A Quiet Downtown Cafe

Latte, ham and cheese scroll, and chausson aux pommes

Bakery cafes seem to be the new hangout in Metro Vancouver, as fewer people are willing or able to shell out to dine in restaurants. Instead they turn to cafes to meet up with friends over a coffee and a croissant, cookie or slice of cake.

Or so I thought.

The other day I tried the Japanese-style egg salad sandwich at 7-Eleven downtown, but it left me unsatisfied (and still hungry).

Across the street was Beaucoup Bakery in the St Regis Hotel on Dunsmuir and Seymour. I walked in just before noon and there was just one other customer in there who couldn't make up her mind.

I ordered a latte, a savoury ham and cheese scroll, and a chausson aux pommes for dessert for just under $20.

For about 20 minutes I sat in the small dining space and had my pastries with a bitter latte, but no one else came in even though it was lunchtime on Wednesday.

The ham and cheese scroll was impossible to cut with a wooden fork and spoon, and I had to eat it like a sandwich; it would also have tasted better heated up.

The leaf-shaped chausson aux pommes had a vibrant burgundy filling of apple puree mixed with cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. 

As I sat there, the staff chatted amongst themselves; seems they are used to business being really slow.

It was pretty sad to see this cafe pretty dead -- meanwhile two bakery cafes in my neighbourhood have a steady stream of customers.

Is this a sign that office workers still aren't coming back to the office full time? If that's the case, downtown Vancouver is going to hollow out even further...

Beijing Memory with a Cuppa

"Forbidden City Starbucks" 2001 by Gu Xiong

At the Vancouver Public Library downtown this afternoon I spied this photograph on the eighth floor. 

It's a picture of a building in the Forbidden City where they once had a Starbucks. It's called "Forbidden City Starbucks" taken by Gu Xiong in 2001.

I remember visiting Beijing and seeing it there and thinking it was so odd seeing an American brand in the grounds where emperors used to live. Visitors could sip on cappuccinos next to the Hall of Preserving Harmony.

The Starbucks there opened in 2000, and caused a big uproar from locals and foreigners alike. Seven years later TV host Rui Chenggang penned a blog post railing about the American coffee chain in the Forbidden City, saying it "tramples over Chinese culture".

His blog post led to half a million people signing a petition to have Starbucks removed, which happened about six months later. 

He said he wasn't against Starbucks, as he did drink the brand of coffee, Rui objected to it being in the Forbidden City.

An interesting post script is that in 2014 Rui was detained on suspicion of bribery and sentenced to prison for over five years. But it wasn't until 2024 did he re-emerge, but on YouTube, which is banned in China.

Chinatown Meat Store Hosts Barbecue

Chinese ham being air dried in the store

Dollar Meat Store has been in Chinatown for 54 years and today it hosted an interesting event -- at the back of the store they set up some barbecue grills and had a chef from Michelin-starred Kissa Tanto grill some A5 wagyu beef steaks, a meat spice brand to make some Maui ribs, and showcase its own brand of Chinese sausages, and a local chilli sauce brand, Holy Duck Chili Oil.

Local brand Holy Duck Chili Oil

For free.

We just filled out an online survey, followed Dollar Meat Store on Instagram and then we were in!

The meat was donated by Dollar Meat Store and was delicious, including prawns and scallops each wrapped in bacon, and there was coleslaw too. Drinks were provided by Maxim's Bakery, Hong Kong style milk tea, cold brew coffee, and iced lemon tea.

We tried the Hong Kong style milk tea with half the sugar added which was actually just right.

As we arrived soon after the event started at 11am there weren't too many people, so we were able to chat with people and comfortably move around in the back of the lot. 

Afterwards my relative who is visiting Vancouver not only bought a pack of Chinese sausages but also two jars of chilli sauce! Win win!

It is very generous of Dollar Meat Store to invite people to come eat for free -- they could have charged admission and people would have come anyway. Nevertheless it's a great way to bring people down to Chinatown, check out the neighbourhood and support local businesses.

Bottles of Hong Kong-style milk tea

 

Picture of the Day: Signboard Directions

Is that signboard reading out minds?

