Thursday, June 25, 2009

Journey Begins Part 2 - The Final Truth

Today, the final truth about our application status has been revealed....

9:25 am - Flight from Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur (Air Asia Cost RM 65)

10:10 am - Arrival at KL's LCCT. Grab a Taxi to Menara Tan & Tan 18th Floor (Cost RM 70)

11:15 am - Finally reach the Destination (shown in MAP below)


View Larger Map

Visa & Immigration Dept Operating Hours :-
Mon-Thurs 8:30 am to 11:30 am, 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm
Friday 8:30 am to 11:30 am.


11:20 am - Reach 18th Floor, has to pass trough tight security & Hand Phone has to be turned off & locked inside a locker before I was allowed to enter the Visa & Immigration Department.

11:23 am - Handed in the Passport & Approval letter for processing .... JUST IN TIME (b4 they closed at 11:30 am)sweating

11:40 am - 1:30 pm - Lunch Time at Menara Tan & Tan's cafeteria at 8th Floor.

1:30 pm - Back into the Visa & Immigration Department to wait for the Passport.

3:15 pm - Finally the wait was "OVER" .... receive the Documents & Visa from the Canadian High Commission.

Generic Document :-

Canada VISA :- (for immigrant)



3:30 pm - Grab a Taxi back to KLIA (Cost RM80)

4:15 pm - Reach KLIA Airport

5:25 pm - Flight from Kuala Lumpur to Johor Bahru (Malaysia Airline Cost RM 99)

6:10 pm - Finally reach JB's Senai Airport.

What a DAY !!!! haiz

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Re-New Passport !!

Today, we went to re-new my two kids passport. Although my daughter's passport expired in 1 yr time & my son's passport expired in 3 yrs time, we decided to re-new both their passport to have full validity before we start our journey. This is because it is inconvenient to travel to the High Commission of Malaysia in Canada which is located in Ontario (east end of Canada) while where we will be staying in Kelowna near to Vancouver (west end of Canada).

Luckily the Immigration Centre in JB for re-newing passport was open in the weekends from 8am to 1pm. We reach there exactly on 8am but found that many others has already entered the building & receive their queue number. Our Queue Number is "24". By 8:40 am our queue number was called & finally our application being process & it all takes about 5-8 mins. However, the dreadful wait begins as my sons is getting agitated.... it took us 1hr to finally receive the receipt for payment. This receipt is essential as we need it to collect the passport in 2 hrs time upon the issuance of the receipt.

However, we finally collected our kid's passports around 11:30 am that day.

vomit2 Can really VOMIT BLOOD while waiting !!!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Shopping Begins !!!

Last weekend, me & my family went to shop for some stuff to bring over to Canada.

1st we went to this 100Yen shop at Permas Jaya along the road where KFC is situated. We found several cheap bargains. My wife notice somethings that was sold online with a higher price but was only RM4.50 each in this shop.

1) Animal Egg Shaper.



2) Microwave Able Tupperware. (for our family to bring lunch to work / school)



3) Sushi Rice Mould.



2ndly, we went on to search for a luggage which my wife previously seen on the Internet. This luggage has 2 sets of zipper that can be un-zip to enlarge the size of the luggage. Although, it is soft skin but it will be good enough for us to put our clothings & less fragile things in it. Finally we found it at one of the stores in Sutera Mall. You will be surprised to know we actually bought 4 of this luggage. Although, it is a bit Pricey (abt RM69 ea) but I don't know where else we can search for it in JB.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Planning !!??

After much discussion we planned to make the migration trip after Chinese New Year 2010, i.e. somewhere around March 2010. (which is just inside the 12 months validity date of our required arrival period in Canada)

We consider ourselves lucky already since we have several relatives already there & most probably will be staying at my Aunt's place in Kelowna, BC. She is planning to buy a town house / condo by end of this year as her "Early Accommodations Benefits" from her company will expire soon as she was transfered there from another city. Hence, by staying with her we are able to save on rental until I get a better paying job & should at least pay some amount of rental to her.

She was kind enough also to go shopping in Kelowna for Winter clothings for us during this period & she really knows how to picked up real cheap bargains.(as always) Winter clothing in Johor Bahru really cost a BOMB.

carefree

Monday, June 1, 2009

My Mind....

At 1st we didn't think much when we started to apply for PR in Canada but a lot has been on my mind lately while waiting for the official letter from High Com to arrive.

  • Do I want to give up all I have here for Life in Canada?
  • Will I be able to sell of my house at a good price before I leave?
  • Will life be better there than here?
  • Will I get a JOB of my liking & will the salary be good?
  • Will I be able to provide what I have been providing now to my family in the future there?

Many things & dilemma run across my mind ... but my wife assures me that we will get over all the difficulties together. One thing she said that strikes me is that will life here sustain in 5-10 yrs time, what if one day I get retrenched here what will happen then? Will I be able to support my 2 kids to College or University Overseas with my current pay & savings? What if I grow old, what benefits will I get from the Govt here? Hence will all these said, I finally made a decision to Gamble it all by going to Canada for a better lifestyle & for our children's future.

goodluck I really need it !!!!