Reboot!

Well folks, my year in Oz is nearly up. I’ve had the chance to explore Victoria and New South Wales, experiencing unique events like New Year’s Eve in Sydney, cheering for my footy team during the premiership, seeing great sights like the Twelve Apostles along the Great Ocean Road. I’ve had an awesome time over here but unfortunately all great things must come to an end.

It’s been a fairly tough time for me in the last few months. Getting work when your visa is running out is quite tough, even more so if you restrict yourself to office jobs like I did. There is stuff out there but you have to be aggressive. If you see an opening, apply! Then wait a few days and call! Especially if dealing with an agency you’ve got to track down the person in charge of the job posting and make sure they know you’re up for it. Thankfully I have something for the moment.

At this point in time I need to concentrate on work and budgeting, planning and booking my next travels as well as forecasting my finances for those travels. I hope to reboot the blog at some point towards the end of 2012 - early 2013 from a new location. Where? Who knows? I’m quite excited to start travelling again. Expect the following in the coming months:

- All the fun stories I DIDN’T want to write about while in oz
- More airline reviews
- More culture shock wtf articles

Stay tuned, more is yet to come.

3 Things I Don’t Miss About Canada

In last Thursday’s post I covered 30 Things I Miss About Canada. I thought it would be fair to also mention a few things that I DON’T miss about back home. I did get a reminder of some of these things when I went to Hawaii in August which just reinforced my dislike for these things. Here we have 3 things that I could honestly do without for the rest of my life:

Tipping

In Hawaii these "reminders" were highly annoying...

Man...fuck tipping! Honestly when you think about it you’re really paying someone extra for doing the job that they’re ALREADY paid to do. I once got lectured when I was younger by a dick waiter because we had left him a bad tip once (1c) because he was a complete ass. I was educated how it stood for To Insure Proper Service. Why should I bribe someone whose already being paid by the restaurant to do his job better or hell in this asshole’s case - correctly? The situation is so bad in Quebec you have to tip the bartender to bend over and pull out a beer from the fridge. If you don’t you’ll get yelled that “SERVICE IS NOT INCLUDED” and potentially have a few bouncers kick your ass out. In Hawaii I was reminded of this “practice” with polite reminders on every receipt, in some cases you’d also have a giant table with prices and your suggested tip (15%-20% in Honolulu, 18%-20% in Maui). First off I hate the fact that I’m being reminded to bribe my waiter and secondly asking for such generous amounts? For the most part they got 10%. In my budgeting and expense tracking back home I kept track of tips and some times it amounted to $30-$40 per week... for NOTHING! Here in Australia tipping does exist - but it’s never demanded and never required. Fucking brilliant!

Surprises At The Cash Register/Taxes (GST, Food, Liquor Taxes)

One of the things I absolutely LOVE here in Australia is the fact that when I go to a cafe, restaurant, the grocery store, or any shop for that matter, the price I see is the price I pay. Taxes are included in the listed price, but then itemized on your receipt so you know how much tax you paid. Here, if my coffee says it’s $3.50, it’ll be $3.50 when I get to the cash register. In Canada if it says $3.50 for a coffee on the menu, I really have to do $3.50 + 13% to figure out what I pay at the cash register. Try doing that calculation quickly in you head! The total then comes up to $3.95. When I explain this practice to my Aussie friends the usual reaction is something along the lines of “That’s bullshit!” I recently was explaining this to a friend of mine and she made the comment that you would need to walk around the shops with a calculator to know the exact price. That made me remember as a kid that...  WE HAD A GROCERY STORE WITH CALCULATORS ON THE SHOPPING CARTS! I much prefer having no surprises at the checkout as here I tend to pay stuff with exact change. Why do we need to make things so damn complicated back home... I don’t know...

Canadian Winters

HA you thought I’d forget about this one? Sure I mentioned last week that I miss having a white Christmas, but I’m talking more about the January-February deep freeze. Explaining the whole concept of -30C to -40C temperatures to Australians is tough as here the coldest you’ll see is maybe -5C in Canberra. The best way to explain it is to have people imagine locking themselves in their freezer and it being twice or three times as cold. Even then it’s something you have to experience to learn the true value of my hatred for it. It’s nice being free of snow storm warnings, flight delays and frostbite warnings. Oh I also forgot to mention shovelling, scraping ice off your windshield, having to get your car unstuck from the snow, public transport nightmares, etc. Winter? I QUIT WINTER!

