Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts

Monday, December 29, 2008

Why Are We So Different?

I really wonder why my brother and I are like opposite charges. Of course I'm the positive one and my brother is the negative. It's like we were raised by two different set of parents although it must be noted that we grew up in totally different environments.

I grew up in an environment where I was first mixed with "normal" Filipino kids and then suddenly sent to a new environment where the kids are privileged. By privileged I mean stinking rich with matching body guards and servants in uniforms. I was placed in an environment where I have to constantly prove my worth by making sure that I have several note worthy achievements. I was faced with high expectations from everyone and this pushed me to work harder. I had to live by myself while I studied in a high school in another city far away from home. I had to buy food from the grocery by myself, budget my allowance, and I had to do everything by myself because I lived alone. I was taught how to be independent and self-capable.

My brother on the other hand went to an average school, met average people, and my parents never expected anything from him, well except to pass and graduate that is. My brother is a spoiled brat and it is my parents who have to put extra effort in making sure he graduates from high school by doing his homework, influencing his teachers to make him pass, and they even have to waste hours trying to wake him up in the morning so that he can go to school. He is literally spoon fed and everything is given to him which never happened to me. Everything he needs is given to him and he never even have to ask for it.

Imagine asking your mom when you were a kid what a word meant and then she tells you to look it up in the dictionary while my brother on the other hand would never ask what that word means so my mom would be the one to tell him what that word meant so that he'll learn something. This is exactly how our situation is.

But I really blame my parents for how rotten my brother turned out to be. Since my parents allows him to do everything he wants, he is always out of the house and he smokes, drinks, and I presume that he does drugs too (he was already caught with marijuana and was almost expelled if it weren't for my parents). If he's not out of the house, he brings his equally pathetic and self-absorbed friends who are too busy trying to look cool and are too occupied with having fun that they forget that they should prepare for the future too and that whatever they have today is temporary.

I'm really sorry for my brother because I know that he's just wasting his life and his future. He was given an opportunity to study here in Canada and live a great life but he wastes it on his so called friends... but I shouldn't worry really, he's not my son. He's not my problem anymore. My parents aren't doing anything so why should I?

Monday, December 15, 2008

Ukay-Ukay in Canada

For all those who don't have even the faintest idea of what the word "Ukay-Ukay" means, worry not for I will enlighten you. Ukay-Ukay is a Filipino term for a sale of used clothes at very low prices. Ukay-ukay can be related to flea markets or any sale of second-items where by just pure luck you might find a very expensive designer item for half the price or even lesser.

Well I didn't believe my eyes when my parents drove to a Good Will shop. This Good Will shop has items that were donated by people who want to get rid of their old stuff and if you're lucky you might recieve the old expensive and designer items of a rich person.

I have to admit that some of the items were pretty decent. I got to buy some CD's of Alicia Keys and Craig David, an Anatomy and Physiology book, and some clothes. It was a bit hard to find anything my size since the people here are generally bigger in built. I did see some branded items but I also saw uniforms from coffee shops and other retail establishments. I never thought that people would be wearing work uniforms even if they don't work for that establishment. There were also some decorative items for the house, shoes, electronic items, and believe it or not, an exercise equipment which my dad happily bought, although I honestly would call it a piece of junk.

The Good Will shop is great for newcomers here in Canada but I still see Canadians (white people) buying stuff here so they too might also be looking for great bargains.

So the Good Will shop here in Canada is much like the Ukay-Ukay in the Philippines except that here in Canada you can oay with your Debit Card or Credit Card and there were lesser people.

The bottom line? Finding bargains and deals is a great opportunity for everyone so even if you live in a third world country or first world country, being able to save money and be able to buy some pretty neat stuff is a universal desire.

Monday, October 27, 2008

What a Wonderful Day

Today was a great day for me. My mom, dad, and I went to West Edmonton Mall (WEM) today to shop for winter jackets and stuff to prepare myself for the incoming white hell hehehe. I'm really glad that I worked and didn't just goof off at home because I wouldn't have had shopping money if I didn't work for it. Oh yeah my mom could just buy me my stuff but nothing beats buying something with your own money right? Well now I'm broke again. If it weren't for my guaranteed investment account I would have $0 in my bank account. That's why I don't like going to the mall because I'm a compulsive buyer and when I shop I really want to buy everything I want in one visit so that I don't have to come back. The WEM is pretty far away so I don`t like going there. As much as possible I`d like to shop nearer to my house like the Millwoods Town Center.

