My good friend Rebecca Bollwitt (Miss604) took me for brunch to Twisted Fork Bistro for my birthday a few days ago. I was the one who chose the restaurant, though completely forgetting about how complicated it would be to find parking in downtown Vancouver. I’m grateful Rebecca is such good friends with me, because I completely forgot about the parking situation (I travel by public transit or walk everywhere). Anyhow…
We started brunch with mimosas (one with raspberry puree, mine, and one traditional, Rebecca). We then proceeded to order brunch. I was totally surprised at the fact that Twisted Fork Bistro had such good selection of brunch dishes.
I ordered a bacon, caramelized onion and Brie Frittata filled with potato and fresh basil, served with fresh greens and sweet corn relish (but without the Brie, as I don’t eat cheese). Rebecca ordered asparagus scrambled eggs served with toasted sourdough and housemade jam, roasted roma tomatoes, rosti and sauteed spinach (both $11.00).
Overall, the service was amazing and the food was really good. I was definitely pleasantly surprised with Twisted Fork Bistro. The best part of brunch for my birthday, though, was having some time to spend with Rebecca on a one-on-one basis. As I have mentioned before on my blog, beyond the online popularity, I am keen to maintain my friendship, and Rebecca is a very good friend of mine, so I value our time together.
I will definitely come back to Twisted Fork Bistro for dinner. And thanks to Rebecca for taking me here to celebrate my birthday!
The day that Lucy’s East Side Diner opened for a soft launch (Saturday September 25th, 2010) was the day I decided to drop by and visit (though their actual launch will be October 1st, I think). I went there with my good friends Arieanna and Ianiv Schweber, their son Aiden and Arieanna’s Mom.
We all ordered burgers, where mine was a basic ($6.00) with an addendum of cheese plus bacon minus cheese ($3.50). I found the burger reasonably priced and really tasty, but what the shocker was was the $4.50 that my drink (a simple root beer) cost.
That’s what freshly squeezed orange juice costs! My total bill came to $17.50 with tax and tip, which for a simple diner (a la Nice Cafe), it’s actually quite expensive (for one person). I will have to come back and not order drinks and just eat a burger or any of their other dishes, but I was quite shocked at the final bill (again, for a diner – this would be normal at Crave on Main or The Well).
The best part, though, wasn’t the actual place but more the opportunity to spend time with the Schweber family. Time with friends is priceless, and for that I’m grateful.
Lucy’s East Side Diner is located between 11th and 12th Avenue on Main Street. It will open officially on October 1st, I believe.
I was invited to attend the 20th anniversary of one of the charities I’ve championed the most in the past (in 2007, I Blogathoned and raised funds for them. It was an excellent party at 560 Club (on 560 Seymour Street). Aided by numerous sponsors and volunteers, Marc Smith (a good friend of mine, and founder of Amuse Events) put together a fantastic event to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of A Loving Spoonful.
Some info about A Loving Spoonful:
A Loving Spoonful is a volunteer-driven, non-partisan society that provides free nutritious meals to people living with HIV in the Greater Vancouver area. Our belief is by meeting this fundamental need, we improve our clients’ health and well being, enabling them to focus on life’s other challenges. A Loving Spoonful delivers 100,000 free, nutritious meals to men, women and children living with HIV and AIDS in the Greater Vancouver Area each year. The average daily cost for each meal is $3.55.
While I thoroughly wish there wasn’t a need for a charity like A Loving Spoonful, here is to having them around for a long time!
A few months ago, I was invited by Glenn Drexhage (Communications Officer at the Irving K. Barber Library at UBC) to be part of the first-ever “Living Library” event on campus. I am both an alumnus from UBC and a faculty member, so I thought it would be good for me to give back to the community and share my experiences, as a “living book”.
The event ran for 3 hours, which I thought at the beginning would be A LOT of time, and in truth, I wish the event had gone for longer. 3 hours is very little time if you have a long line of people who want to “read” you. By the time the event was over, I still had someone having a conversation with me. It was really a delightful event (and, true to my social media split personality, I live-tweeted my experience).
There were several elements that stood out and made me reflect on the event itself. First, the mere fact of being a “Living Book”. I already live my life as an open book. I am a very public person, in both of my personalities. As an academic, and an educator, I am public because I teach and I publish my research findings. As a social media quasi-internet celebrity, I am public in the way I live my online (and offline) life. My Flickr account and my Twitter stream both are public, and everybody can read my tweets and see my photos. My Facebook account, on the other hand, is extremely private, and I have refused many invitations to be Facebook friends, even from people I really, really like (sorry, it’s not you, it’s me). So, it was interesting to be an “open book” in person, speaking with people much in the way I do at social media events, or when I give talks.
