You mean this: http://business.theage.com.au/malaysia-nee...80226-1v0i.html

Ah, Michael Backman. Even if you disagree with him, you have to admit he has a point.

More Malaysian election coverage here:
http://news.theage.com.au/malaysias-opposi...80220-1tb9.html
http://news.theage.com.au/malaysian-blogge...80223-1u3c.html

And don't get me started about the East/West (Malaysia) divide. You "westerners" should be lucky that we are peace loving Sarawakians. If this was the Balklands we'd have declared independence a long time ago.

Korean girl. China man owner. 20GB cap. ADSL 2+ which sounds like cable. Plant, are you staying in Woolloongabba?

Anyway, welcome to the land of capped internet. Where "unlimited" means you get shaped to 64k.

Frankly, I'll take Taib over any attempt by UMNO to come into Sarawak. Look at what UMNO has done to Sabah. I mean seriously, what does it take to satisfy "westerners"? We give them 95% of our oil revenue, give up our forests (and the nomadic lifestyle of the Penans) to build a dam which with so much surplus power we don't need, allow Rio Tinto to make a smelter plant, learn Bahasa Malaysia, give them Idris Jala to save MAS, and they still want to come in and destroy us.

We just swapped one colonial power for another. And we didn't mind Anthony Brooke.

On a matter of broadband speed, lets assume all you get is 10KB/s with streamyx. Run it flat out 24/7/30, and you'll still be able to pull about 25GB of data, for RM66 a month. Even we assume a purchasing power of 1 to 1 with the RM/AUD, A$ 66/month gets you about 20-30GB of data allowance. I don't think there is any difference there.

Bandwidth is expensive in Australia, as there are only 2 main cables connecting Australia to the outside world: Southern Cross Cable (SXC) and the Australia-Japan Cable (AJC), unlike SEA where we seem to be surrounded by cables left, right and center. Through it didn't help much in end 2006 when the Hengchun earthquake struck. And if you think Australia is bad, wait till you see poor old New Zealand. They only one cable to the outside world, and when Auckland lost power for 14 hours in 2006, the whole of NZ lost all internet connectivity.

That costs a lot y'know! I got a quote for A$200 for a 500g package, which is the minimum most courier services are charging. Is the phone worth shipping over, considering Rm600 can get you a very nice phone back in Malaysia.

just a question: what's a "comp meet market"? I can make a guess, but is it a shop, chain, online site etc?
Agreed. I saw a Samsung Lazer printer at d*** Smith for something like $60 on special. Its crazy these days. The ink is almost as expensive as the printer itself!

When I came, I did some maths, and I figured that at $0.09 a page from my uni, it wasn't worth buying one, as the costs will come up to the same anyway. With prices like these, I may have to redo my maths.

Paper will cost a bit through.
How convinent. I just spent the weekend playing with 3's 3G broadband. $29/month gets you 2GB, which IMO isn't that bad.

Don't expect DSL speeds however. The ping time is amazing (about 350ms just to the base tower), so Skype'ing will cause some delay and echo's. Its not for heavy downloaders. General web surfing is okay through.

Here in Brisbane, 3's coverage isn't that great. My friend who's on a 3 cap plan can't get a signal in the lecture theater, while my Optus prepaid can get a reasonable signal. You better be near a window if you want to use the wireless broadband of 3's in Brisbane.

The other providers that I know off are Vodafone (5GB for $39), Virgin (heaven knows what they charge, but they use Optus' infrastructure), Telstra (the worst. $69 for 500MB?! In all fairness through, you can pretty much get a Telstra signal anywhere.) and Optus (not much better than Telstra price wise IMO). Never used the others, so I cant say too much.

Some links if you want to do some research:

Three
Vodafone
Optus
Telstra
Virgin

From the FAQ, 3 uses HSDPA. Maybe I was just unlucky. But Brisbane folks will testify how 3's coverage is a bit lacking in some areas. They remind me of Digi not so long ago.

On another note, most ISP's like Virgin will allow you to return your base station after 7 days and get a full refund if you can't get a good signal in your place. Best to read the fine print before committing to anything.

And yes, while you can use Telstra's network outside of 3's mobile coverage zone, they charge an arm and a leg for the privilege.

If you want to go around the Gold Coast, I'd strongly recommend renting a car. Getting around with public transport alone to the attractions along the GC is a nightmare.

God! it's freaking hot in this place! At times like this, I wish I had an A/c in my room.

How do you guys deal with the heat? probably a good question for those in Adelaide now also.

Second that!

Not too rajin. Just that I'm swamped by all the work that is being pumped out. Can't wait for the break and winter, to say the least.

C for 1st year? Aren't you guys lucky. I had LISP. *shudder*

Sitting with someone else through..........don't think it'd work for me. I don't make new friends well or easily.

So damn true. It can be ronrey. I dunno, I'll try through, through more often than not there is a wall of silence between me and whoever I've dared to sit next too.

december88, what course are you doing again? Nice to see so many fellow Sarawakians here, even if most of them seem to be in Perth and Adelaide.

What easter break? I'll be slaving over C# classes, cryptology, privy council, common law (amazing what 2 words can strech to) and that's just the begining.

Thank you so much, chris_c28, for saying it like it is. Don't get me started. You can see it here.

Yes. What did you think; you could just walk into Australia and work?

This post has been edited by haya: Mar 21 2008, 02:48 PM

I stocked up on Wednesday. Most shops are only open till about 2pm today, and mostly closed tomorrow. I suppose if you're desperate, you could go to 7-11.

Eating out this weekend will be a nightmare. A 10-20% surcharge almost everywhere!

All I have is 1 15W fluoresent bulb, my notebook sucks 60W, and my fan 20W. What, you want me to live in a cave with a candle?

Its only something for the idle rich to think they're helping the world. For me, everyday is Earth hour. I don't even turn on the lights when I go to the toilet and the kitchen to get a drink.

I feel your pain. Especially when the bulk of it is at ungodly hours and you have a lecture at 8am.

At least you're in NSW. Here in QLD they refuse to bring the clocks one hour into the future, so not only you're forced to sleep late, the sun rises at 5.30am, so you can't sleep in.

I seriously think QLD needs a split time zone.

So the jokes about Southerners, Tasmanians and New Zealand were true after all.

QLD and NT are the 2 states in Australia that do not observe daylight saving. I can't get it around my head, but it seems primarily because if they pushed it one hour in the future, the north of QLD will have to spend an extra hour in the heat of summer. Anyone doing earth sciences here?

There was talk of having a split time zone in QLD, but then disagreements on where to draw the line surfaced/ Bah humbug.

Now I feel glad I'm in a state that doesn't practise daylight saving, looking at all the equiptment that doesn't switch that well.

Its Authmn and Winter sunrises (6am) and sunsets (6.15pm) that make sense. Unlike summer where the sun rises at bloody 5am just because in the north it makes more sense to them (never mind that it doesn't make sense in the south east) and sets at 7pm.

I just dont understand why the state government, which pretty much their members live in Brisbane, dont want a split time zone.

I've never flown Jetstar, but overall reviews have been positive for the SYD-KUL sector, keeping in mind they use the MTB and not the LCCT. Cost wise through, its not that much cheaper. Only 2/3 the price of a normal full fare at best.

If you are brave enough, you can fly Tiger Airways to Singapore..........

Eventually. It will most probably AK, not D7 restoring the KCH-PER route. Their A320's can (barely) just make it. It is going to be quite tight through. 5 hrs to perth, if in AK's infamous 9M-AFA.....