Celebrate National Grilling Month with this "From the Vault" Big Blend Radio episode with Phyllis Hinz and Lamont Mackay 'The Cooking Ladies' who talk about their RV travel lifestyle, share Grilling Tips, and discuss their 10th cookbook, “On the Road with The Cooking Ladies, Let’s Get Grilling”! In it, Phyllis and Lamont share their love of all things barbecue interspersed with stories and photos of their experiences travelling the highways and backroads of North America.See their Grilling Tips here: http://blendradioandtv.com/listing/grilling-tips-from-the-cooking-ladies/
Lamont has since passed away, but we love to remember her adventurous spirit and cooking wisdom.
Big Daily Blend
Get Grilling with The Cooking Ladies!
Welcome to Big Blend Radio's Food Wine and Travel Show, where we go across country and travel the world with members of the International Food Wine Travel Writers Association. Let's go. Hey, everybody. You know we love our travel shows with the International Food Wine Travel Writers Association and every second Tuesday, we get to go to a different destination to talk with the destination manager and to learn more about the area. Today, we are going over the American, you know, the United States border, I should say, into Canada. We're going to British Columbia to Surrey, and a lot of us will know Surrey from England, but this is Surrey in British Columbia, Canada. And you can go to the website, discover SurreyBC.com. The link is in the show notes, the episode notes, but we're going to chat with Angie Chu and welcome to the show. How are you? Thank you for having me, Lisa. This is great. I'm looking forward. We're excited. I know I was on your website, and I'm like, we got to go here. I mean, obviously you've got nature. It seems that you have like a very diverse community. Is that right for the area? I want to kind of start there. Yeah. I'm sure it has, we have over 100 languages being spoken in our community. We've been very open to immigration and, you know, we're a city under transformation. So, you know, we have a very diverse community. We like to say we are a vibrant mosaic of our multiculturalism here in Surrey. We're in the Pacific Northwest, and if you were on a road trip, Surrey would be the first community that you would arrive to if you were to drive over the border from Washington. Oh, okay. So we were a couple of years ago, we were in and a quarters area of Washington State. So we didn't have to go that far to get to here? No, we're just about two and a half hours north of Seattle. And so the probably the biggest city that BC is known for is Vancouver. So, Surrey, south of Vancouver, so between Bellingham and Vancouver is Surrey. Okay. So now what's it like going over? What should people be prepared for if they are Americans, United States Americans, not just North Americans. And then what should people from overseas travelers that may have flown into Seattle, you know, come in from, you know, Europe or England? What should they be prepared to have to come in to see you since you're so close? Well, I think the biggest thing is having a passport. I mean, and also always check with Canadian border services to find out for your specific country. What are the paperwork? If there's a visa requirement, most people from the United States only require a pass port. But if you're from other countries, there might be other visa requirements that is necessary. But for the most part, if you're in a United States or a European is mostly just having your passport, a valid passport with at least, depending on your country, it might be six months of valid time before your passport expires. Those things I would say is check with immigration to know those rules. Just a little bit beyond me. Yeah. I'm not trying to go through it. We can't go through all the countries in the world, but just in general, just for people to know, hey, well, we want to cross over the border, be prepared, make sure you know. And because it's true, Seattle is such a huge, you know, destination, a global destination. Yeah. And if you're right over the border, hey, like now I'm like bummed out, like we're going to have to come back, you know, to the Pacific Northwest so we can go to see you because it was on your website and I'm like, wow, this is pretty cool. You know, I love multicultural destinations because number one, you hear all these languages, you know, everyone's got a cool story. And that means you have really good food from what I've learned. And you know, we were in the in Food and Wine magazine in 2023, we're saying we were one, we made it because of the global, the diversity of global cuisine that's available in Surrey. So we have a space trail, it's a space trail, Surrey BC.com is the website and it's 60 partners and as anchored on self Asian or Indian foods, but it also has Ghanaian, Nigerian, Mexican, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese. So it's a really a reflection of the multiculturalism that is available in Surrey. Okay, so that means we're going to get good food, a spice trail, that's really cool because it's kind of like reminds me of the ancient spice route, you know, as a kid, I was always enamored by this. These people went around and shared spices around the world. I mean, there were some battles over it, I'm sure, but you know what I mean? Yeah, so we named our trail the spice trail because one of the talk