Visit to Edmonton

14 - 24 Oct 2008

Sent to Edmonton for business, for 2 weeks, which is a good chance for me to explore more about Canada though. Edmonton is the capital for the province of Alberta, located on the central-western part of Canada. The city is located on the North Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province.

First impression of Edmonton: so few people, so quiet, somehow like a ghost town, especially after 4pm or 5pm, after work. The LRT and the stations are always so deserted, and the shopping malls were closed by the time we knocked off.

The road names are just numbers, eg. 103 St, 82 Ave. So "original", and totally lack of uniqueness, though it is perfectly practical. The horitzontal roads are called Avenue, and the vertical ones are known as Street.

My colleagues and I had lots of Japanese food, because there are some very nice Japanese restaurants around the area. I met a medical student on exchange for 2 weeks in Edmonton, and she will be in Toronto for her next exchange, happy to meet someone new, made me feel that I am not alone though!

As for business, happy to be working on this client, because they are so quick and so organized, that it is them who is pushing for output, rather than the usual other way round. It is all about the tone at the top, from the higher management who emphasized on the importance and quality of audit. Very impressive client! And I love them so much!

As we were walking on the streets, we saw many darker-skinned people, whom at first I thought were Mexicans, but they were actually the Native Indians, the pioneers of the country. Also the people there are extremely friendly as well. Asked them 1 little question, and they give you tons of information...

The popular nightlife area is the Whyte Avenue (82 Ave) strip, concentrated between 109 and 99 Streets. It has historical buildings, and lots of other restaurants and pubs. Other entertainment includes shopping at the biggest shopping mall in North America, the West Edmonton Mall. It has a Galaxyland (indoor amusement park), World Waterpark (indoor waterpark), Sea Life Caverns (indoor salt-water habitat for sea lions) etc.

As for the nature, we realized that the leaves colour change was only yellow and brown, not as colourful and exciting as compared to Ontario. Overall, no special likes or dislikes for the city, just like what it is like anyway. Think I better find something to like about it, as I will be back again for business very soon...