I was also absolutely delighted with the interactive nature of the Living Library project. Contrary to what happens with books (where the interaction is unidirectional, you read the book, it’s not like you can talk to the book), in the Living Library project I was able to learn just as much from my “readers” (those who “signed me out”). My fellow Living Books mentioned similar (and delightful) experiences. This reflexivity made me ponder the nature of interactive media and the whole process of learning. While reading academic books allows me to learn, interacting with other individuals is a much richer form of learning.
None of the “readers” asked me the same thing, which was also a real treat. I got a chance to explain why I choose to have very separate lives (as a social media power user and as an academic), how I developed my academic career, what drew me to social media and how has blogging influenced my writing, and whether it has furthered my career. Overall, it was a delightful experience, and one that I would repeat as well.
Several comments from the “readers” made my day, but one stood out from them all: the last “reader” I had said to me “WOW, I hope they can repeat this event. I would come to the library *JUST* for this!“.
THAT is the definition of a successful event. Customer satisfaction at its best.
I made myself a promise this 2010 to get more involved in GLBT issues locally (even though I have blogged about these before, I never really made much of an effort to connect with the local online queer community, until earlier this year). My friendship with Mark Robins and his partner David strengthened this year thanks to their kindness and taking me under their wing. Mark created and runs the website GayVancouver.net, one of the best local resources for the GLBT community.
I wanted to learn more about GayVancouver.net, so I interviewed Mark and below are his responses.
Mark, thanks very much your friendship and for the great work you do with GayVancouver.net. You are a role model and an inspiration. And you know I’m not one for platitudes!
1.- Mark, you’ve created a wonderful concept with GayVancouver.net, and the focus is, as we’ve talked a lot, much less on “the sex” and much more on the community. Was this a design feature from the start or how has the site evolved through time?
Contrary to popular belief the LGBTQ community is not defined by who we have sex with. Sure we don’t shy away from sexuality – it is part of our DNA – but that doesn’t mean it all has to be about sex. I’m not taking the high road here but the site has just naturally evolved into what it is today. We’ve never had any real sexual content on the site but we have in the past featured porn advertisers. Interestingly that got us into some trouble with our relationship with Tourism Vancouver and we still have a special entry page for our link from Tourism Vancouver warning visitors of possible sexual content. It is a bit silly because its not like we have photos or videos of naked men on our site (we never have). We get so wrapped up in the sex sometimes that we forget our community is so much more.
2.- You have taken it upon yourself to showcase queer artists and professionals on GayVancouver.net. Do you feel it necessary to make an effort to highlight that queer folks do much more than the stereotypical jobs/trades, and if so, why?
I love the diversity of our community: we’re doctors, lawyers, dentists, construction workers, artists, the list goes on. I think our community continues to desperately needs role models as well and if we can help highlight some of the amazing queers in our community than I think that is a great thing. A lot of times I do go out of my way to specifically say someone is gay, lesbian, whatever as a descriptor in our articles. That irks some people a bit but I think it is important to constantly remind people that we are everywhere and a lot of times people claim they simply don’t know any gay people and when they do they tend to go foward with a completely different perspective.
3.- You do GayVancouver.net as a labour of love on top of your day job – do you think you’d ever quit your day job and focus solely on the site – and if so, how would you see yourself growing with the site?
I wish! I’d love to do this full-time but that simply isn’t reality at this time – got to pay the bills somehow. This is my passion, this is my way of giving back to the community. Most people don’t realize I’ve been doing for more than ten years and wouldn’t be continuing to do it if I didn’t think it was worthwhile.
4.- Can you give us some “projected” changes to GayVancouver.net? What do you think needs to change/evolve with the site?
We went through a complete redesign last year that I think raised us to the next level. We’re talking right now with a local company about developing a mobile version of our site so that will probably be our next step.
5.- Creating the site has given you some insight into the queer community. Do you find yourself attracted to the idea of participating in GLBT politics?
