How's life after 5 months in Sydney

All the earlier post in the blog are very positive and forward looking. We are clocking 5 months now in Sydney and both of us securing a stable job in Sydney, and working life is good and not as stressful in Singapore, even as we both working in the probably the more stressful company/industry. But how's life here?

Of course there are good things downunder, especially in Sydney. But we can only use 3 words to summarize. It's "tough, tough, tough". How tough it is, to keep it short, I will just list it in point form.

1. The rental market here is hell, imagine if you have encountered this, 20-30 groups of people viewing a same unit/apartment for 15-30 minutes. Then probably 10 groups of people applying to rent the same unit at or above the asking price. And the application form asking for all and including your most privacy information. Then to wait wait wait with no news by the agent. Sooner or later, you will get used to all the tricks to *entertain* the agent just to get a decent rental unit. Then start the rental hunting again after 6-12 months later. And forget about buying a property, the bank interest will kill you or you end-up in some far away places with stabbing incident every couple of days. And you spend the monies you save from properties into the petrol.

2. It's a fair system, everyone will say that, only to be taken advantage by all the rich people, especially the rich, early investment migrant. It's a fair system? To hell with it. It's never fair and it's so complicated tweaking here and there to make it look fair, but it will never be.

3. The redtape will kill you, regardless in private/public sector. Just try to apply for the residential phone line and you will know. If you encountered a problem, you will be diverted to here and there and never get the problem solved, for months, just wasting all your mobile phone all time to calling again and again.

4. Don't try to get sick here. Isn't that medicare cover your medical? Hell no, it only cover some basics, and if you do get an accident without any private insurance, you better kill yourself than left suffering in the public hospital for days. Go search smh on Royal North Shore Hospital and you will know what I meant.

5. Crime rate is high here, don't try exploring the great western sydney without a brave attitude, read the news more.

6. If you don't ask anything, you don't get nothing or you get the worst thing you can ever imagine. Only after arguing for hell lots of argument, then you will get a barely *fair* treatment, this is call a *fair* system.

7. Racist, don't tell me you don't know Ozzie is a racist country, try walking late night along some youngster area, you will invite some racist remarks from some local half-drunk youngster.

All in all, still hanging on here, that's the fun part of experiencing life. Tell you more mate next time when I am free. :p

Preparing to move - cleaning flat

We started clearing our stuff. I found that we have had few boxes left unopened in store room since moving to this flat few years ago. I wonder how long will it take for me to clear all of them. But it is like treasures discovery when clearing the boxes one by one. Here is some of our memorable stuff and some to be reluctantly thrown away.

In 'Z' sequence from top-left to bottom-right;
1. First pager about 9-10 years ago, now obsolete;
2. CD case from the NTU's alumni office;
3. NTU 2000 millennium celebration's key chain, the millennium means more than a celebration for us;
4. Uluru's geometrical tools (since secondary school?);
5. Dunno what? Another souvenir?
6 & 7. Some puzzles;
8. Ultra old spectacles;
9. Uluru trying out the ancient spectacles, still workable :p ;
10. Uluru's honours year timetable in NTU;
11. Uluru's society, membership, name, etc... cards, some from a decade ago.