When I was downtown earlier this week for lunch, this signboard caught my eye.

"You don't need an inspirational quote. You need chocolate and coffee."

Usually those quotes are fun to ponder or inspire, but this one just gets straight to the point.

Mink Chocolates focuses mostly on chocolate, but it also has coffee, hot chocolate, chocolate fondue... 

Ancient Mexican Fare Near Chinatown

Food before the Spanish arrived in Mexico

There's a lot of buzz about Mexico these days, with many people traveling to the country for holidays as an alternative to the United States, and most recently many bars on the North America Best 50 Bars list were from there, in particular Mexico City.

On Saturday afternoon a foodie friend and I were in Chinatown and as we walked to his car, he suggested we have a snack in a Mexican restaurant.

Salad with pumpkin flower, lettuce and sour cream

Where was that? 

A place called Machete -- pronounced ma-chet-teh, unlike the sharp knifed weapon, and it serves Mexican food that was made before the Spanish arrived. So the ingredients are mostly corn, blue corn, cacao, and yucca to name a few. Apparently this is the only restaurant of its kind in Vancouver.

Cecilia Aguayo is the chef and owner, and she cooks up dishes inspired by her grandmother who ate a healthy diet.

We tried the itacates, which means food for a journey, which are usually packed into triangles of tortillas. But at Machete, it was like an open-faced salad, and the one we had was called flor de calabaza, featuring pumpkin flower, white onions, garlic, and epazote, or Mexican tea which is a leafy plant.

It was a refreshing, light salad that was topped with lettuce, sour cream, cheese, guacamole and pumpkin seeds.

Chocolate drink with hint of orange and vanilla

Then we had the machete, a long quesadilla in blue corn tortillas, filled with vegetables and Oaxaca cheese. It came with a long serrated knife for us to cut it! Inside was mostly roasted peppers, mushrooms, refried beans and the melted cheese. 

By this point I was getting full; it was after 3pm and I would be eating dinner in a few hours!

However besides our snacks, the drinks were very interesting. Machete has a cacao bar with various drinks made from chocolate. This is not like hot chocolate served elsewhere where it is thick and rich, quickly spiking your sugar levels and leaving you feeling full.

Instead these drinks are light and foamy with the drink emphasising the chocolate flavour without the heaviness.

A vegetarian machete, or quesadilla

I tried the recommendation of meztli ice latte, a concoction of cacao nibs, orange, vanilla, cinnamon, almond milk and ice, while my friend had the nahualli ice latte, mixing cacao with coffee, milk, vanilla and cinnamon panela sugar.

Both drinks were served in giant hollowed out coconut shells and balanced on a small ring. We had to hold the cups with both hands and sip from the coconut shell. 

What an interesting experience!

Machete

1007 Main Street

Vancouver, BC

778 302 4795

TikTok Influencers Migrate to Xiaohongshu

Xiaohongshu seeing a surge in "TikTok refugees"

TikTok influencers who use the video platform to make short videos in the hopes of going viral are terrified the US government will force the social media app to shut down due to fears that it gives the Chinese government access to users' data.

That's because these influencers make money from their videos, and for some, that's their full-time gig.

However as a result of the impending January 19 deadline, TikTokers or content creators on TikTok are calling themselves #tiktokrefugees and "fleeing" to... another Chinese platform called Xiaohongshu.

There are fears TikTok will shut down Jan 19

Little do these influencers know that Xiaohongshu -- originally translated as "Little Red Book" -- in a satirical nod to Chairman Mao Zedong's book of quotations, is a Chinese company promoted as "RedNote" or "Red" in North America these days.

Xiaohongshu is like Instagram, where users can post pictures and videos. Initially it was called "Hong Kong Shopping Guide" to give tips to Chinese visitors to the city of where to eat, stay, and take pictures. For example they would give detailed instructions on where to have their "Instagram-worthy" shot with say a cup of Arabica coffee along the waterfront in Kennedy Town.

It was great for the cafe having lots of customers, but terrible for traffic in the area, as people blocked roads to get the perfect shot.

