Hello k-ivy.
I stayed in 2 places before.
Quest Mansion - Near by Rundle Mall and Uni Adelaide, really clean but quite noisy due to proximity with traffic lights, bus stop and on weekends drunk people shouting nonsense. Very clean, have kitchen.
BreakFree at Hindley - not bad, near by bus stop for free loop bus 99 around CBD, but do not walk alone at night especially weekend, crime prone area around the CBD cause it is the red light district. And very clean also and have kitchen.
Alternatively if you wanna really cheap cheap accommodation for your dad then stay in hostel. Just googled accommodation adelaide.
I can get by $250 per-week, including food, accommodation and utilities and entertainment, you might need more because The Village is kinda expensive to stay there.
Hotel near by The Village is Hilton Hotel.
Btw Chinatown and Central Market is close by the village, so you do not have to walk far to eat.
Just buy 2nd hand text books at the MyUni portals. Save money and some are really in good conditions.
Anyway you would enjoy The Village, a really classy place to stay and mingle with other international students, and a lot of Malaysian there especially Petronas's sponsored students.

This post has been edited by december88: Feb 3 2010, 10:21 PM

Ok my advise bring enough cash i think AUD 1k is enough to last 2 weeks.
Go do your student card and you can get your student card within 30 mins after they took your photo. then GO to the bank and do your bank account application.
Make sure you bring your passport also for that.
Ones your account is activated and confirmed proceed to wire transfer or cash in your travelers cheques to your account.
You have to wait 1 week for your debit card to be made, so make sure you have enough cash to last you during that period.
I advised used Commonwealth Bank or BankSA, i prefer BankSA cause a lot of branches and ATM in SA and also you can used Westpac ATM also for free.
BankSA debit card very convenient for EFTPOS, online banking and atm bankcard and also for other bank debit card.
Most major bank branches are near by uni Adelaide especially along King William St and Rundle Mall.
Anyway please do your student id and your bank account first before proceeding on other stuffs.

That is why i said make sure you have enough cash to last you for a week at the very least. Yes 1 week for me if you apply for BankSA.
Anyway is easy to set up the bank account. I guess you should do your research which bank you're going to apply. If you want zero account fees then make sure you do your student id, and request for a student bank account.
Btw if you do not know the direction around Adelaide then just ask around, people are usually happy to help out.
I do not think there is such thing as cash limit, JUST MAKE SURE YOU DECLARE ON THE IMMIGRATION CARD if you're taking more than the declarable amount, if in doubt just tick yes, nothing bad will happen if you declare.

When i got here i wanted a post-paid mobile plan, so happen they wanted my bank statement but i have t wait for a month for that to happen and instead i have to pay somewhere like $10 for a piece of letter titled letter of introduction from the bank confirming that i have a bank account in Australia.
None the less the mobile shop rejected my application because they want a bank statement.
Went back to the bank and requested refund for misleading advice which i got and ask them to post my 1st statement the very next day.
Next day got my bank statement via post at my hostel and managed to apply for my post-paid plan.

Ones your bank account is confirmed done, then politely ask them if you can get your 1st statement posted to your address as soon as possible usually you will get it the next day.
Mobile shop just need your bank statement and your passport so that they can do some credit check/rating on you, usually takes 1 hour before you're signed up and connected.

Most important is the TRN.
Just write it up to a stickie and stick it behind your passport.
Just pack all your foods in one bag to make you life easy during quarantine inspection.
Best take a taxi to your accommodation.
Then get some rest and go uni and do your student id.
Then go to the bank and do your account.
If you need help for direction just ask around, most places you wanna go are within walking distance in Adelaide.
If you need internet then go around campus, in the library, student centre, or union house should have computers for students.
Anyway have a good flight.

Uni Adelaide, 3rd year engineering.
If you didn't bring any food then you don't have to tick, but i usually buy chocolate at the airport and declare it because i found out that the inspection is usually faster than the x-ray scan.

Get a compass and go North from Uni Adelaide.
North Adelaide is a nice suburb quite near to uni and most residential colleges are located there.

