Janice Wong continues to make the rounds with her book Chow.
Monday: City Cooks
Tuesday: Vancouver Museum
City Cooks airs on
Monday morning at 9:30am and 12 Noon, as Janice tells her stories with
Simi Sara. Janice reports that Simi was great to work with.
There will be a skill testing question to win a copy of the book.
Hint, the question has something to do with Janice's father, Dennis.
I heard Janice's radio interview with Shelagh Rogers on CBC Radio's Sounds Like Canada
on Friday. It was a very warm and friendly interview, with
Shelagh asking many questions about Janice's family ancestors and how
they came to Canada, and how her parents settled in Prince Albert,
Sasketchewan. I particularly enjoyed hearing about Janice's
first ancestor in Canada, Rev. Chan Yu Tan,
who arrived in 1896, as a Methodist lay preacher for the Chinese
Methodist Church (especially since he is my great-great-grandfather).
Janice
also brought some chicken wings, steamed sable fish and beans with dow
see (bean curd) and presented the food in a laquerware box, and Shelagh
complimented Janice
on the presentation, and also upon tasting the food. Shelagh was
also particularly interested in hearing the stories about how Janice's
father was born premature, and his mother wrapped him up in blankets
and put him in the oven to keep him warm.
Another fascinating story was how Janice had started the book as a gift
for her family, after her father died. A friend encouraged her to
turn it into a book, and Whitecap Books appreciated her creative
in the book design, recognizing Janice as an accomplished and
professional visual artist- Janice Wong Studio.
Janice also told stories about how her parents met in Nanaimo
Chinatown, and seeing her grand-Uncle Luke Chan in Hollywood movies
that her father would point out, such as “The Mysterious Mr. Wong,” as
well he was
in movies with Clark Gable, Bela Lugosi and Katherine
Hepburn.
Afterwards, Janice sent me this e-mail:
“The interview with Shelagh was
fun. She's such a warm person. I met Philip (Ditchburn) and
he mentioned your geneology connection. I don't think the
producer told Shelagh about you and me as Philip mentioned it after the interview and she was pleasantly surprised.”