Hollywood in Canberra

There has been a grade A Hollywood celebrity hanging around Canberra these past few days. But it wasn't for a big movie premiere - it was on family business.

Jackie Chan came back to Canberra last week to accompany the body of his father, who recently died. Mr. Chan was buried next to his wife in a cemetery in Canberra. The connection - Mr. Chan moved to Canberra from Hong Kong in the 1960s to work as a chef for the US Ambassador and later opening his own restaurant. Jackie attended school for a couple of years in Canberra and spent lengthy periods here.

(I hadn't realized that Mr. Chan had been a cook. Maybe that explains why Jackie Chan is also interested in cooking. I once ate at Jackie Chan's Kitchen in Yokohama, Japan, which served tasty Chinese-style noodles while Jackie Chan movie clips played on the TV. Kind of a Planet Hollywood thing, only simpler and with better and not-overpriced food...)

Jackie joined with the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to open a new cancer research facility at Australian National University in Canberra, funded largely by donations from the actor in honor of his parents.