Anyway my mom finally decided to buy a car for us. At least I won`t have to worry being stranded somewhere in the middle of nowhere where there isn`t any bus service. My mom wants to buy an SUV that`s a 7-seater because she wants to have room for visitors. I was wondering why she woulod need space for guests when we don`t even have our own house yet so having visitors is not feasible as of the moment. Oh well, she`s the one buying the car so I don`t have the right to say anything. But I will help her choose a 7-seater SUV that is stylish and is very reliable. But I`d reserve that for another post.

But the most important thing that makes this day so good is that I finally received my PC after 2 months of being kept away from me from those Geek Squad who only fixed my computer a while ago and they even made me pay for just installing the Operating System back... what a rip off... Next time I`d buy a new computer instead of having it fixed because having to wait for that long and having to pay that much is just wrong. But I`m actually not ranting right now because all of that is overpowered by the presence of my beloved computer!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Stupid Brother

As usual I am going to rant and rave again. This blog is becoming my personal rant page already since all I do is complain, complain, and oh yes, complain.

But I'm already so sleepy that I'll cut this ranting short. First of all I've made a new tag in my blog dedicated to my brother. And the tag goes as "Stupid Brother"! Geez! He is so irresponsible and I wonder why he is like that when we were brought up with the same parents. Is it because of the environment I was exposed in? I was forced to be more mature to survive alone while my brother was a spoiled brat. But I don't really care if he wants to ruin his life. But I do care if he ruins my life in the process. I hate paying for his mistakes and short comings. First, he is so lazy that he just leaves his stuff everywhere in the house and expects someone else to pick it up. Why am I bothered with this? Guess who cleans up after him? ME! If I don't then our house would be a pig's stye. And the latest stupid thing he did? He lost his house key? Why am I bothered? Well he uses MY key now. I go out of the house earlier than him because he wakes up late and naturally becomes late at school. So what's the relation of me going out of the house first and having to let him use my key? Well you have to have a key to be able to lock our apartment's door so I have to give up my key because he is irresponsible enough to go to the superintendent or our condominium management to have his key replaced. I wonder what he is waiting for. Is he waiting for me to do it for him? Hell no! If my parents do not punish him for his actions well I won't stand for it. I won't let him borrow my key anymore so he can just stand outside the apartment for all I care. But the downside of this is that I risk having my apartment robbed because our door is unlocked. But this wouldn't happen if my stupid brother wasn't careless enough to lose his key.

In the end I have to pay for his mistakes... my life sucks.


Saturday, October 18, 2008

Adoption

Nope I was never adopted if that's what is going through your silly mind right now (lol!). But I am thinking of adopting a child in the not so far future. Well some of you might ask why a 20 year old guy is thinking of adopting at a very young age but I have my reasons which of course I would share right now.

For me, I want to adopt because I want to give a home to a child who was abandoned, neglected, and unwanted. I want to give them a life free from harm and a bright future. There are thousands, if not millions, of kids out there who has no one to love them. Well I am someone who wants to open my arms to one of these kids and love them as if they were my own child. I want someone to inherit everything that I have gained in my present life and continue the legacy of me, joke.

But seriously, I'd want to have a family in the future. There are a lot of people right there who have their child aborted or they neglect their children and they don't know how blessed they are to have one.

I'd want a child in the future but after looking through the qualifications of an adoptive parent, my hopes and dreams somehow kind of dwindles. I know that an adoptive parent should be thoroughly screened so that the adopted child will be loved, protected, and provided with his/her needs but some qualifications are outrageous.

Did you know that in some countries like China, you have to be thin to be able to adopt?! Physically fit would be a good qualification but does one's weight really have to do with anything about being a good parent?

And one of the few bumps in my adoptive dream are the fact that I'm going to be a single parent. But the thing is, even if some single adopting parents are considered, they must be willing to adopt extremely disabled children and that's quite hard. But parenting is not that easy either so maybe I can take that path. And the greatest bump on my way to parenthood is my sex. Yup! Because I'm a single male I have the tiniest chance (if ever I do have a chance) of adopting. Maybe this is to protect children from pedophiles but come on, not all males are sick people in the head.

Some of my friends tell me that I should just get a surrogate mother or something but it's not like there's a baby-maker agency. I wish that adopting would be easier in the future.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Reminiscing Before I Sleep

It's 2:00 am right now but even if I am already very sleepy, nostalgic memories are overtaking me. I can't help but let out a heavy sigh as I remember all the people who made my life fun and interesting.

