The Hungry Migrant

Angkor Awakening

2008-10-19T07:38:00.000-07:00

What dreams did you have when you were a little boy?
This may be hard to believe but I've always wanted to go to Cambodia, even as a child. There was one thing that drew me to this country; this country that is war torn, developing, and far away. Angkor Wat. Everybody has either heard of this sacred place regardless of what background you come from. I've always wanted to travel to Cambodia to see this great site myself. I achieved this goal in the first quarter of my life. Being able to experience all this as a young person makes great marks in my life and I hope it will continue to do so.

We arrived in Siem Riep after a 5 hour bus ride from Phnom Penh. There was definitely more leg room in this bus but it didn't compensate for the horrible road conditions and the numerous pot holes that kept us from falling asleep on the bus. After getting a sore but and a sore back we emerged from our cocoon of a bus and were bombarded by Tuktuk drivers. A young man with an honest faced asked us if we needed travel arrangements to our hotel and we said yes and we were able to get 4 tuktuks for the 12 of us as these were smaller tuktuks. We got to our hotel and we checked out the rooms. They werent the greatest but considering how much they cost they were reasonable. We didn't want to settle for something uncomfortable for a good 3 nights so we hunted down for the same company in Phnom Penh and found their location called The Pavillon Indochine and decided to switch hotels next morning. For the rest of the night we just went out for dinner, toured the Old market area and headed home for an early night as we had a long day ahead of us. For dinner we went to a Khmer BBQ buffet which was only 5.95 and we even ordered some special meat. What is special meat? Well we ordered crocodile, snake, ostrich, and Kangaroo. The dinner was excellent and amazingly cheap and we stuffed ourselves silly. We found out our Tuktul driver's name, Tola - which means october in Khmer, and agreed upon a price with him.

The next morning the drivers were there waiting for us at 5 in the morning and drove us to the Pavillon Indochine. We dropped off our things and raced to the Angkor park as we were hoping to watch the sunrise over Angkor Thom. A day pass at Angkor park cost us $20 which is less then a fee to get into an amusement park. Our tuktuk drivers drove to Angkor Thom, which is a city within the park and houses many temples. Our first stop was the temple of Bayon which Tola recommended to us because the sun would rise above the temple towers which were 4 faced buddha heads and each head would arise and face towards the viewer. It was a magnificent site and we spend a good hour and half exploring Bayon. We made our way to Baphuon which was one of the earlier temples on the Angkor Thom site. It was under heavy reconstruction and is also one of the larger temples though not as embellished as Bayon. Baphuon had the largest vertical laying down buddha. We decided that we were all going to go for an elephant ride. Vania and I got on a big one and we named it Flappy at first cause of it's ears. But it was soooo slow that all the other elephants were passing it so we decided to call it Carl cause that sounded like a slow name. Well the elephant ride was fun and after a good 20 minutes we were all knackered and wanted breakfast. We decided to head back to our hotel for a free breakfast and man was it ever a good decision. Though our Tuktuk drivers said that it would cost more fuel we told them that it would be no problem and would pay them more at the end of the day. The breakfast we had was just as amazing as the one on Phnom Penh but with more selections including croissants, omelletes and different juices. After breakfast we laid down for a few minutes to rest up. We headed back to the Angkor park in the afternoon to hit up Te Phrom and of course Angkor Wat. Te Phrom was our first stop and it was quite far away. Do you remember tomb raider? Well this is where they shot the 2nd movie. Te Phrom is one of the oldest temple complexes in the Angkor park and it is very evident by the growth of vegetation over the temples and the rubbles on the ground. Te Phrom was exciting and easy to get lost in and a thunder shower started to emerge halfway into our visit. We spent a good few hours there and went off to lunch at a restaurant in the park. During this time our Tuktuk driver was actually trying to fix his tuktuk and he finally returned after lunch. He took us to Angkor Wat and this was the moment most of us were waiting for.

Angkor Wat is the largest temple in the park and the main attraction. It is the largest sacred religious complex in the world. It houses both hinduistic culture and buddhist culture as the Khmer continue to be buddhist but look to their indic origins. The bridges are adorned with Naga Balustrades. Nagas are snake like creatures with multiple heads who protect the pathway to sacred structures. We made our way through the initial stone path that leads from the mainland past the moat on to the island the temple rests on. We had to battle through many children vying for our sales of postcards and nicknacks. One of the kids knew everything about canada. She asked me where I'm from and told me the capital of Canada (Ottawa) our two languages and our Prime Minister (Stephen Harper). I was very impressed but not enough to buy postcards and I said I might buy some when I returned. We went through the gates of Angkor which was massive in itself. Through the gate we entered into another large area called the terrace where our stone path led to the main central complex. Once we were in the main complex we toured around the outside which were famous for the engravings of various hindu stories of Rama, Hanuman and other characters. We finally entered the center and made a steep climb up. The great topples of the temple loomed above us and it was an impressive sight to behold. We wanted to stay for the sunset but it was only 4 and the sun set would begin around 6. We were tired and dehydrated and though the temples were magnificent to behold we were barely the gods the resided in this sacred ground. We headed back out while two of our group decided to stay to take pictures of the sunset. We battled our way back to our Tuktuks. The girl gave me the poutiest look because I didn't want to buy postcards. We headed back to our hotel and let Tola go because it had been a long day. We gave him $25 for the day and he was very surprised and told us that it was too much! We told him to keep it and that he deserved it for the long day especially with the debacle of his motorbike. He was very thankful and said that it was his birthday and was thankful for the great tip we gave him. We told him that we wanted him to pick us up for dinner tomorrow night and show us to an Apsara Dance Buffet dinner. Little did he know we were intending to treat him out for his birthday.

The next morning we went out to the floating village near the canals of Tonle Sap. Our hotel arranged a mini bus for us to take us out there and included the boat for us as well. The floating village was an amazing site as people lived and earned the living in the water. There were fisheries, pig farms, a power plant of sorts, basketball court, and churches in the water. Most of the people were ethnically vietnamese but mixed in heavily with khmer. We went to a fish and crocodile farm and saw what we ate the night before. We were all very drained from the last few days and just headed back to the hotel for some good pool side relaxing. I booked a massage appointment at four but spent a good time tanning by the pool and swimming. The massage at our hotel was cheap and very good. I passed out every time I had a massage. I would stick my ipod earphones on and float away. It was a shame the massage could not last forever. At 6:30 Tola came to pick us up in his Tuktuk and took us to the buffet. We invited him and he was very surprised. He told us that he had never eaten in a place like this before because it was too expensive. We shared our stories with him and he shared his and he told us that we were very lucky to be in University. He was the provider for his family because his parents had passed away when he was 18. He had a brother and a sister to provide for. He said he wanted to be a bad boy when he was younger but he strove to work in a good hotel nowadays. He met a swedish guy who told him that he would support his schooling and also gave him 185 USD which helped him get into the Tuktuk business. We were very moved by his stories and switched contact information with him in order to keep in touch and hopefully help him with his dream. We watched the Apsari dance and finished dinner and made our way back to the hotel. He thanked us again and we gave him his pay. It was sad to have him as our driver for the last time but we knew that he would get places with his ambition. We stayed up watching movies and drinking so that we could stay up till 6 for our bus pick up the next morning to Saigon via Phnom Penh. However, the bus never came.

We woke up next morning all packed and ready but our bus never came to pick us up. We called the company and found out that they were not willing to pick us up as we were too far away so we got a minivan to take us to the bus stop. We got to the bus stop and found that the bus had left. We were outraged and beyond belief. My roommate and another one of our group decided to go report this to the police and bring them to the companies' office. Half an hour later my roommate and our friend showed up in a camry with the manager of the Pavillon. The manager ran out apologizing to us saying it was his fault as one of his staff forgot to mention the phone call the bus company made to warn us. He arranged a minibus to take us all the way to Phnom Penh to meet our bus there. We got a large size mercedes people carrier with a speedster of a driver. We felt bad for the manager as we knew he did not make a profit from us during our stay but were very thankful and told him that we would recomment his hotel to anyone that came to cambodia. Our speed demon weaved us around traffic and got us to Phnom Penh an hour early while we were blasting music from our Ipods into a tape connector he had. We got on our bus at Phnom Penh but one of our friend's Visa was mistakenly given a one time entry and had to stay another night in Cambodia. We got on our bus and made our way to Saigon. This was suppose to be a 6 hour bus ride at most but it ended up being almost 8 hours as we arrived in Saigon nearly 10 at night and checked into our hotel. This last little bit of the trip was our only hiccup but I don't think it'd be quite an experience in SE Asia if you didn't have one of these mess ups. We were safe the whole time and though we were all quite fustrated we came out alive, well and in good spirits. The rest of our stay in Saigon is not worth highlighting as it involved alot of shopping, bargaining, and getting offended by sale bitches.

I'm glad you've stayed with me this long on my little journey. Cambodia and Vietnam have been both amazing experiences and the only regret I have is that I only had a glimpse of it. I will be back in Cambodia again for sure and the amazing hospitality of the people there will keep me going back for sure. Thank-you Cambodia for my little awakening and in however many years time may I come to see your country awake again to its former Khmer glory.

Violence gives way to hospitality and hope!

