Tag Archives: Local

Celebrating 2016 Chinese New Year and Valentines Day in Vancouver’s Chinatown – 2016 Year of the Monkey 猴 The Chinese New Year Parade will return for the 43rd time on Sunday, February 14th, 2016, and it’s also Valentines Day. Clever Monkey! 恭喜發財! Gung Hay Fat Choi! (Happy New Year!) 情人节快乐 (And Happy Valentine’s Day) One of my favourite neighbourhood Vancouver events, ...

Shipyards Night Market in North Vancouver — Friday nights starting on May 1st and running till September 25th 2015 Stop by Shipbuilders’ Square for the Shipyards Night Market on Friday Nights for great food, art, music, entertainment and shopping. The festivities in the Square kick off at 5pm on Friday nights. On the Shipbuilders’ Stage there is live music until ...

Welcome to Spring, Welcome to the 2015 Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival. Certainly one of the most favourite festivals of the year, when we all go soft in the knees admiring those delicate blush of pink petals that seems to cover all of Vancouver. This year, the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival runs from April 2 – 29, 2015. This spring festival ...

Celebrating Chinese New Year Parade Vancouver 2015 Year of the Goat. Gung Hay Fat Choi! 恭喜發財! Gung Hay Fat Choi! (Happy New Year!) This year’s 2015 Vancouver’s Chinese New Year Parade starts at 11:00 am on Sunday, February 22nd, 2015, and takes two and a half hours to complete. The 1.5 km parade route winds through Vancouver’s historic Chinatown, starting ...

Travel Like a Local, Where Ever Local Is I have always loved the phrase, ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do’. It’s a little bit of travel wisdom given out in 390AD by St Augustine to a co-worker. As I read it, the phrase gives me license to dig into the local scene, to sample, and to see through ...

Bar Hopping Belltown Seattle: The List It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it. Seattle’s Belltown has a reputation that is expanding with superb restauranteurs (notably, Tom Douglas), and brilliant and unique bars. During a recent trip, I set out to sample the top Belltown Bars in one night. Taking the top rated bars off the yelp rank at ...

Making Friends with Makgeolli 막걸리 Makgeolli is a low alcohol (6-8%) rice wine made from ground rice and a fermentation agent. It has a soy milky texture and a sweetness, and is served chilled. Sometimes it is carbonated. It’s a ‘common’ and cheap low-alcohol beverage traditionally made by farmers. But it’s come a long way baby. There’s Makgeolli, and then ...

Best Seoul Eats at One Stop Gwangjang Market If you go to just one market in Seoul, Korea, make it Gwangjang Market. Gwangjang Market is renown for its fresh market foods. Featured traditional Korean food worth sampling include bindaetteok, mayak kimbap, soondae, pigs’ feet, bibimbap, and lots more, all complimented by a bottle of makgeolli or soju. Bindaetteok 빈대떡 – ...

Colourful décor. Authentic gifts. Family entertainment. Tasty authentic food. The aroma of mulled wine. A truly enchanting atmosphere. Mmm… tasty winter food. If you haven’t been, its at least worth visiting once. I like to visit once every year, take in the festive decorations, and get into the spirit! From November 22 to December 24, 2014, we enjoy our 5th ...

Taylor Shellfish Samish Farm Store along the scenic Chuckanut Drive in Washington State is less than two-hours from downtown Vancouver, and qualifies as a local ‘Hidden Gem’. It’s definitely a best travel and slow-food find. The Taylor family has been growing shellfish for over 100 years. If you have the opportunity to take the slow drive from Vancouver to Seattle, ...