The downside of living abroad

I would like to start a new series of post about the downside of living abroad.....

So, while I was day-dreaming in my English class, I managed to list down several things :)

1. Medical treatment.

When you live abroad, this is one thing you would like to avoid... GETTING SICK... I was charged USD900+ for my pregnancy ultrasound. Although the insurance will pay for us, it takes them forever... I even got a second reminder from the ultrasound center cos the insurance company (that Malaysian government hired) did not make the payment..

Speaking about contraceptive pills? Do you know how much it costs out here? 60 bucks per strip/per month and you must have a prescription.. That means you must see a doctor that will charge you for their service. I had to ask Oya to send it from Malaysia.. (tak pasal2 je kawan tuh tak kawin lagi kena pergi beli kan)

2. Prescription.

You need a prescription even to buy a dewormer. Me and hubby handle Rocky's poo so we would like to take extra precautions, but again they didn't sell that as over-the-counter drug. Again, oya jadi mangsa... Contact lens and Specs are the same case.

3. Food

No more dine out.. First, because all you can eat out there are seafood, fish and vegetables unless you makan ayam 'katok'. Second, because the allowance that the government give us is not so much, so you can't afford to dine out that often. This means you have to cook every single day and night and if you have a husband with you, of course you can't rely on Maggi/instant food 24 hrs.

And there is no shop that open 24 hours like 'kedai mamak' in Malaysia. So, whenever you feel like you want to hang out in the middle of the night, the best place to hang out here is my own home sweet home, buat kopi sendiri..

I'm lucky that I live in California , so Asian food not that uncommon here. But still, I miss eating laksa and fish.. We hardly can buy fish here unless it is a frozen one which is tak sedap..

Everytime we go for grocery shopping, I have to read all the ingredients written on the boxes cos there is no 'halal' sign here...

4. Shopping

You can't afford to shop every month cos the allowance is just enough for your daily meal. Some of the things are expensive so you just have to wait until sales day such as Black Friday etc. That was when I bought my COACH (I lined up for 3 hrs ok!!) and I tak beli any new handbags ever since..

The shoes design over here is soooo tak cantik.. Tapak besar2.... Walaupun kat Malaysia, I just can afford to buy Vincci or Nose, their designs are way much better...

Baju? I can only afford beli baju lambak2 time sale or baju jual kat Walmart (similar to Tesco in Malaysia)


There's a lot more to write.. But I wanted to make this post as a series.. So, for the time being, do not think studying abroad is easy as you might think. Although it sounds like glamour bila orang tanya study mana, US... But then, there are so much thing to be taken into consideration. As for now, if God gave me a second chance, I would definitely went back and live my dream in Malaysia. For those out there who think we are living our life in a glamorous way, you are SOOO wrong!