2008-10-17T20:54:00.000-07:00

Some moments its better to just stare silently at your surrounding and take it all in. We left Saigon in the morning and headed to Phnom Penh last Sunday. It was a decent ride about 5 and half hours. We had to stop at the Vietnam/Cambodia border to get all our visas and passports settled. The border itself took an hour so in effect the ride wasn't exactly too long. All the time on the bus I had a craving for "insects"??? We were reading the lonely planet guide book and it said Cambodians eat pretty much anything that walked on the earth. They weren't wrong about that. We made our way to Phnom Penh and a guide of a group helped us out with getting a TukTuk driver. Our driver's name was Paulie and he took us to our hotel, "Le Pavillon". I booked a room for my group of four - Mads, Carrie, Vania, and I. The suite we had at the Pavillon was amazing! It had two rooms, a large bathroom and a huge patio overlooking the national palace. Our hotel also had a pool with a bar at the side and wifi connection everywhere. We were in heaven! My entire room went for a dip and relaxed a bit. We told Paulie to pick us up tomorrow morning and went off to dinner.

We walked to a restaurant near our hotel, which we were pretty sure catered to tourists but served up Khmere food only, which in my opinion is alot better than half the places that try to serve western food as well. Guess what was on the menu! "ANTS" I was so going to order that dish. It was Spicy fried beef with large red ants! Yes, ANTS! My gastronomic journey has reached the outlying borders and I was going to try it. The dish came and it looked like any other stir fried dish and I couldn't see the ants at first, but then I started spooning the stuff on the my plate and there they were. Bits of ant heads, abdomen and wings mixed in with the beef and veggies. The dish tasted fantastic though and I ended up eating most of it. We also had a bit of frog and quail. Cambodia is definitely a culinary adventure! After dinner we ventured out to town and went looking for a good bar. We found a large place that wasn't so cheap with a 2 man band that looked like they were war vets from the vietnam war. One had his shirt unbuttoned and wrinkley flesh all hanging out and the other had a crocodile dundee hat on. They were playing slow rock songs and we decided to interact with them a bit after getting inebriated on pitchers of the local ANgkor beer. We started requesting songs and they played a few. Though we ended up requesting outrageous things they could never play. We got pretty drunk and my group of four just ended up going back to the hotel. Carrie was DONE. She was passing out on my shoulder and demanded, like she usually does, for a Tuktuk home instead of walking. We dragged her into her bed and tucked her in while the rest of us went to the pool again. We met a guy from Ottawa while in the pool and was talking global issues with him. How we ended up doing this I have no idea, but we were too intoxicated for our own right to hold up any proper conversation. We headed back home and went to sleep in our deluxe suite.

Monday morning, we wake up and paulie picks us up to show us around town. We show him all the spots we wanted to hit and he did an amazing job taking us around. Our group of 12 first headed to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. This museum was the former prison and torture sight of the Khmer Rouge regime. It was designated S21 and is still known by the infamous name nowadays. The museum sits in its former state, run down and eerie looking. We watched a movie on the massacres that happened in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime. It is amazing that these attrocitie ended only in 1979 and the leaders of the regime were not arrested until 2007 though Sarath Sar aka Pol Pot died in 1997. We walked through the museums witnessing rooms with rusted tortue devices and pictures of people of perished in the prison or were sent to the killing fields. It was a depressing tour but it was necessary in my opinion to truly understand the identity of this culture by witnessing their horrid history. We were on a roll with this depressing mood and decided to go to the killing fields at cheong ek. The rain started to pour as we were heading there and it seemed complimentary to the whole visit. The killing fields is an area just outside of central phnom penh where they took the prisoners from S21 or any other prison to be executed. In the middle of the fields near a tree where they use to let out the prisoners now stands a large monument with hundreds of skulls housed in it and the clothing of the executed on the bottom. It was a gruesome but surreal moment to realize that this green patch of land with holes in it use to be mass graves. We walked through the fields and we realized that the rain was washing some of the dirt from the ground and pieces of bones started to appear. Although there was excavation done in this area, the sheer amount of bodies made it impossible to excavate every single one out. People to this day just as we did continue to find bones and lay it on shrines out of respect.

We were getting hungry and decided to head back to town for lunch. We wanted to invite Paulie for lunch as well. We went to a place called Khmer Saravan which was quite well known within the backpacker community and had a delicious Khmer meal without bugs. We made conversations with Paulie and the other Tuktuk drivers and got to know their family stories. They all had children and one barely ever got to see them. They slept a maximum of 3 hours a day working to the wee mornings. One Tuktuk driver lost his wife and rarely ever got to see his daughter. Getting to know them as humans over a proper lunch that they would never consider spending on was very heartwarming.

After lunch we decided to go to the National Palace and see the glamour of being a Khmer King. And let me tell you, Buckingham palace or any other palace in this world has nothing on what the King of Cambodia has. His complex is HUGE! There are areas we are not even allowed on as they continue to be used by the King and his family. Most interestingly is a decent sized french mansion which was a pallisade from Africa somewhere given by Napoleon III. We visited pagodas, gardens, elephant stables and various ceremonial structures. This place was definitely impressive and beautiful. One thing that I found most striking in Cambodia is the architecture. All the roofs are elaborately adorned and they embellish every bits of columns and walls with engravings.

We headed to Wat Phnom after the palace and had a nice stroll around the park of the Wat and walked up to the Wat itself. It still functions as a buddhist pagoda and the monkeys in the area gave us a bit of a scare when they decided to pee down from the trees. Our final destination for the day was the central market where we bought some Krama scarves and other Cambodian crafts. We also bought some street food to try. The food we bought were little gluttonous cakes fried in a pan with divets. Its almost like the Japanese Takoyaki but a little bit different in texture and taste.
After the market, we told Paulie to take us home and gave him the pay for our day.

The next morning we headed out to Siem Riep on another coach bus. This part of the story I'll leave for another time.

My pictures will be up soon and maybe you'll get to glimpse a bit of all I experienced here.

The Migrant's Revival!

2008-10-11T09:04:00.001-07:00

Hopefully to stay! I haven't been dutifully writing in my blog as of late. After my last blog when I first arrived in Hong Kong I dissappeared suddenly. I didn't die, I didn't get into accident, nor did I lose any interest in writing. The main reason I haven't been updating is that I've been adapting to life in Hong Kong and keeping myself busy with the activities over there. Ok, I won't lie there have been times I've been dead bored sitting at home and doing of all things watching old dragonball movies! YES DRAGONBALL MOVIES! Talk about naturalizing!

Hong Kong has been an amazing place to live in! I can be as frugal as I want and as big of a spender as I want, though I've tended to be the former lately. Every week I buy myself some "ding ding". Do you know what "ding ding" is? It's the microwavable meals. They have all kinds here, from curry chicken to pork chop cutlet to shanghainese noodles. They call is ding ding because thats the sound a microwave makes when its ready. I've also bought some udon noodles and yakisoba. I've never really lived "on my own" before but I think this is a good start to it all. My room mate is awesome and we get along real well. I live in a residence called Hall Swire which is known for their hall pride. Though I don't share the same "hall pride" as most non-locals don't I do share a pride for being part of the 8th floor. This is attributed to a great bunch of guys that have a great time together. The locals integrate us in everything we do and I've become a sort of ombuds person for them, communicating and translating between the locals and non-locals. We have a considerable amount of non-locals on our floor and we all get along real well. I've also got a great group of friends I've made here and am currently on a trip with them.

SO WHERE IN THE WORLD AM I WRITING FROM!?

I'm in Saigon, Vietnam with a bunch of my friends I've made in HKU. We are on a tour of Indochina and are having a blast. We left Hong Kong early on friday morning to Macau by ferry at 730am. We flew from Macau to Saigon by Viva Macau Airline. The flight cost me $80 US! That is a freakin amazing amount! We landed in Saigon and were picked up by our hotel. Our hotel is in the heart of the backpacker district and there are loads of shops and restaurants here. Most of them try to gyp you but we're a group of scheming bargainers. On our first day we booked our bus to Phnom Penh and went for lunch at a restaurant that served Pho and iced coffee. Ice coffee in Vietnam is like drinking liquid coke! I love that shit! We explored the Ben Thanh market and bargained our ass off for some cargo shorts. I got 2 pairs for $14! My room mate is an amazing bargainer and I talked the salespeople down with him. We went for dinner at a Hue Bun noodle place and that was a bit of a chaotic situation. The service was kinda poor and the food was not bad - in my opinion. But many of the people I were travelling were complaining and tried to fight for a %20 discount that was apparently promised to us. I ended up paying the difference because I didn't want to cause any problems. I think we just all have to understand that this is an asian country and things work very differently here. I'm use to the lack of service but owing 150 000 Viet Dong was like $10 in total for all 11 of us which is nothing! We went back home to drink a whole bunch of cheap beers we got here for less then 50 cents a can.

