hey, nice residence area you’ve got there!

the apples are actually quite reasonable, compared to what we pay here! (how twisted is that?) thumbs down to a $4 pizza slice though. you’re lucky to be in vancouver, with the large asian population and a climate less bitter than toronto – it makes the transition that much easier.

welcome to north america!

Vancouver is nothing short of amazing… seriously. Ah well I got ripped off willing on that because it was the cheapest food in Granville market. Just yesterday I saw $1 slices of pizza downtown.

But the $5 chinese ‘economical rice’ (what we term it in Singapore) really takes some getting used to, though I must admit if money wasn’t an issue, the food is really good and I am happy to pay that amount… particularly when the portions are actually big enough for 2 persons. So come to think of it, it’s really not too expensive if shared. But I am just 1 person here…

Wow… apples a pound for C$2.40… I thought it can’t get any worse than that given that the cheapest prices I’ve seen here was like 75 cents a pound.

I guess everybody who ever stays in Vancouver for sometime will want to make it their home forever. It’s really a nice place. People are mostly friendly, polite and helpful… unlike many other places. I am sure most other cities in North America aren’t like that.

I think Canadians are generally more congenial than Americans, so there may be more places like that in the rest of Canada than the US. I’ve never been to Vancouver myself, but my husband says it’s quite amazing and it’s a strong candidate for where we might move to in the future.

$5 economical rice: I guess if the portion is generous, one could eat half and ‘da bao’ the rest, making it $2.5 per meal… not bad, as you said! (I noticed another commenter already mentioned it. You know what they say about great minds!)

Even after being here for so long, I still get sticker shock. I really miss S$3 mee pok and the no-fuss healthy/cheap fruit juice (whereas here, a “smoothie” has all kinds of junk and sugar and costs US$4.50). If I find US$9 char kway teow, I consider the $ premium ‘convenience tax’ – too much trouble to make myself, and it’s not easy to find, so I’ll have to pay if I want it. After a while, though, desperation will bring out the ‘iron chef’ in you that you never knew existed…

Anyway, it’s interesting to compare observations and experiences with fellow S’poreans overseas. I’ll be peeking here once in a while.

Thanks, it makes it more fun blogging when there are actually people reading.

I think this is a good place to live in too, and if I ever have the opportunity, I won’t think too much about moving here. There is a wonderful culture of tolerance and non-discrimination here, and I think Asians are more welcomed here than elsewhere in N. America.

However as I understand it, Vancouver is getting to be a very expensive place to live in due to its ideal conditions and lots of rich folks moving over.

I brought Prima Taste packs along to cook. They taste really authentic…

And yea I noticed they don’t have plain, healthy fruit juice here. Just all those smoothies with bells and whistles and seemingly super sweet types. Yikes.