Australia thread 55

[sha_insane]

hi sisses, is it true na bawal magdala ng food sa luggage? they are strict daw about it? tia!

[bruce_lyn]

mga sis na punta ng aus (sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane)me sale ang PAL  $US777 ( plus tax)
sale ng jan to feb 15. gagamitin from march to sept 2010

[prisma]

hi sisses, is it true na bawal magdala ng food sa luggage? they are strict daw about it? tia!

Hindi naman masyado basta wag lang over dami tanduay- saw a family kasi sinita sa immigration, mga 5 bottles tanduay dala kasi.

Me, I bought a bos of Hopia with me, they let me through.  Apparently, they know what hopia is.   

[prisma]

Sis port80,

Thanks for you answer.

Actually house namin yan sa Melbourne pinaupahan muna namin while am here in the Phil.

So sa I'll just the realtor for help on electric and gas reconnection?  Can I go online nalang to apply- lets say if I use TRU Energy?  How long does it take after application to get electricity and gas?  Kasi dala ko na kids ko nun e.

What electic provider did you use? thanks

Thanks, waiting to hear from you soon.

[selly]

^ do you own the house or rent? im sorry i don't really understand. hehe. you can just buy the deadlock at bunnings or something and change it yourself with instructions. my dad did it for me when i moved out of home into our unit. otherwise to get a locksmith out is expensive! $200+ i paid. i am in sydney btw.

if your utilities have already been physically connected then you just create a new account with the provider. if you want to research electricity providers then you can do that on google to find which deal is best for you. you can also find one of those companies which will connect all your utilities for you. i prefer calling them (unless you're overseas still). hth!

[sha_insane]

thanks you sis prisma, ill go on training kasi sa melbourne, i plan to bring some foods(canned,packed), sabi ng doctor na kakilala ko, mahigpit daw sila sa food, handcarry man or sa baggage, natakot tuloy ako.

[port80*]

Sis port80,

Thanks for you answer.

Actually house namin yan sa Melbourne pinaupahan muna namin while am here in the Phil.

So sa I'll just the realtor for help on electric and gas reconnection?  Can I go online nalang to apply- lets say if I use TRU Energy?  How long does it take after application to get electricity and gas?  Kasi dala ko na kids ko nun e.

What electic provider did you use? thanks

Thanks, waiting to hear from you soon.

I'm in Perth sis so I'm not sure if we have the same utilities providers.  Our gas is with Alinta, electricity with Synergy and water with Water Corp.  I can't remember the name of the consolidator we used (we just got the letter from our agent) but I tried to google it just now and there are about 3 top choices for Perth alone so I'd assume there'll be the same for Melbourne.

As sis Selly has mentioned, if the connections are physically there already, there should be no downtime at all -- it's just a matter of transferring all the accounts to your name.  I'm assuming this is the same case for you as you had tenants occupying the house.

[port80*]

hi sisses, is it true na bawal magdala ng food sa luggage? they are strict daw about it? tia!

Actually, relative to other countries, they are very strict about it.  All food items, whether processed (dried), cooked or raw, should be declared upon entry.  If they will allow you to bring it in is another matter altogether   I've seen too many Border Security episodes to risk bringing in food.  If you want to try it, just make sure to declare every single item including candies. 

Last June when we traveled to Asia, we brought in cookies, candies and coffee.  When we exited Immigration, the bag containing the food items were already set on the floor beside the conveyor belt   The sniffer dog might be a cute beagle but it does a mean job of identifying which bags have food items inside Good thing I declared the goods in the Immigration card already, otherwise, I would have been questioned about it since I was about to go through Customs x-ray already.  Fine is hefty too so for me, it's really not worth it.

[nadialicious16]

^ i like watching border security.very informative.malalaman mo yung mga do's and dont's.

[prisma]

thanks selly and port180

[sweet_leila]

sisses, baka pwede makarequest to share some infos regarding living in aus like expenses, food, electricity, house rent, schools for pre-school and grade school,etc. how much should be the income? weekly din ba ang salary pay? mas reliable kasi if gt atleast first hand experience tlaga. thanks in advance.

[cind3r3lla]

mga sis na punta ng aus (sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane)me sale ang PAL  $US777 ( plus tax)
sale ng jan to feb 15. gagamitin from march to sept 2010

salamat sa info, sis!!!

[bruce_lyn]

salamat sa info, sis!!!

welcome sis naka get ka ng flights sis?

[lalei]

hi sisses, is it true na bawal magdala ng food sa luggage? they are strict daw about it? tia!

Don't bring milk, fruits and anything with cheese and nuts. Iyong mga processed na pwede like dried mangoes, powdered juice etc. But, still declare everything para hindi ka ma-fine kasi mahigpit talaga sila. Mahirap na din ang mapasama sa border security.

[nadialicious16]

i finally got my visa today. ok ba ang jetstar airways ? manila-singapore-darwin kasi kunin naming route.

[bruce_lyn]

congrats sis nadia. me sale ang PAL yun nga lang sydney, brisbane at melbourne

[nadialicious16]

^thanks sis mag-abang na lang ako ng sale ng manila-singapore siguro.

[lalei]

Sa Darwin ka ba mag-first entry talaga?
Kung mag-Melbourne or Sydney ka, you might want to check Singapore Airlines. Hindi naman ganon kamahal at this time and my husband is hands down sa service.

[port80*]

i finally got my visa today. ok ba ang jetstar airways ? manila-singapore-darwin kasi kunin naming route.

Jetstar is good sis.  Lahat lang may bayad syempre (food, dvd, comfort pack) but the planes and the service are very good.  The planes are like PAL's jets. 

Considering most fares are half the price or even less than Singapore Airlines, it's really good value for money.  Happy trip!

Sis lalei, SIA is really very, very good -- my favorite airline, in fact.  But depending on whether you can get the fares on sale, they can be quite expensive

[port80*]

sisses, baka pwede makarequest to share some infos regarding living in aus like expenses, food, electricity, house rent, schools for pre-school and grade school,etc. how much should be the income? weekly din ba ang salary pay? mas reliable kasi if gt atleast first hand experience tlaga. thanks in advance.

Sis, I suppose it would depend on which state you are planning to go to.  I've only been to Perth but have heard that for example, food is cheaper in Sydney and Melbourne than here but that rent is more expensive.

Maybe our friends here can give their own averages so we can compare -- for Perth, here are the basic expenses:

Rent: average of $270/per week for 2BR and $300+ for 3BR houses (ours is $330 for a 3BR, 2T/B house).  These rates are for villas (parang townhouses) and stand-alone houses in suburbs.  Condos or walk-ups in the city or in coastal areas could go up to $400 for a studio or 1BR.

Electricity: there's just me and my hubby and we just paid our electric bill, roughly $200 for 50 or so days of usage.  Gas, water and electricity are billed here every 2 months.

Gas: less than $100 for 2 months

Food: we get by with $100+ per week.  But that's because we only eat 2 meals in the house per day. 

Schools: believe it or not, you only pay $30/year for public schools here.  I don't have kids yet but that's what our friends with kids pay here   I've researched on private schools here as well and they're about $3K/year -- there's a La Salle campus here and that's their going rate.  The really exclusive ones though like Guildford Grammar School where Heath Ledger went would be about $20K/year.

Hope this helps!