The gym is cheaper here! And where are the gay men?

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I met up with Annie today. She used to go to the church where I go before her family moved here five years ago. She lost so much weight. Good for her. She works full time during the day and goes to college at night, and still she finds time to work out. Incredibly driven young lady. Anyway, we met up at Metrotown mall and from there we drove by her parents house who were not there, then to her gym in Coquitlam.

In the car we talked about her life here. The differences between life here and in the Philippines. What stuck to me the most is realizing that here everyone has a chance. Dreams are much easier to achieve here if you just work hard for it. She goes to college and she can afford to pay her own tuition. Its easier for people here to buy a car. Even those who earn minimum wage have cars. Maybe thats why there are so few buses here that they only come around every 30 minutes with eight or less people. According to a report from Rappler in February 2014 only 1% of Filipinos own cars. You can google that if you dont believe me. From the looks of it at least 80% of the population here own cars. And theyre nice cars! The gap between the rich and poor is not that big. Annie said you can achieve anything you want here if you just work hard for it. I doubt that because shes young and not even out of college yet but I know that that statement is a lot more true here than it is in the Philippines.

Moving on. She gave me an eight day pass! Yey! And shes got another one so I don't have to miss the gym. It's so hard to keep fit while travelling. You eat too much, there are no gyms in hostels and cheap hotels. We walk a lot to substitute for cardio. But what about muscle tone? Sorry that's important to me. Okay I'm a little vain. I wonder how Sophie's Dale does it. Anyway thanks to Annie thats not a problem anymore! We went to Steve Nash Fitness World. It's one of the more posh gyms here. I was so shocked to hear how much she pays for gym. $35 Canadian! It's a big gym, great facilities and she only pays $35. I go to Golds Gym in the Philippines and the monthly fee there is about $60. The facilities here are much better. How did that happen? What a rip off Golds Gym is! And thats just an average gym In the Philippines. The more posh gyms cost upwards $120 USD!

Sure everything else is more expensive here so I won't begrudge them that One thing. The group exercise room is small but ofcourse theres a lot less people here. Most of the people are white, I expected more asians like in Burnaby. Few asians, no black people. They say each town has a different demographic. So I guess this is a white town. Again Canadians are so nice, one approached and pointed out how I can improve my bench press. He even help me put on one of the plates on the bar. That has NEVER happened to me in Golds.

There was only one guy who went all the way in the locker room and stripped down to his birthday suit while changing clothes. He must be European. But I'm not sure if thats not Canadian culture because Annie said it's the same thing in the ladies room.

Few Canadians are fat. It's the opposite of what I expected because I know that a lot of Americans are overweight and there's a lot of similarities in their culture. Sorry Americans! I love Oprah and Apple computers!

Went to another branch of Steve Nash after a few days. This time it had pools and jacuzzis! All for $35 a month. Its just unreal. The jacuzzi was scalding hot. Sure its winter and it's cold outside but that doesn't warrant cooking yourself in a cauldron with other sweaty men. More naked men in the gym that day. So I guess its a Canadian thing.

After just a couple of days here I noticed that I haven't seen any gay men. I don't mean the ladyboys. I know not to expect a lot of them here. Maybe gay men here are just not effeminate. Like the gay men in the middle east. I just got so used to seeing gay men in the Philippines everyday that not seeing them seems weird.

I just found out that I can use the 1 zone fare ticket even if I am crossing 2 zones after 6:30pm and on weekends and holidays. I've been using the more expensive 2 zone tickets on my way back even if its after 6:30!

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