(cont'd...) At four o'clock in the afternoon we reached city of Kelowna, just when I was about to get completely bored. Sightseeing while driving is great, but 13 long hours for a single day...well, next time I'll fly.

Kelowna is located in the Lower Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. To the west is a gorgeous lake, while the rest is surrounded by mountains. One thing is certain, the weather here is much desirable maybe because of its lower sea-level elevation. I believe it has one of the most fertile lands in Canada; its orchards and winery are everywhere. The city itself exudes an atmosphere of complete relaxation.

Fresh air, a blue lake, mountains, greens everywhere, and it is less crowded. I actually felt deeply in love with the place, to the point of discussing with the wife about moving here and actually considered a career for the City of Kelowna. Few weeks after my "infatuation" waned, I got a call for temporary project offer, I had to half-heartedly turned it down; the wife wished to stay from our city of residence.

Most of us will agree that travelling and getting to new places is priceless; however, it may always have price tags too, to be honest, ha ha! I came with a friend to Kelowna exactly just for the sheer fun of seeing a new place, and I got exactly what I wanted without taking much out from the pocket as it was only a day of stay.

Seeing the marina, a public park, driving around the city, and visiting a winery proved the travel's all worth it. It was a short stay, so that afternoon after a quick rest, we had a stroll along the lake.

The lake is impressively wide. The view of the opposite side of the lake was a bit hazy from where I stood, probably because of the sun blurring my vision or simply because of its sheer distance. It was fairly busy on and along the lake: those chasing powerboats from a distance, kids playing on the sand, and adults just having their diversion with books basking under the sun, or simply laying unmindful under their umbrella. I enjoyed taking notes of them. Even a seemingly inquisitive bird (that I captured with my camera) with her droopy wings, took a quick stop-over and postured as if surveying the same scene I was having fun watching.

That was lovely.

There was this long boardwalk at marina that we strolled along further down the beach. With numerous yacht docked and towering upscale condominium buildings on the other side, a hint of prosperity was not hard to imagine at all. Later on, upon talking to our host that night, I confirmed that Kelowna was actually becoming more economically robust; I guess, as its way of catching to its neigbouring Alberta. We would have gone to casino, but the call of the comfort of bed for that night was stronger.

The following day we went to the mall, and made a relaxing drive around and within the city. I remember driving up to the other side of the city (Kelowna West and Kettle Drive), which we needed to cross a bridge to get there.

This side of the city was a complete contrast from lake dwellers back on the East side since residential houses here are literally at the slope and at the foot of mountain overlooking the lake. This is the "ace" under their sleeve, so to speak. It was another charming part of the city, I thought.

Of course, all these wanderings around would have turned out futile had we not visited the place Kelowna is known for: the winery. We picked one of the more famous there, the Summerhill Winery. Our wine tasting experience was not bad; for five dollars you can have three different tastings of their popular wine. I loved their Ice wine, but settled to buy three bottles of white. Good complement for our baked fish-loving household, I kidded my friend.

Our drive going home was another unique experience as we headed to a shorter, but more picturesque Highway 1. This is where driving can be fun because of ever-changing landscape; the western part of the country to discover "Canadian Rockies". I intend to write more about it in details in another blog; for example, when we went Columbia Icefield.

In retrospect, I can say that Kelowna had imparted me a sense of satisfaction for allowing me to taste, not just its sweet wine, but a different way of appreciating a balanced dynamics - both ecologically and economically, one society should aspire. The END

This travel is unlike those I have written so far. Our visit to the Philippines was mainly to see our families and folks, so I would not be able to provide many pictures, although my story about it would be interesting to some who's been following my travel journal.

To avoid busy travel for Christmas season that year, my wife and I decided to offset our travel to the Philippines at least a month earlier from Christmas season. It was around the first week of November 2006 when my wife went ahead of me. I followed her after three weeks, which technically was within the same month. As usual, I took a direct flight from Vancouver to Manila. It was one of those unbearably long flights as Philippine Airlines 747 aircraft had to cross the Pacific 10 hours or maybe even more.

This has always been the shortest flight available, otherwise the only choice one could have was to sit in a longer flight with connection either via Hongkong, Tokyo, Seoul or Los Angeles before arriving to Manila.

It was Friday morning when we landed in Manila. With a connecting flight still to catch going to Legazpi City, I rushed towards Cebu Pacific counter to have my flight and e-ticket verified, but only to be told that the flight I was going next was cancelled. Explaining reasonably how appalled I was about it since I confirmed the flight less than 24 hours ago, the counter employee looked very apologetic listening to me intently.

Now with his fingers busily tapping the keyboard and the headset phone backed to his ears calling someone else, I realised that he was trying to be on top of the situation. The effort I saw from him was good enough to further diffuse my already settling disappointment.

"Sir, I could arrange a seat for you with PAL (a competitor airline) going to Cebu. They will have a short stop over in Legazpi. Only thing, though, is you may have to rush to Gate (x) at this time!" he explained with his face beaming with anticipation that I agree.

Getting a quick glimpse at domestic Security Screening area and at my wristwatch, I then factored-in the situation, and answered him with ease this time, "You know what? Put me in to your next available flight tomorrow!"

With hundreds of passengers lined up over at Security Screening and a 30-minute window, I didn't think for a second that I could beat that!

Next thing I knew, at around nine o'clock in the morning, I was in a shuttle service going to a hotel in the upscale city of Makati. They provided me a one-night stay and a whole day meal, as my next flight was scheduled the next morning. This was, of course, a standard and appropriate gesture by any airline faced with the same situation.

After settling inside my suite, I phoned my wife who - with my in-laws, were about to leave the house to pick me at Legazpi Domestic Airport. The whole excitement was replaced with dismay, but the situation was understood after a short while.

I went to bed, then woke up and showered, proceeded to restaurant downstairs to have lunch. That was around three in the afternoon. After that, I left and explored Makati's Greenbelt area. The afternoon sun was out and the weather was generally balmy. Greenbelt, as some would know, is located in Manila's corporate and financial district. So it is not unusual to find all things somebody would find in other major cities. Fine restaurants, top-of-the-line shopping malls, best bars, a good amount of foreigners - except that, it's much more crowded.

I'm a boring person when it comes to shopping, but the price of men's business suit was one-third compare to what I would buy back in Canada. I purchased three set of suits for myself and a bottle of Christian Dior fragrance for my waiting and expecting wife.

I remember attempting to call my friend Bow (a former office colleague) at his office in the close by Ortigas Centre. We did not meet. And so I ended up going to a bar by myself. I had good time chatting with some interesting kababayans that I met that early evening. TO BE CONTINUED.