Category Archives: Vancouver Area Adventures

Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team has a great weekend at Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival

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2009_June_RTA_DBF 032 by you.

Look at that R-E-A-C-H….  Gung Haggis stays ahead of boat 1 in the Rec D Championship Finals – photo Deb Martin.

Congratulations to Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team paddlers!

They conveyed a sense of teamship, caring for each other, and for community.

They paddled their best, adapted to changing situations, changing rosters, and changing race conditions.

2009_June_RTA_DBF 015 by Toddish McWong.Gung Haggis paddlers after our 1st race on Sunday morning – photo thanks to Allan

Our paddlers improved with every race, both individually and together. 
Very little separates you from the teams that we know who finished in
Rec C (O2P, Hmmm Sea Monster), Rec B (Pirates, CBC, Strokin' It Hard,
Flight Centre, CC Riders) or Rec A (Metro Vancouver, Banana Fusion,
Shaggin' Dragons) – except maybe a little bit of testosterone, a little
bit of cardio and muscle work, a little more attention to detail such
as rotation, reach, entry, paddle angle, etc.

4 seconds
faster and we could have medaled in Rec C Final.
10 seconds faster and we could have medaled in Rec B Final.

2009_June_RTA_DBF 003 by Toddish McWong

Sean John high-fives Karen and other paddlers as they come up the ramp from the boat docks, after our Sunday morning race.  We came 3rd, so we moved into the Rec D Final for the afternoon – photo D.Martin

While medals are fun, I think it is more important to be part of a great group of people,
that had fun, did their best, and can be friends together, and share
meals together.  I am personally very proud of everybody on the team,
and I know that everybody each has something special that adds to this
team.

It was great to have Manfred in the boat with us this weekend. 
He has been a coaching friend and rival competitor and occasional
teammate for many years.  He says this is a good team.  He likes your
attitude, your paddling ability, your friendliness… and sense of
fun.  Manfred will not take off his pants for “just any team” you
know…

Special thanks to Commodore Stephen Mirowski, team
manager Tzhe Lam for helping to organize the team, roster and leadership.

Thanks to Keng and Gerard Graal to step in to drum and be land manager, after spending the past 3 weeks in Holland.

2009_June 052 by Toddish McWong.
Gung Haggis team was filmed for the upcoming documentary “Chinatown Canada” produced by Image Pacific, to be seen on Omni Television in the fall.  I was also interviewed talking about Vancouver Chinatown, Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner, and the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team – photo D.Martin


It was a busy weekend for me as I was also busy with:

  • my coaching Killarney Cougar Dragons Junior Team
  • our being filmed for the “Chinatown Canada” tv documentary series
  • my being interviewed for the “Chinatown Canada” tv documentary series
  • my steering for out of town teams (I used to be on the Race Committee, so they know I am a good qualifited steers)
  • my
    social involvement and networking with ex-paddlers, friends on other
    teams, race organizers, Festival past-presidents, friends on out of
    town teams, friends who cheered us on,

These are also qualities that makes Gung Haggis
Fat Choy dragon boat team and myself, amongst the first choice to be
involved in film documentaries and books on dragon boating!   

As lang's me arm…
Todd

2009_June_RTA_DBF 021 by Toddish McWong

Todd Wong stands with dragon boat community friends Enzo Guierro (RTA DBF Race Committee) and Milton Wong (founding chair of the Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Society), Todd served on the DBF race committee from 2001 to 2003. photo Steven Wong.

Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival June 2009

More photos Click here:   Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat.. on Todd's Flickr site.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy team prepares for last practice before the Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festiival June 20/21

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It's the last practice before the race: Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team

2009_June_Dragonboats 012 by Toddish McWong.

Gung Haggis team line up at the Dragon Zone regatta on June 6th – photo Todd Wong

The Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival is the largest in North America. Dragon boat racing began in Vancouver BC, when the Hong Kong pavillion at Expo 86 donated 4 teak boats to the City of Vancouver.  I started attending the festivals for the great entertainment and shows.  It wasn't until 1993 that I first joined a team and started paddling.

The Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team has been racing at Alcan Dragon Boat Festival since 2002.  Prior to that I coached and paddled on many different teams at the novice, recreation and competitive levels.  The Gung Haggis team emphasizes fun, fitness and multiculturalism.  That's why we wear our kilts while paddling a Chinese dragon boat tradition.