about the flavors, the diversity of flavors available in Surrey, it's not about the heat like in like chilies are hot, it's just different spices used to flavor different multicultural foods. Like, you know, you have lemongrass and cilantro for your Asian and your Thai, but then you have your clove and your cinnamon and your garland masala for Indian food. But in the Indian food that we have available in Surrey, we actually have regionalities. So we have like the northern Indian, which is more about the tandoor oven and the butter, the ghee, the richness. And then for southern Indian, it's more about coconut milk, coconut oil, coconut cream. So it's very good if you're a vegan or you're gluten allergies because they're more about rice and lentils, fermented rice, fermented lentils. So then you have this, it's a different cuisine and more fish and more drier. This is not so saucy. And then we have a new cuisine that's sort of been getting more popular is what we like to call either Nepalese or Indo-Chinese. So it's really Chinese food with Indian flavors. And there's also dumplings called mOMOs that are available. Okay. Now the dumplings, I know that British Columbia seems to be known like for dumplings, so your area too. Yeah. So we're known for Indian dumplings, but then in just the north of us in Richmond, British Columbia, they have, they're more known for their Asian cuisine. And they also have a trail called the dumpling trail for Asian dumplings. So we can go spice to dumplings. This is amazing. This is so interesting. So you eat all this good food, so you have to have outdoor experiences to kind of balance it out. I'm thinking, give us a profile of what it's like year round, because I think we're all going to go, oh, go there for summer, obviously, right? It's going to be, you know, but the Pacific Northwest since you're at the, you know, that top part of the, well, you know, just over the border of Washington state, you're not, it doesn't because of the water, you're probably not going to be in that massive snow zone that can happen. So we will, you know, occasionally we'll have snow for a couple of days or a week, but mostly we're quite temperate. We get a lot of rain. The weather is very similar to like Seattle. So you know, in the fall and the winter, you can have beautiful fall days with the leaves change color. And so you do have each of the four seasons, four seasons bring different adventures and different experiences in Surrey. So spring is all about the gardens and flowers and the regrowth coming back and summer is warm and we have a lot of our festivals and events and then in the fall is the changing of fall colors and then in the winter, it's cooler. But one of the cool things as long as it's above five degrees Celsius, you can go. So I think that's, I think in the 40s for Fahrenheit. So we're at all season golf, golf destination. So in other words, you're not freezing. No, we're not freezing. It's above freezing. You can golf. The majority of the time, yes, above freezing, you know, so, you know, it's, we're very temperate, we're very similar to Seattle and temperature. So if you, you know, we do get a lot of wetness, but you know, we like to call it liquid, liquid sunshine, you know, our trees grow and, you know, we're home to a lot of Earth. Urban forests. You know, so, you know, destination, British Columbia has launched a new trail called iconic trail from, we like to call it rainforest of the Rockies and you can start your rainforest experience in Syria. Oh, no, wait, this, how big is story as like a population as a city? We're just, I believe right now we're, we're the second largest community in BC behind Vancouver for population landmaster, probably the largest city in British Columbia. But within the next five years, we, five years will be the largest population in British Columbia. So I think we're sitting in the high 500s, the low 600s right now there was hasn't been a recent sense. So a good size, but it's good, but it's not like crazy, you know what I mean? No, it's a good size. And we go from tidal beaches all the way to the Fraser Valley, where we have lush farmland. So we have that diversity of, you know, you can come and have that seaside experience, walk on the beach, go, you know, look at them, go crabbing and climbing and fishing, you can even go whale watching site out of Surrey. So, you know, those are some things that people don't don't wouldn't think about in Surrey that they can do. And then we have all our, you know, in the East part of Surrey and in their neighborhood of Cloverdale is where we celebrate, you know, our agritourism, our ranching history, you know, our farming history. We, you know, we've had the Cloverdale, Rodeo and Country Fair for 76 years, next year will be 77 years. So we're, you know, we have this lots of good events where in July, we're having on the 20th weekend, we're going to have Busian Fest, which is our multicultural festival over three days. And it's all about diversity and learning about different cultures, the different cultures in Surrey. So it's a mix of food, food, music and, and learning, several different cultures and it's free in Holland Park. Well, that's cool. And you talk about free because yeah, so as a destination, do you get a lot of families or is it business travel or we get a mix, we do have a lot of traveling families, but also mature adults traveling in