Lori Henry

While in Winnipeg, Manitoba, I was able to catch the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards, a swanky affair with a red carpet entrance and fantastic music. It’s part of the Manito Ahbee festival. Everyone was into it; actually, 69,837 people voted for their favourite musician.

The winners were cheered on with much fanfare. Local Sierra Noble took home Best Country CD, Tracy Bone the Aboriginal Songwriter of the Year, while Eagle & Hawk, also local, accepted the Best Group or Duo and Best Rock CD awards.

Wikwemikong, ON gal Crystal Shawanda celebrated with the Aboriginal Entertainer of the Year and I was happy to see Chilliwack, BC native Inez awarded Best New Artist, Best Pop CD and Single of the Year.

The Best Pow Wow CDs went to Whitefish Bay Singers for the contemporary category and Red Bull for the traditional category. To cap it off, Buffy Sainte-Marie took home Best Folk or Acoustic CD and the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Meanwhile, the Aboriginal Music Week, also running concurrently with Manito Ahbee, put on a Rising Stars concert at the glorious Pantages Playhouse theatre. What a wonderful venue. It was built in 1914 as a vaudeville venue and now hosts everything from folk and rock music to classical ballet.

All in all, a great kick off to winter in Winnipeg!

What I Liked:

• I didn’t see the most dressed up of people walking around Winnipeg, but on the night of the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Award, people were lined up on the street all dolled up, waiting for their favourite musicians to arrive.
• Sitting in the Pantages Playhouse theatre was delightful. The early 1900s architecture was still showcased and it felt like a step back in time. Old world glam is so fashionable

Brian Clyne Demonstrates Hoop Dancing at Manito Ahbee in Winnipeg, MB (Canada).

Over my right shoulder. Over my left shoulder. Over my head. Then flip the hoops over and spread them like wings. This was my first attempt at First Nations hoop dancing and I was feeling pretty good about it.

I’m in Winnipeg, Manitoba to learn about aboriginal dancing at the Manito Ahbee Pow Wow. I decided to attend one of the school educational programs on the first day of the event and chose the cultural dancing workshop.

The SummerBear Dance Troupe was putting on their workshop headed by the founder, Barbara Nepinak, singer and drummers Chuck Spence and Paul Duck, and hoop dancer Brian Clyne. In all the research I’ve done so far, I had yet to see hoop dancing (actually, I did see a performance at the Calgary Stampede a couple of years ago, but that show’s just on a whole other level and I was pretty far away from the stage).

This time, Brian performed for us after a very inspiring talk to the approximately 75 students, in a tiny little conference room about five feet in front of me (see video below). Best of all, some of us got to try hoop dancing for ourselves.

Brian taught many of us the very basic eagle, using three or five hoops. I threw one hoop over each shoulder, one around my neck and then pulled them all over my head. The other hoops, one in each hand, then made the eagle’s wings spread further.

First Nations Hoop Dancer Brian Clyne of SummerBear Dance Troupe in Winnipeg, MB (Canada).

Hoop dancers are healers and we were told they can spin sickness into the hoops from someone else. I don’t think I got anywhere neat that point, but with Chuck and Paul drumming and singing, I sure was honoured to be allowed to try.

What I Liked:

• The SummerBear Dance Troupe has represented Canada’s First Nations people in countries like the US, Australia and Malaysia. They range in age from four years old and up.
• Brian Clyne is an amazing hoop dancer who also has a knack for inspiring public speaking.
• What a great idea the educational portion of the pow wow is. Students get to go from workshop to workshop all day learning different aspects of First Nations culture. There’s throat singing, healing medicine, music, etc.

Mirlycourtois Restaurant in the Exchange District of Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada).

As a first-timer to Winnipeg, Manitoba, I was welcomed with a dinner at one of the best restaurants in the city, Mirlycourtois, by Destinations Winnipeg, the city’s tourism department.

It helps that Bernard Mirlycourtois, the Chef, is Michelin-starred and from France; it’s also a plus that it’s located in a non-descript warehouse building on the edge of the funky Exchange District. When I walked in, a whole new world opened up.

Inside the bare warehouse walls is an ultra cozy French room with a huge stone fireplace that instantly warms up the space. Not literally, though: there’s a portable gas fireplace inside doing all the work!

Now to the food. My guest and I let Chef Bernard completely take control of our dinner. A fresh mushroom soup came out first (Bernard was telling us before the meal they had just picked them), then a deliciously refreshing salad.

Mirlycourtois Restaurant serving French Cuisine in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada).

My main non-meat course was a pasta dish filled with those same mushrooms and lots of veggies. Each of the dishes was perfectly rich and incredibly filling, washed down nicely with a bottle of red wine.

Dessert was the best of both worlds. The strawberry sorbet was divinely sweet. Temptingly beside it was a traditional crème brulée. Utter perfection. Three hours later and I was content, both in mind and body, with my first evening in Winnipeg. Not a bad way to break in a newbie, eh?

Mirlycourtois cuisine de tradition in the Exchange District of Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada).

What I Liked:

• The service at Mirlycourtois is impeccable, discrete and efficient.
• I love that the restaurant is completely unassuming to find and easily passed by if you don’t know what’s inside. It makes the experience of entering so much more rewarding.
• The Chef seems like a wonderful man, which always makes the cuisine that much better, in my opinion.

Fairmont Vancouver Airport hotel room at YVR in British Columbia, Canada.

To bridge the gap between my fantastic two weeks in Corner Brook and St. John’s, Newfoundland and a five-day trip to Winnipeg, Canada for the first time, I had to fly back to Vancouver and spend the night at the airport before leaving the next morning.

It’s just the logistics of the flights I had booked (the Newfoundland trip being booked with Aeroplan points), so I sucked it up and let the eco-guilt of taking an extra flight eat away at me.

