Australian Cities, why we chose Melbourne

Firstly, let me start by saying that this is just opinion, and its a general opinion. It may even be an incorrect opinion, but its my honest opinion. Feel free to correct me on anything I say, or if I leave a few things out(there's a comment section at the bottom, or post on facebook). Also, it should be remembered that my views of the cities is in no way extensive, and was usually on a tight budget, so I could have had a completly different view on the cities, if my experiences were slightly different.

When emigrating to a new country, your toughest choice, is where to live. Most people choose to live near family/friends who have already settled there, or to live near a workplace etc.

For Cheryl & I, its not that easy, as our visas are open, so we can live anywhere we like !

In Ireland, its an easy choice, you live in Dublin, cause its the best place to live :) !!

But in Australia, its a bloody big country(as big as the USA), and it has many places you could live happily.

Cheryl & I decided a long time ago, that we are suburbanites, for different reasons, but either way, we want access to a big city, while still having access to the countryside.

So although on our travels, we realised we would be happy in a smaller city, we have decided to stick to our original plan, and go for one of the big cities.

To give you an idea, some of the cities can be compared to Irish cities(and London)

So, there's....

• Sydney

• Melbourne

• Brisbane

• Perth

• Adelaide

• Canberra

• Darwin

Sydney...

Its a lot like London. In a way that its expensive, and its very spread out. However, it has good public transport.


Advantages...

Beauty - Its a beautiful city. You have the harbour, the Harbour bridge, and the Opera house.

Recognition - Its one of the top 10 livable cities in the world.

Weather - its less harsh, and more stable than Melbourne

Public transport - Good train & bus network

Also, its a very buzzing place. You feel your at the heart of the action. There's money here, and lots of it. Lots of flashy cars, and hugh houses !

Salary, I would earn the highest salary here.


Disadvantages...

Expensive, its the most expensive city in Australia. Houses cost a fortune. In the advantages, I said that I would earn the highest salary, however, Cheryl's salary would be almost the same, as elsewhere. So proportionally to cost of living, she would be earning less.

Commuting distance. Sydney suffers terribly from urban sprawl. This is the killer for Cheryl & I. Setting up, we cant afford to stay in expensive places. As such, we would be commuting large distances. Like 20 kilometers outside the city. It would involve waiting on a bus to the train station, waiting on a train, 45 minutes on the train, then bus, or walk to where we are going. Door to door, it could be 1.5 to 2 hours. Thats a nightmare! However, when we have money, and can afford a place closer to the city, we will reconsider Sydney.

Trafic - Same as commuting distance, it takes ages to get to the city.

"I dont have time" attitude - Im not sure of the correct phrase. But like in New York, and London, Sydney being a major city has developed this couldnt care less attitude. Im not sure how to explain it, but if you walked around with half a head, I think people would just walk past you as if they didnt notice ! Or, as if they have seen it all before, and are too busy to care. Its not being rude, its different, its just a couldnt care less attitude. In some ways thats a good thing, cause you can do/dress/act as you please(within the law), and noone will bat an eyelid.

Claustrophobic CBD - Although the harbour is beautiful, the CBD itself is extremely closed in. Iv never seen a city like it. The streets are very narrow, and the buildings are hugh skyscrapers. So you kind of feel caved in. Iv never experienced the GPS not working in a city, but in Sydney CBD, even the GPS cant get a signal, and you have to memorise the turns before it loses the satellites, due to the massive buildings blocking out the sky! Its what I would imagine New York to be like, but I dont know if the streets are as narrow.

Cockroaches - They are a bit of a problem here





Melbourne

Its so similar to Dublin. Its just has a Dublin feel about it.

Advantages...

Its like Dublin - Its very similar in size & feel to Dublin, the suburbs are very similar to wealthy villages surrounding Dublin city.

Fashion & Culture - Its Australia's culture capital. Its a trendy city. Its got European chic all around it. You see designer gear & trendy restaurants etc. everywhere. Art gallerys and fashion houses.