Saturday, today, we woke up early and had breakfast at a Pho place where we chose the ingredient we wanted. It was 15 000 Dongs which is less than a dollar canadian. It was one of the most satisfying meal I've had so far, not because it's cheap but because the broth and noodles were so good! We went to a tailor shop as some of my friends wanted to get suits. I helped them choose some material out and they were measured. We went to get a buffet lunch at a five star hotel after that and it was only $15! They have smoked salmon, vietnamese spring rolls and many other local cuisine plus alot of western dishes and a huge dessert section! It was an amazing lunch and took alot out of me trying to keep thing IN MY STOMACH! We went to the reunification palace after by taxi and were totally gyped by the cabbie as we agreed to a $3 USD ride but the other half of our group only paid $1 for their ride!

The reunification palace is one of the most interesting attractions here in Saigon. It recounts the events that led to Vietnam war and the role the Americans play. To be exact the criminal role in international affairs they played. Not that this museum is a subtle propaganda to the Vietnam government regime but there were slants in the quotes and captions. To be honest I tended to agree with the vietnamese sides after reading the attrocities brought upon them by American warfare.
We made our way to a cafe to grab a drink and re-energize ourselves. We went for a shady massage parlour for a full body massage, but the massage was actually very good and they cracked every joint in my body for only $6. I headed back to the hotel and took a nap. We went to a BBQ restaurant near our hotel tonight and the marinated meats were soo amazing. It was almost like Korean BBQ where we bbq'd our own food. We had alot of beers as they were offering buy one get one free beers. Now I sit here recounting this amazing trip so far.

I will post pictures up soon and stay tuned! SE Asia is an amazing region of this world and I hope I can depict all my experiences to you as descriptively possible. For now, "chào từ biệt ai, chia tay ai"

Adjusting with Helping Hands

2008-08-28T16:35:00.000-07:00

I've always been quite Independent. But lately, everything has just been out of my control. Hong Kong is efficient, Hong Kong is fast. However, Hong Kong is excruciatingly complicated. And for all its efficiency its complications seems to get the better of it. I've also had pretty next to nothing to do at times which is so uncommon for me as I would be running around back home, meeting people, doing things, getting business done.

This city runs on its bureaucracy and getting things done both at the University and the city is a nightmare for any person. The long queus and the 5 million different procedures can give you a migraine. I've been running around, literally running to get things done here. I've been applying for student records and faculty application stuff and I've literally run out of breathe getting to places. The most annoying thing was when I had missed one step in my application they said they would wait for me. However, lunch time means lunch time here and they CLOSE THE FREAKIN OFFICE! Yeah, wow, thanks for waiting. Yesterday I had a quick registration for my social science faculty. This was the most head splitting information session on course registration ever. Please don't complain back home at UBC about our registration and course selection, it's a breeze compared to the headache they've created here. So I'm only allowed to add drop courses in the first two weeks. However adding a course doesnt mean I've been approved for it. I have to wait for approval from my department before it is officially confirmed that I can take this course. This approval takes two weeks. Yes, yes THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME I CAN ADD OR DROP, which means if I dont get approved for the class I'm fucked. So what happens here is that students take like 10 courses in the beginning of the term to see what they like and hope for the best in the add course period. How they juggle this? I have no freakin clue. It doesn't sound complicated but when you need to complete a certain amount of credits for your home institution or for your own graduation plan this is an unnecessary obstacle. BTW they have no waiting lists for courses if its full. You just need to constantly check the damn sight.........

On a lighter note. A bunch of us foreign kids went out for dinner today near LKF ( the bar district). We were joined by a friend of mine who was a friend of my exchange buddy. She met us up at a Cha Chang Teng called Tsui Wah, which is a HK style cafe(diner) that serves up metropolitan fare(HK Style). You'll learn that HK style means incorporating every kind of food style and making it their own. Drinks are alot sweeter ie: Milk Tea, Iced coffee, Lemonade. Food is a lot tastier in the sense that their is alot of seasoning, sodium, msg, etc etc. The food tastes good, but you have to be careful of what you'll eat as there is little vegetables in the meals unless its home cooked. I've been watching everything I've been eating as I don't want to bloat up like last summer. Saving money is also very easy if you know where to go. So we had dinner, there was about 10 of us and after dinner went to a bar in LKF called Oysters. I've been around the area before. Last summer I went to a sheesha bar/lounge called Jem right next to it. We had a drink or two and a good few puffs of the sheesha. This was the most relaxing moment I've had all week. We headed home around 11.

Our friend Shirley has been really helpful, showing us around and introducing us to the local eats and haunts. She took us to a foot massaging place in our second day here at causeway bay. Really appreciate some of the local's hospitality.

When I got home there was a real comotion going on. The local freshmen where having their orientation camp all week and they were in a for a treat tonight as they went from floor to floor or our residence doing tasks and biddings of the seniors. It was slightly juvenile and kinda innocent compared to the hasing done over in North America but it was all good and fun. The locals seemed to have fun, though we were never really offered the same kind of opportunity for integration. I went to bed after witnessing 1 group do their initiation.

Hailing from Hong Kong; My new hellish hectic home!

2008-08-26T09:02:00.000-07:00

I am landed!
Boy does it feel good.
For all of you that haven't been following up on my blog or my life I just flew to Hong Kong on Sunday 12pm Pacific time from Vancouver. Why am I here you may ask? I'm here for exchange studies at the University of Hong Kong for a year and continuing on to work for UBC's Asia Pacific Regional Office also located here in Hong Kong for another year. Yes that's right two years! And yes I am a crazy bastard.
I think that in the end though that this will be an opportunity of great growth. capitalizing on the unfamiliar has always been my motto and I have gained much from this life long learning process. I want to keep the banter to a minimum to a minimum this time around so I can update you on what I've been up to.

So on friday night before I left for Hong Kong my friends helped me set up a great send off party. I reserved tables for dinner at Ebisu and promoted the night at Fabric as my going away bash. Dinner at Ebisu was awesome. Alot of my friends came out, some I haven't even seen in awhile. Stash and the guys were out to get me sloshed before I could even get to the club. From what I can recall I had a Sake-bomb, some kamikazes, some other rediculous shots, bear fuckers, and a whole lot of shit I shouldn't have downed before eating my first bite of food.

After dinner we got to the club and it was rediculously packed. So I took my girl and her friend to the front and told one of the Koo guys that I was here and he says to me, "OK, I'm doing this as a favour." I look at him like "WTF?!" and he puts me in the front of the line and not even pulling me in with the bouncers. MY NAME WAS ON THE FUCKIN TICKET! IT SAID WELDON's SEND OFF PARTY! I get in and finished swiping my ID and these to ugly mother fucking taiwanese fobs stop me and tell me to pay cover. I tell them I'm promoting and that I'm with trist. They ask me if I have a name card. "WHAT FUCKIN NAME CARD?" They said they don't have my name on the list so I ask for their manager and they tell me to CALL him myself! I grab my wallet and rip out 45 bucks for my girl, her friend and my cover and slammed it on the table and tell the fag with the stamp to give them fuckin stamps right away. I get in PISSED AS HELL! I tell all my other friends promoting that night what happened. My friend finally tells Eric the Koo manager for that night what happens and he takes me to the front to get a refund. He only gives ME a refund and not for my girl and her friend. I look at the two fags who made me pay and I point at their ugly face and said, "YOU REMEMBER MY FACE! I TOLD YOU FUCKERS! I TOLD YOU I WAS WITH TRIST PROMOTING AND YOU FUCKIN MADE ME PAY!
" They replied, "Hey man, not our fault, we didn't know!" That pissed me off even more and I said, "FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKIN MORON!" and waved my hand at them like the fuckin pansies they are. I get some drinks and danced with my girl and I felt alot better after that. We go outside for a breather and I learn that Chris actually told the bouncers that "Trist" promoters weren't welcomed tonight and put my friends at the back of the line. We were beyond belief and choked at their attitude. We spent most of the smoking outside because of the rediculousness of the situation. I brought my girl home and went home myself. Other than the Koo Party fiasco I had a great night with my friends and it was hilariously fun outside the club. Nat and her friend Erica were giving us some great entertainment.

Saturday night I spent at twinkle with some friends and I will miss playing the nose game with them soooooo much. This is when I get my best laughs through the duration of my week. They gave me a surprise and I will definitely put their gift to use. I got home at 230am and finished packing and was hoping to watch the closing ceremonies of the olympics but was too tired to survive.

Sunday morning was the big day and I woke up early and zipped up my luggage. I was feeling groggy and dazed and not fully understanding what was about to happen to me. This day seemed so surreal to me. I was actually going to leave. I was off to the airport with my parents. These were the last few moments in Vancouver for me for a long time. I checked in at the JAL counter by an efficient lady. It took less then 2 minutes to finish my luggage check in and boarding pass. Vanessa came to see me off =) and we had a bit of breakfast together before I left. Boarding this plane has probably been the hardest for me. I never thought I'd say this but I will definitely miss Vancouver, because of the people that are there, the fresh air, and of course the food! I said bye to my parents and went through International departures security checks.

