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Italian for a day… in Vancouver

Italian Day, Commercial Drive, June 9

Italian for a day… Italian is actually the third language I learned, while I learned to play accordion. It is the language of music.. Rossini, Puccini… and O Solo Mio. I grew up near Commercial Drive and had lots of Italian-Canadian friends, and later I even had Italian girlfriends. I played accordion for their families. I cook fettucini and linguine noodles with beef stir-fry and Chinese oyster or soy sauce. And maybe… I will organize a dragon boat team for the Italian Cultural Centre.
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These two ladies were dancers in the flash mob that took place in front of the main stage, after the speeches finished.  About 20 dancers with carnivale masks did a synchronized routine – spectacular!  One of their mothers took this picture for me.

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My friend Giulio Recchioni is the Cultural director for Il Centro: Italian Cultural Centre. OMG… I am still wearing my kilt. I had just come from the Dragon Zone Regatta, racing with the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team. I think Giuilo would be a good paddler. Maybe we can create a dragon boat team for Il Centro: Italian Cultural Centre.

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Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson reads from the city proclamation to announce “Italian Day in Vancouver”

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After the speeches I chatted with Vancouver councilor Tony Tang (who wants to wear a kilt), Burnaby MLA Richard Lee, and Michael Cuccione – president of the ICC.
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Sardines on the big grill, at the PCOV – Portuguese Club of Vancouver – always a big line up here.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team – back to race speed!

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Looking Good! 2013 edition of the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team continues a 16 year history that began in 1997 as Celebration Team. This team is a mix of veterans and rookies, as well as returning paddlers and borrowed paddlers. The Dragon Zone Regatta was the first race ever for Sunny and Russ, and was actually Russ’ 3rd time in a dragon boat.  Louise first paddled with the team in ’99, before the name changed to Gung Haggis Fat Choy in ’02. Michelle also paddled on a previous team years ago, and has rejoined dragon boating with us.  Keng and Gerard joined the team in 2005. Deb Martin joined the team in 2003 and has paddled, drummed – but now steers for the team.  Joy is back with us, after dragon boat paddling in Dubai.  Jan, Betty, Albert and Katie are with the Go Ju Goh team. Stewart is a paddling friend from O2P and is now on the VO2 Max team (I don’t know why he likes this letter and number teams, honestly!).

Sybil and Karl were lead strokes for our final race of the day.  Karl is also team manager this year, Last year he co-managed with Xavier, who is now drummer, and taking this photo.

Our first race of the year saw us boarding the boat, as the previous weather forecast proved wrong, and the sky started spitting rain, which turned into a downpour, once we were out on the race course.  Good thing we have trained our team to have a strong mental resolve.  We practice in the rain, because it might be raining on race day, and while other teams whine about the rain, we will be ready because we trained in the rain. Anyways, we came 5th in our first race with a time of 2:48. Not bad for a first race.  Our team goal is be “first in our lane and never be slower than 3:00” – okay… not really.

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Our paddles go deep!  Nicely coached… by the third race, as we were warming up for the final race of the day.  We want our paddlers to lean up, keep their top arm out, and lead the stroke with their hips!photo

We had to race past a flock of Canada Geese that were swimming in the middle of the race course! The Dogwood Nothing pulled in front of us in this race – but we will get them back in two weeks… I promise!photo

Xavier looks comfortable as drummer on the boat, and he really “Rocks the Kilt!”  Did you know that he is the only kilt-maker on the team?  He also plays guitar and churango in the Black Bear Rebels Celtic Ceilidh group.

The Gung HAGGIS Fat Choy parade dragon has been very active in 2013 – will we be at the Dragon Boat Festival?

Gung HAGGIS Fat Choy dragon boat team is very multicultural, and very community-minded.  The team began in 1997 under the name Celebration Team, and was renamed Gung HAGGIS Fat Choy in 2002, named after the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner event, that had its first public dinner in 1998.

This year’s team has members with origins from around the world, as well as multiple generations in Canada.  But our parade dragon has been especially busy in 2013.  In June, we might make an appearance at the Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival, as well as the On the Edge International Conference for Scottish and Irish Studies.

Here is a recap of our dragon parade activities so far….
In MAY Asian Heritage Month, we were commissioned to do our dragon walk at the Vancouver Opera pre-show lobby, during their May 4-11, production of Tea: Mirror of Soul.2013_May_Opera 014at Vancouver Opera pre-show with Alma Lee (founder of Vancouver International Writers Festival)

 

MARCH 17, for the past 8 years we have been in the Celtic Fest St. Patrick’s Day Parade
with either a dragon boat float, or our parade dragon.  This year, we ended up on the cover of 24 Hours Newspaper.

