VIFF -- Review: Our Mr. Matsura

Matsura (right) with a local in Okanogan County

Frank (Sakae) Matsura, was the son of a Samurai in Hirado, Japan, but by the time he was growing up, feudalism was in decline. In 1901 he left this deteriorating aristocratic lifestyle and got on a ship to Washington State.

Our Mr. Matsura opens with present-day locals pointing out their relatives in the photographs they have that were taken by the Japanese photographer.

But who was he? The documentary tries to piece him together in the film.

Matsura wasn't shy in front of the camera

Matsura first arrived in Seattle, but feeling adventurous, he went east to Okanogan County, a small town that had miners, ranchers, Indigenous people, and immigrants. Matsura was fluent in English, Christian (he converted in Japan), and learned photography.

Interestingly he was the only Japanese in Okanogan County, and because he spoke good English and was well-dressed, the locals took to him quickly. He took lots of photographs of them, some in their regular clothes, others dressed up, or of the scenery of the area, which are wonderful evidence of what the place was like in the early 20th century.

There are also many photographs Matsura took of himself and with others; in some of them he pokes fun of himself, showing his easy going humour. He was far from reserved and shy.

But it was sad to discover that he died of tuberculosis at the age of 39, though his funeral had a massive turnout of mourners.

Director Beth Harrington who also wrote and produced the documentary creates an interesting portrait of Matsura, gathering as much information as she could about him from Japan and Okanogan County. 

He also took pictures of Indigenous people

His Japanese relatives send postcards and letters to him, but we don't know what he replied back to them. They always asked how he was, and if he was coming back home. But perhaps he was having too much fun, or couldn't see himself being back in Japan.

"A Japanese immigrant alone in a region hundreds of miles from the nearest compatriot, forming deep connections with people of different backgrounds," Harrington says.

"One can't help but admire the combination of emotional intelligence, empathy, humour, and inner resilience it took to navigate the complex landscape of the Pacific Northwest during a time of great change."

She also says his photographs do not show stereotypes, but individual personalities; Matsura respected people for who they were.

"In Matsura's photographs, we encounter his humanity, the humanity of others depicted who may not be 'like' us, and we also feel our own humanity rise in a kind of sympathetic vibration," Harrington says. "That depth, that joy, that connection form a bridge."

Our Mr. Matsura

Directed by Beth Harrington

97 minutes

Review: Mistura

Mistura is a cinematic vehicle to promote Peruvian cuisine

It was almost a full house at VIFF at dinnertime to make us salivate while watching Mistura, a 2024 Peruvian foodie film.

Set in 1965 in Lima, Norma is half French and half Peruvian, the daughter of a French ambassador who has lived in rarified circles. But she discovers her husband has cheated on her, leaving her to figure out how to pay off the mortgage on the house.

Viewers quickly see what pressure she is under with everyone gossiping about her situation, and how Norma deals with it. Despite her husband's infidelity reported in the papers, Norma is determined to keep her head held high, and retain the house -- her house -- somehow.

Norma's driver inspires her to open a restaurant

At the encouragement of her chauffeur, Norma decides to open a restaurant in her mansion, and hires a Spanish-speaking Japanese chef who had once cooked for her father. The chef makes food that diners cannot relate to, let alone pronounce the names of the dishes.

There are also scenes showing her relationship with her adult son. As she is prim and proper, Norma vehemently disapproves of his hippie look and lifestyle, but an incident later brings them closer.

Eventually the restaurant evolves to reflect Peru and the people in the kitchen, and the film's end note explains "mistura" means mixture, combining different things together, which best describes Peruvian cuisine -- featuring Indigenous, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Middle Eastern, African and Italian influences. 

While the scenes in the kitchen didn't show as much cooking as the 2023 film The Taste of Things (Le Pot-au-Feu), we got the idea, watching Norma chop luscious tender beef cubes with her manicured hands, see how ceviche is made, and grilled meat skewers.

Norma is a half-French, half-Peruvian socialite

Mistura is a good movie, though in some parts one wonders if it's really possible for Norma to have a 180-transformation in her perception of others, or maybe she realises she needs all the help she can get? 

Actress Barbara Mori who plays Norma carries the film, and subtly shows her character's emotions below the surface, while having an unconventional relationship with her driver, played by Cesar Ballumbrosio.

Nevertheless, the film is a cinematic vehicle to promote Peruvian cuisine, and it definitely gets viewers curious (and hungry) to try some!

