SORREL DOWNER . . . WORDS & PICTURES

‘We are going to win everything!’ says the reporter from CTV, who’s also a local skiing champion. We’re having breakfast in Vancouver’s Shangri-La hotel, discussing the run-up to the Olympic Winter Games while I wolf down the best eggs Benedict I’ve ever had.

Outside, the air is ice-fresh, the snowy mountains glorious, the high-rise city centre all neat lines of glinting glass, Canadian flags fluttering against an azure sky. There’s no false modesty here — about their city or their chances. Indeed there’s a definite whiff of all-round Vancouverite victory.
For full article see: http://bahighlife.com/Destinations/Viva-Vancouver.html

Budget
Pork chop bun, the Chinese hotpot, ta pin nou, dim sum (including the well-loved steamed buns stuffed with pork, char siu pau), galinha Portuguesa and bacalhao (oven-cooked chicken and salt cod respectively). There’s good food-hunting to be had along the Rua do Almirante and roads off it, as well as Rua do Cunho, in Taipa village (queue at Dom Galo for Macanese food in a colourful setting).

In Coloane, try the Portuguese Sunday buffet at Pousada de Coloane above Cheoc Van beach, and pasteis de nata from Lord Stow’s Bakery. The Venetian food court offers a gastronomic journey from Morton’s of Chicago to Maxim’s de Paris, via India, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand and Argentina, while the Food Colosseum at City of Dreams is the place for ramen, sushi and tempura. For splashing out, and more see the article at:http://bahighlife.com/Food-And-Drink/China-Macau-hotels-and-restaurants.html

Perched on a volcano at night, I’m watching helicopters crisscross the Pearl River Delta and reflecting on a day which involved haggling in Chinese street markets, studying the work of Jesuit priests, entering a hotel room to find a mechanical bull and walking through the streets of Venice, from the Ponte di Rialto to St Mark’s Square via the food court. There’s no doubt about it, Macau offers a fresh twist on the mysterious East.

http://bahighlife.com/Destinations/China-Macau.html