Actually this should really be called CJ's Granny's Disney California Adventure because CJ and her parents have annual passes to the Disneyland parks and CJ knows just what she wants to see and do. But I am so out of touch with the newer Disney characters and films that for me this was a great chance to catch up on the Disney culture, especially as seen from a child's perspective.

We planned to spend most of the day in the California Adventure Park but it only opened at 10 am and CJ, her Dad and I were on the parking lot shuttle heading to the park shortly before 9:30.

CJ had two special plans for the day - see Tinker Bell and her fairy friends, and seeing  "Playhouse Disney - Live on Stage"  - for the 4 th time!

Disneyland opened earlier than California Adventure so we decided to start our day by visiting Pixie Hollow in Fantasy land where CJ could visit Tinker Bell and the other fairies.

Because it was so early the wait in the line up was only 10 minutes. The path wound through a water feature and we noticed hundreds of pennies thrown into the water. Each penny represents a wish.  I wonder how many of those wishes ever materialize? 

CJ wanted a penny to throw but neither her dad or I had any loose change.  The next thing we knew the man just ahead of us held out three cents to CJ for her to throw into the water and make a wish. She thanked him with a shy smile and  went ahead and made her wishes.

While we waited we got into a discussion with a family with two young girls who were behind us in line, about who the Disney fairies are. Thegirls came up with 4 names of those they thought  are Tinker Bell's closest friends. They were  Fawn, Silvermist, Rosetta and Iridessa.

Finally we had edged forward enough that we were next to enter Pixie Hollow. The first fairy CJ met was Silvermist. I had absolutely no idea what story  she came from and realized I should have done my homework befoe I visited the Park.  Fortunately it did not seem to matter too much to CJ.

Next we came upon Tinker Bell and her male companion whose name I learned was Terence. CJ had her photo taken with both of them. Alas I had never heard Terence either. So I really needed my laptop!

After CJ was satisfied that those were the only fairies she was going to meet that day,  we walked back down Main Street and headed across the centre concourse to begin our California Adventure.

BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse in Laguna Hills
24032 El Toro Rd.,
Laguna Hills, CA
Ph: 749 -

When you are heading out for an early supper with an infant and a pre-schooler, the key feature you look for is not eclectic  contemporary cuisine but a family-friendly  environment and a children's menu.  Fortunately there seems to be no shortage of such style eateries in the several neighbouring communities of Orange County where my family lives.

One such chain is BJ's, that presently has about 95 restaurants scattered throughout the West, South and Mid-Western states. They began with a pizzeria in Santa Ana in 1978, began handcrafting beers in Brea in 1996 and are about to open several new restaurants to add to the present list.

BJ's Restaurant in Laguna Hills has a special importance to us, dating from the birth of number 1 son (number 2 child). As mom and new babe enjoyed quality time, dad, older sister, grand-ma, uncle and aunt all went for supper at the restaurant, which is about a five minute walk from the hospital.  Although this was a year ago, big sister aged all of 5 years, remembers how fun it was having dinner with all of us that evening and was excited to go back.

So this time with mom and infant but no aunt and uncle,we headed out to BJ's for supper. Armed with snack packs of cheerios and bits of cheese to keep grasping baby fingers occupied, we got there early around 5 pm and already there were people waiting for a table. Our wait was short- about 5 minutes and we were seated in a comfortable booth with baby in a high chair.

La Terrazza
1088 Cambie Street
Vancouver
Ph: (604)-899-4449

When I first moved into the Yaletown area four years ago, La Terrazza was literally a two minute walk from my rented apartment and I enjoyed several meals there. But I had not been back for more than a year, since I moved to my new home a few blocks further away. Each time I drove up Cambie on my way to dance class, I would make a mental note that it was time to check out La Terrazza again - but my mental notes seemed to get misfiled!

Then one rainy Vancouver night I had tickets for a performance at GM Place and it occurred to me that this would be the perfect time for a pre-show dinner at La Terrazza. From there it would be a quick walk to The Garage.

We arrived a bit early but were promptly seated at a comfortably sized table for two. The ambience was as warm and welcoming as I remembered with tables spaced far enough apart that conversation can be at a comfortable level.

While we studied the menu I sipped a glass of  2007 Stoneleigh Riesling from the Marlborough area of New Zealand. With a light citrus taste it had a nice balance of sweetness and acidity.

