Place of interest: Parliament House in Canberra

Parliament House
Canberra  ACT 2600 Australia

Parliament House is open:
* on sitting days (see below)- Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, from 8.30am till 5.00pm
* all other days - from 9.00am to 5.00pm every day except Christmas Day when Parliament House is closed

Place of interest: Bald Hill, Stanwell Park NSW

Paragliding and Hang-gliding at Bald Hill, Stanwell Park NSW

Grocery Price watch – August 2009

List of grocery items for the month of August to give an idea of how each item cost.


Amount
Item
Store
$ 1.99
berri lemon squeeze 500ml
Coles
$ 0.76
brushed potatoes .767kg @ .99/kg
Coles
$ 0.99
coles bread rolls 6pack
Coles
$ 2.39
smartbuy cage eggs 600g
Coles
$ 1.79
cabbage plain .899ea @ 1.99/ae
chinese shop
$ 1.09
sb coles bread white 650g
Coles
$ 1.25
carrots 1kg
Coles
$ 1.03
snow peas .172kg @ 5.98/kg
Coles
$ 2.21
seedless watermelon 2.28kg @ .99/kg
Coles
$ 3.29
frozen corn cob 1kg
Aldi
$ 3.49
frozen peacarrcorn 1kg
Aldi
$ 4.09
cheese shred 500g
Aldi
$ 4.00
osso bucco .730kg @ 5.49/kg
chinese shop
$ 0.88
choko .295kg @ 2.99/kg
chinese shop
$ 2.01
ampalaya .335kg @ 35.99/kg
chinese shop
$ 1.79
sb coles ground black 100g
Coles
$ 1.55
saxa salt cooking 1kg
Coles

Grrrr...... Catwoman at Warner Bros Gold Coast

Catwoman at Warner Bros Gold Coast

Gold Coast encounter with Scooby

Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. gang

Warner Bros. Movie World is located on Australia's Gold Coast, just a 20 minute drive north of Surfers Paradise and 45 minutes south of Brisbane.

Address:
Pacific Hwy
Oxenford QLD 4210
(07) 5573 3999

Gold Coast: Wet'n'Wild Water World

Wet'n'Wild Water World is located next to Warner Bros. Movie World on the M1 Pacific Motorway, 20 km north of Surfers Paradise and 50 km south of Brisbane.

Giant Wave Pool

Tornado

Visiting a Physio cost me $60.00

I decided to visit a physio because of my neck pain (for several days).

The therapist gave me some lectures (blah..blah..) about the spinal cord that could have cause the pain on my neck. Then massages my neck and shoulder, gave me few tips about proper posture (which more or less I already knew) and told me that the pain should ease in a few days else, I was ask to come back for another session.

Cost: $60.00 per consultation (I am not coming back)

Consultation last for about 30-40mins.

Place of interest: Visting The Gap

The Gap

Location: Watsons Bay, Sydney, Australia

How to get there: If you're going by bus, catch the 324 from Circular Quay. Alternatively, you can catch a ferry from the Circular Quay to Watsons Bay. The Gap is a few minutes walk from the wharf.

Place of interest: Sydney Opera House

 

Sydney Opera House

How much is pandesal in Sydney

Sample prices in Sydney:

Pandesal:
- $3.00 / 1 dozen

Spanish Bread:
- $0.70 each
- $8.00 / 1 dozen

Ensaymada:
- $0.70 each
- $8.00 / 1 dozen

Current exchange rate:  1AUD = P39.90

Place of interest: Visiting Sydney Harbour Bridge

 

Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is one of Sydney's most famous landmarks. Completed in 1932.

BridgeClimb, the ultimate way to experience Sydney. The Bridge Climb or The Discovery Climb reach the summit of this world famous bridge, 134 metres above Sydney Harbour and are available at Dawn, Day, Twilight or Night.

Place of interest: Kiama Blowhole

Kiama Blowhole

What is a blowhole? (Excerpts from Wikipedia)

A blowhole is formed as caves grow landwards and upwards into vertical shafts and expose themselves towards the surface , which can result in quite spectacular blasts of water from the top of the blowhole if the geometry of the cave and blowhole and state of the weather are appropriate. The Kiama Blowhole (Kiama, New South Wales, Australia) is believed to be the world's largest blowhole.

Tow Truck

Have you experience riding on an airplane? How about a boat? bus, car, taxi, jeepney, roller coaster..... - yes!

How about a tow truck? Not many people got the chance to ride in a tow truck and it could be one of those uncomfortable experiences.

I got the chance to ride on a tow truck and I experience it first time in Sydney. It wasn't that bad after all. I actually enjoy the experience.

