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Gung Haggis Fat Choy goes Californian in Santa Barbara, this Vancouver idea really goes south!

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The Scottish Society of Santa Barbara decided to hold a Scottish Chinese New Year Dinner as inspired by Vancouver's Todd Wong.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy is spreading to California.  2008 marks a suprise appearance in Santa Barbara.  I had always thought it would start in San Francisco or Berkeley, because of my many dragon boat connections.  Indeed, the San Francisco based Dieselfish dragon boat team got a taste of the haggis during the 2006 Victoria dragon boat festival.

Officially, the only American Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner that has occurred has been in Seattle, organized by Bill McFadden of the Caledonian and St. Andrew's Society of Seattle. It has been a wonderful event that grew from 120 people in 2007 to 340 people in 2008.  Funds raised have gone to help support the Northwest Junior Pipeband, in their quest to compete at the World Championships in Scotland for 2008.

As for the Santa Barbara event, I guess it was a clandestine Gung Haggis Fat California event.  I hope I can get invited to the next Santa Barbara “Gung Haggis inspired event.”  I like Santa Barbara.  It's nice and sunny.  Okay… I haven't been there since 1989, after driving up the coast from Los Angeles after visiting Disneyland.  I wonder if they have any dragon boat races in Santa Barbara?

Check out this newsletter and report from:
http://www.scottishsocietysantabarbara.org/recent.html

Haggis and Chinese food.
 

Kathleen explains the haggis, and even has pictures of Gung Haggis Fat Choy – with Todd Wong wearing a Royal Stuart tartan + Chinese Lion's Head mask.
 

February: Scottish Chinese New Year

This month's theme was inspired by 5th-generation Chinese-Canadian
Todd Wong. In 1998, Chinese New Year and Robert Burns Day were only two
days apart. Todd had an idea to combine the two celebrations, and so
the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner began. So our recipe of the month was
haggis and, in the silly spirit of Gung Haggis Fat Choy, we feasted on
haggis won-ton and Peking haggis, among other goodies, while Kathleen
gave us an overview of haggis lore.

According to Kathleen, a haggis is a four-legged hairy creature
whose fur is used to make sporrans. The haggis hunting season is from
St. Andrew’s Day in November to Robert Burns’s birthday in late
January. The food known as haggis is made of lamb, beef, organ meats
and oatmeal stuffed into a sheep’s stomach. The filling is similar to
turkey stuffing, but with oatmeal instead of bread crumbs.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy has become quite an event in Vancouver, BC. You can read more about how the event came about on Todd’s Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner page.

Ice skating with your kilt on – John and Sinead Kerr in Scottish Highland dress

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In Vancouver, there are some people who go jogging or skiing in kilts… and even dragon boat paddling in kilts!  But Sinead and John Kerr go to the World Ice skating championships, performing in their kilts.


A brother and sister team from Scotland, they are 5 time reigning British champions, winning their 5th national championship in January 2008 amidst some controversial scoring giving them many deductions. 

At this past World Championships in Gothenburg Sweden, the Kerrs placed 8th in pairs.

According to a webpost for the 2005 Skate Canada event:

Bagpipes were invented to stir fear into Scotland’s
enemies. The strange sound of this strange instrument would travel in
advance of the kilt-attired marching soldiers. Poor unsophisticated folk
who had never heard such noise or seen such beings with their painted blue
faces would flee in terror before the battle even began.

The Kerrs didn’t mean to convey quite that
ferocity, but they did want to project their Scottish heritage, something
which has never been done before on the ice.It’s a pity the ISU rules
forbid men to wear skirts. John has always worn his kilt to functions and
skaters’ banquets and hopes to do so in an exhibition. He did, however,
have tartan as part of his outfit with tartan flares in his trousers. She
wore a turquoise and mauve outfit that had strings over a bare back and
part of the bodice with a tartan bow on one side and on her back.

