A second thought on ‘Goods to bring’
Toronto, Fall 2009
First off, Happy Halloween!
Today, the weather was nice – breezy but not too cold. A light jacket would do. I went on a 4-hr shopping spree along Yonge street and at Eaton Center in downtown. I detoured to this bookstore near Dundas and it is much bigger than the one I used to go – Indigo. The sight of a lady with some bloody white wedding-gown walking up and down the isle got me for a few seconds as I didn’t realize they were dressing up for the occasion. In fact, I bumped into many other costumes along the way and it was pretty amusing. The vibe was definitely there. I went straight to this computer section and found out that they have a limited collection of computer books. That seems to be the case for most bookstores I have been to so far.
I miss the books I left behind. There were quite a few things I wish I knew while I was packing – certainly the tax rate here and how some things wouldn’t be available here. The biggest misconception I had was that I could always buy things here if need be and maybe even cheaper due to the currency exchange rate. Boy, was I wrong. First, things generally are more expensive here. Second, the tax rate is almost doubled compared to NYC. Just the other day, I got some lotion for my friend on an American website. I couldn’t help noticing their tax-rate and how the shipping was free if shipped within the country. It’s amazing how quickly I got used to these new rates here. Third, stuff might not even be available here. Drugstores don’t seem to carry some of those Neutrogena products.
During the first time landing, we can declare/bring as many things as we want completely tax free. If only I knew, I would have packed, be more diligent about making the ‘goods to bring’ list and not waited to buy from here. Mostly, I dreaded to have to edit the list whenever I added on things. In the end, the custom didn’t even bother looking at my well-prepared list.
Well now that I am here and adjusted, I’d better not look back and just enjoy the shopping. 
Continuing education?
It just so happened that the years I graduated, there were also some sort of recession or global financial crisis going on.
In 2002, I finished my undergrad and it was almost impossible to get a job then. 9-11 happened a year prior to that and in NYC, businesses were cutting back and going through a hard-time. Even people with years of experiences were out of job and the competition was fierce. There were huge lines at various job fairs and we couldn’t help but hear how unemployment rate was going up in the news. My internship paid off as it put me ahead of my fellow students when it came to hands-on experience and during interviews. Crain’s New York Business actually conducted a brief interview as I happened to be one of those few who managed to land a job despite our so-called disadvantage of requiring someone to sponsor us for a job visa (H1-B). Things went smoothly I have to say…
It took me about two years to take GMAT (a standardized entrance exam for business schools) as I slacked off with tons of excuses. Meanwhile, I saw my classmates already in grad schools as they couldn’t find a job and continued on with their studies.
Finally, I got in one and took me about 5 years to finish the whole program. This time, I went only part-time and even took a semester off in between as I was switching jobs and stuff. I found myself surrounded with a whole new set of students. I didn’t find such drastic difference in grad and undergrad as far as studies and workload were concerned. Well, that’s not true. Two things were obvious. One, we ran the risk of public humiliation if we slack off as we had to do presentations in front of the whole class in every single class. Second, I found the students way smarter. While I was undergrad, I found myself average or maybe even a bit above average. If I didn’t do well in a test, I would still come off with a decent grade; not in this grad school though. I had to really ramp up.
Well, now that it’s over I was wondering what’s next. The economy has been in recession since last year and haven’t heard much great news yet. In the meantime, I was thinking maybe I will continue trying out some free online courses to keep abreast with current matters. I found a few useful options and thought I would share them here too. I tried a few courses from UC Berkley and love ‘em.
Check this out:
http://www.mytwodollars.com/2009/10/15/how-to-get-a-free-education-online/
Podcasts and Webcasts of UC Berkeley: http://webcast.berkeley.edu/
MIT open courseware: http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm
A few new things in Toronto
Yonge Street
Google voice is allowing free Canada calls. My friends in the States now can call me FREE and I can actually call them free too. Just needed a few tweak – i.e putting my number in the to-be-ring-back-to slot. Pretty neat.
