Tètè aTété with MANGO MOKA

In my previous life I was an independent coffee shop owner (Strawberry Lounge)! When it comes to business I know everything about having guts and taking risks, investing my own money and loving my guests!
Therefore, whenever I can, I choose independent over franchise, box store or huge corporation!

We here in beautiful Maple Ridge have a variety of independently owned shops, restaurants and coffee bars. But nothing and nobody has conquered my heart as much as the guys from Mango 
Moka (MM) have!

The guys I'm talking about are Sukhi and Sukhi, husband and wife team from Punjab.

(To keep it easy for the rest of us, they both use an abbreviation of their first names-which happens to be Sukhi!)

They created this very interesting mixture of traditional coffee shop with smoothie bar.
MM is not a restaurant nor is it a bar. But you can eat here for sure!

It's a little bit of sandwich bar and a little bit of coffee shop!
It's a little bit of India (samosas, butter chicken)

 and a little bit of Canada (modern coffees, teas, banana bread, cakes).

It's a little bit of this and a little bit of that. And all little bits are freshly prepared in front of your eyes.

MM is bright and cheerful when you walk in.

The music is playing (very good to set the mood and to create an atmosphere), the service is always impeccable. Sometimes it's a bit slow- but then, good things come to those who wait.
(However, if you are in a rush you can always call in advance and order your goodies
(1-604-380- 4848)! They even deliver to our door step, certain conditions do apply!

Their espresso machine is a killer!

The paninin and bagels are phenomenal.

This comment comes from one of the biggest critiques I know, my children! If they don't like something they aren't touching it! At Mango Moka they are leaving nothing on their plates!

I don't come for the coffee necessarily, I love their smoothies!

 I love to hang for a chat! With whomever I can chat with!

Oh, and the samosas ($1.00 a piece!) They are such a delight! Homemade! Vegetarian! Crispy on the outside, nicely spiced on the inside! They are 1000 x better than the ones you get at our local supermarkets!

 Running a coffee shop is not for everybody! First and foremost, you must love what you do! And you must love your guests- customers! If you're working behind the counter you have to have the ability to chat! To listen to people!

Sukhi is a fantastic conversationalist! He goes out of his way to explain stuff and let's you sample if he has something new in store!

MM is located in one of these peculiar little strip malls: a five- shops in a row- kinda mall on the beginning, or far end of town  (depending from which direction you are coming from)!
The location is a pain in the butt to get to- especially when you are day dreaming and find yourself in the wrong car lane - or when you are travelling the opposite direction!

But once you made the right turn and have parked, the culinary delight begins!

Only a few short months ago Sukhi has opened his MK Farm Market right next door!

For us die-hard homemakers (yep, that's me) this is a dream come true! Never ever in a million years have I thought I would do my grocery shopping at a corner store!
Live and learn Christina!
I don't know how Sukhi does it, but he offers the best Basmati rice ever at a price I can't find anywhere else!

His prices are compatible to every supermarket in our area- if not cheaper!
Note to myself, I need to have a chat with the man, need to know how he does it!

Maple Ridge can call itself lucky to host such a bright, happy, cheerful, affordable, healthy, delicious
fusion coffee-smoothie bar!

If you are on a mission to support independently owned shops, Mango Moka is the place to go!

Way to go Sukhi and Sukhi! 

Find them on Facebook. If you are online, give them a virtual LIKE.

If you are in the area, stop by- you will like it, in real life that is!

From the Dinner Table to Vancouver Playhouse: PUBLIC SALON

Fun and adventure can be found at the most unlikely places.
In front of our door step so to speak.
Fun can be found during a stroll through your own neighbourhood, on a snow covered trail hike or watching and listening to eight speakers working their magic during an evening of the 20th Public Salon at the Vancouver Playhouse!

Vancouver's population is as diverse at a good artisan bread shop: immigrants from all around the globe and locals alike can be found here! Each and every one of them carries their own, unique story.
Most Vancouverites are fond of community building. The buzz words are Shop local, Eat local, Support local! Platforms for sharing community building inspiration can be found everywhere. Like the one I am going to tell you about.



