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When it comes to Asian dining, you have to envy our fellow Canadians in British Columbia.

Richmond has what is generally accepted as the widest and best assortment of Chinese food available outside of Hong Kong.

And crossing the bridge into Vancouver, you encounter an assortment of Japanese restaurants unmatched anywhere in North America, with the city’s sushi bars occupying a particular place of honour.

Large, small, elegant, casual – every kind is available.

Here are a half dozen of my favourite and most reliable choices:

TOJO’S RESTAURANT, 1133 W. Broadway; 604-872-8050: For 20 years, this has been considered one of the city’s finest Japanese restaurants. The quality is high and the choices are varied. More is served here than just sushi, but it’s in the realm of raw fish that Hidekazu Tojo and his staff excel. For a real treat, sit at the Omakase (”Trust Me”) Bar and put yourself into the staff’s hands for a unique experience.

KIBUNE SUSHI, 1508 Yew St.; 604-731-4482: Just a few steps away from Kitsilano Beach, this intimate place has been a favourite of mine since it opened in 1982. The service is friendly and the place always seems full of regulars who are pleased to accept suggestions as to what’s freshest that particular day. If they have soft-shell crab on the menu, grab it. It’s not officially served sushi-style, but it’s fried so lightly and delicately it might as well be raw.

HONJIN SUSHI, 138 Davie St.; 604-688-8808: This bustling place in the heart of the city’s Yaletown district has a vibe not unlike your local pub.

But instead of chicken wings and burgers, they turn out superb sushi, including a series of multi-layered all-fish creations like their Sunshine Roll and Yaletown Roll, both real winners.

TOSHI’S, 181 E. 16th Ave.; 604-874-5173: Despite its location in a slightly funkier part of town, there’s always a line outside patiently waiting to sample the delights of this small but choice eatery, including a very special house roll with avocado on the outside and a grilled salmon skin roll that seems to be the very gustatory essence of life in British Columbia.

YOSHI JAPANESE RESTAURANT, 689 Denman St., 604-738-8226: One of the city’s most elegant Japanese dining spots, the view of Stanley Park gives Yoshi a certain upscale, dramatic flair.

But, in addition to a widely-ranging menu, it also features the classic “Kaiseki” dinner, with nine carefully thought-out courses that reflect the geography, time of year, and bounty of the seas. Yes, there is life beyond the California Roll!

OCTOPUS’ GARDEN, 1995 Cornwall Ave., 604-734-8971: Once upon a time, Kitsilano was Ground Zero for the hippie life in Vancouver. Its property values have largely changed that, but some of the old ideology still lives on, especially in restaurants like this, where a fine hand with seafood is combined with a gift for period humour, such as in the establishment’s name or its mango/yellowfin roll, known, of course, as “The Yellow Submarine.”

by Richard Ouzounian - http://www.thestar.com/Travel

A Somali-born immigrant convicted three years ago of the brutal assault of a woman in Surrey has been deported from Canada after finishing his jail sentence here.

Mohamed Hagi Mohamud, who entered Canada as a refugee, pleaded guilty to unlawful confinement and sexual assault causing bodily harm after accosting a woman near the Gateway SkyTrain station and taking her to his home.

The woman smeared blood from her face on her assailant’s couch because she thought she would die and hoped her blood would be the forensic evidence needed to convict her murderer.

The Canada Border Services Agency confirmed Monday it removed Mohamud from Canada last week. A federal law states that deportees must be sent back to their country of birth and the last country where they lived, but an official said the federal privacy law prevents the agency from disclosing which country he was deported to.

From http://www.canada.com

Agencies that bring foreign workers into Canada say they’re seeing a huge jump in demand for live-in caregivers who are recruited to look after senior citizens.

Having historically focused on importing live-in nannies for young children, those agencies attribute the increase to the perception that more families want the same type of care for their aging parents.

Andrea Texeira, a spokeswoman for Toronto-based Caregivers.ca, estimates that 75 per cent of the calls it receives now focus on eldercare, as opposed to child care.

Texeira says there are a couple of reasons for this trend.

Hiring a stay-at-home caregiver is less expensive than housing someone in a private care home. A caregiver costs about $1,700 a month, she says.

By comparison, keeping a senior in a private care home can cost more than $3,000 a month.

Hiring a stay-at-home caregiver also gives people the feeling that they have more control over the welfare of an aging parent, Texeira said.

“You can ensure your parents are treated well, and it’s not always the same case when you’re giving your parents into the hands of an organization or an institution,” she said.

In spite of the benefits, however, there are also potential risks to hiring a caregiver from another country.

“It can be quite risky, because there’s no way for you to check out their credentials or check out their experience,” said Peter Silin, who has worked with seniors in the healthcare system. He now runs a business counseling people on care decisions.