Started by Miranda Qu and Charlwin Mao in 2013, Xiaohongshu caught the attention of several Chinese tech giants, like Alibaba and Tencent, and last July the app was worth a staggering US$17 billion. The users are predominantly women, and as a result many beauty and cosmetic brands advertise on the app. Xiaohongshu does not have an e-commerce aspect so users need to turn to Taobao or TMall to purchase things.

Chew is invited to the inauguration

But now with so many TikTok influencers, especially those from the US trying to set up accounts on Xiaohongshu, Chinese cyber regulators may not be so keen on the flood of people, particularly those not from or in China.

Already Chinese officials have told the company it "needs to ensure China-based users cannot see posts from US users", which signals the government may see the influx of Americans to RedNote as a political security threat.

What's interesting is that already there are unfiltered interactions between Chinese and US users, sharing homework questions for example, or asking what life is like in China and getting real depictions instead of rosy pictures from government sources.

So how will Xiaohongshu get around this? Create a special area only US users can access? That might be too hard to manage, and not really beneficial to US influencers who might be providing content to a limited audience.

Or this is all moot after Donald Trump gets into office on January 20. He has already shown support for TikTok, even inviting CEO Shou Zi Chew to the inauguration on Monday. Maybe those TikTok "refugees" won't have to flee the video platform after all...

Halloween 2024 Report

An elaborate Halloween display

This year Halloween was... wet.

We started around 5.30pm and soon after it started sprinkling and that soon turned into rain.

Even though the kids complained about the precipitation, they were still very keen about getting candy. Lots of it.

Free hugs? Yikes!

One house handed out cans of soda, another a full-size box of Smarties. Most handed out chocolates by hand, one or two with a chute, and some just left a box on the front porch with a sign instructing children to take one each. The kids' bags got heavy quite fast, but they were reluctant to relinquish their bags of candy to their parents.

Some of the houses had fantastic decorations, lots of web-like cotton spread over shrubs, graves half opened with feet or hands sticking out, lots of skeletons hanging about. There was even one made of plastic milk jugs. So clever!

One had a pumpkin carved with a gerbil or hamster, while another had three intricately-carved gourds, one with a Celtic weave, an owl and a heart. "They did a lot of work," my nephew remarked about their pumpkins.

The other nephew is terrified of scary noises and refused to go to the houses that had eerie sounds coming out of them. But he would happily go to the other ones "that aren't scary". 

At one point we found shelter at a church that had police managing traffic at the intersection. We got some piping hot chocolate, and the kids got more candy and played with friends. There were other refreshments like hot dogs, mandarin oranges, tea, coffee, apples and popcorn.

Intricately carved owl pumpkin

While the kids played, some parents sat on folding chairs staring at their phones, while others chit chatted amongst themselves. It was a nice respite from the rain before we headed out again.

Amazingly the kids lasted for just over two hours and still keen on collecting more candy when we almost got home. One house had two skeletons dressed up looking out the window...

Picture of the Day: Tim Hortons in Singapore

A 12th Tim Horton's will open in Singapore

The other day my friend in Singapore told me she saw yet another Tim Hortons opening in the Lion City!

And looking at the company's website, there are 11 locations in Singapore already, serving double doubles and Tim Bits along with ice roasted macadamia oatmilk latte, maple cinnamon latte and Belgian chocolate mocha. Or if you're not fussed about your coffee, then you can order the "daily brew".

Interestingly the donuts available include yuzu cream, kaya filled, along with honey cruellers, maple glaze and caramel Biscoff. 

Wonder what makes Tim Hortons so appealing to Singaporeans?!

For some it might be the intriguing taste of Canada (or nostalgic for others?). Tim Hortons has only been in Singapore since November 2023. 

The Canadian brand is one of the largest coffee chains in the world with over 5,700 stores in 14 countries, with the first outlet in Hamilton, Ontario in 1964.

Canadian soft power in the form of donuts and coffee...!!!

Gourmet Coffee in Singapore

The menu has over 200 coffees to choose from!

