Fusion Dogs Take Vancouver By Storm

Fusion hotdogs are all the rage in Vancouver, with Japa Dog leading the way. Come lunch or dinnertime, there's always a lineup for these hot dogs at one of their two downtown hot dog carts. The first appeared at the corner of Burrard and Smithe a few years ago, just outside the Sutton Place Hotel. The second popped up on the corner of Burrard and Pender this past year. With its popularity and rave reviews, owner Noriki Tamura says an indoor location will be opening soon somewhere in downtown Vancouver with possible future sites in the United States and Japan.

Menu items include Oroshi, a bratwurst with green onions, grated daikon and teriyaki sauce; and Terimayo, a beef dog with seaweed and wasabi mayo. These unconventional dogs cost anywhere from $4 to $6. If you're visiting Vancouver, or just happen to be in the downtown area, don't forget to try one of these out. Dee-licious!

Russia House Coming to Vancouver for the Games

Russia House will be coming to Vancouver and will be located at the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) grounds. Russia House will be an exhibition of Russian art, sport, culture and trade that will include ticketed concerts and appearances by Russian entertainers and Olympians. The PNE is also the site of the Pacific Coliseum where the Olympic short-track speedskating and figure skating events will take place.

Sochi, Russia will be the host of the next Olympic Winter Games in 2014. The Russian Sochi 2014 House will be located at the iconic Science World in downtown Vancouver.

Touring the New Vancouver Convention Center

I toured the new Vancouver Convention Center today. Amy gave a great tour, taking our group to the 2nd floor to view the "living roof" featuring 23 native plant species and covers the entire roof of the convention center. It is the largest non-industrial living roof in North America. Everything in the building is made from recycled materials. Starting next month, it will become the site of the media broadcast center for the 2010 Winter Olympics. CTV and NBC obviously secured prime spots with spectacular views of the north shore and Stanley Park. In total, there will be 10,000 media on site come Olympic time.

I highly recommend this tour as it gives real insights into what the upcoming Olympics will be all about. But if you're interested in this tour, you only have until October 9th when VANOC completely takes over the building.

Vancouver Becomes World's Third Port to Offer Shore Power to Cruise Ships

Cruise ships docking at Vancouver Port can now significantly reduce marine diesel emissions by plugging into the city's electricity grid which uses mostly hydroelectric-generated power that is 90 percent nonpolluting. The port becomes only the third in the world to make shore power available for cruise ships (the other two are Seattle and Juneau). The $9 million project has been in the works since 2005, and is a collaboration between the Government ofCanada, the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, BC Hydro and Port Metro Vancouver.

Princess Cruises and Holland America Line have pioneered this technology within the industry and have invested heavily in outfitting their fleet with shore power equipment. Currently nine Princess Cruises ships and six Holland America Line ships have this capability. Port Metro Vancouver is the largest port in Canada and is the home base for the popular Vancouver-Alaska cruise.