Yeah. It can be bad. But the stupid thing is that its only for about an hour or so. Drive in/out of the city at 6.30pm and all is fine. Part of the reason is that Auckland is at an itsmus.

IMO through, price aside, buses in Auckland are still better than KL. Trains are terrible (don't bother. Seriously) but ferries are convinent if you live at the east side. From Bucklands beach to the city is only about 20 mins (1 hr plus on a bus). Not as frequent as I'd like, but still okay.

Bikes are useless in this place. Pratically every part of Auckland is mount everest. Don't get me started with Emily Pl and Eden Cresent leading to Symonds St. How they built the road in the first place is beyond me. Still, Dunedin has Baldwin St, so..................................................

Maybe I should have gone to CHC.

I personally feel the time saved (up to 40 mins compared to the bus) is worth the extra $1. But thats IMO.

Exams in about 6 weeks folks! Good luck!

BTW, I heard that Summer is taking its sweet time. Its already October and some parts of South Island is still under snow. I think NZ will be the last place for global warming!

I stand corrected. Thanks.

Are you going to Auckland? NZ$14,000 anual living cost does get you a very comfortable life even in Auckland, not to mention if you go to other places like Christchurch.

Kia Ora! Welcome to New Zealand then!

I'm not sure where you got your $14,000 number from google. Mind sharing?

Having a car will eat into your budget, but even then, $10,000 will get you a reasonably comfortable life. I survived on about that for one year, and still had room for the odd excursion. And besides, with ASB giving out 7.75% P.A for their FastSaver, there has never been a better time.

And that was Auckland. I have friends in Christchurch and Dunedin who can survive on less. If you want to do Software Engineering/Computer Science, Canterbury U is generally well regarded, in addition to a lower living cost. And, no infernal himalayas terrain, never stopping wind and above all, FLAT TERRAIN!

Oh dear.

No visa's cannot be send through the post, through I'm not sure if NZ has the e-visa system like Australia. Try and see if you can get your visa before leaving.

First, you might like to spell check the above.

Where did you do your Degree and Masters? And what are you applying for to which university?

I'm not sure how it works in NZ, but I have a friend who studied his undergrad in NZ and did his post-grad in Australia, and they (the Australian uni) still required him to take the IELTS, never mind that he spent 4 years across the ditch.

Universities don't take anything for granted, let alone the standard of English for international students, even if they have studied in a English speaking country.

It might be a good idea to contact your former instituaon to at least get a letter and/or a transcript with reagrds to language.

This post has been edited by haya: Nov 23 2007, 12:18 PM

*sigh* Welcome to Malaysia.

Well, you're going yo love New Zealand air! Its the only thing I can't complain about. Kia ora!

Same here man! Just landed back home, and my first question was "Is the haze back?" and my family looked at me a bit blankly. *Sigh* We've been away for too long.

http://www.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/for/prospect...al_students.cfm

UOA also offers that. Scroll down the link. I was sure they had.

Translations are a issue. I never had to do that, but a good start would be possibly a Justice of the Peace who can certify the translations.

All NZ universities IMO. But Canterbury is my pick.

Anyone still in NZ to tell me how summer is?

Merry Christmas to all, and hope you land safely in NZ! To quote Westpac's slogan, Go for it! XD

Edit: just realised that the emoticons have a christmas cheer to it. >.<

This post has been edited by haya: Dec 24 2007, 04:11 PM

Forword: my knowledge of Auckland is a bit dated, so anyone there who can correct me will be much apperciated. Happy boxing day!

NZ (and Australia) uses the WA-16 plug system. It is similar, but not the same as the Chinese plugs! The Chinese plug pins are a bit longer. They work fine with NZ through. All of us use 240v, 50Hz. It looks like this: http://www.kropla.com/!i.htm

You can pick up one of these cheap adaptors at Lowyat these days. I just bought a few for RM7 each. In Singapore you can pick one up for S$4 at Sim Lim, and if you cross over to Shenzhen, the apperently go for about 1-2 yuan, so just imagine the profit margin. My HK flatmates have got a few dud ones from Shanzhen, through I have 100% success rate thus far.

When I was there, finding a adaptor cost me about $9. I looked at the price, swore and went into Mitre 10, got my self the NZ head, and changed the head myself. Not sure if the $2 shops sell them nowadays (The didn't exist in the shops in my days). The great thing about the NZ system is if you don't have a earth pin you don't have to poke the earth "hole" to plug it in, like here in Malaysia.

I suggest bringing a Malaysian power bank with say 3-4 plugs, and changing the head when you get there, so you still can use your Malaysian appliances (notebook charger, handphone charger etc) without having to change all the heads.


My power bank from Malaysia


And the NZ head (the white wire)

The former has a earth socket, while the latter does not have. The great thing is unlike the UK plug system (which Malaysia uses) is that you don't need to plug in the earth socket to be able to plug in the plug. Some low powered appliances (table lamps for instance) do not come with a earth pin.

IMO, both are fine, but I'd go for the former with the earth pin. Interestingly through, some of these universal travel adaptors (which you pretty much can use anywhere on earth) don't come with a earth pin.

How much are one of these things at Universal Traveller?

Next time, at least spell check before hitting the summit button. It took me a minute to so to realise you're trying to say "My plan is to bring along the travel adapter and connect a Malaysian plug bank with it". Yes, that is fine. NZ uses the same voltage and frequency as Malaysia.

Prices of most software is fixed, through you might be able to get a slightly cheaper OEM (of mass license) version. XP goes for about $150-190 depending on where you buy and whether its a upgrade or full version.

Don't worry. Bring in your notebook with your pirated XP or Vista. Immigration has more important things to do than check the authenticity of your software.

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Added on January 5, 2008, 11:52 amEdit: fantagero, what are you studying at Canterbury?

This post has been edited by haya: Jan 5 2008, 11:53 AM

Or, just go out and buy a NZ power bank.

Also, if you look closely at mine, its one of those China made power banks which can accept the different plugs of the world, NZ included.

Yeah, I was there in a era where $2 adaptors didn't quite exist yet.

Pretty much what Wornbook has said is the anwser. However, I have to add something: your laptop bag and cabin luggage counts as 2 pieces. However, you can use a notebook backpack (like a school bag, if you will, but with a dedicated compartment to put your notebook) to get around it. Its considered as a "personal item" like handbags, walking sticks etc. And, assuming its not too big, it also can be used to store even more stuff!

I'm not sure if ANY airline will allow a full blown desktop, casing and all, as cabin luggage with another bag. Methinks that the desktop alone will take up your 1 allowed cabin luggage allowance.

Nope. I had the chance, but I gave it up. I'm still not sure if it was the right decition.

BSc Physics. Sanfa, same as you?

Yes, you can get these in M'sia in these cheap "One Stop Discount" shops. The dud rate is quite high through, I bought 3 of those, and only 1 of them had all 3 sockets working! And you can't test them in the shop!

They are good, in the sense that believe it or not, some parts of China do not use the same plug. Go north to heilongjiang and some of the (older) buildings use the Russian plug (Type F) system! Its even worst in India where every electrical appliance seems to be imported from around the world which do not fit the plug system there.