30 Things I Miss About Canada

1. Harvey’s burgers - Oh so good!

2. Authentic poutine - even though I can get some around the world, it’s not the REAL thing...

3. Hooley’s Happy Hour - $4 pints and 1/2 price appetizers, just won’t happen out here

4. TV - Unless you have Foxtel (pay tv) you only get maybe 20 channels here in Australia, and 5ish of those are home shopping networks.

5. Late night shopping - everything here closes at 5:30 or 6 unless it’s a Thursday or Friday. Need to buy something like a gift or a suit after work on any other day? Forget about it!

6. Driving - I refuse to drive out here after getting a ridiculous speeding fine

7. Reasonable speeding thresholds - Here in Victoria if the speed limit is under 100km/h you get a 3km/h grace threshold for speeding, do 4 and it’s a fine! Over 100km/h it’s 10%.

8. Central heating - As far as I know houses here don’t have furnaces. We do get winter out here where the mercury drops to 1C or 2C so it does get cold!

9. Canadian beer - I miss my Alexander Keith’s!

10. Breakfast restaurant chains - There’s no such thing as Perkin’s, Cora’s, or IHOP out here... bloody shame!

11. North American sports - While I love my footy, I miss being able to catch baseball and hockey on TV here.

12. Fiery political debates about CANADIAN issues - boy did they ever get fiery!

13. 24hr News media - We do have ABC News 24, but unless you have Foxtel you won’t get CNN, Fox News or Sky News.

14. Reasonable fast food breakfast prices - I miss paying $4.02 for a McD’s BLT Bagel, 2 hashbrowns and a large coffee. Here I can pay $7.50 for a coffee and a donut

15. Urban music - Not popular here, miss hearing rap/hip-hop on a regular basis in the clubs.

16. Canadian holidays - While I’ve had the chance to celebrate Canada Day here in Oz and had the opportunity for a Thanksgiving lunch, just not the same as being back home.

17. Bacon - You can get bacon on your burger or parma but it’s back bacon and not the strips

18. Wal-Mart - The one stop shop for anything you could ever need.

19. Ketchup - Feels weird calling it tomato sauce...

20. My videogames - They’re gathering dust...

21. Tim Horton’s coffee - Oh how I miss paying $1.50 for an amazing large double-double, here a large coffee will set you back $4-$5.

22. Being able to plug all my toys in - I only have one power adapter for Oz so I have to balance out charging my toys

23. Coins - I still get frustrated with the fact that the smaller the coin the more valuable it is. Our $2 coin is the largest and easiest to find when you’re fiddling around for change. Also we don’t roll our coin here, we bag it!

24. Table service/running a tab - The honor system is a rarity here, usually you have to pay everything up front, including food.

25. My birthday during SUMMER! - I’m a winter baby here, was 2C on my b-day... :(

26. A White Christmas - Feels absolutely wrong slapping sunscreen on and walking around on a 32C Christmas day... totally wrong!

27. Cinnabon - Terrible yet so delicious! No such thing here in Oz.

28. Quizno’s - My main meal for years at work! Only Subway and their terrible toasting oven here.

29. Country music - BARELY exists here - not on the radio, tv, nor in concert unless it’s Keith Urban...

30. Last but not least, my friends, family and loved ones!

Where Do I Buy...?

Moving to Australia can be a big adjustment. As I’ve covered in the past, there’s quite a learning curve, even though things are quite similar. One of the things that I had a bit of trouble with was knowing where to buy stuff as many of the chains from back home don’t exist over here. Quite frankly the one stop shops that we have back home (aka Wal-Mart) aren’t here so sometimes you really have to explore. Hopefully this guide helps any of you if you’re planning on coming down here, whether for a week, a year, or even permanently.

Groceries:

Main Chains:
- Woolworths/Safeway
- Coles
- Aldi
- IGA

One of the big things here is the so-called grocery wars, better yet the price wars between all the big grocery retailers (more notably between Coles and Woolies). Aldi wins hands down in terms of pricing, but most if not all the products (including beer) will be an Aldi brand. As well produce selection is quite limited. Coles and Woolworth’s/Safeway are your main everyday shops. They’ll have all the main brands as well as your usual selection of produce, meat, and grocery products. Quite frankly preference between these two is more personal choice as I think they’re the same. Lastly there’s IGA, which I find the most expensive and really only go to out of convenience.