When I left the Philippines for Canada, I left a very important part of who I am, my pride and joy of being a nursing student. Sure the sleepless nights and stressful tests and projects where nerve wracking but at the end of the day I wouldn't choose any other way to live my life. I am still proud to be a nursing student but I wonder how the feeling of being a student nurse would be without the people (my colleagues... my friends) who have made me strong to endure the hardships of nursing.


You see these people in this picture? These are my group mates and we went through all sorts of hardships together. We fought, we cried, we laughed, we shared dreams, we said goodbyes...

And my friends... I miss my friends. These are the people who accepted me for who I am and decided to stick with me even if I was moody and a bit unreasonable. They said good bye but this doesn't mean that we won't see each other again...



My friends... who shared my interests and likes... who believed in my skills and in my abilities... who believed that I can be who ever I want to be... we painted beautiful memories...

And of course my beloved Missy, who I loved unconditionally even if she jumps and bites me at times... you will always be in my heart...I may have left big chunks of me in the Philippines that it's really unbearable and that I feel depressed and empty. But I brought with me something that will overcome my loss and loneliness... my will to finish what I started and the hope that someday I will come back to the Philippines and be reunited with the people who have helped verify my existence... because with out them... I would be nothing.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

So What's Up?

My job hunt has served to be futile (for the moment at least). Well I did only started sending my resume yesterday and I know that they might be waiting for more applicants before they contact me. But the thing that quite bothered me was when one possible employer e-mailed me and asked me if I was here on a work permit. It bothered me because I might be confusing possible employers with my resume that I am a contract worker or something, that is why on my next resumes that I e-mailed to possible employers I placed there on the more info part: Canadian Permanent Resident. That way they won't have second thoughts about my being able to legally work here in Canada.

Well tomorrow I planned that I won't be staying in the comforts of my home watching Shaman King (but staying at home and bum around isn't a bad idea either). So to make my day tomorrow productive, I plan on getting myself a Police Information Check. I will need this in my future jobs and in my college application.

Speaking of college applications, I'm glad that some progress has occurred with my MacEwan application. But I still have some documents that I need to submit but I'm wondering if I could just give them a photocopy because I'm also applying to University of Alberta and I might need those documents too.

Tomorrow is also going to be an important day because I've asked a friend back in the Philippines to check with our Registrar at Xavier University if she received my letter and what she needs (money of course) so that she can speed the process and send my documents to University of Alberta via international express mail.

Oh yeah, maybe I can squeeze going to MacEwan tomorrow and maybe cutting my hair. If I'm going to leave my house, it's best if I make use of my time wisely right?

I think that's all that has been happening to my now boring and dull life. Oh yeah my brother was fired for always being late and as usual he is still a narcissistic, ego-centered, selfish, irresponsible, brat.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Inner Strength

I hate seeing it when the person I love the most is vulnerable. I hate to see my mom being meek when she's in public. I hate it because I know that she will be an easy target for people who are nasty and who loves to bring down others.

There are times that I wish I could be able to provide everything our family needs so that my mom won't have to work or go outside the house. There are times when I wish my mom had a stronger character... I mean she should be more confident enough to be able to speak louder and be more aggressive with dealing with people.

But I know that my mom has a different kind of strength that is not shown physically. And this is her inner strength. I know that she had gone through a lot to get us where we are now that's why I will always respect her for that strength to overcome all to reach her goal. But she reaches her goal with out harming or stepping down on others, and this is very respectable.

But maybe it's not my mom who lacks strength at all... maybe it's me. She has learned to accept who she is. I know that I accept myself for who I am but the question is have I completely accepted myself? Maybe not. I have to be honest. I hate going out of the house because I sometimes feel insecure. I feel inferior to the white people and that I feel like I have to prove my worth all the time. I want to get through this problem of mine. Maybe it's just because I'm still young and I need a little bit more of experience... well... we'll see.


Monday, September 1, 2008

Tsada Edmonton!

It was such a shame that I wasn't able to join the Kagay-anons here in Edmonton in celebrating our own little fiesta. Yup all people here from Cagayan de Oro City (Kagay-anons) gathered together and celebrated the feast of St. Agustine.

It's amazing that even if we are in Canada we still don't forget that we are Filipinos... but not just any Filipino... we are Kagay-anons! Proud to be! Hehehe.