Maybe the music scared the judges who dropped them from
sixth after the original to seventh overall. The British champions train
in the Deeside rink in northern Wales where their coach, Joan Slater, a
former British champion and world silver medalist, is based which is
several hours drive from their home in Livingston. When possible, she
comes up to Scotland to the Murrayfield rink in Edinburgh nearer their
home. Talking of how they performed their routine, John said, “It’s
not bad. There’s still a long way to go.

Check out this video with plenty of views of John Kerr's swirling kilt.  It's probably the most looked under skirt since Katerina Witt's “Carmen” routine.

YouTube – Sinead Kerr John Kerr 2008 Euros OD

Sinead Kerr John Kerr GBR 2008 Euros – Original Dance, Folk …

6 min –

Rated 5.0 out of 5.0

Canadians wine 3 medals at Worlds ice-skating – Chan and Leung out of medal range

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Canadian ice skaters landed 3 medals for the first time in years. 

Jeff Buttle won the first gold for a Canadian since 2003 when Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz won for ice dancing.  Elvis Stojko won men's singles gold in 1997. 

Winning silver in ice dancing were Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, while Jessica Dube and
Bryce Davison won pairs bronze Wednesday.

Patrick Chan, the 17 year old teenager who is Canada's current reigning Men's National winner  finished ninth in his World Championships debut.  Chan only last year had won silver at the World Junior Championships, and last November won gold at the Grand Prix in Paris.

Mira Leung finished 14th and Canadian nationals winner Joannie Frechette missed the podium at 5th.  But all is not lost…   There is good talk that this is Canada's strongest skating team in years, and Canada's hopes for Olympic gold in Vancouver for 2010 will be strong in ice-skating.  Bet that Vancouver's Chinese-Canadian community will strongly be following Vancouver born Leung, and Toronto's Chan.  Pretty amazing that these two are still teenagers.

Vancouver Courier reviews EATING STORIES, anthology of Chinese-Canadian and First Nations food, family and history

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EATING STORIES is getting close to selling out its first run.  It's a wonderful anthology of recipes and stories about food. 

Plus it features the secret recipe for deep-fried haggis won ton, from the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinners.

It was a pleasure to take part in the writing workshops organized by the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC, and contribute to this anthology.

Check out the Vancouver Courier review by Lisa Smedman.

http://www.canada.com/vancouvercourier/news/historyslens/story.html?id=54cc4ad5-e0a1-44e8-9a5b-597613aa852c

Books
breathe life into B.C.'s past
Themes
include cooking, gold mining

Lisa
Smedman

Vancouver
Courier

Friday,
March 21, 2008

<image001.jpg>

CREDIT:

Eating
Stories: A Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck offers family
stories with food
themes.

History
comes in different flavours, depending upon who's doing the reminiscing. One
of the tastiest reminders of this in recent months is the book Eating
Stories: A Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck, a product of the Chinese
Canadian Historical Society of British
Columbia.
Edited
by Brandy Lien Worrall, the book is one part cook book and one part history
book, with a hefty dash of personal reminiscence thrown into the mix. It
came about as the result of a six-week workshop Worrell organized, in which
the 24 participants were encouraged to share family stories, with an
emphasis on the theme of food and community.
The
foods the participants write about–in prose and poetry–include everything
from campfire-roasted dog salmon to hot and sour soup, from potstickers to
“fusion” dishes like deep fried gung haggis won ton, the creation of the
kilt-clad Todd Wong, whose dinner celebrations blend Robbie Burns Day with
Chinese New Year. There are stories on learning to use chopsticks, favourite
restaurants, cleaning salmon, and Chinese New Year celebrations (minus the
kilts).
The
book is peppered with family photos and pictures of restaurants from bygone
eras. Worrall has also included illustrations taken from the vintage
cookbooks in her personal collection. Published between the 1930s and the
1960s, they were intended for Caucasian cooks who wanted to “surprise your
friends” with a supposedly authentic Chinese
meal.
Eating
Stories: A Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck is available through the
Chinese Canadian Historical Society of B.C., at www.
cchsbc.ca.