General Department Stores:

Main Chains:
- Target
- Kmart
- Big W

These places are all handy when it comes to picking up stuff you may have forgotten to pack, need cheap work clothes, or any general household item. Kmart wins in terms of price. Here you can get a $15 pair of dress pants, $18 dress shoes and $12 work shirts. The only thing is that sometimes the quality may leave a little to be desired, but for those prices you can easily replace them. Target may not have the best prices but the quality of their products is by far the best. I paid $20 for a pair of dress pants and they still look brand new after months of wear. Big W is also good in terms of quality but is also quite good in terms of selection. Who knew you could buy home brewing (making beer) products at a dept. store?

Hardware/Reno:

Main Chains:
- Bunnings Warehouse
- Masters
- Harvey Norman

Why am I covering Hardware/Home Reno? Well put yourself in this situation... Say you’re at a mate’s place taking a shower and then all of a sudden the shower head drops and disintegrates. Shit son looks like you’ll have to replace/fix it... Where the hell can you get one... and for cheap! Google was no help at all, it only led me to Harvey Norman’s website where the price ranges for shower heads was $100-$900 and I knew that the one I broke wasn’t THAT great. Bunnings and Masters are basically the equivalent to Home Depot. Here you can find $15 shower heads, or any sort of home improvement product you may need (lumber, drywall, paint, etc.)

Electronics:

Main Chains:
- JB Hi-Fi
- Dick Smith
- Harvey Norman

When travelling, sometimes your gizmos will break down on you and you may need to either replace them or get some sort of accessory. One of the first things I picked up when I landed here in Oz was a mobile phone charger as I only have one plug converter and several electronics that may need to be charged at the same time. Dick Smith is probably the best in terms of small electronics, headphones and chargers etc. JB Hi-Fi is the place if you need any sort of electronic item big or small (computers, TVs, video games, music). I would say it’s the equivalent of Best Buy back home down to the colours. Lastly there’s Harvey Norman again. They do sell cameras, TVs, and computers, but they’re more of a furniture store. I’ve never actually made it into one of their shops because... well I just have never had to.

Hopefully this guide can be of some service to you if you make your way to Oz. Even if you may not be staying here for long you may still need to go to one of these shops. Face it, you may need to buy food, clothes, repair a mate’s house or replace your earphones. Just remember that you may have to shell out a bit more here in Oz than you would back home.

Unemployed Life...

Oh boy, I never imagined being without work so long! After coming back from Hawaii I started my hunt for work fairly confident I was gonna land something quick. Boy was I wrong! Every week that went by I would become more and more unemployable. Part of my difficulty was that I was concentrating on corporate jobs which is probably the most difficult to get on a working holiday visa - even more so when your visa is running out.

Between applying for jobs and waking up at 2 in the afternoon I did get to catch up on my blogs, attend some wild parties, and brush up on being frugal. Hell even my cooking skills have been greatly improved (hey I had A LOT of time on my hands...). But after two months, money was getting tight and shit was getting boring.

It was coming to a point where it looked like my trip might come to an early end! After weeks of applying and boatloads of rejections (even Kmart rejected me!), rent was coming due and wasn't an attractive investment considering I could still be unemployed. While it would be nice to be home at Christmas, it would suck to just be finishing winter here and get back just in time for Canada's winter! I started to plan my way back...

As of last week my phone has been ringing non stop! Interviews and offers galore. Thankfully somethings come up and now my trip is saved! Fingers crossed I can outlive another Canadian winter!

Maui On A Budget...Um...No...

When planning a trip to Hawaii you’ll probably want to visit at least one more island than Oahu. This is where careful research comes in and where careful choices have to be made. You’ll probably research Maui which is probably the second most popular island after Oahu. I did glance at it and from my research there was cheaper accommodation as well as some activities, perfect for a 3 night venture. Unfortunately while everything on paper was true regarding activities and cheaper accommodation I did screw up a very important factor which is logistics.

Maui is a popular place for honeymooners. As a result, most of the facilities on the island are catered to them. Most of the accommodation on the island is resorts which pretty much have everything you could want. As well, since most people visiting are on a honeymoon or an anniversary etc, usually their budgets are a lot higher than say ours. Shops and restaurants will have higher prices than say in Waikiki. 

Panoramic view from Lahaina Village

Getting from the airport to your hotel is quite expensive. Most likely you’ll either be on the south or west coast of the island which is FAR from the airport. The airport shuttle company had quoted us separately at $90 per person round trip to Lahaina which is outrageous. If you book as a group you can get a significant discount as it was $116 round trip if booked together. If that’s the price for an airport shuttle I’d hate to imagine the price of a taxi...

