Moving to a New Country - Experiences & Lessons

I moved to Malaysia in 2009... This was my first international move to a country I had never visited before. My first mistake. I had a rough start in Malaysia but once I was settled, it was heartbreaking to bid farewell in 2017 when I decided to move to a new continent and start all over again in Australia (I deliberately use continent to make it sound huge :D). I have migrated to Australia and I am currently living in Adelaide which is the capital of South Australia. It is a small city and though I anticipated that my move would be really tough, I adjusted much more easily this time.

I am a strong believer that God's plans are the best for us! My move to Malaysia and lessons I learned there had prepared me well for this big move. In this post, I will try to list things that would be my tried and tested tips or things to take care of when you move to a new country!

Please note that this post is based on my personal experiences on settling in a new country and it is not an advice on how to migrate or find jobs. 

Here we go:

Tale of a Dinner Set

I always thought that this is a very desi trait to be emotionally attached to things, especially those bought during weddings until I saw this episode of Friends where Monica was all paranoid about using China that she bought during her wedding. It is a universal issue and many people will be able to relate to it. We all have fancy dinner sets tucked away in cabinets awaiting special guests. I, too, have a dinner set which I was crazy enough to bring from Pakistan to Malaysia and now to Australia. But, for me, it is not a randomly selected dinner set that I could let go. It is emotionally valuable and has a story - long and special enough to make a blog post!

Meet my Dinner Set!

5 Types of Friends We Need in Life

I have been hearing and reading recently that FIVE friends are all you need! Now, I have a huge circle and many small circles of friends. I have changed multiple cities and have lived in two countries. Changed school whenever we changed house as my dad believed I should study in the school closest to the house. Next door if he could find one! I have done summer jobs, part time jobs, volunteer work and full-time jobs. I befriended my husband's friends too after marriage. Also, I am sticky, a hard-to-let-go friend who will hunt you down and stay connected with you unless of course, you don't want me to. So, for me, to have 'just' five friends is nearly impossible....

I looked hard and long at my group of friends and I realized that I can put them in 5 types! No, these five types are not scientifically or psychologically proven. These are based on my (17) x2 years on this planet and over 500 friends that I really do stay connected with! Okay, may be 250 .... but definitely not just 5. All thanks to Facebook by the way!

Here are the essential ones:

Information: Documents/Processes When Exiting Malaysia

This is going to be a simple straight forward post for anyone who may need this information. 

The reason why I am posting this is that while I was going through this whole process I was looking for similar information and I had to call up people who had left Malaysia to check how it all worked. Most had their processes done by agencies and complained of horrible experiences. I did all this myself except for visa cancellation and it was all easy peasy! So, leaving my experience in this post, hope it benefits you! 

So, before migrating to Australia, I was working in Malaysia on a work permit or commonly known as EP (Employment Pass) which was done by my company. These were the things I did before exiting. 

Life in Adelaide - First Impressions!

Helloooooo world! 

Here comes my first post from south of Australia! I know I have neglected my blog for a long time but moving is not easy! I keep reminding myself that I moved a “whole continent” to feel less guilty for the procrastination! and it works like magic! I am here finally and I thought of giving you my first impressions of this totally new place that is now my home. 

I have been in Adelaide, South Australia for more than a month. It is known as a quiet, small, slow paced city but I think most of us have it wrong - at least I had it really wrong.

Love Letter to Malaysia...

My Dear Malaysia, 

Some love stories never end; and such is our love story. Even though, we may be physically away from each other but your warmth and what I took from you will remain with me for a long time. 

My hand knitted Gift

Mum visited me last month and I took time off from blogging to spend with her. Mum has been to Malaysia quite a lot and has seen most of the touristy things. So she wanted this trip to be a relaxed one where she hoped to unwind and rest. She asked us not to plan any short trips, picnics, parties or shopping sprees as we always do when she is here. Instead, she just wanted to go slow, watch TV, have long conversations, and eat her Malaysian favourites. A few shopping trips sneaked here and there (unavoidable they are, I tell you!) and we took her to all her favourite places to eat and watched movies.....  but, on most days, Mum and I just sat together and talked about everything under the sun with cups of Kashmiri chai or doodh patti in our hands just like two best friends do! I did not want her vacation to end but time flies by so fast! She went back last Thursday