Mistura

Written and directed by Ricardo de Montreuil

101 minutes

Indigenous Art Statement

2000, a totem pole made of golf bags

Yesterday we visited the Vancouver Art Gallery, and one of the exhibitions on now is called Postcards from the Heart: Selections from the Brigitte and Henning Freybe Collection. The Freybes are art collectors who began this expensive hobby in the 1970s, and continue to today.

It's an eclectic mix of artists, the ones shown were mostly Canadian.

Skeleton of a whale made from plastic chairs

One piece was by Brian Jungen called 2000 that he completed in 2007.

At first glance it looks like a totem pole, but upon inspecting it closer, the work is made of golf bags.

Several years ago his work was exhibited at the VAG, where he took everyday objects and turned them into art, from plastic lawn chairs into what looked like the bones of a whale, and taking Nike shoes and making them into striking Indigenous masks.

BC artist Jungen is known for transforming mass-produced commercial goods into sculptures and installations. 

Indigenous mask made from Nike shoes

In 2007 when this piece 2000 was made, Jungen was interested in land-use in Vancouver, particularly where some local Indigenous nations leased their land to golf courses. 

For him, this recalled the Oka Crisis of 1990, where there was a land dispute prompted by the expansion of a golf course on Mohawk territory in Quebec. 

His works are bold, making a strong political statement and at the same time executed flawlessly. Jungen has thought out what he wants to say in his work and makes them into exciting and fantastic art pieces which in a way is ironic in itself.

Francis, Pope of the People

Pope Francis spoke up for the oppressed and poor

This morning I woke up to the news that Pope Francis had passed at the age of 88. We had just saw him less than 12 hours earlier in news footage in his Popemobile blessing a baby. But when he addressed the crowd at St Peter's Basilica to say "Dear brothers and sisters, Happy Easter", his voice was very weak...

He was discharged last month after 38 days in hospital battling pneumonia in both lungs. Doctors didn't think he would make it -- twice. They advised him to isolate himself and get rest for at least two months to avoid infection, but Francis wanted to be with the people, one last time.

And he will be forever remembered as a pope with humility who advocated for the oppressed, the poor, migrants, refugees, and the environment.

He made a landmark trip to Canada in 2022

Francis criticised the Trump administration's mass deportation policy. In a letter to American bishops, he wrote: "What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly."

In 2022 he came to Canada to right a wrong, apologising to the Indigenous people for how they were treated in residential schools. 

From the 1870s to the 1990s, some 150,000 First Nations, Metis, and Inuit children were taken away from their families and forced to attend church-run schools to get them to forget their language and culture. 

Many of the children were abused and neglected, thousands died of malnutrition, suicide and disease.

Pope Francis listened to the survivors and apologised, making him the first pope to do so, and asked for forgiveness.

Several times he has also called for a cease fire in Gaza, condemned the "deplorable humanitarian situation," and expressed his "closeness to the sufferings of Christians in Palestine and Israel and to all the Israeli people and the Palestinian people."

He called Gaza nightly to check on people there

Every night at around 8pm Francis would call Father Gabriel Romanelli to check on how the faithful were doing in the last standing Catholic church in Gaza. The pontiff would ask Romanelli how the residents were doing in the midst of war, if they had enough food and what they had eaten that day.

"It was a singular expression of his love, his concern. A real concern for the good of all and a sign of the good shepherd," Romanelli said. "People feel abandoned, but the call of the Pope gave a very hard sign of hope."

When the bombings were bad, Francis would call three or four times that day.

Giving people hope is what religion does, and Francis embued this as the leader of the Catholic church who was on the ground with the people.

Following his funeral this weekend, bishops will be gathering to decide on the next pope. There are hopes he will also be liberal and continue where Francis left off. Someone like him is needed more than ever in a world that has become more authoritarian.

Review: Arthur Erickson: Between the Lines

Erickson was considered one of the best architects in Canada

This afternoon watched a fantastic biographical film called Arthur Erickson: Beauty Between the Lines produced by Black Rhino Creative which is based in Vancouver. The film debuted a few weeks ago at a local architecture festival and was sold out for all three dates.

I was hoping to have a chance to see it and Viff is showing it now.

The Museum of Anthropology at UBC

Arthur Erickson was a well known Vancouver-born architect, and he designed a number of key buildings in the city, from Simon Fraser University, to the Museum of Anthropology, the Law Courts with Robson Square, and MacMillan Bloedel Building, renamed Arthur Erickson Place three years ago.

