Beautiful Sylvan Lake

Every time I watch a movie or TV show that's set in a quaint little European-looking (but actually North American) town I always go, "I wanna live there!" I get even more excited when, in said fictional town, I see a body of water with a few small boats or yachts docked here and there. Unfortunately, I don't think such a place exists in this part of Canada. I'd probably have to go to Nova Scotia, or maybe Newfoundland and Labrador to find such a charming place. Or so I thought, until I visited Sylvan Lake.

Sylvan Lake is a fast-growing town of around 11,000 people in Central Alberta. It is approximately 20 minutes west of Red Deer and is named after the 15 kilometer long freshwater lake in the area. Being in a land-locked province, Albertans get pretty excited about water. So you can imagine how Sylvan Lake becomes so popular in the summer. It is said that the lake gets over 1.5 million visitors each year. Because of its popularity, Sylvan Lake has been beautified and maintained. It has an esplanade with a marina, and quaint shops and restaurants lining the street. It apparently even has a lighthouse, that I have yet to see!

I love living in Red Deer. With its population of around 100,000 people, it is the perfect size for me. But visiting Sylvan Lake has put thoughts in my head. Wouldn't it be cool to live there? Maybe buy a small boat and turn the lake into my playground? When the time comes for us to buy our forever home, the question will definitely arise: Red Deer or Sylvan Lake? The good thing is, they're really close to each other.

Right now, the lake is frozen. I did take a few pictures when we visited the other day. It's beautiful, but I'm sure it will be more beautiful and super fun in the summer. And for that I cannot wait!

Read More

I Volunteer

One thing I've always wanted to do and is an item on my bucket list is to volunteer for a non-profit organization. Strangely, and for reasons unknown to me, I was never able to do it in the Philippines. Recently, I was able to volunteer for a local animal rescue society.

Hope Lives Here Animal Rescue Society is an amazing rescue organization in Central Alberta. Over the holidays, they needed a graphic designer.  Having some designing capabilities, I jumped at the opportunity to help out. Here are some of the designs I came up with:

Designing does not come easy for me. I also know I'm not very good at it. I feel that my design process is forced and I have to squeeze out the results. Unlike my former classmate and colleague, Kat Michelle, who is an amazing graphic artist, I don't feel like I have the artistic talent at all, but is just someone who knows how to use the Adobe Creative Suite more than others. Nevertheless, designing makes me really happy. There's nothing like the joy you feel at having come up with something (somewhat) beautiful. To be able to use it for a greater good is even better.

Read More

The Blind Side

Today, I watched The Blind Side. I'd heard a lot of good things about the movie for the longest time but just never had the chance to watch it previously. All I can say is, wow. What an inspiring tale.

For those of you who have not yet seen it, The Blind Side tells the story of Michael Oher, an NFL player for the Baltimore Ravens. Oher used to be homeless, but a well-to-do family took him in, adopted him, and paved the way for him to become the pro-footballer that he is now.

The movie makes me wonder: "Who does that?" Who takes a random person off the street, to live in their home, not knowing what kind of person they've taken under their roof? It takes a pretty special person to do that, and obviously, Oher's adopted family are pretty special people.

To be honest, sometimes I feel like I've lost faith in humanity. You help people, they stab you in the back. You're nice to someone, they take advantage of you. The Blind Side lifts my heart. It shows me that there are still kind people out there, and most especially, that there are still people who don't take advantage of the kindness of others.

Read More

#WeAreWinter

I love it--the hashtag that has caught on for so many Canadians following the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. I never expected to be so caught up in the games either, but here I am.

In the Philippines, very few care about the Winter Olympics. We are followers of the Summer Olympics all the way. This year, we have our first Winter Olympian in the figure skater Michael Christian Martinez, and he has brought a huge sense of pride to Filipinos around the world, as well as increased the popularity of the Winter Games in Filipino homes. But this was never the case before Sochi. My husband therefore, found it quite understandable when I vehemently expressed that the Winter Games were lame and no one cared about them. I couldn't have been more wrong.

I now know the truth. The Winter Games are awesome. It's like watching one adrenaline-pumping extreme event after another. One week into the games, and I'm hooked. My husband is amazed that I now know more Winter Olympians than he does.

