Seeing Niagara Falls from All Angles

A boat taking tourists around the Canadian side of the Falls

The last time I visited Niagara Falls was over 25 years ago so it was very interesting to see how this famous tourist landmark has developed in the intervening years.

This time traveling with my relatives from Australia, they wanted to do the full Niagara experience so we did practically everything there is to do there.

Watching water fall over the edge

We joined a tour at 10am which started at Skylon Tower, an observation tower that is 160 metres tall. On the ground floor we took the usual touristy pictures against a green screen (look scared going over the Falls in a barrel!) and then went up the tower to see Niagara Falls from a bird's eye view.

It's quite the sight seeing the scale of the Falls from above, though the Canadian side which is horse-shoe-shaped is much more dramatic than the American side. The Canadian side is 57m high, the American is 21-30m high, while the Canadian side is obviously much wider at 790m, the American side is 320m wide.

Our tour guide later told us interesting tales about daredevils who have gone over the Falls -- some 5,000 -- but only a few have survived. 

The first person to go over was a woman, Annie Edson Taylor in 1901. She was widowed and poor, and thought that if she went over the Falls, she could become famous. Taylor first tested her wooden barrel by putting her cat in it and it went down and survived, so she figured she would too.

She did survive with just a scratch on her forehead! However, fortune did not follow Taylor's fame and she died poor.

The American side of the falls

Other people thought they would do it for attention, and chose the Canadian side because it was much more dramatic.

However in 1951, after the death of one daredevil, going down the Falls became illegal and now anyone caught doing it will be fined US$25,000 and your children will have to foot the bill if you don't survive.

We then walked towards the casino, where below it we took a funicular a very short distance to get behind the Canadian side of the Falls. We were issued yellow plastic ponchos so that we wouldn't get too wet and went down a tunnel, where we could peek at the Falls from the point where the water goes over the edge.

It's quite a dramatic sight to see, the clear, blue-coloured water, thanks to the glacial water mixed with limestone, dolomite and shale. The Falls are also causing erosion, as tens of thousands of years ago it was further up, but it has since moved over 10 kilometres south. Both governments have mitigated fast erosion by diverting the water at night and in the winter months so it doesn't erode the stone and rock too much.

Getting drenched up close to Niagara Falls

Then we took the poncho off and walked back towards Skylon Tower and past it, and we were issued red plastic ponchos before getting on the boat. Our guide advised us to stand on the bottom right side of the boat as it will turn counter-clockwise to head back and we can have a panoramic view.

However, as we got closer to the Canadian falls, we were starting to get wet very fast! My face and sunglasses were so wet, and my windbreaker was absolutely drenched. I had to periodically check to see if my phone was still working (it was). Meanwhile the roar of the Falls also demonstrated how strong the water falling was -- more than 168,000 m3 of water goes over the cliff every minute!

A fun fact is that around 4.9 million kilowatts of hydroelectricity is generated by Niagara Falls, which powers some 3.8 million households.

There's dramatic lighting at night

On the boat we saw the American side of the Falls, which is also called Bridal Veil Falls. Separating the American and Canadian sides is Goat Island, which at one time was owned by a farmer who kept goats there. Now it is a park.

It was quite the experience being on the boat ride! Luckily the weather was relatively warm so while we were drenched, our clothes and shoes dried off (except for slightly wet socks) quite quickly. 

Our tour was over, so we walked up Clifton Hill, an eclectic mix of dinosaur-themed pitch and putt, go-karts, shops selling ice cream with rainbow sprinkles, fast-food restaurants and the Niagara Skywheel where passengers sit in gondola cabins.

We split a sub sandwich as a snack before heading out for outlet shopping, dinner at Peller Estates before returning to Niagara Falls to watch the fireworks!

Fireworks on the American side

After 9pm multicoloured lights are shone on both the Canadian and American Falls, and then an hour later is a five-minute fireworks show near the American Falls. Lots of people are drawn to the nightly event and it was great to watch, even if it was only a few minutes long. We joked it was the best $5 we spent on entertainment (though it was actually for parking).

So we saw Niagara Falls during the day and night, from above and below, and right on the water. 

It may be a while before I go back there again!

Two Completely Different Breakfasts

The Cairo Classic breakfast features fava beans, egg and falafel

In the past few days I've had two different brunches in Greater Toronto Area (GTA) that reflect the region's diversity.

The other day I visited a family friend in Pickering, about a 40-minute GO Train ride east from Union Station. There we went to Perkins Restaurant and Bakery, which serves all-day breakfasts, sandwiches and for dessert a variety of pies.

The "Magnificent Seven" breakfast at Perkins

I tried the "Magnificent Seven", consisting of two eggs over easy, two sausages, and three pancakes (C$10.95), seven items of food! 