We have been asked to participate in two film documentaries.  One is a feature film titled “In the Same Boat”, directed by Alfonso Chin and produced by Jacqueline Liu for Rosetta Entertainment.  Alfonso used to paddle for the CC Riders team, and our paddler/drummer Keng Graal used to be one of his teachers.

2009_June_Dragonboats 007 by Toddish McWong Katie, rookie Gung Haggis paddler is interviewed for “In the Same Boat” dragon boat documentary film – photo T.Wong

The second film is a multi-part series called “Chinatown Canada” produced by Kerri Beattie of Image Pacific.  They will be interviewing me about Vancouver Chinatown, and filming our Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team in action, as one of the cultural off shoots of Chinatown.

We are having our final pre-race practice tonight  5:45 to 7:30pm at
Dragon Zone (50 paces south of Science World – at the Green Trailer
Building).

We will be working out our final race strategies, and finalizing seating arrangements.  Some of the paddlers have been away, but have returned just in time.  We have four brand new paddlers who raced their first races ever in May and June.  We have two more brand new paddlers who have yet to experience a full race with 7 or more boats. 

Our core veterans have been with the team for 4 years or more.  We have added some paddlers who have experience with other teams.  This could be the best Gung Haggis team ever.  But our roles at drummer and steers are not settled yet, and we might be rotating people.

Tonight after a debriefing… we are having a team social at “The Clubhouse
Restaurant” on West 2nd – across from City TV, and on the same block as
Bazzaar Novelty.

There is a dvd machine in the upstairs party room.
I will be showing documentary footage of the team from
France 3 “Thalassa” 2005
CBC Generations: The Chan Legacy 2006
ZDF “From Toronto to Vancouver by Train” 2007
but not from the 2008 Global News “Best of BC”


Vancouver Storytelling at Main St. Car Free Days – with Toddish McWong

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Photo Library - 2614 by you.

Toddish McWong, telling stories at 2008 Celtic Fest for the Battle of the Bards, and reading Robert Burns poetry – photo D. Martin.

Vancouver Storytelling at Main St. Car Free Days, with Todd Wong

I have been asked by Vancouver Storytellers, to give a storytelling performance

Location: located on the West Side at 18th.; on a grassy
island set back from Main Street.  We are beside a tiny mall with
a Pizza Hut.

It is Car Free Days starts at 12 noon at the following locations.
Commercial Drive (between Venables and 1st Ave.)
Denman St. (between Davie and Robson)
Main St. (between 12th and 25th)
Kitsilano (various neighborhood block parties)
http://www.carfreevancouver.org/


I will tell stories of early Chinese & Scottish pioneers in BC,

I will look down Main Street towards Chinatown and tell stories about my
great-great-grandfather Rev. Chan Yu Tan, who came to Canada in 1896 as a lay preacher for
the Chinese Methodist Church….  

I will tell stories about how James Douglas was born in Guyana to a Scottish father and a Creole mother, and came to BC to become the first governor of BC.

I will look south to the Fraser River, and recount how Simon Fraser was born in the United States, came to Canada with his Loyalist mother, and travelled through Western Canada, to explore this Westernmost land and named it New Caledonia.

I will the origins of Gung Haggis Fat Choy: 

  • in 1993, when I first wore a kilt for the SFU, Robbie Burns Day celebrations
  • in 1998, with a small private dinner for 16 people in a living room
  • how it has grown into an annual Robbie Burns Chinese New Year dinner serving 550 people
  • and spun off a CBC TV performance special
  • The SFU Gung Haggis Fat Choy Festival, by SFU Recreation department.

Eating on Mayne Island… 4 eateries… all delicious!

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Holidays and good food go together.

2009_May_Mayne Island 171Menu board on the patio of the Wild Fennel restaurant on Mayne Island – photo Todd Wong

On Mayne Island we visited the Wild Fennel Restaurant, Springwater Lodge, the newly renovated “Brickworks Restaurant on the Bay” at the Mayne Inn Resorts, and I even had breakfast at the Sunny Mayne Bakery Café.  So I did indeed visit all four restaurants listed in the Mayne Island brochure found on the BC Ferry, and also listed on the Mayne Island Chamber website:
http://www.mayneislandchamber.ca/restaurants.htm

We had caught the 7:20 ferry from Tsawwassen, so I ate dinner in the BC Ferry Restaurant, which is basically a  mini White Spot.  I had the bacon & cheese burger with fries… but substituted a soft drink for the frozen coffee drink that had a lot of mocha in it!  Definitely better than Tim Hortons!