Canada has been doing really well in Sochi. And as I have adopted this land as my new home, I am extremely proud of how the Canadian athletes have been doing. I am so excited, you can see it through my Facebook profile and Twitter feed. In fact, I seem to be more excited by the Winter Olympics than your average Canadian.

Among all the Canadian athletes, figure skater Patrick Chan has amazed me the most. He is so good! His silver medal finish just a couple of days ago was almost devastating. He was so close to the gold! But despite finishing only second, he has won the hearts of so many Canadians all over the country

There are still a few days left in this year's Winter Olympics and the best is yet to come, with games such as Curling, and Ice Hockey still under way. Here's hoping that Canada will kick ass! #WeAreWinter, after all.

Read More

And The Mountains Echoed

Let me begin by saying that I am a huge fan of Khaled Hosseini. His first novel, The Kite Runner, is unlike anything I've ever read before, and in its poignancy, still haunts me to this day. His second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, was also remarkable in itself, so one can imagine my excitement when I found out that his third novel was out.

In a nutshell, And the Mountains Echoed, Hosseini's third book, tells the story of Abdullah and Pari, siblings who are separated as children in mid-twentieth century Afghanistan.


Normally, in a story like this, you would expect to know what happens to the two after they are separated. But no, Hosseini proceeds to tell you stories about other people, some of them, yes, vitally connected to the main plot, but others I found to be insignificant.

It feels to me as if the book can be summarized into two thoughts--the siblings getting separated, and then reunited--and since that is so simple and makes all of two pages, he inserts anecdotes about other people in the middle instead. I found myself either asking, "What was the point of that," or getting submerged in a subplot only to be subsequently left hanging. 

Hosseini is a very talented storyteller, and it still shows in this book. It is just not as good as his previous two. I was less invested in the characters. I didn't really feel what they were going through. I barely even cried! And I think that even if I stopped comparing it to his previous work, I would still not be too impressed.

I wonder if I expect too much from this author. I did only rate the book two stars or it was ok on Goodreads.com. In all honesty, rating a Khaled Hosseini book with just two stars seems blasphemous. But that was it. It was all the impact this book made on me. It was just ok.

Read More

Moraine Lake

If you google images of Canada, there's a popular picture that is sure to grab your attention. In fact, if you do that right now, I'm 100% positive your eyes will hone in on a picture of a lake, with trees around it, and with the Rocky Mountains in the background.

That, my friends, is Moraine Lake at the Banff National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the oldest national park in Canada, right here in Alberta. That image, because of its astonishing beauty, has haunted me for years, even before I knew I was coming to Canada, even before I knew I was marrying a Canadian. A few weeks ago, after being in the country for 8 months, I was finally able to behold it with my own eyes.

It's funny because my husband didn't even know Moraine Lake existed. But I insisted, and googled, and thankfully, GPS led us there. Although still inside Banff National Park boundaries, it's actually not anywhere near the Banff town center, but some 60 km away in the town of Lake Louise (74 km if you consider the drive up to the lake itself). It was almost sunset when we drove there, and I was freaking out, because we were in a narrow, winding mountain road in the middle of nowhere and we didn't exactly know where we were going. When we arrived at the lake area though, I was relieved to see a lot of people, and when I saw the lake itself, I actually had tears come to my eyes.

Moraine Lake was breathtaking! It was every bit as beautiful as in the pictures, maybe even more so. And it was very humbling, actually being there, a place I never imagined I would be able to visit...

It was definitely a dream come true.

Read More

Rueon Thai Restaurant

I'm not too big of a fan of curry, and since I've never really had real Thai food, I thought I wouldn't like Thai cuisine. Boy, was I wrong.

Last night, on our quest to find as many ethnic restaurants in Alberta as we possibly can, hubby and I stopped at Rueon Thai Restaurant in Red Deer. The place is highly recommended by a co-worker and has a 5-star rating on Google, so we thought we'd give it a try.

Rueon, apparently meaning "wooden house", is a gem. The restaurant decor is simple, but the food and service was great. We had Spring Rolls as an appetizer and it didn't disappoint. It was perfectly cooked and tasted really good with hoisin sauce and sriracha. It was so good that we had to order another serving! We also had Pad Thai. It was our first time having it so we don't have anything to compare it to, but it was delicious. The best food of the night, however, was the Mas Mann or Massaman curry (pictured above). Like I already said, curry is not in my list of favorite foods, but Rueon's take on this concoction of coconut milk, peanut sauce, and of course curry, is heavenly. It's a mixture of flavors that ends up as a party in your mouth. The added star anise made it the most engaging dish I've ever had in my life. By engaging, I mean: I wanted to look at it, I wanted to smell it, I wanted to eat it--and not stop. LOL!