In Singapore, a friend took me to a coffee shop called Bacha Coffee. It's a cafe and shop within the Takashiyama Shopping Centre on Orchard Road. The brand was started back in 1910 in Marrakesh, specialising in Arabica coffees.

Bacha sources the best coffee beans from 35 coffee-producing countries and the menu is purely for coffee connoisseurs. The menu features more than 200 coffees with a description for each, which makes it hard to choose! But even if you don't know your coffees, the staff can help you in the right direction, kind of like asking what kind of wine you like to drink.

A hazelnut cake to go with our cups of coffee

As I don't drink much coffee and it was already early afternoon, I decided to try a decaffeinated coffee called "Night in Moka". It is described as: "This exceptional naturally decaffeinated coffee is enduring with delicate notes of fresh herbs, nuts and citrus breaking through warm flavours of dark chocolate."

The staff look sharp in their white jackets and quickly serve guests with their coffee cups along with a gold-plated coffee pot with a long, skinny spout. While the price (S$11/US$8) is expensive, the pot allows you to drink over two cups of coffee.

While there is no milk served with the coffee here, there is the option of whipped cream to elevate the coffee experience. There's also some pastries to accompany your gourmet cup of coffee, and we ordered a hazelnut one that went well with our coffee!

It was nice to sit there and catch up with my friend while trying out our cups of coffee without being rushed. 

Whipped cream, not milk for coffee

My friend also noted this brand is also the sister brand to TWG Tea, and that the two brands are always usually in the same location, and together. Both brands are owned by a Singaporean company.

Picture of the Day: Xiaohongshu Photo Shoots

Everyone taking pictures of the street sign in Kennedy Town

Walking around Hong Kong I saw a lot of young Chinese tourists, mostly women in their 20s, dressed up and carrying cameras or their phones mounted on selfie sticks, posing in front of specific streets and landmarks.

They were taking pictures where others on Xiaohongshu or "Little Red Book", a social media and e-commerce platform somewhat similar to Instagram, had posted. 

This was their idea of a Hong Kong holiday, or any trip for that matter -- posing in front of places like Bakehouse, a popular bakery with the coveted blue paper bag, or in front of Arabica coffee shop with the coffee cup that has a percentage sign at its Kennedy Town location.

There are other better places to take photos...

While some of these shops may have a bump in business thanks to these visitors snapping up coffees and pastries, I've heard some of these tourists find empty bags or drained coffee cups to use as props.

Can we say these places have been Xiaohongshu-ed?

Why replicate the same angle as everyone else? Or why not create your own memories of the place with other kinds of pictures?

But no, they seemed obsessed with recreating the same picture (different outfits), and patiently waited for others to finish shooting before they set up their own shot. 

Meanwhile they crowd the sidewalks making it hard for local residents trying to get from A to B.

How long will this trend last? Asking for a friend...

Picture of the Day: Starting a Chippy New Tradition

Santa's open letter for chips instead of cookies

Saw this funny advertisement right next to the comics -- a ploy by chip company Frito Lay to get kids to buy more chips for Christmas instead of cookies. It even includes giant finger prints of a man who has eaten a bag of orange-flavoured chips.

It starts off saying it's "an open letter from Santa Claus 2023".

Santa has something to say to the world.

Santa is tired of cookies.

Just think of how many cookies Santa eats

on Christmas Eve, all across the world.

Wouldn't you be a little tired of them too

if you were in Santa's boots?

This year, Santa's wishing for chips.

And not chocolate chips.

Put out a bowl of something crunchy.

It's time to start a new tradition.

Speaking of traditions, how about some

Lay's Classic? Sometimes you just want something

simple. Or Cheetos Crunchy. Or Doritos Nacho Cheese.

Or put out a bowl of those wish chips you find

in bags of Miss Vickie's (my favourite).

Santa is writing this letter to ask you

to make a wish come true:

Give Santa a break from cookies.

There's a spot at the top of the

Nice List in it for you.

Then there's a signature that says "Santa Claus".