After various security checks I went to the departure gate of my flight and waited for about an hour. I was already feeling antsy and this never usually happens when I fly, but this time had a totally different meaning for me. My restless flight gave me signs that I was about to have 2 hard days ahead of me. I transitted through Tokyo for 3 hours and had a quick bite of Yakisoba. The Yakisoba was microwaved and full of msg but it was tastey enough to get me through. It reminded me very much of the meal I had with my God sis. No better time to reminisce than now I guess. My flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong was a bit of a nightmare and lets just say my stomach wasn't agreeing with either the flight or the yakisoba. Getting off the plane was a relief and it was great to see a friendly face as my exchange buddy, Charlotte met me at the airport. We got acquainted with each other and had a friendly chat from the Airport express MTR to Hong Kong station where we took a taxi to my hall of residence, Swire Hall. We got up the stairs and into the lobby and were greeted by a dark somber looking man. He avoided talking to me at all cost and directed most of his inquiries towards my local buddy. When I received all the paper work necessary I went up to my room. Surprise surprise someone is still in there with his stuff all over the place. I was then warned that my room mate was still in residence and that he was actually leaving for Vancouver soon. He finally showed up after awhile and I introduced myself. We got off well and helped each other up. I gave him advice about Vancouver and UBC and he helped me get started with things at HKU. I tried to get my stuff all settled down and unpacked. Took my first shower in a dorm and headed off to bed.

Today was the most hectic day in I've had in awhile. I woke up early and showered. A friend I made the night before and my room mate showed me where to go for breakfast in the morning and we all made a quick trip to the canteen. After that I went off with my friend daniel to the computer lab and soon after my buddy met us up at starbucks with her friends and her friend's buddies from Korea. We went around campus finishing our registration and picking up orientation packages. I had a fustrating moment trying to open a bank account. After that was all done we headed to Causeway bay for bubble tea and some quick shopping. We practiced our cantonese on our way their and had some hilarious moments trying to pronounce things or corrent my pronunctiations. Once we got to Causeway we went to RBT to meet up with Charlotte's friends and her buddies. We split up again to go look for cell phones for my new friend from Colorado, Daniel. He settled on a phone from Smartone. I have to tell you that cell phone plans in Hong Kong are rediculously cheap! After that rallied at Sogo Department store, a major landmark at Causeway bay and headed to a massage parlour to get some foot massages! I couldn't join them but watched as they delighted because my uncle was going to pick me up for dinner. I was picked up by my uncle in a vast street of stores and people. My uncle and my aunt took me to dinner at a Japanese restaurant that is part of the same chain of my favourite Japanese restaurant there, Itamae, but this one was called Satochi Sushi. I had my first satisfying meal in Hong Kong and from there went on to pick some goods up from my relatives. Now I'm sitting here in a boiling room writing into the wee morning. I still think of Vancouver and especially Vanessa. There were a few moments on the airplane when I was listening to an Above and Beyond song that talked about home and being half a world apart, the irony. Well for better of for worse I'm here in Hong Kong and hopefully I'll bask in it as it has much to offer me.

PS: I will be getting a blackberry here soon, so I will pin you all and we can get connected there.

From Hong Kong to Vancouver; Half a world apart but not a memory disjointed.

Welcoming the World to the Nest: Beijing Olympics Welcomes a world both anxious and ignorant

2008-08-08T10:26:00.000-07:00

A change of topic during a remarkable time in this world as China broadcasts to the world its history, language, culture, and art. And yes, it is still the same regime we know of as the People's Republic of China. What this country has done within the last decade is surpass any imagination or pessimism to shock and awe the people of the world with their ability to grow, change and lead the global community to a new era. I will not deny that there are certain "freedoms" withheld within China, but the ability for a country to host a coming out party that shouts as loud as this after a century of turmoil and chaos. I've decided to reflect upon this change within my blog though it is a far cry from my usual banters on food (though I have written papers on the changing politics of food within China). As IOC Chairman Jacques Rogge puts it, "The Games are a chance for the rest of the world to discover what China really is".

Why am I promoting this Olympic? Firstly, because it is the most debated Olympics since the 1980s boycotted Olympics in Moscow. Secondly, this is a test of China's control and the ability of China to adapt to a harshly critical western media (at most times unnecessary). Thirdly, this Olympics is something symbolic for the people of China to unite and show solidarity within a world that misunderstands China. Finally, I believe the west is still ignorant of the leaps and bounds this country has made in most aspects of its citizens' lives.

China unveils itself to spits on the face.

China and its people wanted to open the world to its history, culture, art, and power with a grand show. Many will say that this is excessive, that they are merely flexing their muscles like body builders, and like body builders they are weakest at the moment the perform and are judged. What has the criticism so far been by Western media? The pollution, the human rights, the sudan genocide, the tibetan rights, and great firewall of censorship. None of these other than the pollution and slight exception of the firewall has ANYTHING to do with what the Olympics are about or what the Chinese want to offer the world. Face is one of the most important points of respect within the Chinese culture. What some ignorant and self-righteous groups have done is offer Western media slanted opinions on the very things that they should question their own part of the world about. In my opinion the greatest disrespect these groups have done already is to attempt to snuff out the Olympic torch, a symbol which is held dear to global athletes and the Chinese which have symbolized it as their leap forward into global intergration.

This blog here offers the some insight into the Torch as a symbol for the Chinese people: http://thechinabeat.blogspot.com/2008/07/why-were-chinese-people-so-angry-about.html

The following is an important passage within the article. .

"In my classroom re-enactments, I am often surprised at the effect on myself, and in Deyang I experienced the sudden insights into my own culture that Turner says are a potential of ritual (a product of "liminality"). Against the background of the furor over the international torch relay, observing the reverence and emotion for The Torch and The Torchbearer made me suddenly see how cynical we are, more often than not, in the West, as a product of our secularized, rationalized society in which there are only small spaces in which it is acceptable to express reverence for symbols. A picture appeared in my mind which is an exaggeration but perhaps with a kernel of truth: In China, the majority of public expressions take place in a vast field of rituals and symbols, while the protest zones that were recently announced for the Olympic Games are the small, circumscribed spaces where critical analytical thought is expressed. In the US, the majority of public expressions take place in a vast field of critical analytical thought, while ritual expression takes place in small, circumscribed places like churches and, arguably, sports events. I realized that at least part of the anger that many Chinese people felt at the disruptions of the international torch relay was the result of the (to them) appalling and uncivilized lack of respect for a nearly-sacred object.

In the West the Olympic Games have struggled with a loss of idealism due to challenges like commercialism and doping.

The ChineseOlympic organizers and many Chinese people held an idealistic faith in the transformative power of the Olympic Games, believing that they could facilitate China's integration with the world and benefit its future development. The West duly regarded this with skepticism. According to Turner, a balanced social process requires rituals. The global village needs its ritual and the Olympic Games are currently serving that function. But also according to Turner, ritual has the potential to either increase solidarity or initiate irreparable schisms.
In Deyang it was possible to foresee the closing of this cultural gap between China and the West. Everyone agreed that our final performance at the elite Foreign Languages Middle School in Deyang was the "most orderly" – and all but myself and the artist Sun Yiyong considered this a good thing. The children did not mob The Torch or me. They spoke very good English and they paid 40,000 yuan per year in tuition. Apparently for such privileged children The Torch and The International Person had already lost some of their lustre."

For most Westerners who have little introduction into Confucian ideology and neither live it in any instance of their lives this concept of respect for such a thing may be hard to understand, but for many Chinese this symbol is the binding that keeps the national nuclear unit together. The cleave between China and West is increased at every moment a group attempts to smother the Olympic flames or to place a "free tibet" banner on the Great Wall or on any national symbol. This disrespect is not so much a message or liberating act within China but rather a spit on the face. They will question, "why are these foreign devils attempting to destroy our nation, our culture, and our pride?" It is self-righteous to attempt such demonstrations before looking upon your own side of the world with its many injustice and unrighteousness. Confucius says, "Respect yourself and others will respect you." Does China criticize or question us on; the Quebecois? the Basque? the IRA? The oppression of Native Americans/Canadians? The massive effects of Colonialism in Africa? I live and grew up in the West but my Chinese background gave me special identity in a Country that is accepting of muti-culturalism, but my experience here has taught me that the friction between Western individualist values and Chinese Confucian Familial values were great. I applaud the attempt by many of my friends and colleagues in attempting the understand and respect these values but in general the ignorance and misinterpretation is still there.

The Boycott of the Beijing Olympics by Foreign Officials

This Olympics has been hotly debated especially by Foreign Officials. Most of the officials calling for a boycott against the Olympics because of China's Human Rights records. Other than the hypocratic statements made by many of these officials the mis-information fed to them is more important. What exactly are the human rights records they speak of? What are the specific examples? Are these examples more damning then the own happening in their country.

One supporter of the boycott is Mia Farrow, her article may give you a better opinion on the issue:
http://www.miafarrow.org/genocide_olympics.html

Please view the NBC video on linking the Sudan crisis to the Olympics in Beijing naming it "The Genocide Olympics".
http://www.miafarrow.org/editorials.html
Her article that claims linking Chinese to genocide in Sudan.
http://www.sudanreeves.org/Page-10.html

A website urging the masses to "shame" China for their role in Sudan.

http://www.straight.com
Read the article on China's contribution to Genocide.

I will let you decided whether or not the claims by Actress Mia farrow and her Hollywood comrades are correct or legitimate. I do ask the readers to critically read and assess each media source. Where are these articles written? Where are the academic and scholarly sources to these claims?

