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!

Review: The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes

Hughes was a reclusive painter who loved being in BC

I didn't know much about the artist E.J. Hughes until his paintings were fiercely bid on at auction and record prices were recorded by the media. He painted colourful sceneries of British Columbia, overlooking a lake, fishing, and whimsical houses. Hughes died in 2007 and it turns out he left behind a treasure trove of letters, sketches, and paintings that have been carefully archived or collected by trusted people.

Director Jenn Strom was interested in doing short films about BC artists, and Hughes was one of them. But when she started researching him, she found there was so much material about the artist that it made sense to do a feature-length documentary about him, The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes that made its world premiere at the Vancouver Film Festival.

Hughes depicted small town life in his art

It took her five years (delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic), but the end result is a beautiful, comprehensive tribute to the reclusive artist who would rather his paintings speak for him.

Hughes was born in North Vancouver in 1913 and his early childhood was spent in Nanaimo. His trombone-playing father moved the family around and ended up in Vancouver. Hughes, who wasn't particularly academically minded but gifted in art, enrolled in the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Art (which later became the Emily Carr University of Art + Design), where Frederick Varley, one of the Group of Seven artists, was one of the teachers.

Varley's style was to go out into nature and sketch or paint quickly; this wasn't Hughes' style, which where he was more meticulous and detailed, but Varley encouraged Hughes to keep going anyway.

In 1939 Hughes, with two classmates, Paul Goranson and Orville Fisher started a commercial art firm where they sold prints, and hoped to get commissions to make murals, but with people still suffering from the Depression, they didn't make much money. 

However, the British Columbia government got them to make some murals for the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco in 1939 and that made them well-known.

Hughes died in 2007 at the age of 93

During World War II Hughes enlisted and became a war artist. He loved this job because he was paid to make art everyday. The conditions were so cold in the winter, that this changed Hughes' detailed work into something more simplified, but still bold strokes.

The curators in the documentary explained how war artists must record history with a capital H with art with a capital A. So the soldiers must be depicted correctly in terms of their uniforms and machinery, and recording their contribution to the war for historical purposes. 

The curators -- mostly women -- observed how Hughes' work not only covered the war, but mostly their daily lives, like in the canteen which showed plates of food and bottles of Tabasco sauce on the shelf, or how the soldiers trained jumping over each other like leap frog in a circle.

It was around this time he met Fern who became his wife. They tried to have children and the first baby died at childbirth, the second died six months after the baby was born. Fern was later diagnosed with muscular dystrophy.

After the war, Hughes and Fern settled in Shawnigan Lake and he painted in his studio overlooking the lake. 

A Montreal gallery owner named Max Stern came to Vancouver and Varley told him to look up Hughes. It took Stern a while to track him down and when he did, he was so impressed by Hughes' work that he offered to buy the whole lot and to continue painting for him.

This was a godsend for Hughes, who was struggling financially. Stern managed Hughes' career on the east coast and the Montreal gallery paid Hughes until it closed in 2000, 10 years after Stern died.

Fish Boats, River Inlet fetched $2M at auction

Now Hughes and his wife were able to finally purchase a second-hand car and drive around and sketch landscapes from his front seat. They did road trips around BC, to places like Kamloops, Penticton, Revelstoke, Okanagan, Nanaimo, and Chilliwack.

Through curators at the Vancouver Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian War Museum, and tape recorded interviews of Hughes with his friend Pat Salmon, author Robert Ramos, and even the staff at the diner he ate at everyday, director Strom is able to sketch out a pretty comprehensive picture of the quiet, thoughtful Hughes that is a fitting tribute to him. 

She also admits the real reason she wanted to do the documentary was that it gave her the opportunity to travel around BC. The hardest part was matching his paintings with the actual spots where he painted. Strom says there was one place where she looked around and saw a house that seemed to block the view. She knocked on the door and asked about the view. "The E.J. Hughes' view? Let me show you," the woman replied.

The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes

Director Jenn Strom

82 mins

Visiting Capilano Suspension Bridge

Hold on as you walk across the shaky bridge!

With a relative in town I did a very tourist thing today -- we went to Capilano Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver. I can't even remember the last time I went, so this was a good refresher with many new features since 2004.

