Yes, the rumours are true, we are home again.
We spent five weeks away and are happy to be back where we are finally warm again. You try wearing a jacket for five weeks!!!
We got back Thursday evening and once I get my memories sorted out, I will start posting again.
Anyone miss us?
Our Beachfront Home
For Sale: Click on this photo
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Only in Canada... eh???
Well, it was a hell of a trip to say the least.....
We had planned to go to Canada in July, visit with some friends in Edmonton in early August and finish up with the estate and come home. Plans change.
Circumstances were such that we felt it was best to get our butts there sooner. So we did. We thought that since we were there, we might as well change my name on legal things... like credit cards, bank accounts, passports, social insurance, pension.. all the good stuff.
Some of it went well, some of it not so well. I found out that in order to change your name on your government ID (driver's licence, social insurance, provincial ID) to your new name, you need to have two pieces of government issued ID in your new name. You think that wasn't fun?
Apparently the problem is that 'Big Brother' wants to know not only who you are now, but who you have been since date of birth and if anything changes, they want to track it. I can no longer get a driver's license in British Columbia because my license changed from British Columbia to Alberta and they (British Columbia) lost track of me. They could not find the linkage from my birth certificate forward to the current driver's license, although they did find my previous driver's license in the system. If this doesn't make sense, it simply means, they couldn't link my birth certificate to previous driver's license and refused to update my current one. Trust me, I am confused too.
Some of it was easier than others... RBC, BMO and Pension Corp accepted the Belizean marriage certificate for what it was. Kudos to you!!!
President's Choice was a different matter altogether. In order to change the information on my bank account and credit card, I had to have two pieces of ID in my new name, plus the marriage certificate. However, they first told us I need one piece of ID, so once we got the first one, we rushed out to the kiosk and prepared to change things over. Then they informed us that I really needed two pieces of ID and the young man in the kiosk had the audacity to laugh at my frustration.
We were able to submit all documents necessary to a kiosk in Edmonton where I signed many papers and signature cards. After two weeks, my name still wasn't changed on my accounts so we started phoning. It turns out that they misplaced the signature cards and then destroyed the rest of the documentation as it wasn't 'complete'. We were told we could go the next day to the kiosk in Langford, but as I explained to the male person on the other end of the line, (at the no service/no help desk - as Bob calls it) we were leaving the first thing in the morning, it was not possible. He allowed as it wasn't his problem and he really didn't care if it was done or not.
Eventually it was all changed via email through supervisors, who could have guessed it could have been so easy. Why couldn't we have done that in the beginning?
We had planned to go to Canada in July, visit with some friends in Edmonton in early August and finish up with the estate and come home. Plans change.
Circumstances were such that we felt it was best to get our butts there sooner. So we did. We thought that since we were there, we might as well change my name on legal things... like credit cards, bank accounts, passports, social insurance, pension.. all the good stuff.
Some of it went well, some of it not so well. I found out that in order to change your name on your government ID (driver's licence, social insurance, provincial ID) to your new name, you need to have two pieces of government issued ID in your new name. You think that wasn't fun?
Apparently the problem is that 'Big Brother' wants to know not only who you are now, but who you have been since date of birth and if anything changes, they want to track it. I can no longer get a driver's license in British Columbia because my license changed from British Columbia to Alberta and they (British Columbia) lost track of me. They could not find the linkage from my birth certificate forward to the current driver's license, although they did find my previous driver's license in the system. If this doesn't make sense, it simply means, they couldn't link my birth certificate to previous driver's license and refused to update my current one. Trust me, I am confused too.
Some of it was easier than others... RBC, BMO and Pension Corp accepted the Belizean marriage certificate for what it was. Kudos to you!!!
President's Choice was a different matter altogether. In order to change the information on my bank account and credit card, I had to have two pieces of ID in my new name, plus the marriage certificate. However, they first told us I need one piece of ID, so once we got the first one, we rushed out to the kiosk and prepared to change things over. Then they informed us that I really needed two pieces of ID and the young man in the kiosk had the audacity to laugh at my frustration.
We were able to submit all documents necessary to a kiosk in Edmonton where I signed many papers and signature cards. After two weeks, my name still wasn't changed on my accounts so we started phoning. It turns out that they misplaced the signature cards and then destroyed the rest of the documentation as it wasn't 'complete'. We were told we could go the next day to the kiosk in Langford, but as I explained to the male person on the other end of the line, (at the no service/no help desk - as Bob calls it) we were leaving the first thing in the morning, it was not possible. He allowed as it wasn't his problem and he really didn't care if it was done or not.
Eventually it was all changed via email through supervisors, who could have guessed it could have been so easy. Why couldn't we have done that in the beginning?
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Happy Birthday
Well, it's been another year and we are ready to celebrate Bob's birthday.
Wishing you the very best my love. Happy Birthday!!!
Wishing you the very best my love. Happy Birthday!!!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Matt's Visit
Well Matt finally came to visit us and a great visit it was.
We rented a golf cart and went to pick him up at the airstrip. After taking his luggage back to our place, we did a whirlwind sight seeing tour and took the cart back to Paradise Resort before going for dinner at the Pickled Parrot and dessert at TuttiFrutti. Yummy!!