The Tibet Incident
This was a most devestating blow to the PR of China's Olympics. A riot happening within it's own territory with massive media attention. However, for better or worse this was a chance of China to adapt to Western media. I as a Westerner will admit to our use of Media as a propagandic tool of what is the "in" topic for liberalists and self-righteous Western Celebrities. The domestic situation of economy for the US was at an all time low, what can we do to draw attention to another issue in the world? Well you know the rest. I'm not making an excuse for the Chinese government. Some of their tactics are harsh by Western standards but in my opinion necessary. However we must question the seeds the Tibetan government has placed within western media and sollicitation with our officials through the propaganda they use towards celebrities calling towards their so called compassion.

China has stated that Tibet is an internal issue. Why do people no heed this? Because the west is fixed upon this pedestal complex that it must step into issues not of their own. What about our issue with the Quebecois? The Basque? Are these seperatist movements not "Internal"? Confucius says, "What you often attempt to find in others are found within yourself". The contention of Tibet being a territory of China has been in debate for over centuries. Tibet has always been a tributary nation since the Yuan Mongol Dynasty of Khublai Khan. Even now the Dhalai Lhama has accepted the sovereignty of China within Tibetan lands and only hoped for a dialogue of cultural and historical preservation. The Tibetan government in exile are working externally without the guidance of the Dhalai Lhama. He has called for repeated peace while the Tibetans rioted. He even wished the games well in China and praised China as a fitting host. What this "Free Tibet" movement has become is out of his control.

Also some interesting reads for a better understanding of China is the "Serfdom debate before PRC regime sovereignty in Tibet".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serfdom_in_Tibet_controversy

Controversies Aside

Let's now remind ourselves what the Olympics are about. It is about the athletes who compete in a world stage to represent their nations. It is about a global harmony, one which China has hailed in it's slogan "One World, One Dream". Never before has a country under authoritarian rule look so keen to lead the world in technology, economy, arts, and environmental issues. These games are touted the greenest games with the least amount of waste produced through its extensive infrastructure that re uses most of its waste. The amount of monies inserted into this project amount up to $40 billion including a $100 million on the opening ceremonies alone. Over thousands of Chinese have flocked to the capital hoping to volunteer and view the competitions. These games should be a guiding example of what the Olympics should be about and not what extra political concerns created by media propaganda is spinning. I implore my fellow Vancouverites to come together to meet the standards the Chinese have set for us. I ask for all walks of life in this city to come together to support our Nation's dreams of hosting the world.

Gone, but not out. Hiatus for Shangri-La

2008-07-15T10:23:00.000-07:00

Where the hell have I been? I know you all MISS this benevolent voice of mine, guiding you to great eats and haunts of Vancouver. Well, I've been enjoying this city. Yes, you've heard me right. This bland, boring, intensely mundane place has been keeping me quite preoccupied, excited and intrigued.

So why the big wait you say? Must be something special. Must be something immensely invigorating. Must be something deeply soul satisfying. Did I find the ONE place that I could define my culinary experience? No ... and Yes! Nothing can quite satisfy my epicurean taste buds. But, a dining experience can effect my outlook on eating for an indefinite time of time. Having a good companion to enjoy the experience is also a kicker.

Have you heard of the story of Shangri-La? Shangri-La is a mystical harmonious forgotten land enclosed by the western end of the Kunlun Mountains. Its a fictional place created by the British story teller James Hilton in his novel, Lost Horizons. It is something searched for. It is something to be found. Its comparisons are on elevated levels - the Grail, El Dorado, Fount of Youth, Pilum that pierced Christ. It is the one place that a man searches for all his life. Why this hocus pocus you say? It really isn't all that magical in the end. What it is, is the search for the one place that you can feel utter satisfaction! AND I'VE FOUND IT!

Zakkushi. Say it with me. Zak-Ku-Shi. Sounds quite similar to Shangri-La no? Probably not, but Zakkushi is my Shangri-La. This place has escaped my grasp for too many times over. I've been to the place 4 times and each time I just could not do the 45-60 minute wait. But, I've finally done it! I've eaten there. I've hyped myself up and it did not disappoint! I know this sounds incredulous, but it really is that good. Zakkushi is a tight little restaurant on Denman with another location at W.4th and Burrard, and plans to open on Main St. The highlight of the place is skewer style Charcoal grilled eats, but also serve the more usual Izakaya fare like ebi mayo and fresh tuna sashimi.

A famous chef once said that Eating is about the senses. A dining experience should not fall to taste alone, but a combination of sounds, smells, touch/texture, taste, sight brings a harmonious crescendo to every tasty morsel you consume. The first thing I was hit by is the smell and sounds of the place. The smokey charcoal smell fills your nose. The sounds of the Japanese servers greeting you and announcing your presence to the house is warming and appetizing. I was actually immediately seated this time as there were two perfect seats at the bar just welcoming us to snug in. Here's a little trick to ordering at a place like this. Don't think. Just randomly select anything that sounds familiar or completely out of this world to you. When a place specializes in something like this, you know that everythign they have on the menu is there for a reason and nothing could possibly go wrong. So I ordered a wack load of skewers. We had: the p-toro(Pork belly), the quail egg wrapped with bacon, the Chicken with mayo and nori, the chicken with pickled radish, and the sticky ricecake wrapped with pork. I had ordered the marinated tuna sashimi to start and the fried chicken knees for kicks. Every skewer I had was amazing, but the p-toro won high marks from me and my girl. The quail egg was by far our favourite for originality. The chicken ones were standard but ooooh so tasty. Each skewer was matched with sauces and garnishes that balanced and enhanced flavours creating a mystical harmony. Not so far fetched with the Shangri-La concept anymore is it? The marinated tuna sashimi was amazing. The sweetness matched with a bit of tartness and only the exterior protein slightly cooked. It melted in my mouth. I was ravishing this meal. At the end of all the skewers I was begging for more so I ordered their version of Chicken Teriyaki. The Chicken Yakitori on rice. It was nicely seasoned and the sauce was not sickly sweet as most places do with their Chicken Teriyaki. They topped it off with an egg while the chicken and rice were still piping hot and the white quickly sealed the yolk together. Perfection. I also ordered their banana wontons with ice cream - a simple dish. A perfect way to end a exciting culinary experience.

Vancouver can be a place of opportunity if you know where to look. I have a knack for finding opportunities. A part of why I've been preoccupied is that I've been helping good friends establish business relationships in what I only hope can further their cause. I have never been a person about getting what I want because everything I do for others have fulfilled my goals. It's my belief that one day I will benefit enough from every good relationship I establish. I recently affiliated with a few friends' new promoting company. I have been actively searching sponsors for them and seem to have hit a chord. I only hope the best of the sponsors I've helped them find. So for now I will shamelessly promote their events as I have shamelessly promoted many numerous restaurants without fee already. I never feign to look back at what kind of money I could be making by doing all this free promotion, BUT that is not what I am set out to do. So here it is:

TRIST NIGHT PROMOTIONS

UPCOMING EVENTS

July 18th Trist Promotions and Backdrop Promotions Present “Moulin Rouge”
Ladies dressed in lingerie gets in FREE before 11:00pm
Maxine's Hideaway (formerly Balthazar)1215 Bidwell Street, Vancouver BC
Doors Open at 10:00pm – 2:00am
2 Rooms 2 Vibes Main Room: Top40, R&B, Hip Hop, ALL the classic party anthems
DJs Relik, DJ Eversince Every Friday DJ Pluskratch and DJ K-Rec On Rotation.
Small room: Funk, Soul, Breaks, Old School
DJs Bles-sed and special guests
Tickets: $15 more at the door

July 25th Trist Promotions and Nocturnal Lifestyles Present “Summer Wonderland”
The First Indoor Snow Party of The Summer – The Best of Summer Meet The Best of Winter
Maxine's Hideaway (formerly Balthazar)1215 Bidwell Street, Vancouver BC
Doors Open at 10:00pm – 2:00am
2 Rooms 2 Vibes Main Room: Top40, R&B, Hip Hop, ALL the classic party anthems
DJs Relik, DJ Eversince Every Friday DJ Pluskratch and DJ K-Rec On Rotation.
Small room: Funk, Soul, Breaks, Old School
DJs Bles-sed and special guestsTickets: $15 more at the door

Another event I proudly present is brought to you by a Charitable foundation I've been helping create.

Hands Around the World Mission Society
TLC (Tender Loving Care) Dinner

Come and enjoy some great All-you-can-eat Sukiyaki Hotpot at Posh Restaurant's new location in Burnaby! This charity dinner is the first event hosted by Hands Around the World (HAW).

Hands Around the World consists of a group of students who immediately decided to come together to form a charitable society that would lend a hand around the world in hopes of alleviating the destruction and pain caused by sudden disasters.

We would love to have you spend the evening with us and support our mission of continually supporting areas in crises. This is our first event and we would love to invite you to participate in our global efforts. Tickets are $25 each, with proceeds going to the Red Cross. During the night we will be holding draws for raffle prizes and 50/50.

We have also invited a representative from Red Cross as a speaker for the night. Among all this we will be sharing with you the effects of the earthquake in Sichuan and many stories that come straight from the survivors of the area.

If you are interested in attending please email hawmissionssociety@gmail.com.
Leave us your phone number and how many people you plan on coming with.
If you are interested in donating prizes, please email the HAW gmail account and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you for your compassion and donation in advance.