Google map now has the street view of the city. So, if you search for say – dundas square, toronto – in the search box and drag the little man to the street, you can see the pictures of the street. Use the little arrow on the pictures to go around. You can take a virtual tour of the city. The pictures were taken recently and they show a great view of the city. Some like it. Some hate it. I love it!
US dollar is getting weaker compared to a few months ago and loonie now is worth some more. Glad to see it going up once in a while.
Wrapping up summer
Well, it’s about time we move on to Fall. After all, it’s getting dark at 8pm and even required a winter coat to step outside today. Thanksgiving holiday was over. Yeah, it was on October 11 and it certainly didn’t feel like Thanksgiving. Too early to be thinking about one.. Nevertheless, I thought I would just share some summer events that went on.
The last time we tried going to the center island, it was on labor day weekend. The line to the ferry was impossible even at 8am. So this year, we took an out of town friend to this Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) instead. It has a lot of ethnic food, fun rides and shopping area for stuff from around the world. This is one of the places we can certainly see how Canada is really promoting multi culture. I went there last year as a guest as someone local here took me there. This time, I get to be the local. Not bad, eh?
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- CNE
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- CNE
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- TIFF – Dundas SQ
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- At CNE – it took a few moments to decide where to dump the trash
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- TIFF – Free Movie
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- TIFF – Free Movie
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- TIFF – Free coffee
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- Free Horror Movie at TIFF (Dundas Square)
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- Toronto Film Festival – Director doing a QA session
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- Yonge Street – near Dundas Square
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- CNE – ice skating show
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- CNE – ice skating show
We went there using a streetcar – those that run on rails. And they were all jammed packed. We happened to go there on the last day and there were about 8 cars before we could get on one. After seeing the ice-skating show and all the exhibition, it was all worth it. This time, we didn’t try any ride.
Then, there was a Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in early Sept. I didn’t know what that was about until I tried one. Apparently, a lot of hollywood movie stars came to Toronto to promote their films and these films are brand new which weren’t shown anywhere else. Normally, it costs about $12 for regular movies and for movies during the event, it’s about $20. Even with the marked up price, all the shows were gone by the time we decided to go. Only then did I learn that we had to get the ticket in advance to get a movie that was popular. The great ones were all sold out even before the event! Just for the sake of it, we tried one. We just grabbed one that were available and it was not even in English but with some English subtitle. The director of the movie introduced the movie before and afterward he came out and did some Q/A session. The particular movie we saw was totally stopped in the middle. At least that’s how I felt. He said it was open ended and it’s left for our own interpretation.
One great thing though is that it brought a lot of people out on the streets and around the cinemas. At Dundas square, they held a few movies free out in the open. I saw a horror movie and it was a unique experience. I enjoyed it even more. A few vendors such as starbucks and some soda company were giving out free drinks. The city was lively and we could feel the excitement in the air.
I guess, the events are pretty much over. It’s hard not to think about the looming freezing weather. Oh well.
Summer Fun
The weather is finally getting really warm and humid.
Last weekend was a long weekend for us. Monday was Civic day and the city got unusually empty. Later, I found out that people usually go to cottages during their summer holidays. That sounds like a way to get out of hassle bustle city life. I spent the holiday in some sort of Canadian way too. A friend of mine had a barbeque party and we did some serious grilling. I heard a lot about my coworkers enjoying gardening and there I saw this friend having a pretty decent garden with some respectable tomatoes, pears and peppers. We even used some of them.
The summer has been pretty great. The garbage strike is officially over and the city is super clean again. Here, pride parade seems to be a big event. The parade was along Yonge street and there were many people despite the rain. Surprisingly, the rain stopped as soon as the parade started. It went on about a good 3 hours and it was so much fun. Along with the festivity we had street fairs and stage shows with great performances. The show went on till mid-night.
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- Pride Parade
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- Pride Parade
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- Jazz Festival – Montreal
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- BBQ – Civic Holiday
We saw similar festivities and events during my visit to Montreal. It was during Canada day (July 1) week. They call it Jazz festival and we saw not only Jazz, but also many other great performances. These were all free on the streets. Some places checked our bags for security purposes.