Tickets aren't cheap -- $72.95 for adults plus tax it's $76.60 -- but if you can get downtown, you can catch a free shuttle bus to the tourist landmark.

Stunning views of the bridge at various points

We caught it at the back of Hyatt Regency Vancouver and about 15 minutes later we had arrived -- along with another busload of people.

As we bought tickets in advance, we were able to walk in right away and soon join the relatively short line to cross the Capilano Suspension Bridge.

The bridge was originally built in 1889 and was made of hemp ropes and a deck of cedar planks. It was later replaced with a wire cable bridge in 1903. 

It doesn't look daunting at first, but once you step onto the bridge, held up with steel cables, it's unsettling because the foot bridge sways a bit. You have to at least hold onto the steel cable handrail, and traffic coming from the opposite side also adds complications to the steadiness of the bridge.

My cousin was pretty freaked out and held on for dear life. I just held on with my right hand and clutching my iPhone for dear life. I didn't dare take pictures!

We made it over to the other side of the bridge. and began exploring the massive park that is filled with Douglas Firs, Cedars and Hemlocks. You can hear a few birds here and there, and some running streams. 

We learned a lot about the banana slug today

At the Raptor Ridge, we met three people who had a different bird attached to their left hand glove. They sat there and rested their hand on an arm rest, the bird attached to the glove.

The expert trio fielded people's questions about a Great Horned Owl that is nine years old, and likes to vocalise; a 21-year-old Saker Falcon, and a Bay-Winged Hawk that is used to scare away seagulls from sports venues. They don't live in Capilano but Maple Ridge and come out periodically on rotation with several other predator birds.

We also learned about banana slugs. What? They are yellow slugs with two pairs of antennae, 27,000 teeth, when handled release a numbing agent, and would take 15 hours to slide across the Capilano Suspension Bridge.

There isn't just the bridge, but two other nature walks that take you up into the trees. One is called Treetops Adventure, where you walk along narrow wooden bridges between trees, and another called Cliffwalk, where you walk along a path secured onto the side of a rock face!

By the time we went through the entire park, it was just over two hours. We went through the gift shop which is very big, and sells a bunch of nice stuff including Herschel knapsacks, retro CBC T-shirts, honey and maple syrup products, fudge and ice cream.

Cliffwalk had scenic views too

As we were leaving there was a massive line to get onto the suspension bridge and I got a certificate certifying that I had survived the Capilano Suspension Bridge! A fun souvenir.

We encountered tourists from Taiwan, The UK, South Korea, and United States and luckily we didn't have to wait too long to get onto the shuttle to get back to downtown. 

The logistics of the park was very well managed and most of the staff are cheery and informative. They have an activity booklet for kids, and if you hang around for some informative sessions, you will be rewarded with a sticker or stamp.

Capilano Suspension Bridge

3735 Capilano Road

North Vancouver, BC

604 985 7474

HK Immigrants Gather at HK Fair

A semi-outdoor area featured numerous stalls to buy items

Today was the fourth annual Vancouver Hong Kong Fair and I finally checked it out for the first time. Just like last year, the fair was held at The Shipyards in North Vancouver and I'm glad I went. It's the closest thing for like-minded Hongkongers to meet up, share and enjoy their culture.

I was on a tight schedule with a concert to attend in the early afternoon, so I took the bus downtown just before 9.30am and caught the seabus at Waterfront station to get there at 10.30am before it opened half an hour later. There was already a small line for ticket holders that already formed though the signage wasn't very clear.

Back copies of Apple Daily were for sale

The fair opened a few minutes after 11am and they scanned my QR code and gave me a bright pink bracelet before I could wander around the outdoor fair in a covered area. It's a good space, and I was glad I went early because I can see how it can get crowded very quickly.

There were all kinds of stalls selling handmade beauty products, cookies like salted egg yolk shortbread, treats for dogs shaped like egg tarts (my cousin's dog wolfed them down later), Chinese books, jewellery, Lion Rock T-shirts and tote bags, Hong Kong-themed coasters, key chains and artwork.

