Saturday, May 30, 2026

Day 0 - Banff, by Way of Vancouver - Calgary

easy now, won't you relax baby
'cause I don't like to see you stressed
believe me now, it’s not worth the drama, baby
just take your time and forget the rest
sometimes I know that life is too much
and all you wanna do is run away
Easy Now - Angels of Libra

I was in Canada last week and so here it will begin now the posts about the trip. It wasn't a very long trip because it's expensive - well I think Canada is actually cheaper than Singapore but my accomodation cost was very high that my total cost was high. I was quite scared before the trip, I think because it felt so far away that there's more fear than usual that I had to sit with. I'm back in one piece and all was fine (even when it wasn't) and so I have to thank God almighty for always having my back. I want to begin this post with the visa application - woe the Indonesians :( You have to apply and submit all the necessary documents online and you can find information about the processing time in the country you're applying from. It takes longer in Singapore than Indonesia which kinda confused me because Singaporeans do not need a visa to go to Canada; so you're telling me there's so many non-Singaporeans here in Singapore applying for visa? The only reasonable explanation is that they do not have enough staff here to handle the applications. So anyways, I started my application at the end of January, very early compared to when I usually start. I got the message to submit my biometric pretty fast, less than 24 hours from when I submitted my application. I didn't book an appointment immediately though thinking that I'd have a lot of time. I only went in around 2 weeks after the message and this was before Chinese New Year. The nice thing about applying Canada visa is the only physical thing they ask is your biometrics, you don't have to submit any documents. Even during this biometrics appointment, they do not ask for your passport. So I went home for Chinese New Year thinking by the time I come back, they would have finished checking my application and come to a decision and then ask for my passport. Well that didn't happen and this was when I started to get worried. The processing time was around 40 days in Singapore and this fluctuates but it's always around there and I think with the world cup coming, this timing is increasing, even in Indonesia. This date count is from when an application is completed and I start to think if this actually means when I completed biometric, but the thing is though the portal showed the correct date of my biometric information as when I gave it, it's being marked as processing instead of completed. I googled around and asked AIs (Google and Copilot) about it and it seemed they even check the biometric data against its Five Eyes alliance records (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the US, UK) - 4 of those countries have my biometrics records now. Anyways, these checks should be computerized and fast and I just don't get why it's taking dang long and so my anxiety about this began :( Side note: both AIs were being positive about this and telling me my timeline was still okay. It was around St. Patrick's Day (oh lucky day) that my biometric was marked as completed. I wondered if this was the start of the processing count down, the over 30 days that I had to wait because the rest of the application check was still in processing status :( Thank God that it was around 2 weeks later, in early April that I finally got a message to submit my passport, kinda indicating that I would get the visa though the portal hadn't confirmed this. This part of the process was fast. VFS (the offices that process the biometrics, handle the documents, and act as an intermediary with the embassy) tried to squeeze money by asking if I want the sms update even though at every step there will already be an email update - lucky I'm quite experienced in this that I could say no. So all and all, it took me more than 2 months from the time I submitted my application, around 2 months from when I gave my biometrics. When I read people's blogs that say the process for them was quite fast ... well it wasn't so for me. The good news and blessed be Canada for being nice and easy, my visa is multiple entry and ends just one day before my passport expires which is in around 7 years from now. If God allows it, I may just visit Canada at least one more time before September 2033.