If you're wondering why the theme of the fiesta is Tsada Edmonton well let's just say that it's somehow a spoof of Tsada Cagayan. Tsada meaning great or good. So basically Tsada Edmonton because we are Kagay-anons living in a beautiful and great city of edmonton in the wonderful country of Canada.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Oh well this topic seems to be so redundant and I have kept saying that I will lose weight and exercise and all of that but I seem to get so many convenient excuses at my disposal like this one HERE.

Well I'm now here in Canada and my promise to lose weight in the Philippines seems to be forgotten. I actually did lose some weight back when I was in the Philippines but when I recently checked my waistline and weight, well you can guess what happened.

Hey! I work at a donut shop for crying out loud! It's so darn hard to fight the temptations. And to think that the food here is so cheap that we literally have a full fridge. I could have ice cream everyday and since we don't have time to cook we usually just order pizza at Pizza Hut or get some yummy food at the Filipino store. But they're not that healthy.

I can barely remember when I last had "pinakbet" or any food that has lots of veggies in it. Oh well guess I have to start counting calories right now... that won't be hard since everything I eat has labels on it...

This is one cons with everyone in the family is working, no one is left to cook food hehehe.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Homework: Learn How to Drive

I've been dying to learn to drive for years. I was going to learn driving with a friend at a driving school but my mom said that it would be best to learn how to drive here because the rules and traffic signs were completely different. But guess what? Wrong assumption.

Sure rules and some signs are different but driving like learning when to shift gears and stuff and how to make a car move can be learned with out those fancy traffic rules and laws. Sure I could learn how to drive here but we don't have a car yet and enrolling in a driving school is pretty damn expensive. I should have learned how to drive back in the Philippines.

But anyway let's just take it slow. Since I know that my dad will never get his permit because he doesn't seem to care and relies that my mom will do everything for him, I will have to take things into my own hands.

I will study the Alberta Basic License Driver's Handbook, take the test, get a learners license, then in one year I could drive a car on my own... that is if we have a car by that time.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Last August 12

Last August 12 was actually my birthday... but due to my very busy and tight schedule of my career in the food industry (char!), I wasn't able to blog about it that much. Well my birthday was plain and simple. Just spent my whole morning alone in the house and waited to be picked up later in the afternoon by a family friend so that I could set-up their wireless internet connection in their brand new gorgeous mansion. The word house doesn't give justice to their extravagant home.

Anyway, I was still touched by the actions of my mom when I arrived home. Even if she didn't know how to cook and she didn't have much time on her hands she was still able to prepare a feast for me. We had a wonderful chocolate-strawberry cake, freshly-delivered pizza (yup all we do is take-out since we don't have time to cook), chicken, and ice-cream.

I didn't have a party or a huge gathering but being at home with my family was enough for me to be happy.

I also gave myself a gift. An HP m9350f desktop computer with an AMD Phenom 9850 Quad-Core Processor (2.50 GHz), 6 GB RAM, 750 GB Hard Disk, and it comes with a 24 inch LCD screen for only $1900. This is the computer of my dreams. What i like about this baby is not only is it good for extreme gaming, it comes with a remote control so that I can watch TV on it and listen to the radio. Heck I even use this baby to play with my PlayStation 3. I'm happy that my hard work as a lowly donut shop employee who cleans the bathroom and serve customers and all of that is able to afford a desktop like this. If I worked in the Philippines, I would never afford this.
The bottom line is. We may be living a simple life here in Canada but we are still lucky because many of our relatives and friends back in the Philippines are really working so hard just to get by. I just wished that we didn't have to leave our home in the Philippines just to get a better life and a better future.

Anyway... damn it I'm old! I can'tr believe that I'm already 20 years old. I'm still edgy about my future because until now MacEwan hasn't finished evaluating my transcripts and I've checked my application status and it still shows there "Acknowledged". I wish they'd change it to "Documents Lacking" or something so that I can do something about the things I lack.

Anyway, on with my life.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

I'm Tired of Being a Parent

I have written an entry somewhere in this blog or my other blog about me trying to teach my brother to be responsible and independent. My brother is 16 years old and yet he is very irresponsible and care free. I wasn't like that when I was young.

I'm trying to teach him to clean up after himself. I mean pick up his tissue or clothes from the living room and sometimes even share and help with the house chores. But all of these are in vain because I seem to get no support from my parents.

