Finally Settle Down ....

I has been a busy week shopping for groceries & other appliances .... I have to go to Canadian Tires, which is abt 50 mins journey by public transport to purchase a Vacuum Cleaner which is abt CAD 40 dollars off & the cheapest Steam Iron we can find through Online searching......

Then More groceries to buy.... but bit by bit, luckily enough the Landlord was nice enough to bring me out in his car to buy all the heavy groceries stuff i.e. Bag of 18.8 kg Rice, 2 Bottle of Oil, Detergent etc. Then subsequently day by day we went out to buy Meat & Vegetables & other food stuff.....

It was really a busy busy week but we finally settled down & manage to celebrate my Daughter's Birthday today.

2nd Day .... Goes On...

Today we went to IKEA at Coquitlam to buy Bedding stuff, as we are currently sleeping on the Carpet floor. We took the Skytrain from Metrotown to Braid station & transfer on Bus 169 to reach at the entrance of IKEA. Luckily today is Victoria Day here hence the ticket for the trip is cheaper i.e. CAD 2.50 per person for all Zones on Sunday & PH only. If Not we may need to pay the price of 2 Zone Areas i.e CAD 3.75 per person.

The IKEA here is very BIG, it took us nearly 3 hrs to finish walking & purchasing the stuff we need. (including toilet & lunch break & other breaks due to the kids) Finally after making payment we head on to the Delivery Counter to request the BEDS to be delivered to our home. Normally it will take less than 3 days for the stuff to arrive but luckily they will send out the stuff to us tomorrow. However, I yet has to lug home some other stuff we bought ...... Heavy Heavy stuff, my shoulders are still aching..... but on the UPSIDE ... we will have BEDS to sleep in tomorrow.

Horray !!

1st Day in Vancouver ..

We finally moved to Vancouver today....

Actually we are living in Burnaby abt 15-25 mins drive away from Vancouver City. The reason we choose this place is there are several industrial area at the North of Burnaby & also the convenience of this place. We only need to walk abt 10-15 mins & we will reach Metropolis @ Metrotown - the Biggest Shopping Mall in Burnaby. Behind The Mall is the Metrotown Skytrain.

It was as expected a tiring day.... after we got of the plane with all the luggage, we got on to a pre-arranged transport to the House we rented in Burnaby. Then as planned we bought some pillows, Microwave, a bottle of 4L Milk & other stuff. The worst part is to carry the Microwave home from Metropolis Mall while my wife have to carry the 4 pillows & other stuff while guiding the kids home as well. I think we will probably take a week to settle down & got all the stuff we need.

It is a Fresh New Start here ...... expenses will be higher & hence the Pressure is "ON"....

Getting Ready to Move ....

It has been a busy day yesterday & today packing all our stuff. Finally managed to send out 9 boxes of stuff through FEDEX Ground Services under Postnet this morning. To my surprise it was inexpensive to send your stuff, if it is under non-urgency to reach you. I have 2 Extra Large boxes over 40 lbs, 2 boxes over 30 lbs, 1 boxes over 20 lbs , 3 boxes over 10 lbs & 1 boxes under 10 lbs. Hence the total shipping cost comes up to about CAD 220. This is considering cheap when I enquire for a 1 bedroom Mover Truck which comes up to about CAD 1500.

We will be flying to Vancouver this Sunday 23rd May, hence we have to still lug 6 Large Suitcases & 2 Child Car Seats from Kelowna to Burnaby again. It will definitely be another tiring day on Sunday as after we reach, we need to head out ASAP to buy Pillows, Microwave (needed to heat up Fresh Milk for the Kids) & other important stuff .... & probably we will go out to buy BEDS the next day. Next week will be a week full of activities .... hence I will try to update our situation ASAP.

Road Trip back from Vancouver ....

Maybe my previous description of the scenery wasn't good enough, hence I manage to take some pics on the way home. Please bear with me regarding the quality & the bus was moving very fast & the reflection from the windows .....





If you can see the 2 brown patch on Mountain in the picture below ... these are all the fallen trees... I believe may be due to Avalanche during Winter time.









You can basically call Canada "The Country Of Mountains" ....