His designs were also in Toronto like Roy Thomson Hall, the Government of Canada pavilion at Expo '70 on Osaka, Japan, and the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington State.

The film brings Erickson to life from a lot of television interviews together with his niece and nephews (two of whom are architects), and former colleagues and staff that give a more rounded picture of him.

It turns out Erickson was able to compartmentalise his life, as he hid that he was gay for a long time, and knew being gay was bad for business at the time; however he had a partner he loved very much who sadly died of Aids in the 1990s.

Campus of Simon Fraser University

When Erickson was young he was a talented artist, but in World War II he was in the army, where he learned Japanese in a bid to avoid combat. After the war he was keen on joining the diplomatic corps, but then a friend showed him a picture of Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture and Erickson was amazed and wanted to learn how to create buildings in nature.

Erickson studied architecture at the University of British Columbia and in McGill in Montreal where he became friends with the future Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. 

Afterwards Erickson taught at UBC and began designing houses. He later met Geoffrey Massey and the pair went on to win the commission to build the SFU campus which was innovative at the time. They looked to the Acropolis for inspiration, how higher learning was found on the top of a mountain. They also created quadrants so that students and academics of different disciplines would interact with each other. 

One of the complaints was that in winter it was so dreary on campus that a professor once complained to Erickson about it. He replied that since the building elicited emotion, then the architect had done his job.

Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto

He was already very understanding of Indigenous culture, and the Museum of Anthropology demonstrates this, with the museum and totem poles facing the sea and how natural light affects how visitors see things in the space. 

From there they got a number of commissions inside and outside of Canada, but Massey was getting annoyed with Erickson's frivolous spending habits to please his partner, Venezuelan Francisco Kripacz, who designed furniture, went bankrupt and then Erickson took him in as an interior designer. 

Kripacz added flair to Erickson's designs, which made them a good team, but he had extravagant taste and influenced the architect to spend a lot of money. One time a party in their Los Angeles office cost $50,000 -- just for flowers.

Financial problems caused Erickson and Massey to break up their practice, and later on Erickson broke up with Kripacz. Erickson had another boyfriend, but then a mysterious disease called Aids was killing gay men, and his boyfriend died, as well as Kripacz's.

The two reunited, but Kripacz was infected as well. This was also around the time that Erickson declared bankruptcy in 1992, unable to pay all his bills. It was devastating because it meant he was unable to keep his license as an architect and would have to literally start all over again taking courses -- Erickson of all people who had taught architecture!

He refused, so he gave up his license, but was pretty much broke. In the 1990s Erickson phoned around, asking doctors for any kind of experimental drug that would help his partner; Erickson found some uncashed traveler's cheques and went to give them to Kripacz, but discovered he had committed suicide.

Kripacz was Erickson's longtime partner

His niece and nephews said Erickson could not get over this, and towards the end of his life began developing dementia. He would sit in his office with a magazine and forget about appointments and things he had to do. In the end his relatives had to put him in a home, where he did not last long, and died in 2009 at the age of 84.

I learned a lot about Erickson's life and career, as well as his approach to the various projects he worked on. Vancouver is so lucky to have many of his buildings, pockets of his vision around the city. It also helped that governments were willing to invest in big infrastructure projects like the provincial law courts and Robson Square to create public spaces for people.

Arthur Erickson: Between the Lines was a lovely tribute to him and showed that even when facing adversity, he did it with style. Even when he was announcing his bankruptcy he never let on his disappointment or frustration; he just carried on, dressed in his sharp suits.

Finally BC Election Results are In

Eby and the NDP will continue to hold onto power

Finally nine days after election day, British Columbia Premier David Eby has clung onto power with 47 seats, the Conservatives with 44 and the Greens with two. This afternoon Eby met with Lieutenant-Governor Janet Austin about forming the next government.

Elections BC released the finally tally, though two ridings, Surrey-Guilford and Kelowna Centre are too close to call and will be automatically recounted pending a judicial review.

Rustad accepts the election results

But the results show the NDP have to show British Columbians that they are willing to work hard in the areas of housing, healthcare, and affordability, as well as public safety and the opioid crisis, and Eby acknowledged this.

Meanwhile Conservative leader John Rustad is chuffed about how his party went from no seats to 44 in less than two years, but questions remain about how he will rein in people in his party who have racist leanings, like Brent Chapman in Surrey South, and Dallas Brodie in Vancouver-Quilchena.

