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)


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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)

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 !!!!

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.

Can really VOMIT BLOOD while waiting !!!

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.

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.

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.

I really need it !!!!

Journey Begins Part 1

Receive an e-mail from Canadian High Com in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia today ... .. regarding the approval of my Permanent Residence in Canada status. Surprisingly the entire process of my application to approval only took 15 months. Normal process previously (abt 1-2 yrs ago) applied by my 2 Aunt, who is now there took abt 3 years. We (me, my wife & my two kids) just finish / submitted our medical report a month ago & was really surprised to receive the e-mail with the letter attach below.



We was really caught off guard regarding this news. Moreover, I'm really confused & in dilemma on what to do next. There are a lot of preparation needed to be done & we do not know where to start.

Dizzzyyy !!!!!

Medical Checkup Experience.

There is only one Doctor who is approved to perform the Medical Checkup near Johor Bahru & below is the MAP from Google Map regarding the Clinics Location :- (a small & run down clinic)

Dr. Abraham Matthew
Klinik Malysia
97, Main Road, 81750 Masai, Johor.
Phn : 07-2511369



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I would say that this is the worst medical checkup experience I have had. Trying to get an appointment to see the doctor was a drag. I tried many times to make an appointment but fail to do so due to my availability & doctor's availability. There was once I call in the morning to make an appointment & the Nurses there told me I could come in the afternoon, hence I personally took leave from work to visit him. But to my despair when I reach there the other nurses told me that the Doctor will not be in today. I was like WTF!! .... waste my time & annual leave for nothing. I wrote an e-mail to the Canadian High to enquire if I could do my medical checkup in Singapore but there was no reply until I finally met up with Dr.Abraham on my 4th try.

Actually on the 1st visit, the doctor only gave me 2 forms to be filled up by the other examiner.... i.e. 1 for the X-ray Examiner at Wisma Maria & the other for the Urine & Blood Test at Century Garden's PathLab. After both examination is done & we have to bring the report back to Dr.Abraham for the 2nd visit & this visit did not happen until 2 wks time, coz the doctor was away for 2 weeks at that time. When we finally met up with him & completed our medical checkup, we are left with only 1 week before the date line for submission.