The Canadian PR card looks like below ..... (sorry for the quality - accidentally overwrite the picture with a smaller pixel size) - The card looks better than S'pore PR card & they have many security marks to prevent forgery as well .....



1) Transparent window with PR holder's Picture on the right.
2) Watermark Birth Date & Sex beside the Main Picture
3) Small Printing of Holder's name in curvy waves beneath Transparent Window
4) Shining & Reflective Maple Leaf Logo
5) More over at the back has a 3D Barcode & many more security feature ......

OMG !! They really worry abt forgery .....

Apartment Hunting Day 2

Finally, today we managed to find a place in Burnaby.(15-20 mins away from Vancouver City by Skytrain) It is actually a Basement Unit of a house belonging to a Chinese family. They have been here for 7 years already & have since become Citizen.

Looks like we have to settle for this 1st & if we decide it is not suitable later, it will be much more easier to move since the whole family is here. But it seems the landlord is quite nice people & to what a coincidence they are from my Grandfather's hometown in China. I manage to put the 1/2 month deposit & rented the place straight away. (Rental is CAD 1k per month - include Internet, Water, Heat & Electricity)

Today was another tiring day as well cause I have to walk back and forth from my motel to the new place several times to put some of my belongings there. Then I had to take the Skytrain to the Airport to buy our flight ticket from Kelowna to Vancouver. Then I had to go to the Greyhound Bus Terminal again to buy a ticket back home tomorrow.

Another great news today is that finally our PR card has arrived today. Then we can get some stuff going ... e.g application of my CPF & also start driving test.

Yippee !!!

Apartment Hunting in Vancouver ....

It has been a really tiring day ... Although the scenic view along the trip was gawking but the 5 hrs ++ Bus ride was a pain in the Butt. The Govt here practically build the Highway alongside the steep High Mountain slopes & even some area have warning signs stating "Area Prone to Avalanche".

When I 1st reach Vancouver, I got on to the Sktrain. Another astonishing matter is that there are no gates or checkpoints to see if you have a ticket to board the Sktrain, they just based on Trust & Honesty of the passenger.

My mission here is to hunt for a suitable apartment. Unfortunately to my dismay there are several apartments (Horizon Towers & Panarama) who do not rent 1 bedroom (abt CAD 1200/month) apartment to family with kids, they require us to rent a 2 bedroom (abt CAD 1700/month). This is really ridiculous, I could actually threaten them that I will complain to the BC Human Rights Tribunal for discrimination, but what is the point ... even if I get to rent a apartment there, the relationship between landlord & tenant will be sour.

It is really a very tiring day but I just couldn't sleep well (now is 2am). I am worried if my journey here will be in vain. Tomorrow, I will head out again & hopefully I can find a good place. Being away from my family really make me miss them even more.

OMG !!!!!

BC Care Card

Got the BC Care Card yesterday & the bill for payment today. BC Care Card is the Medical Service Plan that is a must for every PR / Citizen / Students to BUY. It cost abt CAD 120 per month for my entire family. The benefits of this card ? it is just like your normal Health Care Insurance Card.

I'm peeved that the PR card has yet to arrive, cause I really need it for many things .......

Planning to Move to Vancouver ...

Jobs opportunity here in Kelowna is really really small, most of the job posting I have applied is in Vancouver. Heard from my aunt that even if the employer from Vancouver or Victoria want's to employ you ... they have to pay for the flights or lodging incurred. So there will be very little possibility the employer will spend such cost unless you are really TOP of your field in that job.

Hence, after much discussion we decided to move to Burnaby which is abt 25 mins drive away from Vancouver City. The only difficulty is we have to get a APT 1st b4 we move & then getting a mover company to move all our things. Therefor, I forsee that I will have to make a several trips there & most importantly there will be more COST involved.

We have checked & rental there is not cheap. Although we are looking at a 1 Bedroom & 1 Bath the rental is already abt CAD 1k per month, include HEAT & WATER (& some may include electricity). Haiz, it will be a harsh road ahead if I'm still unemployed ...... therefor I have to pull my confidence & guts together to strife hard.

& PRAY HARD !!!