Have you done your student ID?
Just bring passport and student id.
You can apply Complete Freedom Student Account.
Zero account fees and basically full feature bank account includes bankcard/debit card, unlimited transaction via BankSA, Westpac, and St. George bank's ATMs and EFTPOS.
You can also applied Express Saver(current rate 4.25% per-annum), but you have to do that at a different branch (BSB), but you can apply online for it.
I usually leave the bulk of my money in Express Saver and transfer it to my current account every month, real easy via online banking.

Eventually most of the students will go to Three, happen to most of my friends.

Just apply, real easy do it online and they will sent a letter informing your tax file number.
http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content....ntent/38760.htm

For those who wants really good solid internet in terms of reliability and performance , i recommend internode, but their service is kinda premium and 100% good for gamers especially if you have a steam account and a ps3 since the download is unmetered.
You want "unlimited" download then try aaNet, but you have to sign 24 months contract to get their "unlimited" download during off-peak.

I do not think you need to re-new your visa every year unless you have to extend it if you can not finish your degree on time.
I think all Three shops have their own guidelines, just ask them and they will check for you if you're eligible for the iphone.
I changed my phone to iphone on the 20th months of my contract with Three, and they did ask me regarding my visa expired date before confirming my contract for the iphone.
Anyway regarding blacklisted it is possible because you're signing a legal document aka the contract with Three.

Will there be a problem i am not sure, but you can take the risk because i think it is a minor offense in my opinion.
Anyway it happens to me before, i missed out the letter for the passport number, after that i print a form from the DIAC website and filled the correction and sent it via post.
A week later or so they rectify my mistake.
Go here http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/applicatio...forms_alpha.htm
Print the "Notification of incorrect answer(s) - 1023" fill it up and sent it to your processing address.
All the best.

It depends, if you're a light user wireless is probably good for you.
I am with 3, tethering with my iphone via USB because my signal bar is always full thus i tend to get maximum bandwidth depending on how busy the network is.
From experience, if you have full bar you can get good signal aka no drop out and reasonable download speed(good enough to surf) and for big download i usually download when the network is not busy e.g before 8 am or after 12 pm am.
Go http://www.yourbroadband.com.au/here and check where's your nearest wireless telecom's providers 3G towers from your address, btw i am about 0.5km away from the tower.
Of course other local condition also dictate your signal bars, e.g if you lived in a unit/apartments especially on the ground floor, the signal tend to be lower than the top unit/apartment.
Anyway 3 is good enough for me as a secondary internet access because i lived near by the CBD.

This post has been edited by december88: Mar 19 2010, 04:40 PM

If you lived in the city or around the city, just used Three/VHA.
Most students used Three and also you get free three to three/Vodafone phone calls.
And the caps are not bad for values IF you have good reception around your residency since Three network is patchy to say the least.
For internet service the values now are definitely better than the past years, but I would recommend Internode because their networks are reliable and customer service is good and no off-peak and on-peak crap to think about, but not the cheapest in terms of price/data.
If you download a lot then go to TPG.

Go and hassle them, seriously on the 24th till 3rd Jan nobody will be working ....
Just call them and ask to speed things up, since you're flying on the 9th Jan.
Almost all my co-workers are already in holiday mood, some are sweating because of KPIs reviews.


Buy casing here, and packed all your components nicely and assemble it in Australia ones you buy your casing.
Now AUD almost on par wit USD, some components here are cheaper than in Malaysia.

I thought for MARA loan you have to do at least 1 year of undergradute studies at a recognized institution.

If you're talking about incoming flight to Australia for quarantine, then yes packed and wrap all your foods in one bag nicely either as hand luggage or just inside your main luggage.
It depends as well, sometimes they will ask you to open your main luggage for inspection even if you carry your food as hand luggage, no biggie just take your time packing everything back ones you're cleared from quarantine.
Nowdays, I do not bring food from Malaysia because almost everything is here, BUT I always buy chocolate in KLIA and carry it as hand luggage because the quarantine inspection at Adelaide airport is faster if you declared you're bringing food in.
Anyway a little tip about the custom declaration if in doubt just tick yes, always.