One stall was run by activists who are raising money to help people back in Hong Kong. There was a stack of Apple Daily newspapers, and included the copy of the last publication of the paper for C$50. Manning the booth was former Hong Kong radio host "Giggs" Edmund Wan Yiu-sing, who was jailed for 32 months for sedition and money laundering who are raising money to help people back in Hong Kong. 

Curry fish balls with peanut sauce

Another section was food one could buy and eat there, like curry fish balls, various sweet drinks with sago in them; I tried one with durian, coconut milk and sago. Hong Kong milk tea was also available as well as mango mochi.

Recently re-elected NDP MP Jenny Kwan was at the opening ceremony and gave a bilingual speech explaining that she was originally from Hong Kong and grateful to be in Canada. She promised she would help ensure the Canadian government would approve all Hong Kong immigrants' applications for permanent residency. She got a big round of applause.

In an indoor space was the cultural section, where UBC Cantonese had a booth, an area showing the black and white photographs of legendary photographer Chan Kiu, who passed away in Vancouver last year at the age of 96. There were pictures of Vietnamese refugee children eating from basins, the funeral of Bruce Lee, and Queen Elizabeth II's first visit to Hong Kong.

There were also mahjong tables for people to play the game, or learn how to make paper lanterns. An interactive exhibit featured various places in Hong Kong with photographs matched with scents from those areas.

MP Jenny Kwan spoke in Cantonese

I also got to meet up with some people I had met before and catch up with them, and get to know what others are doing in Metro Vancouver, from holding Cantonese summer camps to drawing workshops.

After about an hour and a half, I made it back to the seabus with two minutes to spare. As I was leaving there were more people lined up to go in, and even more spilling out of the seabus. Now I know why people make an effort to go because settling in Vancouver isn't easy; at this event they feel strength in numbers, and feel understood and appreciated.

C$13K Cheese Heist Gone Bad

Someone must really love eating cheese to steal that much

In the United Kingdom, cheese is under lock and key in supermarkets these days.

Supermarkets in Vancouver may want to follow suit after a man fled without almost C$13,000 worth of cheese back in late September.

The RCMP were on patrol on September 29 at 4am when they found a cart that was full of cheese outside a Whole Foods in North Vancouver.

The police found it suspicious and began to investigate, but the suspect soon fled the scene without his massive stash of cheese.

However, even though the cheese was unopened, it could not be sold let alone consumed because it had left the fridge, according to constable Mansoor Sahak in a written statement.

The police have been patrolling high-crime areas and are asking for any information about this cheese heist.

Over 1,000 Fines on Vancouver Lawn Lovers

Watering lawns was prohibited from August to October

Metro Vancouver has a lot of homeowners who love their lawns more than letting them go yellow even when there are threats of fines.

From August to October, residents in Metro Vancouver who didn't abide by the water restrictions in a bid to conserve water were slapped with fines worth CA$166,000.

Over 1,000 fines ranging from CA$100 to CA$500 were issued on those who continued to use sprinklers to water their lawns and not leave them dry, and didn't hand water trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetable and fruit patches.

Hand water vegetable patches, flowers and shrubs

This summer there was an unprecedented drought, and the water restrictions were meant to conserve water for essential needs.

"As climate change continues to affect our region's water supply, using water wisely year-round is just the right thing to do, irrespective of a potential monetary penalty," said Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie who is also chair of Metro Vancouver's water committee in a statement.

The City of Vancouver had the most fines at 168, followed by Coquitlam with 154 and North Vancouver with 109 offenders.

These fines probably came after neighbours snitched on them... otherwise how would the respective city authorities know? Other municipalities didn't record any fines because they lacked the manpower to check out possible offenders, or only issued warnings.

But in general residents in Metro Vancouver use too much water at about 270 litres per day. If commercial uses are considered then it jumps to 400 litres per day.

This summer there was unprecedented drought

In the summer water usage dramatically increases in the summer, with nearly 40 percent used for residential and non-residential lawn watering.

"Lawn watering restrictions are an effective way to reduce water consumption for esthetic outdoor uses and ensure that we have enough water for essential needs, such as drinking, cooking and cleaning," said Brodie."