It's been a while since I wrote about a restaurant on my blog. This post is proof of how inspiring Rueon is. I can hardly wait to sample more of their exciting offerings.

Read More

El Pooch-o

Yeah, yeah. I know that's not how you say dog in Spanish, but that is how my husband likes to call them anyway. And yup, we have a new little pooch.

I never thought I would like small dogs, but when we moved into our new place last month, we were surrounded by little doggies. We wanted one then too, especially since both my husband and I are dog lovers. We didn't have enough space for a big dog, and a puppy was out of the question since our landlady wasn't too keen on us having one, so we looked at adopting a small, adult dog.

I can't believe we found our Curly through Kijiji. For those who don't know, Kijiji is like Craigslist to Canadians. It seems totally random to adopt a dog through Kijiji, but that's what happened to us. His old family had to find another home for him because they were now only allowed two dogs at their residence, and they had three. Luckily, out of all the people who expressed interest in Curly, his previous owners chose us, and we couldn't be happier.

Curly is said to be a Bichon Frisé and Shih Tzu cross. This mix is also called a Zuchon or a Shichon. He doesn't shed pretty well at all and is such a good little boy. He's happy and well-behaved and loves to cuddle. He's absolutely adorable!

We take Curly everywhere. We just took him to Banff National Park last week and that was pretty awesome. We're can't go everywhere now because we have him, but we don't regret it. He has been such a wonderful addition to our lives.

Read More

(Almost) Dream Car

I've always wanted to own a sedan. To me, they look so chic and sophisticated. But of course, my parents never wanted one, so we never had one in the Philippines. They were either too small, too low, too long, too impractical... so I drove an efficient hatchback, and then a big-ass SUV. Fast forward to small town Canada, I found myself in need of a vehicle.

Owning a sedan has always been big on my list. Back home, that is. It's even on my bucket list. So you'd think it'd be my first choice of vehicle in this new search. Actually, not anymore. In Canada, Alberta especially, people love to drive big vehicles--big SUVs, big trucks, you get the picture. So if you drive a not-so-big vehicle, you seem to be at a disadvantage.

Now since my husband and I are just starting out, we found that we could not afford another SUV (he already has one), not to mention a truck. The Hyundai Tucson, a dream of mine for the past few years, was just a little bit out of our financial reach, so we looked at sedans. My first choice was the Chevrolet Cruze, mainly because of its 5-star safety rating and on*, the amazing communications technology that is available on all vehicles made by General Motors. But the more I looked at the Cruze pictures online, I realized that the body on this car was not my type. Then, I remembered the Hyundai Elantra.

I almost smacked myself on the head. Why did I almost forget about the Elantra? When I looked it up online, the decision was immediately made. Sleek, fuel-efficient, 5-star safety rated, multi-awarded, and with sexy curves all over, this was the car for me. Two days later, I drive one home, and it's a dream. In fact, even if it's not classified as a luxury vehicle, it's amazing. It's almost my dream car. If it had navigation (like the limited edition) and a rear camera, it certainly would be. Of course, there's the slight issue of having to pay for it for the next eight years, but I think it's worth it. And yes, with this purchase, I can finally cross out one more item in my bucket list: own a sedan.

Read More

Habemus Papam

We have a new pope, and I'm so excited for the Catholic church!

After the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis I, the Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, has been elected as the new pope, after just five ballots in the conclave. He's the first Jesuit pope, and the first pope not born in Europe since the 8th century.


People say Pope Francis I is a very humble person, and his first message to the people after being chosen clearly shows that. He is a moderate, and seems to be just the kind of modern the church needs. It's certainly a beautiful time for our faith, and I have a feeling a lot of positive things will be coming to the Catholic church in the near future. I'm looking forward to that!

If I could sum up this choice in a word, I'd say, "perfect." His background, his papal name, the man himself--this is clearly a work of the Spirit.

Read More