So PB bought me the Bamboo Capture from Wacom ! woohoo!!! i’m pretty pleased with it - although I haven’t had much time to play with it yet. So why do i need a bamboo capture since I’m not good with drawing - I hear you asking. Well, I can still work on the pictures for my webpages - and re-design templates of my own and when I get the chance I want to learn more about web designing. I have lots of interest in it and I think it’s a great way to make more money online.

Myth : Asian woman married to Westerners lives a life of wealth and don’t have to do anything - but look pretty and go shopping - while the spouse makes lots of money thus allowing her to travel home to Asia and flaunt her wealth and superiority to her friends and relative.

Fact : Some of us haven’t been home for 10 years or more - and even though we are not poor - rich and wealthy is far from describing us. Most Asian woman do work even when they are in the West and they have to cook a meal for themselves and their partner as well.

While I can’t say that I’ve had it bad here in Canada - I have to say that I don’t get to go home as often as I liked. Not because we can’t afford it - but we can’t afford the time as my spouse owns his own business. Thus, I’m constantly homesick and missed my food from home a lot. And no - we don’t have an Asian grocery store nearby - as I lived in a small town. Not going home for a visit and not getting the food I need is my biggest beef. Another thing is the doctors - there isn’t much around and seeing a doctor is like making an appointment to see God. Unlike home - there are plenty to choose from - from gynecologist to dental or any kind of specialist. Over here - even if you have the money - you still have to wait for an appointment.

Most Asian thinks that getting hook to a Westerner means marrying into money - but let me tell you 9 outta 10 Westerners that I have met here - are either poor or lazy - some worst and are on drugs - the other 1 man that works and has money is most likely to be married or already hooked with another girl. Most Asian thinks that marry a Westerner means flowers and romantic candle light dinners and dancing/serenading. Truth - nope they are not made the same - there is no sharing a bottle of wine with PB - because he doesn’t drink - and no candle light dinners - because he is not adventurous with food. And everywhere we go eat - he eats the same thing over and over again.

More on the Real Lives Of Asian Married To Westerners In The Next Post - stay tuned.

I haven’t been job hunting for a long time - but many who are planning to migrate to Canada or even in United States would prefer to secure a job first before migrating. Some looking for Psychiatric Technician Jobs will find that there are plenty of jobs in this field - and even without a head hunter - you can land a job easily. But what about other jobs in the sales department or clerical field ? I get asked these questions very often as an expatriate.

I have friends who’ve migrated here but didn’t stay because they say they can’t find a job here but truth be told I don’t think they got the right job - and most likely feeling a bit homesick and inferior - to the Westerners. So one good advise before migrating is to make sure you know what field you want to be in. I think those who are in the health industry have plenty to offer in the West - whether you are a pharmacist or a health nurse - there are plenty of jobs here for you. As for other industries, if they can find their candidates from within - I think they rather hire their own. So shape up or ship out!

I have been quite lucky of late and managed to find some really good antiques right here in our county. This musical box is so unique - I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it - it plays Edelweiss - a song i love very much too. These days - I spend a lot to time buying things for myself - instead of looking out for other people, I learned that I have to make myself happy first - before taking care of others. No matter what others think of you - for it’s not important - what’s most important is myself and my family. So yes! I’ve been spending some money on myself - but of course, I continue to buy things for my friends’ kids too - how can one not love kids right? they are just too cute. But please don’t buy anything for me and Chloe because we really are already very blessed.

Chloe had a appointment with the specialist last week - and she had all sorts of breathing test done for her - and then of course, she got to see the asthma doctor too. The whole process took about 2.5 hrs - for the asthma doctor took an hour to talk to us. Yup ! you heard me right ! while most doctors here can’t wait to get you out of their office - so that they can see another patient - this doctor was totally different - which took us by surprised. But a pleasant one ! Anyhow - Chloe was taken off her puffer - but she had to be monitored the next time she catch a cold or flu - to see if it was worst. We too hope she is not going to be dependent on the puffer - because PB is till today. I was quite worried when she first had to take the puffer - because Chloe was quite resistant towards it - but after she learned that it wasn’t bad or hard at all - she took it like a champ. But taking steroids is not good for anyone - so we are keeping our fingers crossed that she only had a lung infection the last time.

Taking a car ride out to Chloe’s grampie’s or anywhere in the country, we’ve noticed that there are quite a number of dead zones - where we cannot call out or receive calls. So whenever we need to leave the store and head out to the country - we sometimes worry about not being able to receive calls from the store. Paranoia I guess - but the store needs to know that they can reach us anytime - so we went out to our favorite store at the mall to get a cellular booster , that is said to be able to improve the signal on any vehicle. We did find one at the mall - and for $39 - I think it’s a good investment - so no more dead zones for us when we are in the car. That should make PB happy and the store happy as well - for I know PB don’t like to be in a dead zone at all.

Halloween is round the corner and we are getting ready for Halloween - since we have to spend part of the evening at home. Of course, we can’t missed the personalized pumpkins from Chloe’s grampie. Wonder why grampie never make one for PB every year - haha!

This is mine - as you can see here.

And Chloe’s.