Lahaina Village

We opted to stay in Lahaina village which is an old whaling village on the west coast of the island. It’s a gorgeous village and our accommodation at the Lahaina Inn was great for the price. This is a tourist village as all the shops and restaurants are catered to tourists. You’ll find all sorts of restaurants which will satisfy anyone's taste. There’s also nightlife in Lahaina with a few bars/clubs BUT the village empties out at about 10pm when all the resort busses leave - so don’t expect it to be busy...

Luau at the Royal Lahaina Resort

Part of the deal we had with our hotel was that we had access to all the facilities at the Royal Lahaina Resort. Unfortunately public transport on the island isn’t the greatest and you’re looking at busses that depart every hour. Having to take a public bus and a free resort shuttle meant that getting to the resort would take over an hour in some cases as the bus and shuttle would just miss each other. We did however opt to do the resort luau which was great but a bit pricey at $70 per person. This however included a buffet meal and open bar. The show was great and showcased dances from many polynesian islands and finished with some fire dancing.

Thankfully the beaches are free and there are 2 nice beaches near Lahaina village, to the north and south. Apart from that a car would be required to visit most other tourist sites on the island. While I enjoyed Maui, it did present quite a few difficulties. I would highly recommend renting a car if planning on travelling here. Otherwise I’d also recommend maybe looking at some of the other islands.

Honolulu On A Budget

Hawaii is an amazing place with sun, sand, beaches and palm trees. But interestingly enough a lot of people seem to be under the impression that it’s an expensive place to vacation. To be honest, from my experience I can tell you that this assumption is dead wrong. Hawaii is a place where the cost really depends on how you choose to travel. There are heaps of 5-star gated resorts which can go for upwards of $700/night, as well as shopping malls chock full of stores you can’t even afford to set foot in. Thankfully there are also options for budget-minded travellers like us who might not want to blow their whole budget in a night or two. So let me go over a few options that you might want to consider.

Getting Around:

If you’re going to Honolulu, you’re 99% likely to be staying in Waikiki. This is THE tourist area - most if not all people walking around you will be tourists. Walking around you’ll notice trolleys, LOTS of trolleys. Many cater solely to the Japanese tourists which make up a large portion of the tourists. This seems like a great option as they go to all the tourist sites, make life simpler for you. Well folks so does TheBus, Oahu’s public transit system. Trolley prices range from $19 for a day pass to $49 for a 7-day pass. Fares for TheBus are $2.50 which includes one transfer. Think about it, you’ll most likely be visiting one site per day, two at most (but that’s pushing it) that require getting around the island. Two round trips on TheBus - $10, day pass on the trolley - $19. The math is simple really, suck it up and take TheBus. 4-day passes are available in Waikiki at any ABC Store for $25 if you plan on extensively exploring the island.

The Aloha Tower:

Free! Also not overly crowded - or in our case deserted.

This tower was built in 1926 and is one of the most iconic structures on the island of Oahu. The tower is located on the edge of the CBD along the harbor and is attached to a small shopping centre which for the time being is quite bare. The tower offers amazing views of the harbor and Honolulu’s CBD. The best part about this site is that it’s 100% free. I was pleasantly surprised when the security guard said the site was free. I was even more shocked at the fact that there was NOBODY around. We were seriously the only people in the whole building, I couldn’t believe it. While downtown Honolulu I highly suggest stopping in here - why not? It’s free right?

Diamond Head Crater

Isn't this view worth the $1?

Diamond Head is the second most iconic site on Oahu. You’ll see it on any postcard of Waikiki was the big brown cliffside in the distance. Diamond Head is an old volcanic crater but obviously no longer active. During WW2 machine gun posts were installed at the top. You can hike up a donkey trail to get yourself up to the machine-gun post which offers some of the best views of Waikiki and Honolulu. The hike itself should take about 45 minutes but keep in mind that it’s all uphill and the last 20% of it is extremely steep. At one point you do get the choice of either continuing the donkey trail or using the stairs. The trail is a lot easier but will take longer whereas the stairs will go faster but are extremely steep. Admission to the park is $1. Bring lots of water, sunscreen and a hat.

Pearl Harbor:

USS Arizona Memorial

Obviously when you think of Hawaii, Pearl Harbor comes to mind. Now it was definitely not the happiest place to be, but its historical significance makes it a definite must see while in Honolulu. Now walking around in Waikiki you’ll see a bunch of touts offering you tours of Pearl Harbor usually averaging $25-$30. Well if you do your research you’ll find that visiting Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial is actually FREE, but you do have to reserve or else you risk getting there and it being booked up. Reservations can be done online through the National Parks Service at recreation.gov and costs $1.50 per ticket. We also opted for an audio tour which cost $7.50 per person but is quite informative and well narrated. TheBus will take you right to the visitor centre. For two people doing it the smart way it cost us $23 rather than the $50-$60 we could have paid the tout offering tours.

