LUCKY TO BE IN VANCOUVER

                                     

    by TOM CHOY

    Vancouver, BC Canada

                                              

" This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters."    1 John 3:16

I am still feeling lucky having a rare chance to help other people through the Vancouver Salvation soup kitchen program. Our Ateneo Alumni Association of BC volunteered a few alumni members to help prepare the Thanksgiving dinner for over a  hundred people in Downtown Vancouver.

I also participated in the Richmond Salvation Army branch at Gilbert Street in a couple years past. Little gestures that mean a lot to me. If I am on the other side and needing some hot meals prepared by other people, I will certainly feel very lucky as well. Otherwise, being on the giving side makes me a lot luckier.

We were also lucky to hold our fund-raising alumni ball at the Pacific Gateway Hotel. We raised money for our over decades long Ateneo scholarship program. Ed Faelnar, our AAABC President and his minions worked so hard to have a great ball with a live band to help GG Francisco and his scholarship team bolster the scholarship fund.

GG says the scholarship program from our BC end produced a few professionals like doctor, and business executives who pay it forward by helping other scholars when it is their turn to help. Kudos to GG and his team. You know who you are.

Bea Alonzo and Aga Mulach recently made a full length movie in Vancouver, BC directed by veteran director Paul Soriano. It was a love story and it featured some of the most spectacular views and locales in Vancouver. It could very well be a Vancouver Tourism production.

It showed the breathtaking North shore mountains and waterfront buildings of Vancouver and Stanley Park. When I was a newcomer in Vancouver we went to the Capilano Suspension Bridge and  Aga and Bea had a scene there when Aga froze crossing the bridge. Bea probably felt like she wants to cross but she needed to accept that it will be another day when Aga will do it. Watching the movie reminds me how lucky I can be to be a tourist everyday in my adopted city, Lotusland.

The movie called for showing the facade of the St. Paul Hospital on Burrard St because the two of them  have some medical issues in the movie.

The movie pacing was fast but not fast enough for western standards. I thought one character will pass on and I was expecting to bring out my hankie just in case but I was not in a position to cry at  the end of the movie. Perhaps, the story line needs some tweaking to end up like the Ryan O Neal and Ali Mcgraw starrer "Love Story." 

I am proud that our Philippine movies are featured in Netflix. I am looking to discover more of our culture and distinct nuances through Netflix while travel is a challenge to the Philippines during the pandemic. The vaccine shows some promise and even the producers of Oscar TV show is intending to make it an in person event in 2021. That's so promising and it gives us some silver lining.

And kudos to Canada and Canadians, Canada has been chosen the Best Place to Live by Google users in 2020. Canada usually get rated top 5 or better the last few years by international rating companies and institutions based on quality of life, livability, educational and medical care facilities and programs, and employment opportunities.

Aside from the movie First Love, Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones made a movie titled Double Jeopardy in North Vancouver some years ago. The movie made for television Once Upon A Time was shot in Steveston, Richmond BC. That's why Vancouver was dubbed Hollywood North. The pandemic has affected this blessing for Vancouver as movie productions stopped because of covid. We are confident the old, good times will be back again with the emergence of a covid vaccine.