will b enrolling into usyd next month.anyone from there?

anyone currently study in unsw??may i know where u guys live?? which suburbs?

thanks!

This post has been edited by elainor: Jan 10 2011, 02:30 PM

heyo ppl, will be heading off the adelaide soon! :) thanks for most of the info on the thread! it was very helpful!

wanted to ask if its better to open ANZ or HSBC account... does anyone know which one is better? (rates and erm, convenience wise?)

and for foodstuff, is it like, i can bring whatever i want but they may or may not be allowed through? but like some stuff are definite no entry items like stuff containing egg and dairy products? i tried googling here and there and the official sites but can't seem to find a definite answer... ):

sorry and thank you!

hahah!!! AWESOME BRO!! when u heading to Adelaide?? i'm leaving on the 9th of Feb.. basically, u can't bring any food stuff into aussie. u gotta declare if u happen to carry any with u. best is not to bring. i'm actually thinking of Commonwealth bank. i head from my friend it's pretty good especially for students.

hello! i'm a girl, but no worries haha i'm leaving next week! which uni are u heading to? i'm going to UAdel

heard that you can buy everything there but yeah, since i have some extra space... was just wondering if i should bring that extra bottle of dried prawn chillies and anchovies. D:

I heard that BankSA is the main one in UAdel. but my friend told me that HSBC has better rates and on the other hand, my aunt asked me to open ANZ. Was curious if anyone had any experience with these banks :)

hahah! no bro then.. i'm going uniSA. which campus are u in? i got like 35kgs so i'm packin all i can.. hmm...i know westpac has bad reputation. hmm....ANZ, i think should be pretty alright too.. NEXT WEEK?! that's so early!! classes start on the 28th right?!

Commonwealth bank all the way. Easy access. Lots of saving privilleges as a student and lots of branch offices.

people would advise you HSBC because you can set up a foreign account (in AUD) back in malaysia and get money from that acc to ur HSBC Aus account.
This sets off inter-bank transaction fees ( usually eats up % of the transferred amount). But do consider whether there's accessibility of HSBC around where you are going. ( like for me, there's no HSBC in Canberra, so its pointless).

My advise is,
when you leave, hold a portion of cash (or traveller's cheque to be safe), then manage ur funds, go through the orientation, seniors will probably
advise you which bank is the best for your campus. Then register an account, only you call your parents up for them to transfer you future funds.

Thats the most efficient way, I believe, rather than holding multiple accounts.

and it's best not to bring any type of food in... >< unless you don't mind declaring and explaining to customs and delay your entry for maybe 45 minutes or so? haha...

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Added on January 10, 2011, 4:12 pmhmm... thanks man. i was looking for advice on banks too. yeah, the best, carry some cash on hand, a cashier's cheque to start an acc and a traveller's cheque for quick cash.

do u know how long it'll take if i open an account with a cashier's cheque ?

This post has been edited by zeke'stah: Jan 10 2011, 04:12 PM

Oh, and just to add on.

basically, the custom office will be strict on soil products, like weird herbs, medicines (traditional), plants ( NEVER TRY), and seeds.

If you have a sporting equipment, (golf club, tennis shoes, Boots)
CLEAN THEM, and make sure there's no dirt, stain, mud. or they may quarantine it for 2hours to do scanning, good luck. haha

In a way, food is usually fine. just try to prevent uncooked food, fresh foods, and foods that are not sealed properly.
Oh, and try to prevent dairy products, NO cheese, eggs, milks. Those items are subject to quarantine as well.

As a student,
PACKED NOODLES are fine ( just make sure(try to) that there's no EGG within the ingredient), Maggi is definitely safe. Hell, I bring
a bag of it last sem. LOL

Panadols, Coughing meds, Flu pills are all fine as long as what u bring comes with a "scientific name/element" of that medicine.

If you happen to smoke(hoep not), the max allowed is 1 carton. More than that, then it will be subject to crazy taxes.

usually try to prevent bringing anything super expensive, (laptops are fine, I mean like... diamand bracers or anythng exceeding 2000AUD), to be safe u will
have to declare it to see whether its subject to taxes. Boys, expensive watch, JUST SAY ITS A BIRTHDAY GIFT. LOL

For the 1st time, always go through the red lane ( saying u have somethng to declare, even if you are not sure), to save ur 1st trip to Aus
from paying 300AUD for not complying with rules. bad experience.
When you are familiar with how the custom works, you know what you can bring, then you can use the green lane, which is much faster.
Red lane queue can go up to 2hrs on Business days ( my experience is with MEL and SYD airports), so be prepared to arrange ur airport pickups accordingly ( an interval of 40mins after landing will be fine, IF YOU HAVE NO TRANSITS) and try
to bring less "prohibited" items to make sure you dont get stuck queueing for quarantine scan, and screw the whole time schedule up.

hehe

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Added on January 10, 2011, 4:28 pmTraveller's cheque will be proven more convenient, as most of my JPA friends used to carry those over.
Cashier's cheque I am not sure.



This post has been edited by RyukA: Jan 10 2011, 04:28 PM

Hello. I also studying in Adelaide U. What degree are u in? In uni itself there are atm machines for BankSA and ANZ(if im not mistaken). For me they are all the same and if u stay in city, atm machines are everywhere. About rates, they are not significantly different. So, i have BankSA.

hmm...thanks for the advice. when you first came to aussie, what did u do? step by step in starting a bank account? did u open one straight away or u waited for course to start and all first like u said?

yay! thanks a lot RyukA! :D

lawl: Dentistry! :) you? seeya there! haha

zeke'stah: yeah missing CNY ;__; course starts earlier than the others for this particular year.

ahhh....nvm.. with 3G u can have CNY there!! tho the family part u won't have... ah! which campus is that? is that the city east campus?

@psan The course only starting 28 feb this year. U missing CNY? I will be back on March 4 morning. LOL.

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Added on January 10, 2011, 4:42 pm@zeke'stah Adelaide U has only 1 campus in the city. Dentistry is in the city campus. Vet is in Roseworthy campus.

This post has been edited by lawl: Jan 10 2011, 04:42 PM

o.o 28 feb why @psan u go so early? haha

Basically I went through orientation as supposed. Meet up new friends, then pick a day to do this "bank thingy" together. haha
dont worry, I believe the banks will be familiar with such cases.
Just go and " Hi there, I am new international student, and I am wondering can I open a new bank account"
they will teach u, literally EVERYTHING.

hell, they repeat that every year.
If I work there, I may be able to memorise the whole script. hahahahha
But to avoid, the very "crowded" situation and long queues, doing it before orientation will be the best time.
Since in ANU we had International orientation for 1 week and Course orientation for another week, I did it in the 1st week.

lawl, zeke'stah: credit transfer program, so it starts 1 month earlier ;_;

alright man.. i think in commonwealth would be good? it's available everywhere! i googled. haha on google maps.. xD

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Added on January 10, 2011, 4:54 pmwhich campus?? in the city? east right?

This post has been edited by zeke'stah: Jan 10 2011, 04:54 PM

zeke'stah: main adelaide campus... near royal adel hospital haha :D

that's like next door to my campus... ahahah!! awesome! we should meet up yo'. u use a blackberry??