the, you know, outside of the, the summer season. But we're also too, we're, Surrey is a good place to start your bigger BC trip. Like, you know, if you're going to several destinations, this is you, Surrey can be your starting point. So but we do get a lot of business travel also because, you know, people are on a route, you know, usually they have a sales mission or they have corporate business. Surrey has a lot of manufacturing in our southern suburbs. So we do bring in a lot of business that business travelers that way. We do have meeting and events and conference space available for people like for groups of 500 or less, you know, so we, we do have a diversity. We do also participate with a lot of national and North American sport tournaments. One of our biggest ones is coming up is the Canada Cup, multi, multi nation global baseball softball, I say, say tournament in Surrey. So we have like a large diversity, you know, we have farmers markets, lots of things to do and enjoy during the summertime in Surrey. We also celebrate, we have one of the largest Canada Day celebrations in Western Canada. So that will be on July 1st, but I think, uh, yeah, that's a little bit of that. But that's good for people to look at next year. You know what I mean? Because a lot of people are going to be looking at planning even for summer next year and to actually understand some of that heritage is good. Um, you know, so you're families, you've got business. What is what is the downtown like for folks is totally under the transformation right now in Surrey, it's in North Surrey, we have a lot of urban towers, but we also have our first, um, um, black arts news, um, art center. We have Holland Park, which is where most of our festivals and events take place. Um, actually on the weekend of July the 13th, we're actually having the Surrey Latin festival over two days over the Saturday and Sunday. So, you know, we have the Latin festival, then we have the fusion fest. So there's going to be lots to do in, in, in, um, July and Surrey, but, you know, very multicultural, there's also farmers markets, but, you know, and we have an urban farmers market that is in our, um, our, what we would consider our downtown area of Surrey. So it's, um, comprised of a couple of universities has campuses here, so it's very urban. But if you go towards South Surrey and Crescent Beach, you sort of have getting more like, um, a seaside community with beaches, little quaint little coffee shops and ice cream, people in the Cloverdale and it's more like a small town. Um, and, you know, so you, each of the, each of the neighborhoods of Surrey offers a different vibe for the visitor to experience. Yeah, that's really nice. And I saw that you have wineries and breweries too. Yes, we do. That's important to touch on. Yeah, we're part of the, um, self of the Fraser, um, uh, craft brewery tour. We have a couple, we have three breweries in Surrey that, um, brew here locally. So we're quite excited to be part of the trail with our neighbors in, in, in white rock and Richmond for that trail, but we're also part of a bird trail, bird watching for those bird watching. Oh, I love that. Yeah. I think one of the cool things is, um, in Blackie Stitt, um, which is by Crescent Beach in, uh, Surrey, we're one of the best winter waterfowl viewing locations in Canada for those birders out there. So, you know, we have a little bit of diversity for everyone, but we also have, um, we have a few wineries in Surrey and we partner with our wineries in our neighboring, um, community of Langley. So, you know, there's a trail of six to nine wineries that you could go check out with some, if you want to throw in a cidery in there, there's a cidery also in Langley. So, you know, you can go for some wine. And then we also have, um, one of our, uh, one of our local restaurants right in downtown Surrey called Sky Avenue, um, kitchen and lounge has probably the largest with curated whiskey collection in, in Canada. So, you know, those whiskey drinkers are, are here, but we also in South East Surrey, we also have mainland distilling, which is a whiskey manufacturing and whiskey maker or craft whiskey maker. So they make, make a local whiskey. So you can have somebody who's a restaurant who's curating and bringing in different brands or you can try what's being made locally, that mainland and, and Steve and his wife, Melanie are, you know, having a, have been strong supporters of tourism and they put on fun events that they're at their distillery in South Surrey. This is amazing. So you've got, you know, distilleries, you've got breweries, wine, you've got all this different food, the spice trail, you've got outdoor adventures, nature, birding, beach forest. Um, okay. You've got downtown, you've got, you know, actual city stuff going on, the urban life. Okay. You've got, you've got business travel. Okay. What about wedding? Oh, festivals, farmers, markets, small towns. Okay. Am I getting this all straight here? Okay. Yeah. And this is golf golf golf. Yeah. Okay. So that's there. So it's year round. Um, some are obviously being the warmest, but year round, not too much snow and if it's snow, then it's like, ooh, that's pretty well watching. Um, so all of this is going on. In one city, like, and then it's not one community, no, it's not too, well, the community. It's just saying the biggest NBC, but then, yeah, well, think