Absolutely not. I’ve been lucky to have been appointed to the City of Vancouver’s LGBTQ Advisory Committee but that is about as close as I want to get to politics. My father was a city council member in the small town we grew up in and even ran as an MLA once – I saw how tough it was to be a politician when he was involved and have no desire. Zero, zilch, nada, none. Truth be told I don’t have the patience to be a politician. I’m more of a “jump in and do it” kind of guy rather than a let’s build consensus and get everyone on the same page kind of guy and I am definitely not a glad hander.
6.- Who is your hero and why?
Wow, I didn’t realize how tough this particular question was going to be since I ask most everyone the same question in our “69 Seconds With” features. Right now it is probaly my Mom. She died recently, very suddenly. It wasn’t until after she died that I realized how much she kept our family together. She was our rock and I miss her very, very much. Of course if I am permitted a second hero it would be my partner David. He’s an amazing person and I am very lucky to have him in my life. He pushes me a lot but is always there to pick me up. I think he has such a complimentary personality to mine and people are automatically drawn to him. I try to be like him (but usually fail miserably).
My good friend Mike Yurechko is organizing a hackathon (not sure if it’s the very first one or not, but it seems to me as though it may be. It’ll be on October 8 through 10th, free of charge, but you have to apply to participate. The Network Hub will be the gracious sponsors for space, and more details on the event will be released in a few days (including beer sponsors, etc.)
Colin Percival (@cperciva) of Tarsnap.com and Kenshi Arasaki + Wilkins Chung of AThinkingApe.com are some of the confirmed speakers, and more details will be released in the next few days. I’ll update my post when I get more information, and will probably have it featured on my sidebar as one of my Highlights of the Week event.
I wanted to write a review of the Canon Powershot SD1200 (which is the camera I have been using for the past few months) but I wanted to wait until I had used it for a while to really review it. Also, I’m not a professional photographer, so I’m just indicating my experience with the Canon Powershot SD1200.
First off, I want to thank my friend John Biehler (who is a fantastic photographer) for recommending the Canon Powershot SD1200. I was looking for a digital camera with reasonable capabilities that wouldn’t cost me more than $100 or $150 (you may remember that post of mine a few months ago). John suggested one day that I should buy the Powershot SD1200 at Staples.
On that day, the camera was $99 dollars when it normally costs around $200. I ran and got it and have been using it ever since. Some of my recent photographs (and I’m quite proud of them) are taken with the Canon Powershot SD1200. For someone like me who is a non-professional photographer, it’s an easy to use camera with a good zoom. The Auto setting works for me for the most part, and the zoom is fairly robust.
The 10 megapixel resolution is more than enough for what I do (I write for the web). The Canon Powershot SD1200 is a very compact camera, and gives me the possibility of having it attached to my belt as I walk (I bought a little camera bag that attaches to my belt), so I carry my camera pretty much everywhere I go, in case I come across something worth blogging.
I haven’t explored the features in detail but I can tell you that I can totally feel my photography has improved greatly (and I am sure Vancouver restaurants are happy that I now photograph their food with a better camera). It’s also helped me create better visuals here on my blog. I’d definitely recommend this camera to any newbie photographer like me.
No need for a disclosure as I bought the camera with my own money.
As I reflected on what I would write for my birthday, I pondered how I would actually celebrate being alive on this planet for one more year. So I looked at my Google Calendar and examined what I did accomplish in the past 12 months. I may or may not have missed some stuff here, and I am not really all that interested in creating an exhaustive list. I’m more keen on just remembering what I did if I can.
I came back to teaching undergraduates at UBC. This was particularly important to me, as I love teaching, and undergraduate instruction is perhaps one of the key points where I feel I can effect change. I am truly blessed with having great colleagues in the department, and fantastic students
I created, and successfully delivered 2 new courses I had never taught before, Global Environmental Politics and The Comparative Politics of Public Policy. It was challenging to think in a global perspective all the time. More importantly, I had never taught 2 undergraduate courses on the same term. It was a lot of work but I am thrilled with the outcome.
I successfully combine right now a balanced mixture of consulting, teaching and research, as well as student mentoring. This was a goal I wanted to accomplish and I’m thrilled to have reached it.
I have participated in amazing social media consulting projects, given numerous talks, although I haven’t given as many academic talks as I wanted. This still has me a bit frustrated but I’m working on fixing the situation.
I travelled in British Columbia much more than I had ever before. Visited Victoria, Nanaimo, Parksville, Qualicum Beach. I also spent a glorious month with my Mom, and took a real holiday for the first time in 15 years.