At 7am, Friday, I woke up early and wanted to find a place for coffee and breakfast.  Where do the locals go?  It's the Sunny Mayne Bakery Café where I found delicious fried potatoes and scrambled eggs, which I ate with ketchup and HP Sauce.  Perfect!  They even make cappucinos and mochas too.  I opted for plain coffee to which I added some chocolate, honey, and cream.  Located in the town centre on 472 Village Bay Road, beside Tru Value Foods.

2009_May_Mayne Island 092 View of Bennett Bay from Bricksworks restaurant at Mayne Inn Resorts – photo Todd Wong

We went kayaking on Friday, and was very tempted to try to buy fresh crabs from the boat hauling up their crab traps in Bennett Bay – but I didn't bring my wallet on our 2 1/2 hour kayak excursion.  🙁

Oh well, after burning up an appetite kayaking and hiking to Campbell Point, we headed to “Brickworks Restaurant on the Bay” at the Mayne Inn Resorts.  The Resort is undergoing some rennovations, so it looks like it is closed from the street.  But we drove in and found a lovely upscale setting.  With a stunning view of Bennett Bay, we sat down and quickly ordered the special of the day, “Seafood Wellington” – salmon, haddock and prawns baked in puff pastry.  At $18, it was large and reasonably priced.  We cut it in two and shared it, along with the vegetables and rice pilaf.  We sat on the remaining sun on the patio and enjoyed our dinner along with Strongbow and cider.  If we hadn't already planned to spend the sunset hours on the other side of the island, we might have stayed longer.  I was tempted by the $3.99 pub special of a chocolate shooter cup, filled with “your choice” of liquer….

2009_May_Mayne Island 097 Haddock, Salmon and Prawns stuffed into something called Seafood Wellington.  It's a good thing I like to eat my rice and brocolli.-  photo Todd Wong

History of the Springwater Lodge

We next drove to the other side of the island, back to the town centre at Miner's Bay.  At 6pm, there was still a lot of time to fill before darkness fell, and on a small island there isn't a lot to do.  Best thing is go to the pub!  The good ol' hockey game was on the tv set, next to the pool tables.  Detroit 3, Chicago 1.  We went and sat on the patio, enjoying the wonderful view of Active Pass where we had seen orcas from the ferry only 24 hours earlier.  The 3 people at the table beside us all ordered the $18 chipotle prawn special, and said it was very good.  The other table had ordered 2 piece Fish & Chips and that looked good and was much cheaper at $11.99  We ordered the 3 piece for about $1.50 more and shared.  We also ordered the Mission Hill white and red wines.  What a wonderful way to spend a summer evening… restaurant hopping and having wonderful food.  No Killer Whales were spotted, but the BC Ferries tooted their horns and passed each other in Active Pass.

The Historic Springwater Lodge was originally built in 1892, and is the oldest continuously operated hotel in BC.  It was stopping point for miners headed to the Fraser River and Caribou Gold Rush. 


2009_May_Mayne Island 102 View from Springwater Lodge patio.  BC Ferries in the distance – photo Todd Wong

2009_May_Mayne Island 172 Peter smiles after telling us that he is the one (of the partners) that is responsible for the art work. – photo Todd Wong

After driving past the Wild Fennell 4 times on Friday, we went back on Saturday specifically for lunch.  It was the restaurant recommended by our kayaking guide,
and we also remembered it the book “Best Places to Kiss in the
Northwest – a romantic travel guide.”  It's a cosy little place filled with art created by one of
the owners – Peter.  The food was very good, and not out of line with
any of the “west coast bistros” throughout Metro Vancouver – but it had
that special Gulf Island charm, and the prices are quite reasonable. The shrimp soup with wild mushrooms was very nice, and our sandwiches were delicious.  I had the smoked tuna clubhouse with shrimp and avocado aoeli.  Deb had the vegetarian hoagy with ceasar salad.  I think they were about $12 or $14 each. The restaurant is located at the Fernhill Plaza next to the Tree Frog Gallery, the Mackenzie Gallery of Fine Art and the nice store with all the glass work and pottery.

