jiahui : a whole year has passed and your 'meet you next time' haven't even materialized

theam : i miss the times when they used to serve chickens by the drumsticks, not by the pathetic wings now

am from uwa too, about to graduate though but will be around to provide info about the uni, the business school, and general life in perth if needed

i have a question for those of you guys who stay in sydney. is waterloo a safe area? my sis has an application pending, if we get it she'll sign the lease next week. what we're worrying now is that she just heard from some friends that waterloo is not a safe place since its neighbouring redfern, which is said to be a high crime rate area. heard her say that waterloo is full of youngkies too, punks, homeless and such. anyone know better? appreciate it

thanks peeps for the replies, but then again i've decided against taking up the lease in waterloo after i've talked to a friend who has been living in sydney his whole life. he told me any suburbs surrounding redfern wouldn't be good places to live in, regardless of the redevelopments (the house we got was new, brand new in fact, in a walled compound), cos his ex and his uncle got robbed 4 times and 2 times respectively, in the immediate surrounding suburbs. any ideas as to what are good places to stay? like about 10mins train ride to the city, with shops scattered around in the vicinity for convenience sake. so far the only location that i've found to fit the bill is ashfield. any other suggestions guys?

btw i'll try to compile something up for perth soon, if i'm not too lazy

Living in Perth

Transportation
Public Transport
As it is with most major Australian cities, Perth has an efficient and modern public transportation system. Major suburbs are accessible by trains or buses. Because different universities are located at different places, students will have different commuting choices given the university they study in. The main modes of transportation should be the bus and the rail network, both operated by Transperth.

Transperth - Transperth

The greater Perth area is also separated into different zones similar to most Australian cities, extending out from the middle which is the city center. Travelling between different zones will cost you different fares, the further the more expensive.

A smart tag-type card called Smartrider similar to our Touch-n-Go in Malaysia is required if you are to travel by public transport. You will have to tag on when you board the bus, and tag off when you alight. Credit can be added to the card at some convenience stores, and at all major stations. Students studying in UWA will get concession fees if they register their Smartriders on the university's StudentConnect website. I am unsure whether other universities offer such capabilities online, but generally students with a proof of enrolment (i.e. student cards) can get concession fees. I am also not sure of the railway's workings, so it's best if someone who has experienced it write up on it instead of me.

Driving
A large number of international students will eventually end up buying cars late in their first year or during the beginning of the second. Cars can cost from as little as a few hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars, but as long as it is in working order, you can be sure that someone will buy it. Many students will opt for those that cost under 5000 dollars, cars of which are usually around 12-15 years old. One of the most popular choices is the Toyota Camry, as it doesn't cost much but is pretty reliable. Well to do students will go for Japanese coupes usually, opting for cars like skylines. Those will cost between 12000-80000 dollars depending on the model.

We pay what we call the rego here, which is equivalent to our road tax back in Malaysia. For most of the cars it will be under 500 dollars per year, but it is optional as the other choice would be half-yearly payments. Included in the rego is personal injury insurance for both the driver and any third parties, not including material losses. Insurance can be purchased separately from insurance companies such as RAC or just cars, costing anywhere between 200-2000 dollars, depending on whether it is comprehensive or just third party. Age, housing location, type of parking, prior accident histories will also affect the premium paid.

Parking in the city is relatively cheap compared to other cities, with the best option coming from Central Perth Parking (CPP) costing around 2.2 dollars per hour. Wilson's Parking should be avoided. Petrol prices ranges from 1.20-1.60 per litre, and price changes everyday but can be watched through FuelWatch at Fuel Watch

Renting in Perth
Depending on which university you attend, students have different renting options. University of Western Australia is Nedlands, sitting by the Swan river just 5 minutes drive from the city center. Curtin University of Technology is located in Bentley, around 15 minutes drive from the city. Murdoch University is located in Murdoch, about 20 minutes drive from the city. Edith Cowan University is in Joondalup, around 45 minutes drive to the city.