Even on regular weekends, Dundas Square seems to have events on a regular basis. A couple of weeks ago, one of the best Canadian comedians (Russle Peters) did a show there. His show normally costs around $100 per seat and he did the show for free at Dundas. Needless to say, a lot of people showed up. He was hilarious!
Youtube has some of his clips:
Russell Peters Indian Vs Chinese
A year after landing in Canada
If this is any indication of time fleeing, we should really cherish our current moments. Time is flying super fast!
I can still vividly recall the days I crossed the border and frantically looking for an apartment. The year was filled with excitement and a lot of homesickness. Winter was pretty brutal especially for immigrants like us. There wasn’t really much going on and it was a big hassle to just step outside. Summer is a different story. Festivals and events are popping up in corners and people are just everywhere. If it weren’t for the garbage strike, it would have been even better. Some events got cancelled because of it and the city is no longer clean now.
Social life: I have managed to make a few friends but rarely hang out with them. Of the two friends that I normally hang out with, one has to leave the country as her visa is expiring this summer. I happen to hang out a bit more with co-workers but they also say it’s tough in the city to make friends. Everyone is so busy with his/her own thing. Not long ago, I was also very busy with school work as well.
Job: I am still at the very job I landed first. This week, there was a massive lay off at work and a number of coworkers in my office got laid off. I am dejected and at the same time realized how the timing played a big part. I got here right before the global recession and was lucky enough to have landed a job within a month. While I was in NYC, I noticed how little response I got from Canadian companies as opposed to the ones from NYC. I was attributing to the fact that I didn’t have the local phone number and that they might not be interested in hiring people from far away. The sheer number of jobs available here is a lot fewer for sure. I wonder how it’s like in NYC now. Could it be that there was a delay in the recession hitting Canada? Or, maybe I wasn’t just aware of it until it is happening right at my work. At one point, I was thinking we are over the worst and recovering already.
Apartment: Three months ago, I received a notice that my rent is going to go up about 20% once the lease is expired. I have been looking for a place to move but the prices are comparable else where too. I heard renting is harder this time as people are trying to sell the houses and renting more.
Utilities: Bell’s mobile internet service can be intermittent. It won’t even admit that. Instead, the little browser will say .. please check the address again. I had it bookmarked in favorite and there was no room for mistyping. It happened one too many times that I have now accepted that the service was just temporarily down. I also know that I am paying double the price for what my friend is getting at Telus. But she’s a long-term customer there. I certainly have to renegotiate my contract though. Rogers, on the other hand, always charges me $5 more every month! There is always a balance carry over of $5 every month although I paid in full. I called them after three months of being overcharged. I was bounced between 4 different reps and finally got it settled. I saw it happening again, but haven’t got the time and energy to go through the claim process all over again.
Provinces: the different provinces act as if they were in different countries. Even the regular phone plans do not include other provinces. Unlike in the states where phone plans are usually nation-wide, Toronto has it’s own GTA plan. Nationwide would be a lot more expensive. Even Verizon service Canada plan covers the whole Canada for regular charge. This summer, I got a chance to visit Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec. It was really nice and was very impressed at Ottawa. I plan to share the experiences from the trip later.
So far, so good.
Seeing a specialist – entirely free as long as you can afford time
Finally, I saw a specialist the walk-in clinic recommended. It took about one week for them to contact me since I visited this clinic and three weeks to see the specialist. I was told that the consultation was covered by OHIP.
The wait was about 40 minutes and the consultation lasted for about 10-15 minutes. He was attentive to the matters and I was happy with the service with only one exception. Since it was such a hassle to get out of work during day time and the wait, I decided to ask one other issue i have on top of the two issues I originally came to see. He stopped me and said he would take only one or two issues per visit. I thought it was odd, but it didn’t bother me as I was in a rush too.
So far, I have seen three doctors – one walk-in, one family doctor and a specialist for free. As long as we can afford the time (to wait around in the clinics and to get an appointment with the specialist), it seems like a pretty good system.