2009_May_Mayne Island 169Smoked tuna Clubhouse sandwich with shrimp and avocado aoeli, and with the Shrimp and Wild Mushroom soup of the day.  Yum!

2009_May_Mayne Island 170

Deb had the vegetarian hoagie with a caesar salad.  Lots of red and orange peppers, mushrooms, and greens.  Double yum!

Kayaking in the Gulf Islands: we visit Belle Islets Chain

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Mayne Island is well known for its' sandstone formations which delight kayakers!

2009_May_Mayne Island 054 by you.
Todd and Deb paddle past Little Samuelson Island off Mayne Island.  It was time for a mini-vacation.  We caught the last Thursday night ferry from Vancouver on May 21st, and returned on the 5:05pm from Mayne to Galiano to Tsawassen.  We even saw orca/killer whales in Active Pass on the ferry from Galiano to Mayne Island.

2009_May_Mayne Island 053 by you.

Deb paddles past some of the fantastic sandstone carved by the wave action of the Georgia Strait.

We paddled with Mayne Island Kayaking, located at Blue Vista Resorts.  Owner Doug Peers was our guide, and he led us through the currents so we could see lots of harbour seals, a sea lion, oyster catchers, guillemots, and eagles.

See Gulf Islands National Park
http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/gulf/carte-map-fl_e.asp

See more pictures at:

Mayne Island kayaking at Bennet Bay

Mayne Island kayaking at…

Gung Haggis dragon boat team opens racing season at Lotus Sports Club's Bill Alley Memorial dragon boat regatta and receives special community spirit prize

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Gung Haggis dragon boat team opens racing season at Lotus Sports Club's Bill Alley Memorial dragon boat regatta and receives special community spirit prize

2009_May 065 by you.
The team is ready to head out for their 4th race, assisted by Barb Alley.

The 2009 team roster had 14 paddlers returning to Lotus: 
Drummer Todd

1 – Tzhe & Alissa
2 – Wendy & Nicole
3 – Jane & Christine
4 – Ernest & Debbie
5 – Steven W. & Jonas
6 – Jim & Stephen M
7 – Adam & Joe
8 – Dan & Karen
9 – Marion & Raphael
10 – Nancy and Dave S.
guest steers Harvey.

Saturday May 2nd.
Barnet Marine Park

2009_May 011 Gung
Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team waits on the beach before loading the
boat.  Tzhe wears his new desert camoflage kilt.  Wendy is wearing
Tzhe's blue kilt.

Great racing by the Gung Haggis dragon boat team on Saturday at the
Lotus Sports Club Bill Alley Memorial Regatta held at Barnet Marine Park in
Burnaby

We improved steadily with every race.  Refining our techniques, efforts, team work, and race strategies.

race 1 – 4th
race 2 – 2nd
race 3 – 3rd  BRONZE FINAL
race 3 – 3rd   MIXED ADULT B FINAL

2009_May 067

Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team in red boat
Lane 4 –
closest to shore

We were never last in any of our races.  Definitely exhilarating.  We addressed performance issues
after each race, corrected and improved.  Everybody looked after their
area of responsibilities, and our performance improved with each race. 
The last race was our BEST race, in rougher waters, and we can be proud of our
improvements, and efforts given.

In our first race we were beaten by both SOAR and Lotus Junior Team B.  But we were able to improve and beat the Lotus Juniors in the Bronze Final by 4 seconds. SOAR had beaten us by 3.31 seconds in our first race, but in the Mixed Final B, we beat them to the finish line 3.29 seconds faster.

2009_May 063 Team SOAR (Spirit of a Renegade) poses on the beach before our final race in the Mixed Adult B Final.  I asked them to pose for this picture, then jokingly asked them to step back 10 feet.  They obliged during the race finishing 3.29 seconds behind us.  I guess we will have a showdown at our next set of races when we meet.

