New to Canada
 

Hello Everyone

Just thought I will introduce myself. We are new to Canada arrived in Ottawa last week. Hoping to move to our rented home in Kanata next weekend. Wondering how everyone is finding living in Canada.

Re: New to Canada
 

Hey Welcome to Canada Betty

I find it is a good place to live. :thumbsup: We was in Kanata last summer, my lads B95 team was playing them at soccer. We won....:p

Re: New to Canada
 

My advise.

The sooner you acquaint yourself with sweet potato fries the better.

Re: New to Canada
 

Welcome to the forum. Please feel free to ask any questions even if you think they might be a bit trivial or silly. They're usually the best ones anyway.

I also agree with JamesM's general sentiment. The brutal weather conditions coupled with the mind-numbing tedium of everyday life can be ameliorated somewhat by acquainting yourself with mini delights. These will come to represent small but important victories in your endeavour to survive in the vast frozen tundra of Canadian culture. I’d suggest looking out for cheap chicken-wing night. They usually do them on a Tuesday or Wednesday but don't prat around with the fancy flavours, just stick with the hot or extra hot ones. And after last week’s horror, I’d also suggest asking whether they coat them in breadcrumbs before ordering.

Re: New to Canada
 

Always the optimist ehh, your Oinkness.....;)

Re: New to Canada
 

Welcome to Ottawa!

If you need any help or advice, feel free to give me a shout.

Re: New to Canada
 

Well your Mag Numpiness as you live nearer to the OP maybe you should offer up your services if she ever loses her cat. ;)

Re: New to Canada
 

:rofl: Maybe :p

Re: New to Canada
 

The moving back to the UK forum is second on the left..just for future reference:p

Re: New to Canada
 

Hi

Thank you for the warm welcome everyone :). Any idea when the weather's getting warmer still cold for me coming from London...tried to do the supermarket shop..is there anything like Tesco, Sainsburys etc where I can get almost everything in one place?

Anyone missing fish and chips ;)

Re: New to Canada
 

I was in London last week. It was bloody freezing. For Ottawa weather enivronment Canada or The Weather Network is your friend.




Whatever your local brand of Loblaws / Sobeys is, I imagine.No, but then I do live near the sea. Actually I miss the variety of Fish and Chips one gets in England. Here, it's cod or nothing. I miss a nice wing of Skate.

Anyway, Welcome to Ottawa. I shall be in Stittsville and Ottawa proper next week. Please arrange for nice weather - warm but not too hot. Thanks.;)

Re: New to Canada
 

Welcome. Hope you enjoy it here. We moved to Kanata 12 years ago and have lived here since then. Where are you located ?

Re: New to Canada
 

No tescos or sainsburys sorry. I recommend this place though for days when you get that craving for a bag of cheese and onion crisps, ribena and a sausage roll (maybe that's just me)! http://scottishandirishstore.com/mysitecaddy/site3/ i think there's a fish and chips shop next door aswell although I never tried it! For Canadian equivalents to Tesco look for Sobeys, Zehrs, Superstore. Hope you are settling in ok!

Re: New to Canada
 

In Kanata there is the Centrum shopping centre, boasting Wal-Mart, Loblaws.
Further out there is the more preferable Canadian Superstore.
Shopping is generally quite good in Kanata, I find.
In Centrum there is a fish and chip shop. Used to be real good then went downhill. Recently changed hands and it's much better now.

Re: New to Canada
 

The Richmond Bakery out in Richmond has amazing sausage rolls dirt cheap - highly recommend a visit out there. You can pick Ribena up too for about $9 in Loblaws :eek:.

No great Fish and Chip shops here unfortunately. Best I had so far (that reminded me of home) was down in Picton, but they didn't do mushy peas :frown:. A colleague at work recommends a place in Brockville, called Don's. You can have your chips and enjoy a nice walk along the St. Lawrence apparently.

Oh, Bulk Barn tends to do English things too - Yorkie Bars, Double Deckers, Mushy Peas, Fry's Chocolate.

Re: New to Canada
 

Yes, yes, yes, yes! That, and British style curry, are pretty much the only two things I find myself pining for. It's possible to get approximations to both, but they're not the same.

Re: New to Canada
 

You can pick Ribena up too for about $9 in Loblaws :eek:.

Don't you find that tastes weird though? I think it is better in cartons :unsure:

Re: New to Canada
 

Not bought any to be honest. For that price I can get a different bottle of red at the LCBO,

Re: New to Canada
 

Went to Loblaws and thought it was good and got Ribena..Woohoo!!...going to try out Sobeys this weekend for the grocery shop. Wanted to get some wine but they don't sell alcohol in supermarkets :confused:...