One of the car over heat at Goulburn on our way back to Sydney from Snowy Mountain. We stop by at Goulburn Big Merino. We called NRMA and NRMA arrive in about 45mins and assess the condition of the car. NRMA declared not to run the car anymore and requested a tow truck to deliver the car to Sydney. NRMA is suppose to look for a rent a car for us to use in going back to Sydney. Unfortunately, NRMA says that they cannot find an available rent a car in that area as it was Sunday and most rent a car service are only open half day on Sunday. Great, what do we do now? How can we go back to Sydney?

NRMA suggested that, if it's ok for us to ride in the tow truck as the tow truck can accomodate up to 6 passenger.
No choice but to say yes as if we have other option to get back to Sydney.

Tow truck arrive 1hr and 30 minutes later as it pick up another customer car that broke down in Canberra.

The tow tuck already have one car on top of the trailer and our car was attached at the back of the tow truck.
2 passengers seat next to the driver and 5 of us squeeze in at the back.

I was amaze how the tow truck can still run around 100-110kms per hour on the expressway.  Crazy....

Place of interest: Sydney Tower

Sydney Tower - Observation Deck + OzTrek + Skywalk

Sydney Tower
Centrepoint Podium Level,
100 Market Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Place of interest: Sydney Olympic Park

 

Sydney 2000 Olympic Cauldron

 

BrickPit Ring walk

The Ring Walk is an elevated circular walkway that allows visitors to access and view the Brickpit from above while preserving the habitat of the endangered Green and Golden Bell frog.

 

ne of the stadium in Sydney  Olympic Park

House of Tongs

"Tongs" is the term they use in Australia for slippers.

This photo was taken somewhere in Sydney South.

Frozen

This photo was taken at Cooma NSW where we stayed for the night before going to Snowy Mt. (Mt Selwyn) the next day.

Dental expenses in Australia

This are just sample fees to expect. Prices may vary depending on your dentist.

Amount   Description
$55.00       Oral examination
$100.00    Removal of calculus
$50.00      Remineralizing
$40.00      Single x-ray film
$155.00    Filling
$35.00      Pulp cap

Dental cover are not usually covered by Government health fund (Medicare) but I heard that there are public dental clinic who offer free tooth extraction and cleaning for free but you have to book and may take time to get a schedule.

Getting your own private health fund is beneficial as it has health covers that you cannot claim at Medicare.
Having a private health fund may also help prevent paying extra during tax filing. (Refer to ATO website regarding Medicare Levy and Loading)

Dental examination, removal of calculus and remineralizing are usually covered 100% by private health funds.
Some percentage were covered for tooth extractions,filling and other services but again it depends on your coverage.

Talk to your private health fund for details about your coverage.

Gold Coast: Motorized surfboard

Surfing without the waves on your yellow polka dot surfboard.

How cool is that!

Gold Coast: Aquaduck

Aquaduck is an amphibious Aquabus (interesting....)

Tour around GoldCoast both on land and water without even leaving your seat.

Things you need to do as soon as you arrive in Australia

Things you need to do as soon as you arrive in Australia.

1. Apply for a Tax File Number (TFN)
- You need a Tax File Number (TFN) to receive an income in Australia.
- You can apply for a TFN over the internet at the ATO website.
- ATO is equivalent of BIR in the Philippines

Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website
http://www.ato.gov.au/

2. Register with Medicare
- The Australian Government provides help with basic medical expenses through a scheme called Medicare.
- To enroll in Medicare, you should go into a Medicare office 7 to 10 days after your arrival in Australia and bring your passport or travel documents.

Medicare Australia website:
http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/


3. Open a bank account
- In Australia, most income including salary or wages and government benefits are paid directly into a bank account.
- You should open a bank account within six weeks of your arrival, as you usually need only your passport as identification. After six weeks you will need extra identification to open an account.

4. Register with Centrelink
- Centrelink contributes to the social and economic outcomes set by government by delivering services to assist people to become self-sufficient and supporting those in need.

Centrelink website:
http://www.centrelink.gov.au/


5. Enrol Your Children in School
Under Australian law, children must attend school until they are 15 years old.

6. Look for job
- Most job application can be done only

Example website:
seek.com.au
mycareer.com.au

7. Apply for a Driver's Licence
- If you are a permanent resident visa holder and have a current driver's licence from another country, in English or with an official translation, you are allowed to drive for your first three months after arrival.
- After the three months, if you want to drive, you will need to have the appropriate driver's licence. This will usually require you to pass a knowledge test, a practical driving test, and an eyesight test.

RTA website:
http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/

Additional tip: Get a certificate copy of first issuance with LTO specially if you already got a drivers license in the Philippines for more than 3 years so that you can go straight to FULL license once you pass the practical driving test.

