Thursday, July 3, 2008

Before I Leave The Canadian Continent

Before I left incontinent, I mean the continent, I travelled to the city of Regina, Saskatchewan to visit my relatives on my mother's side, meaning my grandmother, uncle, and my cousins. You could say, there is a lot of wheat in my family blood.

Aside from two annoying kids sitting behind me, my Air Canada flight went well. I was glad that I wasn't flying WestJet because I would have to put up with the Trying-Too-Hard-To-Be-Nice flight attendants.

Regina is a farmer's city of a 300,000 with new suburban & commercial developments springing up everywhere. Nevertheless, one can drive across the entire city in a few minutes.

Anyway, my grandmother greeted me with open arms, fed me very well, and showed me the sites of Regina before I had to leave four days later in the early morning. I mostly munched on Grandmother's Choice, such as cow tongue, cinnamon buns, homemade wonton soup, and sweet caramel wafers, until my stomach could handle no more. Staying at her house brought back many childhood memories.

Grandma & I drove over to the Regina Beach area located 30 minutes north of the city, to visit my uncle, his wife, & his four hyperactive children (my cousins) at his new cottage. They call it a cottage but it looks more like a second home with a great view of the lake. My uncle is in the real-estate business and knows how to make profitable deal. He has to since everything around him costs money: wife, kids, two gas-guzzling SUVs ($220 for a full tank each!), food, clothes, etc. As always, the 1980s never left him because he still has traces of the iconic mullet hairstyle. We spent that day having steak, talking about my trip, drinking beer, and watching my 8-year old cousin Jordan going insane on drumpads set to the Wii game RockBand.

For Canada Day, I visited the Governor's House and the RCMP's new heritage museum. The city was bustling with excitment over the celebration of the creation of Canada in 1867 . . . not its independence in 1931. The day after, grandma took me to the Provincial House of Parliament for a quick tour of the library, red-carpeted legislature, portrait gallery, marble attrium, and of course, the gift shop.

On the morning of my flight, grandma bid me farewell in the same energy she greeted me four days earlier.

Overall, travelling to my see the prairie side of my family was pleasant & enjoyable and I would visit again any day.

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