As you can see, you don’t need bags of money to enjoy Honolulu. Quite frankly I wouldn’t even describe this as being on a budget - but really just travelling smart and doing research. A lot of activities are surprisingly available at a minimal cost or even free, you just have to do a bit of research. Hopefully this helps you as Hawaii is an amazing place that I would definitely go back to in a heartbeat.

Jetstar No-Frills Experience - My Jetstar Review (Part 1)

Oh how the mighty have fallen! Having gone from flying business class to cattle class was absolutely terrible. Sadly this was the most economical way of getting from Melbourne to Honolulu as I had just missed out on a special from Hawaiian Airlines which would have been MUCH better. As the title would have it, Jetstar is a no-frills airline. I had to forgo my cookies baked for me on the plane, or eating my sumptuous filet mignon steak for well... nothing! Anyways lets start off at the very beginning with booking your flight.

Booking your flight:

When it comes to booking flights I generally like to go to the source, unless there’s a deal out there that I just can’t refuse. So I logged onto Jetstar’s website and set up an account and searched for my flights. MEL to HNL round trip totalled around $1400 which is not exactly ideal but it was the best price I could get. You choose your flights and pre-pay your luggage as it’s way higher paying for it at the gate. Everything was good up until I was bombarded with so-called add-ons for your flight. Do I want to upgrade to business class for $300 each way? NO. Do I want to choose my seat for $7 per flight (4 flights total)? NO. Do I want to pre-book a meal with my flight for $12-15 per flight? NO. Do I want an entertainment system/Ipad for my flight for $12/flight? NO. Do I need to get a hotel at my destination? NO. Do I want to rent a car at my destination? NO. Do I want to donate to charity? NO. OMG SERIOUSLY I JUST WANT MY F!@#ING CONFIRMATION ALREADY! I was very successful in booking my flight for the original price quoted with NO ADD ONS.

About 10 days before my flight (which happened to be my birthday) I got a call from the airline just to “confirm” my itinerary. Everything was going well right up until I noticed that the girl on the other end of the line started going through THE WHOLE DAMN UPSELL SPIEL AGAIN. With my Canadian patience gone but luckily my politeness still intact I advised the girl that I like my booking as-is and don’t wish to make any changes. I might of had to repeat this once as she tried to persist but she got it and ended the call. Whew what an experience...

The Domestic Experience:

Finally the day came where I’d be making my way to Hawaii. Woke up at 5:45am got ready and did a last minute frantic packing check as I normally do. Being a domestic flight I thought I had tons of time between check-in and getting to the gate as any normal person would assume you’d be leaving the country (going through immigration etc.) at the last port before departure. There was a massive traffic jam at Tullamarine Airport so I was a little nervous but got to the check-in counter and there was NOBODY! Safe! Well...not so much. I found out that I had to go through immi and customs HERE as well as go through airport security. Got through everything smoothly but what’s that on the screen?? FINAL BOARDING CALL FOR MATT’S FLIGHT... F!@#. Made an amazing race style dash to my gate only to find out that there’s still 40min or so before leaving... F!@#kers. Of course we also left 30min late... sigh...

The flight to Sydney was about 2hrs total - simple stuff. I planned on listening to a few tunes or play games on my phone (no laptop on this trip). Basically I got nothing to eat on the flight as I refuse to use a credit card on a plane - weird security paranoia. Anyways there was a darling couple sitting next to me composed of a failed jersey shore wannabe who was more flubber than muscle and his trophy pizza-face girlfriend. They spent the whole 2hrs nagging at each other in the form of thanking each other. Thank you so much (guy’s name) for being a condescending prick. Thank you SO MUCH (girl’s name) for being a nag. Thank you so much (guys name) for not moving your legs so I can go to the toilet. And so this went on...and on... My rage was burning but I then realized that these are probably the only four words in the english language they know. It’s never cool to yell at those with special needs.

Anyways we landed in Sydney and here I was pointed to the international transfer checkpoint. There were a few of us headed there. As I walked I couldn’t help but look over my shoulder constantly on the lookout for my two special friends from the earlier flight. No sign of them! Safe...safe for now!

