Category: This Town

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Enjoying Friendship

Friends come in different shape and sizes and at different times of our lives. And with every friendship – I hope to be the one to be giving and not the one receiving anything in return.  My beautiful friends from Peru that I’ve come to love and spend a lot of time with are leaving for Ottawa soon – I’m so sad – and so is Chloe but at least we know that we both came from different countries but met here in Canada.

I will always treasure our friendship even though we are going to be far away from each other.  I wish them well – and wished I had gotten to know them a lot earlier.

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Education In The West

I don’t know about United States but here in Canada I realized that kids do learn a lot more than we did when I was Chloe’s age.  When I was in school, we were told to memorize and to do formulas without really understanding the basics or having fun at it.  Chloe loves school because she is given a chance to be creative and explore where else back home, we just had to keep up.  There was really no fun in school for me at all during Chloe age, it was do or get caned.  So I’m really pleased that Chloe is learning with fun, she was able to come back and tell us stuff that even I don’t know – like Canada’s history – for example – Africville.  Yes! silly me ! i thought she was talking about the Smurfs when she asked me if I knew about Africville – since I said mummy knows everything – so she caught me there – mannnn!!!  these days kids are so smart !

While friends told me that they return home and have no regrets, I think I’m staying in Canada because I really don’t think Chloe would learn with so much fun if she was back home in Singapore.

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Blame It On The Asian Mom Again!

So we had the parents and teacher’s meet 2 days ago and although Chloe didn’t do too bad – all As except in English – her composition wasn’t that good according to her teacher.  Her home room teacher then said something about – it might be difficult because of the way we speak at home – and turned towards me – meaning it’s because of my accent?  or because I’m Asian – so I’m deemed not to speak good enough English?  She said sometimes we write the way we talked and i do agree with her but when she turned and looked at me – does that mean that she was saying that it had to do with me?  Yup ! I try not to take a lot of things personally these days but one cannot help but wonder right?

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Winter Boots For The Kid

Fall is definitely here by the weather we got today and even though we don’t like to see Christmas decoration for sale in the mall, we have to face the fact that Mr Winter is coming whether we like it or not.  The school had sent home notice about sledding and snowboarding and that helmet is now required but not compulsory yet.   Time to get Chloe some  Snowboard Boots  before we can’t find the right size and color for her.  Anything pink is good but I have to buy something slightly bigger for her because she refused to wear anything that is fitting for her feet.   I don’t know if it is a good thing but whenever we feel that the shoes or boots fits her perfectly, she tells us otherwise.   A good fitting shoe and boots is very important for a child who is still in the growing stages but she is stubborn, if it hurts her feet, she rather not wear it, so a good snowboard boots is important for her.

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Potential Income For The Future

When I was very little, my parents used to talk about the importance of a pension and annuity from the pension back home in Asia.  Unlike in Asia, in the West, not every company provide their employee with such a plan, therefore, or should I say especially if you lived in the West, it’s important to know or place for your potential income in the future.  My best friends who migrated to USA knows all about the  tax sheltered annuity  and different kind of annuity  and seeing the recent event of another friend going through a divorce, I feel a need to be informed with regards to any potential income I can get when I’m too old to work. They say the earlier you plan, the better it is for both your spouse and your children, so my advise to all Asians who migrated to the West, please look out for yourself and your future as well, do not wait for something to happen in your marriage before scrambling to make ends meet.

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Specially Designed

We specially designed a t-shirt for Chloe a few weeks ago – just to see if it would catch the attention of the people on the street when she is out on a walk or in the park.  But what we really want to do is to make some  custom made shirts  for everyone at the store including myself but mine has to be pretty funny and catchy of course.   Thus far, Chloe loved her specially designed t-shirt – and everyone who she has met on the street commented on it – free publicity for the store of course.

I definitely want PB to get a few – and Gary to have a few too – and since it’s summer – pretty hot around here – just round collared t-shirts would be just fine for now.  For the fall – they probably have to wear those collared ones – but we’ll see how much they cost before deciding on the fall shirts.

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Sisters From Another Mother

We are all Asians but come from different countries but yet – we met in the same place far away from Asia – away from home.  How unique and how mysterious right?  how the universe works and how God has plans for each one of us.  I think it is no short of a miracle that we all met and we all get along so well – on one hand – it must be because we are all Asians and married to Canadians and long for home and a familiar sight.  Migrating is not as fun as people think – it gets really lonely if you don’t have a supportive spouse.  I’m very blessed and lucky – PB had thus far been great with me – he is my support 100%.

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Investing In Our Business

So our new store sign is up and we are pretty happy with it.  After 13 years in business, we figured a new sign is appropriate and after all – we do need a real new sign that shows that we’ve been in business for this long and still going strong.  And like all business, it’s the smart thing to do else the government is going to think that you’ve made so much money and would tax you even more.  And like most  commercial insurance companies  that we’ve come to know, they too advised us to get small business insurance not only for liability purpose but also to use it for a tax write off and of course, like any small businesses like ours – we really need to look into insurance and even if we don’t think we need it – it’s good to explore and invest in our own business.  And yes, we are in this stage where we are pretty comfortable in investing into our own business.

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Choosing The City Carefully When Migrating

Yes!  to most people migrating means a better life for our children but when you are planning to migrate – and if you have a choice – make sure you choose the city you want to migrate to carefully.  Why?  take for example myself – I’m in a place where I cannot get the kind of food I’m used to – and even though I’ve broken down and decided to cook for myself – I can’t find the ingredients.  And most importantly, health care may be free but when you are in a small town – you might not see a doctor for about a month – so you have to pick your dates carefully to get ill.

So folks if you are migrating – pick your province and town carefully – if you want Asian food – you have to find a place where you can find Asian grocery stores easily.  But of course, living in a small town – only means – the standard of living is a lot lower – but not necessarily.

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Cruiser Bike This Summer

This year seems to be such a happening year for our family, from renovating the basement to getting the backyard fix and a fence put all over and now a cruiser bike for myself.   And I should buy it instead of procrastinating like I do every year and ending up not doing anything productive in the summer.   So yes, come this weekend – I’m getting a cruiser bike or the other one on top of it with gears on it.  I’m really hoping for good weather all summer – so that we can go biking as a family – so excited i am.