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February 17
The Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade

January 27th
and our world famous Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner – as interviewed on BBC Radio Scotland, and filmed for local newscasts, and US Public Radio + many other media over the years.
DSC_0044_857158 - Piping in the VIPs

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Tips on How to Choose A Luxury Watch

5 Tips on How to Choose A Luxury Watch

A luxury timepiece can represent the significant investment of time and also the value for its design, function and quality. The purchase of a luxury timepiece can be aroused from different intentions, as a personal milestone in a certain stage of life, as a token to be passed down to your next generation, to fulfill your enthusiasm for luxury watches or also as an investment. Whatever intention of yours is, it is sure a major life’s decision in choosing the right luxury watch to own or to invest in. Therefore, here are the five tips which lead you in your journey of purchasing luxury watches that suit you the most. This is the most popular replica rolex.

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Know Your Intention and Preferences

No matter for men or for women, always be clear of your intention in owning a luxury watch. The luxury watch can be an accessory for social occasions, it can be an expression of an individual’s persona, it can be an impressive art piece or even an appreciation of the complex inner mechanics engineering. By confirming your intention in owning a luxury watch, you can get to know your preferences on the looks, the functions and the practicality of the luxury watch which you will be opted for. For example, if you are looking for something sporty with modern design and some sparks of colours, the Zenith Chronomaster Sport with tachymeter which contrasts beautifully with the colours of rose gold, navy and white accents on the latest and most technical evolution of revered automatic chronograph.

source: https://horologisto.com/review-of-the-zenith-chronomaster-sport/

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Get Clear on Your Budget

After getting your intention and preferences right on track, it is time to note down your budget for your shopping. There are different valuable timepieces out there for every budget. If you have a lower budget around RM2,000, the Seiko Prospex would be a nice one to opt for.

source: https://www.seikowatches.com/us-en/products/prospex

Higher budget around RM4,000 to RM12,000, Omega Speedmaster can be one of your choices. Available in CYT.

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source: https://cytwatch.my/product/706-speedmaster-professional-moonwatch

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Study on Watch Movements and Materials

Another thing which you should do is your research on the movements and materials of the luxury watches as it influences the prices as well as the styles. What is meant by the watch movements? Watch movement is the mechanism that makes a watch to keep ticking and telling the time accurately. There are a few movement types which you can go through to check out which type you will be preferring more. The movement types are manual movement, automatic movement and quartz movement.

Manual movement is also called as the mechanical movement. A mechanical watch with mechanical movement needs to be wound manually before wearing it to make sure that you will be seeing the correct timing. This movement is the most traditional movements which can be found in conservative, expensive and collectable watches. Example of manual movement luxury watch, the Piaget. Available in CYT.

source: https://cytwatch.my/product/562-limelight-paris-new-york

Automatic movement type of watch will be winding by itself while it is being worn on the wrist. However, if it is not worn for some time, the watch will stop working and it will be needing a manual winding to restart it. One of the examples for automatic movement luxury watch will be the Cartier. Now available in CYT.

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source: https://cytwatch.my/product/356-cartier-rotonde-de-cartier

Quartz movement watches work on the uses of battery as its power source. Therefore, it does not need a manual winding to make it works. This type of watch movement is currently the most accurate type of movement being produced and normally these quartz movement watches will be less expensive compared to the mechanical ones due to the craftsmanship of the production. Check out the automatic movement luxury watches, the Tag Heuer in CYT.

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source: https://cytwatch.my/products/48-tag-heuer

As for watch materials, stainless steel watches are more affordable, Titanium ones are light-weighted, carbon fiber material watches are less expensive than noble metals ones. Therefore, try to make sure of all these details when choosing for your ideal luxury watches.

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New Opera Tan Dun’s Tea: Mirror of Soul

Wow… so many people have been saying that Vancouver Opera’s current production of Tea: Mirror of Soul, composed by Tan Dun, is a must see.

The visuals are stunning.  The music is compelling.  The topics of love, family, guilt, loss, death are standard in many operas.  But combined with a unique blend of Chinese music and story that includes references to the Monkey King, and the art of tea ceremony, this opera pushes and challenges boundaries on many levels.  The most striking is its use of water, paper and rock as musical and visual themes.  There are large water bowls on each side of the stage, and musicians hit, slap or drip the water to create a fascinating aural soundscape.  Paper is used as visual forest for scenery, or it is hit with drum sticks to create thunder, or rolled to create thunder.  As well the opera chorus holds sheets of paper and uses it like percussion, complimenting the orchestra.