of cities where like, are you going to be like LA? You know what I mean? No, no, it's not like LA. We don't have the population, but we don't have that density of population. But what you can do is, you know, you can pick a neighborhood to explore one day. And then the next day you can say, well, today I'm going to go to, you know, Blackie's bit in South Surrey and then, or Crescent Beach and then next day I said, oh, I can go explore, you know, go antiquing or shopping in Cloverdale and I can check out the local museum and we were very lucky we have a heritage railway that actually runs on a railroad track. It's done by the, um, the organization is like over a hundred volunteers that, um, it's open on the weekends and they, they refurbished trains from the 1900s. So, you know, you can get a, like, so for that train enthusiast, they can actually ride in, um, a train that's now been converted to use electricity and ride on the rails and they have a little, they have this, you know, a little bit of history. They talk about, um, their refurbishment projects. They talk about, you know, um, all the, some of the tools and some of the other, um, contraption, the railway contraptions that used to be used during the 1900s. Wow. So you've got history too. Yeah. We got history and, um, yeah, museums and things like that. Yes. We do that. We have the Museum of Surrey and the nice thing about the Museum of Surrey, it's free. We also have the historic Stuart farm, which is another, um, municipal owned, um, historic site. Right now, next to it is we have an indigenous learning center, um, and it's right on the Nicomeko River. So you have a nice water, sort of like a little riverfront view and you can go paddle boarding or kayaking or canoeing in the Nicomeko and then it also has the ability to have motorized, um, motorized, uh, boats going up and down the river to it and gives you access to out to boundary Bay, mud Bay and out to the Pacific. Very cool. Yeah. Wow. So what about the lodging? What is the, you know, what are the hotels you have been in breakfast, Airbnb, anything? Yeah. We have a, we have a mix of everything. We have a lot of national, um, and international recognized brands like the Marriott. So we have a, we have a blonde boy, a Marriott at the Civic Hotel. We have the, the shirt and Guilford. We also have, um, like the best Lestrians, um, Ramada's, Campanins, um, uh, comfort in. So we have a diversity of a range of recognized national brands for hotel stays. And then on the short term rental side or Airbnb side, we have, um, you know, private homes, uh, secondary suites and we have about 1600 available in the city, diversity, you know, two bedrooms or one bedroom, you know, like in suite, like a secondary suite, um, in our community that is available. So there is a diversity of accommodations available in Surrey. And then the best thing is we have a sky train, which is our metro line, which brings you from, from King George station all the way, you can ride it all the way to downtown Vancouver. Wow. Yeah. That's a, so is that that's kind of a green initiative to, you know, is, so what is, what is Surrey like in regards to, um, environmental practices? Is that something that's being looked at or, um, Surrey, um, between our golf purses, our farmlands or green space, 50% of Surrey is green. So we, you know, between our parks, we have pretty good. We have over 800 parks in our community. What? Yes. We need to come document you now. Yeah. Yeah. So one of the coolest thing is we have Redwood Forest, which is, um, was a passion project for two twin brothers and they brought, um, tree seeds from around the world. And they planted tree rows, different types of tree drows in, uh, in Surrey. And we actually have some of the largest redwood, redwoods outside of California in Surrey that, um, and Surrey is actually the home of reforestation. So we had clear cutting for forestry way back when, um, Surrey was like, okay, we've cut down our trees. What are we going to do? So they were home of reforestation. So they got all the little plants and they replanted all the forest that were, um, that were caught. And then, um, they said, Oh no, we have still so many seedlings. So they actually sent those seedlings throughout BC to help we plant other forests that had been cut. So, um, we, we really work with that, but also too, the city has been really good with keeping natural forest, urban forest in each of our neighborhoods. So each of our neighborhoods we have, um, an urban, either a rain forest and urban forest. Who gets to say that I have a rain forest in my, my town, my neighborhood? I mean, but because that's quality of life, right? Is that so it seems that you recognize that, I mean, even when you're looking at the diversity of culture and having a place for everyone and, you know, working on community, it seems like quality of life is at the top really of what Surrey is about. Yeah. And what we want to do is, you know, and there's walking trails within those forests so that, you know, they're easy, they're manageable, they're hard part gravel, so you can bring a, you know, a care, a baby carriage or a walker in there with you. Our city is very, all the municipal buildings in Surrey, especially like our recreation centers for sports and sports tourism are built to the Rick Hansen gold standard of a flexibility. So those are something that we really, this