choi", the Chinese version of omakase where the chef creates the menu.

However, not all the dishes were winners; some were duds, like a roast duck we had that was marinated in salt for a week and tasted like it! There was also a giant plate of thinly sliced poached geoduck, but sadly wasabi was smothered over them and our nasal cavities had the equivalent of pungent electric shocks each time we bit into the geoduck...

Nevertheless, the undisputed highlight of the evening was a massive platter of braised fish maw with goose webs in abalone sauce. These pieces of fish maw were the thickest I had ever seen in my life and the women at the table were salivating with excitement.

That's because it is believed that fish maw contain a lot of collagen, a protein that helps the skin maintain its elasticity and reduce wrinkles. And who doesn't want that?

While this is a belief rooted in traditional Chinese medicine, there isn't much scientific evidence to prove this sadly. 

According to Marina Medical in Hong Kong, eating fish maw isn't necessarily the most efficient way of absorbing collagen in the body and instead suggests other ways to boost collagen production:

- Collagen supplements

- Vitamin C

- Protein-rich foods like eggs, bone broth, meat and beans

- Zinc and copper from meat, shellfish, nuts, whole grains and beans

- Regular exercise, adequate sleep and avoid excessive sun exposure

I'll still eat fish maw whenever possible! Tastes delicious!

Explaining This Year's 50 Best Bars Ranking

Sleight has worked at 50 Best since 2023

After digesting the 2026 rankings of North America's 50 Best Bars, I still found it hard to believe that two new entries from New York, Bar Snack and Schmuck landed No. 3 and No. 4 respectively. What happened to climbing up the ranks?

I had to ask Emma Sleight, head of content for 50 Best Bars and Hotels at the after party, an afternoon session at The Botanist in the Fairmont Pacific Rim.

Sitting in the private room of the restaurant with three other PR representatives sitting in, Sleight at first said there are always new entries in every list they do.

The awards were held on Wednesday night

But is 15 considered high?

She didn't exactly give a clear answer. 

"It's about the same. It's quite a lot. I would say it's quite high, but it's not outrageously high. It's the nature of the game. The bars industry is so dynamic and it moves so quickly that new openings happen so frequently. And we always encourage people to think about the awards. It's a snapshot of that particular time where people are traveling, what people are identifying with and the way the voting works," Sleight says.

The voting. According to the 50 Best website, 300 voters are "trusted and well-traveled experts" who are bartenders, bar aficionados and drinks media.

"You can never predict the list. It is really just where those people are finding their very best cocktail experiences. Makes it exciting," she says.

But that still doesn't explain Bar Snack and Schmuck's literal meteoric rise out of nowhere.

Circled in red are Vancouver bars

"There's no one thing that we can ever say that would explain why a bar has moved because everyone loves to think that they know who our voters are, and they don't. Voters are completely anonymous," Sleight adds.

Really? The academy chairs are listed on the 50 Best website. If an academy chair walks into a bar with a group of people, surely some of them are voters... and if someone makes a reservation, they will be researched to see who they are. In today's intensive social media landscape and the internet, there are ways to figure out who people are.

However Sleight begs to differ.

"Often if people are saying they're voters, they're not. And I appreciate that sounds like a trite response, but the thing we do is always encourage any bars where anyone has ever said they are a voter. We ask them to tell us, and we check and we do independent investigations, and we frequently contact that voter and we say, 'Hey, you're no longer a voter, and you never will be ever again, because you've reached your anonymity.'" 

She later added that 25 percent of the voting academy are "refreshed", and apparently "historic voters" are changed as well. "It's never a guarantee that you're a voter, which also helps disrupt that people knowing people are voters, we're trying to do everything we can."

At this point I should have asked if bars have ever called out so-called voters, and how about imposing term limits on academy chairs? They seem to keep these positions for years and years.

Sleight is a cocktail aficionado

Nevertheless, there seems to be a pattern of how bars get on the list, or better yet, leapfrog up the rankings, even though Sleight says there's no recipe, and that bars should just focus on giving customers the best experience.

By appearances it looks like a popularity contest, to which she said "possibly". 

Social media is a big way to get exposure, as well as collaborations with other bars in different cities and countries. The Keefer Bar owners Keenan Hood and Amber Bruce hinted this when they said they traveled a lot this year and would do so again this year, and give their staff more opportunities to travel as well. Perhaps that partially explains their massive jump from No. 28 to No. 7 to be Canada's Best Bar?

For the record Sleight went to The Keefer Bar last year and this year.

In 2025 she also went to Laowai, June on Cambie (it had just opened), Botanist Bar and Prophecy.

This year Sleight visited Lala (basement of June on Cambie), Meo, Bao Bei.

She doesn't have a vote, but there are people following her on Instagram, seeing where she's traveling, and what she's eating and drinking...

Celebrating Bars with Alcohol-Free Drinks

Mixing alcohol-free drinks using Noa

At the North America's 50 Best Bar awards I didn't sip cocktails, but mocktails.

I tried drinks mixed with Noa, a Canadian alcohol-free gin using botanicals. The sophisticated flavours reminded me of Seedlip, the first non-alcoholic gin I tried when it was launched in Hong Kong in 2018. 

The founder, Ben Branson explained how he took fresh herbs and vegetables and distilled them in an old fashioned distillery using old recipes he found in a leather-bound book and made them into alcohol-free gin.

It's the perfect solution for me when I find myself in a bar and want something other than sparkling water.

