Applying for a visa

Well, we applied for a visa for Australia yesterday. Actually, Carla applied for a student visa, as she was accepted into a Juris Doctor (Master of Laws) program at University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) and Monash University. She chose to go to UTS, as it is a more practical program.

We filled out the visa application online. It was super easy. On Monday, we will go to see a doctor to complete medical examination, and that should be it. If any further documents are needed, we can scan them and submit them online. I am really impressed by how easy Australia has made this process.

We are now trying to figure out all the things that need to be done in the next month, as we will most likely be leaving Canada by the end of June. We have already started looking for places in Sydney. Expensive! But I am sure that we will find something suitable and affordable.

I will let you know when we hear more about the visa. Enjoy the slideshows that I had just emailed. If you did not receive them, send me an email and I will resend them to you.

I am getting pretty good at quickly adjusting to living in other people's houses. The hardest thing though is figuring out where people keep their measuring cups, as there is really no good standard for that. :-) It is pretty hard to make oatmeals right without a measuring cup.

I am feeling a bit better today. Yesterday, I felt like a zombie, but I made sure not to sleep during the day. We ended up catching up on our favourite TV shows (Grey's Anatomy, The Unit, Brothers and Sisters, House). When you are away for four weeks, you get to miss quite a few episodes.

We went to the Superstore yesterday, and I noticed how much cheaper food is in Canada compared to Australia. Well, maybe it's just Superstore, as I remember going to Loblaws or Loeb and noticing how those two stores were much more expensive than the Superstore.

I actually missed Quizno's. They make really good subs. The Subway used to be my favourite, but after so many years, and after trying Quizno's, I can't go to the Subway anymore.

I am still sorting through all my pictures from the trip. 1,300 pictures! It will take a bit to get it all organized, captioned and nicely ordered. But when it's done, it will be worth it!

Back to the Great White North - brrrrr!

I am getting on a plane in Adelaide in about 30 minutes for the flight to Sydney, Vancouver, Toronto, and eventually, Ottawa.

Once in Ottawa, I will have time to prepare slideshows from all our trips in Southeast Asia. Other than that, I will be spending time with Carla, and try to catch up with friends. We are still working on our next move. Once things are firmed up I will let everyone know. Until then, stay tuned!

Back at last

Well, that was a 'fun' return trip. Spent a night at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, and then the following night in Melbourne. I think I got about 1.5 hrs combined of sleep over the past couple of nights. Not good at all.

First thing I did when I got off a plane in Melbourne was to go into a washroom and admire the cleanliness of the washroom and the availability of sit down toilettes. Sometimes, it's the simplest things that will make you happy. Trust me, after using squatting toilletes for weeks (even at higher-end malls), you appreciate the little 'luxuries.'

I have only a few days here in Adelaide and then it's back on the plane and across the Equator once again. At least the flight to Canada should have good movies on it. Nothing worse than an 8-hour flight and no entertainment. Well, I guess a 14-hour with no entertainment is worse, but you get my point.

I will try and get the pictures organized and send them out in stages, as I am sure that nobody wants to or has the time to look over the picture of our 6 different destinations all at once. This way, I will at least be able to keep the suspense going. See, I did learn something from the writers of 24. Jack Bauer can get all the baddies in once episode, but then how much fun would that be. In the same way, I could send out just one slideshow, but this way I will be able to entertain you for weeks. :-)

Well, it's off to bed for me. And a real bed this time, not an airport bench or floor. Ahh, the little 'luxuries' of life that we stopped appreciating long time ago but that bring so much joy. :-)

Last day in KL - or so I thought

Today was our last day in KL. This time around, we enjoyed KL much
more than the last time. It helped that our hotel was located very
close to a monorail station, so we could quickly get to our
destinations.

We visited the Berjaya Times Square mall, and what a mall it is. It
is 10 storeys high, with a zillion stores and restaurants, plus a
movie theater and a large theme park. Crazy!

The movie theater was really inexpensive (11 RM = CDN 4) so we went
and saw Angels and Demons (very good) and the new Star Trek
(excellent). Carla als got a massage and a haircut as these services
are quite a bit cheaper.

There has been kind of a confusion about my flight back to Canada, so
I am now stuck at the airport in KL. Tomorrow morning I will have to
book a new ticket to Melbourne, but due to the flight from KL arriving
late into Melbourne, I will have to spend another night at the
airport. I will only get to Adelaide on Tuesday. Bah!