day really strides for. So, you know, we're looking at ensuring that, you know, everybody we're in an inclusive and authentic community. I love that. I love that. Listen, let's see, as a, as a traveler, when you hear about communities being inclusive like that, then you feel more welcome going there. You want to go because you don't feel, you know what I mean, it feels like people will talk to you and be nice, you know, it's like welcoming and warm, you know, and also too. You just get to see, you know, it's very hard to get a community where you have, that is our size, that has that diversity of cuisine, you know, like you, you know, you have, we also have the West Coast dining, like your seafood and your, you know, the, the, you know, modern farm-to-table experiences also. In fact, I'm going tonight to a long, long table event. So. Oh, one of those. So everyone's getting together on one big table. Yeah. Yeah. It's put down, put on by our downtown Surrey, BIA. So, you know, there's, there's a lot of different things to see and do and enjoy. I mean, on the weekend, we have multiple events happening every weekend and so you can choose to go to see a sporting event or go to the farmer's market or see it or something cultural that's happening in Surrey. Well, how do any of you get any work done? Well, you know, that's why we have to be in the office. But that's a thing. It seems like there's so much. So I would encourage people to go to DiscoverSuryBC.com because that's where you can go find the events. You're lodging. Pretty much everything, right? Yeah. Or information. Or, yeah. And we also have a chat box. If you come to a website, we have a, we have a live people answering chat. If you have any questions or specific questions that you would like to learn or know more about Surrey, we also have a 1-800 number that you can call that's on our website if you want to actually speak to somebody versus just, you know, in a search. So, yeah. Some will actually answer the phone if somebody will answer the phone. So, you know, we're, we're a small organization, but, you know, we're, represent a very dynamic and, and, and, you know, very dynamic and transform into cities like, you know, Surrey has very much changed in the last 5 to 10 years from being a suburb of Vancouver into being its own destination and that's something that we're really working on. Wow. That's amazing. That's pretty fast. That's pretty fast. That's pretty fast. Working on to tell the story, right? So is how Surrey is changing and becoming, you know, becoming a destination on its own, you know, and it's one of the things that we work as a destination marketing or management organization is working with our partners to help them develop new experiences or how to grow there and develop their, you know, add on to their festival or, you know, we talk to like somebody like the honey bee center is they have the honey bee festival that's coming up this summer and, you know, and they're going to have bee beards and a whole bunch of other things and they, you know, it's like, how do we work with them to help drive awareness for the things and initiatives that they're doing that would appeal to a visitor? Mm hmm. Wow. This is cool. I work. We're just going to have to go back west again. You see? I know. I don't know. Now you're now going to have to hop over the border. It seems so easy, which is we got a passport. I mean, just drive over. Yeah. Especially if you're from Washington is a quick drive over even Oregon, you know, it's not that far, no, I mean, Oregon, I think it's about six hours, depending on how much that's nothing. How much how much traffic there's in, yeah, and Seattle and getting full and Seattle. So, you know, we're, we're part of the Pacific Northwest and I think is, you know, we offer. I think especially culinary wise, you know, offers like a little bit of a different choice, especially with the South Asian and sort of our Canadian African dining experiences. I know in the United States, you know, you have a lot of, you know, southern or comfort foods. You know, we do have our like, we have our Jamaican, our Caribbean, but, you know, the Ghanaian, the Nigerian, you know, so there's some, there's some other African. Yeah, yeah. I mean, diverse. Yeah. Food, right? So. Yeah. I miss that. I miss that. I miss that. Food. What about Native American? What would it be? It's the indigenous people. So I was going to say that. Yeah. Indigenous people. We actually have, there is a Métis Art Gallery in Surrey. That's like gateway. You do have to book an appointment to go visit their art gallery, but just on, oh, just on Friday of last week, we had our indigenous indigenous or national indigenous people's day. And we had a celebration at the Bill Reed arena or area in Surrey. That's in Cloverdale celebrating our the three nations that are make up Surrey, which is the Jimmie Young, New, Kwantlin and Kathy nations, the word there and chief Harley Chappelle was there to talk about his nation's reconciliation and, you know, how to move forward in celebrating indigenous culture in, in Surrey. So. It's so important because even I just immediately said, Oh, Native American, but I'm like, Oh, we're talking about Canada. And that wouldn't be what to say. And so for travelers, you know, that's also important to kind of understand, you know, crossing over into a different, you are in a different