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.

Landing experience (Canada)

Finally, I was so ready to ‘land’ after months of preparation for that day. Yeah, it was about 7 hour drive from Upstate

Baffalo, New York

New York. Luckily, a week before the day I landed, my cousin who then just visited Niagara Fall warned me of the traffic on Rainbow Bridge and another good friend suggested us to take Peace Bridge.

Since we (My dear friend and I) weren’t sure if Peace Bridge handles immigration, we called them a day before. They were very nice and we were so anxious that we even checked the ’live’ webcam on the site. It looked great, so then we decided to use it instead.

We were expecting some border patrols on the US side and to our surprise we didn’t see any. We just crossed the bridge and got to a booth. We waited for our turn and the lady at the booth asked us where we were going and why. We informed her that I was landing.  From her seat, she took a good look at our car and stuff. Then she asked me if I brought any fund. I told her the amount, then she gave us a slip and told us to drive up to a building on the right. Upon entering the building, there were two sections – on the right, there were a few immigration officers and on the left were custom officers. I was told to start on the right side. There was only one other person in front of me. The immigration officer was extremely nice. I showed him my passport and the landing paper. He asked me if I have a place to say yet. I gave him my contact address. He then entered that into the computer and asked me ‘my bank info’. I presented the ‘official bank check’ to him. He examined it and processed the info in the computer again. He then told me to sign the landing paper, handed me the carbon copy one and explained to me about what the paper meant. I didn’t know I have to use the very same paper to apply for retirement fund when I reach the retirement age?  He explained in great length about what I’d need to do – SIN card, health card, greencard, etc. He also went on and on about the process of re-entering the country should I decide to leave for some reason. Finally, he told me to go to the custom on the left hand side.

The custom guy asked me a list of things I brought. I had it typed up for about 4 pages and it took me a while to prepare. He asked me if I brought any arm or illegal stuff. Of course not! He looked at the first page and asked me if I have ‘any goods to follow’. The minute I said no, he stamped the landing paper copy and then said, ‘you are the best customer’. I didn’t know what it meant until much later. After three weeks here, came to a realization that the hefty tax rate on purchases here really adds up quickly. 14% in case you are wondering. No wonder, they loved the fact that I didn’t have any goods to follow. Anyway, they didn’t bother going through the rest of the pages nor keeping a copy of my list. I couldn’t help asking them if they wish to keep a copy. After all, it took a great deal of time and energy to prepare that list!

Then, we came back to the car. On the way out, we saw two buses parked and people poured out and joined the line i was in a few minutes ago. We just missed a huge line and were happy that the process went very smoothly.

CN Tower

The bottom line, the officers at the ‘Canadian’ border were very nice unlike those on the other side. Oh, I had quite an experience dealing with US border control officers a little under a year ago. One day, maybe I will write that experience here also.

Note: I was worried about the official bank check as I wasn’t sure if it has to be money order or traveller’s check. Really, it doesn’t seem to matter which type. In fact, I met someone just this morning and she came here from the US with bank statements alone. Well, it’s really up to you, but I wouldn’t take a risk.

Peace Bridge it is…