Sports & activities - Its Australia's sporting capital also. Im not into field sports, but still, its really nice to know that something is going on every week in the city, who knows, maybe ill be a crazy AFL fan in a few years. Be it formula 1, golf, AFL(most popular), rugby, soccer, motogp, and thats just naming some. There's always something happening in Melbourne.

Public Transport - Trams are the main form, but busses link the trams(think spiderweb), its very well thought out.

Recognition - Its one of the top 10 livable cities

Salary - Not quite as much as Sydney, but still a good salary

Longer days - It has the longest daylight hours(sunset Winter 6pm to Summer 8.45pm), so evening BBQ's after work are possible.

Disadvantages...

Its like Dublin, I left Ireland for new things, not the same thing on the other side of the world.

Weather - This is the biggest disadvantage, and we had wrote Melbourne off because of this. The weather is as eratic as Ireland. Its very unpredictable and it rains a lot. However, we have only seen it in Autumn. Ask any Aussie about Melbourne, and they usually say "yea, its a nice city mate, but the weather is terrible"

Rude people - I really hope it was just a few rare instances, but we found that people in Melbourne were rude. Like, "you have caused me a second of inconvenience, so I will huff and puff, until you hurry up". Also, in traffic, people beeping at you if your not instantly accellerating at the green light. Maybe(I hope) its just because I was a new driver in the van. And maybe(I hope), it was cause it was F1 week, and there was lots of stressed people in the city, and possibly lots of non-residents. This can destroy a cities reputation & feel-good factor. I just hope I received an incorrect impression.

Trams - Driving with trams can be a scary experience. Their big, and they wont turn. They are in the middle of the road. Also, your meant to undertake them, unless the door opens, for a newcomer, this can easily lead to you running over a person getting off. However, im sure you get used to them.

Trams - Whats the point in trams, if cars share the same lanes, and block the trams path, which leads to the trams getting stuck in rush hour traffic.





Brisbane

Its a bit like cork, a bit of an underachiever complex, at the same time, people have a certain arrogance or smugness about them, that they KNOW they live in the best city.


Advantages...

Weather - The weather is great. Its sunny all the time, and it rarely rains.

Transport - The Bus network is impressive, with raised roads, dedicated to bus only. Also, just like the underground network in London, there's an underground network for busses in the CBD. Which is very similar to a London underground tube stations. Very unusual & innovative. The Mayor is a structural engineer, which explains the innovative thinking.

Friendly - We found the people to be extremely warm and friendly

Outside lifestyle - Because of the weather, its a truely proper outside lifestyle

Australian - its the first city we seen that we felt was a proper Australian city.

Surrounding areas - The gold coast, and sunshine coast are an hours drive away. It would be great to go there for weekends away.

Originally we decided to live here.


Disadvantages...

Weather - the weather is great, but apparently its humid in the summer

Transport - I really dont like busses, although I am impressed by how they did it in Brisbane

Unattractive - It cant be described as a pretty city. Melbourne and Sydney are much more attractive!

Mozzies - they are there all year round !

Shorter days - The sun sets very early in Brisbane(5pm winter, 6.45 summer). And they dont have daylight saving time. So its very likely to come home from work in the dark. No evening BBQ's in the sun.

Smoking policy - Its the strictest in Australia. Which may be an advantage for some. But when we got there, I sat OUTSIDE a coffee shop, drank a cup of coffee, and lit a cigerette. The waiter came outside, and told me to put it out. I was puzzelled, and couldnt figure it out, as I was outside, even Cheryl was surprised. Usually when im breaking the rules, Cheryl gives me this wifey look of disapproval, that a husband learns to interpret, but not this time! This time she was as confused as me! Anyway, I found out after, you cant smoke anywhere in Queensland where drinks or food are served, this includes outside tables. Its kind of understandable, as they have a proper outside lifestyle. So often there are more seats outside a restaurant, than inside. Gets annoying though, as rather than giving smokers a place and treating them like humans, better to treat them like unwanted pests, and maybe they will quit. Anyway, its not a reason to not live there, just an annoyance.


Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin

Thats the big three, I can only briefly describe the other three based on what I know of them, as I have only personally visited Darwin & Canberra, and I havent seen much of Adelaide properly yet.