Well I know, this isn't much of an opinionated post. But do come out to support my events. I will dearly be indebted to you till I leave Vancouver so better collect soon. Also I will be featured in an online magazine www.themodline.com which will be hosting its wrap party on Aug.1st at Maxine's hideaway. Stay tuned online as I review Aphrodite Cafe (an organic eatery). I know how utterly awkward. I expect a non-exciting vegetarian dinner, but Vancouver has surprised me as of late and I hope I will too as my writing gets published. Journalistic qualities I may lack, but remember this, it's about where you write from, not who you are writing to. Thanks for the support everyone! A month and a half as I lift off and relocate.

Celebrating the Slow Food Revival: Molto Largo, Muey Largo

2008-06-23T20:19:00.000-07:00

Slow Food is always better than Fast Food! But DAMN! Does it have to be that slow?

Anthony Bourdain had a few things right in his book "The Nasty Bits", the slow food revolution is healthier and alot better tasting. Think of one large pot being cooked for hours upon hour, pork bone marrow, beef marrow, chicken bones, miso, soy, various vegetables all rendered down into one goldenly delicious broth. Most definitely, this stuff will always taste better and bring back familiar warm fuzzy feelings that you could never get at your local golden arches. Bourdain also got another thing right, the restaurants that always serve that one dish and only one dish do it right and is the best thing you'll ever taste. Think about it, if the person behind the kitchen has been doing this one dish for 40 years, it must be good and he/she MUST be doing something right. I'll give you an example from my own experience. When in Hong Kong, go to the stalls/noodle stands that make one type of thing and only one type of thing. Right above Central up the hill towards the mid levels there is one noodle stand that you would definitely have to try. For those familiar with Richmond Lansdowne's No. 9, I'll tell you now that the place is but a shadow of the noodle restaurant with the same chinese name in Hong kong. What is the one thing you always had to order at 4am after a long hours in the flashing lights of night clubs? BEEF BRISKET NOODLE SOUP. Well this noodle stand makes ONLY that. You can order all types of noodles with the Beef Brisket and soup and only the Beef Brisket. Let me tell you, theres no way the damned place could've stayed open for that long if it wasn't doing something right, and it that beef brisket noodle soup was the best damned noodle soup (Cantonese style) that I've ever had. Well on to the point of all this.

I recently went to Benkei Ramen on Robson by Denman. No, it's not your dried pack of instant noodles you have at home when you're desperate for something, when you're in your 13th hour studying for that exam tomorrow morning that you haven't learnt anything for all semester. No, none of those nightmares came back to me while I was eating at Benkei on a warm summers day with the patio open. Nope, I was relishing the home made recipes of this master broth maker. We ordered the Gyozas and a Chasu (Roast Pork) Rice Ball. My friend ordered the Shio which is a mix of the miso and pork broth with a special sweet soy. I ordered the Shoyu which is the pork broth. The Gyoza was not amazing, but that's not what you really go to Benkei for. When the bowls of Ramen came, they were piping hot, and our growling stomach began to feel warm and fuzzy before we even took a sip. My broth has a deep meaty flavor, you can taste the many hours of simmering marrow and vegetables combining to create the perfect crock pot concoction. Do you remember the scene from Ratatouille when the evil food critic's heart melted and was reminded of eating home cooked food that always soothed the soul? Well, my damned cold heart was melted. All that bitterness of Vancouver? Still there, but I'm pretty sure a bit of it was chipped away. Benkei Ramen is definitely worth a try when you're down in the westend. Ramen is not your make shift sustenance when you're struggling to stay awake shivering under the cold florescent lamp cramming away. Ramen is food of the soul made in Japan.

I'll admit that Bourdain had the slow food revival thing right. It does taste damn good. But I've got to wonder when slow food is too slow no matter how good the food tastes.

So as I said last post, that Italian Kitchen and the Glowbal management decided to fuck me over with a 5:15pm dinner time slot. WHO EATS DINNER AT 5:15! I don't even think your grandparents would eat dinner at 5:15 at the senior residence. My fuckin imaginary dog doesn't even eat dinner at 5:15pm. Now who in the right mind would say yes to a reservation like that, especially when they decided to take $500 from my credit card as a deposit. Oh yes, please take $500 from my account so I can take a dinner time slot that no one would show up to, please do. No I decided to take my business elsewhere. So what restaurant in Vancouver can accommodate me and show me a good time on my Birthday? Yes, this spoilt, self-righteous and discerning bastard wants a place to pamper him and treat his guests right. Well the first place to answer my pleas were So.cial at Le Magasin. Yes, the French were the first to respond and come to my aid! A damned welcome surprise. And talk about hospitality! They went over the top for me.

So.cial gave me the entire Oyster Bar room for my group of 20. This beautiful room included the Oyster ice bar and the drinks bar. We had a personal bartender that doubled as our server and a small nook with a faux fireplace just finished the space off. So.cial is a unique business in the heart of Gastown. Their business includes a Charcuterie/Butcher Shop, a restaurant and lounge. I got to So.cial early with a few friends and decided to order a dozen Malpeque oysters and a Gin tonic while we waited. Malpeques are my favourite oyster and the ones they served were nicely shucked and served with a brine that almost resembled a Vietnamese "Nuoc Cham". As the group began to drift in the room was abuzz with energy. After an hour of waiting around we finally began to order. I decided to try their specialty there, the Charcuterie ( a trio of cured meat pate). For the main I ordered an entree of 38 day dry aged AAA Alberta prime Ribeye over potato fingerlings and topped with shoestring onions. I finished the meal off with their vanilla lavender creme brulee.

Now, I'm a man who likes pate. I like rich meaty flavors. This was some of the best pate I've ever had. The chicken pate was excellent and had a touch of cumin. The buffalo rillete I wasn't so wild about as it was quite sweet. However when my friend told me to mix the two together, it was like peanut butter and jam or eggs and ketchup. The last was a chicken and liver terrine which was topped with capers to cut the rich fatty flavour. On to the main event, this was what I was waiting for all night! The 38 day dry aged AAA Alberta Prime Ribeye cooked medium rare. The steak was perfectly melt in your mouth buttery tender piece of beauty. I was in carnivore heaven. This was what T-rex must've felt when he tore into the flesh of a Steak-o-saurus. The brulee was a little watery and led me to believe it had been sitting awhile due to the amount of servings they had to fire at the same time. I ordered a bottle of Orofino Cabernet Merlot which my friend graciously paid for. It was a great match with the steak. The waiter Alex was very friendly and had an awesome time serving us suggesting and complimenting our choices. Let me tell you, you would've never noticed that the entire crew of So.cial is authentically French.

So here is my point about Bourdain's slow food revival opinions. 4 hours was our total dinner time. My friend called it a Marathon dinner. I have to admit it was a damn long dinner. The saving grace was the remarkable French hospitality? I know, when pig's fly right? But I guess even the French have learnt to adapt in an overly agressive Vancouver hospitality industry. Whether or not 4 hours is worth a great tasting dinner depends on your intentions. I had intentions of getting intensely drunk after dinner and enough time to dance it off before passing. This was not to be because of our French style dinner. I understand that eating should be an experience but 1/6 of a day for one meal is not my idea of having a good time. I had enough wine and alcohol to get me through the experience though.

The rest of the night included a inebriated showing by two of my co-workers and a test of gag reflex after downing 4 straight shots of Crown Royal at Fabric night club. This wasn't the club I expected to go to, but I was inclined to go anywhere by this time. Plenty of eye-candy helped the ambience and I was enjoying the rest of our short clubbing drop-by. The rest is a blur and for all it's fast pacedness, I could not for the life of me recall too much.

Well Summer is finally starting to kick off. The summer solstice usually means the anniversary of my overlordic fascist father's birthday. He's been awfully mellow lately and our night at Steveston reflected that.
We ended up at Kisamos Greek Taverna. Yet another rule of thumb I agree with Bourdain about is to follow the locals to the packed establishment. We waited for a table for about half an hour and were seated window side on a nice and bright evening. I ordered the Roast Lamb and it met my expectations. It was as good as any good taverna should be. The kicker is the price which at 11.95 is rediculous for a good roast lamb dinner.
Went for a nice stroll after dinner at the pier and decided to grab a iced ceremonial matcha tea. Refreshing end to a refreshing evening.

I guess I really am starting to feel an inclination towards this place I've called home for so long.

My dinner did bring out a side of me I've been holding back though. My disgruntled feelings toward an organization at school I've been a part of. I won't repeat these things due to my utmost respect for the people within the organization and because I'm a loyal person, but I will say that I have been very disgusted with the ways things have turned out this year and the change in dynamics of the group. There was a total split and alienation created from the top down. This to say the least was not what I was expecting from the beginning of the school year. Another of my friend confided me telling me that I didn't need them. In a sense I don't but I also owe alot of things to the group and I feel a sense of loyalty to them, at the same token I believe it's my time to let go because of my situation next year.

