Health is Wealth

Today is a an eventful day.

First of all it is Halloween - so lots of people walking around in custome.
Secondly there's daylight savings for Nova Scotia, so by end of day (Oct 31), we'll have to reset our watches to 1 hr backwards. This means we'll be 12 hrs behind Malaysia instead of the normal 11 hrs we're familiar with.
3rd - Wife went to Pete's on here own (while I waited). Pete's have great discounts this week as its celebrating its 5 yrs in Spring Garden Rd. As a result our fridge is PACKED!

Lastly, its the first time I'm officially using my MSI card.
Yes I went to see the doctor. That's why wife went to get some veg and bread. Most of the things at home are meaty or either to be grilled.

Well I hope it would be the last (well except for Nov 19 which is the day both wife and I have booked an appointment for our H1N1 vaccination and influenza jab) time I'm using the card.

Its really troublesome to be sick here. Don't mention the fact that we do not drive, but even when you get to the clinic, you'll have to make sure that you have an appointment first. Of course, calling them is another issue - they hardly pick up the phone!!! Not to mention that certain doctors can be crap (fortunately the one that check me today wasn't). Then last but not least, medicine are not dispense at the clinic, but infact the pharmacy, so if you're lucky, clinic may be next to one, if not, you'll have to go find a pharmacy.

So, "health is wealth"...

Time to detox and be a vegetarian for a day or two... Nobody wants to go through being sick. Not even the caregiver (thanks wifey)....

6 Months Already...

Just want to take a short break to update our blog and say that it has been ½ a year since we arrive here in Canada.

And, supposing that we'll be here for another 4 ½ years, that means we have just completed 1/10 of our time here.

9/10 more to go...

p.s. We've just got our new sofa bed we ordered. Now we can relax in the living space when we're tired with sitting on the wooden chair.

Weird? You Tell Me.

We always read the weather forecast. Its important. Especially in Nova Scotia where the weather is always a little crazy at times.

Just like at this coming Friday's forecast.

Swine Flu Vaccine Approved... Time To Roll Up Our Sleeves

Yup, Canada's Ministry of Health has finally approve the H1N1 vaccine.


They're quickly rolling it out nationwide. Provincial wide, Nova Scotia government will be announcing their immunization plan soon. Not sure if landed immigrants and foreign students would also have a shot. Will be staying tune to the needs from the online papers and also the university and see what they have to say.

Inspired

Next aim is to cook up something like this:

Grilled Turkey and Brie Sandwich with Cranberry Chutney

http://closetcooking.blogspot.com/2009/10/grilled-turkey-and-brie-sandwich-with.html

Looks delicious. Are you salivating already?

Easy pocket guide: A Student's Guide To Shopping Essentials In Canada (Applies to Halifax, mainly).

As part of my continuation to the earlier blog entries I had written,

• A Student's Newcomers Guide (Prelude) to Studying In Canada
• A Student's Newcomers Guide to Studying in Canada Part 1
• A Student's Newcomers Guide to Studying in Canada Part 2
  

I'll like to share another tip for any other newcomers to this part of Canada particularly (Eastern side - Halifax, NS). Although its meant to target students, but it may apply to others who believes that there's always other better deals out there.

Here's all you need to know, to get going and being able to start your life and live within your budget. Personally I wish I had known most of these before hand so that I could have saved more.
p.s. you may be a bit luckier if you had gone to studying in bustling places like Toronto, Calgary, Victoria, Vancouver, etc as they tend to sell some of the essentials at a slightly lower price as oppose to over here.

So, here's the deal...

When down in Halifax, all you need if you pretty noob and new to the surroundings, just find out how to get to Halifax Shopping Center (HSC). The stores that you'll find bargains for your simply basic needs are.

• Dollarama - simply things like light bulb, kitchen utensils, glue, stationary, gloves, scarfs, etc.
• Walmart - don't buy it unless there's discount. But most things should be better priced then others like Zellers. They do have discounts regularly, so watch out for things like electrical items (boiler, mixer, mini-oven), clothes, shoes, ligthings, bedding wears, etc.
• Sears outlet - if you want to find for slightly branded items that are on discount (believe it or not up to 70% sometimes), then this is the place to go. Its a little hidden here in HSC (behind of Walmart), so be on a lookout for it. You'll find your Timberland or Columbia shoes going for 50% - 70%. Clothes are also cheaper and of more variety. Of course you'll have to find if there's any your size or not. The trick is, there's no fitting room, they store tries to make it as hard as possible for your to try different things on and decide. They just want you to buy it there and then without much evaluating. And to top that up, there's no returns! But mostly the things there are at a bargain! Just that they may have some slight defects so be on a look out for it and see if you're comfortable with that.

As for food? There's no 1 particular place that sells them at a bargain. This is a bit tricky. I wrote a short blog on it comparing the various retail outlets here.
Personally I feel that Atlantic Superstore has the best offers although, you'll need to be careful as they are a bit more lousy when it comes to quality control (for fresh products). Sobey's on the other hand tends to offer things at a better deal if you'd buy a little more. e.g. a buy 2 of the same product and pay less overall.
Of course if you're not really into fresh food, then you could just settle with Walmart. But if you feel that you miss your home food and want to whip something like char kueh teow, then you could head to the Asian groceries. Just google it within Google Maps (type Asian Groceries) and you'll be able to see where they are located. There's even an Indian groceries at Robie Street.

I've snapped a shot of Walmart (Mumford road) and Halifax Shopping Center using Google Street view.

Bus Service

One thing that makes us feel good about moving around without a car here is the quality of bus service in Halifax. Despite it not being as metro as Toronto, rest assured that bus service is to its mark compared to Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley back home.

Who cares about train or rail transit when you have great bus service that comes on time and on schedule!

Top that up, they even have a buses for disable



where the allow for people on wheel chair to go up to the bus on a ramp.



To top that up, the buses also kneels so that it won't tired elderly from jumping up and off the bus.





better yet, you can even attach your bicycle to the front of the bus in the even that you intend to take it around.

Malaysia should learn from this. Of course I don't have much hope that they would.