Vancouver's COAST Restaurant goes Indian

Yaletown's COAST Restaurant is featuring authentic Indian cuisine September 12-23.

"At COAST, we love to expose our guests to exotic tastes from around the world," says Executive Chef Jeremy Atkins. "With Indian cuisine, you have the freedom to experiment with different spices and flavor combinations to really create that wow factor for guests."

Here are some of the menu items. Pair with a local BC wine and you'll be transported to an exotic place and taste.

Indian Ocean Tiger Prawns with green curry, slivered mango and chilled panna
Black Widow Gewurztraminer 2006, Naramata Bench

Fire-Grilled Jack Fish & Summer Vegetable Kabobs with cumin scented basmati rice and roasted cashew butter
Winchester Cellars Sharp Rock Chardonnay 2005, Victoria

Chai Kheer Rice Pudding with chilled coconut sabayon
Mission Hill Late Harvest Riesling 2005, Okanagan Valley

COAST Restaurant is located at 1257 Hamilton Street in Yaletown. Call 604.685.5010 for reservations.

Granville Island Hotel sunrise. Sue Frause photo.

Whistler website has snow scoops

Whistler Blackcomb has a new website with information about the athletes, their secret spots, adventure and travel.

Untrackedlines.com includes athlete blogs, photos and movie teasers. You'l also find out what's happening in and around Whistler and the ski and snowboard world.

Athletes include Sarah Burke, Leanne Pelosi, Priscilla Leevac, Mark Abma, Justin Lamorureux, Ian McIntosh, Den Treadway and Mikey Rencz.

As the snow season ramps up, they'll be posting updates and photos of their best "pow" day, best Sushi Village moment, best wipe out, best friends and other tales from the cold terrain.

A contest is also part of the website. Three Sticks of Bacon and a Helicopter could result in a great trip for two to Whistler.

The grand prize includes round-trip airfare to Whistler from anywhere in North America; Star Limo transfers; Whistler Blackcomb lift tickets; a day of heli skiing or riding with Whistler Hili-Skiing; accommodation at the Holiday Inn and more.

Travel journalists and members of Tourism Whistler pose with Ullr, the Norse God of Snow. That's me in the green.

Falling for Whistler is easy to do

I love Whistler in the fall.

And now until October 31, BC's premier mountain resort is offering a Fall Dine & Unwind program featuring regional cuisine and prix-fixe menus at participating restaurants.

Afterwards, rejuvenate with specials on spa and wellness treatments, such as the divine Royal Balinese Treament at the Taman Sari Royal Heritage Spa. The two hours of bliss is reduced from $290 to $189.

The Whistler Farmers' Market is open Sundays through Oct. 7 for local produce, jams, honey, baked goods and arts and crafts.

Save up to 25 per cent on multi-day, multi-course golf vacation packages and the Whistler Mountain Biking package.

Hiking Whistler Mountain is free!

Go mid-week and avoid the border back-up. And book online, it's easy.

A view from Fairmont Chateau Whistler, which has packages starting at $139. Photo by Sue Frause.

Take the train to avoid border waits

The headline in today's Seattle P-I doesn't bode well for travelers to and from Canada:

Wait at Canadian border going from bad to brutal

It sounds like it's going to be bad news for a couple of years.

Being a big BC fan, I'm not going to let a little traffic congestion keep me at home.

As always, I love taking the train to Vancouver, BC. And whether you live in Seattle, Edmonds, Everett, Mount Vernon or Bellingham -- traveling on Amtrak is a good alternative.

The downside between now and the end of the year is that the Talgo train is still in the repair shop.

What does that mean?

It's the old Superliner equipment and certain services and amenities have been added or changed.

Current Services and Amenities

* The Superliner Coach features upper and lower level seating.
* The Sightseer Lounge offers casual seating for sightseeing and socializing along with light meals, snacks and beverages for purchase.

Services Temporarily Suspended

* Sit-down dining car meal service
* Business Class
* On-board movies

The best part about going Business Class is getting off at the station in Vancouver, BC first -- meaning you go through Customs and Immigration first.

That doesn't happen on the Superliner so the wait will be longer depending when you are allowed to get off the train.

Make reservations in advance by booking online or calling Amtrak. I blew it the last time I was traveling between Canada and the US.

I waited too long to book the train back to Seattle from Vancouver. When I called, it was sold out and I had to take the bus home.

Not a good thing.

Amtrak arrives at Bellingham. Sue Frause photo.

Moving Beyond - Vancouver textile show

Vancouver, BC's Surface Design Association presents its first juried exhibition, Moving Beyond.

The show runs Sept. 6-27, 2007.

Venues include five locations in Gastown and Granville Island: Urbanity, Button Button, SAWA Tea & Craft, Textile Content Studio and Mooncruise.

The exhibition showcases diverse, original and innovative textile art by BC members of the SDA.

