A quick browse around Chinatown

Bamboo Village Folk Art and Craft is a both a tourist trap and a treasure trove of curiosities. If you're looking for just the right piece of oriental antique furniture, army helmet or Chinese Propaganda poster, then you've arrived at the correct place.

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is a serene little oasis in the heart of Chinatown. We only toured the free bit, which is very pretty, because I couldn't justify the $12 entrance fee. I'll have a look at the other side when there's an event and report back.

While Vancouver's Chinatown remains the largest in Canada, it is now overshadowed by Richmond's Golden Village for all things authentic, delicious and Chinese. Although Chinatown is a popular tourist attraction, as it is one of the oldest Chinatowns in North America, it is also where many lower income Chinese residents live as opposed to the more affluent Chinese who have built many Asian-theme malls in Richmond to service their needs. I'm told by the connoisseurs that the finest Chinese food is not to be found in Chinatown, but in Richmond. I can't attest to the veracity of those claims but I can tell you that I had a very disappointing curry bun from a Chinatown bakery.

If anyone can help this girl satisfy her childhood craving for delicious curry buns, please drop me a line!

All Photography by Shehani Kay

A quick photo stroll in Little Punjab

Between 48th and 51st avenue along Main Street you'll find Vancouver's Punjabi Market. Also known as Little India, this stretch of road contains all manner of Indian fashion, fabric, bangles, jewelry, religious icons and doodads, sweets, restaurants, Bollywood DVDs, and Indian groceries.

This is the place to visit if you discover yourself in need of a good curry, followed by some Gulab Jamun and Jalebi, and a spot of excellent sari shopping.

All photography by Shehani Kay

Two tasty, cheap eats on Main Street

My time in Vancouver hasn't been all seawall walks and gourmet coffee, I've also been applying for jobs, interviewing, socializing, catching up with old chums, and pigging out like a cerdita. I've got restarting yoga classes on the agenda for next week so I don't grow out of my pantaloons! Although I've had some excellent Leb Leb (a Lebanese with Lesbians dinner at Nuba) and a gorge fest of all you can eat Japanese and Korean food at a restaurant whose name I can't recall now, today I'm going to focus on a couple of restaurants in my new hood.

First is a Vietnamese Pho place called Pho Tan (4598 Main Street). When we arrived the restaurant was packed with Asian people, which is always a great sign that the food is authentic and delicious. I ordered the satay beef pho (#38), which was just the right amount of spicy and peanutty. The raw thin beef slices cooked in the broth as I gave the bowl a stir after I loaded on the fresh Thai Basil and bean sprouts. Can't get fresher than that. I don't have a photo of it because I was just too busy eating and slurping, and my only thought of maybe writing something for this blog occurred to me long after the bowl's concave face was gleaming and empty. And this my friends is a testament to how yummy it was. My mind could barely focus on what my dinner companion was saying, my head just nodded as I slurped. The menu has quite a large selection of phos and other Vietnamese dishes, and the staff were super friendly and smiley.

Second is a place called Hawker's Delight (4127 Main Street), which does street hawker style Singaporean Malaysian food for less than the price of a McMeal at McD. The decor is no frills, and by that I mean it has no-table-cloth, cafeteria-style, hole-in-the-wall chic. I ordered the Laksa because it's one of my favourite Malay dishes and it didn't disappoint. The bowlful of tofu, boiled egg, shrimp, chicken, fish cakes and noodles in a coconut curry broth was just the right combination of spicy and coconutty. While this typical curry Laksa from Singapore was tasty, at some point I will have to find a place that does Sarawak Laksa, which has a base of Sambal belacan, sour tamarind, garlic, galangal, lemon grass and coconut milk, topped with omelette strips, chicken strips, prawns, fresh coriander and lime OR go visit my mommy in Edmonton and have her make me some ;) Mmmm. Anyway, back to Hawkers. My dinner companion is vegetarian and we were pleased with the amount of selection she had to choose from. She ended up getting the Mee Siam, which is thin rice noodles (vermicelli) smothered in a spicy, sweet and sour, peanut gravy. Yum. According to Lonely Planet, Hawker's Delight is ranked #190 of 434 things to do in Vancouver but bring cash because this joint doesn't take plastic.

From my mere two weeks in Vancouver, this city seems to be all about the outdoors and food. As I slowly but surely eat and walk my way around Vancity, I'll be sure to bring you all along so stay tuned!

Happy Friday!

A kiss to light up a tree

Some may call it puro cheeso of the gag inducing variety. Others may roll their eyes and deem it mawkish and sentimental. But I find it a sweet interactive installation that gets us to make kisses, not disses, yo. The Kissmas Tree in Covent Garden is rigged up to harness the enormous power of 'a kiss under the mistletoe', send its electric current spiralling up the wires that festoon the large Christmas tree sitting in the piazza and spark it to life with twinkling lights. Ohh ahh. Pretty lights. I've always been a fan of the kiss under mistletoe and I'm happy to see it used here to light up the night. Definitely one of the Christmassy highlights in London this season. ho ho ho. Merry Kissmas.

A Photo Tour of the Haunting and Gothic Nunhead Cemetery.