North Shore News: Three North Shore residents recognized with BC Community Achievement Awards

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Wow!  The BC Community Achievement Award is a big thing. 

Ming Pao contacted me last week for a short interview as well as the North Shore News.  Last week I talked with Dr. Kerry Jang who received the award last year.  Kerry thinks I should wear my kilt to the ceremony at Government House, when I go to meet the Premier and the Lt. Governor. 

My colleagues and friends from Canadian Club Vancouver, Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop, Joy Kogawa House Committee and Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC are all very happy for me, and sent congratulations… as did many friends on Facebook.

Three recognized with awards

Province recognizes contributions to community

Manisha Krishnan,
North Shore News

Published: Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Three
North Shore residents are among 45 British Columbians who have been
recognized by the province with B.C. Community Achievement Awards for
making outstanding contributions to their communities.

Premier
Gordon Campbell and Keith Mitchell, chairman of the British Columbia
Achievement Foundation, announced the winners last week. They included
North Vancouver residents Todd Wong and Gordon Barrett and West
Vancouver's Jack Farley.

Wong, named for his commitment to
intercultural events like the annual Scottish-Chinese hybrid dinner
Gung Haggis Fat Choy, said he loves seeing people of all different
ethnicities taking part in the dinner and accompanying games.”We've created an event to draw together everybody, to make it multicultural, to mix it up and have some fun.”

Wong
has also spoken at many of the Terry Fox runs and is founder of the Joy
Kogawa House Society, which campaigned to save the well-known author's
home from demolition and turn it into an historical landmark in
Vancouver.

He said he admires the other award winners and is proud to be amongst them.

“It's kinda cool,” said Wong. “I mean these are incredible people. I'm just honoured and glad to be recognized with them.”

Read the rest of the article here:
http://www.canada.com/northshorenews/news/story.html?id=45cbeea8-4443-46a0-9d30-ec8e80f580ff

Vancouver Sun: The next celebration – Toddish McWong helps to spread the word about Tartan Day

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Vancouver Sun's Chantal Eustace writes a story about kilts and Tartan Day in Vancouver.

Check out the Vancouver Sun article.
The next celebration: Wearing the tartan

Vancouver Sun – British Columbia, Canada
Todd Wong (centre right in red vest) wears the tartan on St.
Patrick's Day, along with Nathalie Coulombe (right) and others at
Doolan's Pub. …

Todd Wong (centre right in red vest) wears the tartan on St. Patrick's Day, along with Nathalie Coulombe (right) and others at Doolan's Pub.View Larger Image View Larger Image and Story – click here!
We posed at Doolin's for a picture for the Vancouver Sun. left to right is Raphael Fang (Kilts Night at Doolin's co-founder), Dave Samis – dragon boater, Allan McMordie- bagpiper, Heather Deal – Vancouver city councilor, Matt – bar tender, Todd Wong – creator of Gung Haggis Fat Choy, Nathalie Columbe – Doolin's waitress.  photo by Mark van Manen

I usually wear a kilt about 2 or 3 times a month now, and always for Kilts Night, the first Thursday of each month.

This
past week I wore it on Wednesday for the Co-op radio interview, then
Thursday for the Battle of the Bards when I played Robbie Burns.  Again on Sunday for the St.
Patrick's Day parade.  Then tonight for St. Patrick's Day at the Billy
Bishop Legion.  That's four times within a span of 6 days!

Every 1st Thursday of the month, you can find me
at Doolin's Irish Pub celebrating “Kilts Night.”  Wear a kilt and
receive a free pint of Guinness.

The
Vancouver Sun wrote a story about Tartan Day coming up on April 5th,
and how it isn't grandly celebrated in Vancouver.  New York City has a
huge celebration which they call Tartan Week.  Last year we had a wee
celebration at Doolin's with a kilt fashion show and a scotch tasting
by Johnny Walker.  Our Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team
participated in the kilt fashion show, and we ended up on the Kilts
Night poster for Doolin's.