One of the eggs was sadly broken when it arrived at the table, the grilled sausages nothing special, though the large round pancakes were fluffy. I could manage to eat two and ate two bites of the third before I felt a food coma coming on.

The breakfast was straightforward and somewhat comforting, though predictable.

Then yesterday I had probably my most exotic brunch yet -- Egyptian -- at Maha's Cafe in Toronto. It was about a 20-minute walk from my friend's place. She told me on the weekends there is a queue that goes down the length of the block and so she assumed there wouldn't be a line on a Monday.

A side of hummus at Maha's Cafe

However, when we got there, there were five groups of people already waiting in the queue around 11.30am. Luckily the line went quickly, and after about a 15-minute wait we were seated inside an eclectic-looking cozy place with simple couches lined with cushions, a wall covered with various currencies from the Middle East, Hong Kong, China, and India, the Egyptian flag on the window, and plants around the dining room.

I ordered the Cairo Classic (C$22), which is a breakfast found on every street corner of the Egyptian capital, according to the menu description. The staple is fava beans that are cooked with different ingredients. The fava beans at Maha's Cafe are stewed with tomatoes and onions, and comes with a boiled egg that is sliced, a sesame covered falafel that was surprisingly soft, and some pillowy warm balady bread, a kind of brown pita, and a small dollop of creamy tomato feta with a squirt of olive oil.

Limonata made with limes

Even though the fava beans aren't something I usually eat, they felt comforting and flavourful, and I mopped every last bit with the balady bread. This breakfast also came with a small cup of pickled onions, cucumbers and tomatoes. 

At the spur of the moment we also ordered some hummus (C$8) that wasn't blended ultra smooth like some places -- here there was a chunky texture and lots of garlic and some small whole chickpeas too. It came with more pita bread.

My friend ordered a honey cardamon latte (C$6.95), while I had a glass of limonata (C$11), a thick concoction limes, water and mint. It could have been diluted a bit, but still very refreshing and not too tart.

How's that for two completely different brunches! 

Not sure Vancouver can top the exoticness of an Egyptian breakfast...

Perkins Restaurant and Bakery

1097 Kingston Road

Pickering, ON

905 492 1745

Maha's Cafe

226 Greenwood Avenue

Toronto, ON

416 462 2703

Shoes Reveal the Human Condition

Colourful pairs of car-themed shoes in the museum

Who knew people would be so fascinated by shoes? Sonja Bata did. She married into the Bata shoe family business that has been around for 131 years. Her husband, Thomas J Bata was sent to Toronto after World War II to expand the company in Canada, and wherever they travelled, Sonja would collect shoes.

By the late 1970s she had collected over 1,500 pairs of shoes by the late 1970s, and a friend and anthropologist suggested she house them in a museum.

Silk shoes for Chinese women with bound feet

The Bata family set up the Bata Shoe Foundation in 1979, and then in 1995 opened the Bata Shoe Museum on Bloor Street West, near the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Today the collection has over 15,000 pairs of shoes!

I had visited over two decades ago and so it was fun to go check it out again. And here's a pro tip: if you have a Toronto Public Library card, you can visit the Bata Shoe Museum free by registering online!

After we went in, we were advised to start from the bottom and work our way up the building. In the basement is the permanent exhibition, showing an array of very old shoes, from depictions of sandals on Egyptian mummy cases, to tiny silk embroidered slippers worn by Chinese women with bound feet, to a French chestnut crushing clog with craggy spikes, and Nike sneakers designed by Pharrell Williams.

Perugia's patented shankless shoe

The next floor up had an exhibition about the Italian-French shoemaker Andre Perugia (1897-1977). He was the son and grandson of shoemakers, and Perugia went on to innovate when it came to fashion-forward designs that showed off women's feet in creative ways.

He made shoes that had a basket-like weave, or detailed button closures with a scalloped edge, and designed mules that had no heel so it looked like the woman was on tip toe.

Another intriguing design is a shankless shoe, where the middle part of the shoe that connects the sole and heel is missing. Perugia's design was first mentioned in 1934 and he patented it in 1940. One wonders if it is even comfortable to wear, but reports of the time claimed it was... if so, why aren't there more shankless shoes?

Perugia worked with fashion houses like Dior and Schiaparelli, and his place in fashion was immortalised in a painting that featured such giants as Christian Dior, Hermes, and Guerlain. 

Cactus-themed boots by Charlie Dunn

Another fun exhibition is called Rough & Ready: A History of the Cowboy Boot. It takes visitors on the history of the cowboy boot since the late 19th century to the present. Some are purely for practical use, others are decorative, like boots decorated with cactus plants complete with flowers designed by Charlie Dunn, who has been called the Michelangelo of cowboy boots, and there's also a beautiful pair featuring turquoise peacocks by Rocketbuster Boots.