Recently the Vancouver School Board has ruled that parents would not be allowed to pull their Children out of gay friendly classes that they have enacted into the curriculum, but they are allowed to pull them out of health and physical sexuality related classes due to religious beliefs. I believe this is the biggest hypocrisy on earth. Our liberalist hippie activist province is at it again. I have nothing against gays, I've worked with a whole group of them for years and I have nothing but the utmost respect for them. But if a Child does not even conceive simple sexuality topics what makes them able to comprehend a homosexual relationship? Learning about homosexual does not always mean they will tolerate them. Some of the most educated people in this world have been the biggest bigots and racists. I have no respect for a school board that forces an education upon children that is not prescribed by the opinions of all parents. I believe parents should still have a filter veto to what goes on in their Children's education. Though I believe they should have access to all information I have to question the age at which these Children are being introduced to such things. Lettign Children know something so early does not necessarily solve the situation in our society. Neither does seperating this course into a specific "Gay friendly" course help by patronizing the social classification. Vancouver politics is fucked because it is full of hippies. I will always believe that. Hippies are the ones running our city, beware!

I guess leaving isn't so bad. If it wasn't for all the DAMNED good food!

Till next time my dear readers.

Benkei Ramen - 1471 Robson St. Westend
So.cial at Le Magasin - 332 Water St. Gastown
Kisamos Greek Taverna - 3420 Moncton St. Steveston

Frostbite in Summer. Cuando, Cuando, Cuando

2008-06-18T00:19:00.000-07:00

I'm shivering up to my hair follicles, and this is the best that summer in Vancouver has had to offer... so far.

It's a wonderful feeling to be had when you sitting on a camp chair in the middle of summer with the stars and a cold cup of white wine in your hand, especially when your pecker is shrivelled up in the fuckin' intense cold and the only medium you have in keeping your manly parts on track is the wine. But this is all for a good cause Weldon, man it up. Fuck you brain, you don't have to endure this painful heart piercing chill.

I decided to be charitable, and though I am a compassionate person, I've never truly been charitable. Over the weekend of my birthday, yes my birthday, I spent it running around a god forsaken track in Burnaby. It was fun to say the least. When's the next time I get to drink in public where people shout at you for not having a beer/wine in hand? Well think about the children. That poor little kid with one leg and one ballsac can now join the other kids just like him prancing around at summer camp. I don't hate kids, I just have anxiety issues around them. But koodos to the organizers for putting on a gong show in the middle of a park.

Just for kicks I decided to make some skewers, korean style. I used a korean bbq sauce and doused the pork in that sweet shit. It was delicious, there is something special that happens when all that sugar is clashed with the burnt smokey charcoal flavour of a barbeque. I also brought a few deep friend fish balls and tofu puffs for kicks as the Richmond "Summer" Market still hasn't been allowed to bring in the food vendors. I got alot of praises for the skewers. BBQ is a great thing when you know what you're doing. Heres a few guidelines I use when I grill my meats.

- Always use a sweet base for your pork
- NEVER sauce up your beef, salt and pepper is all that baby needs
- Don't be Bobby Flay and cake your damn meats in dry rub than pouring 40000020940923092 million sauces over them. He's a cunt of a cook.
- Try the innards and otherwise normally inedibles in American culture. Americans don't know the first thing about BBQ even though they claim they do. If they knew a thing about BBQ they would know that beef tripe and bunts taste delicious when made properly. That's right, man up and eat the large intestine. My meals are a daily fear factor for you pink skinned Arkansans.

So I had another foray into wine during this 24 hour relay. I bought a bottle of Gray Monk Latitude 50 which was made of a 50% blend of Bacchus grapes and 50% Riesling. It was delicious, and the bottle was downed in no time. I honestly believe though that the White Merlot from Jackson Triggs, though cheap is a great summer wine and easy to drink. This was the only thing keeping me sane in the cold weather in the middle of the night.

Talk about a bite, I discovered that Peanut Butter is one of the most versatile spreads and should in my humble opinion be considered a condiment. Yes, I decided to make my burgers and hot dogs with peanut butter. No I'm not insane from the post winter chills, but in all honesty PB tastes good with anything. I pity those who are allergic to the beauty of the peanut. Next time you make a burger, spread on some peanut butter and give it a go, I promise no disappointment.

11am of the 15th. After a million happy birthday songs and wishes I get to go home and pass out. Yeap, I slept through my birthday. I woke up at 6:30pm got ready for dinner and headed out to Laguna Blu. This Italian restaurant can be found in New Westminster at the Quay next to the defunct casino. Now, I've always been very cautious about having Italian food. The Italian cuisine in North America is stricken with the Trattoria disease of little Italy. The heavy tasteless sauces made in countless so called Mediterranean eateries. But I have to admit, this place did a great job. My parents and I started with their antipasto platter. For $12 dollars this was a steal! They had proscuitto, gorgonzolla, olives, mozarella over a bed of roquettes and drisseled with balsamic vinegar. We also ordered the Calamari and the batter they used was very light and delicious. Though I must admit, deep frying Calamari is never my favourite way to cook it. I had the Laguna Blu Linguine which had a treasure of seafood from clams, scallops, snapper, mussels, to shrimp. The white wine tomato sauce was delicious. My dad is not a vegetarian but he awkwardly ordered the Pasta primavera and he thoroughly enjoyed it. On top of the good food we were treated to live music and seniors dancing. Nothing more engaging than watching an 80 year old jacked on Viagra hitting the dance floor. I however, was paying more attention to our hostess. She was eyeing me the whole night and kept a cheeky smile everytime I asked her to help our table. A good dinner and a good night. It was a great way to make up for the lack of day I had on a birthday.

Well Italian Kitchen was a bust and I must say I am already dissappointed before I've tasted anything. I guess it really is just a Glowbal PR machine's work. I've settled on Social, which ironically has been a place I've been wanting to try. So until after my gorging on June 20th I hope to see your comments showing sheer delight at my blogs. Goodnight, and Goodluck ladies and gentleman.

Kung Fu Uguis, Flying Foxes, and Hungry Pandas

2008-06-13T11:18:00.000-07:00

Orientalizing, bastardizing, Caucasian preconception, Glorified Digital Animal, Piece of Work! but Oh! So FUNNY!

Waiting in the dim lit theatre on a random weekday night seems demure compared to an evening of viewing countless food network programming. I damned well missed that seductive Giada des Laurentes and the action packed cursing of Ramsey in his nightmares. Nothing better than sitting next to some damn caucasian teenagers talking like ozzy ozbourne mixed with the latest circus punk band lead singer. Fools. Well the previews have started and the hope of silence rang through my drums. "I WANT TO KILL WALL-E MAAAAAN". Nope I wasn't spared the idiocracy of these trashy kids. I want to shove a cue stick up your.... hows that for etiquette in a theatre? Let me watch my god damn panda fight god damn kung fu or I'll god damn wushu finger you myself! The movie starts and I'm greeted with silence. Thank GOD!

If you don't know already, Kung Fu Panda is a dreamworks movie about a Panda who learns Kung Fu. Wow, redundant and original, I know. Don't let the lack of creative title give you qualms about this movie. It is what it is. A farce, but a good one at that. There are a few jokes in there only orientals would know. The elderly Kungfu master called Ugui is simply the romanization of the word turtle in Chinese. This brought many laughters from the crowd on the exception of the trashy kids and caucasian minority in Vancouver. Don't take me as a bigot but it brings joy to me when even a bastardizing, orientalizing movie like this can break subtle jokes that even their own North American viewers barely understand. Overall I enjoyed this movie quite surprisingly. There are some questionable moments and as I said this movie is bastardizing and orientalizing. The concepts are philosophically Western masked with names and characters that resemble oriental concepts. But go ahead and enjoy a few laughs, I did.

I was recently invited to a Facebook group, yes another facebook group, that was petitioning for the re-naming of the Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to the Terry Fox International Airport. This is one of the most rediculous petitions among many rediculous petitions that liberal hippies and anti-developmental but pride filled Vancouverites pass around. I informed the petitioners that re branding of an International Airport requires millions of dollars, and this money will come from Tax Payers. Why spend millions on rebranding something established with a good reputation for over 40 years. Their simple argument was that Toronto has the Lester B. Pearson Internation and Montreal had the Pierre Elliot Trudeau International. Well I'm sorry but central Canada is just that, in CENTRAL CANADA. Vancouver is an international HUB where many tourists and corporations pass through or stay at. To suddenly rebrand the airport would leave travellers confused and the entire brand equity created by 40 years of branding goes down the drain. I have nothing but respect for Terry Fox, he is a local hero. I have to question why these people are pushing for something so rediculous though and why Terry? I told them to save their creativity for developing infrastructure in Vancouver rather than waste it on such frivolous sentiments. Vancouverites are such foolishly proud people sometimes. All this creative energy could be put towards better things in our city.