Here are some articles I wrote last year for Tartan Day

by
Todd
on Sat 24 Mar 2007 09:21 AM PDT
Tartan Day for Canada? 
Should Scots' contributions to Canada be recognized?
A Bill for Tartan Day.

by
Todd
on Wed 04 Apr 2007 05:42 PM PDT
Tartan Day celebration at Doolin's for Kilts Night
Bill
C-402 in parliament is an independant bill


by
Todd
on Mon 16 Apr 2007 12:19 PM PDT
Tartan Day Eve – at Doolin's Irish Pub with the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team


by
Todd
on Fri 13 Apr 2007 11:48 PM PDT
The Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team celebrate Tartan Day at Doolin's Irish Pub, April 5 – photo Todd Wong Collection.


by
Todd
on Wed 05 Apr 2006 06:04 PM PDT
Tartan Day, on 6 April.
Angus provost Bill Middleton said: “The new
Chinese-Scottish tartan

Gung Haggis Fat Choy parade dragon and paddles on flickr

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Happy St. Patrick's Day.  It's the day after Celtic Fest and the Vancouver St. Patrick's Day parade.  I am still  wearing my green Gung Haggis Fat Choy t-shirt.

Being in a parade doesn't allow you to take pictures of your group, so it's always interesting to find pictures on flickr. 

Steven Duncan took some pictures of us setting up.  Check out his flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/9057324@N08/sets/72157604144696435/

IMG_6604 Michael Brophy gets in touch with his “inner dragon” – photo Steve Duncan (by permission)

  IMG_6563Julie and Hilary help Todd assemble the new parade dragon – photo Steve Duncan (by permission).

Check out these pictures by Click Kashmera's Buddy Icon to see more photos
By Kashmera

Stuart MacKinnon and I sat on the front of my car with our kilts on… and paddled.  We tried to get a dragon boat named “Fraser” into the parade, but it ran into trailer problems.  So we improvised.  It was quite funny, because a few people yelled out “Where's your boat?”  And Stuart insisted on paddling with my Chinese dragon hand puppet stuck on his hand.  I don't think I ever saw it come off, until there was a glass of Guinness in his hand after the parade.

DSC_4464 Gung Haggis Fat ChoyDSC_4460 Gung Haggis Fat Choy
DSC_4457 Gung Haggis Fat ChoyDSC_4459 Gung Haggis Fat Choy


Our Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team carried our new Chinese parade dragon.
Below Raphael and Leanne lead the dragon, while Michael wears a Chinese lion head
and terrorizes the volunteers!

DSC_4450 Gung Haggis Fat ChoyDSC_4452 Gung Haggis Fat Choy

Gung Haggis Fat Choy puts a dragon (not a snake) in the 5th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.

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Gung Haggis Fat Choy puts a dragon (not a snake) in the 5th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.


Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon team: Stuart holds the paddles, while Joy, Deb, Hillary, Richard, Michael and Leanne (out of picture) hold up our new parade dragon! – photo Julie

The 15 foot long Chinese dragon undulated up and down in the air above the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Vancouver’s Granville Street.   A mini version of the larger 10 or 20 person dragons used in Chinatown Chinese New Year parades, it jerked hesitantly. Five Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team members carried short poles sporting a yellow body with red scales and blue and yellow ridge.

It flowed unsure of itself, as the leader lowered and raised the head and the body followed.  It ran from one side of the road to the other, slowing down to flap its mouth and pay attention to the children.

A Chinese dragon in a St. Patrick’s Day Parade?  Didn’t St. Patrick drive the snakes out of Ireland?  

Ahh… but this is multi-inter-cultural Vancouver.  Dragon boaters paddle in kilts, and bagpipers perform in the Chinese New Year Parade.  And the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year dinner serves up deep-fried haggis won tons.  Welcome to Vancouver!