“You are also bringing in someone who is from a different culture with a different language background a lot of times, so sometimes the way they treat older people is different from the way we would,” he said.

Silin says foreign caregivers do give families a good option, as long as they monitor the home and keep in mind it’s not a replacement for 24-hour care.

From http://www.cbc.ca

The Province is expanding the Rental Assistance Program as of April 1, 2008, to make more families eligible for increased financial assistance, Minister responsible for Housing Rich Coleman announced today.

“We’re delivering on our Budget 2008 commitment to allow families earning up to $35,000 a year to be eligible for the program,” Coleman said. “We’re also introducing a number of other changes that will make life easier for working families.”

The changes will increase the program’s maximum monthly assistance benefits, introduce a $50 minimum monthly benefit and increase the rent ceiling used to calculate the amount of assistance a family will receive.

Families with a dependent under 25 years of age who is enrolled as a full-time student will be eligible, as will families with a child of any age who is accepted as a dependent for income tax purposes due to mental or physical infirmity.

The amount of assistance varies depending on household income and size, the amount of rent paid, and the area of the province where the family lives. To qualify for the Rental Assistance Program, families must have at least one dependent child, have lived in B.C. for the past 12 months, and have spent part of the last year working. Eligible families will receive between $50 and $765 a month depending on their circumstances.

The Rental Assistance Program provides monthly cash assistance to eligible low-income, working families and was created in October 2006 through the provincial housing strategy, Housing Matters BC.

For more information about the Rental Assistance Program, call 604 433-2218 in the Lower Mainland, 1-800-257-7756 elsewhere in the province, or visit www.bchousing.org/programs/RAP.

photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/rldock/2088203526/

March seems to be going out as a lion rather than a lamb this year, with snow in some parts of the province on Thursday and more again Friday.

“I’ve had reports of snow from all over: Victoria, Vancouver, the Fraser Valley,” said Environment Canada forecaster John McIntyre on Thursday.

A “very unstable air mass” combined with a cold upper low-pressure area sitting over B.C. — because the jet stream is farther south than normal — is causing the flurries in Surrey and elsewhere.

The air temperature was in the low single digits both days, well below the normal highs for this time of year of 11 degrees.

There were reports of traffic trouble on Vancouver Island with snow accumulating along the Malahat Highway Friday morning.

Snow was also falling across Metro Vancouver, although it was not sticking except in a few higher elevations.

Despite being somewhat rare, snow in March at sea level isn’t reason to call Ripley’s Believe it or Not.

“It has done this before,” said McIntyre.

Records show three centimetres of snow at sea level on March 1, 2007, and six centimetres on March 10, 2006, but none in 2004 or 2005.

The decided lack of global warming in B.C. this week also pelted downtown Vancouver with a hailstorm, accompanied by thunder and lightning, Wednesday that accumulated and stuck around.

“I can still see some on our roof today,” said McIntyre Thursday.

The cold weather is expected to last through the last day of the month — Monday — with above-normal temperatures forecast for Tuesday, April Fool’s Day.

From http://www.canada.com

A freak hailstorm hit Vancouver this afternoon, affecting bus service over the Burrard and Granville bridges and on Burrard and Granville Streets around Pacific and Drake.

Icy conditions are expected to worsen overnight, as Environment Canada predicts the temperate to level off at -1 C.

Drew Snider of Translink reports that the City of Vancouver has been called for salting bus routes, and that transit supervisors are attempting to get salt from depots in the meantime.

Turn off the lights for just one hour and conserve energy and fight climate change. That’s the theme behind Earth Hour, a global campaign that started in Australia in 2007. British Columbians can take part by switching off tonight, between 8 and 9 p.m.

Premier Gordon Campbell said the provincial government will be participating, with all government buildings, including the B.C. Legislature in Victoria turning off all non-essential lights.

“I urge all British Columbians to switch off for Earth Hour today, and also to consider how you can make energy-conservation a part of your life all day, every day,” Campbell said in a news release. “We all have a role to play in combating climate change and safeguarding our environment.”

Starbucks Coffee in Vancouver downtown. - Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/vancouvergo/2215456561/

Starbucks is testing out a new $1 coffee and free refill price program. The test is being conducted in Seattle stores.

The $1 cup would see the return of the “short” cup size, about fifty cents off the tall price for drip coffee. Free refills will be extended for brewed coffee, though the sizes applicable were not specified. This would put the Starbucks brew back on teh same pricepoint as competitors.

The move to this new price point has been prompted by slower consumer spending and new competition from fast-food rivals, such as McDonald’s, whose coffee offerings have expanded.

Starbucks says that “This test is not indicative of any new business strategy.” They claim the testing is a part of their ongoing business and will not comment on the test until a decision has been made.