Hell. My parents spoil him that's for sure. Just this day my mom told me to wash the dishes during lunchtime and I did. I told my brother that he should also have a share in the dish washing chores and do the dishes later after dinner. But guess who washed the dishes? My mom. I told my self that they should do something about this. I'm tired of doing all the cleaning in this house and looking after my brother who is old enough. If he's old enough to use drugs and have a girlfriend surely he's old enough to help around in the house or at least be responsible enough to clean up his own mess.

I don't know what is wrong with my parents... especially my mom. My dad doesn't care about rearing us and being our role model ever since so there is no need for him to do anything. But my mom on the other hand is doing more damage than harm. I mean please! Do you really want your own son growing up dependent and a dysfunctional individual?

I mean before she had lots of excuses why I had to do all the work. One, he's asthmatic so he shouldn't do any work. Two, he's still too young. And three he won't do it anyway. So my counter would be, one: if he's asthmatic why do you allow him to smoke? Two: Too young? Please he leaves home during the middle of the night ad come homes at the break of dawn... you call that young? Three: That's why do something about it so he will be responsible enough.

Why aren't you doing anything about him being a good for nothing slob? Why don't you do to him what you did to me? Like I still remember asking you what the meaning of a word is when I was in grade school and you told me to check the dictionary. My brother? You spoon feed him. You even do his own freaking assignments when he was in high school! Me? Well you sent me away to study when I was in high school and I had to feed myself and learn to budget my measly allowance. My brother? You give him what ever he wants! You even allow him to drink to think he's a minor too.

I'm tired of doing anything to help him. And you know what my brother told me that really irritated me? He said why don't I clean up his mess when I already see it. I should clean it because I see it already. Like what?!

But I'm tired of trying to help my brother. From now on I will stop cleaning after him and I won't do his laundry. Let him do his own laundry once in a while. I won't pick up his mess in the living room. Let's see how this will affect my mom. If she tells me that I should clean the mess up I am going to go insane!

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Father's Day

I have always missed celebrating Fathers Day because either I'm busy or he's busy. But the main reason why I don't celebrate Fathers Day with my dad is that he and I have some serious issues going on that's why we couldn't get a long.

But since you could never choose your family and he could also be good at times, I'd love to make it up to him by giving him something special for the next Fathers Day. I have searched in stores and online for something special that I could give him but I guess that I am running short ongift ideas right now.

Well I've found this website called DadShop.com.au and this is a great place for ideas. It's lgreat to find a store that specializes in gifts for dads. How cool is that?


Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Messy House = Messy Life

Aah! I am so tired of trying to clean things up and make our house look neat and decent but it seems that my parents (especially my brother) doesn't give a damn on how our house looks like. It's not that I want our house to look extravagant or anything, I just want to come into a home that is clean and decent looking because no one wants to come home tired from work and see dirty dishes lying on the sink and papers and trash scattered everywhere in the living room.

Well I thought that my own room would be immuned to all the clutter and mess because it's my personal space but it's not. It's as equally cluttered and messy as the rest of the house. At least my bed is clean and neat so I can sleep comfortably.

Do you know how it is to live with someone who has a "Sayang" or "Such a Waste" Mentality? Well it may be good in some occasions but keeping trash and use them for decoration is not. My father has a habit of collecting junk and hiding it. He hides new stuff and uses junk because using new items would be such a waste. This is what he did back in the Philippines so when we moveed to Canada all the things that we never used were left behind and who benefited from those items? Definitely not us.

It's so hard living with clutter bugs... grrr!!!

On Home Improvement

I really miss my old house. It may be small and needs a lot of improvement but never the less it was my home where somehow I found some peace of mind and where I felt safe.

I really pity the people who bought that house because it needs a major improvement. And one improvement that they have to face are the windows. Yup they need professionals to fix our windows, they need Window Replacement Contractors.

Yup they need professionals to the job alright because the house is totally in bad shape. The roof needs fixing too especially the rain gutters. Boy, good thing we sold our old home cheap because the new buyers would need more money fixing it. But if I were them they should contact a company like ContractorsUSA so that they could get a free estimate of their expenses in fixing the house and so that they can be assured that the people that they are hiring to fix their new home are professionals and know what they are doing.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

The Blogger Police has Gone Bad

I have been tagged as a "Blogger Police" before but I guess that that name doesn't suit me anymore because I have gone to the opposite side of the force... the dark force...