And the classic witch smacked and landed on our door.

And a straw puppet. I’m not done decorating yet - because I had been busy decorating the store first. When you own your own business, you usually have to take care of the business first.

So we were up in the city a few weeks ago - and had seen all these guitars for sale - and Chloe had asked for one as well - but she already has one - that her ex-babysitter’s father bought for her one year for Christmas. Once in a while she would strum on it and try to make music out of it - but refuses to go for lessons to learn how to play the guitar for real. So I told her that when she decides that she really wants to learn guitar or learn to play it for real - and not for the fun and strumming it and making noises - we will get her a proper guitar for the guitars that we saw on sale weren’t cheap at all. Like we all know that kids can’t really decide on what they really want for now - and unless she is learning how to play classical guitar - I doubt she can play the guitar without the nylon strings - the other type of strings are just too hard on the fingers even for me. I’m all for music lessons - but knowing the brat of mine - she would probably give up after a few lessons - so for now - we’ll just have to play by ear.

P.U. - what does it mean? I’ve never heard of P.U. till chloe started school and each time her school friends or camp friends say that the food she eats is P.U. - she becomes so embarrassed and stopped eating immediately. So each time she comes home with all her lunch intact - I know something is not right. This week - I gave Chloe some rice with chinese mushrooms and whole mushrooms with oyster sauce for her lunch and she brought almost everything back without finishing it. Apparently, one of her classmate - said her food was P.U. meaning “smells rotten”

So what do you do - if you were the mom? we encouraged her to talk to her teacher about it - but she won’t, then what do we do? we write a note to the teacher - hoping she would address it of course - so we’ll wait and see what happens? or do I take the easy way out and not give her food that she likes? I know that Chloe needs to grow some backbones and not be too bothered by what other children say - but she is and no matter what we say - she is just offended. I don’t want to teach my kid to be rude and say P.U. back to her friends - it’s tough being a kid when we were kids - it’s even tougher to see our kids being a kid *sigh*.

Someone very wise told me a month ago - that if I didn’t like something, change it. Life is too short - live life to your fullest - do things you love and don’t waste time over-analyzing and I took his advice. My life is here in Canada - there is no going back and there is no way - I’m going to take care of others before my own family. Once that was settled, I knew exactly what I had to do. And I also learned that everyone have their bragging rights and if you don’t like it - then I can choose not to listen and walk away - the same for those who don’t like to hear me.

Yes! I’m very blessed! I’ve got a good spouse and an awesome and funny daughter, I haven’t “really” worked since I came to Canada and I loved what i do online - and I’ve good advertisers who look out for me and my friends often. My health is getting better everyday and I’m spending time with Chloe and able to do things with her more than I did before. Plus, we have good business acumen and do not have to worry about our daily expenses. What more can I asked for right?

Every little girl needs a dollhouse don`t you think? I think so ! and when we saw one up in the city - that we feel that we can justify - we went back to MicMac Mall to get it for Chloe. She was a happy girl even though she was very sick but I guess I wanted to get it for Chloe because I didn’t have stuff like that when I was a kid and I sure envied my friends when they talked about their huge dollhouse. Deprived of a lot of stuff when I was a kid, I want to make sure that mine gets a reasonable amount of stuff but I wouldn’t go overboard on any toys for Chloe and what other people do with their kids is none of my business. To each their own - and more power to those who buys expensive toys for theirs, it is not for me to judge. But having said that Chloe’s grampie will be paying for Chloe’s dollhouse so I’m buying him some Padron cigars that he likes for being so generous.

Chloe is currently in Grade 2 and besides her school friends - we also make sure she has friend from other schools. And since she is taking up so many extra-curricular classes, it is inevitable to be asked out for play dates and vice versa. But my play dates usually involves the mommies as well - that way moms can get together and eat, chat and drink - and most importantly relax. Thank God for electric grills , because we can grill just about anything for everyone. So everyone brings whatever they want to feed their kids and just throw it onto the grills I have and it’s that easy. I make lots of ice lemon tea and lemonade for the kids - and for us mommies - I add in a bit of my special liquor - like the cranberry ones that I bought locally from Lunenburg. My play dates are always a hit - because we have the trampoline - the swings and those big inflated castles for the kids to bounce and slide.

The new school year starts tomorrow - and Chloe will be in Grade 2 this year - with the same teacher. I’m pretty happy with the arrangement for she did really well with this teacher. She is also looking forward to school tomorrow - and today is the long weekend of Labor day - so she is out playing with her friends on the trampoline. She should have been in Grade 3 had it not been the crazy french teacher she had for the first year. But oh well - she is doing well now - and that’s all that matter. This year she will have a new principal in her school and also a new Music teacher - she loves gym a lot - so she loves her gym teacher and talks about her all the time. In fact, she wants to be a gym teacher - sometime last year - hahah!! I can’t wait for school to start and see what she learns this year.

So you found a Canadian boyfriend and he gave you the ring - and proposed - so you want to get married in Canada? or should you get married in your home country and then do it all over again in Canada? Or is it legal to get married in your home country and not bother when you come back to Canada - since you are thinking of moving to Canada with him some time right? Well, of course, if he decided to move to your home country - now that would be a different story and of course you wouldn’t be reading this right?