Participating in the exhibition are Angelika Werth, Anne Marie Andrishak, Brigitte Rice, Cher Cartwright, Hanna Haapasalo, Jane Kenyon, Jennifer Love, Julia Manitius, Kaija Rautiainen, Kate Barber, Kristin Rohr, Melissa Bienvenue Woods and Yvonne Wakabayashi.

A roving reception will be held Friday, Sept. 6, from 6-9 PM at the five venues.

The #50 False Creek bus runs frequently between Gastown and Granville Island.

Discover Victoria's Chinatown on foot

One of my favorite ways to see a city is by going on a walking tour.

But the tours are only as good as the guides, and John Adams of Discover the Past in Victoria is one of the best.

The historian knows his stuff, but also presents it in an entertaining and engaging way.

His walking tour menu includes ghostly walks, neighbourhood walks and Chinatown.

I went on the 90-minute Chinatown tour and learned a lot about this provincial capital.

Did you know that Victoria's Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in Canada?

And if you do take the tour, make sure you save time to have lunch at one of the restaurants in Chinatown.

John will steer you in the right direction.

John Adams gives walking tours of Chinatown.
Photo by Sue Frause.

A new stage in town - For eats, not theater

I'd just spent four hours on a bus from Courtenay to Victoria on Vancouver Island, so when my innkeeper friend Sylvia Main picked me up I was ready for a table, chair, food and wine.

We went to a new restaurant in the Fernwood neighborhood of this capital city.

Stage is owned by George and Linda Szasz, the same couple that has Paprika Bistro. Located near The Belfry Theatre, it specializes in small plates and wine.

It tasted mighty fine.

Stage in Victoria. Photo by Sue Frause.

Go green with Fairmont

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is making green the color for summer.

Now through September 3, overnight guests with hybrid vehicles can park for free at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel and her sister properties The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, The Fairmont Waterfront, The Fairmont Empress in Victoria and the Fairmont Chateau Whistler.

Guests will enjoy an average savings of $60 USD on a two-night stay, making it a true economic advantage.

Vitamin V : Get a daily dose for free

If you're a fan of Vancouver like me, keep up with what's going on in this cool Canadian city by subscribing to the online vitamin v.

The online lifestyle magazine arrives in your mailbox Monday-Friday with news about health and beauty, fashion and decor, arts and culture, dining and nightlife and travel and leisure.

And it's free!

Coal Harbour, Vancouver. Sue Frause photo.

Hastings House on Saltspring Island

Hastings House Country House Hotel is a luxurious, small country resort, spa and restaurant on Salt Spring Island. It's situated on 22 acres of waterfront property overlooking Ganges Harbour in British Columbia's Gulf Islands. Photos by Sue Frause.

Music in a Chinese garden

Vancouver's Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden hosts outdoor musical performances on Friday nights throughout the summer.

Now in its 14th season, this year's series includes classical, world, fusion, Asian, Gypsy jazz and African music.

All shows begin at 7:30 PM (doors open at 7 PM). Tickets are $15CAD.

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is located in Chinatown at 578 Carrall St. The entrance is in the lane off Carrall between Pender and Keefer. Look for the discreet doorway along the wall. Open daily from 9:30 AM to 7:00 PM. Sue Frause photo.

Summer festivals @ Whistler

Whistler is fun in the summer.

Flip-flops have replaced apres ski gear, and festivals celebrate everything from mountain biking to barbecue.

Kokanee Crankworx is July 21 - 29, featuring world-class mountain bike events and free daily concerts.

The Canadian National BBQ Championships will be held at Dusty's Bar and Grill in Whistler's Creekside, Aug. 4 - 5.

Watch top barbecue competitors vie for a trip to the American Royal World Championships in Kansas City and the Jack Daniel's World Championship BBQ event in Lynchburg, Tennessee.

On August 25, Whistler hosts the first annual Campground 'C' country-rock festival, featuring nine country-rock acts.

Whistler Village livens up with summer festivals featuring food and music. Photo by Sue Frause.

Rare Titanic passenger list at Royal BC Museum

The Royal BC Museum’s Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition is two artifacts richer today.

Bowen Island's Don Marshall, 76, whose mother and grandmother survived the sinking of the Titanic, searched his home for the items this spring, after the museum put out a call for BC connections to the ship and its passengers.

Today, Marshall presented the pair of family treasures – a second-class passenger list and an essay titled A Personal Experience on the Titanic, written by his mother in 1914 – to the Royal BC Museum, then watched as conservators installed the valuable items in a display case in the BC Connections gallery.

“I and my family have chosen to loan these artifacts to the museum's exhibit because we believe that our mother would have wanted this,” said the retired dentist. “She was proud of the fact that she and her mother had survived the sinking of the Titanic and participated in many interviews over her lifetime.”