Rustad must be breathing a sigh of relief that Conservative candidate Marina Sapozhnikov lost the Juan de Fuca-Malahat riding to the NDP. Sapozhnikov had spewed a lot of racist comments regarding Indigenous people, calling them "savages", and that they were not enlightened people.

Nevertheless the strong Conservative results also show voters were willing to hold their noses and overlook their racist outlooks and cast ballots for them in a desperate bid to kick out the NDP.

Furstenau with the Greens' elected MLAs

Although the NDP technically have a majority with 47 seats, they will still need the help of the Greens to pass legislation, and conversations between the two parties have already taken place. 

"Pending a judicial recount, it appears as though MLAs from different parties will have to work together for the Legislature to function effectively," said Sonia Furstenau, leader of the BC Green Party.

8 Authors Talk About Finding Joy in Turmoil

The eight authors with Abdelmahmoud (front) at the Playhouse

The 37th Vancouver Writers Fest officially kicked off today and this evening I attended one of the first events with the intriguing title: Finding Joy Amid Turmoil.

It was held at the Vancouver Playhouse and understandably sold out with attendees wanting to find out from eight authors how to find job amid turmoil.

CBC Radio Commotion host Elamin Abdelmahmoud was the emcee for the evening and he's funnier than he is on the radio. He explained that the festival changed its format for the grand opening event, which usually entailed a talk with a Giller Prize author.

But for some reason that did not happen, and the next suggestion was to present something on Alice Munro, but that was soon nixed, as it was revealed by her daughter that she was sexually abused by Munro's second husband, but did nothing about it.

So Abdelmahmoud joked that tonight's event was Plan C.

We appreciated this third option. Eight authors came up one by one to give their interpretation of finding joy amid turmoil.

Kim Thuy talked about how her family was very poor when they came to Canada from Vietnam, and how they scraped together money to put food on the table. But she and her uncle spent C$12 on the French novel, The Lover. She described how he explained the words to her and she would read the book over and over to the point where she could do dictation perfectly, down to the commas. 

As a 14-year-old she didn't make many friends because she talked like the book, "Your face, devastated".

Tanya Talaga is Anishinaabe and Polish, and talked about her latest book, The Knowing, researching her family's Indigenous stories, and told us how she gave a talk to high school students and reframed Canadian history from the point of view of aboriginals, how their land was arbitrarily taken away from them by the British. But she sees hope in the next generation who understand, but also embrace their indigenous classmates.

Irish author Roddy Doyle also talked about his 14-year-old self being beaten by the priest with a leather strap at school. Doyle still vividly remembers the searing pain, but says it was worth it because they had made fun of the priest for his sexual urges that he displayed during class (rubbing himself against the desk). One day the boys left chalk marks on the desk so that there would be white marks on the priest's groin area...

Heather O'Neill explained she did research for her book, The Capital of Dreams, spending time in Gaza just before the October 7 attacks. She read entries from her journal of her observations, some funny incidents, mostly at a human level.

After a short break the talks continued with John Valliant, speaking with no notes, but weaving a true story about when he first heard about the September 11 attacks, trying to process this shocking news, and then his nine-month old son crawling by and giving him joy. He also talked about how months later, cellist superstar Yo-Yo Ma was performing at the Orpheum and Valliant was amazed at how people were not concerned about their safety, but there for the concert. He said Ma was only focused on making music for people to enjoy, much like what we were doing right now.

Sadiya Ansari's book is Exile: Rupture, Reunion, and May Grandmother's Secret Life, where she described how her father only saw his mother twice, 18 years apart due to partition between Pakistan and India -- thanks to the British. 

Ukrainian journalist Andrey Kurkov wasn't able to make it -- his flight was delayed and he was in Portugal. But another author, Conor Kerr, who is part Ukrainian, read an excerpt from Kurkov's book, The Silver Bone, about the Ukraine-Russian war going on now. He described what it was like to celebrate New Year's Eve in Kiev, unsettling, but trying to make the most of it.

Finally Bill Richardson came on stage. He still talks like his CBC Radio days, linking together bizarre facts and stories. He joked that he was doing a Ted talk, having researched that while we all know Elizabeth Taylor the actress, in history there have been numerous other Elizabeth Taylors. He recounted some of their lives that were hilarious when he read them out. At one point there is Elizabeth Taylor the actress with a tiara on her head in a room full of balls. Richardson explained he had asked AI to find a picture of her in a ballroom. Ha ha.