Seedlip is meant to be mixed with soda water and other ingredients to create a mocktail, and in some cases with Noa, depending on the "spirit".

According to its website, Noa started in 2014 in Quebec with founder Patrice Plante making non-alcoholic drinks, but it was really around 2019 that he came up with alcohol-free gin, and a line of other "spirits".

We sampled the Italian Aperitif, and Sweet Vermouth. The Italian Aperitif was mixed with some juice and lots of ice cubes, making it refreshing and extremely easy to drink thanks to the aperitif's mandarin juice, rhubarb and caramelised barley sugar flavour.

On the other hand the Sweet Vermouth was served on the rocks (a lot of rocks), with an orange peel rubbed on the rim of the glass before being placed inside the drink. There are notes of caramel, grapes, black currant, and cinnamon with a touch of bitterness.

While Seedlip leaves it up to the mixologist on how they want to use the product, Noa has a line of different "spirits", such as amaretto, dry gin, Italian bitter and Jamaican spiced rum.

Cheers!

North America's 50 Best Bars 2026

The best North American bars under one roof in Vancouver

New York's Sip & Guzzle was crowned The Best Bar in North America and The Best Bar in Northeast USA in tonight's North America's 50 Best Bars awards ceremony held in Vancouver.

The bar is actually split into different sections, one for sips and one for guzzles; sips are refined, creative cocktails, while guzzles are favourite comfort drinks. 

NYC's Sip & Guzzle took top spot

The No. 2 bar was Mexico City's Bar Mauro, and making its first entry on the list at a stunning No. 3 was New York's Bar Snack, and following close behind was Schmuck at No. 4, another new bar on the list.

How is this possible, two New York bars that were not on the list last year suddenly in the top four?

Meanwhile The Keefer Bar located in Vancouver's Chinatown jumped 21 spots to No. 7, quite remarkable considering owners Keenan Hood and Amber Bruce said later that they were just continuing to do what they have been doing for the past 16 years.

The bar is best known for using ingredients from Chinese herbalist stores in Chinatown and working them into a narrative of an apothecary featuring drinks with intriguing flavours and stories.

Other Vancouver bars on the list were The Keefer Bar's sister June on Cambie at No. 17 -- another new entry, Prophecy in the Hotel Georgia at No. 32, and Botanist Bar at No. 38.

Toronto's Library Bar was another new entry at No. 19, serving drinks inspired by author Michael Ondaatje's In the Skin of The Lion, which describes how "Hog Town" became modern.

On the list there were 28 bars from the United States, 11 from Mexico, eight from Canada, and three from the Caribbean. There were a whopping 15 new entries on the list. 

The Keefer Bar impressed at No. 7

Right after the event, owners of The Keefer Bar and Sip & Guzzle were invited to speak to the media; the hosts asked what their strategy was going forward now that they were No. 7 and No. 1 respectively. 

Bruce of The Keefer Bar explained that the news was still sinking in, while Schneider of Sip & Guzzle said they would just continue to give the best drinks to their customers. What more can they say?  

It was awkward having the hosts asking all the questions instead of just leaving it to the media to ask... 

Nevertheless, it was a pretty decent awards ceremony with a lot of energy in the room. The event gives the bars an opportunity to gather, celebrate each other and the industry, which for them is their calling, or passion that they enjoy doing, whether it be concocting new drinks, or executing them with finesse, or sating guests' appetites for drinks to imbibe.

Cravings for Beef Noodle Soup

The packaging and the reality

The last few years I lived in Hong Kong, my office was above a gourmet supermarket called CitySuper, which stocked food like fresh oysters, truffles and foie gras, but also miso paste, tomato sauce and rice. 

One treat I used to get was a box of the Regent Taipei's signature beef noodle soup from the frozen section of the store.

Inside was a vacuumed pack of frozen stock with slices of braised beef, and another of noodles.

The directions were to heat up the broth still in the packaging in boiling water, while cooking the noodles in another pot.

The best home version of beef noodles

Once they were ready then to combine them together and the result was so delicious that it was like a hug in a bowl. The broth was clear and yet so flavourful, the noodles soaked up the taste, and the beef slices were very tender.

A few weeks ago at T&T Supermarket I saw the store's own brand of stewed beef noodle soup and in the freezer section for $9.99 and I finally tried it today.

I briefly heated up the frozen broth in its packaging in warm water before emptying the pot and putting the block of stock back in it to melt over the stove. Once it was simmering, I put the packet of noodles in for a few minutes before pouring them all into a bowl.

First, the picture in the packaging is a bit misleading, as there are four small pieces of beef, but in reality there are only three! So the ratio of beef to noodles is quite low. 

Second, the broth is quite salty and tastes flat, not having much flavour. The saving grace are the chunks of tender beef and the chewy noodles.

Sadly this pack did not satisfy my beef noodle cravings -- will have to head to Din Tai Fung for that!

Picture of the Day: Kanzan Cherry Blossoms

They look like deep pink popcorn on trees

Cherry blossom season isn't over yet in Vancouver!

A second wave of cherry trees are blooming now, featuring kanzan cherry blossoms that are a deeper pink in colour and appear in bunches, like popcorn popping up on the branches.  

Cherry blossoms continue to bloom

This type of tree was developed in the Edo period in Japan as a result of many hybrids. It is a deciduous tree that grows well in cold regions, making it popular in Europe and North America.

Each year I learn a bit more about cherry blossoms and have a greater appreciation for them!