It's quite revolutionary to suggest that kids the world over should ditch the cookies for Santa and instead give him some potato chips. But perhaps the jolly man in the red suit really does want to eat something savoury instead. And maybe he doesn't want milk but strong coffee to stay awake the rest of Christmas Eve?

There goes the homemade cookies! 

We'll have to see if Frito Lay reports a bump in sales in January...

Palm Springs: A Morning at the Fair in the Desert

Metal art like these sculptures were for sale at the market

Every weekend from October to May is the Street and Art Fair at College of the Desert. It's an actual college and the parking lot is turned into a temporary open market where locals and visitors can buy all kinds of things from fruits to jewellery, clothing and even shoe horns.

We drove there around 11am and it's a good set up. Across from where the temporary fair is the parking lot for cars and even better is mini transportation in the form of golf carts to ferry people to the open-air market and back. If you have too many things to carry, or your legs are tired, it's the best.

Wine glasses for diehard golfers...

Even better is the happy-go-lucky driver we had both ways, who was greeting many people by name and waving to those he didn't know. He was very happy to be driving the cart and chatting with people. Maybe it's also because he gets tips in a plastic cup taped to the cart.

Nevertheless, we were dropped off at the middle of the market where a guy dressed as Santa Claus was selling Kris Kringle coffee in paper bags. I didn't see him make a sale but he waved to people and said, "Ho ho ho!"

Feel sorry he had to stand around in 21 degree heat... he couldn't even get an umbrella sorted to give him some shade...

In any event people can buy all kinds of items at this market. The first one we saw sold all kinds of things one would find in a dollar store, like shammies, kitchen gadgets like graters, and foldable laundry baskets.

Heck you could even buy a car if you wanted -- they claimed they ship everywhere!

Colourful folk art pieces to decorates homes

There were also steering wheel covers for sale, reading glasses, watches, jewellery, hats, and a purse organiser (a pouch with many compartments in it to put in your purse).

For those who love a good salesman pitch could watch a guy talk nonstop as he demonstrated how to use a ginger grater, and there was a small group of people watching intently. He was even throwing in a recipe book if you bought a grater...

One stall sold women's golf wear which was quite popular -- with changing rooms too, while another sold golf clubs, US$20 for a sand wedge! Serious golfers were amused.

A food section where there were picnic tables had stalls selling coffee, popcorn, hotdogs, and iced drinks. There were also fruits for sale, like strawberries, papayas, pomegrantes and apples, as well as vegetables and dried dates that were stuffed with walnuts, coconuts, or plain. 

The market seemed like the community centre where people hung out on the weekends to say hi or something to do with friends. We didn't buy anything, but was fun to look!

Giant pomegranates up for grabs

Street & Art Fair at College of the Desert

October to May, 8am-2pm

Corner of Monterey Avenue and Magnesia Falls, Palm Desert

Palm Springs: Strange American Products

Any interest in trying this popcorn?

Ah Americans always come up with the most curious products to entice consumer to buy. Usually products that you don't need at all.

A visit to World Market is a case in point.

It sells all kinds of items from homeware and kitchenware, as well as wine and food. The food ranges from Japanese Kit Kats to pasta sauce, Ghiradelli brownie mix, coffee beans and Hello Kitty cup of noodles.

Keep wine cozy with this sweater

In the discount area there was a bag of Oreo-flavoured popcorn. I've heard of cheese-flavoured and salted caramel, chocolate and cinnamon, but Oreo-flavoured?

I was not intrigued enough to purchase it, even though it was 55 percent off. And if you really wanted to, you could make this yourself by crushing the Oreos in a food processor or manually crushing them with a rolling pin (the cookies in a Ziplock bag!).

The other strange product I saw for sale was a mini Christmas sweater -- for your bottle of wine.

Yes -- did you know your bottle needs a sweater to keep warm? And an ugly Christmas sweater to boot?

There were ones with a dog embroidered on it, and one with a cat too. The canine one says "Happy Howlidays", while another sweater says, "Cheers to the naughty list".

Perhaps that includes having a red nose?

World Market also has a stationary section. There were Snoopy notebooks, but a colouring book dedicated to cats' behinds?