Re: New to Canada
 

Hi Pdarwin, we live close to Centrum shopping centre. We have not explored the area properly yet planning to do this weekend. We saw a place called Digby's selling "all you can eat" fish and chips while driving past. Is that the place you were referring to? Miss our local chippy back home in the UK. Where about in Kanata are you located?.

Re: New to Canada
 

Hi - we're also close to Centrum. Near Gabriel's Pizza, off Goldridge.
Yes, Digby's was the place.

Re: New to Canada
 

Nope no alcohol in supermarkets. You'll need the LCBO or beer store for that. Also you might want to consider crossing over to Quebec if you need lots of alcohol, I found it to be cheaper for beer!!!

Re: New to Canada
 

Oh I would give my right arm for a Gabriel pizza! Sod the fish and chips lol.

Re: New to Canada
 

They sell Ribena in Safeway here but its the Canadian version and doesnt taste the same. I live close to Calgary. Moved here 7 years ago from Essex.

A local chemist out here (pharmacy whatever they call it), has a woman running it who is from Ireland originally. There are a ton of Brits here. The town over from me Okotoks they call little Britain as its full of English cops who have moved over. So she started importing the lot. Bit pricey but can get curry sauce, R Whites, Real Ribena, Galaxy, pot noodeles, monster munch, pretty much every kind of chocolate bar you can think of (the chocolate here sucks!)), horseradish, pickle (the North American version has weird cr*p in it), lucozade, cherry coke, angel delight and pretty much anything you want as she will order it in.

Our local Bulk Barn carries a few bits as well. Safeway here carry Marmite as well. I fancied some Jakobs crackers the other day and hadnt seen them anywhere. Then they just appeared randomly in our local Esso! Went very nice with my cheese and pickle :D

Still cant find a decent fish and chip shop or a decent Indian though.
Personally i still prefer the UK to here and love it when we go back home.

The weather here when it snows is horrible but its nearly always sunny.
The people are very nice as well.

Re: New to Canada
 

The Gabriel's Pizza I mentioned is a 30-second walk from my house and in the 10 years we've lived in this house I've been to Gabriel's once. Not a great fan of pizza. Digby's fish & chips gets visited more often.

Re: New to Canada
 

Some Loblaws have a 'Wine Rack' shop in them. I think the catch is that they can only sell Canadian wines / wine blended with Canadian wine.

Regarding going over to Quebec to buy your beer, it's only really worth it if you drink a specific brand that you know to be cheaper over there, and you buy in bulk. We saved about $15 on a 24 case of Corona last week.

Oh and remember, the advertised price on beer in Quebec doesn't include tax or deposit (like in Ontario), so you have to factor that into a supposedly good price too.

Re: New to Canada
 

And you can buy your beer in grocery store in Quebec too, and be 18 ;)

Re: New to Canada
 

Buy beer on the Quebec side. It's way cheaper than in Ontario and it doesn't really matter where you go. Pretty much all places sell beer at the lowest price allowed by law, so there is virtually no competition. Buy 24s. Smaller packs are a rip-off.

We buy all our wine at the SAQ Depot, which is just behind the Portage complex. We get through a lot of wine, so we buy by the case. You get a 15% discount at the Depot when you do that. The range of wine on offer is huge.

Re: New to Canada
 

As I recall from when I lived in Ontario, the supermarkets can have franchises for individual Canadian wineries.

Re: New to Canada
 

You can buy it in most gas stations. My local one probably sells as much beer as gas (in addition to plonk and tart fuel). They open late and on public holidays, so you're not stuffed like you would be in Ontario, if you run out of booze on Xmas Day.

Re: New to Canada
 

We went to the King of Beers over on Dalhousie for the first time a few weeks back, I was like a kid in a candy store.

What's Costco like for beer these days? We went a couple of years back and they only had Blue and Coors in cans, in packs of 60. Price was good but disappointed with the lack of selection.

Re: New to Canada
 

I haven't been there for months. I suspect it's the same domestic swill as usual. It's probably no cheaper on a unit basis than anywhere else.

Re: New to Canada
 

Hello All

How is everyone doing? I've been quite busy these couple of days...Checked out Loblaws, Sobeys, Costco etc..etc....

Got a silly question...what is "Broil" function in the cooker??...:confused: I was looking for the grill and cannot find it!

Hi pdarwin - we live on Campeau drive. so we live really close you.

Re: New to Canada
 

The broil is the grill. That got me when we first came too :)

Re: New to Canada
 

Yeah its the grill function although on my new oven it doesnt work for my cheese on toast. The bread goes all soggy.
We have a new oven now and it just says broil but on the older models we had previously they have said grill/broil.

Re: New to Canada
 

PM'd you.