But..



Perth - Its a big city, but very far away from the rest of Australia. I heard Singapore is closer to Perth than Sydney. If you look at a globe, thats a eye opener! We met a few people from Perth on our travels, and they seemed like relaxed happy people. Apparently it gets very very hot !



Adelaide (like Waterford)- I have been recommended to live in Adelaide, by many people in Sydney. But on further research, I discovered its got Australias highest unemployment rate & lowest wages of the major cities. This just reminds me of the depression in Ireland at the moment, and I definitely want to avoid that. Unemployment usually is closly followed by crime, misery, and poverty. At the same time, its only like 8.3%. Which isnt hugh. But isnt it better that you feel an employer needs you more than you need them ? Also, a good thing is its Australias cheapest city for houses. A great place for education & healthcare workers, as you earn similar wage to the other cities, but the cost of living and houses is less, so your proportionally wealthier. On further inspection of Adelaide, I find it a bit, dare I say, boring. There doesnt seem to be much to see and do here. Its very pretty and spacious, with little traffic, and lots of open spaces. I think its more of a place to end your career and retire, then to begin a new one. It looks very similar to Canberra.



Canberra - Its an unusual capital city. Its the Capital city, but most capital cities are the business hub, Canberra is lacking this enterprising spirit you find in other capitals. Its a very pretty city, often critisised for being artificial, which it is completly, as its man made, but isnt every city ? It is a great place to visit, as there's national this and that everywhere, and its almost all free ! So you could spend a week here, only paying for food and accomodation, while being entertained every day. Sydneysiders critisise Canberra as being boring, with no night life or action. Lets face it, you stick all the bureaucratic cival servant office workers in one small city, take away the entrepreneurs, artists and creative thinkers, and what have you got left. A bunch of cival servants. Not reputed for being the most entertaining unpredictable dinner guests. Canberra is lacking that spontaneity & excitement of other capitals. A nice place to live still, but a little too civalised and organised for my liking.



Darwin - Forget it. You would have to pay me a lot of money to live permanently in Darwin. Its a very small city, bit like Galway. But its humid all year round, humidity hurts my ears, as Cheryls doesnt stop going on about it. Mozzies, crocs & Jelly fish(in the water all year). You cant fish unless you have a boat, as the crocs will eat you if you fish off the river banks. I could live there, but it would only be for a year or 2, and at big money rates. Also, we visited during peak holiday season. I would imagine its a dead city at other times of the year. In saying that, I didnt hate it, its a nice place to visit, just not to live.



A great websire for comparing the cities is available here => http://www.livingin-australia.com/ the links on the right hand side are very informative.

Now all thats said, we have visited many places in Australia, and honestly, we would have a happy life in any of them. No where is perfect. But everywhere has its advantages and disadvantages. It just depends on whats right for you ! It made our decision more difficult for us, as everywhere is good.

Originally we had agreed to settle in Brisbane. We were both happy to live there, it seems to have everything. However, I will be going back to college again, only working part-time. Which means that Cheryl will be the main breadwinner, while ill be a student bum ! So I had to consider that as a student, it really didnt matter where I was. However, as Cheryl would be working everyday, it mattered a lot to her where she was, as chances are, she would be the one to get pissed off first.

Cheryl has decided on Melbourne, because...

She hates humidity !
She likes the sun, but not all the time, she prefers colder climates. Cheryl sees Melbournes weather as an advantage, rather than a disadvantage.
She wont admit it, but I suspect that the fact that its a fashionable city may have pushed her also.
It is better for me too, as Melbourne and Sydney are the best places to base myself for my studies.

However, as I said to Cheryl, I can imagine that in a year or 2 we'll be pissed off with the weather, and move to either Sydney(if we have money to spare), or to Brisbane. But who knows, maybe we will love living in Melbourne, and bring up a family there !!

Australia, a country of contrasts !!

Australia is an odd place.

Its one hugh country, yet, it can be completely different at times, compared to itself, its a bit schizophrenic

Philippines is a country of extremes, Australia is a country of contrasts !

