Life in Fredericton, New Brunswick

Hello September. Looking back last year, September month changes our life with another shot of EOI sent to NB then the much awaited ITA towards the end of September. Look where we are now.

One dream, one big push, one prayer and one leap of faith equals a journey to a land of milk and honey. A journey we never imagined, especially living everything in the Philippines (missing them all), but because of our longing to become parents to little R, we made it here.

Let me share a little trivia before I go on. I sent my EOI on 3 September 2015 and got our nomination 26 September 2015. We landed here in Fredericton, New Brunswick on 3 May 2016 and, guess what, this coming 3 September 2016 will be our fourth month in the maple leaf country. Wow, what a coincidence, LOL.

Anyway, since many are requesting through here and through personal messages, I am blogging our life here in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

WARNING: So many pictures ahead, hahahaha.

Firstly, Fredericton is really a beautiful place to live. I just love it here because (1) it is very peaceful; (2) there are few buildings in downtown Fredericton (the highest I think is at 12th floor only, or I maybe wrong, I never counted anyway, LOL) as compared to Saint John (even malls here are all 1 story building); (3) few people (Oh well, coming from a big population in our country where you can see people everywhere, LOL), its just that I get literally dizzy when I am in a crowd of people, that is why, back home, I hate rush hour shopping in December; (4) greens are everywhere (I just love nature, I'm a Sagittarian, so that explains why); and (5) most of all, no more traffic especially on Saturdays and Sundays (at some point, I wanted to take a road selfie, crazy me I know but I can't, LOL). Here is a glimpse of Fredericton with some smiley models, LOL.

One of Fredericton Buses parked in King's Place Mall, Downtown, Fredericton.

At Downtown, Fredericton during our second day where we went to get our SIN.

Queen Street, Downtown, Fredericton. Officer's Square not captured on the right side.

Also in Downtown, Fredericton is the Saint John River Trail. During our PNP days, we thought this is Odell Park but is not. You will love this spot, promise.

At Saint John River Trail. Here you can go walking, jogging, biking or just be one with nature. I love this place so much.

The Light House at Saint John River Trail.

The bridge separating Southside and Northside Fredericton, New Brunswick. There is also a walking bridge for people who wants to do walking, jogging or biking. Sorry did not shared it here just to leave a little excitement, LOL.

Taken at Northside is the Southside of Fredericton where the so-called Downtown and Uptown Fredericton are located. We lived at Uptown.

We are at the Saint John River Trail overlooking Northside Fredericton. Most houses are located here. We're considering to buy a house at Northside someday because it looks like Camp John Hay in Baguio. Oh, and can you see the time the picture was taken. Yes, that is 9:00 in the evening. I made a lot of adjustments with the time here. Back home, at 6:00PM is already dark, in here no. Let's wait how it goes during fall and winter time unlike spring and summer. This is also our First Canada Day picture.

We took this picture at the Saint John River Trail after the bridge. Breathtaking isn't it?

Okay, so this is York Street. I am so scared to do biking on the roads but hey I made it going down but only because it is a Saturday, lesser vehicles on weekend, LOL.

York Street. See how steep the road is. Going up with a bike is a no, no. We walk, LOL. 

Inside the beautiful Odell Park. From our place, we use the rocky trail of Odell going down to its main park (scary). Lots of things to do here. We plan to do BBQ picnic here with fellow Filipino PNPs. I hope it pushed through before fall comes.

One with nature at Odell Park. This is still at the main park not the rocky trail we took.

Secondly, our cost of living. I love that we get to work, pay our bills, save and send monies to both our parents in the Philippines because life here is very simple. Laid back it may be but at least we get to enjoy our life to the fullest. We basically have 3 utility payments for the following companies:

(1) Bell Alliant for our 2 cellphones, homephone (includes a telephone number, cable and fiber optic internet) which is at almost CAD300.00 per month. I know this is expensive but we have a valid reason  here which is connected with our landing so you may opt to try other carriers.
(2) NB Power is ranging at a minimum of CAD62.00 to a maximum of CAD67.00. The problem here is that NB Power is charging a service fee of CAD20.00 plus per month for I don't know why. Let's see how our electricity goes come winter.
(3) Gorham Property for our apartment rental is at CAD760.00 a month. We really wanted a 1-bedroom apartment but due to our landing experience, we have no other recourse but to get a 2-bedroom apartment. No regrets though because our Father God allowed us to help some of our fellow Filipino PNPs upon their landing here in Fredericton. All our furnitures were bought at Surplus Furniture. It is not advisable, though, to buy brand new things because you can always look with KIJIJI or yard sale upon landing. The only reason we bought ours is because we did not only sell our house back home but also our furnitures. Thus, we use the money to buy new ones here in Fredericton. Just to give you a sample look, below is our apartment here in NB:

Our apartment building along Priestman Street.

Our Living Room. I love balconies, terraces and roof tops in a home and I am happy because ours has a balcony. 

Our Kitchen and Dining Room. I believe all apartments here has a pre-installed fridge, oven and electric range, and dishwasher (we have this but some apartments don't have). 

Our washroom. Almost all apartments, if not all, has a bathtub. Hydro is included in our monthly rent. The only thing we are paying with NB Power is the heat (for heater and hot & cold shower) and electricity. 

Our master's bedroom with walk-in closet.

Bedroom No. 2 where some of my fellow first batch of Filipino PNPs stayed. The red sofa you see above is a sofa bed. Since, most of us already landed here in NB, we transformed the room into a Fitness Room, LOL. Just getting ready for the winter plus the fact that exercise is one of our needed medicine in our TTC journey.

(4) Others,  is our RBC credit cards (our only CC here in Canada). We only use this for our purchases, even on taxi payments. Since, we came here, the only thing you will see on my wallet are my assorted cards, LOL, I do not know now how to use cash here (wink, wink).

Note, that in the 3 companies I mentioned above, we have deposited security deposits on it which are refundable after 4 to 6 months of continuous payment except for Gorham Property. Why? Because as newcomer, without credit history, we are asked for a security deposit. CAD$800.00 for Bell Alliant, CAD180.00 for NB Power and CAD760.00 with Gorham Property (we can get this if and when we wanted to terminate our rental after a year).

Finally, starting a life in Fredericton, New Brunswick is a big twist in our lives. We love it here. It is so simple, very peaceful and people here are very friendly. Nature loving people will surely love it here. We tried going to Saint John but I felt sad in the end. Yes, there are much more employment opportunities (big buildings too, it's like Makati City) there but I think I am already done with city life and I just wanted to be peacefully living in an uncomplicated environment. I think I am old, hahaha. No, but we are fine here and we are doing good. Thank you dear Father God for the blessings and opportunity you have given me and my husband.