Calgary Summer 2024
Helen
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| Hua Hin Spring 2024 | Chiang Mai 2024 |
An easy transfer to the airport and we were on our way BKK-TPE-YVR-YYC… well not really because our flight was delayed. We had lounge access and they had Magnum Ice Cream bars so we were set. When we went to board the plane, Paul’s boarding pass wouldn’t scan and he was taken aside which was concerning. Apparently they saw something in our luggage and wanted it checked so they could sign off.
He had to go outside and down by the cargo area, open the luggage and they had a look but there wasn’t anything odd so it was a non-issue. At this point, we were happy our upgrade was successful as the flight was packed. We settled in, ordered our food and drink and enjoyed the flight. When we reached Taipei we headed to the nearest lounge. Thinking we had loads of time and finding Haagen Dazs ice cream I decided another treat was in order. Bad idea, because our delayed start had shortened our time and we had to head out to the next gate quickly… yes, I tried to finish my ice cream and brain freeze occurred. It worked out since we got there just as they started boarding for our flight. No luggage issues this time, the flight to YVR was quickly boarded, received our jammies and amenities kits, ordered food and beverages and settled in. The flight was also busy and some people sounded like they had the lurgy but we were fine. The flight was smooth and we made it on time to YVR.
Our original flight, YVR-YYC, was supposed to depart at 8pm and arrive at 10pm. That got cancelled, as they do, and we were moved to departure at 10 pm with arrival at 12:05 am. Needless to say that kind of sucked. We had known this in advance so booked the Delta at the Calgary airport. By the time we arrived, picked up the duffle of van stuff and got to the hotel it was 1 am. We were both fairly shattered but we managed to get up in time to grab a quick breakfast before heading to meet our landlord and see our apartment. Uber was an experience, don’t make the pick up and drop off the same point, it creates confusion. Luckily our driver was patient and we got to where we needed to be.
When we originally contacted the landlords about the rental we weren’t able to arrange for anyone to go and look at the apartment so it was all done without knowing if it was real. The good news was Diana and Jason, our landlords, are not only real but super nice. The apartment is great, we have everything we need including all sorts of kitchenware, bedding, towels and the furniture is comfortable. We meet Nadir, the building concierge, who calls me Halen and is really friendly. Our apartment is right off 17th Ave, so we are in the thick of things. On the weekends it becomes a bit of a drag strip with people showing off cars and bikes, so it is definitely noisy but it’s a great location.
Note to self: don’t go get groceries on 4 hours of sleep when you have to schlep them back to your apartment, it never works out as well as you think it will and the chances of anyone actually cooking are slim. The next day was a visit to Helen’s Mom and then back for some unpacking. It took us a few days to get sorted and settled, but we did it. We arranged a rental car and made a quick visit to Creston to see Paul’s parents and our friends Pati and John. When we were back in 2022, we didn’t manage to sell all that we wanted so had gotten a storage unit. It didn’t make sense to continue paying for storage so we made the decision to prioritize getting rid of items. We kept the car an extra day so we could get everything out of storage and get started with the process.
We made arrangements to start seeing our friends in Calgary, which was great. It started off with meeting Roberta and Sherry for dinner. Dinner and beverages turned into a couple of late nights with John and Mark at the Pig & Duke. An evening catching up with Brendon and Kristen before camping season was a bonus. Curtis and Tina arranged a group get together at their place with Dave and Brenda, Kirby and Jody which was awesome. Paul, Curtis, Kirby and Dave all met in university and have been friends ever since. The night ended with a massive thunderstorm which was spectacular. We met with Pat and Liz for beverage’s and a couple of delicious dinners. A night in Kensington with Slavin and Alex, Larissa and Valens. A visit with one of our Thai friends, Tik when she came to visit her boyfriend Jesse, was a very pleasant surprise. We were also able to have Dave and Brenda over for a dinner out and some balcony bevvies. A last minute visit and dinner with John was a great finish to our time there. It was so nice to be able to spend time catching up with everyone and hearing about what’s been happening in their lives. Unfortunately we didn’t get pictures of everyone but it was still nice to see those we could.
We made appointments for meetings and the serious stuff that we needed to deal with. We managed to get new passports and updated our drivers licenses, meet with who we needed to and got some items checked off the list. May and June had pretty nice temperatures, nice and cool with lots of rain with the bonus sunny day. Our balcony is great to sit out on and watch storms, see rainbows and stay cooler in the evenings. We also got a great view of the fireworks for Canada Day and Stampede. We’ve figured out the grocery ordering so we don’t have to walk with heavy loads which is nice. We have been using Lyft, which seems to be working out a bit better than Uber. It’s a good reminder how much better Grab is in Thailand.
We started walking pretty much every day. Two or three times a week I’d walk down to my Mom’s and visit a couple of hours. Paul would walk down to meet me and say hi, then we’d walk back together. Every other weekend, we’d go together and have lunch with my Mom. We helped sort out new computers for Paul’s folks and a walker for my Mom. I was able to help with my Mom with errands and shopping, we made several visits to the Southcentre Mall. It was great to be able to spend so much time together. We did another Creston visit in June, stopping at Sushi Ginza on the way home… of course! It’s still really good. We have mostly been cooking at home but have had a few sneaky sushi dinners. I think the favorite, aside from the homemade stuff at friends, was a new gluten free restaurant called Tre Vietnamese.
We upgraded our wardrobe with new convertible pants, shoes and whatever else we deemed necessary. Paul struggled to get a sunhat that fit, but we eventually were able to order one from MEC that fits him perfectly and gives wide protection. Randomly this lead to me getting a new pair of sandals when we stopped by the outdoor sale when picking up Paul’s hat. The best part was they were even cheaper then advertised since extra discount was applied.
Calgary is busier than we remember and there is a serious homelessness problem. The drug issues are very obvious and we see people bent over and passed out in some unexpected places. A walk to the big new downtown library had us seeing a security guard resuscitate an overdose victim, he continued treatment till the ambulance arrived and probably saved her life. It’s really sad to see what’s happening. It’s also very strange because there is also a huge increase in super expensive and fancy cars. It city seems off but it is hard to put your finger on it. Still, love it here and we are using our remaining time to get ready for our return to Thailand, yes… again!
In June we booked our tickets back to Chiang Mai. It meant we’d have to apply for new visas since when we left Thailand in September 2023, we didn’t get re-entry permits as our extensions expired while we were out of Thailand. In July, we were both approved for the Non O 90 day visas. Paul had his a few days before mine, but said he won’t go without me. We spent time looking for apartments in Chiang Mai. We were looking for a larger balcony so I could garden a bit, something out of the airport pathway, big TV and a better fridge were on the wishlist. Just after we got our new visas, the Thai government announced some changes. They increased the visa exempt entries to 60 days, up from 30, and added more counties that qualified. They also introduced a new Destination Thailand Visa(DTV) that was for digital nomads or “soft power”(meaning Muay Thai, medical tourism, cooking classes and music festivals). It was multiple entry for 180 days each time and you could come and go as often as you wanted. It could also be extended once per entry for an additional 180 days. It was valid for a 5 year time period so the original cost was higher but the financial requirements were lower. We had heard a lot about this new visa, but there was still much that wasn’t known. It was interesting but we thought we’d wait and see how it worked before applying. The downside to this was that it meant getting an apartment would be more challenging as the new visa was popular. With the “bird in the hand” philosophy, we decided to stick with what we know and not risk anything. We got in touch wth Jen and were able to get an apartment in the building. Our favorite 302 was occupied but there was one available on the 7th floor, with a view. Done, deposit sent and we had a place.
Our lease in Calgary ended July 31 and the best flights back were August 7. We decided to the head Creston for a week to spend time with Paul’s parents before leaving for Thailand. We couldn’t get a one way rental, apparently they are not available during the high season so had to do some out of the box thinking. Over the summer we managed to sell or give away the majority stuff we wanted to and Paul’s parents offered to let us store any remaining items. So we arranged a rental to take the items and our luggage to Creston. We spent the night and drove back early the next day for our last night in Calgary. The following morning we had an early flight back to Cranbrook with WestJet. We did the cheapest fare so could only have a small personal item, hence the luggage run. It was a bit chaotic everyone was boarded and strapped in, next thing an announcement that there was an issue with the plane and we all had to disembark while it was fixed. The communication from WestJet was pretty bad and we didn’t know what was going on. We did manage to get in touch with Paul’s Mom and Dad to let them know we were delayed. Eventually, they got it sorted, we all got back on the plane and off we went Cranbrook. Paul’s parents picked us up and we headed off to Creston.
Our first order of business was applying for the new DTV visa. A popular youtuber released a video about the DTV and interviewed an officer in the MFA which clarified many of the concerns we had about the visa. This visa was perfect for us because we do travel a lot so it meant no more re-entry permits or yearly visits to the Canadian Consulate for affidavits of income and immigration for an extension. We had contacted the Royal Thai Consulate in Vancouver and they said we could apply and if successful, they would cancel our existing Non O’s… great! As soon as we got to Creston we set up the raspberry pii and starting Paul’s application. We had thought ahead and had all the documents required accessible so uploaded everything, paid and sat back to see what happened. Paul was approved in 2 hours. Once we had Paul’s we applied for me as a dependent, much lower requirements to meet and I was approved the next day.
We spent the next few days visiting with Paul’s Mom and Dad, got to spend time with Pati and John and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Several evenings were spent on the front balcony with lovely sunsets or in the back watching the birds. We had decided to bring a duffle again since we really didn’t know how long we’d gone or what we were doing. The original duffle that Peter and Luigi had given us had served us well and lasted as long as it could but was in a sorry state. We ended up ordering a new one that arrived a couple of days before we left Calgary, talk about timing! We did laundry, packed the duffle and organized our carry on’s.
We had an earlier flight to YVR on the 7th so Paul’s Mom and Dad were up early to drop off us at the airport. In typical Air Canada fashion, our flight ended up being delayed by almost 2 hours. It didn’t have a large impact since our next flight wasn’t until 2am. We had planned to spend the afternoon and evening with Jayne since we hadn’t seen her for years but unfortunately she had a last minute work emergency so we weren’t able to get together. Even with the delay, we arrived in Vancouver with a good 12 hours to spare. We decided getting a room at the local airport hotel which would allow us some rest before the journey and a place away from the crowds. We booked in, dropped the luggage and got the train into town. We found a nearby cinema playing Deadpool so went ad got tickets. We had given ourselves enough time to have a light lunch and walk before the show. Afterwards we grabbed a few snacks, sat outside enjoying the lovely weather before heading back to the airport where we hung out in our room, did some last minute organizing and had a snooze. We headed out around midnight, checked in dropped the luggage and went off to the lounge. We didn’t stay long since it was closing but found some quiet seats over by the gate.
We have the apartment in Chiang Mai for 6 months and will decide what’s next while there. Spoilt for choice so who knows… maybe sometime in Lipe since we missed it last year… a trip to Playing the Field Music Festival in Tasmania… so many options.
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