I used to go Hochiak in Chinatown and we must have been there at least a dozen times a year but last year, a lot of our friends (retirees) were telling us that their pricing is extremely expensive so my wife told me to boycott them. After that, we were only eating in Din Tai Fung, Masuya Suisan, Galleries (Bathurst St/George St) and Zilver. We stopped eating out in mid March because of Covid and has only started eating out again late Oct. We went Makoto Japanese (Liverpool St - World Sq) a few times and standard has dropped and so has Din Tai Fung (i think their chef has left) but Galleries is still very good. In the last 8 months when i was not eating out, my savings has shot up .

Not many Chinese students now at work so no more money to keep staff going. The unions (NTEU especially) have been blocking our voluntary redundancy but it looks set to go ahead. I have more than 30 years of service so will get quite a big sum . Also i have still a lot of long service leave (though we have to pay tax on LSL and annual leave). I have been WFH since mid-March and feel so lazy to work nowadays!!

Actually since 3 weeks ago, my wife and i have been going back to Hojiak Chinatown (mainly because the restaurants we used to go to have all closed down). Hojiak simple dishes like Hainnan chicken rice (A$18) and nasi lemak rendang (A$18) are our favorites. We have been there 4 times in the last 3 weeks. We went Din Tai Fung (Worldsquare) but were disappointed though it is cheaper.

We have been eating out a lot in the last 3-4 weeks because we have not gone out for about 8 months (March-Nov) so with the virus so well controlled in Sydney, we are more daring. We were very disappointed with Cinta Ria (Darling Square Chinatown). We also went to the new Pancake on the Rocks (Darling Square) and it was very good - their steaks and pizzas were excellent!! However, we still prefer to eat in small groups as there is still the possibly of asymptomatic cases.

I am very close to getting my golden handshake so i may need to buy kagenn a lunch. I should know before X'mas. I never expect to be so lucky to get a payout when i am already planning to retire early next year .

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Dec 8 2020, 11:54 AM

Nowadays retirees don't complain so much about price of food because there is not so much we spend on nowadays other than food in Sydney. We don't travel anymore so that is a big chunk of our expenses saved. Also a lot of our favorite restaurants have closed shop so there are less choices unlike before where there were so many choices.

Hojiak has all their waitresses wear tight short skirts so hum sap retirees don't mind paying more, i guess

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Dec 8 2020, 12:34 PM

The unions are kicking a big fuss about increased workload (for remaining employees) when positions are made redundant (voluntarily). Pandemic and unions are still complaining about increased workloads!! They should bloody be grateful they still have a job!! This is the problem with government organizations. Actually I should keep quiet as i have been enjoying all the benefits for more than 30years . We used to get a lot of fringe benefits like top of the range phones every 2 years, a new laptop every 2-3 years - on top of this we get 10 weeks of sick leave/year (non-accumulatable).

However, in the last 12 months, all benefits have been slashed to bare bones!! From now, we only get a low range Motorola phone (once every 3 years) and new laptop every 5 years. Look what happens when no Chinese students come to Aust to study!! Our organisation was flushed with cash before and now we are talking about cost-saving measures!! Unthinkable last year. Anyway i am glad i may be getting a good payout (about 2 years pay which is non-taxable). I will know the decision just before X'mas but i think the news should be favorable - bloody unions!!

P's: I have been asking my director to make my position redundant for the past 3 years but he rejected it each time.

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Dec 10 2020, 07:23 AM

The 10 weeks/yr sick leave is built into the EBA (Enterprice bargaining agreement). Staff can accumulate it up to 20 weeks (over 2 years) and that is the maximum it can get to but you get a fresh 10 weeks every year if you exhaust it - i have been quite healthy over the past 30 years i have never needed to use those sick leave. Some of the staff abuse this sick leave like crazy!! I got one 35 year-old Aussie kid in my team and he makes sure he exhaust his sick leave every year!! The thing is management cannot do anything about it. This system is very good for staff who wants to rort the system.

I have been a union member ever since i joined my organisation and the union has been pretty good but NOT THIS TIME (for me)!! Anyway i think my union NTEU just wants to show they are working hard and flex a bit of their muscles. We have 2 unions in our organisation and the other union is CPSU (this union is the public service union). CPSU didn't object to the voluntary redundancy at all.

Sydney weather is going to be wet over the next 7 days - make sure you bring a brolly.

I should know the results of my payout in the next few days but i think my chances are very good!!

Went Coles Randwick this morning - they have started to implement the QR scan. Luckily i had my phone with me - i usually just pop in to Coles or Woolies as part of my morning walk and don't carry my mobile.

Looks like the Palm Beach spread is now affecting more suburbs.

Thought Sydneysiders could have a relaxed Xmas without too much worry about Covid but guess i am wrong.

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Dec 23 2020, 05:09 AM

I wish i have an interest in gaming but at my age, we have totally lost all gaming interest .

I received news that my application for a payout has been approved so i owe you a lunch!! My payout works out to be about 2 years pay (non-taxable). I will arrange lunch with you in the next few months. My last day is in March. After March, i am going to be a retiree - a bit anxious now as i plan what i am going to do once i retire

Hello my friend.

I think ringgit dropped today because of the state of emergency declared in Malaysia.

I was at World Square two days ago and it looks like Papa Rich is opening a new store there. Hope they open faster. My wife and I went to Hojiak Chinatown on Saturday (??) and it was full house. They wanted to put us upstairs and we were lazy to walk up the stairs so we ended up eating ramen at Darling Square.