Happy to have survived the Winter
Thought I would share some pictures from winter. It was cold! And it snowed almost every single day. All I could remember was we were in minus the whole time and one time the weather man was like … Great news. It’s gonna be zero today. They use celius here by the way.
That explains why people are all happy and out in the summer time. We can see street fairs and events popping up every where. It was a bit tough in winter time especially for us. We have yet to make many friends and the weather was just a hassle to go out. The only time I saw many people on the street was on Boxing day (the day after Christmas day). Supposedly, it’s the only day or week when stores give out huge discounts and great deals. As for me, I didn’t really get anything as it was really crowded and there were huge lines every where – cashiers, food court, washrooms, etc.
I am glad it’s summer now.
Summer Guests
1) Some sort of strike is going on now. So, please expect to see and sense garbage everywhere on the streets. No need to worry at my apartment ‘cuz the garbage shoot is still working well and things haven’t piled up to the floor yet.
2) Heard something about Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) strike as well. Though it was handled yesterday, i am not sure it was just postponed or really handled. To be on the safe side, you might wanna bring your own booze.
3) Thai food won’t make you cry. Ethnic food is really ‘Canadianized’ here (or at least around here).
4) Street cars (those that run on tracks) will stop in the middle of the street and yeah, you are to get off in the middle of the street. It’s really exciting!
5) Please expect to pay 5 cents for plastic bags in department stores, grocery stores, Durane Reade (btw, they call it Shoppers), etc. We are environmentally very friendly.
6) Try envision the word ‘Washroom’ a few times before you cross the border. It’ll save a lot of time having to look for one. In case of emergency, it just doesn’t jump out.
7) Exchange rate is pretty good. It was $1 for one loonie when i first got here. All the reasons to come here now.
Events and festivals are everywhere. People are brite and the mood is just awesome.
Family doctor
Within the 3 visits to this family doctor, I learned that he was sitting at the clinic from 7:30 to 8:30am and book about 6 to 7 patients during that one hour. Then he heads to a hospital. That early hour, the receptionist wasn’t there and he was the only one taking care of making next appointments and everything. Twice he came in about 15 minutes late and we were just squeezed in within the minutes left in the hour. We were visibly rushed!
For the very first appointment, I had to wait for about 40 minutes. My appointment was at 7:45am and saw him at about 8:25am. I was told to fill out a few forms and come back next week. I had to slow him down a bit as I wanted to skim through the papers needed to be signed. He asked me if i have any concern or so with my health and then we had to rush out because it was 8:30. He told me to return next week at 7:15am. I didn’t know the clinic didn’t open till 7:30am.
The next week, I waited outside since 7:10am and he arrived at 7:45am! I had to wait outside the clinic and a few others showed up while we were waiting for the doctor. Then, he saw two other patients first although they arrived later than me. I was thinking maybe their appointments were at 7am?
I quickly figured out that three elderly men seem to be regulars there. They showed up weekly (at least I remembered seeing them the week before). Anyway, the second time I saw the doctor, he filled out two forms and informed me to go across the hall to get a blood test. He didn’t conduct any examination or any sort. I had to wait for about 50 minutes before I could get these referral forms. Here, labs actually took your blood and stuff.
On the third visit, he took my blood pressure. And then I had to get on the scale and told him the weight as he was busy filling out paperwork. He explained a bit about the results and then within 5 minutes I was out of the office. Upon requesting a copy, he told me to come back again as the receptionist wasn’t there to make one for me. I said I would make one really quick as I can see the copier standing right by the door. It was just a futile effort. I had to go there again just to get a copy of the results. The receiptionist was overwhelmed with many patients lining up and incessant phone calls. It took her about 35 minutes to make a copy of these 4 pages.
In short, I didn’t feel like I got the attention even within that 5 minutes I was with him. He didn’t even check the pulse rate or any. The time pressure was so enormous that I really wonder if all the docs are like this or he’s just one off. In the States, I did feel the time pressure but at least the doc appeared calm and made some conversations. There were always some time for Q&A and assistants to measure the basic things. After all, it really is not all that!
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