Vancouver

About a month ago, I flew to Vancouver for a very short trip before flying to Dallas. Around six thousand miles from Manila and into a winter weather in beautiful Vancouver, I was expecting to see snow, but snow melted two weeks before I came. At temperatures between zero to seven degrees Celsius, a suede coat and scarf were more than enough to keep me warm. Although Vancouver is too laid back for me, I found it beautiful with snow-capped mountains surrounding the city. There are a lot of Hongkng migrants who moved to Vancouver, and of course, some Filipinos. In fact, our limousine driver is a Chinese from Hongkong, and upon entry into the highway and the downtown area, signboards from Chinese real estate agents dot the city. We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant and I was surrounded by Chinese waiters who were talking to my Taiwanese colleagues, in Mandarin. The only odd looking person in the group was our host, who is an American.

I meet my bestfriend from college who migrated to Vancouver in 2003 with her husband. They now live a comfortable life in Surrey, with a nice house, and a cute baby. Tito Ren and Tita Precy are also in Canada through Anna's letter to the Canadian embassy to allow her parents to, "see snow". Anna fed us with her salmon and shabu shabu while Jaime regales us with ghost stories. As with fresh migrants from the Philippines, they share their struggling years story,which moves me to laughter... and tears. Jojo is a revelation, he has now become the mega-host. He is passionate, alive, confident. I tell Tito Ren I am surprised at the change in his personality. It turns out that with their move to Canada, Jojo has immersed himself in continuous learning and self-improvement. Jojo shares some knowldge and CDs with me. I think he shared more than that with me. His spirit touched my heart and made me want that kind of rejuvenation.

As we were driving along the highway, I began noticing flocks of birds which seem to be everywhere in Canada. I noticed them fly low, and at one point, I was even able to catch one in my point and shoot digicam. The road is wide, and the cars are few, at one point we were driving in the fog at 6 PM, and it felt eerie, lonesome. Maybe it was just me, but I had a little separation anxiety of the warm sunny blue sky in Manila.

On the road to Surrey I notice the cranberry fields and loved the contrast of its red leaves against the azure skies.