First, I was surprised that many Canadians were concerned about their security. I remember watching shows that compare how Americans and Canadians put importance on security. I thought Canadians feel more safe. I was wrong. And apparently, there is a reason behind it.

On our last day in the city, we decided to drop by the Elizabeth Park before heading to a lunch meeting. The park is the most massive one I've seen so far. There were hectares and hectares of beautiful flowers and trees and plants that you would probably never see in Southeast Asia. 

It took us less than an hour to go around the park before we decided to leave. When we got back to our car, we were surprised to see the window on the passenger seat smashed! Just like in the movies! The thieves took:

- 1 macbook pro with a few accessories

- 1 Asus Zenbook laptop

- 1 old iPad

- cash

Important rule: NEVER LEAVE ANYTHING VALUABLE IN YOUR CAR! EVEN IN CANADA!

The whole thing was a mess. We had to go to the Vancouver Police (who were very 'accommodating' by the way) and file a report. My colleague's passport was in his laptop bag so we had to go to the Philippine Consulate to get travel documents. We had only a few hours before our flight leaves YVR!

Thank goodness everything worked out well. The Police report was filed. The travel docs came right on time. We were able to board our 12-hour flight back to Manila hassle-free... well, almost hassle-free.

A few lessons we learned:

- Always know the location of your country's consulate office

- Photocopy your tickets, passport, photo IDs, hotel reservation, etc and put copies in different bags.

- Again, NEVER leave anything in your car especially your valuables.