Looks like there are still 5 cases in NSW today and people are still careful about eating out. Don't know when i can buy you lunch but at this rate we are going, it may be quite a lot longer. I still have not eaten out in a bigger group for about 11 months now. Usually i only dare eat out with my wife and i

Since you are just next to Berala, you probably don't want to eat out too much.

My group of old mates are only eating out with their household members and not with friends as a matter of precaution. I have been working from home since March last year and my last day is some time in March. I owe so many of my colleagues lunches (they are saying i should be buying since i got a good payout) and they want to meet up with me before i go. Imagine even having lunch with colleagues is problematic because of this virus!!

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Jan 12 2021, 03:42 PM

Yes - you are definitely right.

Aust has managed to control this pandemic very well and i feel fortunate to be living here. My wife and i regularly eat out (only 2 of us and not in a big group) in Chinatown and we feel very safe. NSW which is the 'dirtiest state' has recorded about 9-10 days (?) with 0 local infections.

Definitely very fortunate to be living in Aust now - just hope we will not have to lockdown again.

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Jan 25 2021, 11:18 AM

Definitely agree with your analysis.

I suspect we will have cases 'suddenly' appear like in the case of the Northern Beaches - it is important where cases start appearing, the number of infections are brought under control without needing to resort to 'lockdowns'. Once number of infections are rising, it is very difficult to control.

One thing i must say with Sydneysiders is they behave very well. Just before the Northern Beaches flare-up, everyone was feeling comfortable with eating out and restaurants were full with dine-ins. Once the Northern Beaches cases started appearing, everyone stayed home and restaurants were empty - i must admit my wife and i were very naughty and we continued to eat out (though not with other friends). At the moment, all my retiree folks are eating out but only with household members and not with friends yet. Maybe if we get another couple of months of zero new cases, we may start eating out with friends again

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Jan 25 2021, 01:29 PM

It is extremely unlikely a case under the Anti-Discrimination Act can result in loss of your PR.

PR can be revoked if a person is charged with a 'serious' offence. Serious usually involves loss of lives or physical harm to another fellow Aussie or the threat of violence to another person. A criminal offence under the Anti-Discrimination Act hardly constitutes a 'serious offence'. Unless the court can prove loss of live(s) or physical harm to a fellow Aussie, you are unlikely to lose your PR.

People smugglers have been known to lose their PR because it involves lives endangered (for the victims). You can also lose your PR if you drive dangerously as this is seen as endangering lives. If you are cahrged under the Anti-Discrimination Act, this is usually viewed as a less serious offence unless one can prove that lives may be endangered

P's: My post here may be totally unrelated to what you were stating. My post relates to how an Aussie PR may lose their PR because of a criminal conviction

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Jan 27 2021, 04:04 AM

Look at the Aussie dollar - like a rocket shooting up

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Feb 22 2021, 08:43 AM

Aussie dollar still shooting up .

Hope it stays like that.

Need to take a bit of risks nowadays. Term deposits rates too low. Need to allocate more into equities now but market is already quite high. Quite a predicament we are in .

I think living with a stronger currency is preferable to a weaker currency esp since we are living here.

I have most of my assets in Aussie dollar and it is a good time to start buying a bit more ringgit now. The last time the Aussie was so high was a few years ago - at that time, my money was all tied up and i couldn't take advantage of the situation. I have a retiree friend bragging to me (last year) that he managed to buy a lot of ringgit when the Aussie was 3.40 (he bought a small condo in KLCC then)

My wife is the boss and she decides where i go

The Covid numbers are still very high in Msia and i doubt if the numbers are real. I suspect the situation in Msia is a lot worse than is currently portrayed. Makes me a little worried living in Msia. I have been monitoring the number of new infections in Msia daily. Doesn't give me much confidence in the daily number with the figure so high.

Okay - thanks for the comments.

Sydney is very safe at the moment (at least that is how i feel) - we can go anywhere and walk around without that feeling of 'fear' that you get when numbers are high.

Bloody Aussie dollar - down again this morning together with the stock market. I am getting my payout soon (in a couple of weeks) and i was going to transfer to Msia (ringgit) as the Aussie has been so strong!!

I have been talking to my relatives on the phone and it seems like you guys in Msia are quite comfortable going out most of the times - Msians seem to accept this virus without much fear or apprehension. Aussies tend to be much more careful (and obedient).

Good morning Hansel, when the rate is good (like when it was 2 days ago) it is probably advisable to change more. Two days ago, it was at 3.23 (mid-rate). Now it is at 3.127 (mid-rate). a big 10c difference.

It is easy to carry A$10k/person when traveling but i am needing to change a lot more than that so i may have to use telegraphic transfer. Also now with international travel so difficult (need to quarantine and passengers get bumped off flights), it may be difficult to carry more cash to change at money changers - a lot of things have changed since Covid.

If i were to leave Aust, i don't know when i will be able to return to Aust as flying in/out is so troublesome!!

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Feb 27 2021, 03:30 AM

Aust govt wants to play it safe by restricting movement in/out of Aust. We as PRs of Aust cannot leave the country without having a 'valid' reason. So ridiculous - we are basically locked in!! Now i have to apply to DFAT just to leave Aust when i want to go back to KL to retire. This decision to stop residents of Aust from leaving will be reviewed again in March next month. I honestly hope they will not extend this ban when it is reviewed.

With the rollout of the vaccine, let's hope that new infection rates will come down round the world. A totally new world we live in today with Covid!!