In 1912, Elizabeth (“Bessie”) Watt and her 12-year-old daughter Bertha were aboard the Titanic, en route from Scotland to Oregon to join Mr. James Watt, when the ship struck the iceberg that sent it to the ocean floor. Mother and daughter escaped in Lifeboat 9 with only the clothes on their backs – the second-class passenger list happened to be in the pocket of Bessie’s overcoat.

Two years later, Bertha (Marshall’s mother) wrote an essay about her ordeal for her high school yearbook. “About 2 o’clock, we heard the boilers burst and then (the ship) broke in two and slid into the water, leaving nothing to be seen,” she wrote. “We were then left entirely alone in the dark, except for the stars.”

Last week, a first-class passenger list sold at a Christie’s New York auction for $48,000 US. An eight-page, handwritten description of the sinking by a 16-year-old survivor earned $16,800 US at the same auction.

Created by Atlanta-based Premier Exhibitions Inc., Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition features 281 artifacts recovered from Titanic’s undersea resting place in a series of galleries that trace the life of the “unsinkable” ship. RMS Titanic Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Premier Exhibitions Inc., is the only company in the world authorized to recover artifacts from the Titanic wreck site.

Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition will be at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria until Oct. 14, 2007.

Kicking Horse Resort opens for summer

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, British Columbia opened for the summer season on June 29, 2007.

Their Summer Adventure Package is a great way to experience the Canadian Rockies.

Priced at $220 CDN per person (double occupancy) here's what you'll experience at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort:

Two nights accommodation
On your own sightseeing and hiking
Interpretive tour at the Kicking Horse Grizzly Bear Refuge
Lunch for two at the resort
Your choice (for two) of whitewater rafting, Canyon River Safari, wildlife float trip, downhill mountain biking (including bike rentals), 18 holes of golf at Golden Golf & Country Club or a two-hour horseback trail ride

The Summer Adventure Package is available June 29-October 7, 2007 and is subject to limited availability and restrictions.

For reservations, go to kickinghorseresort.com or call 866-SKI-KICK (866-754-5425).

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort is surrounded by towering peaks and six of Canada’s most picturesque national parks. The resort is located in Golden, British Columbia, just 1.5 hours west of Banff, Alberta and 2.5 hours west of Calgary on the Trans-Canada Highway.

Vancouver's Listel Hotel offers artful hotel package

Henri Fantin-Latour (French, 1836-1904). Marie-Yolande de Fitz-James,
1867. Oil on fabric; 50.2 x 42.2 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift
of Lewis C. Williams 1982.256. © The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Listel Hotel in Vancouver, BC has an artistic package featuring Vancouver Art Gallery’s Monet to Dali: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The Monet to Dalí exhibit represents the most comprehensive showing of European painting and sculpture in Vancouver in more than half a century. Touted as Vancouver’s most art-full hotel, it's only a five minute walk on Robson to the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The Listel's Surreal Impressions package includes:

• Two express entry tickets to the exhibit (you walk right past the crowds)
• An exhibit catalogue of the show
• A room on the hotel’s Gallery Floors, where each room is an individual gallery featuring original or limited edition work from more than 35 different artists
• A 15% discount at the Vancouver Art Gallery’s gift shop

The package is priced at $289.00 CDN (+ applicable taxes) per room based on double occupancy. It's available until Sept. 16, 2007. Reservations may be made by calling 800.663.5491 or e-mailing reservations@thelistelhotel.com.

Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art is drawn from the superb collections of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Vancouver Art Gallery's exhibition consists of more than 80 paintings, drawings and sculpture that demonstrate key examples from the European modernist movement. Organized into four groupings, it covers a century of art making from 1864 to 1964 and showcases important work by the major Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, early modern sculptors and avant garde artists interested in Dadaism, Cubism and Surrealism. Most notably, the exhibition includes key works by Manet, Monet, Cézanne, van Gogh, Rodin, Picasso, Dalí and other renowned artists. Together, the works in this stellar collection illuminate the breadth of creativity in one of the most extraordinary epochs in the history of Western art. The show is at the Vancouver Art Gallery until September 16, 2007.

Lunch to go in Vancouver

One of my favorite restaurants in Vancouver, BC now offers lunches to go. Located on Denman right across the street from English Bay, it's the perfect spot to pick up your picnic and head to the beach.

The Raincity Grill's take-out window is now open weekends only -- beginning June 1 it will dish out delicious food from 11 AM to 7PM daily.

Raincity Grill has also upped the green factor, using sugarcane fiber containers and aspen wood cutlery from Lumby, BC. Both are made from renewable resources.

For $9.95 you'll receive a sandwich, salad and a sweet treat. Among the tasty sandwich offerings are Oyama ham with gruyere cheese and roasted eggplant and onion with hummus and bell pepper. Select from Caesar, potato or coleslaw salads.

Raincity Grill is located at 1193 Denman Street in Vancouver's West End -- a great jumping off spot for visiting Stanley Park.

English Bay is a Fun picnic spot. Sue Frause photo.