Australia Automotive / Driving Links

Government Departments

---------------------------------------

• Road and Traffic Authority road rules and regulations in NSW

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au

• myRTA Online Services

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/myrta/

• Book your driver licence test

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/myrta/mytest/index.html

• Practice RTA Hazard Perception Test

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/licensing/tests/hazardperceptiontest/buildyourskills

• Australian Driver Trainers Association (NSW) Ltd

- The representative body of professional driving instructors
http://www.adta.com.au

• Australian Automobile Association

http://www.aaa.asn.au

Buying a Car

---------------------------------------

• Autochic

- Women's driving website
http://www.autochic.com.au

• Drive

- Second hand and new cars
http://www.drive.com.au

• CarSales

- Second hand and new cars
http://www.carsales.com.au

• Cars Guide

http://www.carsguide.com.au

• Trading Post

http://www.tradingpost.com.au

Prices and valuations

---------------------------------------

• Red Book

- Provides pricing and identification data
http://www.redbook.com.au

• Tips for car buyers

http://www.revs.nsw.gov.au

• Yellow pages

http://www.yellowpages.com.au

Green slips
---------------------------------------

• Compare green slips

http://www.maa.nsw.gov.au

Visit your bank and check if you can get a better rate on your savingsaccount

Visit your bank and check if you can get a better rate on your savings account.

If you do not monitor your current savings account interest rate, then you might be left behind with a lower interest rate.

I went to one of my bank branch and tell them that I am not happy with the current interest rate of my savings account (2.75%) compare to the newly advertise promoton for newly open account which is about 4.40%.

I told them that if I do not get a better interest rate, I will be force to move my savings account to somewhere else which provides a higher interest rate.

I was hoping that they will just change the details of my interest rate but said that they cannot do that. (a bit surprised).

Asked for options they can give:

They told me that I should close my current savings account and open a new one to get the current insterest rate of 4.40%. Ok, I agree if that is how I can get a better interest rate.

So I agree to close my account and transfer it to a new savings account with new account number to get the higher interest rate.

Still, I do not understand their purpose of doing such process. It takes more process and a bit of discomfort as they have to give you a new account number.

Process involve:
1. Open a new savings account
2. Transfer all my money from old to new savings account
3. Close old savings account
4. Provide customer a new account number

- If ever you are using this account for auto debit transactions, this would cause a lot of pain to change account number.

I told them that why not just change my interest rate. That way, it will proably take only one step (change interest rate) and then I keep same account number.

Now, I know that I have to keep track of the interest rates of my bank account and what are their new offers.

First Kangaroo I've seen in the wild

This is the photo of the first live kangaroo I've seen in the wild and as close as possible. It is about 4ft tall and 20 meters away from where I was standing.

This is photo was taken at the backyard of Snowtels Caravan Park, Cooma NSW where we stay for the night before going to Mt Selwyn Snowfields the next day.

Taking the Australian Citizenship Test

Processed experienced in taking the Australian Citizenship Test :  (Immi Sydney Central)

1. Arrive 30mins before the test
2. Go to the reception (left side when you enter the main door pm the 4th floor) and advice that you are book for a citizenship test.
3. Receptionist will tell you to come back or wait for awhile while she prints out the booking slip (queue number that includes your Appointment Id #).
4. Once you got your queue number wait until your number appear on the screen or when your number is called.
5. Go to the counter assigned (about 8 counters in City Immi).
6. Present the documents and identification.
7. Immi officer will take a photo.
8. They will inform you if you are already eligible or not.
9. If you are elgiible they will ask you if you want to apply for citizenship after you pass the test.
10. In our case we are not yet eligible (2 yrs required), immi officer will offer how you will apply for citizenship. I choose online application. The officer ask you to fill up the the proof of identity if you are going to apply with in 6 months and they will sign as your character reference on the spot.

Note: If you are going yo apply for citizenship after 6 months, you have to submit the character reference form.

11. Once everything is verified, you will be ask to go to the testing room and present your appointmnet slip.
12. Immi oficer will verify your appointment ID number, will assign you a computer and give you briefing on the test.
13. Once you finish the test, you will see immediately if you pass or fail and inform the immi officer.
14. Immi officer will print out the result of your test whether you pass or fail.
15. If you fail, immi officer will look at the test result and decide if you will be allowed to retake the test.

Note: They may allow one retake else you have to book for another schedule

16. If you pass, you can now go home or go back to the immi officer if you have further question.

Cheapest Hair Salon / haircut

The cheapest men haircut I found round Hurstville NSW is $5.00

Men haircut is about $5 along Diment way corner Forest Road.
Just across Hurstville train station, about 3-5 mins walk. You wont miss their shop as there are signs about $5 haicut.

Women's hair cut is about $8.

Pros:
- Cheapest haircut I can find in Sydney.
- Very convinient if you live around Hurstville area.

Cons:
- May find some difficulty in communicating on what kind of hairstyle you want to look like if you do not speak chinese as most if not all are Chinese hairstylist. (from expereince)
- Haircut for men took only about 5 mins (that quick) to finish.

Bottom line: You get what you paid for