I have a love hate relationship with AYCE (all you can eat). I love AYCE because it's AYCE. I hate AYCE because it's AYCE. The usual AYCE haunt would be semi-edible food filled with hundreds of options to fill you up before you break their food cost records. There are exceptions of course. In Vancouver, AYCE sushi is the greatest cookie cutting machine. You take a beautiful food concept and you beat it and contort it to a cheapened level till its half edible but profitable. The exception in this case would be Ninkazu and Tomakazu, their qualities are still quite bearable. Along comes Posh, now growing at 3 restaurants a year, and breaks my preconception of AYCE. First of all, Posh is a chain franchise that brings you Japanese Sukiyaki hot pot, albiet in a Taiwanese lens. They claim to be the original Sukiyaki franchise in North America, I don't have historical records to disprove this but they have a damn good business model and food quality to match. The cut of beef is fat, and yes this is a good sign. All you damn Vancouverites complaining about how fat beef is should learn what good beef has, FAT! Why is kobe beef expensive? IT'S FAT! Back to my elboration on posh. The cuts of meat are good quality and the quality of hot pot ingrediants including produce are quality. They spare no cost on this. They have a spicy soup version which is amazing as well, the chili hot sauce they make is just as pleasing. The restaurant is extremely clean and the waiters wipe down the marble surfaces painstakingly over and over again like Michaelangelo "wax on, wax off". The ambience is clean, zen like and modern. The washrooms are clean! HALLELUJAH! Asian proprietors who know how to keep washrooms clean! Now the reason I hate AYCE is the primal side of me comes out of hibernation to feast. I feel like a Panda bear with ravenous appetite. Theres no end to it. I specifically wore a linen shirt and shorts to fit the extra belly of mine for that meal. There were seven of us and a total of 40 dishes of meat were consumed by the end of the night. A close friend of me reminded me that eating should be savoring and tasting the delight not to eat my money's worth. A recent article I read by Anthony Bourdain was thoughtful and eloquently put it, "STOP EATING SO DAMN MUCH!" I've learnt my lesson. Give me a tapas menu anytime and I'll gladly choose it over the AYCE. Izakayas are all the rage right now and rightly so. My hate for AYCE is slowing overcoming my love for AYCE. Time to hibernate again FungFung the Panda.

Posh: The first exclusive Sukiyaki Restaurant in North America
Richmond: 1123 - 3779 Sexsmith Rd. Richmond BC 604-303-7674
Broadway: 101 -1788 W. Broadway Vancouver BC 604-737-7674
Kingsway: 105 - 6462 Kingsway St. Vancouver BC 604-434-7674

Intermittent Revelries; Scarce Acts of Hedonistic Indulgances; Bacchus' Call to Gluttony

2008-06-10T16:18:00.000-07:00

Mondays! I Hate Mondays! But Bacchus made it RIGHT!

Do you remember Garfield and his emnity of Mondays? Well I hate mondays too.
It brings a forboding feeling of doom when you have to sit in your office for 8 hours a day
for the next 5 days. How pitifull. But what's so special about this past Monday? Well it was MONDAY and the
first day of the week deserved a brief and exhillirating moment of recklessness. If life was mundane, I wish it would be mundane as that of the Romans. I mean drinking everyday and binging and purging must be so tedious! And those Orgies! How utterly BORING. Well maybe Bacchus set those Romans straight and showed them how to live a tedious life of utterly gluttony. I WANT IN!

Well I was in. . . On Monday. And this is where the story of Monday begins. The Chaberton Winery in Langley was holding a private party for their customers. Guess who was invited? A couple of co-workers and I left the office at noon to head out to rural Langley for a taste of elixer with our minds set on getting totally sloshed. Mission accomplished? Well I'll have to start with the details, I'm sorry to say. The drive to Langley was wet, and arduous. Speeding on Hwy 1 over a pool of water isn't the best way to go out even if the lack of screeching tires makes the wreckage seem more serene. Twisted, I know. Driving brings the worst out of me. Well the rain kept coming down, like all the Angels in heaven were out on their piss break after breaking into cabinet of Sachristy wine. Blasphemous I know, but sue me. We made it despite our deficiencies in mapskills.

I could taste it on the lips, that beautiful elixir made from wines. Bacchus was definitely guiding us this afternoon as we stepped into his very own aboding, The Bacchus Bistro. We went in and put on our masks - lame name tags w/ company names. Ek, networking at a time like this is distasteful. I just wanted my DAMN WINE. Well I got it. First glass of beauty was a Gewurtz. Oh that glorious white hit my tastebuds and a dance of merriment tingled within. The next refreshing nector was a Meritage. A little young, but given a few years to age it would've been a gem. 5 glasses, 10 glasses. We decided to move to the store for some Chaberton Specialties. The BACCHUS! The irony! The Bacchus wine is definitely a glorious work of a wine chemist. You are immediately hit by the senses of peaches, grapes, and apples. I took my sip and a rush of pleasure rushed through me, than a shudder. It was quite a sweet wine. If my taste wasn't so descriminating, this wine would've top honors. But no, that honor went to a glass of Cabernet Merlot. My God, the rich, the bold, the mellow, and soothing notes of chocolate. I was brought back to an experience of eating the perfect NY Striploin topped with a Stilton fondant. That drink made me want to drink even more wine! Bring on the Libations. Hedonistically I ran back to the bistro to fill up more glasses. The canape's and hor'douvres were just what we needed to cut that alcohol back. My co-workers and I enjoyed our revelries as the Canadiana pub like music roared through the afternoon. One of my female counterparts decided to hit on the chef hoping to get us a recipe for the rich quiche they made. As dusk came upon us, all we really wanted to do was to head over to Chuck'E'Cheeses and slam a few pizzas while playing carnival games before heading back into the civilized world.

Here are a few wines I would recommend from Chaberton:

Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot - 2004
The Bacchus
The Madelaine Silvayner
The Ortega
The Meritage - Give it a few years
The Gavay Noir
The Syrah
The Gewurtztreimer is worth trying

The Bacchus Bistro Food is definitely worth trying if you have the
patience to venture out into Langley.
The Homestyle french food is rich and matched perfectly with their wine.

For now, I leave you with a bit of Roman hedonism.
Until next time, I bid you all goodbye.

Unappreciatively Appreciating the Appreciable things of Vancouver

2008-06-05T22:13:00.000-07:00

Yes! Yes! I am one of those people who dislike Vancouver for what it is...

Sadly, I have a resentment towards everything I am. Yes, I am a Vancouverite. Yes, at times I love this city. And YES, at times I have a great distaste for it.

Beautiful Vancouver, I will have to admit that the city is simply that. You are guaranteed a breath of fresh air regardless of where you are in the city. Beautiful people are strolling the streets and a Diversity of people that you could never find elsewhere in the world. Socially Liberal and welcoming. Friendly City.

Why do I dislike this city? COMPLACENCY! People here are complacent with their lives. They make good money, they really do, with real estate like this how could you not? But living your life 9-5 and living at a pace no faster than a worm on a moist day? C'mon people! This is why I'm determined to leave this city. I feel like im in a sand pit sinking fast. Starting to feel complacent.

But ah! THE FOOD! OH THE FOOD! This is the only thing worth living in Vancouver for! And this is why I am determined to write this blog! For the food. And before I leave for Hong Kong (another great Mecca of food) I am determined to feed my culinary lust.

A little trip to Tokyo before I get to Tokyo:

I recent ate at Gyoza king with a few friends of mine. We were hoping to go to Zakkushi (I've proclaimed this place my Shangri-La as I have attempted to go here countless times without finding a SEAT!). We waited for our seats for 45 minutes to no avail and was left to find another establishment to feed my hunger for Japanese eats. We settled on Gyoza King which I've been hoping to go to for awhile. I've been to their sister restaurant "Nan Chuu" in Richmond on Alexandria Rd ( A diner's little strip of Heaven). The Nanchuu experience was great, but was nothing mind blowing. I was hoping this place would feed that gluttonous urge for Izakaya food. Amazingly "Izakaya" has undoubtedly been the fastest growing dining experience in Vancouver. Rightfully so I say, Drinking and Tapas sized foods made for drinking! The Japanese always have food right. Well anyways we were seated warmly by our hostess/waitress. We took our time deciding what to order and I had it all written down on our napkin for our waitress. She was surprised and delightfully so, but I have a horrible memory and wanted to make sure everything was down there. I must say that I was thoroughly satisfied with our meals, but maybe it was my grumbling stomach and taste buds dying for anything to hit those lips after the 45 minute wait at Zakkushi. We had the Gyu Yukke which was their version of Beef TarTar. The beef was sweet and fat, melt in your mouth delicious! It had a hint of miso, mirin, and light soy topped with a quail egg. The prawn, chicken and chive Gyozas, on my friend's advice, were well made, though anything resembling a dumpling will never be as good as a Xiao Loong Bao, but that's being bias. My favourite item that night was the Grilled Saba swimming in a Miso sauce. My God! The dish was a melt in your mouth delight! For Libations, I ordered my favaourite Japanese Sake and a large bottle of Asahi. The Yoshi Sake never fails me, although I would've enjoyed the organic one alot more. Despite some awkward conversation I was able to dine through with glee and a GAMBATTE here and there ever so often, as required.

Gyoza King is definitely the big brother of the two Restaurants. I was more satisfied with my meal at the Westend location and would definitely go back for more. Now I have to ponder my next search for a seat at Shangri-La (Zakkushi). Before that, I have a trip to make to a Kitchen, Italian Kitchen that is. This time I will be celebrating my joyous day of birth. I hope the hype of this restaurant, another Glowbal proprietor's PR engine, will be as good the press says. A little rich carbohydrate never hurt anyone, especially one that's about to get plastered for his enduring lifetime.

Cheers and until next time, I'll be wishing to leave this mundane city for good!

Gyoza King
1508 Robson St. Vancouver BC 604-669-8278