Taking Off

so finally, the day that we have been waiting for has arrived. May 27, 2008 at 8pm we will be taking off for calgary, alberta, canada.
pero syempre may stop over sa hong-kong. 2 hours.

anyway, we brought 8 balikbayan boxes, 1 smaller box for the guitar and 1 big suitcase. syempre, plus pa dun ang 5 carry-on baggage (tigi-tig-isa kami) 3 vans ata yung naghatid sa kanila sa airport. ako, hinatid ako ni eeza. (she took a leave to "take a relative to the airport." ang taray!) anyway, sa sobrang dami naming dala, parang nag-cause kami ng slight commotion sa airport. but my dad knows someone from cathay, she was off duty already so she guided us in everystep-pati kung san kakain ng dinner na mura. at ang ibang bagahe nga namin, may tatak na BUSINESS CLASS, PRIORITY BAGGAGE. Buti pa yung bagahe, business class...

Since momsy brought id's for our friends, nakapasok si eeza and joel with me sa airport. after a while, sumunod si momsy at si bunny. nagkakalokohan pa nga kasi, si eeza, vip pass lang. silang lahat may staff id.

before the teardrops fell

actually, si eeza yung unang naiyak. and since di nga sya makasama hanggang tunnel, si joel nalang ang sumama sakin at nagpaiwan narin si bunny and momsy. at dahil may umikay, pati tuloy ako kamuntik naring umiyak. super hirap pigilin ha! anyway, sabi nalang sakin ni joel, kaya umiiyak si eeza kasi maiiwan sya sa entrance... hehehe...

gala family, taking-off

wala pa atang two hours yun eh nasa hongkong airport na kami. two hours wait, then sakay na naman ng plane. eto mejo matagal na. 12hours.

mt. fuji i think. my brother took this when we were flying over japan

anyway, sa tagal ng byahe, sumakit talaga ang mga joints ko. there were times na sobrang lamig. sa labas, according to the flight update sa channel 52, is -65. kaya pala may mga snowflakes na sa bintana.
i spent most of the flight sleeping. i was also able to watch disney's Atlantis, 1 episode of sex and the city, 1 episode of house, and 1 episode of CSI. yun lang ata ang available. dahil mga 3 beses ko nakita ipalabas on different times.
it was 9pm in vancouver when we arrived.

view of vancouver from the plane
kita mo naman, 9pm, pero may araw pa.

sa vancouver, almost empty ang airport. siguro kasi gabi na.
our travel documents were checked sa customs. we filled up forms etc. tas winelcome kami to canada. sabi nga lang nya, wait for our permanent residency card before going out of the country. Anyway,it was almost 10pm when we finished. wala kasing pila.
but our flight to calgary was 7am pa the next day. so nag-ala-amazing race kami at tumamabay sa airport.

eto ang regular coke. laki no?

hello joel? andito na ko sa canada.

tas lumabas din kami ng airport at naglakad lakad ng onti. para naman masabing nakarating kami sa vancouver. (airports don't count eh)

just outside the airport

eto yung mga napansin ko sa vancouver airport.
first: pag nagwash ka ng hands, mainit sobra yung water, pero malamig ang hand dryer.
second: may pinoy in every corner: burger king, subway, floor mopper...
third: walang uniformed security guard anywhere.

anyway, after a long time of waiting, finally, we were off to calgary. westjet yung sinakyan namin and mejo lang ha, nakakapanibago ang mga flight attendants. may nosering yung isang girl, may earing yung isang guy, at tumatawa yung isa habang nagaannounce. weird...

view of the rocky mountain ranges

view of southwest calgary

yihee... welcome to calgary...

sinundo kami ng ka-couples for christ nina mommy. dun lang actually namin sila na-meet, but my parents have been e-mailing them na naman before we left manila.

we went muna sa house ni ate josie to have lunch. friend sya ni mommy sa ucpb before. they migrated sa canada 3yrs ago and sila yung tumulong samin makahanap ng house. anyway, ang sarap nya magluto. at super na-appreciate ko ang real food after ilang meals sa airplane.
after nun, we went na sa house namin. nag unload lang ng onti to find the blankets and then natulog na.

eto talaga yung pinaka-ma-mi-miss ko sa pinas: