5.6.2022

Recently I've been feeling down. It's like everyday is a challenge that must be overcome. I found no passion in life, in my relationships. I even hate going to work. I'm watching My Liberation Notes and what's going on there resonates to what I'm feeling right now. It's like I'm in a bog and life here is slowly suffocating me.

ctto

The last time I felt this hopeless and stuck was 2010. I had no work then, no boyfriend, no direction in life. I felt adrift. All that ambition when I was young went nowhere. I always felt like I was incompetent, that I knew nothing. 

Thinking back, I should've been more grateful because I still had my mom and my little brother. Maybe the same thing is happening now, that I should be grateful for my husband who's able to adjust to our life here. Me, I still can't let go of our life in UAE. Leaving our family and friends for a new life here in CA, was it worth it? I still can't wrap my head around it I guess. I was too excited about coming that I didn't even think about what kind of life we'll be leading here.

Anyway, I decided to make an online gratitude journal. Maybe this way I get some of my enthusiasm for life back. Exert more effort in living in the moment and not thoroughly strategizing our every step like there's no more time is becoming a real threat to my sanity.

IS Series: Convert Your AlHosn Vaccine Certificate to ON Vaccine Certificate with QR Code

 I'm not exactly sure if converting our vaccine certificates has any bearing on our daily life here in CA, but we decided to have it registered in case it might be required later on. Currently, we're already being asked for proof of vaccination for in-door dining so in case we do transition to face to face classes, we have it ready.

To do so, click on this link and answer a questionnaire. It will start out with the below question, and you just have to answer as truthfully as you can and have your own certificate ready for upload. Bear in mind that these are for Ontario residents only, other provinces may have their own procedures in converting international vaccine certificates.

After filling everything up, you will get two confirmation emails stating that you have successfully registered your vaccines and to wait for review. We did ours on February 10th and we received our enhanced certificates just today, February 25th, so it took about 16 days including weekends. Our 4th dose wasn't included though but we do still have our own AlHosn Vaccine certificates ready just in case.

You have to also have your OHIP ID no. ready during registration so you can access your vaccine certificates once it's ready for download.

That's it folks! Need to continue my training now :) See y'all around!

UPDATE: 25/02/24 

Yes, it does have an impact when you want to avail of further COVID boosters. Residents are required to update their vaccination status online if they want to schedule appointments with designated vaccine centres.

For the Peel Region, please visit this link to register your out of province (and country) COVID vaccine status: Peel Region COVID Registration 

25.2.2022

Now on our second month, and we're barely hanging in there.

We had a medical emergency back home but the great thing is Mr. A's mom is now safe and sound. She's currently recovering at home, thank You Lord, and the family's banding together to help her get through this. It's best when you have your slush funds ready, but we do have to get serious now in job hunting to make sure we're not financially short moving forward.

Medical insurance is a must now in the Philippines, as hospital bills can easily rise for a matter of DAYS. Philhealth can be utilized but it's peanuts compared to having an actual HMO or a critical illness cover. We need to plan wisely for our elders' healthcare soon or else our out of pocket payments will bring us to financial ruin T_T

IS Series: Getting OHIP Coverage

Ola from newly covered TRs! :P

 So I just got back from Service Ontario with spanking brand new OHIP coverage :) Sadly it doesn't cover Mr. A's prescriptions but at least consultations are free. We'll have to research more on additional coverage but at least we're one tick off our settlement list.

If you're like us and you don't know where TH to start, here's what we did:

1. GETTING OUR DOCS READY

For the full list of accepted documents, you can refer to this link: OHIP Documents

There are three (3) required supporting documents to present to Service Ontario, and everything should either be original or printed out (if electronic documents). Since we were new residents and we didn't have much paperwork yet, what we prepared were as follows:

• Originals of OWP (for Mr. A) and my SP and WP along with Mr. A's Certificate of Employment. The COE stated that he's working full time, position, start date and that he will be employed for a minimum of 6 months on his company's letterhead. (Proof of OHIP-eligible status)
• Mr. A's and mine's most recent paystub, printed, and with our address (Proof of residency in Ontario)
• Original PHL passports (Proof of identity)
• Completed OHIP registration forms with our signatures.

We actually brought original and stamped bank statements from RBC but the officer said they cannot honor it (maybe only for credit card statements where it's mailed to you). Good thing I received a paystub a day before our appointment or else we would have to go back.

2.  SET AN APPOINTMENT

Not all Service Ontario locations entertain new OHIP applications especially for temporary residents so we went all the way to Westdale Mall to process ours. People can actually walk in since there was no line but you do have the option to book an appointment so you're guaranteed service. To do so, just click on this link to set it: Service Ontario Westdale Mall.

Service Ontario exterior (Westdale Mall)

If you're applying with a dependent, you only have to book one appointment for the both of you. Good thing the office is located inside the mall = no outdoor lines! When we got our SIN, we had to line up for 4 hours outside a Service Canada Center and we both got really sick afterwards! We had to spend NYE in bed with a sore throat and cough when we should've been doing photo ops in Blue Mountain Resort T_T

And THAT'S IT FOLKS! Temporary slips will be issued with your OHIP numbers while your actual cards will come in the mail about a month after. Travel time back and forth from Eglinton to Westdale Mall was almost an hour but the actual application process took less than 10 minutes.

view from Mr. A's workplace

Mr. A had to go back to work right after so I dropped him off before going home. 

The weather was -14 but felt like -20 (it rained and snowed the night before). I had to brisk walk home because it felt like my nails were about to come off my toes and I can't feel my fingers anymore -_-

'Til the next post!

3.2.2022

 I don't really care much at this point.

Everything feels exhausting, I feel like I've worked myself to the bone for almost 9 years and now manual labor coupled with studies made me think I've bitten off more than I can chew.

I'm supposed to study for an Econ and OB test but my mind's off a-wandering. I actually want to study and I've been listening to IU's Gloomy Clock to set the mood. Just made me more restless and think of less desirable things.

Juggling Work & School

A/N : Created on 09/2021, published on 01/2022

Update: We moved to Dubai again for school so no more rent! #FREEDOM

At first, I was trying to figure out how to juggle everything since my first class starts at 3:00 p.m. while my work ends at 5:30 p.m. It was a good thing classes were only held three times a week and I'm still working from home so I can listen to my lectures and participate in class discussions.

To those who want to be supergirls and accomplish both at the same time, below are my go-to apps to keep track of everything and anything: 

• MS OneNote - for digital notes
• MS Office 365 To Do - to list out all my due assignments with dates and tick them off once I'm done
• MS Teams - for group meetings and discussions
• MS Outlook - for all school correspondence (linked this to my Gmail for push notifications) 
• Zoom - for backups in case nobody else wanted to do Teams
• Google Calendar - connected this to our Moodle calendar for notifications

Good luck to us!

Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi

To lift our spirits from everything that's been happening and maka YOLO, we decided to take a little trip again to Yas Island and try Yas Waterworld for the first time in almost 9 years HEHEHE (me lang because he already tried it back in 2015 -_-)

Thank you ADCB for the B1G1 promo

 To get there we took the 102 Bus from the stop right across the main bus station on Muroor Road. It was a 30-45 minute trip through scenic Saadiyat and we alighted at the Ferrari World section of Yas Mall.

We wanted to eat first before going there as theme park restaurants are hella expensive. I didn't want to eat fast food also so we steered clear of the food court pero all restaurants were full T_T kasi merienda hour.

After almost 30 minutes of going round in circles, we came to find Urban Eats - the food was filling and affordable. We ate chicken katsu curry and chicken ramen.

From Urban Eats, we went down to the bus stop again thinking to catch a cab to Yas Waterworld. However, after checking the map, it was actually within walking distance so we decided to just go there directly instead of dropping 12 AED on a cab ride.

We followed the directions below up until the Yas Mall Tryano carpark. After that we just went across the signal to Warner Brothers and there was a little shortcut there towards the entrance so you don't have to go all the way down to Ansam Bldg 4.

Once you're there, you don't have to rent a locker to store all your stuff. You can bring it with you and place it on any vacant sunlounger - but if you want peace of mind while running to and fro between the rides, you can rent a locker for 45 (small) 55 AED (medium). Forgot what the large locker costs but the medium suited us just fine (1 backpack, 1 bodybag, 2 shoes and enough space left over to hang some clothes).

I'd definitely return and without the anxiety attack sa rides :) see you back in August!