My social media involvement continued, I ran numerous contests and giveaways, including some fabulous prizes for Live At Squamish. I feel I supported the arts and non-profit communities with my blog and social media platforms in many ways.
I successfully came back to a rigorous exercise regimen, lost 25 pounds and 3 waist sizes.
I covered part of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, and gave wide exposure to the GLBT-focused Pride House, something I am particularly proud of.
I became more involved with the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival, Vancouver Queer Film Festival and the Vancouver International Fringe Festival, something I had wanted to do for a very long time.
I co-organized the second Mental Health Camp Vancouver 2010 with my good friend Isabella Mori, and I survived the extreme pressure I faced while organizing it. I’m actually proud of this.
I learned a new type of dance and managed to NOT take over the lesson
I expanded my network of friends with many of the mainstream media folks (particularly TV anchors). This was particularly interesting for me as I never thought of myself as a media outlet. And they are lovely folks.
I finished a couple of academic publications, wrote a couple of grants and I’m on the way to get two of my research projects funded. Good times.
I Blogathoned for the third year in a row and raised the most money I had ever raised, over $1,500.
Most importantly, in this past year, I managed to feel again complete – I am doing sports competitively again, I’m dancing again (doing art), I’m working hard in my academic and consulting fields and I think I’ve done a substantial amount of volunteer work.
So that’s what I accomplished in the past 12 months, off the top of my head. And I’m proud of it all. More importantly, I’m very grateful for everyone who has walked the walk along with me.
In previous years, I have had what I call “birthday season”. As my birthday approaches (my birthday is actually today, September 19th), my friends from various groups (my former classmates from when I did my MBA, and my PhD, ex-coworkers, friends I’ve met through dancing, volleyball and now social media) all take turns taking me out for my birthday.
My good friend Minna asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday with the social media/PR/tech communities, and I figured I’d open the invite to anyone and everyone, including of course many of my good friends (I extended the invite on Facebook only to 402 of my friends, which are the ones who live in British Columbia and mostly, Vancouver).
When we were deciding where to go, I chose Milestones Crossroads, as I knew my good friend Erin Maher (who works there) would probably be able to facilitate the booking, etc. As you may remember, I went to the opening a few months ago, and loved it there ever since (you can follow them at @milestonesxrds). Milestones Crossroads is geographically located in a strategic point: literally stumbling distance from Broadway and Cambie (close to a Canada Line and to the 99 B-Line as well as major routes like the 15 Cambie and 9 Broadway).
I knew that with the likelihood of having between 40 and 80 people show up to my birthday celebration, I needed to ensure the food would be good, the drinks would be awesome and the location would be superb. And while I am really good friends with a lot of local restaurants (including the Glowbal Group, Q4 Restaurant, the Donnelly Group and other hospitality groups), I figured a Friday night downtown would be impossible to hold a reservation for as many people as I had.
I’m delighted to report that everyone had a fantastic time at Milestones Crossroads, much to my delight, and thanks in great part to the fantastic staff (and to my friend Erin too). I enjoyed thoroughly every minute of my celebration (those Erin martinis are lethal and go down SO easily). Milestones Crossroads were kind enough to comp my dinner, which was an additional, very unexpected and very classy touch.
My party took over pretty much one full side of the Milestones Crossroads lounge, which also made me very proud, because I was really flattered that so many good friends would find the time and choose to come celebrate with me. To all of you who attended: THANK YOU. To those who couldn’t make it: next time, and thanks for thinking of me too! And of course, to Milestones Crossroads, thanks for being amazing hosts to my party. Thanks to Minna for putting the invite together and spreading the word. And to all of you who choose to continue to be part of my life and be my friends, thanks again!
The whole photo set of my birthday celebration is here. I purposefully removed photos from folks who choose to be private, but I might upload those to Facebook as we are friends there.
I am by all measures an East Vancouver boy. So whenever I get PR pitches about stuff that is happening in my neighbourhood, I’m always up for promoting it. This is a really cool event (and it’s FREE OF CHARGE!) – very excited about the Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival (produced by the Still Moon Society).
The Moon Festival starts with the Harvest Fair from 4-7 pm at Slocan Park by the 29th Ave Skytrain station, with live music, food, and a home-grown vegetable competition. At 7 pm, the Twilight Lantern Parade will wind its way along the Renfrew Ravine, and end at Renfrew Park, where there will be festivities, fire spinning, stilt-dancing music, a tea garden and a spectacular fireworks finale.
The Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival is Still Moon Art Society’s signature annual event and is co-produced with the Renfrew Park Community Association. It takes place each autumn at the full moon closest to the Equinox, the time of the Asian mid-autumn celebration and the European Harvest Fair. The festival is preceded by workshops to build lanterns, and learn stilt walking, shadow puppetry, choreography, costume design and fire spinning. Local youth are also mentored by professional musicians to learn original music.
If you read my blog with any regularity, you’ll know I was a competitive dancer up until a few years ago. I no longer dance at that level, but I remain absolutely enthralled with anything associated with performing art and movement. I have been treated really kindly by the Scotiabank Dance Centre, and whenever they have an event, most of the time they sponsor me with tickets to give away to my readers. The Scotiabank Dance Centre Open House is on Saturday September 25th, 2010 from 11am to 5pm, and it’s FREE ADMISSION. They provided me with a full schedule of what’s going to happen on the Saturday.
Full schedule of Events (All classes are open level – beginners welcome.)
Ongoing: Photo exhibit Lift by Lynne Spencer (runs September 13-October 29), a reflective look at the work of ballet dancer and choreographer, Simone Orlando.
11am-12 noon Class: Pilates mat work with dancer/choreographer and certified Pilates instructor Laura Hicks (participants are asked to bring their own mats).
11am-12.30pm Class/Event: Ballet Master Class with Rex Harrington, streamed live on the internet from the National Ballet of Canada in Toronto. The National Ballet of Canada’s former Principal Dancer and current Artist-in-Residence Rex Harrington teaches ballet class to dancers from the company and other participants: as part of the national Culture Days initiative, the class will be streamed live across Canada. Participants and spectators welcome.
12 noon – 1pm Class: tap with Jennifer Bishop, Artistic Director of the Urban Tap Squad and the Rhythm Room (adults only).
12 noon – 1.30pm Class: Nia, a fusion of dance, martial arts and healing arts, with Jasjit Rai.
12-2pm Vancouver Ballet Society library open to the public.
1-2pm Lecture-demonstration: Mandala Arts and Culture classical East Indian dance (bharata natyam) presentation and discussion, hosted by Artistic Director Jai Govinda.
1-2pm Open rehearsal: Kidd Pivot Artistic Director/choreographer Crystal Pite hosts an open rehearsal of her new work in progress, The You Show.
1-2pm Tour: a guided tour of Scotiabank Dance Centre.
1-2.30pm Workshop: Afro-Cuban Movements, Cuban Salsa and Reggaeton, with Chen Lizra of Latidos Productions.
2-3pm Film screening: dance films curated by the Festival Transatlantique Montreal/Quartiers Danses, presented as part of the ongoing Exchanges: Montreal-Vancouver project.
2-3pm Class: Bellydance with Lava.
3-4pm Studio showing: Co. ERASGA shows excerpts from Alvin Erasga Tolentino’s forthcoming work The Shadow Machine, a multimedia dance work created with media artists Peter Courtemanche, Ken Gregory and Carol Sawyer, with dancers Alvin Tolentino, Billy Marchenski, Molly McDermott, Jane Osborne and Bevin Poole.
3-4pm Class: Salsa with Corey Solomon of Dance 4U.
4-5pm Class: Shiamak’s Bollywood Jazz led by instructors from Shiamak Davar International Inc, who have performed and taught with A-list Bollywood stars.
4-5pm Demonstration/class: Flamenco with Eleonora Acuña of Spanish Passion Productions.
I really love the work of the Dance Centre (you can follow them on Twitter too) and will probably decide to, at some point, take a course with them in a field of dance I have never tried.
More about the Dance Centre:
Established in 1986 as a resource centre for the dance profession and the public in British Columbia, The Dance Centre has evolved into a multifaceted organization offering a range of activities unparalleled in Canadian dance. Seeking to boost the profile of dance, and to develop a stronger infrastructure for the artform, The Dance Centre devises programs and presents performances; manages Scotiabank Dance Centre, Canada’s flagship dance facility; promotes BC dance to the public and to presenters; and provides resources and services for the dance profession.
When I decide to get out of the city, Squamish is usually one of my top go-to destinations. It’s close enough, I have lots of friends who live there (Lisa Thomas-Tench and her husband, Cinci Csere and her husband, and a couple of other friends), and in general I find Squamish cute. But the one thing that totally stands out every time I have driven (or been driven) up there is the coffee shop I had never stopped at.