From my favorite blog http://www.vancouvercoffee.ca/

Defoor’s Fort Ladysmith BC - Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/14621198@N02/1496089825/

Ladysmith’s most famous native is planning to promote a proposed five-acre waterfront development in the town.

Actress Pamela Anderson is collaborating with Geoff Courtnall, ex-Canucks player turned developer, on the high-end residences proposed for the plot of land once owned by Anderson’s grandparents. “It is something that Pamela is going to get very involved in — in the promotion and marketing of the project,” Courtnall told reporters.

While the 72 condos and 11 townhomes are expected to be pretty svelte, don’t expect any over-the-top Hollywood grandeur. “There won’t be any Hollywood glitz. I’d say it’s more West Coast contemporary using natural materials, trying to honour the beautiful landscape we live in,” said architect Lynn Gordon-Findlay of Victoria-based de Hoog & Kierulf Architects.

Ladysmith, population 7,500, is about an hour’s drive north of Victoria and 23 kilometres south of Nanaimo.

First established as a mining town, it’s now considered one of Canada’s prettiest towns with quaint, century-old buildings lining Main Street. Still, it’s only just recently been discovered by property buyers looking for second or third homes, since Nanaimo has traditionally hogged the spotlight.

“Ladysmith is really blessed by being one of the few communities on Vancouver Island that has the topography it does. It’s built on a steep hill facing the water so all the streets and homes basically get water views from so many locations,” said Brian Bancroft, president of the local chamber of commerce.

Bancroft says the chamber is supportive of the project and believes it will likely attract buyers from Vancouver, Victoria, Alberta and the U.S.

And, of course, there’s always the possibility Anderson could be making a pitch to some celebrity pals.

The development proposal was recently submitted to city hall and it’ll likely be another two months before there’s any word if the project can go ahead. There is no rezoning needed, although some residents had reservations about the project’s height. The tallest building is proposed to be eight storeys, with a second at four storeys.

Gordon-Findlay says once it was explained that they chose to go high rather than wide to avoid cutting trees, most people were receptive of the plan.

The apartments range in size from 1,650 to 1,900 square feet, while the townhomes will start at 2,400 sq. ft.

From http://www.canada.com

Providing non-housing services for drug-addicted and mental sick homeless people currently costs taxpayers more than $55,000 a year per person. Providing adequate housing and supports cost much less.

Providing shelter for the homeless with severe addictions and mental illness throughout British Columbia could save taxpayers millions of dollars, a new study says.

The report, issued by Simon Fraser University, pinpoints addiction as the most prevalent mental health problem among the homeless.

Providing non-housing services for such people currently costs taxpayers more than $55,000 a year per person, the paper says, adding that providing adequate housing and supports could reduce that figure to $37,000.

The researchers say the plan’s overall “cost avoidance” would be about $211 million annually.

The problem is not confined to big cities, the report noted, but was also found in 28 smaller B.C. communities studied by researchers.

The report calls for better integration between municipalities and inter-ministry service providers.

Only 7,700 beds are available for the at-risk population, the report says, while approximately 130,000 people in B.C. deal with severe addictions and/or mental illness.

The study comes two months after Vancouver police reported that half the calls they get in some areas of the city are related to mentally ill people.

From http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia

Western Canada’s largest auto event, the 2008 Vancouver International Auto Show, March 29 – April 6 at BC Place Stadium, will feature a brand new competition that salutes the greatest automobiles in history.

The “Best Of The Best” will showcase three of the rarest and most valuable privately held vehicles in B.C.

1906 ZUST

Representing the Langley Good Times Cruise-In will be one of the rarest cars in the world — the 1906 ZUST that participated in the Great Race from New York to Paris in 1908.

“This is extremely exiting to have the ZUST on display,” says McGeachie.

“This car is a one-of-a-kind, and we’re thrilled our show guests will be able to see it in person.”

The ZUST, owned by a private collector in Ladysmith, B.C., will also be on display at 100th anniversary of the Great Race in New York.

The car will also be showcased at the Langley Good Times Cruise, September 6th, 2008 in Langley.

1936 Ford Club Cab

Representing the Annual Downtown Port Coquitlam Car Show will be a spectacular 1936 Ford Club Cab.

The car, owned by Al Cameron of Merritt, is one of only 4,400 built.

One of the great British Marques of the 1930’s, the LG 45 was the first model produced under the direction of W. O Bentley after he joined Lagonda in 1935.

Approximately 25 Drop Head Coupes were produced.

Acquired and completely restored by a private collector in Vancouver, the ’36 Lagonda has received numerous awards, including First In Class at the Pebble Beach Concours d’ Elegance and First Place, Senior Class; Classic Car Club of America, Grand Classic.

Read more - http://www.southasianpost.com