It's called The Cat Butt Colouring and Activity Book, which features 45 pages of cats in various scenes, from an intergalactic feline's butt in space, to decorating a cat butt cake. 

Are cats' behinds a thing?

Apparently there are other cat butt colouring books like Cat Butt Christmas and Cat Butts in Space!

Are cats' butts a thing? I had no idea until now...

The things you discover at World Market.

Word of the Day: Special Forces Travel

People like to buy a coffee and sit outside by the waterfront

The new buzzword among young Chinese mainlanders is 特种兵式旅游 or "special forces travel" -- visiting as many destinations as possible in a short period of time while spending the least amount of money.

They look to the app Xiaohongshu to help them plan their itinerary, and Hong Kong is one of their destinations.

Taking photos on the "special forces travel" list

Instead of lining up at luxury brand stores to buy the latest handbag or shoes, they are on a budget and visiting Hong Kong's various districts, though one in particular is really popular -- Kennedy Town, where I used to live.

They are descending on the waterfront, where a certain coffee shop known by its "%" sign -- Arabica -- is a super hot spot for "special forces travel".

The place was already very popular with locals who would come here on the weekends and pose with their lattes and iced coffees, and now it seems their mainland counterparts are doing the same, except in exponential numbers.

In Xiaohongshu, Kennedy Town is described as "the most romantic neighbourhood" in the city, perhaps with the waterfront scenery paired with eclectic stores and cafes, made popular by Arabica and Slowood, an eco-friendly shop that invites customers to buy food in bulk.

It's easy to get to too via tram, MTR and bus.

Slowood is an eco-friendly shop drawing visitors

Some believe young mainlanders traveling on budget is a sign that China's economic recovery hasn't come to fruition as hoped, and the property sector seems to be teetering to the brink with Evergrande Group and Country Garden having deep financial problems.

Other say post-pandemic they want to go out and experience life outside as much as possible to make up for lost time.

While it's good that money will be going to local businesses instead of multinational conglomerates, visitors should be careful while taking pictures at Kennedy Town's waterfront! There's a lot of traffic there that doesn't stop!

Baijiu-infused coffee, anyone?

China has baijiu-infused coffee drinks for the younger crowd

Looking for another way to spike your coffee instead of the usual splash of Bailey's?

How about adding baijiu?

There are some 14 baijiu-infused coffee drinks

Kweichow Moutai is now offering the fiery grain-based liquor in coffee drinks from lattes to Americanos in another bid to appeal to the younger generation.

Last summer the baijiu brand teamed up with China Mengniu Dairy to offer alcohol-infused ice cream and it was a hit -- at one point demand was so high it was sold out everywhere.

Perhaps Kweichow Moutai is hoping baijiu-infused coffee will be just as popular.

The coffee drinks using Moutai Flying Fairy at 43 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) were soft launched in Guangzhou last week with 14 different types of coffee beverages with prices ranging from 28 yuan to 42 yuan (US$4-US$6). Customers could also request a dose of higher grade baijiu called Moutai Flying Fairy which has 53 percent ABV.

The drinks are also available in Chongqing and Zhengzhou with varying menus and prices, but it's not clear where the coffee beans were sourced. Or does it matter as the taste might be overwhelmed by the baijiu fiery sensation down the throat?

Drinks range from 28 yuan to 48 yuan

Baijiu has always been synonymous with the Chinese ruling elite ever since Mao Zedong served it at state dinners for US President Richard Nixon during his historic visit in 1972. It is also the gift of choice to government officials, with the popular saying: "Those who buy Moutai never drink it, while those who drink it never buy it."

In addition, Moutai is the dominant player in the market with a market capitalisation of 2.12 trillion yuan (US$296 billion), almost three times more than its nearest competitor, Wuliangye.

Coffee purists will probably shun this latest creative collaboration, but China's coffee drinking market is still young and will probably be willing to try the baijiu-infused coffee at least once.

Will the Moutai overpower the taste of the coffee? And will the caffeine cancel out the alcoholic effects on the body? Too many questions.