REGINA / VANCOUVER / LOS ANGELES TRAVEL TO THE US21
As planned the six of us , self and wife Seethalakshmi , Daughter Anoobala , Son in Law Kamesh , Grand Daughter Aarna and Grandson Arya were finally on our way to the US . Although i have been to quite a few countries on various occasions , travel to the US and that too for the first time was always going to be special .
It was a journey in two parts . Regina to Vancouver being the first leg and after a two hour Transit then on to Los Angeles. The Regina to Vancouver leg was uneventful save for the minor pranks of my Grand Children .
Vancouver is one of the largest cities in Canada and its swanky airport with its all glass facade is awesome . It attracts a large number of visitors from within Canada and across the border from the US . It is unique as the only major city in Canada that has no snowfall right through the year .
Next the interesting part . The immigration check for entry in to the US is done at the last port of departure by US officials at VANCOUVER itself and one could just walk out of the airport at Los Angeles. My daughter , son in law and the kids being Canadian Citizens had no problem and were let into the security check area . Ours was not so smooth, many questions were asked and answered and only after we mentioned that we were going to Los Angeles for sight seeing which included DISNEYLAND AND UNIVERSAL STUDIOS would they stamp our passports and let us in to the security check area .
Sure enough , we presented ourselves with our boarding passes and hand luggage . My wife had no problem , but i was asked to step aside for a physical check with body frisking and a check of all the items in the hand luggage . When i enquired why i alone was being asked to undergo this procedure, he showed me the boarding pass which had SSSS marked on it .
( I later learnt that the 4S stood for SECONDARY RANDOM SECURITY SELECTION SYSTEM designed by the US TRANSPORTATION ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES for a check on anyone using the AMERICAN AIRSPACE AT RANDOM )
The American Security man was of Indian Descent and was rather soft but firm and after 30 mts of examination ensured that i did not carry any WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION with me and let me pass .
( ONLY ONE KG OF SHANTI SWEETS NELLAI ALWA WAS CONSIGNED TO THE DUSTBIN )
We barely made it to the Aircraft by the scheduled departure time .
The flight was SMOOTH and we collected our checked in luggage without any other check and Lo and Behold , we were in the city of Los Angeles , the second largest city in the US .
MORE ABOUT MY LOS ANGELES SIGHT SEEING IN MY NEXT BLOG
It was a journey in two parts . Regina to Vancouver being the first leg and after a two hour Transit then on to Los Angeles. The Regina to Vancouver leg was uneventful save for the minor pranks of my Grand Children .
Vancouver is one of the largest cities in Canada and its swanky airport with its all glass facade is awesome . It attracts a large number of visitors from within Canada and across the border from the US . It is unique as the only major city in Canada that has no snowfall right through the year .
Next the interesting part . The immigration check for entry in to the US is done at the last port of departure by US officials at VANCOUVER itself and one could just walk out of the airport at Los Angeles. My daughter , son in law and the kids being Canadian Citizens had no problem and were let into the security check area . Ours was not so smooth, many questions were asked and answered and only after we mentioned that we were going to Los Angeles for sight seeing which included DISNEYLAND AND UNIVERSAL STUDIOS would they stamp our passports and let us in to the security check area .
Sure enough , we presented ourselves with our boarding passes and hand luggage . My wife had no problem , but i was asked to step aside for a physical check with body frisking and a check of all the items in the hand luggage . When i enquired why i alone was being asked to undergo this procedure, he showed me the boarding pass which had SSSS marked on it .
( I later learnt that the 4S stood for SECONDARY RANDOM SECURITY SELECTION SYSTEM designed by the US TRANSPORTATION ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES for a check on anyone using the AMERICAN AIRSPACE AT RANDOM )
The American Security man was of Indian Descent and was rather soft but firm and after 30 mts of examination ensured that i did not carry any WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION with me and let me pass .
( ONLY ONE KG OF SHANTI SWEETS NELLAI ALWA WAS CONSIGNED TO THE DUSTBIN )
We barely made it to the Aircraft by the scheduled departure time .
The flight was SMOOTH and we collected our checked in luggage without any other check and Lo and Behold , we were in the city of Los Angeles , the second largest city in the US .
MORE ABOUT MY LOS ANGELES SIGHT SEEING IN MY NEXT BLOG
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