Days 2 and 3: Apartment Hunting and Restaurant Exploring!

Hi friends! I know that I haven't posted in a month. That's because I've been busy busy busy getting things done and adjusting. My apologies. I shall try to update my experience ... so this post is for Day 2 (October 3rd) ... or, I suppose you could consider it my Day 1 since I arrived in the afternoon of the 2nd. Whatever!

Today was dedicated to apartment hunting.

Some background info. My sister and her husband from Las Vegas so generously offered to help me out with my initial move to Vancouver. So, using her miles, they flew to Seattle and rented a van (the van, they paid for!)and drove up to Vancouver. She booked an airport hotel for 4 days/3 nights (also on points). So, by this time, we'd already consumed 1 night and only had 2 more to go.

With no time to accommodate jetlag, she got me out of bed that first full day and told me to get my list together. Before leaving Manila, I had done some research and my immigration services contact at DiverseCITY in Surrey pointed me to a very affordbale month-to-month apartment complex near their office. I also had done some searches on Craigslist and Kijiji beforehand and had some interesting lists. When I arrived, I already had 3 viewings booked. That day, we drove and viewed apartment after apartment. They were all generally the same with 1 bedroom units ranging from 725/mo to 900/mo. Evergreen Apartments in Surrey (the one that DiverseCITY pointed me to) was the only month-to-month on my list. Everyone else wanted a 1-year lease. We kept looking.

In researching Evergreen Apartments, I noticed that it was managed by a property management company called Gateway. So, I went to their website and saw that they had a number of other properties under management all over the Greater Vancouver area, actually, even in other provinces. We listed down everyone that was below $1,000/mo.

We also saw another set of apartments managed by Mainstreet. These were also in Surrey. They were all pretty much the same.

Here's a list of apartments we visited that day and the day after.

Gateway Property Management   www.gatewaypm.com  - Visit their site for availability and pricing.
Ocean Residences:  Ocean Side, Ocean View, Ocean Park
Location:  City of Richmond, Steveston area

Comments:  Beautiful area.  This apartment complex has 3 buildings.  I think I looked at Ocean Side.  It's in Steveston village, which is a tourist spot.  You might find it a bit colder through because you're right there near the water.  While I thought this was a wonderful apartment, I didn't get it because it is farther from Vancouver, and too remote for my taste, considering I was not planning to buy a car just yet.
Rent:  $900/mo for a 1-br


Evergreen Apartments
Location:  10525 150th Street, Surrey, across from Guildford Mall
Manager:   Sherry Akers (sakers@hotmail.com) / Maria
Comments:  This was the apartment recommended by my contact at immigration services DiverseCITY.  They offer a month-to-month arrangement, which is great if you are not sure where you want to live, or where you will get work.  Prices are very affordable and it's perfect for the newcomer.  Just fill-out the forms, and show proof of funds and you should be on  your way.  Sherry and Maria of Evergreen were so accommodating.  I totally recommend this if you are not sure where you want to live yet.
Rent:  $725/mo for 1-br;  $850/mo for 2-br


"2121"
Location:  Kerrisdale area, W.44th Avenue and West Boulevard, Vancouver
Comments:  When we saw the community, this was it!  W 41st street reminds me of the Atherton / Palo Alto area from the 80's.  A quiet older residential community with small shops and restaurants.  This was the absolute last apartment we looked at.  In fact, if my sister did not force me to swing around this area on Day 3!, I would have just gone ahead with one of the apartments in Surrey.  But, she insisted we try just one in Vancouver.  And, when we saw the unit, the decision was made immediately.
Rent:  $850/mo for bachelor (studio unit)

Mainstreet Equities  www.mainst.biz  - Visit their site for availability and pricing.
We were pointed to a Mainstreet property by a property manager one of the other ones we visited because I wanted to explore a pet-friendly apartment building.  I don't know what it is, but we visited 3 apartment buildings owned and managed by Mainstreet, and all three managers were Filipina.  I cannot tell you how comforting it is to speak to another Pinoy when you come to a far-away place and know no one.  So, here are the apartments we went to:

Pacific Park Apartments
Location:  9350 - 128th Street, Surrey
Manager:  Annabel
Comments:  Annabel is very nice.  When she found out that I don't know anyone in Vancouver, she very readily said, "Well, now you know me!"  She even called me a few days later to check if I was doing alright in my new place ... or maybe she was calling to check why I didn't get the apartment she showed me.  Of the Mainstreet apartments, Annabel's units were the nicest.  Apparently, they were upgrading and renovating units one at a time, and the one she showed me was just newly renovated.  Engineered wood flooring, medium grey painted walls.  Nice.
Rent:  $687 - 725 / mo for a 1-br


Imperial Parkside
Location:  9555 - 128th Street, Surrey
Manager:  Ria
Comments:  This apartment complex looked larger than the previous one.  It is located literally diagonally across the street from Pacific ... perhaps 100 meters away from each other.  I felt it was a bit busier in this apartment with a younger and more mixed crowd.  Noisier, too.


Hillside Place
Location:  12751 - 103th Avenue, Surrey
Manager:  Christine (I'm guessing here, but she was a very charming young lady)
Comments:  This is a quiet low-rise apartment complex.  Interesting actuallly, since every building is a walk-up with only two apartments on each floor, one on either side of the stairwell.  Laundry facilities are in a separate building in the center.  Amenities were less (no pool) but overall I felt that this was a small family-oriented community.  Not bad really, just that I felt it was too far from transportation.



