So I have been to all three places today in Westdale Mall. It was Tuesday the 14th of May, 2024. After the driving lesson with the driving instructor one day before the driving test day I decided to go to the mall, first the Ontario Service Center to get my driving history along with my Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) card. The day after that the 15th of May, I took the test and failed, and today is the 16th of May. These are 3 straight days without a workout, without Tennis, without biking, and having no sleep at all, and eating a lot of junk foods like cookies and Subway breads. These days were disasters and I feel bad, but not really bad at all, I still feel OK but the mood is not very good at all. I feel like fasting and being active are key ingredients for a balanced mood in my current life so far.
Anyway, on the 14th of May, here is my feedback about the Ontario Service Centre: it’s clean, and people were polite and quiet. I was on the line to pick up my number and was waiting to be called to proceed with my OHIP. To get the OHIP card, I just needed to fill out my work permit, my visa, and my driving license (the G1 card), and then in a matter of minutes, the staff gave me a temporary OHIP license paper and told me that the OHIP card will be in my mailbox in another month or so. I said “Thank you, have a good day” and then I just left. After that, I realized that I forgot to ask for the driving history. So I went back, picked a new number, then the staff said: “Now you have to wait again for another hour”. I then wait another hour, but not staying in the location, rather than walk around the mall, discovering whatever it has there. The reason why I need to get the driving history is because I graduated from the driving school, which consists of 20 hours of online learning and 10 hours of driving lessons, it’s called the Beginner Driving Course Education (BDE). The school I was attending was the All Stars Mississauga Driving School. I paid around 900 CAD for that and extra private lessons for around 50, the fee for me to register for G1 and G2 is around 50 if I remember it correctly. Anyway, I believe that the decision is correct because driving in Canada is really different from Vietnam. It’s simply much more rules on the roads and you have to drive and respect the rules very well, like the traffic lights, the signs, and the rules of the roads. Overall, studying to drive in Canada is all about how to drive safely, compared to Vietnam it’s about the driving skill. I mean, luckily I have experience of driving in Vietnam, so I can already control the speed of the car and know how to use the car properly (the seats, the mirrors, the transmission, the wheel and so on). Anyway, it took me about 3 hours to get my OHIP and driving history, and I actually don’t mind about waiting time, I actually enjoy it because it’s a new place to discover.
Meanwhile waiting in the queue in the Ontario Service Centre, I saw a Virgin Plus store in the mall and decided to switch from Fido to Virgin Plus. I am speaking about the mobile carrier and upgrading the plan. The Fido plan I was having is 20GB of data monthly with a charge of 34 CAD after tax. I want more than 20GB and also I’m thinking about activating the eSIM for my Apple Watch. In Vietnam, it was easy to activate a shared eSIM for both the watch and the phone. I was using Viettel and it was really good. I can leave my phone at home, and whoever calls my number, will ring both my watch and my phone. So I don’t really need to carry the phone around with me anymore. The watch was being used as a phone but they both shared the phone number and the phone plan, it was very convenient. Then when I arrived here in Canada, I started to learn that I cannot share the phone line for both the iPhone and the Apple Watch, these are two devices and are required to use two different phone lines and phone plans, which means two different eSIM or two different numbers. I thought Virgin Plus was not a good one to support me with that, the staff didn’t understand my question and it was also a flanker brand (similar to FPT is the flanker of Mobifone in Vietnam, with the same network infrastructure, with different brands).
Therefore I’ve decided to change to Rogers. Rogers gave me a deal that could not be better: if I don’t use the BYOD option (which is to not install the plan on my existing phone), then I can use their phone (leasing the phone) then the monthly cost of the plan is the same. I am currently using Rogers Infinite Plan. With the discount, they made a fake Uber driver account for me and then I got the discount easily. They even gave me a watch for free (yes, literally free). All I needed to pay was around 150 CAD down payment, and now I have an extra Samsung S24 phone and the Samsung Watch 6. The monthly payment will be expected around 45 CAD, which is an absolutely good price point that I am willing to pay monthly for 60GB. I initially thought that they were scamming me to finance a new phone and a new watch that I didn’t need. Just until I contact Rogers support online and ask them to check for me to confirm that my monthly payment is exactly 45 CAD pre-tax, no more than that. Then finally I feel happy. Now my first phone line is installed on my iPhone, the Samsung phone I just leave it there on my desk for decoration. The Samsung Watch is temporarily installed with the second phone line because the Apple Watch that I bought in Vietnam currently does not allow me to install the Canadian phone carrier, it just simply does not allow me to install the eSIM of Rogers or Virgin Plus, I tried many ways and read the documents, and came to that final conclusion. I might need to go to the Apple Store in SquareOne this weekend to ask for Apple support to see if I can move my eSIM from the Samsung watch to the Apple Watch that I am having. The final thing that I am not sure is what to do with my new Samsung phone and watch. I will probably have some fun with it, like discovering what features they offer.
Finally, the Subway. Yes, it’s the famous Banh Mi brand made by Americans. It’s better than Banh Mi Vietnam. Sorry, I have pride in my own country but I have to say that the Subway is better in many ways. Here are some of the things I love about a Subway vendor compared to Banh Mi in Saigon or Hanoi:
- Clean: yes, the store is really really clean, the food is fresh, and so is the bread. I tasted it and I could feel the freshness. The store is clean too, except for the dining table, which probably has some trash and leftover crumbs from the previous customers.
- The variety: I am speaking about the chickens, the beefs, the vegetables, the cheeses. They are diverse and I can choose any combination I like. I usually go with Chicken, Turkey hams, and Pork hams. The Tuna and the brisket are good too but for nutrition, I prefer chicken for protein.
- The sauces: it’s having like 6 or 8 different kinds of sauces. Much more than what we have in Vietnam. The sauces are definitely tasty and make the bread so easy to consume.
You know what, I love bread, any kind of bread. The Subways definitely get my 10 stars for their service. I love the Indian staff, they are very kind and friendly. I always tip them 10% of my purchase in the end. If I have to choose a fast-food restaurant, I probably go for Subway, I just feel it’s the healthiest option, despite the fact that all fast-food chains’ menus are very high in calories and very bad for weight loss or keeping our body fit. But for macro nutrition, we cannot go wrong with the chicken, beef, lettuce, cucumber, and tomatoes in the Subway. I mean if we want to lower the unwanted calories, we can remove the cheese and the sauce. But who the hell can eat clean in a fast-food restaurant? We are going to fast-food chains to make our mood better by tasting good food right?
Around 7 PM, I finished off the shopping by grabbing some stuff in the Dollarama store, anything there was dead cheap. I got myself a wastebasket which is around 26 litres along with the waste bags, really happy about the option I have. It is white and minimalist, totally fits my room, and is convenient for me to keep my trash in my room. Although I don’t like the idea of having trash in my room, it’s definitely cleaner to have the basket than through the bottles and the papers around the room, you know, I am living on the 2nd stair so I think it’s better to not move around the house too much just to throw a napkin or a bottle. I took the Uber and went home, finished off some work, and called it a day.