Coast & inland, city & bush/outback

North & South

Night & Day


Coast & inland, city & bush/outback

As you travel around Australia and head away from the coast, the country changes dramatically.

80% of the population lives on the east coast of the country. As such, when your driving on the coast, especially the south coast, its very similar to driving in Europe.

Lots of small towns, and big cities. Electronic stores & supermarkets. Good roads and holiday villages a plenty. Theres a hugh amount of things to do, but you need lots of money to do it!

When you go inland, its completely different. Its like a whole new country. Straight roads for hours, enormous farms stretching for hundreds of kilometers, tiny towns, little more than a petrol station. Everyday things cost a small fortune. Petrol costs almost double, and you can add 50% to most products.

However, whats free is the natural beauty. Sure you can pay for cruises etc. But you can also just drive there yourself, and enjoy the view.


North & South,

South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria. They are a complete contrast to Northern Territory & Queensland.

In the south, its very similar to europe. Lots of green fields, bendy roads, mountains & farms. And very large cosmopolitan cities ! The weather is European, there are 4 seasons. Irish weather in Melbourne, not as wet, and not as cold though, and Spanish/Italian weather in Sydney & Adelaide.

Up north, its mostly tropical. There are only 2 seasons, wet and dry. Its hot, and often too humid(especially very far up), its mostly only humid in the wet season. Similar to Philippines weather, same temperature, but less humid. Its what you might call more stereotypical Australian. Its hot during the day. There's lots of mozzies(& sandflies, an Aussie thing), lots of Crocodiles, lots of deadly Jelly fish and things that want to kill you, and lots of kilometers of straight roads to get anywhere.


Night & Day,

This surprised me a little. But Australia is a completly different country by day then it is by night.

Aussies are early risers, and as such, most activities are during the day. In the outback, its a general rule, that you simply dont drive in the dark. By dusk, the roads are empty. So if your getting somewhere, you get up early, go there, and settle down early. Its not unusual to see people having their dinner at 5pm. Or drinking beer from 3pm onwards. But in bed by 9pm. In Ireland, people usually start drinking at 9pm, or thereabouts !

The temperature from day and night is a hugh contrast. You could be enjoying 25+ degrees during the day, and the temperature would drop to 1 or 2 degrees at night. It makes it very difficult to plan your enjoy the evening stars, when your freezing your ass of in a t-shirt & hoody !

The other surprising thing about night, is the night-life. And im not talking about drunken sweaty young adults, with dialated pupils, bopping to the latest hits. I mean the animal life. Most of Australia's animals are nocturnal. They sleep during the day, and go hunting/grazing at night. So Kangaroos, wallabys, bats(hugh bats) possums, you can hear them rustelling around, often you can hear them calling, and if your very unlucky, they will raid your bins, and spill all your rubbish around the place, so all the early rising other campers can see you ate beans and noodles for dinner, washed down by the cheapest beer.

Finally

Its these contrasts that make the country interesting ! As your driving, the changes are subtle and slight by the day. Its only after a week, that you think back to where you were, and realise how different it was to where you are now.

The year of Living dangerously !

Well things have become very interesting in the Phils.

First there are multiple typhoons that wreck the Capital and other islands.
Causing floods and landslides, and general chaos.



This video is kinda cool, from a SUV's looking like toy cars point of view



This one is more of a drama queen version, but some nice pics.



Then a Volcano decides to pop its Cherry


















And with the election coming up, things are really heating up on the Political front...

Irish Priest kidnapped in Philippines

Mayors wife and Entourage killed in Mindanao in the end, they found over 60 bodies, the rival Mayor who is responsible has been arrested, but is closely linked to the current president.

Kidnapping in Mindanao, this has become somewhat a normal occurrence

And of course, the NPA(New Peoples Army) the communist militants, are kicking off in Negros, the neighbouring island to Cebu.

Click on the above for more details.


I have been warned to expect a lot more goings on on the political front coming up the elections in May 2010. There's even talk of Martial Law being imposed on the whole country(already in some Cities). And if you have read my previous blog, people dont like this. So there is also talk of revolution.

