Australia, any input?

[mooncake and leaves]

^ we're thinking of renting a van. kaso mahirap ba mag-drive sa australia? yung accommodation ang issue sa amin kasi sa layo, sakit naman kung sandali lang kami.

yung whitehaven beach target namin hehe. but day trip lang daw dun eh. puwede camping pero parang ang hassle

[akthung]

just remember to stay on the correct side of the road. things happen even to the best of us.

 the yellow light sa stop light takes longer to switch to red compared sa pinas. if it suddenly turns yellow, the rule is if its dangerous to stop, keep on going. may pinoy noon na nag stop agad when the light turned yellow and a bus almost ran into him. buti naiwasan ng bus driver. pero gulo pa din ang inabot. pero pag malayo pa kayo sa stop light, prepare to stop.

@Cha, melbourne lang ba may hook turns?

GPS is always handy. watch out for the speed limits and school zones.

[[-c-h-a-]]

^not sure kung Melb lang may hook turn pero I can say for sure walang hook turn sa SA hehe

Also, kung magddrive kayo dito, make sure magskim kayo quickly ng road rules kasi minsan nakakafrustrate yun drivers na may international license kasi di alam sino dapat give way, pano pumasok sa roundabout, HINDI nagsisignal pag change of lanes and driving at least 10kms below the speed limit. Road hazard na halos sila to be honest. Very dangerous for the other drivers on the road. Karamihan ng napapansin ko na ganyan, chinese tourists. Nakakatakot!!!

[akthung]

yes, yung etiquette sa roundabouts, both one lane and multiple lane roundabouts, and yung right of way, dito pag nasa right of way sila, most of them hindi aalalay. talagang didiretso sila kung didiretso. so, kung hindi ka aware or maingat, baka magkasalpukan pa. like my example above, the bus trailing the pinoy driven car was expecting him not to stop. kaya uminit ang ulo ng driver at binabaan yung pinoy. incidents like these add to our reputation.

[mooncake and leaves]

Ah ok thanks. Similar naman pala sa driving in LA kahit papaano. Ang worry ko lang is kung mag-rent kaming camper van, kayanin kaya? Parang ang laki tapos mukhang 'di city driving kami in case. Makabili na nga lang ng tent nyaha

[[-c-h-a-]]

^also right hand drive nga pala rito and baligtad ang lanes which I'm sure you've heard about na...

[mooncake and leaves]

^ ay yan ang deal breaker, kung right hand drive. go na kami sa tent pala. or tiis na matulog sa buhangin nyaha. tenchu!

[akthung]

^also right hand drive nga pala rito and baligtad ang lanes which I'm sure you've heard about na...

oh yes, this is what i meant in my earlier post by driving on the correct side of the road.

and what i meant by "things happen even to the best of us" means na kahit tingin mo kaya mo, when u go in to panic mode or nabigla ka, you revert back to where you were trained or comfortable with--which is driving left hand side.

my dad, even having stayed in aus for so many years, nung nabigla, reverted back to his philippine driving experience and entered the wrong road. we landed on the island.

[jddrgn]

madali ba maghanap ng trabaho?sila sasagot ng working visa or ikaw?

[terriblegallantsex]

Hello! I already backread all 18 pages, and I still can't decide.

Sydney or Melbourne? My family and I are staying for a week. 10 kaming pamilya. No flights booked yet. Sydney is mom's choice because she has an RCI membership thing. She must've had a resort in mind. But they say Melbourne's the better city?

Where do you suggest we land?

And it is true that Cathay Pacific & SingAir has return flights for less than $900? For flights from last week of May to first week of June? I saw Jetstar. Much more expensive. Just puzzled since Jetstar's supposed to be the budget airline?

Thoughts?

[prisma]

I reckon Sydney.  More things to explore there.  Opera house is world famous then theres Darling Harbour.

But Melbourne's good too.  Lotsa shopping there.  Great quality purses and shoes.

[sardonyx]

for first time tourists, which part of australia is the best place to go for about a week's vacation?

[terriblegallantsex]

Sis Prisma, thanks!

Another question: I'm planning to buy foodstuffs (marmite, vegemite, etc) and take them home. I have to declare them upon departure, right?

And what is it about electronic gadgets (ones we brought from Manila and taking back from Manila)? Do they check that, too?

[[-c-h-a-]]

^you don't declare anything when you're flying out of Australia. You can bring as much food as you want when flying outside of the country.

[terriblegallantsex]

^
one last question: I don't know if you're familiar with this, but I read about the Family Funday Sunday thing in Sydney. $2.50 for a return ticket? We're planning to go to Blue Mountains via train. There's eight of us: 7 adults, 1 child. Do you think we can avail that?

[akthung]

Nothing wrong with bringing personal electronic gadgets in with you.

[prisma]

for first time tourists, which part of australia is the best place to go for about a week's vacation?

Sydney, Gold Coast

[prisma]

^you don't declare anything when you're flying out of Australia. You can bring as much food as you want when flying outside of the country.

Yeah.  My dad often brings home maleta load of food, vitamins.
 Very cheap pala vitamins dito, sometimes half priced sa Mercury and Healthy Option. 
Better to buy it on sale also.

Hubby brings home maleta load of vitamins n lemons ( from our backyard).

Food like steak, scallops, bran, abalone,  meusli br, tim tams, pods...any kind.

[akthung]

^ my mom brought a lot of Don Sausages to the Philippines.  Security people sa xray had to make sure that they were indeed sausages. iba kasi itsura sa x-ray pag magkatabi yung mga sausages...mukha bang bomba? lol

but they laughed so hard when they saw the sausages.

[adikako]

Wala sila problem napaka luwag flying foods out, sobrang opposite ng papasok. Talagang hinalukay ang luggage ko when I went there last Nov. in Sydney Airport.

I miss the STEAKs and malatuwalya sa laking BACON!