Jungly Nunhead Cemetery is a wild, overgrown fecund forest nourished on the bodies of the dead and littered with leaning gravestones. Also a charming nature reserve, couples, friends, dog walkers and families alike, stroll its narrow lanes and picnic among the dead on its 52 acres of wilderness inside London. Opened in 1840, it's the second largest of London's Magnificent Seven Victorian cemeteries. While it's not as famous as Highgate, it has an alluring, mysterious and haunting natural beauty all its own.

Off the main lanes are overgrown paths that lead to forgotten graves and jumbled headstones that have been strangled by vines and contorted by roots.

On top on the hill there's a stunning view of St. Paul's dome.

Headless, armless angels, overturned urns and broken crosses pepper the thick green wilderness. But I also managed to find these fine beauties intact.

We dined on the smooth stone of a family tomb and gave them our thanks. Lady bugs flew onto our arms, and into our hair and faces. The sun dappled the lanes and seeped through the branches to warm us. Yes, we had a rare autumn day: 10.10.10 in Nunhead was a 10 on all counts!

What I love about English graveyards are all the people who wander and stroll the grounds. I saw couples kissing under a canopy of dying leaves next to their dead countrymen and toddlers playing hide and seek amongst the tombs. Life and death mingled carelessly. This isn't only a place for goths and necrophiles, it's also a sanctuary for regular folk. In fact, the only people bedecked in black was me and my graveyard companion! Unlike Spain, cemeteries here are not just a place for the dead and forgotten, it's also a green refuge for the living to roam and play in. And that's a beautiful thing.

All photography by Shehani Kay. Nunhead Cemetery, in the London Borough of Southwark, SE15. See the Friends of Nunhead Cemetery Website more info.

A Time Traveller's Jaunt to Medieval England

Come with me down the path of ages...

down to the middle ages where this maiden sits under tree in a rune circle

Where Chaucer awaits to tell us his tales

And the master of a mouse circus smiles at us from behind curious wooden spectacles.

While Hagrid watches on

Right now, peasants are watching over their baby in sight of a castle

and women prepare their supper around the fire

but there are others who look on at the splendour of Herstmonceux Castle and wonder what treasures lay inside

Some armies are more than curious. A battle to siege the castle is brewing and this dog guards his master's amour

The men march off into the battle field

And the battle begins

This knight is left standing, a respite in between the fighting but in the end, someone will surely lose their head...

I have to say, going to a living history medieval festival with a real castle and elaborate grounds is really magical. No mere dress up for freaks and geeks, this festival transported me back in time. It was wonderful and inspiring and fun.

Herstmonceux Castle, a 15th century moated castle nestled within the Sussex countryside, is the magical setting where history comes to life during the annual Medieval festival held every August bank holiday. At present, this Castle has a Canadian connection. In 1993 Herstmonceux Castle was acquired by Drs Alfred and Isabel Bader and given to Queen's University of Canada. It is now an International Study Centre attracting students from around the world.

I hope you enjoyed this little jaunt to the middle ages with me. Have a beautiful weekend everyone.

All photography by Shehani Kay.

Whitstable's Shuckable Oysters and Other Fresh Views

Before we got blown into the pub by the fierce wind and biting rain, we strolled along the pretty seafront and I sucked back a shucked raw oyster drenched in lemon juice and tabasco sauce from a harbour front seafood stall. You can't get fresher and more delicious than this! Judging from the overflow of shells in these trays, I'm not the only one who appreciates raw oysters!

Whitstable, a seaside town in northeast Kent, in the southeast of England, is famous for its oysters, which have been collected in the area since Roman times. The town itself dates back to before the writing of the Domesday Book, which was a great survey of 'who owned what' in England, completed in 1086 for the Norman King, William the Conqueror, shortly after he crushed the Anglo Saxons and took the English crown.

(Fishing boats in the harbour)

(Old fisherman's huts now converted into deluxe seaside huts)

Unfortunately for me bad weather drove me indoors and so I got a very brief view indeed. I also had a terrible cold at the time and lacked the strength to push on when the sun finally did come out again. All this means is that I will have to return another day to suck back at my leisure more oysters and sample more fresh seafood from the outdoor stalls.

For my fellow oyster lovers, Whitstable holds an annual Oyster Festival around July 25th to celebrate the feast day of St James of Compostella (the patron saint of oysters). It was originally a ’Holy Day’ so the festival symbolically recreates the ‘Landing of the Oysters’, with Whitstable Sea Scouts bringing oysters ashore for a formal Blessing by clergy before being presented to the Lord Mayor. These blessed oysters are then passed along to inns and restaurants as part of the vibrant Oyster Parade as it travels through the town centre. Sounds like good fun.

Around the Barbican

The very ancient lives quite snugly with the very modern in this area. Here, around the ruins of the old London Wall (Roman wall) and a 14th century church that was bombed during WWII, modern buildings have sprung up.

Below is a juxtaposition I don't see often. The remains of London's Roman wall, a pond with Water Lily pads, and St Giles Cripplegate Church, (where John Milton is buried and Oliver Cromwell got married) flanked by two concrete high-rises.

Below is a reflection off an office window with a seagull soaring in the corner for good effect.

Below are some very posh and mod apartments.

Close up of Andrewes House, which is one of a number of apartment buildings that overlooks the gardens, fountain, moat and pond near the Barbican Arts Centre (Europe's largest performing arts venue).

The decor through this window is so classic English, it belongs in a magazine.

All photography by Shehani Kay