So from natural disasters, to political mass assassinations. Things are really heating up here.

Interesting time to live here, reminds me of a film. Cant remember the name.

I checked out the news from home. The roads are icy, and civil servants want to strike.

HHhmmm Very exciting!!

The weather and Pinoy(Filipino) mentality

Hello again all.

Recently as some of you may know, there has been some srtong weather here in Philippines. Mainly in Manila which is 600 kilometers away from Cebu, where I am. See here :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8276347.stm

Here, its gets a little windy, a little bit of rain, and a little cold, which is very unusual in Cebu. Not so cold as to wear a coat, but cold enough that you may consider wearing a t-shirt, for warmth, rather than for hiding your man boobs in polite company.

But I was watching the Filipino news on TV. Its in Tagalog, so I can get the gist of whats going on, but I needed Cheryl to translate some items for me.

So, here are 2 examples of Filipino mentality.

Firstly,

They said they had to open the dam, as it was about to burst, as it was overflowing, which resulted in flash flooding many shanty towns & inhabitants who were living below the dam.

Now, Im not a dam expert, but from what I know of them, and have seen, they are designed to over flow harmlessy over the top of the dam in times of flood.

But consider this, many rich people had homes which were flooded, the people below the dam were poor. Hmmmm!

I speculate the following conversation....

Mayor: Hi, dam manager, I order you to open the dam gates, as my house is nearly flooded.
Dam Manager: But Sir, that will destroy many homes, and kill lots of people
Mayor: Yea, maybe, but what about my LCD TV !! NOW OPEN THE GATES !!
Dam Manager: Yes sir !

Thousands lose their home, but many LCD TV's are saved !!

Secondly,

They interviewed a resident in a different location, who was very unhappy.

He stood in front of a free aid pallet, sent by the government, which had large sacks of rich on it and said....

"This rice is wet, what good is it sending us wet rice. We are hungry. This rice is only good enough to feed my pigs. Send us some dry rice, there are people starving here! "

Has anybody spotted it???

Anyone ??

At that point, I rolled around laughing. Cheryl said, "whats so funny".

My response was, he has lots of pigs, but rather than killing them and feeding his hungry neighbours, he's going on TV complaining the the government efforts are rubbish, as the rice is wet!

I just couldnt believe it when I heard it!

Ya gotta love this country !!

Seriously though, I dont mean it in a derogatory way. Its observation of what actually goes on here!

The Marcos syndrome

Ferdinand Marcos( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Marcos) was the presidant of the Phils from 1965 to 1986, a very long time!

He was pretty good, until his second term.

In the Phils, just like US, you can only have two terms. He didnt like this, and wanted to keep the power for as long as he could. So he declared Martial law(ie. military rules, you can make 'em up as you go along).

He kept being the president, until a bloodless(ie. no fighting) coup d'état, (which means revolution) happened. This was after his main rival, Ninoy Aquino who was in exile, was shot when he arrived in Manilla Airport(now named after him), before he even left the aeroplane. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_Power_Revolution)

NB. Eastern Europe took this as a good example, (as previously revolutions in counties almost always involved tremendous bloodshed), and also had a Coup against Russia, which led to the modern Europe we know today. Basically, how its done, is to get the Military on your side first! Then they wont shoot you, and they wont protect the presidant

The USA rescued him(Reagan backed him, as he was US friendly), and brought him to the USA, then he went to Hawaii, and lived happily ever after(with billions of Phils money).

A well known injustice here.

Now, his wife, Imelda Marcos(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imelda_Marcos) basically has a shoe addiction, she had 3,000 pairs of shoes(not Dunnes Stores, or Marks and Spencers, I mean Manola balanic & Gucci type shoes)

This is where the Marcos Syndrome comes in....

Consider that, and a thing my wife recently said to me, she said....

"Behind every great man, is a great woman"

Now, I cant find the source of this quote, but I shall call it Marcos syndrome!

I prefer my quote of "Behind every great man, is a really nagging woman"

Consider this....

