Hi all, sorry drifted away from these forums again. If you need to get in touch with me, you can always e-mail me at mediajunkie -at- gmail.com.
Anyway, regarding air tickets if any of you plan on coming back to Singapore to see your parents, parents-in-law, etc. I would recommend that you spend that extra money on a good frequent flyer program. Remember flying from Singapore (or Southeast Asia) to North America is about 10,000 miles give or take. Air Canada gives you Gold status when you hit 35,000 miles (basically 2 return trips) - which means free lounge access, priority seating, and sometimes free upgrades too. And you can redeem free tickets for 20,000 miles within north America or 45-60,000 miles elsewhere.
One big tip - try not to fly during school holidays or peak season. When I came over in November, my one-way ticket on Korean Air Lines was $1100 on Nov 19, but the same ticket would have cost $1700 on Nov 20 - the start of the end-of-the-year Singapore school holidays. If you have kids, pull them out of school a few days before school holidays begins. Right now it's summer in Canada and summer ticket prices often are more expensive, with fuel surcharges hidden within the price. Try to travel during the late fall or winter - but not during December!
Also ticket prices to Canada are expensive because airport tax is expensive. American airports charge between US$25-75 (depending on airport). Canadian airports taxes can run from CA$135-200. Airport taxes are built into the ticket prices these days. If you take a route that goes through more than one Canadian airport, you're gonna have to pay even more in taxes.
China Airlines is good for short flights, not sure about long-haul. I've taken EVA air before but only in business class. But I find the taiwanese crew to be rather rude. I can't speak mandarin and the crew was very reluctant to serve me when I asked them to get things for me in English. May you should try Korean Airlines - I booked directly from their website after trying several agents and got the best price there. My brother went to Singapore using ANA in April and I think he only spent S$1700 round trip - my grandfather bought the ticket for him 'cos he wanted to see his precious grandson, no love for his grand-daughter.
Also my cousin flew by Northwest Airlines in May for S$1800, but there is that extra hassle of going through US airports - if your checked bags are locked they will cut your locks open (even when the locks are designed into the bag) to check for contraband. Also you have to get your bags, clear US customs, and then re-check your bags onto a domestic flight - depending on the airport the domestic flight could be in a different terminal - really a long hassle after a long trans-pacific flight.