Well, whatever you decide - you will have to think of what you are going to do first - for immigration purpose. Getting married in your hometown - doesn’t automatically make you a Canadian resident or a Canadian citizen as far as I know - in fact - getting married away from Canada - may post a little more complicated than you think when trying to migrate to Canada. From my experience - I strongly suggest - you come to Canada first as a tourist - apply for a marriage license here - get married here and then do your immigration from here - while you have a tourist status. Usually, Canadian immigration will grant you a 6 months visitor pass - and that is enough to get your application going. But my experience is only my own - my 2 cents - so don’t hold it against me - if yours work out differently. Good luck!

As owner by association to the spouse’s business - I still have to worry about what is going on in the store - and our financial situation and dealing with customers as well as suppliers. Although I tell people that it’s all about PB - it’s not true as we all know it - my ears and eyes are always open and when I am at the store - I play both the good guy and the bad - while PB plays the boss. If you’ve ever run a business - you will know that there is more than meet the eyes - those that think that we are sleeping on money - must be crazy. I wished we had a friend or a business lawyer - like the raleigh business lawyers who handles all aspect of dispute and negotiation for businesses. But in a small town like ours - PB don’t think that there is one that specializes in doing just that. And even though we are a small business - it is always good to have someone who knows all about dealing with irate customers - or what we can do at our store and not do. There are so many little things that I would like to ask our business lawyer if we had one - and since we don’t have one - we are always worrying if we can do certain things or if the cops came for somethings that were sold to us - that were reported stolen - what are our rights as store owners. So yes! being an owner by association - is not as easy as some of you might think - I still worry a lot about the ins and outs of the store.

Definitely not an easy feat - but I have to say PB did a pretty good job - from the start - till when we had a tough time some 4 years ago - and now bringing the business back where it should be and even better than I had anticipated. Being in business for this long also means constantly upgrading - and the money that we made - always goes back into the store somehow. Besides the paying of bills - and stocking up inventory - and buying what is necessary to live on - we rarely splurge on ourselves. This year we are looking at getting a barcode scanner for the store - because it would be a lot easier if we were to hire on part-timers. We don’t have to specially train them how to punch in the codes and look out for the price difference - all they need to do is to scan the products and once scanned - the cash would balance and we won’t have to worry about missing money.

We are also constantly looking for ways to make things a lot easier on us - the initial part to put everything into the system using the scanner may be a bit tedious but in the long run - it would be a lot easier - we don’t need to hire a very skill person to man the counter for us - even a monkey can do it - like the sales person said. And yes - as we look forward to celebrating our 12 yrs in business at the end of the month - I hope this year PB would give out some free gifts like pens or memo pads - to our regular customers. What do you think? should we have cakes and coffee too? or get the local radio to come celebrate with us.

The photo doesn’t do it justice because the A-Frame houses that is near the lake - looked really cute from far away. I don’t really know who lives in these A-Frame houses - or if they are for sale but i found on the internet that they are for rent at $500/month - doubt they have heats and lights included though. But it’s such a unique place - great for bachelors or single ladies - who works near the hospital - it has a great view that’s for sure. If I were single - i would definitely rent something like that - back home rental for a room alone is about $500 - if not more for just a HDB house. Rent is a lot cheaper here in Canada - but of course - the standard of living is also lower as compared to back home. So will you survived in Canada ? for sure - but make sure you have some money saved up and run your little business. Working for someone unless you are a professional yourself - can be harder.

Every summer since coming to Canada - it doesn’t seems that we’ve done that much at all down at the waterfront. The last few years - I had gone down to the waterfront with Chloe on my own - or with her babysitter - but it’s different without PB. This year - we’ve managed to do a lot together during summer - I guess it’s because we’ve got Gary - a friend to help us in the store - volunteer work. Plus Gary we trust our store in his hands - we don’t worry at all - that money is going to go missing or some hanky panky going in the store. So when Gary is helping out - I just totally relax - no worries whatsoever. I’m just happy that PB is willing to do a lot more with Chloe - because she is growing so fast - and I really don’t want him to miss out on all the fun - watching her grow.

Last year - I had gone to see my new family doctor because my old family doctor decided to abandon us - and move to a more vibrant town. But thank God - he is gone - because my new family doctor is way better - very encouraging and never once did she talk down to me - like the old one. But since I am new to her practice and not a spring chicken no more with so many health issues - she insisted that I have a full body check up - which included a ecg because I had high blood pressure - according to my old doctor. But truth be told - my blood pressure only go up when I’m talking about the town I am living in - other than that - I’m pretty calm. But she insisted an ECGs are not uncommon to me - because my mom used to do those - since she worked in the hospital. But I do like my new doctor and her office - because her clinic is pretty high tech - with all the savvy equipment and everything recorded using a notebook and not paper - so that they can pull out a file - without having to pull out paper folders. So my health exam will be up soon - and again I know i will have to do another ECG test - but this time - I’m more prepared since I’ve already done it once - and I’m not so panicky now. So wish me luck - while I await my ECG.