We spent a few days just hanging around on the beach, swimming and snorkeling, although the water was a little rough. More like a wave pool than a beach, but we had fun playing in the waves.
After a few days of relaxation, we headed off to San Ignacio. We had breakfast at the Caladium Restaurant in Belmopan and decided to do a little detour side trip to the Belize Zoo. It was awesome as usual and we are certainly getting our money's worth with our family membership. We would encourage anyone living down here to get one.
After the zoo, we got a ride back to the Belmopan junction and picked up a bus just coming out of Belmopan to San Ignacio. Timing is everything. We stayed at the Cahal Pech Resort where we were able to make arrangements to go to Tikal (Guatemala) the next day. We swam in the resort pools and generally just lazed away the day.
We were up early to head off to Tikal and it was just the three of us in the tour. We climbed the ruins and got some great photos. After our tour, we had a late lunch at the site before starting back to Belize. Once back to San Ignacio we had dinner at Serendip, a Sri Lankan restaurant that serves excellent food.
The next morning, we were off, back to the coast. We headed to Belize City to catch the water taxi to Caye Caulker. It just wouldn't be a visit to Belize without going to the reef to snorkel. We got to the caye and settled into the room before a light lunch and heading off with Anwar Tours to the reef. We spent the afternoon snorkeling and swimming with the rays.
That evening it was a relaxed time, we had appetizers at the Bamboo before moving on to the SandBox for dinner. After dinner we had drinks at UnoMass and then ice cream at Chunky Monkey before saying hello at Lloyd's Sports Bar. All in all a good evening.
The last morning, we had a subdued breakfast at The Tropical Paradise before putting Matt on the plane back to Belize City Airport as he was heading home.
All the pictures of Matt's trip are here.
We rented a golf cart and went to pick him up at the airstrip. After taking his luggage back to our place, we did a whirlwind sight seeing tour and took the cart back to Paradise Resort before going for dinner at the Pickled Parrot and dessert at TuttiFrutti. Yummy!!
We spent a few days just hanging around on the beach, swimming and snorkeling, although the water was a little rough. More like a wave pool than a beach, but we had fun playing in the waves.
After a few days of relaxation, we headed off to San Ignacio. We had breakfast at the Caladium Restaurant in Belmopan and decided to do a little detour side trip to the Belize Zoo. It was awesome as usual and we are certainly getting our money's worth with our family membership. We would encourage anyone living down here to get one.
After the zoo, we got a ride back to the Belmopan junction and picked up a bus just coming out of Belmopan to San Ignacio. Timing is everything. We stayed at the Cahal Pech Resort where we were able to make arrangements to go to Tikal (Guatemala) the next day. We swam in the resort pools and generally just lazed away the day.
We were up early to head off to Tikal and it was just the three of us in the tour. We climbed the ruins and got some great photos. After our tour, we had a late lunch at the site before starting back to Belize. Once back to San Ignacio we had dinner at Serendip, a Sri Lankan restaurant that serves excellent food.
The next morning, we were off, back to the coast. We headed to Belize City to catch the water taxi to Caye Caulker. It just wouldn't be a visit to Belize without going to the reef to snorkel. We got to the caye and settled into the room before a light lunch and heading off with Anwar Tours to the reef. We spent the afternoon snorkeling and swimming with the rays.
That evening it was a relaxed time, we had appetizers at the Bamboo before moving on to the SandBox for dinner. After dinner we had drinks at UnoMass and then ice cream at Chunky Monkey before saying hello at Lloyd's Sports Bar. All in all a good evening.
The last morning, we had a subdued breakfast at The Tropical Paradise before putting Matt on the plane back to Belize City Airport as he was heading home.
All the pictures of Matt's trip are here.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Habeneros
I have often said that Habeneros on Caye Caulker is my favourite restaurant in Belize. I thought I would share a few reasons why.
Don, Gwen, Sharyn and Bob after the first pitcher of sangria.
Bob and Sharyn's shared appetizer of Glass Noodle Wraps.
Don and Gwen's shared appetizer of Creole Voodoo Cakes.
Bob's dinner of Banana Leaf Parcel.
Sharyn's dinner of Brazilian Pork.
Gwen's dinner of Sizzlin' Fajitas Mista.
Don's dinner of Seafood Satay.
Don and Gwen after dinner. It all tasted as good as it looked.
Michael at the Sports Bar.
Luciana and Sharyn at the Sports Bar.
Don, Gwen, Sharyn and Bob after the first pitcher of sangria.
Bob and Sharyn's shared appetizer of Glass Noodle Wraps.
Don and Gwen's shared appetizer of Creole Voodoo Cakes.
Bob's dinner of Banana Leaf Parcel.
Sharyn's dinner of Brazilian Pork.
Gwen's dinner of Sizzlin' Fajitas Mista.
Don's dinner of Seafood Satay.
Don and Gwen after dinner. It all tasted as good as it looked. Our friends Michael and Lu met us for dessert. We had Creme Brule, Cheesecake and Chocolate Truffles. (Sorry, no photos).
Then we all headed to the Canadian Sports Bar for Lloyd and Caroline's wedding anniversary party.
Then we all headed to the Canadian Sports Bar for Lloyd and Caroline's wedding anniversary party.
Michael at the Sports Bar.
Luciana and Sharyn at the Sports Bar.
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