The Art Of Being Cheap

Being cheap (or frugal if you prefer to sugar it up) is an art. Obviously like anything else practice makes perfect. Australia is an expensive place, and I’ve already gone over how to stretch that Aussie dollar. Last week I also covered getting some cheap eats while in St. Kilda which although not really “on a shoestring,” it’s an affordable luxury while on that budget! I’ve had a learning curve here as well, having realized that you can’t necessarily be cheap with everything. Honestly sometimes it’s worth paying the extra 25 cents! At the same time however, if you see a good deal there’s no shame in jumping on it. I’ll give you an example of both extremes where I messed up and succeeded.

sigh...

#27 of my 50 things I’ve learned in Australia was that ALDI is a lifesaver if you’re on a shoestring budget. Seriously this place is the shit, with cheap everything! Even the $8.99 six packs of beer aren’t bad at all. But here’s where I made the mistake... I went cheap while at ALDI! I needed sandwich bags to pack a lunch to go volunteering. Here I had the choice of the 99 cent pack or the 69 cent pack of plastic bags. Of course, why pay 99 when you can pay 69 right? What’s the difference? Well it turns out that the 69 cent bags are “snack” bags, and hence you get the result from the picture above... I’ve succeeded in making myself look like an anal-retentive dork packing my sandwiches individually. In retrospect, I should have just spend the damn 30 cents, it would have made my life a whole lot easier! Thankfully I’m almost done this set of bags...

This is the most amazing thing I've discovered!

Recently, now that I’m working, I’ve decided to cut down on my coffee expenses as they add up quickly here in Melbourne. It’s particularly expensive since you can’t get the regular stuff at a coffee shop. This past weekend I bought a travel mug at Coles in the hopes of making my own coffee in the morning and saving the $3 for a small coffee that I pay every morning. While at the grocery store I came to the realization that I need both milk and sugar on top of getting coffee... This was getting get bulky, expensive and inconvenient. Like magic I saw the following product on the shelf which was an answer to my prayers. That’s right folks, instant coffee with milk and sugar in a toothpaste tube! Just add water! It looks ridiculous but I’ll vouch for it. This is probably the closest I’ve gotten to the taste of a double-double since I left Canada. Instead of $3/day it’s now $3/week yeaaah!

As you can see, the art of being cheap is one learned through trial and error. I got greedy with those sandwich wrappers and I pay for it every day... (and no I won’t let them go to waste either! - see article title!). Then again on the flip side I had the coffee which was a BIG risk as I’ve never seen such an invention. Like every other skill, practice makes perfect. Although far from perfect I have become much better at the art of frugality.

On The Hunt...

Being unemployed is great up until your cash starts to run out, then as every day goes by you start seeing dollar figures on everything. Thankfully my budgeting worked as I was able to survive on about $50/day in this bloody expensive country (not including accommodation which is on average $30/night). Nonetheless once I got back to Melbourne at the start of January I realized that I needed to start looking for a job as my cash was starting to dry up. So the hunt began...

As a traveller, your best bet on getting a job is mostly through employment agencies or in the hospitality industry. I decided to go the hard route and apply directly with companies (through seek.com.au) for higher positions than your typical backpacker jobs. This was definitely a harder route to take, and one that was making me a little bitter as well. Being here on a working holidaymaker visa limits you to 6 months with any employer. This limitation as well as a lot of bad apples out there have closed the doors to many of the better jobs. The agency that assists me down here has job listings but many are waiter, kitchen hand, and barista jobs that don’t necessarily pay well. Every day I would get calls from employers about jobs I had applied for, but as soon as my accent came out the question: “What’s your situation?” would come up, and then a prompt rejection from the job. I also got TONS of rejection letters through e-mail.

The best way I can sum up my view of job hunting, is like going to a nightclub. Obviously I want to hit on all the hottest girls (best jobs) first, but they’re also the ones with the most guys hitting on them (choice of candidates). As the night goes on, if I’m unsuccessful, I’ll start hitting on the more regular girls (reg. jobs). If things get REALLY bad, well... there’s always that ONE girl who will go home with anybody (think fast food!). But you wouldn’t want to be caught going after her now would you...

It's all part of the game...

The key to being successful is persistence. Now nobody likes to strike out... but if you never swing for the ball you’ll never hit it. If you just stand there and hope to be walked onto base, you’ll never get anywhere good. Thankfully my persistence and confidence payed off with an interview invitation, where like a boss I was confident and smooth about my skills and experience.