 Public Salon is similar to a TEDx event, several speakers, all on a mission to make their community a better place to live in!
Public Salon is the brainchild of Mr. Sam Sullivan, former Mayor of Vancouver and Ms Lynn Zanatta. For over 10 years they hosted private dinner parties at their home and invited a diverse (eclectic?) group of individuals to share their individual views, experiences, world view and passion with each other. As you know, the best conversations always happen over a shared meal with a few glasses of tongue loosing beverages!

Instead of being invited into the private dinning room of the couple we were invited into the Vancouver Playhouse to listen and watch eight speakers, dancers and musicians!
Here is how the 20th Public Salon looked like:

A welcome dance,

And now, my friend Vicki and |I, ready to get dazzled:

 

But before the action starts, a few shots from the crowd - and what a shame, they didn't turn out well, too dark!

The line-up included
Mohamed Assani- Sitarist - Music teacher who teaches Indian Music at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music. (What an interesting instrument,. My son plays the guitar, five strings is enough for him)!

Dr. Lance Barrett Lennard, Director of the Vancouver Aqaeium's Marine Mammal Research Program - interesting stuff about the health of killer whales.

Martha Carter, Choreographer

More entertainment was provided by Ms. Becky Wenham, playing her cello while dancer Hayden Fong put his talents on show:

Furthermore we had Mr. Paul Draggan, "Reckless Bike"shop owner. On a mission to get  Vancouverites on a bike.

Genevieve Ennis Hume, of Hume Atelier, specialises in custom made jewellery  Their atelier supports artisanal miners.

Ms Kwiaahwah Jones of  Haida and Nishgaa descent
 is the curator of the Bill Reid Gallery. This First Nations woman put her love for native art on display:

Claudia Li, Co-founder of HUA foundation (dedicated to creating solutions for the Hua, ethnic Chinese community). She read us a letter, addressed to her grandma, revealing her years of struggle: torn between meeting expectations of her demanding parents and finding her own voice and way in Canada.
And last but not least it was
Jason Lindstorm of Bucket List.org.  Bucket List is one of the largest data bases of life goals on the web with over one million visitors per year. Funny story about Jason wanted to meet Richard Brenson- and just like that, Voila, Sir Richard kite surfed right into his arm and needed to be rescued by Jason!

As I just said, as diverse as Vancouver's population!

Nothing was too heavy to digest, too complicated to understand, too controversial or mind blowing. It was a representation of what Vancouver stands for and represents: Nice people supporting their local community,

VANCOUVER: Follow your Dream...

just like Russian immigrant Anastasia Modestova did.

How and why did she give up everything - her job, status, connections and money - only to create "Movie About You", her own video production company here in Vancouver?
Find out here:

We immigrants have our personal reasons why we came to Canada:
Some of us came for love.
For some it was the promise of a better life.
And others came for adventure, just like us!

However, I am not here to write about my family.
I am here to introduce to you a fellow immigrant, Anastasia Modestova, one smart, highly educated, hard working, high achiever from Russia. Back in her home country she was a successful, well paid marketing director. This job offered everything a young, professional woman could wish for: Success, status, connections and lots of money!

No wonder Anastasia wanted to continue her life style upon arrival to Canada.
But guess what: Just because you are a hot shot in your country doesn't make you a hot shot in Canada.
You know what they say: Different rules for different countries- or something like that!

The only way to be considered as a job candidate for a high end marketing position was with a completed MBA program (Masters of Business Administration).
Within one year, lots of will power and hard work the mission was completed and Anastasia landed a position as marketing director for a start-up company in Vancouver.

She did it again: Success, connections, status and money were hers again.
Now here comes the crazy part: Within four months she quit- just like this.

With four cold beer bottles in her bag she came home one Friday afternoon and told her husband: "I quit"- as I told you, just like that!

Is this lady crazy? Or true to herself?
How could she give up something she wanted to badly, she worked so hard for?

Well, her new marketing career didn't feed her soul or nourished her heart. She was craving freedom, beauty and creativity in her life. Still, would you give it all away for a feeling?

Can you imagine doing the same thing?
Creating videos was a dream for her- and she made it happen.
No, she never sat foot into a film or editing school. Everything she does is self taught. One relentless learner and achiever she is!