Yesterday I was in Chinatown looking for some kind of dragon to use for our parade entry.  I had only learned the day before that the trailer used for Fraser Valley dragon boats had some safety issues.  Damn!  

It would have been very cool to put a “Fraser” dragon boat into the Celtic Fest St. Patrick’s Day parade, and have our dragon boat team members wearing the Hunting Fraser tartans (okay we call them “sport tartans”).

I checked around to try to find a Vancouver area dragon boat and trailer to use as a replacement.  But no luck.

For the first three years of the festival, I had featured a Taiwanese dragon boat, that we pulled on a trailer.  Very colourful.  Very ornate.  Very good audience reaction, as we “paddled” on the boat and banged the drum.

But this year… Sorry – no dragon boat… so we improvised…

I looked in Chinatown stores at seven foot long plastic expandable dragon decorations.  They looked cheap.  Some looked pretty cool, with bright jewel cellophane coloured assembled pieces for its head.  $49.

But then I saw a larger cloth covered dragon for $148, like the kind used in the Chinatown parades, but with only two poles.

Then I saw a large dragon face staring at me, with a large pink tongue sticking out.  A large round body, stretching 16 feet long alongside the staircase leading to the second floor.  Wow!  It’s  yellow head was about the same size as the large Chinese Lion head mask that I have.  I wanted it!

A big commitment buying a parade dragon like that.  As I was looking at it, a woman said to me, “ Are you Todd Wong?”  My daughter Shane did a lion dance at Gung Haggis Fat Choy!”

“Hi… uh… that’s great!  Nice to see you… was that at SFU?” I answered  (I didn’t remember ever having a Lion Dance at a Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner).

“No… it was about a month ago, in Seattle!” She said, “My name is Sam.”

In Seattle Bill McFadden had organized a grand Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner with 5 Lion Dancers.  The mother and daughter had popped up to Vancouver from Seattle for the day, just to see a martial arts demonstration earlier that day on Saturday.  We had a wonderful conversation about Lion dancing, and what a beautiful dragon we were looking at.

“We don’t have a dragon at our school,” they said.  “This dragon is gorgeous!  It would be great to have.”

I bought the dragon.

The weather was chilly today for the March 16 parade this morning, high overcast.  But 5 Years…. and NO RAIN!!!  Incredible! 

 

Our dragon boat team members started assembling about 10:15am.  It took awhile for some of us to find us, because our car had been “temporarily” ushered into the “walkers” area instead of the “motorized” area, so that we could unload the car and decorate it.

Our paddlers marveled at the new dragon making its’ public debut.  We struggled trying to screw in the poles to the dragon.  We put green Gung Haggis Fat Choy shirts on our participants.  We put kilts on the people who didn’t show up in them.  We put green plastic bowler hats on the men or tiaras on the women, and we gave everybody mardi-gras style green, purple and blue beads.

We were festive.  We were fun.  We were happening!

People seemed to like the Chinese dragon we had on 5 poles…
and the Chinese lion head character….  Michael lead the dragon first.  He is 1/2 Chinese, 1/8 Irish and 1/8 Scottish.  Following and supporting the dragon were Leanne, Richard, Hillary and Joy.  

Lots of interaction with the audience, playing to the cameras… giving attention to the children.  Raphael and Stuart carried dragon boat paddles.  I wore the large Lion Head mask.

Todd Wong and Lion Head mask – photo Michael Brophy

We got lots of crowd reaction, when Raphael and I started sitting over the front fenders on the car hood, paddling dragon boat style.

In the parade we saw lots of great pipe bands, Irish dancers, Scottish highland dancers and even horses and Irish Wolf Hounds.