Many of my friends here have found work in restaurants and cafes quite easily. If you put yourself out there and visit every restaurant and confidently talk with the manager, you just might score yourself a try. This is usually a one hour session where you’re given a shot to prove yourself, because c’mon really what would a boardroom interview accomplish in a job where more practical skills are involved. Just don’t act a fool and say you’re something you’re not...like a bartender or barista, you WILL get busted at some point if not on your try, when you screw up your customer’s martini or espresso.

While you’re out here in Australia, the key to getting a great job is to remain confident and to not get bitter after all the rejections you’ll get. I did manage to remain cool and confident in myself and therefore managed to score an amazing job. I also kept my cool in the interview, but I can tell you that I was shaky beforehand.  I now have an amazing opportunity to add international experience on my resume

Stretch That Australian Dollar

By far the number one complaint from fellow travellers that I meet has been that everything here is bloody expensive! Most of the world’s economies and currencies have tanked in the last year yet Australia’s has soared. The days of things balancing themselves out with the exchange rate are over... You’re just going to have to face it that things here can cost an arm and a leg. So here are a few tips to help you stretch that dollar to help make ends meet:

DON’T SMOKE

It will bleed your wallet dry I tell you!

Anything here that’s vice related is expensive and taxed beyond imagination. I’m not your mother so we’ll spare the health issues, but financially you will suffer here. I used to joke about how expensive cigarettes were in Canada when they were $10/pack... Folks here you can pay between $14 to over $20 for a pack! Plenty of people here have resorted to rolling their own but even then it’s still fairly expensive (and time consuming). Funny enough there is no shortage of smokers here in Australia, patios are PACKED... Honestly I’m shocked! If you can’t beat the habit, ask around your hostel as there’s bound to be some entrepreneurs who are taking advantage of selling off their goodies purchased at the duty-free stores.

Plan your meals

Fast food (just like pretty much everything) here is expensive. One gimmick that will catch you off-guard here is the way the combos work. Here the price you’ll see on the menu is usually for a small combo, and who wants a small drink and fry with their burger? So you’ll need to clarify if you want a small, medium or large combo. Your average combo price will usually be around $10-$12, can be $7ish if you go when there’s a lunch or dinner special. Most places I’ve been to, people weren’t big on buying food at the grocery stores and cooking at the hostel. Well here it’s the thing to do! I purchased a meal, snack and 2L bottle of water to last me the day while out volunteering, cost me $12. Definitely beats any fast food combo. Doing this will definitely help you stretch that dollar.

Find that HAPPY HOUR!

Ugh, honestly do I ever wish for those Hooley’s $4.50 pints right now! Prices for alcohol can be pretty ridiculous out here (being a vice and all!). Here pints aren’t generally served in bars, and if they are they’ll be around $10-12. More often you’ll have pots (285mL) and schooners (425mL) available at lower prices. Also, pitchers here are referred to as jugs and are smaller at 1125mL of beer. Happy hours have some good deals, especially here in Melbourne where you can get $10 jugs. If you see pitchers on the menu, avoid the place at all costs! Once at dinner in Sydney we indulged in 2 normal size pitchers... at $35 each... that hurt the wallet for sure!

Accomodation

Hostels here in Melbourne usually hover around the $30 range, and can move up to a whopping $42/night during special events. You can forget about hotel rooms as the cheaper places range around the $150 range in the CBD. Hostels also offer private rooms which can range from $60-$120/night but you might need to sacrifice a private bathroom. You can also look at offering a hand around the hostel, in many cases for 3hrs of work you can get the night free. Also go directly on the hostel/hotels website as there might be better rates or even negotiable weekly rates available to you.

As you can see, things here are pretty pricey! It’s funny how people will warn you ahead of time, but it only ever hits you when you land in the country. I’ve already complained about the $4 medium coffees, but as well the $10 pints, $20 cigarettes and crazy hostel prices make this an incredibly expensive country. Had I not carefully planned ahead I would have been in serious trouble by now. Be warned, this is definitely not the land for penny pinchers!

Before you go...

You’d think planning for a long vacation is all fun and games, sadly it’s far from it. There’s plenty of stuff you need to look into before getting on that plane. Here are some examples from my experience:

Medical/Dental checkups:

I’m not a fan of doctors, and I try to avoid them at all costs. Dentists even more so! Well, after some arm-twisting from the family I buckled under pressure and got everything done. Folks let me tell you, go to your dentist regularly as after my 5 year hiatus I had over $1600 of work that needed to be done... That’s almost my airfare! Also good to go get a checkup, make sure you’re not dying before you leave.

