Calgary Festivals

I am a huge fan of the blog pinterest I often spend hours searching on their travel search bar. I often fall in love with getaway destinations that offer rich cultural festivals. I always have a proverbial bucket list for travel, all the things I want to do and see. I forget that I've seen a lot of amazing things, and experienced some thoughtful cultural connections in my own city: Calgary.

Im a huge fan of lists, especially if they are itemized. So here it is my suggestions for Calgary's Top 5 festivals.

1. Globalfest
Globalfest has happened for the last ten years in Calgary, every August. This a true cultural connection for calgarians. The festival consists of a firework competition nightly with competing countries from all around the world. There are community centres throughout the city that hold cultural engagements. I get particularly excited because the competition is always at the end of August, and so is my birthday I celebrate almost every year with fireworks. There is a cultural pavilion at the park where the firework shows are hosted, and every country has different performances prior to the lights in the sky.

Personal Photo: Global Fest Fireworks

2. Taste of Calgary
This summer was the first time I partook in the festivities that are The Taste of Calgary. At this festival calgarian restaurants/venues host booths with samples of their products. You can buy tickets for samples at a $1/ticket, and most samples range between $2-$5. They have a beer gardens which have creative menu options, like grapefruit beer. The event was hosted at Eau Claire Market, and the weather was perfect. This event is a perfect opportunity to try partake in the variables that are Calgary.

Personal Photo: My bestfriend sampling something delicious

3. Calgary Stampede
If you have never been to the Calgary Stampede I don't think I can do justice to how extensive of a celebration it is in just a few sentences. I'll focus on my two favourite components: Coca Cola Stage, and the Midway. This year I got to see my favourite band Our Lady Peace for the cost of admission (less than $20) at the Coca Cola stage [this is also the second time that I've seen them at the 'Coke Stage']. My second draw to the Calgary Stampede is the midway, the rides are almost the same every year but they hold a nostalgia that I cant get enough of.

Personal Photo: Mini Horse Chuckwagon on the midway.

4. Chinese Cultural Festival
In early August this year, Calgary hosted the Chinese Cultural Festival. This was a smaller festival hosted in China Town. The streets were lined with vendors, and their was a stage with musical, and martial art demonstrations. Their was a small alley that lead to an out door art exhibit (called the Back Alley Art Cafe, with varied exposures to local artists.

Personal Photo: Art in the Back Alley Cafe

5. Lilac Festival 
The Calgary Lilac Festival is Calgary's largest street festival. The main component of this festival is access to street vendors. There are city blocks, upon blocks lined with vendors. The vendors vary between Calgary shops, services, restaurants, and entertainment. This is the place to see all of what Calgary has to offer. The highlight of the Lilac Festival is the presence of the YYC food truck sensation. This festival happens in May, this year we were lucky to have sunshiny weather!

Staycation

I appreciate Travel Alberta's aims at getting people to take in local attractions and events. Backyard getaways if you will, they type of travel where the adventure is only a daytrip away. I have blogged about Lake Louise as a local gem. I believe that staycations are an accessible way to get in a mini adventure. The good thing about local adventure is that planning is minimal, and travel to destiatnion can be usually organized quite easily.

There is an increase for adventure oppurtunities through deal sites such as Team Buy or Groupon which benefit to the consumer for taking advantage of great savings.
Last Christmas I was searching through the groupon deals of the week, and I found a great deal on Icefield helicopter tours. For my Dad, Sister, and I was able to to get a cheap snowshoe, and helicopter package. I'm a student, so you can imagine how literally I use the word cheap.

Personal Photo: Taken in January with Pilot

In January we booked our excursion, and we made a day trip to drive just west of Rocky Mountain House  for our adventure at Cline River. The tour consisted of a 1 hour round trip, and a 1 hour guided snowshoe through back country snow trails. The weather was clear and made for an enjoyable escape. I was surprised by how loud helicopters are, and we flew right in between the mountains; sights I had never saw so close before.

Personal Photo: View in flight.

I know that a fun component of travelling abroad is to meet new people from different places, but its nice to meet locals too. We got to know some Canadian locals, and everyone has a story so it shouldn't matter where they're from.

Personal Photo: Group Snowshoeing in backcountry.

 There are a lot of backyard adventures in Alberta, and taking the time for adventure is only a thought away.

I dream of Europe

Ever since I was little, I've wanted to go to Europe! It all started with my Grandmother. She is from Germany and lived there up until she was eighteen. Since then she has gone back a few times to visit. There are a few different reasons why I want to go there. The one is that Europe is a part of my heritage and  I really want to see what it is like over there. Especially Germany since that is where my Grandmother is from. Another main reason I want to go there is because of how close everything is. My grandmother always says that in a few hours you can be somewhere completely new!

My grandmother was alive during the second world war, so she has stories of everything that went on. My grandmother, her mother, and sister at one point had to travel across Europe in train cars and my grandmother tells me that it was a very sad experience, since everyone was malnourished and sick, people had to do their business on the floor of the train. Then she also tells me that her mother experience a concentration camp. Stories like these have always fascinated me and over the years I've watched many movies and read many books on the second world war.

This is another reason I want to go, I want to see all the different museums in Germany and visit the Auschwitz Camp.

Aside from the doom and gloomy part, I want to visit the German pubs and experience Germany's night life.

Then there are my grandmother stories about the Red Light District in Amsterdam! These stories also fascinate me! We have sex shops here in Calgary, but she says that there are literally live girls in the windows like manikins doing advertising. I want to visit this area because I think it would be a really moving experience since I have never seen anything like it before.