Fortunately, YVR (Vancouver International Airport) not only has airport hotels, but the Fairmont Vancouver Airport hotel is literally located in the departures terminal and they decided to host me for a one-night stay.

I got my luggage, rolled it about five minutes across the airport and checked into the hotel. The super modern room with sleek furnishings and a fluffy bed greeted me like the light at the end of an exhausting tunnel. (Travelling from the small airport at Deer Lake, Newfoundland to Vancouver is a loooong ride.)

My room overlooked one set of gates with airplanes ready for late night or early morning take offs, yet I didn’t hear them through my soundproof windows. I mean, there was a hum, but it was pretty muffled and my sleep was never interrupted (I’m a fairly light sleeper).

There was even a telescope set up at the gigantic floor-to-ceiling window to spy on the comings and goings of the airport, although I suspect its main purpose is to watch the night sky…

Fairmont Vancouver Airport hotel bathroom at YVR in British Columbia, Canada.

I can’t even tell you how good the relief felt when my alarm went off in the morning for yet another flight out and I remembered that I only had to wheel myself to the Canadian departures area. It was a glorious walk after a restful night’s sleep in a hotel that I’m sure saves many people’s travelling lives.

So what are the rates like? $299 CAD per night and they go up from there.

What I Liked:

• It’s all about the location here. No airport shuttle, just a walk within the airport. This Fairmont hotel is an especially good option for business travellers.
• The soundproof rooms are heavenly for sleep-deprived travellers.
• Although the Fairmont comped my room rate, this is definitely an option I’d use for flights that are weirdly timed. Nothing replaces a good night’s sleep when you’re on the road.

Asian Taste Restaurant: Japanese, Chinese and Korean food in St. John's, Nfld (Canada).

No matter where I am in the world, I’m always on a quest to find good Asian food and, especially, sushi that rivals Vancouver’s. My first stop in St John’s, Newfoundland was Basho, the place to get Japanese fusion food. The other sushi joint mentioned to me was Sun Sushi.

So on our last night in town, we walked to Sun Sushi only to be greeted by a black storefront. No! As we found out, a lot of things are closed on Sundays, so check first if there’s a particular place you really want to eat at.

Fully depressed and feeling sorry for myself, I moped back to a strip of restaurants that we knew were open. Colin, though, wasn’t so pouty and pointed to a little hole in the wall Asian restaurant (Asian Taste, 250 Duckworth Street, 709-576-3311) in the midst of closed buildings. Could it be?

Asian Taste Restaurant: Korean Soup in St. John's, Newfoundland (Canada).

I leapt through the door like a child and devoured the menu, a wondrous selection of Japanese, Chinese and Korean dishes that was better than anything I could have imagined.

We stuck with sushi rolls out of principle but Colin also had a Korean soup. The meal of edamame beans and many rolls was absolutely delicious, rivalling Vancouver for sure. It was just really simple, cheap, good food, my favourite kind

We also noticed how happy all the staff were. We got smiles from everyone as they rushed around through the two-story building (plus there’s another private floor above for larger parties).

It turns out the new owner, Norman Tao Su, took over two months ago and everyone was just happy to be there. He chatted with me for awhile about his hope of matching cities like Vancouver with his food. I gave him the thumbs up.

Asian Taste Restaurant: The Best Sushi in St. John's, Newfoundland (Canada).

What I Liked:

• What a pleasant environment to eat in. Like the food, the décor is simple but the building itself is super cool.
• The prices surprised me, as they were reasonable and the food certainly worth, and even exceeded, my expectations. (And we had leftovers, always a bonus.)
• The staff were super nice and work their butts off to make sure everything was satisfactory. My first stop if I return to St. John’s? Asian Taste Restaurant. I’m totally won over- can you tell?

Cape Spear Lighthouse near St. John's, Newfoundland in Canada.

Coming from Vancouver on the west coast of Canada, I was especially excited to touch the easternmost point of North America. It’s called Cape Spear Lighthouse National Historic Site of Canada (or just Cape Spear) and is only a 15-minute drive southeast of St. John’s.

The road out (just follow Water Street west and you’ll see the Cape Spear signs) seems to meander inland, but eventually makes its way east to the easternmost point. Again, the interpretive centre was closed at this time of the year but we still wandered around happily with (surprisingly) quite a few others with the same idea.

The lighthouse here was actually “the second light to offer aid along any of Newfoundland’s rocky coasts,” according to the official government website. Now, it has been restored to what it would have originally looked like in 1839 (it began operation in 1836). It is considered the oldest surviving lighthouse in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Walking Paths at Cape Spear, Newfoundland, North America's easternmost point.

The wind blew fiercely today at Cape Spear, which I think is par for the course here, but it’s worth it to stick around and explore. There are paths that take you further than the easternmost point photo op, which we wandered on. Because the wooden path is open, you can also walk off it and down to the rocks below, with forceful waves crashing among them. Obviously, use your common sense here, as it can be quite dangerous if weather conditions change.

Also neat are the underground remnants of bunkers that you can walk through. They’re just rooms cut into the ground and have been left for visitors to investigate. Kept from World War II, there was actually a defence battery built and troops stationed here. This occupation from 1941 to 1945 was the reason the underground passages were made, which lead to magazine and equipment rooms, canteens, mess halls and barracks.

Cape Spear's Easternmost Point Sign in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

What I Liked:

• The fierce wind is very atmospheric, exactly like the bitter cold found on Nova Scotia’s easternmost point at the Fortress of Louisbourg. Somehow, it’s just fitting.
• Unlike most of the other roads in Newfoundland, the one to Cape Spear is smooth sailing.
• If you’ve come this far east, it’s sort of sacrilegious not to visit the easternmost point in North America, no?