One minute she is racing round  the house because Thomas the train has to beat Gordon, the really BIG engine, to the station.  The next minute her hands are waving as she sings the names of the 50 states of the US, in perfect alphabetical order. But her favorite activity is playing princess, and Cinderella is her most favorite princess of all.

So for a little princess living  half an hour away from Anaheim, what better 5 year birthday treat could you imagine than taking her to Disneyland for a Princess makeover at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Cinderella's Castle, and the chance to meet some of the other Princesses?

As usual the household was buzzing by 6 am as I made my coffee and CJ got her own breakfast together.

The plan was that we were to leave for Disneyland by just after 7:30 for the 9 am appointment at the boutique.

Getting one baby, one 5 year old and three adults organized always takes longer than anticipated, even if you think you have fully prepared things like diaper bags and changes of clothes, the night before. 

But a very excited CJ quickly dressed herself in her pale blue Cinderella dress, tiara and all,  and we made it to the Bibbidi Bobbidi reception desk just on the stroke of 9.

Post-Cruise Stop-over in Bangkok, Thailand after the Southeast Asia Ballroom Dance Cruise

"One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster" - well, ok, not quite. With apologies to Tim Rice, I have been humming and singing that song intermittently whenever our stop-over in the city Bangkok came up in conversation. I couldn't believe that those lines went over everyone's head - no one had heard the song. Maybe it was my off -key singing voice.

 I had a two-night stay in Bangkok planned for after the South-East Asia cruise and was looking forward to seeing what I remembered of the city from my previous visits as a medical consultant.

Sunday, November 22nd, Bangkok 

The Diamond Princess arrived in the port of Laem Chabang, Thailand  around 7 am. It is a good hour's drive from there to the city.

Helene, Jean, Raoul and I met in the Savoy Restaurant where we waited to be allowed to disembark. Amazingly the promised transport arranged by our hotel actually arrived and drove us to the Citadines Hotel,one of a chain of small suite business hotels in the city.

Our rooms, which we had booked through Orbitz, were quite reasonable - about 79 USD a night but we were about  three-quarters of an hour away from the prime hotel locations on the banks of the Chao Phraya river. On my last two-week working visit to Bangkok I stayed at the Sheraton where I had a gorgeous view of the river.

This time our hotel was just off one of the main streets running through the city, called Sukhumvit. It is described as a "sprawling artery which runs through Central Bangkok. Between Soi 1 and Soi 33 is the visitor region as there are hotels ranging from low priced to luxury 5 star, along the road and in adjoining streets.Judging by the shops and restaurants nearby to our hotel area, Sukhumvit 11, it looked like a Little India area.

My room had a kitchenette area. The furnishing was simple but clean. The only flaw as I discovered later the next morning was that the shower obstinately refused to bring forth any warm water at all. So I shivered through a quick wash and rinse and gave up on the idea of washing my hair hoping that the next shower would be warmer.     

After we had dropped off our bags,washed up and sorted out the tour arrangements for the evening  - we were going on a river boat dinner cruise - we set off  to explore the area.

At a bank a couple of blocks away the others changed some US dollars for baht. I had already got some in Vancouver so did not need to worry about that.
 

Talking Stick Festival:  Opening Gala and Festival Week
Presented by Full Circle, Talking Stick Festival and
The Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre
At the Roundhouse and other venues
February 21 to 28, 2010

Vancouver , BC: To the accompaniment of  occasional roars from the hordes watching the Canada-USA hockey game on the giant screen at Yaletown Live, we strolled down a relatively quiet Pacific Boulevard to The Roundhouse to attend the opening gala of the Talking Stick festival.

We had arrived at 6  for the reception and chattered to several people visiting for the Olympics, as we waited in line.The house opened shortly before 7 and we found  seats at a table for four and were joined by a couple up for a visit from the Napa Valley. Things started off with a great beat with the Talking Stick house band 'Friends of the Indians' rocking the Roundhouse. They were joined for another rocking number by singer Gillian Thomson of "Sister Says". 

We were welcomed to the opening by co-hosts  Greg Coyes of APTN's The Mix and Theresa Point, Festival Artistic Director Margo Kane and several other gracious hosts before a plethora of traditional songs and dances were performed by Spakwus Slulem, the Eagle Song dancers of the Squamish nation; Tsatsu Stalqayu, of the Coastal Wolf pack of the Musqueam nation and the traditional Gitksan Dancers of Damelahamid.