His Elizabeth Taylor yarn went on a bit long, but he had us laughing, with joy.

The picture above (from left to right): Bill Richardson, John Valliant, Conor Kerr, Roddy Doyle, Sadiya Ansari, Tanya Talaga, Kim Thuy, and Heather O'Neill

Discussing Being Under the White Gaze

There were a lot of people waiting for Cheung to sign books

This evening I went to a book talk at the Vancouver Public Library featuring journalist Christopher Cheung with his new book, Under the White Gaze, which talks about how people of colour are represented in the media and how we can do better when reporting about them.

The room was packed out tonight, many of them Cheung's friends, and many Asians who felt the topic resonated with them.

Author Kevin Chong was tasked with asking Cheung some questions about himself and his book before the Q&A session.

Cheung's first book

Cheung explained he grew up in Oakridge and as a child his classmates were multicultural, as illustrated by the snacks they shared during recess, from Japanese dried seaweed to Iranian fruit leather. He feels this informed him of the Vancouver he lived in and felt there were stories to tell.

That's what led him to become a journalist, working for the Vancouver Courier and then Metro Daily, both of which he notes no longer exist. He has been at the Tyee for many years now and went from writing 500-word news articles in the Courier to now 2,000 words in the Tyee.

A good example of how minorities are not represented was when Cheung saw how developers prided themselves on creating tax-free spaces for residents to create community gardens and share the fruits of their labour.

He found this quite odd considering his grandfather and his neighbours have been growing vegetables for decades and sharing their harvests. Cheung used this as a way to get other mainstream media to realise they are not observing what is happening around them and just following a press release.

Chong noted a chapter in the book focuses on the four Ds: Darlings, Deviance, Delicious, and Damage.

When asked to explain, Cheung said it was inspired by CBC broadcaster Duncan McCue, who asked an Indigenous elder how they were covered in the media. He replied: drumming, dancing, drunk and dead.

He is very passionate about Vancouver

Cheung came up with his own four Ds when it came to ethnic minorities:

Darlings are model minorities, extreme examples of people who work very long hours and that is considered success despite the heavy toll;

Deviance is criminalising people of colour. One example is complaining about Chinese signs in Richmond;

Delicious is about ethnic food stories, and "calendar journalism" where Chinese food is covered during Chinese New Year;

Damage is about refugees, victims of colour who have terrible things that happen to them.

As a result, Cheung wants to push beyond these tropes and have minorities better represented in the media.

During the Q&A section there were some good questions, but there was a bizarre first question from a Caucasian woman in front, wondering why there were so many Asians in the audience tonight and complaining that there isn't multiculturalism in Canada, and how we live in silos. 

Many of us were taken aback by what she said, so much so that an elderly second-generation Chinese-Canadian woman wanted to engage with her, but after the event was over, the Caucasian woman said she didn't want to talk to her and fled the room!

Meanwhile the Chinese-Canadian asked if the book was for her, as she had repressed her Chinese-ness for most of her life and only in the last 20 years has begun embracing her heritage. But Cheung believes she can still read the book...

A man in the audience asked Cheung and Chong about being "bananas", an outdated term to describe Canadian-born Chinese who are "yellow on the outside, white on the inside". I hadn't heard that term being used for so long and particularly now when people try so hard to be politically correct.

In any event it was a good discussion and has inspired me to read the book!

Picture of the Day: Totem Pole in HK

The totem pole is blocked by potted plants

One day during my trip to Hong Kong I had some extra time in the late afternoon before meeting a friend for dinner in Harbour City, so I went to Kowloon Park.

After all my years living in Hong Kong I have to admit I'm not very familiar with the park so it was a good opportunity to wander around and see the facilities that include a swimming pool, a mini soccer pitch, an aviary, piazza, a maze garden and sculpture garden.

These feral cats don't like humans

I walked up a hill and saw some feral cats that reside there; a cat lady was fussing over them and bringing them dinner. It reminded me of the volunteers who feed the cats that reside on the giant rocks by the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai...

But I also came across a totem pole! What was this doing here in Hong Kong of all places! I tried to get closer to it, but the tiled steps leading to it were closed off by potted plants in a bid to keep visitors away from it. Were people touching to cause the staff to prevent people from getting too close? This is why my picture looks so awkward.

