Life’s Ideas

We had been planning to go on a trip to the United States by early spring of 2009. I had to get a US visa before then so I booked an interview with the US embassy in Vancouver through the internet. Vancouver is very far from Regina and there was no direct flight to go there. We had to get a connecting flight via Calgary or Winnipeg. We decided to make the most of the trip since we really had to spend a lot of money going there. My husband decided to renew his Philippine passport also although he still has two months before its expiry because the nearest Philippine embassy to us is Vancouver also.

We then contacted our friends from there and asked if we could meet with them. We also wanted to get some advice from them on accommodation, dining and what places to visit. We just booked our hotel and rent-a-car online.

We flew in from Regina and picked our rented car at the airport. We then checked in our hotel and went shopping for some items. Later in the day, we met with a friend at the Sears, just a few blocks away from our hotel. We exchanged stories while I bought some clinique cosmetics.

We left for the Capilano Suspension Bridge. It was already dark when we got there. The park was open during evenings. The place was full of lights and buzzing with energy. From Capilano we had dinner at Moxie’s Grill and parted from there.

The next morning, we went to Vancouver Aquarium. The place is not so big but you can see a lot of unique animals there, including the beluga whales, spotted seals, dolphins, sloth, marmosa, turtles, stingrays, birds and many species of sea plants. They also feature a wide array of frogs and toads.

Then the day of my interview came. My husband accompanied me to the embassy and waited at the nearest Starbucks while I went on with my interview. The waiting in line took a while but the interview only took three minutes. The consul then told me to wait for my passport and visa in the mail within the next five days. Then we went to the Philippine Embassy to renew his passport.

We had lunch after the interview and before dark, we went to Harbour Center and took the elevator to the Harbour Lookout at the 50th floor. The lookout has a 360° panoramic view of the city. We took a lot of pictures with the city lights. We also went to Canada Place for the nightly light show. From there, we had dinner of sumptuous seafood at the famous Carderos restaurant.

Planning on a trip today is very convenient because of the internet . Using it as a resource is always to our advantage.

Tags: beluga, calgary, Canada Place, capilano, capilano suspension bridge, Carderos restaurant, clinique, dolphins, frogs, Harbour Center, Harbour Lookout, internet, light show, marmosa, moxie's grill, passport, philippine passport, regina, seals, sears, sloth, spotted seals, starbucks visa, stingrays, suspension bridge, toads, turtles, US Visa, vancouver, Vancouver Aquarium, whales, winnipeg
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