The flight to Canada was on a Saturday morning which worried me about having to find a taxi so early in the morning, like before 5 AM. Someone asked me, instead of that shouldn't you worry about oversleeping? I honestly didn't think of it because I usually have difficulty sleeping but somehow I think I did sleep because when the alarm rang I was quite stunned, but I woke up, showered, and got all my things together, and I managed to get a taxi quite fast. The whole thing was uneventful. I think it's me getting older that on the 14-hour flight, I did manage to doze off and didn't watch many things. That being said I did complete A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and was left with 3 episodes of Pluribus which I completed on the way back. Air Canada has really good in-flight entertainment. Anyways, so my first leg is Banff by way of Vancouver and Calgary. Immigration check in Vancouver was easy peasy. I filled in an online form the day before and used the machine in the aiport to complete it by providing my fingerprints. There's like a receipt when we completed this and we handed it to the staff who asked you a few questions, I guess to make sure you're not suspicious. Transit time in Vancouver was less than 2 hours, then it was off to Calgary. I thought this flight would be like budget airline, but no. Air Canada provided snack and there's also in-flight entertainment. By the way, on the flight from Singapore to Vancouver there were 2 meals and a very substantial snack in the form of sandwich; I guess it's because the flight is longer than 12 hours there's the extra meal. In Calgary, it was snowing. I remember thinking it was like Christmas movie snowing. I was prepared for Banff to be colder but the snow was unexpected. I already booked a shuttle to take me from Calgary to Banff, it's around a 2-hour ride, and I booked the 11:30 AM which in retrospect perhaps this wasn't necessary. I managed to get my luggage before 11 AM and could have taken the 11 AM shuttle with another cheaper company. I just thought these shuttles would be filled fast, so I preferred to book it beforehand. I guess maybe it is sometimes, I don't know. So the ride to Banff was in full snow and I remember thinking if these people could understand how wondrous it was for a person from the tropic to be mesmerized with this. My first snow falling experience was in Helsinki and it wasn't as heavy as this one. This time, everything was white and visibility was low, I couldn't see far and all I saw was white and it was just amazing for me.

Arriving in Banff, it was snowing too. I chose a cheaper hotel in my attempt to cut cost, especially because the Vancouver one was more expensive. It's further out from the town center, but at least this Banff lodge gave me free bus day pass. The room was not fancy at all, but it's sufficient. Initial plan was to go up the Tunnel Mountain which I wasn't so sure actually because after a long flight, could I really do it? The snow put an end to it because hiking up a mountain (though a short one as it is) in the snow was not a good idea - even I could see that. Then I thought should I get up the Banff gondola, but I think it was AI who told me the visibility would be too low to make it worthwhile. So I ended up waking around town in the snow. I think they call this flurries which Wikipedia says, intermittent light snow and it was so, light at times but heavy at other times, heavier than the time in Helsinki at least. First stop was the Cascade of Time Garden which I didn't explore much because there doesn't seem much of anything in it. I don't know if it's really significantly more beautiful in the summer. This was perhaps where I took picture of the mountains in the snow.

After that I thought of going to the Bow Falls Viewpoint, finding the trail by the Bow river, all the while in the snow. I was thinking do the locals think it's silly to walk around in this weather, will it be the same as me thinking of people being nuts going for a walk in the drizzles here? It was wet, cold somewhat, but for me it's all so new, so there's excitement. The Bow Falls itself was not very tall. At one point, I reached the shore of the river where there's like a little beach and there's no one around. The snow was getting heavier then and as silly as it was, I just had to stand there and just be in the wonderment. I may have laughed because I really did not expect this at all. It's mesmerizing the way the snow fell and hypnotizing; it felt both fast and slow at the same time.

After this walk, I thought of going back but I saw the sign to Surprise Corner Viewpoint and I thought why not. It was not a very easy walk, there's a bit of elevation and the walk was by the road but luckily there's not many cars. I didn't know what this viewpoint is about and turns out one could see the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel and with the snow and all, I guess it did look nice. Although perhaps my editing is not very good; seriously I don't know how to fix my photos :(

After that, I really called it a day. Went for dinner, but I think I ordered wrong that it was so so. Got to my hotel to get cleaned up and one thing that happened every day during my trip was that I got really sleepy and could really sleep. It's still happening now actually, now that I'm back in Singapore and I know it's not gonna last long, so I really made use of this time when my body could just sleep and shut down. It was a really unexpected day with the snow. Initially I wanted to travel early May but many things were not open yet in Banff and so I opted for a later date where they're on their summer schedule so snow was really not what I expected though the internet did say it's possible. I really did not know what to make of it but I thanked God for what He had in store for me because I know I may not get that kind of experience again, so if that was it, I can only have gratitude.

:) eKa @ 11:23:00 AM •