And yes, there's even a pair of boots featuring Woody from the Toy Story animated franchise. 

The final exhibition room is about Vindolanda, a Roman auxiliary fort and settlement just south of Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, England. The excavation site there has unearthed many pairs of Roman footwear.

Originally it was believed these military sites only housed men, but there were also women and children there, and they have also found socks, bowls, and cups. They have also unearthed messages like, "Please send me socks and underwear" to the price of beer, to "I'm getting kicked out of the social club house", which gives archeologists an even better picture of the lives of the people in Vindolanda. 

French boots worn to crush chestnuts

Really interesting, and as I said before, who isn't interested in footwear? It's a fantastic way to understand how people lived thousands of years ago.

For that we have Sonja Bata to thank!

Bata Shoe Museum

327 Bloor Street West

Toronto, ON

416 979 7799

A Visit to the Toronto Star

The Star showed off some memorable front page news

This weekend was Doors Open Toronto, where over 160 buildings and sites in the city are open for the public to check out. Unfortunately for us this year, the weather was atrocious, especially yesterday with rain pelting down all day and it was windy too.

Places like City Hall, Osgoode Hall, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Toronto Archives, Bata Shoe Museum, as well as many churches, fire stations, and even Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport opened their doors for people to have a tour and learn a bit more about these places.

Rainy but nice views of downtown Toronto

Unfortunately the website doesn't organise the places alphabetically or geographically, so having to go through 17 web pages is tedious.

However, I was very interested in checking out the Toronto Star newspaper, which recently moved to its new location in an office/retail complex called The Wells near the harbour front.

When we arrived we saw two long lines, one to visit the Netflix corporate office, the other for the Toronto Star, and we began lining up for the latter literally braving the elements.

About 15 minutes later we were under a covered area, but in a wind tunnel, which made waiting in line feel even colder. About 40 minutes into our wait, a man asked us how long we were waiting and told us he'd just been to the Netflix office. We asked him how it was and he showed us pictures. It looked like any other corporate office.

Shared work desks with curved screens

Finally about the 60-minute mark we were finally inside the lobby area and started defrosting from the cold. We were each given a blue star stamp on the back of our hand and waited just a bit longer to get into the elevator.

Inside we saw important front page news, the open space shared desks with curved screens, as well as fantastic views of the city from 10 floors up (and rain). 

The newspaper was known as the Evening Star when was first published in 1892, and then changed to the Toronto Daily Star in 1900 under Joseph E. Atkinson, who was the publisher from 1899 to 1948.

He believed a progressive news organisation should contribute to the advancement of society through the pursuit of social, economic, and political reforms. The core principles, which the paper follows today are:

* A strong, united and independent Canada

* Social justice

* Individual and civil liberties

* Community and civic engagement

*The rights of working people

* The necessary role of government

A fun fact is that Ernest Hemingway had his first-ever byline in the Star in 1920 for a story about getting a free shave at a barber college. He later became a foreign correspondent for the Star.

Russell talking about news photography

Another interesting tidbit is that Joe Shuster, co-creator of the Superman comics, credited his time delivering papers for the Star as inspiration for Clark Kent and his day job as a journalist!

Back in the tour of the office, one of the photojournalists, Steve Russell showed several of his photographs and explained how he shot them or why he photographed them in a specific way, how having people in pictures is important to show emotion to draw people into the story. He said if there is are good photos to go with the story, there are studies that show people are more likely to read the story.

He showed pictures of his breaking news stories, spot news, where there are planned events, sports where you can see the emotion on people's faces if they won or lost, and features. Russell showed a portrait up close of an Asian man holding up his finger wrapped with red thread and three needles. It was to illustrate a story on influencers and this man in particular upcycled clothes.

Then Russell showed us his cameras, too technical for me, but he also admitted using his smartphone if he was not working but saw something interesting. One time he was in his car parked near the CN Tower and it was raining. He looked up and saw the raindrops on his window reflected the tower and it made for a fantastic image.

Many visitors took a copy of the paper home

He said he could have talked for hours about photography, but the next group of people were waiting.

I also met Jim Rankin, another photojournalist who also does investigative pieces into race, policing and crime. I asked a staffer what the print circulation was these days and he said about 90,000 copies. Rankin piped in to say at one point it was over 1 million, and how the paper was much thicker then as it was full of advertisements.

Meanwhile another staffer sat at a computer and asked people what specific day they wanted to pull up for the front page, and most people picked their birthdays to see what was the news that day.

Before we left we got a copy of the weekend paper, and the Toronto Star encouraged visitors to subscribe to the newspaper. It was a great way to use Open Doors Toronto to promote the paper and hopefully reel in some more subscribers. Hope they succeeded!

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