Until a couple of weeks ago.
Galileo Coffee offers some of the best coffee that I have tasted, and the decor is so cute I can’t stop gloating about it. It’s a great point even for tourists, I think.
“To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to the violence of our times.”
~ Thomas Merton
I have always been interested in the behavior of networks, in particular social networks within an industrial agglomeration complex (e.g. a cluster of firms that are located close by from each other). That was one of the reasons why I wrote a PhD thesis on the economic geography of decline of industrial clusters. Networks have a way of mesmerizing me. I’m fascinated by connections between people and firms, and the social commerce phenomenon is one that I’m puzzled by. I’m really interested in understanding the drivers of purchasing social commerce coupons. What makes YOU choose to buy into a ‘Groupon’ or a ‘Grooster’ or a ‘Good News Van’ or ‘Social Shopper’.
Even more interesting is, JT is subscribed to all of them. We (JT and I) had a text message conversation today about why he chooses to buy into them, what kind of things he buys, etc. He is not someone who is a heavy social media user at all (much to the contrary, rarely uses Facebook and is definitely not on Twitter). He is, by all measures, your average Vancouverite. So, if even he is interested in participating in social commerce as a customer, there must be something going on (I’m totally a skeptic when it comes to fads, so I have never acquired any deals).
Side note to all of you providers of social commerce coupons – please STOP using “X dollars for Y dollars worth of”. Maybe I’m just a grammar tyrant, but we all know it’s not worth Y. Please use “X% discount” if you can. I feel ripped off if I’m told “X dollars for Y worth of”. Seriously. One of the reasons why I am somewhat turned off of social commerce.
So, to my readers, your day-to-day average folk – do you buy social commerce coupons, and if so, why? What makes you buy into them?
Many people dislike the idea of calling this area Crosstown, but what I am referring to is the area near Abbott and Kiefer, near Tinseltown (International Village). My good friend Lisa Thomas-Tench and I went for a walk after a great breakfast at The Nice Cafe and we stopped by this cute dessert shop. We wanted to try all desserts but we settled for a Dulce de Leche cake (very fitting for Mexican Independence Day).
We both loved the cakes, and the honesty and fresh approach of the customer service representative. I’ll definitely come back here for dessert and coffee.
It’s Mexican Independence Day (the celebration of a bicentennial liberation from Spanish ruling). As a result, I thought I should eat authentic Mexican food. I chose La Taqueria (P!nche Taco Shop) despite having already visited once and not been fully impressed. I brought Minna along with me as she had never been, and we ordered two taco combos.
I made a mistake in not reading the actual composition of the tacos. I ordered tacos of the following fillings: mushroom tinga (which I much prefer as tinga de pollo – e.g. with chicken), picadillo (which I mistakenly thought was ground meat and ended up being minced tofu), mole con pollo (chicken with mole sauce) and de pastor (which is pork). While the mole and de pastor ones were absolutely authentic, the other two I was totally shocked with.
I then ordered an additional taco (pollo en mole verde, chicken in green mole sauce). While tasty, I wasn’t all that impressed as it was too sweet (normally mole would make me at least feel a little sting from the chile). The vendors are Mexican, so I’m pretty sure they knew I was too. I would have probably appreciated a bit more of a customer service approach, but I can’t also blame them (I may have been a tad cranky).
Overall, I find 4 tacos for $9.50 somewhat expensive. But since La Taqueria is working hard at using organic meat, free range chicken, etc., they are to be commended. Would I come back here? Possibly, if I am having a craving for authentic Mexican food and I’m pressed for time (their establishment is less than 2 blocks away from my office downtown). But if I have more time, I have other Mexican restaurants I like better.
You should, at a very minimum, try the food from La Taqueria, just so that you can taste authentic Mexican food, regardless of whether I like it or not (which, I have to say, for the most part I do like their food).
The folks at the Paper Kite Children’s Foundation reached out to me recently to inform me about an event that is taking place on Sunday September 19th (which coincides with my birthday). I’m pasting below the information they sent me, hopefully some folks will be inclined to support this charity.
About Paper Kite Children’s Foundation:
Paper Kite Children’s Foundation, a non-profit charity working to ensure that basic necessities are available to the orphanages in the state of Bihar, India. Our work empowers the children to fulfill their aspirations and end the cycle of poverty.
