Vancouver Updates

One of the nice offshoots of my recent Cathay Pacific trip to Vancouver was meeting relatives who live there. British Columbia, having mild weather most of the year, has become the favorite place for Asian immigrants, earning the moniker “Hongkouver,” because of the mass migration of wealthy and intellectual Chinese from Hong Kong, just before the official hand-over of this British Colony to Mainland China in 1997.

Richmond, more specifically, is a predominantly Chinese suburb with a number of Vietnamese and Thai in the Asian mix. We toured well-manicured mansions in exclusive communities mostly owned by filthy rich Chinese families from Hong Kong

(some from Mainland China, as well as neighboring countries like Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines) who have transferred their monies and assiduously bought considerable properties in the area, establishing new businesses that helped kick-start the otherwise sluggish Canadian economy. Hence, if you check BMWs and Ferraris on the roads, young Chinese or Asians are usually behind the wheels.

My husband’s elder brother Demetrio “Demie” Tan and wife Chuy Ha (my “Dee Soh” Pacita), together with their three young children Annie, Lisa and Philip, migrated to Vancouver in the 1960s and settled in the quiet suburb of Richmond. Their pioneering efforts in the laundry and newspaper distribution businesses have earned them an upscale and respectable niche in the city. On the other hand, my father’s first-degree cousin Auntie Bee Kiao (Alice Tiu-Po) came into the country fairly recently, when her youngest daughter Jo Ann managed to get a working visa in Canada. With elder daughter Sara married to Chinese-Portuguese-Canadian Doug d’Oliviera, and elder son Jed established in Toronto, my soon-to-be Canadian citizen aunt now considers Vancouver her second home.

With the fever-pitch preparations for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic on track, everyone in Vancouver can’t help but be involved in the whole process. My brod-in-law’s house is just 10 minutes’ walk to the Richmond Olympic Oval and his offices are just 20 minutes’ drive away. But with the expected influx of visitors, Demie expresses concern on the traffic situation during the games. Younger daughter Mona Lisa and husband John Ward, with their 7-yr-old Sara and 10-yr-old Matthew, dread the upcoming games as their apartment overlooks the B.C. Place Stadium in downtown Vancouver, which is one of the official venues. Bringing the children anywhere will be a nightmare.

It is with these common concerns that the Vancouver Organizing Committee has put in place various amenities and facilities, supported by the government, to minimize the inconveniences of locals and tourists alike. Official website: 2010destinationplanner.com will give visitors access to information about various accommodations in British Columbia – from 5-tar hotels to B & Bs to home stays, even rooms in cruise ships and those in parks. Be forewarned that all almost all of the hotel rooms in Richmond, Vancouver and Whistler are now fully booked. However, there are still a lot of other alternative accommodations available in the places I enumerated.           Public transportation during the Games is in place: the Sea Bus, West Coast Express, Sky Train light Rail and the recently launched Canada Line that runs from the airport through Vancouver to the neighboring areas. This line can take the tourists from the airport to the heart of the City of Vancouver in just 25 minutes! Olympic event tickets include access to bus rides on the day of the events. There is also the Olympic Bus Network that takes visitors to Cypress Mountain or to Whistler, and tickets are cheapest when purchased online as early as now. For transport information: vancouver2010.com.

So, sports fanatics, do your preparations now. With Cathay Pacific’s direct flights from Cebu to Vancouver, Winter Olympics 2010 is a dream you can experience.

Enjoy your travel by traveling in style!