Nobody ever said it would be easy to make changes in life. If we want to say YES to create more fun, adventure or opportunities in our live we need to make sacrifices and keep on pushing through the hard times.
 I know, I know, it's easier said than done. But then, if it's easy everybody would do it and were is the fun and adventure in that one?

And if you didn't watch the video, here are Anastasia's three top tips to make the leap from secure job to starting your own, fat dream:

- Follow your heart
- Remember your marketing
- Invest your time and energy wisely, network well.

On this note I want to leave you with Anastasia's quote:
"Do what you love-
not what you are best at!"

Do you agree?  
What is your success story?- I know you have one, please share with us! I look forward to reading your stories!

Honey, let's leave the kids! We are going White Water Rafting with Hyak River Rafting!

or: How rafting down the Thompson river puts a different spin on spending a "wet, wild-n-dirty weekend with your husband and a lot of rubber."

Lucky me, the Best Man of All is game whenever I am!  I name the activity and under normal circumstances and within limitations, he is in!
Convincing my man to go on a 2 day White Water rafting trip with Hyak wasn't the issue; figuring out what to do with our three boys at home was an issue for sure!!
Unfortunately we can't ask any of our immediate family for the occasional nanny job, they live thousands of miles away! But that's only an excuse, isn't it? If you really want to do something in life you will find a solution for any dilemma.
We put our junior (11 years of age) up for weekend adoption among our neighbours and friends (thankfully he is big fun and low maintenance and the offers came in). We made our teenager (17) give us the pinkie swear not to host one of his crazy parties while we were gone (we already hosted three of them and it's not a pretty sight) and bribed our middle son (14) to spy on him!

This, plus a tent was all we needed to arrange for the wet-n-wild rafting trip!
The price (apart from the monetary) we had to pay was getting up at 4.30 AM to make it in time to Hyak's base in Lytton (Lytton is a 3 hour drive from our home and we didn't want to miss the boat. Departure time was 9.30 am). We signed our disclaimer, stripped down and geared up with wetsuit, splash jacket, helmet and a paddle.

Meeting our new friends!

Let's see, what are we signing for? 

All geared up and ready to paddle.

We needed to board Hyak's own luxury cruiser for another 45 minute bus ride up to Ashcroft. In Ashcroft we loaded up and boarded one of the two rafts waiting for us.  

During this particular weekend trip we were a total of 15: 4 couples, 5 lovely ladies and our two rafting guides, Jim and Sebastian (Seb from now on). Jim, a veteran of all things rafting, paramedical, safe + rescue was our leader; a solid rock of knowledge, funny, charming, nevertheless the no-nonsense kind of rafter.

In his 20 years of experience our charming rafting guide has never seen an umbrella on a rafting trip!

My man and I gravitated towards Seb, the young, foot loose and fancy free Aussie version of Jim (it must have been the accent) - and so did Lauren, Alice, Kurt and Karleen. And just like that, Party
Boat Awesome FUN was created.

Crew Awesome!

Paddling during Saturday morning was easy. The wind blew heavily but we didn't have any rapids to master yet nor anything scary to worry about. It was a time to get to know one another, to practise our paddle strokes (the whole blade into the water, use your whole body, not just your arms), learning instructions and taking in the magnificent beauty of our surroundings.

Reaching our lunch stop was a a bit challenging as we were sucked into a whirlpool and couldn't get out of it. However, never ever underestimate the power of six novice paddlers, their Australian guide and the will power and determination of the whole team. It took a while to get us where we needed to be, but we made it.

Why is it that a lunch buffet, presented on a rock and eaten out in the open tastes so much better than at home? Hmm! The huge white cool boxes strapped onto the rafts contained eatable treasures: Fresh fruit, veggies, tuna salad, sweeties, cookies, bread, mayonnaise, meats. You name it, the cool box contained it.
Afternoon paddling was easy peasy as well. How can you not enjoy yourself being surrounded by rubber, taking in the scenery and listening to funny stories from everybody about everything and nothing?

Well, Fantasy Island, here we come! Our domicile for the night!