We faced our arch rivals and friends The Pirates a total of 3 times in our 2nd, 3rd and 4th races.  With each race they improved beating us initially by .56 seconds, then 3.48 seconds in the Bronze Final, and then a whopping 8.12 seconds with a final time of 1:52.44 to our 2:06.56 minutes.  We'll have to make sure that our friend and former Gung Haggis paddler Tony Lim isn't doesn't paddle for them next time we meet.  And hopefully both Gayle and myself will be paddling in our boat too!

2009_May 075 Captain Ian Paul, of The Pirates, collects his teams “just rewards.”

Special Thanks to Jonas for stepping into the empty seat., Dan for joining us on short notice, and Harvey for steering.

Congratulations to our rookies Nancy, Christine and Karen for performing well.

Important Thank yous to Stephen Mirowski and Tzhe Lam for organizing and managing our team, and race rosters.

If we get everybody out for consistent practices, we should definitely
give the Pirates a good run, the next time we meet them. 

MOST IMPORTANT – we met and accomplished or team goals of FUN, FITNESS and FRIENDSHIP.  Much more important that finishing first, or finishing 2nd and yelling at each other for not coming first.

2009_May 080 by you.

AND our team… received special poster prints
of the 1st Vancouver Mens dragon boat team practicing at Barnet Marine
Park – This is the first team that would go to Hong Kong dragon boat festival to represent Vancouver. Todd holds the print, while standing with Lotus Sports Club's Grace Morrisette, who was Todd's first dragon boat coach when The Headliners team practiced out of Lotus Sports Club in '93 and '94.  These prints were gifted to our team for our “Team spirit and community dedication” as we performed our second annual “dragon & lion dance” as a fundraiser for the Bill
Alley Memorial scholarship fund, given to a paddler on the
Lotus Junior team.

2009_May 026 Todd coached and drummed.

2009_May 040 Harvey steered for us!

See more pictures and videos posted on Flickr.

Gung Haggis Dragons @ Lotus 09

Gung Haggis Dragons @ Lotus 09

Save the Frogs Day: I make friends with a red-eyed tree frog

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2009_April 176 by you. Todd Wong with Red-eyed Tree Frog- photo David Wong

I
visited with Red-eyed Tree frogs from the Amazon, Manchurian Fire
Bellies from China, and Pacific Tree Frogs from Vancouver, at the home of my friend David Wong


2009_April 161

My friend David Wong, encouraged City of
Vancouver to proclaim “Save the
Frogs Day” on April 28. I visited
his Red-eyed Tree frogs from the Amazon,
Manchurian Fire Bellies from China, and
Pacific Tree Frogs from Vancouver!

Here are my pictures from my visit with David and his frogs:

Save the Frogs Day

2009_April 157

2009_April 159

Save the Frogs Day

urbantreefrog2

My friend David Wong, encouraged
City of Vancouver to proclaim “Save the Frogs Day” on April 28.

David has been a very creative architect working on projects in China, Singapore and Vancouver.  He is now going to focus more exclusively on environmentally friendly designs, to help us create better living habitats for both humans and our biological friends.  I visited with him today, and he told me about a big project in Fuzhou China that saved an important historical tree, and another project in Metro Vancouver that utilized a large water pool.

David's own eco-friendly home was featured in the Georgia Straight newspaper last year on May 15th, 2008:

Finding the colour of harmony in renovation | Straight.com

http://www.straight.com/article-145523/the-colour-harmony

But check out his frogs!
and what David does to protect and promote frog habitats.

http://www.urbantreefrog.com/?p=251

the Urban Treefrog blog » Mayor proclaims Vancouver as Frog friendly city!
Source: www.urbantreefrog.com
The
office of the Mayor of Vancouver has officially proclaimed April 28,
2009 as Save The Frogs Day in Vancouver, British Columbia.

stf-proclamation

From the Office of the Mayor of Vancouver, BC, Canada

Save The Frogs Day, April 28, 2009

WHEREAS, amphibians are in considerable peril here in Vancouver and around the world; and

WHEREAS, nearly one-third of the world’s
6,468 amphibian species are threatened with extinction, and at least
150 species completely  disappeared since 1979, making amphibians the
most threatened group of animals on Earth; and

WHEREAS, amphibians are critical
components to our ecosystems, especially of the land and waters in and
around metro Vancouver, and  because amphibians provide ecosystem
services to nature and to humans including,