Government red-tape:

If you’re Canadian and leaving your province for more than 7 months, you’ll need to look into making sure you don’t lose your provincial health coverage. Otherwise travel insurers here won’t touch you with a 10 foot pole. Ontario luckily has a special exemption that lets you leave for 2 years if you’ve met the residency requirements for the last 5 years (7 months out of 12). You’ll still need to go to the government office, line up and get a letter saying you’re good for 2 years. Otherwise, you can look into International Health Insurance, which is the stuff diplomats get, but at upwards of $3000/year the first option is definitely lighter on the wallet.

Legal stuff:

I wasn’t too big on getting a will done, in the big picture I’d be dead anyways so why would I care? Well in the BIGGER picture, if you make life difficult for your family and loved ones, it might make a difference in terms of whether they bury you in a nice plot at a cemetery, or toss you out to sea.

Tax stuff:

Make sure you’ve got all your papers in order at home. If you can, scan all the important stuff and put it up on a cloud server. Also make sure there’s someone at your address you can trust to open up your T4s, scan them and send them to you. That way you can do your taxes online rather than ship everything back and forth to an accountant overseas. Be sure to have everything in order and check your country’s tax agency about guidelines on filing taxes from overseas etc.

Travel Doctor:

Self explanatory. Pay money, get poked by sharp metal objects... Lots of fun!

Overall the 2 months before my trip were pretty hectic getting everything in order. My days off consisted of sitting in govt. waiting rooms or in a doctors/dentists office getting poked with needles. I swear I felt like a pin-cushion in the end! A trip like this involves a lot of planning and preparation, and the last thing you want is to get dinged for something you could have totally prevented.

Bon voyage!

Seoul Food

If I were to have to choose just one of the many great aspects of Seoul, I would have to say that it's the food. The food here has simply been terrific and there's definitely something for everyone's taste. I thought I'd share with you a few of the dishes I've had while here in Seoul, both local and foreign.

One of the few dishes that made me throw in the towel.

This first dish is dakgalbi a chicken dish, but we took the extra spicy version. Now everyone who knows me well, know that I have a tongue of steel and can handle spicy food like it's child's play. Well folks, this dish got me! The dish is made of marinated chicken, jalapenos, bok choi (or some asian lettuce). The dish is cooked in a big pan that's on your table. Like most Korean food this was very inexpensive as we were able to get this for 8000 won per person ($8/person).

Now why would you cut a burger in half?

Next stop was Kraze Burger in the Dongdaemun district of Seoul, where I picked myself up a spicy mexican burger for lunch. Western food in Seoul is EXPENSIVE. This tends to give you more incentive to get out there and try some of the local stuff. The burger itself was nothing special. The only thing notable about it was that it was cut in half! Oh and that it cost me about 13-14k won! ($13-14).

Korean fast food @ Lotteria

Now if you really want your fast-food, going local is the way to go. Here are two options that I was able to sample. First one is Lotteria, owned by the Lotte group which is one of the biggest companies in Korea. This is basically the Korean version of McDonalds (which is surprisingly absent from the landscape as I only saw 2 and one of those was just a McCafe at the airport!), and funny enough their menus look quite similar. The food itself is your standard fast food fare, but much cheaper than the western outlets such as BK or KFC.

Tteokbokki, a fish skewer and some fishy water

Pork and kimchi dumplings

  

Secondly there's the street meat which is surprisingly very good. Along busy streets in Seoul you're going to find plenty of stalls selling various different foods. I had the chance to sample the food at one of the stalls. Here I was served a cup with some sort of fishy water which was being used to cook some other stuff. I was also served some Tteokbokki which is a sort of pasta-ish (the stuff that looks like penne) kinda texture food and is very very good, next up got some dumplings, 4 pork and 4 kimchi dumplings. All of this food was incredibly cheap costing only 5500 won (or $5.50) and that served two of us!

Galbi, oh so delicious!

Lastly, one night a guest at the hostel invited me to join him for some galbi. This is a Korean delicacy which is marinated pork ribs which you cook on a grill at your table. You then place the meat on a leaf of lettuce and stuff it pretty much like a fajita. There's plenty of sauces and veggies you can stick in there with the pork. We had a table full of food and a bottle of soju and our bill was 14000 won per person ($14). This was probably one of my best meals in the country!

As you can see, there's definitely something for everyone when it comes to food. Just keep in mind that I've barely scratched the surface when it comes to the amazing food culture over here. The main lesson learned here is go local, it tastes great and goes very easy on the wallet.