country. So you don't typically say Native American, like we do here and even that's up and down on that. So we don't know quite always, you know, we use indigenous indigenous. I just call people by their name. But we're talking about indigenous people. Yeah. So indigenous peoples. indigenous people's are, and, you know, we do have indigenous learning center that is next to the historic Stuart farm and then our nations are using that as a, as a learning space and offering some opportunities for the public, you know, it's a new center. So they're working out everything. We do have an exhibit, a rotating indigenous peoples exhibit at the museum history. So we're, you know, it is moving forward, even the Cloverdale rodeo and country fair has an indigenous village area with culture, food, arts showcase too. So, you know, I think as we move forward as a community, we're seeing more opportunities for the showcase all our cultures. I love that. I love that. It sounds like so much fun. I love the vibrancy of it, as you were saying, you know, I like that, that's, that sounds exciting for people to go to and get, get ready for good food, man. Really, I think that and, and also have those conversations. I love this, this event you're talking about that you're going to tonight. So it's like everyone gets together as like, you know, let's bridge, you know, build bridges, right? And you can do that through food and big tables, which, you know, that's, that's amazing. So everyone sits together and can have those conversations with someone you may not know, you know, from a different walk of life and, and, and, you know, it's celebrating that farm to table because, you know, there is so much of story that is farmland. You know, we're, we're a very big blueberry cranberry, but we have, you know, we have commercial farms in Surrey. So, you know, we have like the eight million dollar blueberry farm, you know, so large commercial production. Local, right? So, but one of the things is I was going to ask you, have you watched the show on Netflix called Is It Take? Not yet. Not yet. So we have a, we have a local baker in Surrey. His name is Jijar Mann. He owns Mann and Co. And he was one of the contestants on that show. So he, he, this is where we have a diversity of culture. So he is French train and, but he puts South Asian flavors in his histories. And he just turned 25 years old on today, which is, oh, a happy birthday. Yeah. On the 25th of June, he's 25 years old. Yeah. So he was on the show and he made it all the way to the end. Well, that's awesome. That is fantastic. Get Surrey out there for people to know too, right? That's okay. It's also thinking of, you know, when we think of South Asian flavors, we're thinking, you know, cuisine and not so much big goods, right? That's true, right. Like in a French tradition, right? So you do think of South Asian pastries or Indian pastries that are very traditional, but you don't think about, um, in having South Asian flavors in a French style, a tistery. Right. Wow. This is cool. We're going to come see you. Yeah. We're going to come see you. We're going to get to whip our passport out. Everyone discover SurreyBC.com and you know, this is what we love doing these shows with the International Food Wine Travel Writers Association. We say Iftwap. So you can go to ifwtwa.org, they have an awesome conference coming up in upstate New York. Are you going to check up to upstate New York? I am not going to make it this year because it's a long way for me to go. Yeah. But I think you were part of kind of part of the last year when I know. Yeah. And we hosted the Iftwap group on a fam before they got under on their cruise. So they got the sample. They got to sample some of the international cuisine that's available in Surrey and you can talk to any of the writers. I think they were surprised and, um, delayed it in the diversity of food that they got to try. Yeah. That's I love it. I love it. And more countries and destinations need to embrace the diversity side of aspect, you know, because once you start tasting each other's food, you've got food in your mouth and everyone might as well just be nice and smile to have a happier world that way. I think one of the things is, um, all the different cultures and everyone loves to scare and the easiest way to share their culture is through food is, you know, and we all eat. And so, right? Yeah, we all eat and, um, and, you know, just having that diversity of flavors and, you know, we're very lucky in North America because we do have a diversity of food, like global foods available in most of our communities. I mean, but if you go to certain countries, that's not, that's not true, right? That diversity is not there. And that's one thing that we did learn about from the Food and Wine magazine article was like, you know, there was Venice and they were known for, for Italian food. And a place in Mexico was for Mexican food where Surrey was like, it was the diversity of global cuisine and, you know, anchored on, you know, these are mom and pop staff, mom and pop owners. So these are their dreams. It's not like a fancy chef that, you know, is world renowned, they're, they're trying to show their culture and live out their dream in Surrey by opening up their restaurants. And it can be a little hole in the wall to fancy dining, but, you know, food trucks. You never know. Yeah. Yeah. It's, you