(1) cleaning waterways by eating algae and detritus during their tadpole stage;
(2) serving as a vital source of food to other animals,
(3) consuming large quantities of ticks, mosquitoes and other pest
species that serve as disease vectors that can transmit fatal 
illnesses to humans; and

WHEREAS, approximately 10% of Nobel
prizes in physiology and medicine have resulted from investigations
that used amphibians – implying when an amphibian species disappears,
so does any promise for important new human pharmaceutical discoveries;
and

WHEREAS, amphibians face a multitude of
threats including pollution,  pesticides, habitat destruction, climate
change, invasive species,  infectious diseases (the spread of which are
facilitated by human  activities), and over-harvesting for the pet and
food trades; and

WHEREAS, we believe in the right of all children to see, hear and  catch amphibians in their native habitat; and

WHEREAS, amphibian conservation efforts will not be successful  without an educated and informed public; and

WHEREAS, the Pacific Treefrog (Hyla
regilla), an original inhabitant  of these lands now known as the City
of Vancouver, could be encouraged to co-habit backyard gardens, urban
forests and city parks; and

NOW, THEREFORE, we, the concerned
citizens of Vancouver respectfully join others on April 28th, 2009 and
declare Save The Frogs Day in the great  City of Vancouver, and call
these observances to the attention of all  fellow citizens.

http://www.urbantreefrog.com/?p=251

Gung Haggis Pipes & Drums & dragon boat paddlers… brave the snow in the Vancouver Celticfest St. Patrici's Day Parade

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SNOW and bagpipers and parade dragons normally don't mix
– but the inaugural parade debut of the Gung Haggis Pipes and Dragon Boat Drummers smiles in adversity!

2009_March 112 by you.

Our brave troupe of paddlers, pipers and drummers… – photo T.Wong / J.McDonald

2009_March 101 by you.

Tzhe carries and the dragon in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery, with help from Stephen – photo T. Wong

2009_March 094 by you.
Snow and Wind did not deter our pipers and drummers: Front row Bob Wilkins, David Murray, Allan McMordie, 2nd row Barbara, Danny, Patricia, Drummers: Tony & Cassandra – photo T. Wong

2009_March 100

Mackenzie led our contingent as “paddle bearer” leading the pipers! – photo T.Wong

And when it was all over… Pipe Major Bob Wilkins congratulated Mackenzie on a job well-done.  In all his years of piping and parades, it never snowed on him before.  Bob said he “never had so much fun being miserable.”

2009_March 104

St. Patrick's Day 2009 Parade…

Here's a picture of the dragons on our car! – photo T.Wong

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2009_March 104

Check out more pictures on
Toddish McWong's Flickr account

St. Patrick's Day 2009 Parade Vancouver Celticfest

Check out more pictures by my friend VFK

St. Patrick's Day Parade 2009


CELTIC FEST – Lots of events… where will I be?

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Celticfest is one of Vancouver's most exciting ethno-cultural festivals:
Saturday I will check out “Battle of the Bards” King O' Men (about Robbie Burns, and the annual Gung Haggis Fat Choy entry in the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Celticfest started on Wednesday and goes to Sunday March 15th.  St. Patrick's Day is on Tuesday March 17th.

Check out the website: www.celticfestvancouver.com for lots of great events featuring Ashley McIssac, Lunasa, Irish Pipes Regiment, Battle of the Bards etc. etc.

This year there is a play about Robbie Burns, titled King O'Men – featuring bagpiper Rob McDonald and actor John Hardie.  All the more to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the birth of poet Robert Burns.

I was involved in the augural “Battle of the Bards” event last year, playing poet Robbie Burns.  It's a great fun event, where performers “channel” the spirit of the poets, and read the poems.   Check out my story from last year: www.GungHaggisFatChoy.com :: Toddish McWong's “Robert Burns” wins Battle of the Bards

The annual St. Patrick's Day Parade is lots of fun too!  We usually hang out at the Celticfest Village following the parade.  This year's parade is on Georgia St.  Starting at Broughton, the parade route heads East ending at Howe St.  The Village is on the North lawn of the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Check out my story from last year: www.GungHaggisFatChoy.com :: Gung Haggis Fat Choy puts a dragon (not a snake) in the parade.

Here are 3 events that I will be attending – hope to see you there!

