Books wise, I agree. The prices in the uni bookshop are murder. I got some of my books from Amazon.com and even with shipping (from Malaysia interestingly), still saved $30 on one book. Do yourselves a favor and get a Visa Debit card (most banks should have one). It really helps.

do you know whether it's possible to get your own ISP at college square? I emailed them but they didn't really answer my question.. all they did was give me the pricing for their own internet 

did any of u do a levels before going to australia? if u did, what was ur AS result and did u apply with ur as results only or A2 results as well? and what did u get for A2 if u applied using A2 results?

what are some of the better universities for engineering in australia?
mainly mechanical engineering

hehe .... the best? UWA and University of Wollongong won it twice liao as opposed to RMIT's once

if i were to go to australia, how much would i need permonth?
say, melbourne sydney and perth, average amount of money i would/might be spending there per month, including rent.

You can't compare the 3 cities. They are different. Melbourne and Sydney would be more expensive than Perth. By a long way.

Just for the record, $2000/month (about Rm5800) gets me through in Brisbane. A rough breakdown can be seen below:

Here's a rough estimate of where my $220/wk goes to:
rent:$130
utilities$10-20
Groceries:$30
Bus fare:$12
Eating out:$10-20

eh ... most courses won't allow graphic calculators to be used... you can use it in ur home, but its not going to help you during the exam when you can't use it

I went to Sydney straight after SPM on January, luckily I wasnt chosen for NS (but even if ur chosen, u can just refuse)
Im in Sydney under own fundings but if u wanna get a study loan, u need to apply for it,
some of those I know took A lvls or AUSMAT. Maybe the others can help u out on this..
If ur under scholarship, u'll get around AUD1200 per month and its up to u to spend (rent, flight tix maybe, etc.)

My expenses last year (Foundation Year)
total course fee AUD18,000 but its AUD22,000+
Accomodation AUD295 per week (all bills included) at Unilodge@UNSW
Monthly allowance AUD1600-1700 but it depends on each individual.

pretty pricey I guess 
Hope this helps u out a bit.

its f***in weird la going to australia compared to uk, theres no personal statement or anything, they just wanna see ur results and the entry scores are lower compared to uk unis, its as if theyre saying "anyone with money can come in"

makes me doubt my decision of going to aussie sometimes

thx for ur helpful reply.
by the way,as i know if i want to apply any loan i have to wait for spm results isn't?
but seriously i dont wan to waste anytime after spm.
huh,refuse NS? by using what reason?
the best reason is studying overseas isn't?