Chris Bose, poet and storyteller among his other talents, read poems from his newly published book "Stone the Crow."

Shanghai River Restaurant
#110-7831 Westminster Highway,
Richmond, BC
Ph: (604) 233-8885

With its large diverse Chinese community, Vancouver celebrates Chinese New Year in style. This year a group of us, 12 in all, took the Canada Line out to Richmond, for a Chinese New Year banquet at the Shanghai River Restaurant. Arranged by Susan, whose petite frame belies her formidable social organizational skills, the evening promised to be a veritable feast and it was.

As we were led to our table which seated 12 quite comfortably, we passed by the pastry area where the dumplings and noodles are freshly made. We sipped on our hot tea while Susan and Nick decided what needed to be added to the standard  banquet menu for 10 people. The rest of us debated whether to order beer or wine. Five of us settled on a bottle of Mission Hill white wine of unknown varietal. The menu did not specify. We guessed it was a Pinot Blanc or Pinot Gris but we got so involved with the various dishes that we forgot to ask them to bring back the bottle so we could check. The others ordered beers.

We were first served a cold platter with tofu, jellyfish, smoked white fish, chicken and bamboo shoots.

Next came a speciality of the house, dumplings filled with meat and broth, that were quite delicious. I also liked the pan fried tiger prawns but found the assorted seafood dish (scallops, squid and fish) very bland.

Delusion by Laurie Anderson
with  Eyvund Kang (viola) and Colin Stetson (horns)
Commissioned by the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad and BARBICANBITE10
Vancouver Playhouse
Feb 17 to  21st,  2010.

Vancouver, BC:  Yesterday I found myself on the opposite side of an interview - interviewee rather than interviewer. I was checking in for my last shift in the Main Press Centre and unbeknownst  to me, lurking around the check-in desk was one of the volunteers who write the daily Volunteer Newsletter. On hearing that this was the last of my 15 shifts he begged, pleaded and cajoled (alright I exaggerate) until I agreed to have a picture taken for the newsletter. 

While I was chatting away a mile a minute about the Cultural Olympiad among other things - the caffeine from my early  morning coffee was obviously still racing around my system - he asked what I had most enjoyed about the Cultural Olympiad. I began to rattle off memorable aspects from several of the shows I had seen and then when my brain finally caught up to my mouth I stopped and thought about it.

Maenam Thai Restaurant
1938 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver.
Ph: (604) 730-5579

The last time I visited this location  at its previous incarnation as Gastropod I enjoyed an excellent meal. Since chef Angus An renamed  it Maenam and changed the focus to Thai specialities  in May last year, I have not had an opportunity to revisit. But heading off to the Jericho Arts Centre to see The Vic, we decided to test our taste buds against some spicy Thai dishes.

We were seated at a nicely private table adjacent to the bar area, and Janice, our efficient server promptly brought water and took our wine order.  I could not resist a glass of Wild Goose Autumn Gold - an exquisite blend of Gewurtztraminer, Riesling and Pinot Blanc that I enjoyed (and brought home several bottles) during my "Taste of the South Okanagan" visit to the Wild Goose Winery in the Fall, 2008.  My companion ordered a Chilean Pinot Noir which seemed to go down equally smoothly.

The Vic by Leanna Brodie
Directed by Sarah Szloboda
A Terminal Theatre production
Jericho Arts Centre
Feb 16 th to 21 st, 2010

Vancouver, BC: This production of The Vic is an ambitious undertaking by the young Terminal Theatre company which staged its first production in the summer of 2009. For this, their third production, they might have been better served had they chosen a less convoluted play.

The Vic features 8 female characters - described as part victim, part victimisers - in four disparate story lines which finally come together - sort of. I found the continuity of this play hard to follow so without having read the script, here is what I gathered from the show. 

The set is dominated by a giant screen on which brief film clips show at different points between the other scenes. This as we discover is the thread that draws the four stories together.

The play opens with women entering the darkened space, each carrying a light, the Spanish singing evoking the "desaparecidos" or "the disappeared" of Latin America. Then we see four local women searching for a missing woman, Cara (April Cameron) whose inner thoughts are revealed through her "diary" shown in the film clips. Cameron's naively wistful, young girl provides the only really sympathetic character in the story.