Canada Recap

So, I recently came back from a family vacation in Canada. The main reason for our visit was my cousin Roxane's cotillion. For those of you that don't know what a cotillion is, it's a big celebration for a girl's 18th birthday. It's a pretty big deal for Filipinos and if you must compare it to something, you can say it's comparable to a Quince.

Wednesday
A. Cynthia, U. Edward, Cameron, Colin, my mom, my dad, and I flew out of SFO at about 830am. The flight was only about 2.5 hours long so we landed in Canada before noon (their time, 1 hour ahead). U. Felix & A. Linda and A. RoseMarie and U. Jr came in two vans to pick us up and the festivities began from there. We traveled to a chinese restaurant and all had a big lunch there. Waiting for us was Roxy, Cecily, Aaron, and A. Rose. The "kids" were at one table while the "adults" were at another. We chatted it up as we tried to figure out what we were going to do after lunch. During lunch, U. Jr and U. Felix went to go pick up Monica and U. Onofre, so we waited for them to join us again and after they finished eating we went to our "home" for the weekend, A. RoseMarie's house.

The "kids" got changed, Monica and I got into more comfortable clothes and the rest of the kids got ready to have fun at the water park. U. Albert dropped us off at the mall, and the kids went to the water park as Monica and I started on our journey of West Edmonton Mall, the BIGGEST MALL IN THE WORLD. At least, it used to be, I don't know if that title still holds true. But, it has a waterpark with gigantic waterslides, an amusement park, an iceskating rink, casino, theater...lots and lots of stuff.

When U. Albert picked us up, he brought us to White Ave to get some "bubble tea"...tapioca or boba to us. We got to see where most of the night life is over there, but didn't get to indulge. It's ok though, we had so much to do and family time is much more worth it.

THURSDAY
Thursday morning...oooohhhhh I finally got to sleep in, so sleep in I did! Well, I did as much as I could, the adults were choppin it up and laughing and making so much noise upstairs it was hard to fully fall back asleep. I should have brought some running clothes and shoes b/c I would've used that time to get a run in. It was nice and HOTT, great running weather. Oh well!

So we all got ready and headed to the mall again! Totally fine b/c this time we got to hit up all the spots we missed. Trust me there is no way you can venture this whole mall in just 2 hours. While we were there, Jackie and A. Raquel arrived, so they met us at the mall and joined us in our journey. =)

After the mall, we went to A. Linda & U Felix's to have lunch/dinner and from there we went to Capital X/K Days. It's a carnival/fair that they have every year for 2 weeks when the Indy Race comes to town. They have several entertainment acts and in one tent was the talent competetion. My cousin, Davy was the entertainment while the judges tallied up the scores. He sang a couple of songs with his guitarists and we were all there to cheer him on.

When we got home, A. Rose, Roxy and I planned out the beading of her dress and got every single on of the beads down and in place. We folded all the programs and called it a night.

FRIDAY
Only one day away! Rehersal day. I woke up to voices of the "adults" once again and I knew it was all day reherasal for the entourage, so I got up and decided to sneak into the garage for a peak. Got a little peak, and took a shower and got ready. The entourage was still practicing, so I went outside and had the entourage do the whole routine. They took a break, ate, and we all (the entourage and me) went to the hotel for more practice including dress rehersal. Turns out, I actually took charge of most of the practice...only at Roxy's request, of course, and I was glad to be there to help. The routine looked sooo much cleaner than what it looked like in the garage earlier that day, and I was happy to help be a part of that.

After rehersal, we got the room prepped. Chair covers, check. Programs, check. Favors, check...check, check, and check. Then it was off to U. Roger's. We had dinner there and of course dabbled in some drinking and it wouldn't be a filipino get together w/o the kareoke.

Some of us headed home early, Jackie, A. Rose, Monica, Cecily, and me snuck into Roxy's car and waited for her. Aaron, Colin and Cameron were surprised to see that there was no room for them. HAHAHAA! You had to be there! They caught a ride with U. Ben anyway.

SATURADAY
WOO HOO! Today's the day! So we get up and get ready to get to the hotel. Hectic, hectic, hectic...everyone's grabbing stuff from everywhere. Finally we get into the van. We are about to hit the freeway and A. RoseMarie, decides to detour and stop at Tom Horton's. LMAO!!! You should've heard us yelling in the van..."WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET THE COFFEE TOMORROW!" HAHAHAHA! It was too late we were in the drive through line and there was already someone behind us. A. RoseMarie decides to get out of the van and go inside to line up, so A. Cynthia takes the wheel and we wait in the car b/c there is NO CHANGING A. RoseMarie's mind.

Finally, we get on the road and we make it to the hotel. We all get our rooms and start getting ready. In the middle of doing my hair, I also do Cecily's hair, Monica's hair, and Roxy's make up (turned out spectacular by the way, I was pretty impressed with myself). I finally get my hair and makeup done so I walk around and see what else needs to be done. I get to tie some loose ends so I can be ready...oh yeah I forgot to mention, I am the MC (master of ceremonies) for the evening!

The night goes well, and I'm more than happy to be there to help and even happier to be a part of Roxy's special day.

This vacation was GREAT! More than I could've asked for...Family Fun is always the best.