know, in some places, you know, just sell like we have one place that is a Golgapha bar. So there is an Indian sort of palate cleanser or appetizer and you get a little silver tray and you go up and buy your ticket and six, 12, 18, however many we want. And it's a little hollow cracker and they put potato and lentil and then they have different flavored waters. The tradition is mint, but they have guava, ramango, sweet and spicy, spicy, extra spicy. And you just let the, let the staff know behind the counter what you want your Golgapha dipped in and they dip it in and spilled with water and you have to put everything in your mouth at once. But it's a little favor, a flavor balm in your mouth and you get to you eat three or four or six and then you go, you leave and you go somewhere else and there's a lineup behind you that is waiting, like it's a typical street food experience that you would get in India. That's amazing. And you're helping small business, that's what I think is so great. In this day and age, I think we're getting, we're so, everything is bought online. I mean, shopping, that's, I think part of travel is also shopping, you know, and supporting those small businesses and buying something that not everybody else has. I don't want us to lose that experience. Well, and that's one of the cool things about Surrey is we do have the largest North American mall in BC called Gopher Town Center. But we also have Pay Out Center, which is like sort of our heart of self-Asian shopping. It's like where you go to get your saris and your jewelry and your different fabrics. So that's where self-asians, like if you're going wedding planning or somewhere, you would go to Pay Out Center and make a appointment with a dressmaker or go check out, like for me, I like to go check out the different fabrics and the different jewelry stores and then there's always food there. So it's kind of hard not to have a little snack while you're there. But you know, we also have overdale, which is a large, you know, lot of little antique shops and independent retailers that are also, you know, that small community vibe that, you know, when I was talking about like that small town vibe and those are independent retailers that are not chain and they're selling, you know, their wares there. But then we also have, you know, we do have our anchors and, you know, so if you're looking for yours to four hour or you're going to have, you know, old maybe we have that also, right? So it's nice to have that nice mix, right? You know, so it's a good balance and we have the indoor malls and the outdoor mall. So, you know, you can choose your shopping experience if that's what you want, but we also at all, you also have a lot of things that are made locally. And so we try to celebrate that too. Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, to me, when you travel, I want to go and do something new. I want to buy something that, you know, is something representative of the area, something that, you know, a friend of mine, if I'm buying a gift, that is something that she or he is not going to see in their hometown. I want something that resonates with them that I can say, man, I saw this, I thought of you, you know what I mean, because of this and it has a story connected, you know. And I think that's one of the things like, you know, there's Cloverdale market days showcasing the local artisan, but we have the Clayton farmers market, where we have the story urban farmers market, where you also have the local cuisine, local fruits and vegetables, but also our local artisans are there, whether it's making showcasing local honey or makeup products or jewelry or clothing or art pieces, you know, that is coming from being in a community, right? Absolutely, absolutely. So everyone, discover SurreyBC.com, we're going to come over, pop over the border. It's easy. Just have your passport. Everyone, make sure your passports are renewed all the time. It's a good habit to have. And if you don't want to drive, we're serious in between two international airports with Vancouver International and Abbotsford International on the Canadian inside of the border, you can fly into either of those airports, but you can also fly into Bellingham or Seattle and drive up from Washington, so, you know, very central. You could also, if you're on part of a cruise that's heading out to Alaska, leaving from the port of Vancouver, you can spend a day or, or, you know, a couple of a day out in Surrey, take the Skytrain out and come out and explore what we have here on the food side of things or on the shopping side of things. Yeah. Awesome. So very easy to get to. Thank you so much for joining us. It's been an absolute pleasure having you on. And everyone IFWTWA.org, check them out, but thank you so much. You've picked our interests and got us all like hungry here. I'm hungry. That's true, you know, I am there to tease you with your taste, with all the different flavors. I know. That was mean. Thanks so much, Angie. Thanks, Lisa, for having me today. I appreciate the time and the opportunity to talk about Surrey. Thank you for listening to Big Blend Radio's Food Wine and Travel Show, featuring members of the International Food Wine Travel Writers Association. We encourage you to visit their website, we say IFTWA, which is IFWTWA.org. You can also follow us at bigblendradio.com. Happy travels, everyone. [music]