Easter Retreat - Calgary Alberta (1)

Many wonderful things happened in Calgary, Canada. As I sit here in Newark Intl Airport waiting 9 hours for my connecting flight to Toronto en route to London, I will try to reminiscence the past 5 days, and relive the beautiful as well as poignant memories I had. This is going to be a long entry, but well worth the read. My host in Calgary was my granduncle (my father’s father cousin) who had migrated to Calgary from Singapore in 1978. A most energetic and sprightly young man at the age of 69, he welcomed me with the usual bear hug I have come to be familiar with whenever he visits Singapore most winters. I arrived at 12 midnight on Friday, (almost missing the plane which remarkably was the only one that wasn’t delayed and the only one I was late for), and a nice big room welcomed me. (Though he didn’t mention it, I do believe he let me sleep in his room, as he was sleeping in a much smaller room.) He stays alone as both his wife and son live in Los Angeles, where his son is working as a psychiatrist. My trip to Calgary was a dream come true in so many ways and really, if not for him, it simply would not have happened.

Granduncle Hong Chiang (H.C here forth) is a staunch Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) and the better part of Saturday morning was spent in Church. It was International Day and members of the church of different origins from Africa, Asia, and Europe etc. went on stage and performed songs of praise in their respective languages. I thought it was quite a nice environment, not as dramatic as some of the charismatic church sessions I have attended in Singapore, but very family-like nonetheless. In the evening, we returned to the church for a concert by a visiting school band, which played both spiritual and secular tunes. Saturday is seen as the Holy Sabbath, as written under the Fourth Commandment by SDAs, and the day is meant to be kept for rest, which means no work, and as much time as possible spent for worship and getting close to God. A vegetarian diet is observed every Sabbath as well.

The good thing about having a local guide is that granduncle really knew what was special and unique in Calgary, and not just the usual scenic touristy sights that can be Google-ed or even Lonely Planet-ed. Lake Bonavista is a residential area, built around a man-made lake. More than 50 detached houses are built around the huge lake, with private wooden jetties facing onto the lake. The first thought that struck me was that this must be a wonderful place to live in. During summer, the residents can float around the lakes in their large floats or mini-boats, in winter; the lake becomes a big ice-skating ring, coupled with the ducks and geese. The soil dug out from the lake was accumulated into a hill next to the lake, and water is pumped from the lake up the hill into a man-made waterfall that streams down a creek. I saw families sitting on the hill, enjoying the lake and their homes, children playing with the half melted ice, dogs rolling on the hill. It is possibly the most scenic residential area I have ever seen. Residents are really connected by the lake. I must try to recreate this somewhere, sometime.

The other attractions granduncle H.C brought me to on Saturday afternoon were Glenmore Reservoir and the Olympic Park. Olympic Park is consists of a ski-jump, an iced luge track, and a ski hill. It was the venue for these sports during the 1988 Winter Olympics. Unfortunately, ski-ing season was over when I went so the place was basically empty. Nevertheless, it was my first visit to an actual competitive ground for a winter Olympics. I had previously been to the Seoul Olympic Stadium that hosted a Summer Olympics. The highlight of this day was still however, the Lake Bonavista.