Rattlesnake Conservation Park

Rattlesnake Conservation park high up on the Niagara escarpment. We visited here at the right season (fall) to capture the colourful leaves from high above. Make sure you take a look at the pictures link (tabs above) to catch a glimpse of some of the views taken.

The day itself was chilly; about 9C and cloudy, giving it a very different feel to the scenery.

(sunny would have been different altogether).

Burlington sunset in Fall.

Autumn brings out the strangest sunsets. In this picture, the sun is actually setting behind the cameraman, but the glow of red seems to reflect off of the cloud ahead. And then darkening to the deep blue dusk.

Just imagine yourself being there...

Parks around Burlington.

There really is an endless list of parks which one can visit... all along the Niagara Escarpment; Crawford Lake, Hilton Falls, Rattlesnake point, just to name a few.

I'm making it a point, in spite of the weather getting colder by the day, to visit these parks. More economically, I've joined as a member to the Conservation parks so for $129 a year, I can drive in (with as many people in my car) for free and as many times as I wish. Otherwise it would be about $6 per person.

Some of these parks are simply beautiful. And now, being Fall, the falling leaves and its' colours are simply breathtaking! (Take a look at some of the pictures in the links).

All these parks have their own story to tell. Take for example Crawford Lake, with the Iroquoian village, or Hilton Falls with its unique waterfalls, and Rattlesnake Point, high on the Niagara Escarpment giving a wonderful view of the surroundings far below. All make for a wonderful trip for anyone in the area.

Burlington, the city of 173000 people is only about 20km+ from any of these parks which are in the Milton area.

For more information, try going to http://www.conservationhalton.ca

Whatever you do, don't miss these parks if you're passing through this side of Canada.

New residents? Or tourists? ... both actually..

Almost a month now, and while we're getting used to the nice cool-ish, warm-ish weather, we taking advantage of the days off to be touristy. We've visited Niagara falls, Hilton Falls, and shopped a lot!
Life here is good. The air is fresh. The people are friendly and helpful. The drivers are courteous.
Not forgetting that after all this, stress levels can be quite high, so... every evening almost, we're down that the Waterfront doing some exercise for about an hour after dinner. Lovely scenic paths down by the lakeside.
Projecting into the future?
Buy a home, settle in home, find a job, get the OHIP....

2011 July 6th Week 4... Amazing things have happened...

4 weeks already?! That truly was fast. So many things have happened! I can say that truly... God's hand has been upon us and guiding us through things we have NO control over whatsoever from Day 1! This is all I can say after all that has happened. Truly.
After 4 weeks, this is what has happened on a weekly basis, in a nutshell.

Week 1 - Scanned shopping areas like the Burlington mall, Mapleview Mall, Canadian Tires. Searched for the right car. Searched for the right house. On the 2nd day of our arrival, we had bought our first car; a Ford Edge 2011. I also fell ill on day 2 and this was to last me a good 10 days or so. Visited the Art Festival.



Week 2 - Bought a printer in light of the fact that we had to do some photo printing for PR Card application. Went to see more houses. Got my full "G" drivers license and got the insurance we needed to take delivery of the Ford. See more houses. Shopped more and also learnt about the weekly flyers where stuff are 'cheaper' or 'on sale'; a good way to save bucks!

Week 3 - Got our photos done and PR card application sent. Registered children for Summer school. Visited and joined the Conservation Parks membership. First park visit was in Hilton Falls. See more houses. Found an visited a lovely church... Glad Tidings Burlington. Shopped and window shopped different places.
Up until now, we had seen perhaps almost 20 houses, however, none to our fancy. Houses in the Nelson region are old, expensive. At this point, a house was our utmost priority. We prayed, we looked. Most houses were expensive.. in the 500-600k region. Though affordable, they didnt seem worth the money.
We were also tourists... touring the Niagara Falls.

Week 4 - July 4th. We found our house. We chanced upon it during our sunday after church drive around looking for 'open' houses. We found this affordable and beautifully renovated home. Voila... 4 days later... we finalized the sale and purchase agreement. Truly... a gift from God almighty! It was only God who could have orchestrated the find. Our real estate agent too... a hardworking Burlingtonian who must get some credit for her painstaking labor, working up until midnite on many nights to get the offer through.

So there you go... 4 weeks of living in Burlington. It's been good. It's been fun. It's been challenging... but mostly we must say... it TRULY HAS BEEN ORCHESTRATED BY GOD and HIS perfect timing!

2011 June 7th... the BIG DAY!

It was 5am when the alarm clock was supposed to ring. But no difference...we were awake before then. In fact, we hardly slept at all! Today would be the day we leave Malaysia pretty much for good as we head off to Burlington, Ontario, Canada on our one way journey there.
The airport check-in at KLIA happened with no incident. We were well within our luggage weight of 23kg per bag. We had 8 bags to check-in in all. Make sure you make prior arrangements with your cab to make sure they have enough room for your bags. We hired 2 Merc Vitos. One entirely for the bags and one for us.
We were off on schedule, at 9am and that was that.
The arrival into Pearson International, Toronto also happened without much incident. Immigration and customs let us through with no hiccups. Of course, we did our part in declaring that we really had no food, drugs, etc in our luggages.
Immediately after that we went and picked up our rented car/van... a HUGE Dodge Grand Caravan which could fit very easily ALL our 8 bags! Thankfully however, our friend provided a car too when they came and fetched us. We arranged our rented car from Malaysia. We used "enterprise" which was cheapest for us at this time.
Checked in our Burlington Towers apartment finally, at 1am...June the 8th.
Phew... what a day it had been.

Getting Ready for the big MOVE...

So much to do, so much to do, and so much to do!...
An epic move like this is not easy. Releasing our assets, packing, readying the other side, saying goodbyes, arranging farewells, finalizing immigration documents, closing bank accounts, changes of address, terminating existing ties with utilities, billings, arranging movers, all add up to the work involved in emigrating! And this is what we're doing now. With just over a month to go, we're making sure everything is in order. The most painful part of this process is the 'goodbyes'.
Canada is so far away from Malaysia. All our loved ones are here. Obviously, while everyone is so happy for us, everyone is also sad. Truth is, its easier to depart than it is to watch someone depart. Undoubtedly, I am sad for I leave behind a whole wealth of feelings. But as always, I have to be resilient. I have to 'strain' forward.
The future, while a lot is unknown, a lot is known. For example, I know that we're in for a better education, a better and more well rounded lifestyle, a smaller and less hectic town, a better healthcare system, a society which is more compassionate, a place where regulation and controls are good, people are friendly. But most importantly, HOME is where the heart is, and as of now, the truth is, it will be hardest to make or call our new home a home. Right now, I really have no idea how living there will really be like. Will the promise of a better life truly be better?
Only time will tell and only our trust in God will ensure that 'all things work for the good of those who love Him'.
So, stay tuned. I will keep blogging. I will keep reporting about Life in Burlington Canada.

Preparatory work...for migration to Canada

Migration is no easy task. So many things to think about, so many things to do. This post is the first of many that will be coming to describe what I've done in order to prepare for the big move.
If you're reading this and are yourself thinking of moving/migrating, I will assume that you already have a PR and are now waiting to move.

The first thing I did was get a FULL LIST of everything I needed to do. This will include, all bank accounts, all real estates, all other properties like cars etc.
Do that first.
For me, I'm a digital freak, and therefore created an MS Project to list the things-to-do.