But at least greater awareness of water usage has led to a drop per capita, from an average of 474 litres per day in 2013 to 387 litres last year, below the performance objective of 402 litres.

Nevertheless, the less water we all use in general the better, not just for cities but the planet as well. 

Delectable Persian Food in North Vancouver

Ground beef and chicken kebabs with crispy Persian rice

Today we went on a culinary adventure -- not only crossing the bridge to North Vancouver, but also trying some Persian food.

A friend's classmate is married to an Iranian and his mother-in-law suggested we go to Khaghan Restaurant in Capilano Mall.

There were four of us -- two visiting from Hong Kong who were eager to try the food, as it's not something you'd find there, and they had fond memories of eating it several years ago in another restaurant in North Vancouver.

Braised lamb shank with dill rice

I wanted to try some authentic food and had no idea where to eat it. We were told that Persian restaurants are not common, as people feel most comfortable eating their food at home, but these dishes do take a lot of work and time to prepare.

When we arrived, we were the only Chinese people in the restaurant, which was not very busy for a Friday for lunch. Nevertheless, we peaked the interest of our waitress who was surprised and then delighted that our tour guide (the friend's classmate) knew several of the dishes and the ingredients. 

I just had an apple for breakfast, but was soon filled up with lots of delicious food, mostly lamb.

We started with some bread with an eggplant dish called mirza ghasemi, like baba ghanoush, but more yellow in colour thanks to the addition of tumeric. We also had a small bowl of olives that were seasoned with sweet and savoury herbs and spices, and two similarly sized bowls of yoghurt, one with ground cucumber, the other with shallots.

For drinks we had a jug of Persian yoghurt called doogh. It was not too thick, and wasn't just salty like a lassi. Instead it had various dried spices in it, including mint and just a touch of salt. It was a great way to clean the palate.

Vegetable stew and lentils on crispy rice

Soon after our main dishes arrived and they were served on large platters!

One was called mix tahdig, featuring yellow lentils on one half of the dish and herb and vegetable stew with kidney beans on the other, and underneath both is tahdig. It's a Persian crispy rice made from basmati rice, flavoured with saffron and is carefully fried on the stove so that the bottom is crispy, almost like a thick cracker. And it's great for this dish, as the toppings are soft, while the bottom gives a crunch. It still held up a few hours later as leftovers.

We were here to try the dizi with lamb, a traditional lamb stew with chickpeas. It is served in a small tin pot. We were given clamps to tip the hot soup out, and then used a metal pestle called goosht koob to mush the lamb shank along with the ingredients it was cooked with -- potatoes, tomatoes, chickpeas, beans, onions, dried lemons, cinnamon and tumeric.

The soup is then portioned out, everyone gets a spoonful of the mushed meat mixture, and then they help themselves to the bread called noon sangak that is ripped into small pieces into the bowl.

Dizi with lamb and bread

It immediately reminded me of the yang rou pao mo I ate in Xian many years ago. It is also a kind of steaming hot lamb soup, and you take naan bread (it's round and stiff) and break it into small pieces to put in the soup.

As Xian was part of the Silk Road, it's not surprising a version of dizi with lamb ended up in the Chinese city, which also has a Muslim quarter.

The dizi here was hearty, flavourful and the meaty mush was so delicious, we began thinking of other ways to eat it, from mixing it with pasta to putting it on toast.

We also ordered braised lamb shank with dill rice, though the braised lamb neck was even better, but it came with a plain tahdig. The dill rice is also delicious, mixed with broad beans. The lamb in both dishes were braised to the point where the meat fell off the bone so easily, and there was even marrow to extract from the neck bone.

One more dish we had was vaziri, featuring a skewer each of chicken and seasoned ground beef, also served with tahdig and a roasted tomato. The ground beef was heavily flavoured with spices, and both meats were tender and hardly dry even though they were cooked over open flames. We speculated they may have been marinated in a salt solution beforehand.

Braised lamb neck with crispy Persian rice

Needless to say we were extremely full afterwards and didn't finish everything -- we got several takeaway boxes and packed everything up. My friend took the most back, filling four boxes and giant sheets of the bread!

Khaghan Restaurant

Unit 66 - 935 Marine Drive

North Vancouver

(778) 340 9065