 

Nancy Allen Lundy has played the character of Lan in every production of Tea: a Mirror of Soul.

This is the setting for the exquisite singing, that is a blend of traditional classical opera and Chinese opera.  American soprano Nancy Allen Lundy, performs Lan.  She is the only artist to have ever played this role in productions around the world.  She sings like a bel canto bird on some songs, while on others she bends her notes like in Chinese opera style.  It is different for ears accustomed to Western opera – but it is exciting that Vancouver Opera would mount this production.  Find out more about Nancy Allen Lundy from the Opera Blog

It’s also a perfect blend for the cultural diversity of Vancouver.  Much is made of Vancouver’s large Chinese population, as well as the local music scene which features lots of cultural fusion artists such as Silk Road Music, Orchid Ensemble, and even Mozaico Flamenco – which performed a full scale of Cafe de Chinitas this past weekend.

Tan Dun is more well known in North America as the composer of the soundtrack for the movie Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.  I loved both the movie and the music which featured cello superstar Yo Yo Ma.  Ten years ago, I witnessed Vancouver Opera concertmaster Mark Ferris perform Tan Dun’s “Crouching Tiger Concerto for Cello and Chamber Orchestra” with the CBC Radio Orchestra-  with featured Chinese erhu virtuoso George Gao  http://www.tandunonline.com/compositions/Crouching-Tiger-Concerto.  It was amazing.

The opera opens with the main character Seikyu, a former prince now a monk in Kyoto Japan, performing a ritualistic tea ceremony.  He sings of bitterness, and the monks ask him why.  Then then begins to tell a story of ten years past when he was in China, and in love in the Princess Lan.  The action then shifts to China, as the sets seem to magically transform.

But this opera is more than just the music.  There are so many levels of story,

The opera runs again on Thursday May 9th and Saturday May 11th, start time is 7:30pm.  Don’t be late or you will miss opening preamble and musicians walking up the aisles.

This review – is still in process – check back for more!

Watch these videos about Tea: A Mirror of Soul – posted by Vancouver Opera on youtube.

Naomi’s Road at West Vancouver Library is great… looking forward to April 23 at Italian Cultural Centre

Erica Iris and Hiather Darnela-Kadanoga play Obasan and Naomi, in a scene when the family leaves Vancouver on a train.

I saw the production at West Vancouver Library on Friday April 19th, and we both really enjoyed it.  Sam Chung returns as Stephen. The new singers are all good. Hiather Darnel-Kadonaga plays Naomi, Erica Iris plays the 3 roles Mother, Obasan and Mitzie. Henry Chen plays Daddy, Bully, Rough Lock Bill, Trainmaster.

I saw the original production in 2005/06 five times and enjoyed it immensely.  West Vancouver Library isn’t the best place to the performance because lighting was not the best, and the performer’s faces were often in shadows.  Close to 50 people came to the library for the free performance.

The performances by all singers are strong, and the storyline is strong.  Watching the perfomers, we were amazed at both the choreography of the movement on stage, as well as how the small versatile set is used and moved to simulate so many scenes: Powell Street, Living Room, Train, Internment Camp.   There were tears in my eyes as I watched the pinnacle scene of the opera.  It makes a powerful statement against racism and bullying.

Tickets are still on sale for Tuesday’s April 23 performance.

buy tickets on-line here:

http://italianculturalcentre.ca/highlights/naomis-road/

There will be a limited number of tickets available at the door.

Hiather Darnel-Kadonaga (soprano) plays Naomi


Erica Iris (mezzo-soprano) performs as Mother, Mitzi, Obasan

Sam Chung (tenor) plays Stephen
Photographs courtesy of Vancouver Opera, and available from the Naomi’s Road press kit http://www.vancouveropera.ca/2012-13-naomisroad-presskit.html

Head Tax Families Society of Canada has a successful AGM

More than 50 seniors attended the AGM of the Head Tax Families Society of Canada, held Saturday April 20 at the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver. Many spoke in Cantonese, as they are the surviving sons and daughters of the original head tax payers who came to Canada before the Chinese Exclusion Act banned immigration.  Some were born in Canada, but many had been born in China, and were separated by the Exclusion Act until after 1947, when the Act was repealed, and families could be reunited.  Several of the seniors came up to me to say hello, commenting they hadn’t seen me for awhile.

