A couple of months ago I tagged along with Leen while she met with a potential supplier for her clinic (which, God willing, she’ll be opening in early October). I didn’t really want to be there, but there I was, watching the supplier pull shiny metal instruments of torture out of his briefcase. He was [...]
Categories: Life
Tagged: Cape Breton, immigration, MacVay, Malay, Malaysia, Nova Scotia, photos, Sydney
- Published:
- August 27, 2010 – 12:27 pm
- Author:
- By Jordan
We’re turning off our street when Al asks where we’re going. Leen tells him we’re going to pick up a dental chair (which will be her back-up chair) and take it to her clinic. Al cheers.
Al: Yay! We’re going to Mommy’s teeth clinic!
Me: You know, I think he’s going to be a dentist when [...]
Categories: Life
Tagged: Alisdair, conversations, parenthood
- Published:
- August 23, 2010 – 1:15 am
- Author:
- By Jordan
I’ve been reading Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn and very much enjoying it, and keep coming across passages that resonate with me somehow. Today I read a bit about the main character, an Irish immigrant named Eilis Lacey, experiencing her first American winter:
It appeared impossible to imagine a time when it was not cold and she could [...]
Categories: Life
- Published:
- June 25, 2010 – 6:03 pm
- Author:
- By Jordan
I haven’t been blogging much lately. In fact, considering most of my recent posts have been weekly updates of my Twitter stream, one might say I haven’t really been blogging at all. It’s ironic, because I can remember a time when I was doing the nine-to-five thing and somehow still managed to bang out several [...]
Categories: Life
- Published:
- June 24, 2010 – 2:47 pm
- Author:
- By Jordan
The other day, in the lift.
Me: You know, Aaron really looks a lot like you when you were a little girl. From the pictures I’ve seen of you, anyway.
Leen: You think?
Al: Hey! Aaron’s not a girl. He’s a boy.
Leen: Yes, that’s right. What about me?
Al: You’re a girl.
Leen: And what about Daddy?
Al: Daddy’s a boy.
Me: [...]
Categories: Life
Tagged: Alisdair, conversations, family, parenthood
- Published:
- June 23, 2010 – 10:11 am
- Author:
- By Jordan
This morning as Leen and I were emerging from the SMART tunnel, on the way to a dental convention of some sort at the KL Convention Centre, the latest song by Shakira was bouncing through the interior of our old Wira.
‘Hey,’ said Leen, ‘the traffic’s not as bad as I thought. And…that must be Shakira. [...]
Categories: Life
- Published:
- June 11, 2010 – 3:20 pm
- Author:
- By Jordan
Just a couple of quick updates on Malaysian PR, or more generally on immigration:
I’m a bit late putting it here, but there was an interesting article in The Star a few weeks back, about mixed marriages (an article brought on by the ridiculous comments made by Malaysia’s embarrassment of an Information Minister), in which the [...]
Categories: Life
- Published:
- March 31, 2010 – 1:36 am
- Author:
- By Jordan
Our second child, Aaron Yusuf MacVay, was born in the early morning hours of March 7th, after a lot of pushing and an emergency C-section. Mother and baby are both doing fine now. As for Alisdair, well he really loves being a big brother.
We had a few names in mind but Aaron Yusuf came out [...]
Categories: Life
Tagged: Alisdair, family, MacVay, names, parenthood, photos
- Published:
- March 17, 2010 – 2:16 am
- Author:
- By Jordan
Me: So, buddy…soon you’re going to be a big brother. Are you excited?
Al: Yes.
Me: But listen…when your little brother comes, sometimes Mummy’s going to be really busy. You know, she has to give him milk, and all that stuff. So you’ll be spending a lot of time with Daddy, okay?
Al: No, Daddy.
Me: No? But you [...]
Categories: Life
Tagged: Alisdair, conversations, parenthood
- Published:
- February 3, 2010 – 10:48 pm
- Author:
- By Jordan
Today Leen and I drove out to Shah Alam and braved the labyrinth that is Kompleks PKNS to submit the documents to the Immigration Dept. for renewal of my pass. I was pleasantly surprised by a few things today:
1) I only needed to submit three forms: the declaration of marriage (stamped by a commissioner of [...]
Categories: Life
Tagged: immigration, Malaysia
- Published:
- February 1, 2010 – 11:58 pm
- Author:
- By Jordan
Malaysian PR: Rumblings, Grumblings & Jumblings 3
I don’t have any personal news to report on the PR front, because I haven’t applied yet. We’re planning to dive into that process after Leen opens her dental clinic, which will be in the next couple of months. So maybe we’ll start the application process around the end of the year.
Meanwhile, here’s a quick [...]
Categories: Commentary, Life
Tagged: immigration, Malaysia