As a result I could not find a plaque or some kind of explanation of why this totem pole was here.

An article by Christopher DeWolf gives a bit more information: "On the other side of the park is a totem pole carved by the indigenous Tlingit people of British Columbia in Canada."

Fort Langley: Visiting the National Historic Site

An elderly woman shows kids how to make wooden buckets

Our next stop in Fort Langley was the fort itself, which dates back to 1827 and was a vital part in the fur trade as it is located on the banks of the Fraser River.

It's now a national tourist attraction, where visitors can roam around the actual fort and see recreations of the various buildings and some people there bring the time back then to life.

Fur pelts hanging from the ceiling in a building

The fort was once part of the British trade route that traded with indigenous people for furs and fish, who got blankets and other goods in return. 

This also resulted in the birth of the Metis people, when European men married aboriginal women in a bid to gain better access to goods and trade networks.

In the fort, visitors can see furs hanging from the wooden ceiling, various blankets, including those from the Hudson's Bay Company with the distinctive red, blue, green and yellow stripes. 

We were intrigued to see boxes made of woven bamboo with labels that said "Shanghai" and "San Francisco", while the dining room table had crockery with blue and white chinoiserie designs.

There's also a room showing aboriginal embroidery and beading that is modern but beautiful nonetheless. An impressive piece is part of British Columbia shown in embroidery and beading, while other handicrafts including woven baskets and hats.

Woven bamboo boxes with Shanghai labels

Another building showed woodworking, and an elderly woman demonstrating to a group of children how buckets were made out of wood, and in another outdoor area, a blacksmith talked to kids about making objects out of metal, with a real fire nearby.

At the back of the fort is a home, where a man is dressed as a steward and says he manages the household, with the kitchen just behind the house and to the right of it is a small hutch for three rabbits, and another caged area for three goats. There's also a small but impressive looking garden that is growing kale.

One of the last stops is where visitors can go through a slurry and pan for gold. Any chances of finding anything?

It's an educational visit and young people get a bit of a taste of the history in an interactive way.

Chinoiserie crockery with tartan tablecloth!

Fort Langley National Historic Site

23433 Mavis Avenue

Fort Langley, BC

604 513 4777

 

Vancouver Chinatown Festival

Kids learning how to do the dragon dance

Today a friend and I checked out the 21st annual Vancouver Chinatown Festival. I was surprised to find out it had been going on for so long, but by the crowds it looks like it's an annual favourite.

I arrived a bit before 11am and stalls were still being set up and young children getting ready to dance on the main stage which was at Keefer and Columbia streets. There were even kids trying out the mini lions to see how they worked while others hit the drums. 

Bannock or fried dough with jam

When things got rolling a few minutes later, there were lots of things for kids to do, including a petting zoo (all goats), face painting, crafts and giant Connect Four. Speaking of games there was also a giant mahjong set. We watched some people play and it was definitely not a game of speed, as two hands were needed to carry the tile to each player, but it was fun to see.

And what's a festival without food? There were lots of delicious options a block long on Keefer Street, not limited to Chinese food. There were Japanese snacks and buns, nuts and chocolate, creme brulee in pots, sushi tacos -- the nori deep-fried in the shape of a taco shell with various fillings, beaver tails (fried dough with sweet toppings to choose from), ice cream, pizza slices and hot dogs with Asian fillings. 

One stall featured bannock -- an indigenous snack made from fried dough that could be eaten with either butter, jam or peanut butter as the basic one, or more substantial like a sandwich. We tried the former and it was delicious freshly made.

Interestingly we tried some alcohol made from rice! The owner and maker had several products like rice sherry (quite smooth), rice wine like makgeolli, but thinner, and more impressive -- rice whisky! He had a smooth one which was indeed easy to drink, and the classic that had a bit of a burn at the end but not fiery hot. They are made in Delta.

A giant mahjong game in progress

We also saw our friend selling chilli sauce made with duck fat, and seemed to get a lot of interest from people, some of them purchasing jars. They only started two years ago and are slowly building up their brand and scaling up with a central kitchen. They are constantly looking for ways to improve themselves which is a great attitude to have.

Meanwhile on the main stage there was lots of dancing, from traditional Chinese (with really screechy music!), Hawaiian and Kpop style. The performances seemed to look better on the big screen than watching on stage for some reason.

Interestingly there was an electric car we could have a test ride in. It's called Lucid and one passerby wondered if it had a connection with Lucifer(!), but the guy tried to explain that the word "lucid" means "clear", but the passerby kept insisting it had devilish connotations...

