Another Chinese Acquisition

Grouse Mountain is a short 45 minute drive away from Vancouver

When I was a teenager I learned how to ski on Grouse Mountain. I was cautious at first, but after learning the moves I became more confident skiing down The Cut, one of the main trails. On the other hand my brother had no fear and zoomed down the hill.

In recent years Grouse Mountain became popular in the summer thanks to the Grouse Grind, a 2.9 kilometre (2,830 steps) nicknamed "Mother Nature's stairmaster" all the way up to the top. If you could do it in under an hour you were really fit. Hardcore visitors were called "grinders" and liked to boast their times.

The Grouse Grind is popular with fitness addicts

In any event in the last day or so it has been announced that Grouse Mountain will be sold to China Minsheng Investment Group, the largest privately owned investment manager in China.

The property has been for sale since September last year and it is believed the deal is worth CAD$200 million that will be finalized in the next few days.

Apparently there are potential areas the new owners could develop, such as a hotel and spa, a bike park and conference facilities, but these are all subject to regulatory approval.

In the meantime all staff have been kept and operations will continue as usual.

Grouse is a popular and close by mountain for skiing

China Minsheng Investment Group was started in 2014 by Premier Li Keqiang and this purchase is apparently its first in Canada. Other Chinese companies with a foothold in the city include Anbang Insurance, China Poly Group Corporation, Greenland Group and Ping-An Insurance, Wanda Group and Fosun.

Despite the possible changes in the coming years, one thing's for sure -- the Grouse Grind will not be touched -- it's on government land.

Picture of the Day: Sunset Summer

Catching the tail end of a gorgeous sunset at Spanish Banks in Vancouver

I've had a short trip to Vancouver, but enjoyed every moment thanks to the fantastic weather we've been having. The best part is that the humidity is so low you hardly break out into a sweat, unlike Hong Kong, where walking outside for five minutes results in sweat pouring from your forehead like a waterfall.

After dinner my friend and I headed to Spanish Banks to catch the sunset and we got there at the tail end with the sky was already a deep pink and mauve.

Down the beach we saw a gaggle of Canada geese hanging out right by the water -- I don't remember ever seeing this before. But there they were standing around and cleaning themselves. Wondered what they were up to next.

It's so nice to see the sun go down just before 10pm -- in Hong Kong it's already dark by 7pm, but then again in Vancouver, it's dark by 3pm in the winter.

Nevertheless I was really glad to be able to catch the beautiful sunset right by the water -- before heading back to Hong Kong.

Epic Meal at Phnom Penh Restaurant

A unique (and delicious) place serving Vietnamese and Cambodian cuisines

Yesterday I met up with an acquaintance in Chinatown and he suggested we eat at Phnom Penh, a Cambodian-Vietnamese restaurant.

He was shocked to find that I had never been there and insisted we eat lunch there.

I arrived at the appointed time to find a crowd of people standing in the foyer waiting for a table, while others preferred to soak up the sunshine before their name was called to come in.

Watching people come in and out, there were not only Cantonese-speakers, but also Mandarin, as well as non-Chinese who seemed to be very familiar with the place. Guess it was a good sign.

Deep-fried chicken wings have alight batter and tart sauce

By 1pm the restaurant was still bustling, and after about a 10-minute wait we finally got a table. And since my acquaintance is such a regular here, he practically knew all the dishes we should order, adding that four of the items on the menu are ones one should eat before they die. Die? Really?

He asked me if I had such a list... I had to answer in the negative.

I'd never thought of it that way before, but that just made me more skeptical of how good Phom Penh really was.

Nevertheless, the food soon arrived fast and furious on the laminate table. A half portion of deep-fried chicken wings were garnished with spring onions, garlic, and coriander, with a peppery lemon sauce on the side. Fantastic, and perfect beer food. The batter wasn't heavy and was quite crunchy.

Cubes of beef covered in a dark sauce, topped with fried egg

Next came fillet beef luc lac on rice with egg (CAD$10.95). Honestly it doesn't look pretty -- the cubed beef was smothered in a very dark brown shiny sauce with a fried egg on top. The egg was a bit more cooked than runny, which would have made it takes a bit better.

My friend mixed these all up as well as he could, minus the salad on the side. This wasn't a dish I would consider a must-have before dying -- the flavour was actually flat -- even the egg couldn't save it.

However, we really liked the beef fillet anchois (CAD$19), which was basically beef carpaccio topped with a soy sauce mixed with lots of coriander, garlic and lemongrass. The sauce complemented the beef, and interestingly for a restaurant in Chinatown we did not get sick after eating a raw meat dish!

Finally the flavour of the Phnom Penh hot and sour soup with prawns (CAD$12.95) was fantastic. I like sour tastes, and this one pretty much hit the jackpot. It was a curious combination again lemongrass, and probably lime for tartness, added with tomatoes, pineapples, beansprouts, potatoes and overcooked prawns.

 SE Asian beef carpaccio with lots of coriander and garlic!

The food we ordered was enough for three people, but we somehow managed to almost finish it all. Needless to say I was so full afterwards that I could have almost skipped dinner.

When we came out of the restaurant, there was yellow police tape cordoning off the sidewalk a few doors down with police cars on the street and people in uniform checking out the area. One wiped blood off the sidewalk which meant that it was probably a stabbing.

And we didn't even know! We were too busy eating to hear any commotion if there was any...

Phnom Penh restaurant is pretty good, but as long as you're willing to wait...

Phnom Penh

244 East Georgia

Vancouver

604 682 5777

Liu's Day has Come

Artist Ai Weiwei's Lego portrait of Liu Xiaobo

Anyone who has been reading the news of the deteriorating health of dissident Liu Xiaobo has been dreading this day, but it has come. He died today at the age of 61.

He is the first Nobel Peace Prize winner to die in custody since German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky, who won the prize in 1935 during the Nazi era.

This will be a dark stain on Chinese President Xi Jinping's legacy and the Chinese Communist Party that is desperately trying to win over the rest of the world through soft and hard power.

Letting Liu leave the country in his last days and hours would have been the humanitarian thing to do, and win Xi points on the world stage, but this is not how the president operates, as he has taken a harder line than any recent previous leaders.

China didn't want to be seen as giving in to Liu's last wishes of leaving the country in the hopes that his wife Liu Xia would have a better life.

Perhaps even more outrageous is that Liu's liver cancer diagnosis was announced at such a late stage that there was nothing any doctor or treatment could do. This appears to be a deliberate move so that no one could do anything.

At the same time, Liu's health condition had to be announced to avoid China being accused of killing him in prison, which would have raised issues of his treatment in incarceration.

While we are outraged at how the Chinese government treated Liu, where were all the world leaders speaking out about violating his human right to proper medical treatment? They are too scared to anger China with economies dependent on the country to stay afloat.

Liu can now rest in peace, but what of his wife? She will probably remain under some kind of house arrest, though she is the innocent bystander in all of this. Liu Xia is emotionally fragile and surely his death will make it even harder to keep going.

PEN America will be holding a vigil tonight in New York and we will probably see other groups hold similar events tonight and in the next day or so.

Liu was China's moral compass and he has died knowing he has done his part for his country.