The Canadian embassy's Thursday night drinks are legendary, so when I saw the public invite for a charity dinner pop up in my inbox to the Ambassador's Zamalek residence, wild moose couldn't keep me away.Big candles burned outside the residence on Thursday night, others floated in the pool and the tables were lit in golden light. Fairy lights wrapped tree trunks, glittered from the hedges and before the seafood rillette, Sophie and I danced slowly to the 1950s tunes from the record, "Music to watch girls go by. At LE 350 a ticket, it was a bargain at twice the price. Which I am sure the Young Women s Christian Association's (YWCA) state of the art, Hope Center, would gladly accept. The Hope Center - its mission is its name - is taking shape in El Obour City at the Cairo/Ismailia desert road. It is set to be a particularly wonderful place for children with disabilities and their mothers, to develop specialised life skills that can hopefully lead to self-sufficiency and greater integration into the community.Humanitarian work is also another facet of the Canadian character and I believe it was only a few years ago when the embassy celebrated 50 years of commitment to development projects, helping where they could to improve the living standards of Egypt's marginalized masses.Though fewer now than in years gone by, these Zamalek gardens must have been hosting parties for over a century and I feel very lucky that I can be part of that type of heritage.On a 1920s map of Zamalek that I have at home, the Canadian Ambassador's salmon pink villa once occupied the entire block along El Kamel Mohamed St. My own street, Mansour Mohammed, is just a dotted footpath.Those were the days, before sub-division parcelled off the aristocracy. Thankfully for Cairo's heritage, a few of these grand homes still remain dotted around the city, with their gardens, large reception rooms and an elegance from a more classic time.Canadians are known for letting their hair down, another national trait. It is probably brought on by cabin fever during the long winter and like a bud they bloom when things get hot. They are a little edgy too. You only have to think of the comedian Mike Myers, Gold Medallist Ross Rebagliati or the 80s hair band Loverboy. Canadians are a cross between the French singing Belgium punk of Plastic Bertrand and a comfortable leather armchair in London's "In and Out Club on St. James's Square.It is also the friends Canadians attract. On Thursday night it was a very sophisticated, genteel crowd and blue ribbon sponsors. So I tried to keep a low profile, though for a burly Australian in a kilt, I wasn't exactly covert.But if there was a James Bond figure, it surely was Hamdi Soufraki, from the HNS Group, who arrived a discreet three hours late. Dressed in a classic Monte Carlo black tie and tailored jacket, he may have been kept late by the 170,000 square meter shopping center his family company are building in Heliopolis.If there was a prize for a Bond girl, then I think Nadia Sholkamy, marketing manager from the Yellow Pages, would surely shake the martini. A gregarious mother of three, she promised any reader of Daily News Egypt a free copy of the Yellow Pages if they phoned her on 19345.In fact it was her boss, Trevor Nadeau, who promised Sholkamy would deliver.The big boss, Ambassador Phillip MacKinnon, also had a request of Daily News Egypt, that they print a more accessible Sudoku puzzle, which may be the most diplomatic way of putting it.The dance band, Moon Walkers, struck up following the timbale on caramel nougat sauce and the first person I knew groovin' to their Latin beats was Anne Mattsen from the Canadian embassy, who has come a long way from her days cleaning ice from her ride in Winnipeg.It was pumpkin hour for me though as the band was striking the right cord and the dance floor whirled. Sophie and I slipped out, though not without a thought for Manal Mahmoud, who coordinated this gala dinner. I hope she receives all the accolades and no doubt the biggest will come via the Hope Center.In other charity news, the recent BCA Harvest Ball held at the Nile Hilton raised LE 23,000 and All Saints' Cathedral in Zamalek will hold their annual Christmas Charity Bazzar on Friday Nov. 16.Apart from the Hope Center, other winners this weekend were the Cairo Rugby Club, who defeated the visiting British Navy ship, HMS Chattam, in a social match, though outmatched afterwards I believe back at the Maadi club house bar.