Healing Day: Please join us for an afternoon of healing treatments.
This is a spectacular opportunity to experience healing treatments while supporting a worthy cause. Enjoy one or more of our Six treatments;
SHIATSU is a finger press treatment that improves the circulation, relieves stiff muscles, and alleviates stress.
REIKI is a Japanese touch therapy that uses nature’s divine energy force to promote BALANCE.
ZENITH OMEGA is a ‘Language of Light’ that RESTORES the energy flow in the body.
TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE (TCM) diagnosis, diet, nutrition and supplements recommendation, and Ear Acupuncture if needed.
SOUND HEALING uses tuning forks, singing bowls and voice to revitalize and balance your physical, mental and energetic vibration.
TRANSFORMATIONAL BREATHING is a complete self-healing system using conscious breathing by facilitating the natural healing process for all types of trauma.
PHOENIX RISING YOGA THERAPY combines elements of yoga and body-mind psychology by using your body as an access-point to discover inner-wisdom, healing, clarity and stress-relief.
All treatments are offered on a by donation basis benefiting Paper Kite Children’s Foundation. We are suggesting a minimum donation of $20.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
12:00pm – 5:00pm
1107 Seymour St Vancouver
778-322-4785
Paper Kite Children’s Foundation is 100% Volunteer run, and the area of India that they are supporting is one of the poorest places in the world.
While I have admitted publicly that I have never really meshed with the Mexican community in Vancouver (I moved to Canada precisely to be immersed in a fully-Anglosaxon country when I decided to do my MBA), I have always been very proud of my roots. My brothers and I, have worked really hard to excel, and in doing so, we’ve tried to raise Mexico’s profile worldwide. Two of my brothers teach at American universities.
I teach in a Canadian university, and we all (the five of my brothers and I) did our graduate degrees outside of Mexico. We (my brothers and I) are all very successful Mexicans who live and work abroad. Many of my good friends are Mexican and also incredibly successful, both in Mexico and outside of the country. Many notable Mexicans have set examples worldwide: Alicia Bárcena is a Mexican and the United Nations Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Mario Molina is a Mexican and a Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1995). Lorena Ochoa, former golf world champion is Mexican, so is the 2009 world water diving champion, Paola Espinosa. The secretary of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is Jose Angel Gurria, a Mexican. The Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health, Julio Frenk, is Mexican. Several of Canada’s Research Chair holders are originally Mexican. And the list goes on…
Rarely do I get this immense sense of pride, but Mexico’s celebration of 200 years of independence really brings out the Mexican in me. Mexico is much more than a country with good food and happy people. Mexico is a fantastic country (admittedly, with a history of corrupt governments and a current flood of drug-trafficking wars). But no country is heaven, and no country is free of problems.
I live in Canada because I chose to live here, but I’m proud of where I came from and I’m proud of the people who, along with me, have worked hard to put Mexico’s name high up. I’m happy to educate Canadians and I get a little bit of a sense of satisfaction when I get Mexican students on an exchange term because they can see me as a role model. They too, can achieve what I have accomplished (if they work hard).
México lindo y querido, en tu bicentenario, que viva México, que viva el país que amo. My love to Mexicans here in Canada and abroad. Feliz cumpleaños número 200, México!
For some reason, sometimes I just feel like I need a good cry. Despite the fact that this is not precisely the kind of music that could make you cry (e.g. it’s not exactly a ballad), this song, “This Time is The Last Time” by Virginia rock band Mae, makes me shed tears. Cathartic at times, quite frankly. So, here is for your listening pleasure and whatever purpose you need it.
Gus and I went to the closing party of the Raise Your Hand campaign with Josh Dueck (a Canadian Paralympic athlete that I had the pleasure to meet last year). Josh did indeed completely obliterate the record. Thanks to Liv, Richard and the folks of RYH for inviting me!
While I am pretty familiar with Montreal, Quebec, Ottawa, and other Eastern cities, I’m not all that familiar with Toronto. Even though I have a substantial number of followers who read my Twitter and blog and are from Toronto, I’m not really knowledgeable about this city. So my question to you, dear readers – what are your top 5 things to-do things in Toronto?
Remember, I am going there for research (I’m attending meetings on the water policy sector), and I will also be busy doing some academic speaking (most likely, yet unconfirmed, at Ryerson, University of Toronto and possibly University of Waterloo). So, I’m not looking to do a lot of tourist stuff, but I want to hit those spots that, should people come to my blog looking for Toronto things to do, they can read up.
