Summer Holiday

Everyone must be  raving about their summer holiday. Unfortunately our Ontario trip was postponed because Zach was less than 8 weeks and we opted to wait for next year instead.  But here is a throwback of our holiday at Alberta in 2012.  Our first stop is in Virden. 

 We were welcomed by our very generous hosts - Mel and Hanz. Mel was my schoolmate since high school. They live in Virden for quite a while now. Virden is a very small town in Manitoba and there are only an estimated of 50 Filipino families living there. Towns like this reminds you of Canadian hospitality. Kids say hi, random people talk about how there day went and doors aren't locked because crimes are very rare. 

Here in there cozy abode with sumptuous Pinoy dishes that welcomed our hungry tummies. Virden is a 3-hour trip from Winnipeg. We brought some Boston Pizza and some Pinoy goods from the Asian store and since those were unavailable in town, they had a feast!

 The next day, we went to a small town in Saskatchewan just to experience this swimming activity. It's all green and not a tinge of modernity aye? This is just an hour away from Virden but we had to adjust an hour time difference.

 Mel, treated us to one of the best steak houses in the world! It's just a charming little place but the food were absolutely divine! I guess we were too pre-occupied with the food and nobody remembered to snap some shots. Think of cowboys and pubs and you get the picture.

Getting ready for a 12 hour road trip to Alberta. 

 This is basically how Manitoba and Saskatchewan look like when travelling. Canada indeed has an enormous land area that it is inadequately proportional to the number of people living especially in small towns.

    We left Virden at around 8 in the evening just so Zoe will all be sleeping in her booster seat throughout the trip. We had a couple of stopovers from washroom breaks, snack breaks and driver switches. It is kinda dangerous to pullover just anywhere because there are bears, hyenas, foxes or deers just around the corner. I remember when Mark and Genesis had to stop to pee, they heard howling sounds and immediately got back to the car. There funny reactions!

We arrived in Edmonton around 8:00 am sans the speed precaution because we were pretty confident that there were no RCMP's watching out for speeding cars. We were so fast that the car was almost flying and I had been constantly reminding them that we have a kid. We had an overnight stay at my hubby's old buddy way back. Zoe and her friends (Bingo's kids) at Edmonton Mall. This mall is by far the largest in Canada. The mall is jam-packed with people of various races, high end stores, street fashion stores and very kid friends. It has an indoor beach-like pool with the waves and all. We didn't had too much photos because the hubby forgot to charge it. Lol

This was taken the next day and since it was summer, There were various fairs everywhere in the city with Hubby's friends  (Zach was already in my tummy before I realized!)

The scorching heat was hard to beat. Yeah, we were sweaty and sticky. 

The trip to Edmonton was very short. It looked more fast paced, busy and modern. Alberta is a rich province that it can support it's own without the Federal government. Oil is there primary source of income. There are also quite a number of Filipinos that live here.  

On our way to Calgary. Our first stop was Cross Iron Mills, it is an outlet store wherein all prices are majorly discounted. Our shopping bags were so full it didn't fit the trunk! It was crazy there.

 My little Zoe playing with her friend who wanted to be a part of her pictures as well.

 Met up with Hubby's former officemates from BDO. It was a short meet up because we gave them such short notice.

Calgary Zoo, a kid-friendly trip wont be complete without a trip to the Zoo. It is something Winnipeg should improve. We have Assiniboine park, but it isn't tourist magnet enough to be a good destination just yet. They said they are renovating and will be adding polar bears. It would be one of world's best according to CTV... let's wait and see next summer. 

Zoe was asleep because the GPS gave us a longer way to the Zoo. 

 We bought her this tiger as her souvenir and when she woke up without any hesitations she immediately hugged it claiming it was hers.

 My favourite! Think of surf's up. They are so cute, awkward and funny.

We had a short trip to the mall (Holt Renfrew) it was a good thing that they had vallet parking.

 Holt Renfrew mall. It's a typical Canadian Mall - not crowded, kid friendly and very accommodating.

 Zoe taking the last scoops of her yogurt. She's a yogurt fan and she could eat them everyday!

Never leave Calgary without going to Banff and Lake Louise. It's a 2 hour drive from Calgary. Banff is actually a quaint little town that caters mostly tourists from all over Canada and the US as well. We even see a car plate who travelled as far as California all the way to Banff.

We just had to stop over at this view of the mountain alps. As usual, this spot were bombarded with Asians (The asian photo bombs)

 At Banff Gondola waiting for our turn in the Gondolas. It is just like the cable cars as what Asians are accustomed to.  It was kinda cool so we had to wear our hoodies or shall I say only me?

 At the tops' breathtaking view! Behind the mountains is the province of British Columbia -> Vancouver.

Zoe had been following the squirrel lurking around the area and she can't stop giggling when she sees it. 

Hubby is pretty scared of heights. LOL

Lake Louise is another hour from Banff. The view is majestic! It was like a painting made to life. The scenic view would take your breath away no wonder it's a tourist spot visited by many.

 We ended the trip with a hearty Pinoy meal in Pacific Hut. I can say the most authentic I've ever tasted!