I have become... an ABSENTEE BLOGGER! Yup I don't want to be absent all the time from the blogging world but I can't help it. Under difficult circumstances the blogging gods has cursed me and I don't have internet access at our new home still and I have to walk to the library to go online. It has been a long while (and I mean looong) since I've been online. It's because of my stupid job and such hehehe.

But here I am now blogging with an agitated brother because he wants to use the laptop because I guess he too had been long gone from the internet world. But since I am kind and understanding I will allow him to use my precious laptop and use the public pc which I don't know why he doesn't want to use... technology scare I guess.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Our New Apartment... Our Home

These are some pictures of our new apartment. It still has no furniture though... Just some Whirlpool Appliances like a dishwasher, stove & oven, microwave, refrigerator, and washing Machine & dryer which all came with the apartment. Hope we could move in this week already.

I really love our apartment, it seems so cozy and it's just near the mall and the transit center so life is pretty easy. I just hope that July 24 could come already so that our money from the Philippine banks could already be cleared so that we could fill our apartment up with more accessories and decorations so that we could truly call it our home... do you know what I mean?

Anyway I still have work so I'll cut it short here.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Teen Pregnancy Pact

I don't know what teenage girls were thinking at a local high school in Massachusetts, USA that they made a pact with each other that they should all be pregnant! Like why?! Don't they know that being a parent entails great responsibility?'

Is it because of Hollywood that makes being a teenage pregnant mother seem so glamorous? And to think that some of the babies of the teenage girls have the same father: a 24 year old homeless guy!

Parents should really have a talk with their teenage children and open them to the real world. Teenager should be thoughts about the future and to make them aware that the present and the now is not the only world that they will have.

There is the future. If all they seek is unconditional love and attention, sure a baby companion can give you that but how about the baby? Doesn't the baby need love and attention too? Do you think that the baby would have a great future if your a teenage jobless mom?



***
Story taken from CBC.ca

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

My First Impressions of Canada

You can't really blame me if I compare the Philippines from Canada because I came from the Philippines and Canada is a new place and I like what I am seeing. So let me just share some of my thoughts about my first impressions of Canada and how the Philippines differ.
  1. Canasa is so WIDE and OPEN! Unlike the Philippines which has a population of 90.5 million people, Canada only has 33.3 Million people and not to mention that Canada is the second largest country and the Philippines is so tiny as compared to the humongous Canada. The whole Philippines could fit into Alberta (the province where Edmonton is located) but Alberta only has 3.4 Million people.
  2. In Canada, drivers are very responsible. Unlike the Philippines, drivers from Canada are responsible drivers and they give way and respect other drivers. Honking of horns is not common and considered very rude here in Canada. And pedestrians are given higher importance. So if you see me walking across the road, you have to stop for me hahaha! Even if I want to walk under the moonlight slowly.
  3. The rights of the people are upheld. This is common knowledge already I guess. If my car brakes down because of some pots in the road then I can sue the government for the damages of my car and the government is liable for the repairs. In the Philippines, the government is corrupt and don't bother seeking for anything from the Philippine government like your fundamental rights. And if I were harassed by anyone let's say if I'm discriminated or some sort I could report this to the police and the culprits could be sanctioned but you know what? Canadians are really nice people so discrimination is not an issue here.
  4. Government services are first class! You won't see a cheap looking government building here in Canada. When you enter any government owned offices and building, you have a feeling that you're in a five star hotel. The employees are very kind and approachable and they give justice to the term "public servant". Government transactions are quite fast. We got our Social Insurance Number (SIN) immediately on the spot processing. If we did have SIN in the Philippines the process would take months and you would have to bribe the government employees if you want your paperwork to be done faster... tsk tsk.
  5. There are no poor people in Canada, just low income groups. By low income I mean families who can provide their family with everything they need they just don't live in luxury like driving a brand new BMW or living in a mansion or something. In the Philippines.... no comment! People who lost their jobs in Canada (because they were removed from their job and it wasn't their fault) are supported by the government with allowances until they get their own jobs.
  6. Aside from the fact that Canada has four seasons (winter, spring, summer, fall), did you know that outside would still be bright and dandy even if it is 12 midnight during summer!? And when it's winter, it could already be dark when it's only 4 pm. I still need to get used to this.
  7. Contrary to popular belief, Canadians (or people who live in cold places) do take showers in the morning! We do have hot showers here you know and every building and cars have heaters so it's not really cold inside the house.
There are still some more things that I want to share about Canada and I think I'll save that for my later posts.