 

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Standing with my friends for a just and honourable redress. I am a descendant of 3 generations of head tax payers: My maternal great grandfather Ernest Lee, my grandfather Sunny Mar, and my paternal grandmother Wong Sze.

Naomi’s Road returns… Come see April 23 at Italian Cultural Centre

Come see “Naomi’s Road” opera – based on Joy Kogawa’s famous award winning book “Obasan” and it’s children’s novel counterpart.
Only 45 minutes + short talk & Q&A with survivors of Japanese & Italian Canadian internment camps, Mr. Akira Horii and Mr. Ray Culos.
An important part of Canadian history – if you have read Obasan, and watched “Bomb Girls” on tv.
Coffee & desserts served following.
Deb and I saw the production at West Vancouver Library on Friday April 19th, and we both really enjoyed it.  Sam Chung returns as Stephen. The new singers are all good. Hiather Darnel-Kadonaga plays Naomi, Erica Iris plays the 3 roles Mother, Obasan and Mitzie. Henry Chen plays Daddy, Bully, Rough Lock Bill, Trainmaster
Proceeds to Historic Joy Kogawa House, if we meet our audience numbers…
I loved the Naomi’s Road opera when I first saw it in October 2005, and the following four times I saw it again at West Vancouver Library, Vancouver Public Library, Japanese Language School, and Nikkei Centre.
Here is my review from it’s Premiere weekend in October 2005

Naomi’s Road cast + Vancouver Opera staff come for a visit to Historic Joy Kogawa House

Naomi’s Road cast came for a visit to Historic Joy Kogawa House on Thursday.

They were delighted to see the home and cherry tree where the characters of Naomi and Stephen grew up.

Photo: Naomi's Road cast came for a visit to Historic Joy Kogawa House on Thursday, They were delighted to see the home and cherry tree where the characters of Naomi and Stephen grew up. Myself, and fellow Kogawa House board members Deb and Joan, join the cast + pianist + stage manager.  Really looking forward to their Vancouver performance on Tuesday April 23 at Italian Cultural Centre. Tix are going quickly.  www.italianculturalcentre.ca/highlights/Naomi's-road/

Myself, and fellow Kogawa House board members Deb and Joan, join the cast + pianist + stage manager. L-R, Todd, Deb, Baritone Henry Chen, Soprano Hiather Darnel-Kadonaga, “Joy”, Mezzo-Soprano Erica Iris, pianist Candy Siu, stage manager Melania Radelicki, Joan, and tenor Sam Chung.

Really looking forward to their Vancouver performance on Tuesday April 23 at Italian Cultural Centre. Tix are going quickly. www.italianculturalcentre.ca/highlights/Naomi’s-road/

35 people from Vancouver Opera came to Kogawa House including graphic designers, set builders, publicist, finance officer, and representatives from the volunteer Opera Guild.

General Manager James Wright, who had originally came up with the idea of turning the children’s novel Naomi’s Road into an opera.  He shared the story about reading Great Canadian Books of the Century by Vancouver Public Library, and being inspired by the synopsis/review about Joy Kogawa’s novel Obasan.

I shared how in September 2005, that Ann-Marie Metten had called me with the information that a demolition permit had been applied for for 1450 West 64th Ave, the address of Kogawa House.  At the time, Naomi’s Road opera was just about to launch, and the Vancouver Public Library was just wrapping up its One Book One Vancouver program that featured the novel Obasan, and Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop was awarding its Community Builder Award to Joy.  It was an amazing intersection of celebrations of Joy Kogawa’s works, and it all helped to draw attention to saving Historic Joy Kogawa House from possible demolition.

It is indeed amazing how things come full circle.

Dragon boats and Harbour Seals

Today, we saw a big harbour seal lazily swimming on the water in front of our dragon boat in False Creek, just off David Lam Park. I called “let it ride” and the paddlers stopped paddling, and I softly said “Quiet” to the team… as the boat glided quietly… right past the seal… until it was 5 feet away from the boat… When our mid boat reached it, it slowly swam away on the surface… to about 20 feet distance… then dived. It must have been sleeping on the surface… The closest and longest look, I have seen a habour seal from a dragon boat in 20 years of paddling.

Too bad we didn’t have a camera handy… but in June 10, last year, a seal was following our boat, and nipping at the steering oar… These pictures are from our June 2012 photo set