Metropolis@MetroTown & Goodbye Canada

We got up to another rainy day. They didn't call this city 'Raincouver' for nothing. But it made us feel very grateful that we had two out of our four days' stay here blessed with sunshine.

I bundled myself up and made my way to 'The Mighty Oak' café once more whilst everyone began to stir so I could buy mom more scones as promised the night before. Unfortunately there weren't enough cranberry and white chocolate scones to make a total of six as per mom's request. Instead I settled for three of it and the rest were buttermilk and cheese.

We checked out at 11am, but try as we did, we couldn't find the suite's keys. I felt myself getting stressed, and consequently getting hungry again that I had to eat a scone despite having breakfast not long ago . Luckily our host did not penalise us for such an unfortunate event, he even seemed unfazed by it, as if it is not an unusual occurrence.

My sister's friends, Rhoda and Ivic, had been very accommodating and offered for us to leave our luggages in Rosedale on Robson hotel while we continued to roam the city as our flight is not till 2am tonight. However, it took us about an hour to get a cab to the city--understandably so as the whole of Vancouver was drenched in rain.

When we finally got to unload our luggages, we braved the rain into the library. There, dad and I had some hot beverage, while mom and sis checked out the public library. After that, we had a Vietnamese cuisine lunch with Rhoda. We were quite amazed at their pho servings--gracious would be an understatement! We were laughing at how you could easily dunk your face in it. I can't believe Rhoda tried again to pay for us, good thing I was closer to the counter.

Before we parted, she gave us a tip to take the Chinatown subway station to reach Metropolis at MetroTown. On our way there, we had to navigate through a downpour of rain and avoid the big puddles and splashes. Unfortunately I was the only one carrying an umbrella as I didn't have any waterproof clothing. The rest of the party had to endure the drenching.

And so, the semi-damp family of four boarded the train, and then braved the rain once more after we alighted at MetroTown to get to Metropolis (we accidentally went to Station Square first).

Mom and sis bought some new clothing to replace their moist inner wear. My dad bought some socks, but later on realised that his feet weren't really wet, just that the distal areas got cool because the outside of the shoe was wet.

Once everyone got more comfortable, my sister and I dropped by a manga shop. I bought her some of the issues of the 'Devil is a Part-Timer' manga series as my birthday gift for her.

Then we proceeded to the cinema and we watched a Jackie Chan, Pierce Brosnan film called the Foreigner. It was a touching film that explored themes of government conspiracies, loss and vengeance. To see Jackie Chan in such a vulnerable, raw state was an experience in itself.

We then had dinner at Nando's chicken in the food court while we discussed the movie amongst ourselves.

To our delight, it was rain-free on our way back to the city. This time, we noticed some of the statues and features surrounding the Stadium-Chinatown station. We saw the Terry Fox statues featuring a boy growing to manhood just outside the Stadium, and some decommissioned war tanks sitting on Betty St as commemorative features.

Once we were back at Rosedale on Robson, Rhoda helped us book an SUV cab to get us to the airport. Ivic followed us so that she could accompany my sister on the way back to the city. She will be staying with them for three nights before returning to Calgary.

At the airport, we saw the long queue of tour group participants also waiting for the check-in counters to open for the same airline we were bound to. Good thing they were going to be processed on a different lane.

After checking-in we managed to have a few more minutes of just chatting and spending a bit more time with one another. It was indeed a wonderful holiday and it was a real shame that it had come to an end.

We hugged and kissed my sister Joni several times before my mom, dad and I proceeded to the air side of the airport. I was very grateful that her friends Ivic and Rhoda will be there with her and spend some time with her after we left.

With one last look we waved to her goodbye and until next time. Truly, what a memorable experience from Canada.Read more