My advise for newbies when you arrived in Australia do not rush to get your broadband especially if you're signing a contact, especially true for 3G broadband.
But compare to previous years, this year have been a really competitive price/service wise in the broadband industry, heck even Telstra's Bigpond broadband looks tasty.
Scout around and ask questions here but please do your research first.
On a personal note my broadband plan values changed 3 times this year, first 10 dollars price cut, then data increased from 50GB to 70 GB then to 150 GB at the same price point.


Enjoy your time back home and I am sure you're looking forward to be in Australia.

For credit transfer it's better to corresponds with each of the uni you're interested in and see how it goes from there.
A bit of advice start early especially if you want you credits to be transferred unless there is a twinning agreements already in place.


http://www.internode.on.net/residential/br...easy_broadband/
Remember upload is counted, so if you torrent not a good plan to be on, but of course you can limit your upload speed.
At $60 price-points there are better price/data ratio on the market e.g TPG, but for me Internode there are a lot of free data/un-metered contents especially for Steam(great during this holidays season) and iView and service is reliable and also good customer service. And no off-peak and on-peak restriction, aka use your data when ever you want to use it.
And Naked = no paying phone line rent.



+1
But this year enrollment will be lower compare to previous year.
But still apply early to get your accommodation done, I think by this time of the year uni/college accommodation should have some spare to go by.

Do not buy your books before starting your course, yes text books are expensive here but the 2nd hand market here is a tad cheaper some are in excellent conditions.
And not all course requires a text book, if you wanna really save $$$, ask someone to buy it in Malaysia and PosLaju it to Australia if you really need those books.
And books are customs-free importing in, so long it is less than AUD$1000(including postage) in values.

My steps were:
1. Go to a the bank branch and say you want to open a new student account. (make sure you have your student ID ready for proof)
2. Show your passport, student ID, letter/confirmation of enrollment and your tenancy/residence agreement/contract.
3. Deposit your cheque or cash, I just changed USD to AUD to get me started for a month, and ask for a debit card.
4. Ones you get your account number, then ask for your parents to transfer the fund to your account.
5. Make sure you have enough cash to sustain you for a minimum of 1 month while waiting for fund transfer.
6. Request they send your first bank statement ASAP, you will need it if you want to sign a post-paid contract for a phone plan.
7. Your debit card should be posted to you in 5 working days.


If you're new to uni go for the orientation and enroll to some of the workshop they have.
Personally it helps me heaps to prepare for uni life especially for 1st sem.
Don't miss out and I reckon free BBQs during lunch.

Winter = good weather for a jog IMO and it also depends on your jogging trail.
Give it a go.

---

Added on January 10, 2011, 7:36 pmNot bad, saw it before.
Lucky you it is far from the hospital and near by uni.
If you're a light sleeper get earplugs, I can't sleep in the city(Adelaide) because I am a light sleeper and I loved the suburbs.
If you're bored Casino is just across the street.

This post has been edited by december88: Jan 10 2011, 07:36 PM

I think so, but if you're planning to go to uni first day then you can do your student id after you finish your online enrollment.
I go with Three and my account is debited end of the month after service is rendered so that's why I need the bank statement.
Bank statement took 7 days to arrived if you request it, you must request for it because usually/normally will take a month billing cycle.
And letter of introduction is not good. And most of my friends started with pre-paid and eventually went postpaid esp. Three, since you lived in the city Three will suit your well in terms of receptions and value for money.
And for internet landline>3G all the time. So don't rush to go into 3G internet contract, see if you can get landlines that suits your usage and price.

I am not too sure how it goes by now.Just be aware.
Letter of Introduction from the bank is not the same as bank statement just be aware, and you have to pay for that letter of introduction which is stupid.
Bank statement and passport/COE and etc are necessary if you want post-paid.
You're arriving early to Adelaide, lucky you summers have been mild thus far here but none the less protect yourself from the sun and I see the weather forecast because I am cycling, Tour Down Under coming up soon.
A lot of event in Feb @ Adelaide, go to the Fringe.
http://tix.adelaidefringe.com.au/ticketing/home.aspx
BTW iphone 4 plan from Three is not bad.