Saturday March 14
2:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Festival Pick
Spoken Word
Music

Battle of the Bards – A Literary Pub Crawl and Grand Finale

Three cheers! The Battle of the Bards is back for 2009, whisking you along on a flying tour of Granville Street’s best Irish pubs.

Dynamic spoken word artists Sean McGarragle, Duncan Shields and Warren Dean Fulton
channel W.B. Yeats, Oscar Wilde and Robbie Burns respectively as they
duke it out to be crowned “top bard” in an on-the-move poetry
slam-style contest, judged by members of the audience in each venue.

The crawl culminates at The Cellar, where the bards will do final “battle” with Vancouver’s first official poet laureate George McWhirter
presiding over the event. Expect plenty of artistic license as the
performers offer their own hilarious perspectives on the masters with
the help of improv fiddler Caitlan Read.

Who will be this year’s “top bard”? Why don’t you be the judge!

Pub Crawl
Round 1 – 2:00 PM @ Doolin's Irish Pub
Round 2 – 2:45 PM @ Ceili’s Irish Pub
Round 3 – 3:30 PM @ Johnnie Fox's Irish Snug
No admission charge @ Pub Crawl venues

Open Mic & Finale Event
The Cellar, 1006 Granville St. @ Nelson
4:25 PM to 6:00 PM

Saturday March 14

2 shows:
2:00 PM & 4:00 PM

Festival Pick
Spoken Word
Music
Kids / Family

King o' Men – A Robbie Burns Stage Play & 250th Birthday Tribute

Featuring John Hardie & Rob MacDonald

A
literary and musical costumed event that will send you spinning back in
time to the glorious days of Scotland’s most legendary poet and
lyricist. 2009 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robbie
Burns, a cultural icon in Scotland and around the world. This tribute
features Rob MacDonald, a local piper, Chairman of “A
Swarm of Drones” and a Burns aficionado. He’ll be telling the
fascinating story of the life and times of Burns and playing some of
the tunes Robert set words to.

His performance will be followed by King o’ Men, an exciting new one-man play directed by writer and actor John Hardie
and making its Vancouver premiere at CelticFest. The production
imagines one of Burns’ closest and oldest friends reminiscing to a
curious journalist following the news of the great poet’s final
passing. This show will appeal to loyal fans of Scotland's favourite
literary son as well as those who are new to Burns’ story and works.

Here's
what Chris White, Artistic Director of the Ottawa Folk Festival, had to
say about a recent production of the play at the National Arts Centre:
“With minimal set and few props, Hardie delivered the piece with
enormous skill and subtlety, somehow managing to be humorous,
informative and intensely moving all at once. The performance, which
elicited an overwhelmingly positive audience response, is one that I
will be forever grateful to have witnessed.”

Tom Lee Music – Music Hall
3rd floor – 929 Granville St.

Sunday March 15
11:30 AM

Festival Pick
Kids / Family
Music
Dance

Shamrock6th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade

Where can you find hundreds of thousands of people, all seized with Celtic fever? At the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, of course! This year the parade travels a new route along Georgia Street, beginning at Broughton St., ending up at the Celtic Village
outside the Vancouver Art Gallery at Georgia and Howe. Round up your
family and friends (and favourite green attire) and enjoy the spectacle
of over 2,000 colourfully costumed participants, from pipers and
drummers to acrobats and stilt-walkers. The price is still right –
absolutely free!

Presented by Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association

Blogger Night at the Opera… Rigoletto gets thrown to the net surfers!

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BLOGGERS RULE at the Vancouver Opera… Live Blogging for Rigoletto!

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Local Bloggers sat in the lobby during intermission, live blogging opening night at Rigoletto. (l-r) Monique Trottier “So Misguided”, Rebecca Bollwit “Miss 604”, Tanya “Netchick”, Kimli “Delicious Juice” – photo Todd Wong

Opera is one of the most intercultural art forms.  It forces its audience to listen to foreign languages, as it tells stories from different cultures.  Okay, it also presents a lot of stereotypes and racial chariactures too!  But today's productions will balance historic stereotypes with 21st Century sensitivity for cultural diversity.