Thoughts? Have at it on the comments section. Please forward this blog post to friends/colleagues in the TO area so I can get as many suggestions as possible.
I remember when I arrived to Vancouver for the very first time at the middle of August. The first Canadian person I talked to asked me “did you go to the PNE?”. I was totally out of it. I had just moved to an English speaking country and had no interest whatsoever in knowing the local customs, all I wanted was to adapt quickly to my new environment. So I forgot about the PNE. For about a decade.
Each year, as the school year begins, I am always reminded about the Pacific National Exhibition and the Fair. And for the most part, I ignore it, not because I am not interested, but because I seem to have this ancient self-defense mechanism about the first thing I learned about Vancouver – that there was a fair in August hosted at the PNE.
And for the first time this summer, thanks in part to my good friend Gus Fosarolli, and thanks to the Raise Your Hand Movement closing party for Josh Dueck breaking the record for most high-fives within a 24 hours period, I ended up visiting and actually hanging out at the fair at the PNE. It’s not that much different from other famous fairs in Mexico (and in some ways, the fairs in Mexico are MUCH better), but more importantly, they keep some of the attractions open all year long, and that’s awesome.
The PNE celebrated it’s first 100 years and that’s super awesome. I’m glad I finally had a chance to enjoy it!
About three years ago (in 2007, I think) JT and I went to the Dockside Restaurant (right on the heart of Granville Island, as this is the restaurant of the Granville Island Hotel) for dinner. Three years later, despite how often we’ve been out and about, we had not repeated the Dockside, but since we needed food right away and we were on Granville Island, we stopped again at this restaurant.
It might have been the fact that I was sick, but I kind of remember the food at Dockside better than what I had this time. I ordered a salmon with cold seafood salad (at $24, and the salad ended up being mussels, oops – I totally hate mussels), while JT ordered sirloin with onion rings. He liked the sirloin (at $28, not cheap, though he mentioned he had had better), and I did like my salmon, but I didn’t find the flavors overwhelmingly good (again, I should indicate I was sick).
The one thing I can say was totally outstanding was the service – our server responded to my request to exchange the mussels for a green salad really quickly and he didn’t even charge me, he was prompt, friendly, extremely courteous and speedy. That’s when I really love tipping extra generously (when I can see that someone went the extra mile).
I’m surprisingly not someone who eats Chinese food. For the most part, I eat Japanese, and sometimes Thai, but I’ve been very neglectful in trying Chinese. And I was quite surprised when I found out that Terracotta (whose name does not quite remind me of Chinese food) did Chinese. So, I’ve been trying for a while now to come visit Terracotta, but I had been so insanely busy and then I got sick. Though my wish has been granted.
I was joined recently by Mijune (@FollowMeFoodie), Brenda (@MightyVanilla), Christie Lohr (@ChristieLohr), Heather (@Hez), Melody (@GourmetFury), Erin Ireland (@Erin_Ireland) and a few other guests to a small gathering at Terracotta to try some of their menu (direct samples, not specifically made for us as foodies).
Their signature cocktail (aloe vera with Grey Goose vodka) was to-die-for, and I really loved the samples we had of their rather solid menu. My photos don’t really do them any justice.
Thanks to my friend Cassandra Anderton (@GoodLifeVan) for the invite! Check out Terracotta, it’s a place that is going to be pretty well attended.
Summer this year was about 10 times busier than I expected. I was totally thrilled to have my Mom visit me for a full month. We really needed this time together. Mentoring students over the summer, doing research, writing grants and still trying to maintain a social media presence was also very hectic. But the saving grace to it all was the wonderful weather. Who could have complained?
As mid-September approaches (when the actual autumn season beings) I have been listening to The Cure’s “The Last Day of Summer” song. It’s been a reminder (along with this cold weather and busy beginning of the fall), that the summer is pretty much over. And with fall comes A HELL OF A BUSY SCHEDULE.
My good friend Rebecca Bollwitt (Miss604) took me for brunch to Twisted Fork Bistro for my birthday a few days ago. I was the one who chose the restaurant, though completely forgetting about how complicated it would be to find parking in downtown Vancouver. I’m grateful Rebecca is such good friends with me, because I completely forgot about the parking situation (I travel by public transit or walk everywhere). Anyhow…