Everything else is just a hop-skip-away! I would love to take like two months and just travel through Europe! France, Spain, Italy Those are the destinations that I some day want to be able to go to!

New Years Getaway

This year my roommates and I want to get away some time just after news years. We chose just after New Years because there isn't many free days between exams and Christmas and trying to book a hotel for New Years is not only extremely difficult if you haven't done it by now, but it's also extremely expensive.

Since we want to go somewhere out of Alberta, but want to be able to go skiing, we chose to make the trip to Kicking Horse BC. Next we picked the dates that we wanted to go. We decided on January 3rd-6th because the price goes back down to a normal out of season rate since it is after the holidays.

There is only one catch for me to this trip! My roommates consist of two boys! I don't really snowboard ( I've gone twice and am not very good yet) and all the girls I have asked to come so far are un able to. So potentially the trip may turn into me with four other smelly dudes for the entire trip! Hopefully I can find another girl to accompany me otherwise there isn't much point in going seeing as all the boys will be out skiing all day and I will be in a giant lodge by myself!

The lodges we were looking at had full kitchens and a private hot tub which is pretty sweet. I'm very excited for this trip because it will be the only trip that I do over the Christmas break, and the trip I took to Fernie was amazing so this trip will be like that but better. It will be better because there won't be any parents and little kids with us. Just a bun of twenty year olds in a ski lodge.

Has anyone done this sort of trip before? Do you have some suggestions in terms of a good place to look when booking lodges?

Canada's Gems Cont....

For me this blog post is close to the heart. It's about my home town of Vancouver. If any of you haven't been I highly, highly recommend going. It has the most natural beauty I have ever seen surrounding a large city. 

Everyone knows Vancouver is surrounded by the ocean but I don't think people quite grasp how beautiful the inlet is there. The area I'm from is called Deep Cove and it has wonderful touristy things all on its own. The small town of Deep Cove used to be a vacation spot so it's full of cottages and the strip of shops still had the old town feel to it.

Deep Cove

In the photo above I'm standing at the yacht club in Deep Cove and behind is the bottom of Seymour Mountain. In the bottom there is a great hiking spot with some of the most amazing views you will ever see so close to the city.

Quarry Rock

Just a short hike from Deep Cove and you'll come across this breathtaking view. Below many people do boating activities and one of the more popular things is Kayaking. It's crazy to think I live on the water and on the bottom of a mountain at the same time. Not many people get the best of both those worlds and I feel so lucky I get to call that home!

So please if you have never been you seriously need to consider making a trip! Especially if you love sushi because we have the best and the cheapest sushi in all of Canada!!

The Move

Do you ever feel like you want to be in another place and just stay there for good? What is the reason behind it? Do you think you might love the people and enjoy your whole experience there? Is it for the reason that you are running away from something or you think you might get the opportunity to a better life? There are many answers for these questions and it depends on every person you are going to ask. For me, the thought of moving in another place somewhat gives me mixed emotions. A quarter excited and the rest, frightened. 

Scared Ghost photo by Scr47chy on Flickr
http://www.fotopedia.com/items/flickr-148867629

When I learned that we are moving here in Canada maybe 2 years back, I went blank, it is like nothing is in my head. It took me some time to process what my parents told me. I never really saw myself in another place but the Philippines. I grew up there, went to school there, had many friends and many memories that I will forever remember. I was actually unhappy about the thought of moving here or anywhere else. I love travelling, I really do but staying there for good is another story. I have shared on my recent post that we first went to Australia but that it didn't last for long, my brother and I went back to the Philippines to finish our study and my parents stayed in Australia because of their work.

Our application for migrating here in Canada has been processed for more than 10 years. As long as I can remember, my mom and dad always talk about Canada. They really want to stay here for good. When my mom and dad received a letter from the Government of Canada telling that we are approved for migrating here in Canada, my parents did not waste any more time. They processed another set of papers, went to Philippines to get me and my brother, and then here we are. Things happened so fast, I didn't get to prepare myself physically and emotionally.  

My first month here was a horrible feeling. I was sad all day, felt home sick and always cried myself to sleep. It was like I have been in the most horrible break up ever. I'm showing signs of depression which is more frightening. I was aware that what I am doing is not healthy that is why I helped myself to fight against it. I did everything I can by diverting my attention away from missing my life in the Philippines and keeping myself busy by studying and working hard. I can say that what I did somehow helped me move on. Eventually, I came to the realization that my life is different now. I accepted the fact that there is something better for me here. Everything has its reason and someday I'll know why here. 

For now, the answer to the question above is still unclear, but one day if someone asks me what I love about Canada, hopefully I get to answer "I love the people, I enjoy my life there and it was the opportunity for my family and I to have a better life."  

    

 

Canada's Gems Cont...

The next destination I'm going to talk about is Osoyoos BC. Canada's only true desert is a summer hot spot with wineries and unlimited water activities. The town is a lot smaller than Kelowna for example so it's more of a small town get away full of tourists. Most of the people you run into when you're up  there in the summer are tourists it's rare you meet to locals. 

The lake has two sides to it connected by a little stream under a bridge. The lake is also really cool because it's very shallow so it gets really warm in the summer. It gets deep enough so you can't touch but still shallow so the sun can really heat up the lake. You can honestly hang out in the water for hours without getting cold.

Osoyoos 

In the photo above you can see the little strip attaching the two sides of the lake. That strip is there all the main hotels and beaches are. It's basically a tourist strip that's very busy and popular during the summer months.

If you enjoy time away from the city and sunny hot lake get away's then Osoyoos is for you!