Independent Owner
Executive Airport Plaza Residences
Location:  City of Richmond, near the YVR Airport
Comments:  I saw this posted on Craigslist.  The unit being offered was in the residential tower attached to the hotel.  The advantage was that it was fully furnished.  I couldn't get it at a more reasonable price, though, so I decided to forego with this unit.  The minimum term the owners were willing to accept was 9 months.
Price:  $1200/mo for a 1-br


Alright, that's it for this post.  My next post will be about considerations in choosing my apartment.

Day 1: Got a Mobile Phone

One of the first things on my agenda upon landing was getting a mobile phone number.

This was a simple 30 minute job.

I went to Future Shop because it was close to the hotel. At Future Shop, I explained that I had a GSM phone that was an open line, meaning that it was not locked to my previous Philippine mobile operator. I also confirmed that my unit could operate within the band spectrum in use in Canada.

After that, it was a choice of operator. I was offered Chatr, a new operator that offered unlimited Canada incoming and outgoing calls. I didn't choose that because most of my calls would be to the U.S. I also looked at Rogers as an option.

I ended up with Fido $35/mo, which offered 350 minutes, with unlimited evenings (7pm - 7am) and weekends. Evenutally, I added Caller ID for $7/mo and lower U.S. long distance rates for $5/mo.

There are things you have to think about in choosing a plan, as compared to what we are used to in the Philippines are the following:
* Airtime minutes are used up for incoming and outgoing calls outside your unlimited window. In the Philippines, we are used to free incoming calls. Here, you have to consider the time that people call you!
* You pay long distance for calls to the U.S. So, if you are calling a vonage number or a magicjack number, those are long distance, not international.
* You do not pay long distance charges when you have incoming long distance calls.
* Caller ID does not come with your plan automatically. You have to pay for this.
* Voice mail does not come with your plan automatically. This is also an extra service. In the Philippines, we are offered this for free and you only pay when you use it.

Pre-Paid / Pay-As-You-Go Plans are different, as well. In the Philippines, you just load up when you want and your load balance is reduced every time you use your phone. You can actually have a P1 balance on your phone. Here, in Canada, you commit to monthly usage; meaning, your credit card will be charged a monthly rate which is consumed. Then, you add to your load balance when you need more.

Using my international credit card, I was able to get a monthly plan, that even gave me a free touch screen LG quad-band phone (LG GR500FD)! Initially, I used the hotel address as my mailing address. Three days later, after I moved into my apartment (that's another post), I changed my address online.

I'll be editing this to add a comparison chart.

Day 1: My Landing Experience

Here's an excerpt from a letter I sent to my friend about my landing experience.

ABOUT LANDING

Ok, here are some things to remember when you land.  When  you go down the escalator from the arrival area to enter immigration area, there are signs pointing to immigrants.  You will go through a special corridor on the right side.  Don’t worry because there is a greeter there who will keep announcing “New immigrants, this way.”   Very organized.

When you enter the special immigration area where you will be interviewed, you will first see the queue entrance where people fall in line.  Don’t go there right away.  If you look behind the line there is a counter on the left side.  That’s the first step.  It is the immigration welcome desk.  They will give you some pamphlets and do orientation that you probably already know.  When I was there they were giving out numbers and taping it to the outside of the passport.  There are chairs there, so you can just have your kids sit down with your carry-on luggage while you get oriented.  After that counter, they will tell you to get in line.  

When you are in line, take out your PASSPORTS, your CPRs and the CUSTOMS DECLARATION FORM that they gave you on the plane.  (For the customs declaration form, there is a portion that says detach here – Don’t detach it. Basta keep the entire form as-is.  The girl beside me detached hers and the officer asked her why she did that.  In my mind, I was like, “The form said detach here.” Although, in fairness, the instructions did not state to detach.  These guys are very exact.).  

Also have ready the print out of the GOODS TO FOLLOW and GOODS WITH ME lists that you prepared.  You need 2 sets of that.  They didn’t want my goods with me list, but you might as well have it ready just in case. 

When I was in line, because the line was so long (took me 1.5 hrs because there were so many people in line), I put my documents back in my envelope.  So, when I was called to the counter I didn’t have them out.  The officer told me,  “You know that you’re supposed to have your documents ready when you get to the counter.  You should have done that while you were in line.”  But, it wasn’t really negative.  Other than that, the questions are very very simple:

Why are you here?

What is your job category?

What is your occupation?  

Have you ever been convicted of a crime? Refused entry?

Are you bringing over 10k w/ you? Yes (GIVE THE EXACT AMOUNT).  I bought something on the plane and I was asked to count my money.  Good thing I knew exactly how much I spent of my funds so I just subtracted, and I didn’t need to count.

After that, the officer told me to sit down while my papers were prepared for signature.

Then, the officer gives you some reminders about what to do when your goods come in.

After that the officer attaches your CPR to your passport and you are done.

When you exit, you get your bags, unless either one of you has already been asked to do so by the ground staff.  In my case, because I was pretty much at the end of the line for immigrant arrivals on my flight, my bags were the only ones left, so they asked me to go out; but, because I was still in line, they had a porter get my bags from the conveyor belt and wait for me to finish.  Not bad!