Canada: Home for Pinoys

By ROBBIE PANGILINAN

January 19, 2011, 12:15pm

Skyline of Vancouver, Canada cityscape of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, as seen from Stanley Park

Since the 1990s, the number of Filipinos working and residing in Canada has steadily increased. Between 10,000 to 20,000 Filipinos continue to come in yearly, with the Philippines taking over China as Canada’s leading source of immigrants.

Many Pinoy celebrities, including singer Joey Albert, host Vanessa del Bianco and Olympian Lydia de Vega, have found a home in the country nicknamed “The True North Strong and Free.” Other Filipinos who are making their own names in The Great White North are former Olympian Rey Fortaleza, who now owns the Reyfort Media Group and is the chairman of the Filipino Canadian Cultural Heritage of British Columbia, and Tatay Tom Avendano, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Multicultural Helping House Society.

I set foot on Canada upon the invitation of Fortaleza after Manny Pacquiao’s fight against Antonio Margarito last November. Mayor Gregor Robertson of the City of Vancouver decided to hold a “Manny Pacquiao Day” for the pound-for-pound king. I just stayed less than a week in the country but the experience I had will surely last a lifetime.

Richmond was my first stop as Fortaleza and his family are based in this coastal city. Richmond is part of Metro Vancouver and the site of the Vancouver International Airport. I was mesmerized by the Richmond Olympic Oval, where the speed-skating events during the 2010 Winter Olympics were held. I can swear that it was here where I tasted the best Chinese food—at the family-owned and operated Shanghai River Restaurant, the best Chinese restaurant in Canada.

The restaurant has been serving Szechuan and Hunan cuisine since 1970. It prides itself in having traditional family dishes passed down to its executive chef by his father who was the personal chef of the former President of Taiwan.

My next destination was the city of Surrey, also in Metro Vancouver. Surrey is the second largest city in British Columbia after Vancouver. I watched Disney on Ice at the Pacific Coliseum, home of the Vancouver Giants of the World Hockey League. The arena was also the venue for figure skating and short track speed skating during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The huge coliseum can seat more than 16,000 and is the site of many concerts and other events.

Capping off my stay in Canada was my visit to West Vancouver, part of a regional grouping called the North Shore. I had the chance to interview singer Joey Albert there.

Cypress Provincial Park, one of the venues for the 2010 Winter Olympics, is located in this Cultural Capital of Canada for 2006. Park Royal Shopping Centre, Canada’s first ever shopping mall, is also there. But my buddies and I went to Little Burgundy in Calgary’s Market Mall. Little Burgundy is an Aldo subsidiary that carries popular brands Reebok and Adidas, among other American, Canadian and UK brands. The staff at Little Burgundy were friendly, knowledgeable and fashionable themselves.

I also went to the Vancouver Convention Center in the middle of mountains and waterfronts. It is an enormous facility measuring 1.1 million square feet, equivalent to four city blocks.

I had dinner at the Kobe Japanese Steak and seafood House with some members of the Filipino community. Kobe carries “on the ancient art of teppanyaki-hibachi style cooking, in authentic Japanese country-inn ambience”. It was a sumptuous feast of the finest steaks, fresh seafood and vegetables in authentic Japanese style. Since 1968, Kobe has been Canada’s first and premier Japanese steak house.

The places I visited in Canada are not enough to fill a travel journal, but I enjoyed the fellowship of former Filipinos who have made Canada their home.