Vancouver Opera has been one of the most innovative arts organizations to find new ways to market themselves, whether creating Manga comics for promotion, marketing to the Asian population base in Vancouver with the Voices of the Pacific Rim recital, or beginning live blogging with Carmen and now Rigoletto operas.

Opening Saturday Night at Vancouver Opera, there are lots of people dressed up in the finery.  The lineups are deep and long for the cappucinos or wine.  Over at the East side of the lobby, 6 bloggers sit madly typing into their laptop computers during intermission.  It's Live Blogging Night at the Opera.  It started with a few bloggers being invited to blog Carmen in January.  And now a few more have been invited to blog Rigoletto. 

Some of the audience members are curious.  Some are demanding.  Some are complaining about the sound in the balcony.  One audience member insists that they are not having a true opera experience unless they are drinking wine.  One of the bloggers writes that she is having sooo much fun people watching, she finds it hard to touch type at the same time.

I bring out my camera and ask the bloggers for a picture.  Actually I yell out, “Bloggers… smile for the camera!”

They all look up and smile.  I will post the picture laters…

I recognize Miss 604 Blogger, Rebbecca Bollwitt.  She recognizes me and writes on her blog that “We were just visited by Karen Hamilton of TinyBites.ca who is here to enjoy the show as well as Gung Haggis Fat Choy.

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Rebbecca Bollwit “Miss 604”, Todd Wong “Gung Haggis Fat Choy”, Tanya “Netchick” – photo A. Youngberg/T. Wong

Back on January 18th, she was live blogging the Canucks hockey game.  I comment that she probably wishes she was at the Canucks vs San Jose game.  She says “yeah.” 

It turns out that blogger
NetChick is a rower, now interested in dragon boat paddling.  I tell her that my Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team has been featured on television documentaries for German and French public television, as well as the CBC.  It would be pretty cool, if she joined our dragon boat team… we have lots of opportunities for blogging.  Oops, I forgot to tell her we will have a parade entry in the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.

At the opera, it's always interesting to see who is there in the audience.  I spy an older couple, a male caucasian with an Asian woman.  They are always at major arts events.  I think he used to work at the CBC.

I chat with Doug Tuck, VOA Marketing and Selina Rajani, Communications/Media.  I introduce them to my date for the evening, Alexandra Youngberg, my CUPE 391 Vancouver Library workers president.  Alex loves this production of Rigoletto.  She loves music and sings in a choir.  Alex has even sung O Solo Mio, while I played my accordion.

The 2nd and 3rd Acts are wonderful ( I will write my formal review tomorrow).  Some members of the audience give a standing ovation to
Eglise Gutierrez who plays Gilda, Rigoletto's daughter.  We all stand up up for
Donnie Ray Albert who plays Rigoletto.  It's quite the multicultural cast.  Donnie Ray is African-American, born in Louisiana.  Eglise is born in Cuba.  Sam Chung, Chinese-Canadian born in Winnipeg, steps out of the Vancouver Opera chorus to play his first supporting role with Vancouver Opera in the role of Matteo Borsa. I congratulate Sam at the reception following.

During the reception, I also chat with Michael Mori, who is hapa Japanese-Canadian.  Kinza Tyrell, chorus master tells me how exciting this production is, and asks me how I know Sam and Michael.  “Well… through events at Joy Kogawa House, because we really supported, and raved about the Naomi's Road opera. 

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James Wright, VOA General Director congratulates the cast at the opening night reception – photo T. Wong

My old friend Walter Quan is here!  We first met back in 1986, while we were volunteers for the Salt Water City exhibit celebrating 100 years of Vancouver Chinatown history.  We recently had lunch in Victoria 2 weeks ago, when I had to return the life-size photos to the Royal BC Museum.

Opera Manager James Wright spots me, and waves at me.  So does orchestra concertmaster Mark Ferris, who along with his wife Gloria, have been friends for years. Mark performed at the 2004 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner. Meanwhile, the bloggers are noshing at the food tables, taking pictures of the event, and chatting amongst themselves.

I think it's great that Vancouver Opera is connecting with bloggers.  Back in December 2004, I blogged my own review of the VOA production of Madama Butterfly: Madama Butterfly Review: Vancouver Opera Nov 27 to Dec 11.

Since then, I have also reviewed:

Check out the opera night blogs:

Blogger Night: Rigoletto