Our home away from home!

Fantasy island- surrounded by water and two train tracks...!

We found our perfect spot and pitched the tent! In the meantime our two rafters extraordinaire, Jim and Seb, created magic -again. This time disguised as kitchen fairies in the Alfresco kitchen. 

Left: Aussie Seb, Right: Canadian Jim!

Have you noticed the following peculiar socio- cultural phenomena: Everybody always gravitates towards to and congregates into the kitchen? The same happened here on the island!  By the time I showed up to join pre-dinner drinks and snacks my fellow rafters already nibbled on barbecued chicken strips, tortilla chips and fresh vegetables. 

It is 5 o'clock on Fantasy Island.

Lots of hugging went on around here!

Some of us decided to help prepare dinner, some us us decided not to. One way or another, the mood was good, the laughter loud, the conversations flowing! And what a feast these two multi-talented rafters prepared for us: Pork loin (!!!), chicken breasts, wild rice, Greek salad, and a freshly baked chocolate cake, baked in a sand oven (talk about genius creativity).

We're digging in!

The sand oven

And here are a few more blissful moments:

Here we are getting ready for a quick dip into the river for a cool down after dinner!  

I would love to share with you the juicy details of our wet-n-wild night on Fantasy Island. However, we all agreed that "Whatever happens on Fantasy Island stays on the island." So, my lips are sealed. Sorry!                         There is one thing I can reveal though: During the night heavy wind and rain set in. The wind uplifted our front tent pegs and we experienced the wild sensation of half a tent flapping into our faces.  The Best Man of All somehow put his feelers out (no torch for us) to fix the problem.
 Oh, did I mention earlier I am a light sleeper? Did I mention the midnight trains were running? And with this I leave it up to your own imagination how we spent our night on Fantasy Island.

Sunday was absolute bliss. Starting from the French Toast we were served, to the freshly barbecued breakfast sausages to our perfectly timed and well organized departure from the island.

Sunday was the time our wild-n- crazy rapids fun began! . It was the time we had to listen to and practise our commands. Seb could only work his magic if we helped him out. He steered and we did the rest. We needed to paddle, stop, crouch down or made sure we stayed on the boat. 
Wet-n-wild it sure was. Each and every rapid we encountered grew bigger and more challenging.  Huge sprays of water greeted each and every one of us as we went raft first into and through rapids with the names like "Jaws of Death", "Cutting Board", "Witch's Cauldron". Great rapids, huge laughs, fantastic teamwork!

Photo: Courtesy of Hyak River Rafting

So far this was one of the best trips I went on this year. Not only was it active, fun but also wet-n-wild. I  made new friends, shared great laughs and enjoyed my time with the man of all men!

If you decide to spend the weekend on board one of the luxury rubber rafts with the Hyak folks, here are the pre-requisites:

-  Open minded, fun, bubbly personalities preferred- not required! (You want to be an asset, not a burden, don't you?)
- A good physical shape is not necessary. However, good ears to listen to commands is a must!
- A good sense of balance is helpful. If not, make sure you fall into the boat and not off the boat as soon as the rapids hit the raft.
- If you are a light sleeper take ear plugs.  Fantasy island is surrounded by train tracks...and the trains aren't stopping for no one!
- If you  are on a diet stay at home! The food is simply too delicious, plentiful, fresh and too varied to ignore.
- If you go as a couple this is the perfect way to add another chapter to your happy life together. It also is the perfect opportunity you see your husband / partner in a totally different light!

Here are a few examples of what could happen:

 - Your wife will bang you on the head with her paddle for no reason whatsoever!

- You could become jealous because another woman just told you: "Your husband just poked me!"

- Your wife lands 100% on top of the hunky, half your age, terribly
handsome rafting guide (after he pulled her up out of the water)! 

-  Your wife is telling the same story / joke again- and still doesn't get it right! 

- Your husband fills up and refills his plates every time. Do you let him- just because the food is included in the price? 

Could you see yourself spending a weekend with the Best Man / Woman of All on a rubber raft? Please share your thoughts right here!
Or, have you ever been on a rafting adventure? If yes, how did you enjoy it?