Ferdinand: Hey baby, can I have some of that special thing tonight?
Imelda: Piss off, im not in the mood
Ferdinand: Aww, come on, ill buy you some shoes
Imelda: Hmmm, maybe, what type
Ferdinand: Eh, Gucci shoes?
Imelda: oh, ok so, come here
Ferdinand: will you do that thing with your tongue?
Imelda: for Gucci, no way!
Ferdinand: what about Manola balanic shoes
Imelda: Ohh baby, come to me....

I can see it happening, now he was in power for 21 years, and she had 3000 pairs of shoes, it makes sense if you think about the practicalities of a relationship!

Again, behind every great man, is a nagging wife!

Lets consider this, and look into history...

Napolean....

Napoleans wife: your so small, you dont satisfy me.
Napolean: maybe if I conquer Europe you will give me what I want
Napoleans wife: Maybe, by the way, apparently the best diamonds are in Russia, just thought I'd mention
Napolean: I cant attack Russia yet, it is idiotic to fight on 2 fronts in Europe
Napoleans wife: Hmm, yea, whatever, anyway, I have a headache, im going asleep
Napolean: ok then, Ill attack Russia, but I bet those British are going to piss me off
Napolean's wife: ok, call me when you have diamonds

Hitler....

Hitler: hey baby, wana look after me tonight
Hitlers girl: Maybe, have you conquered Russia yet?
Hitler: Oh no, that would be stupid to attack Russia until I fix the British
Hitlers Girl: Yea, apparently the best diamonds are in Russia.
Hitler: Maybe so, but I cant attack yet
Hitlers Girl: I have a headache, and im going asleep, call me when you have Russian Diamonds
Hitler: RIGHT, FINE, Ill attack Russia, damn it!


Clinton's...

Bill: Hey baby, can I get my special something tnite?
Hillary: Hmmm, I dont like this house
Bill: Uh, what, This house is great
Hillary: No, I dont like it
Bill: What kind of house do you like?
Hillary: We'll there's a real nice house in Washington
Bill: WTF, you mean the Whitehouse???
Hillary: Yea, thats nice
Bill: Damn it, right so, ill go for the Presidancy!

a few years later...

Bill: We'll I got you the White House, hows about that thing you do?
Hillary: You know Russia has really nice diamonds
Bill: Damn it girl, thats a heavy price to pay for oral

a few months later....

Monika: I dont care if you have Russian diamonds or not, im happy with who you are, come here big boy!
Bill: YEA BABY!

Lesson learnt, Men know best ! Just keep us happy!

The Asian Protein & Beer Diet

Firstly, for those who dont know, all my blog entries are meant to be taken "tounge-in-cheek".

Anyway, Iv discovered im losing a little weight. After pondering this, I think iv discovered a whole new way of dieting!

I shall name this "The Asian Protein & Beer Diet"

How you start is is as follows...

Have an initial disliking for rice, then come to a country where most Carbs are obtained through rice.

It must be a hot country, so you sweat like a pig most of the time, even when sitting still, so burning calories without the effort ! When bored, smoke excessively, this will help the diet, and keep Mosquitos away!

Then, the meals are as follows - keep in mind, most meals are served, where you have an empty plate, and the food is served for everybody on 2/3 large plates in the middle of the table, so you pick what you like ! ......

Breakfast, usually you will be given eggs and rice, I dont like rice, so I eat a lot of eggs.

Lunch, usually this is fish and rice, I dont like rice, so I eat a lot of fish(grilled, with head attached, usually overcooked, so lots of carbon(low calorie!)

Dinner, usually pork with lots of fat & bone, and rice, I dont like rice, fat, or bone, so I just eat a small portion of pork meat.

Inbetween meals, sit around sweating a lot, any manual work will take tremendous amounts of energy in the heat, so do something like that, to excell the diet!

In the evening, well you have had no carbs all day, so liberal amounts of beer to wash the protein rich diet down. Preferably my favoured beer, San Mig Light, 5%, and half the carbs(tastes like Heineken)

Next day, repeat!

After a month of this, your clothes fit better, and your wife starts to worry your having an affair.

Much better than weightwatchers!