Interested in riding an electric car called Lucid?

The look of the car is very sleek and inside it has a lot of screens and even a 360-degree view of the car! It's very smooth and can even self brake! I was shocked to hear the price for the base model which we rode in is C$121,000... 

Afterwards we took a break and had lunch at DD Mau, a Vietnamese restaurant on East Pender. It's long and narrow with a casual vibe and nice, friendly atmosphere. We ordered the tumeric dill fish with vermicelli that came with fermented shrimp paste.

The fish was slightly more salty than I'd like, though when eaten together with the vermicelli it balanced it out. 

We also tried the crab pockets which mixed the crab meat with pork in a deep-fried shell and seasoned with fish sauce. The pockets themselves were too tough and had to be softened with the fish sauce before eating. There was only a hint of crab meat in the filling that included thin strips of wood ear mushrooms and carrots.

Crab pockets with fish sauce at DD Mau

After we emerged from the restaurant over an hour later, we were well rested and cooled down from the heat. I was surprised to spend so much time there, but it was a nice way to connect with the neighbourhood and experience some new things!

June 12 Rally Marred by Indigenous Protest

Hong Kong protesters showed up with flags and in black

In Hong Kong it's already June 12, the fourth anniversary of the peaceful protests against the extradition bill that successfully stalled the second reading of the bill at the Legislative Council, but the police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the 40,000 people.

The police described the incident as a riot, which led to the protesters to chant, "Five demands, not one less". They were: Demand the police retract the "riot" characterisation; withdrawal of the extradition bill; release and exonerate arrested protesters; hold a public inquiry into police brutality; and implement universal suffrage.

Four years on the Hong Kong diaspora continue to call for these demands to be met, on Sunday afternoon in Vancouver at an event organised by the Vancouver Activists of Hong Kong.

"Glory to Hong Kong" written in chalk

A crowd of about 50-60 people gathered at the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery, many wearing black, masks, hats and sunglasses. Several people waved flags of colonial Hong Kong, of East Turkestan, and the protest slogan "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times".

The 2pm event began several minutes late due to technical problems, but finally got off the ground, with the singing of the Canadian anthem and a minute of silence for the victims of the 2019 protests. The protest anthem "Glory to Hong Kong" -- a song the authorities are trying to ban -- was played, while many in the crowd shouted slogans.

Then a few people made speeches, such as a member of parliament, a long time activist who organises events around June 4, and some protesters, one of whom became very emotional, pleading for passersby to pay attention to what the Hongkongers' grievances were about.

An artistic statement

However, the area is a public space where people are free to walk through, and when parts of the event are in Cantonese, there is even less interest. Many walking by carried shopping bags, as the art gallery is near a shopping street, others walked their dogs.

Just as the emcee was about to introduce radio host Edmund Wan, known as Giggs, who has now made his home in Vancouver, a First Nations woman who stood near the front began shouting that this land was theirs and how dare we, the attendees take it away from them.

She insisted on disrupting the event, and Wan tried to tell her that he had met some indigenous people recently and respected them, but the woman refused to listen. She was with two other First Nations woman, one of whom also began shouting, the other more interested in munching on her bag of chips.

A friend remarked perhaps this was the "infiltration" the protesters were worried about...

After a few minutes the emcee said she was angry that their items were taken away. Perhaps she was referring to the impromptu display of 215 pairs of shoes on the steps of the art gallery to represent the graves of 215 children that were discovered at a residential school in northern British Columbia. Toys were later added to the makeshift memorial.

It stood there from May 2021 until last month, when the city said it would remove the items, but then most of them disappeared before the city's cleaning crew arrived. No one knows where they are.

Woman in green disrupted the rally, pal eats chips

Why the woman was disrupting the Hong Kong protest was annoying since this clean-up happened almost a month ago and her complaints should be directed at City Hall.

Later the emcee explained in Cantonese again that she had had too much to drink, and that everyone should move away from her and ignore her. But she caught wind of what was going on and began shouting again.

Apparently the police were called, but no one came right away.

It was disappointing to see the event -- a peaceful one at that! -- being hijacked. The woman disrupting the rally distracted the attendees and the significance of the gathering.

Another is scheduled tomorrow evening (June 12 Vancouver time) at Metrotown Skytrain Station in Burnaby. It is possible there will be a greater turnout there...