It was nice to see a Korean parade entry, and a Chinese Falun Dufa entry.  Apparently for the Chinatown parade – they wouldn't let Falun Dufa participate, because it is a “hot issue” for the Chinese embassy.  And I even found two Chinese bagpipers.  Xi “Jonsey” is in the J.P. Fell pipe band and Fu Cheong is in the Irish Pipes and Drums.

Jonesy Wu and Todd Wong – Celtic loving Chinese-Canadians in kilts – photo Michael Brophy

After the parade, we visited the Celtic village set up on Granville St., then dipped into Ceili's Irish Bar for some food and well-deserved Guinness beer.  It was great to be back at the very site where Thursday night, I had won the inaugural “Battle of the Bards” playing Robbie Burns!

But I couldn't stay long, as we still had a dragon boat team practice, and I was coaching!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH to the Celtic Fest organizers for having us in the parade.  We are glad to add  a multicultural aspect to the festival, and hope to organize an event for “Celtic-Asian-Canadians” next year – celebrating Celtic-Asian-Canadian literature, music and arts!

The rain started about 4:30pm in Vancouver after the most successful St. Patrick’s Day Parade ever.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team in the St. Patrick's Day Parade + 2pm practice

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We put a Taiwanese Dragon Boat in the St. Patrick's Day Parade  for the first three years, of Celtic Fest

I tried to put a dragon boat with the name FRASER Valley dragon boat club, but they are having problems with the trailer…. so we are going to present something else for the parade.  Maybe we will have dragon puppets, or Chinese Lion- headed kilted paddlers. 


Come out this Sunday at 2pm – for a dragon boat paddle!
meet at Dragon Zone, Creekside Park
just south of Science World.


Dragon boat practice moved to 2pm
to allow for parade involvement.

Also join us for the St. Patrick's Day Parade.
(wear something green – we will carry dragon boat paddles)
Meet at 10am (see information below)

This
is a great event for our bid for the ADBF special awards such as the
Community spirit, or the David Lam Multicultural Awards

Please arrive for 10am.  Parade starts at 11am.
Look for our entry #29
On Drake St  or Granville St.
as we will be positioned with Motorized vehicles.

We may have a dragon boat or not.
We will have LOTS of Funs
We will have other DRAGONS + Lion head masks
Please bring your team shirts….  or wear something green!
Bring umbrellas…. in case it rains.

This is a multicultural parade, and the organizers REALLY REALLY want a GUNG HAGGIS FAT CHOY entry…

We are also featuring the WINNER of the Battle of the Bards competition – Robbie Burns!!!!!

Cheers, Todd
c: 778-846-7090

Rhonda Larrabee, chief of Qayqayt First Nations, in CTV's One Women Tribe

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This is the CTV documentary about my cousin Rhonda Larrabee's struggle to resurrect Canada's smallest First Nations band the Qayqayt. 

Once upon a time the band flourished on the banks of the Fraser River.  Then White settlers moved into their territories and renamed it New Westminster.  The Qayqayt were put on a Reserve, but that was taken away from them too. 

Rhonda's mother fled her homeland territories due to racism and shame.  She came to Vancouver's Chinatown, where she met Rhonda's father.  Rhonda grew up into her teenage years thinking she was Chinese.  Then she discovered she was First Nations.

Now Rhonda Larrabee is resurrecting the Qayqayt Nation.

Tribes & Treaties

This show originally aired on January 26

Tribes & Treaties


Updated: Tue Feb. 05 2008 18:04:25

ctvbc.ca

One Women Tribe:

Rhonda Larrabee discovered the startling truth about her family
origins. She was not of Chinese and French descent as she was told
while growing up in Vancouver's Chinatown. Rhonda's mother was First
Nations. Then an even bigger shock – Rhonda discovered that she is the
last surviving member of the Qayqayt Tribe (New Westminster Band). She
is now striving to preserve the cultural legacy that her mother felt
forced to reject.

see the pod cast:
http://www.ctvbc.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20080127/bc_firststory_women_tribe_080127/20080127/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome