We left Lake Louise after a late lunch and headed for Calgary where I reserved a hotel in the downtown area through Expedia's "call center" in Cebu! I was trying to book hotels in Calgary and Edmonton online but the 'net connection was very slow and erratic. In frustration, I decided to just go ahead and call Expedia's 800 number and to my surprise, I talked to a girl in Cebu who got me hotels in Calgary and Edmonton at the locations I preferred and within the price range that I was comfortable with. How the world has shrunk!
That piece of paper sticking on my windshield was my Banff National Park pass
Downtown Calgary
The Cebu based Pinay working for Expedia got us a hotel right in the downtown area and for $134, we had a bedroom, a living room, a well-equiped kitchen (like we needed one LOL) and a view I can't complain about. I once paid a premium price for a hotel in Europe with a window view of a wall grrrr....LOL
Calgary Tower in the background
View from Calgary Tower
It's a long way down if the glass breaks!
Note where the kid is standing LOL
I wonder what the kid was thinking?
After an overnight stay in Edmonton, we took our flight to LAX. Goodbye Alberta, see you again sometime!
That piece of paper sticking on my windshield was my Banff National Park pass
Downtown Calgary 
The Cebu based Pinay working for Expedia got us a hotel right in the downtown area and for $134, we had a bedroom, a living room, a well-equiped kitchen (like we needed one LOL) and a view I can't complain about. I once paid a premium price for a hotel in Europe with a window view of a wall grrrr....LOL
Calgary Tower in the background
View from Calgary Tower
It's a long way down if the glass breaks!
Note where the kid is standing LOL
I wonder what the kid was thinking?
After an overnight stay in Edmonton, we took our flight to LAX. Goodbye Alberta, see you again sometime!
16 comments:
Nice photos. I enjoy long distance driving in scenic places such as this.
Indeed the world has shrunk. And we're lucky to have America and the rest of the western part to have outsourced most of their customer services to English-speaking third world country such as ours. It gave us job :) Buti naman sinabi ng call center agent na naka-base siya sa Cebu. Actually, noong nag-apply din ako ng call center noon, during the orientation, sinabi sa amin na hindi dapat sasabihin sa customer that the customer-service is outsourced by a call center from the Philippines. Dapat ang service daw namin should merge without glitch with that company we are representing with. Lagot yung Pinay girl na yon sa supervisor niya :D
That glass thing is so scary :(
dodong flores, the call center girl recognized my accent and she asked me if I am a Filipino. When I replied in the affirmative, she introduced herself and went out of her way to help me. Dapat me umento siya! I actually took the time to let Expedia know of her wonderful and efficient service. I always do that, maski na kung minsan I run into asungot na kababayan in my travels and day to day life. The good always outnumber the bad...buti na lang. My memory is always long on the positive and quick to delete the negative.
i'm no alien with those glass floors; we've been to one at sky city tower in auckland, new zealand before and i know another one in shanghai but hasn't been to china yet. i think it's cool; i'm not afraid of heights i guesss. i have other phobia.
i also keep memories of nice things and am generous too in commending anything and anyone positive. but unlike you, negative thoughts sometimes haunt me. i am easily annoyed at someone who's n and since peace of mind is a luxury now, i pray and pray a lot.
i like your photo of that metallic trojan horse with such a great contrast with the kid on his stroller. kaya lang muntik ng ma-crop sa photo yung bata, lol. it could have been a nicer composition. nonetheless, it's still amazing.
docgelo, buti ka pa! I've never been comfortable with height. I once looked down at the edge of a cliff at the Grand Canyon on my belly with only my head sticking out and I felt I was going to fall into space! Why do I have that feeling when I feel comfortable inside a low flying helicopter looking down or flying in a small plane with my friend-pilot doing all kinds of crazy aerial stunts?
In a way, I am lucky because I can turn "off and on" good and bad memories just like pressing the tv remote control The bad memories linger a bit but eventually they go away.
I went as far as I could to the edge of the sidewalk to get the picture of the iron horse and kid. I could not step into the street to frame the pic better because there were oncoming cars. Thanks!
I had also been served by a call service center based in the Philippines. It's either me that recognizes the accent or the other way around. But hats off to our kababayans, they speak clearly and sound more polite than the Indian call center agents.
Call center agents in the Philippines are the best... no wonder the Philippines has a BIG edge over other countries.
Funny shot of that baby looking at the horse...
Looks like a big city but very clean and orderly.
Kakaunti pala ang tao sa Calgary. On what day did you take the photo BertN, weekday or weekend?
Modern structures pala ang nasa Calgary. Thanks for taking me to Alberta! U
The Nomadic Pinoy, our kababayans are more knowledgeable but they lack a shade of confidence compared to their US based counterparts; maybe I'm just mistaking their politeness for that, though.
Sydney, they are the best in my book! I had them walking me through internet problems, software glitches, etc. and so far, all my experiences are positive.
RJ, it was a weekday. Calgary's population, like most of their cities, is sparse.
Unfortunately I did not get the chance to check out, at my leisure, the University of Calgary where a high school buddy used to work before he retired and where a friend from Calstate U in Long Beach got his doctorate.
thanks to the slow and erratic connection.kung di dahil dun hindi nyo pa po maiisip i dial number 800 na may mabait na pinay na magdadala sa inyo sa isa sa pinakamagandang lugar sa canada...=D
kakatakot tumayo may glass part ng calgary tower...
iniisip po siguro nung baby kung yari po ba talaga sa metal ang anatomy ng horse..nyay! korni.hehe
kakainggit naman po kau at ang dami nyo na pong magagandang lugar na napupuntahan.
Rio, it made my day nung nakausap ko yung Pinay at natulungan niya ako. It made up for the time when a Pinay manning the security at Frankfurt airport in Germany did not want to let us through because she said we were too early. There was no reason for her not to let us go through the security check, she just wanted to be ornery and delivered the message to us that she is a biggie (in her mind). Luckily these swell-headed kababayans are very few and we are mature enough to tolerate their ego trips without losing our cool.
Btw, huwag mo na akong pupopoin, lalo lang akong tumatanda. Paglagpas ko siguro ng one hundred, puede na LOL.
Wow ang ganda ng scenic views kakainggit and I love your shots very vivid naks gumagaling na kayo sa photography hehe I wish makapagpabook din kami sa mga kababyan natin para may discount din I always talk to sales rep from Pinas call center just to sell something hehe and sometimes they don't even ask you if you are Pinoy umiiwas but it's easy recognize the pinoy accent kahit pa slang sila hehe
Sardonyx, hindi siguro ako gumagaling sa photography, gumaganda lang yung subjects LOL. I always enjoy dealing with our call center kababayans even if at times, I feel like they were walking me through dark alleys in resolving some computer-related problems.
I love the first photo. If I were there I would have stopped in the middle of the highway, get out of the car and take photos of the scenery LOL!
Lantaw, I was tempted to do just that many times LOL.
I like the first photo. It looks like you're heading towards a mountainous paradise. :-)
Abaniko, thanks for your visit!
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