UWA students will usually rent around the university which is Nedlands since most would prefer places that are within walking distance. Those who drive or don't mind traveling further can opt for Claremont, Mosman Park, Cottesloe, Subiaco, the Mounts Bay area up to and including those in the city. These places are the upmarket locations in Perth so the crime rate is very, very low. Prices range from around 110-150 per room, or about 350-500 for a 2-3 bedroom unit.

Students of Curtin and Murdoch will usually rent around their universities as well, which is Bentley and Murdoch respectively. However, those who don't mind traveling further usually go for Como, Victoria Park, Willetton and such. The upper Como area nearer to South Perth has a relatively low crime rate like those around UWA, but moving down south will start to be a bit dodgy. Victoria Park is a very convenient location as there are lots of eateries and shopping places around. Bentley should be avoided though as it is a high crime rate area, even on university grounds with a few high profile cases being covered up by a certain university. Rental prices range from around 80-130 per room for the immediate area around the universities, to about 100-150 for areas further from it.

Houses can be searched for on Real Estate and as with most other cities in Australia, the peak season for rentals would be around the intake periods of universities, which is around late Jan-late March and late June-late August. Periods apart from these should be easier to rent in since there will be less competition.

Banking in Perth
To open a bank account in Australia requires you to undergo a 100-points test, which is done to prove your identity. Passports and COEs are usually needed, and other documents that have your name and address on it like bills would be a good back-up if you have any.

Perth's bank choices are Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ, NAB and BankWest. Both Comm Bank and BankWest have the highest ATM count in Perth(IIRC), but BankWest's card offers mastercard debit and credit facilities so it might be a better choice for those of you who would want to shop online.

Telecommunication
Students in Perth will usually choose between Three Mobile or Optus as they have the biggest dealer networks in Perth. It will be wise to choose Three if most of your friends are using Three because you will be allocated free 3 to 3 calls. Optus has an attractive prepaid solution with its turbocharge facility though which offers more than double the top-up credits for use.

Internet Connection
There are many different choices of ADSL here in Perth, with the majority using Optus or IINet. I have tried both, and in terms of service, Optus is slightly more stable but IINet's customer service is second to none. Both operators offer ADSL2 now so downstream speeds of up to 24mbits can be attained. The speed is fast but the quota system is in place in Australia, meaning you will be given a certain amount of downstream quota of which once used up, the speed will be throttled down to 64k dial-up speeds until the quota renews in the next month. Prices can be checked from Optus or IINet.

This post has been edited by ckwei: Feb 5 2008, 01:00 AM

s373n : take either 98 or 99 if u dont mind the journey. those busses run in loops in opposite directions serving a route that connects uwa, curtin, murdoch to the city iirc. but a better choice is 72 or 75 if you want to go to the city, which has a much shorter journey compared to 98 or 99.

onelove : ur a freshie rite? if u need a guide to around the uni let me know, i am pretty much free when my gf is out working n i'll be around till the mid of feb. won't mind meeting up for dinner too.

for those in perth : anyone considering buying a car? or your friends? i'm planning to sell off mine before i leave for sydney. let me know.

theam : not in a rush tho, if can sell great, if not i think my friend might buy it from me. btw why not u write a guide about uwa itself + college life? i left that part out cos i'm too lazy and i haven't stayed in colleges before

s373n : it's a mitsubishi lancer coupe, MR version. 1997, 1.8L with 115hp. PM me if ur interested, or your friends price stands at 6.8k atm, or make me an offer that's reasonable.

s373n : do u have a full malaysian license? if you do, you just have to walk in to any licensing center, get a number, wait, and take the theory test on the spot on a computer. 30 questions, 24 needed to pass. after passing it, you will get to book a date for your practical test, of which after you pass, will get you a full WA license without having to go through P plates, hazard test, or the 25 hour sign off by an experienced driver. cost me around a total of 200 aud i think for the whole process, and a license valid for 5 years

not recognized as in not being able to transfer just like that. in fact, the majority of countries are not recognized nowadays after the legislation changes, but if you have a malaysian license, like i said you just have to do the theory n practical, not the hazard test, plus P plates are skipped. practicals are always full, i always hear that, but when i walked in for the theory test one fine wednesday, i walked out with a reservation the next morning. got my license 3 days later. maybe it depends on how much the person likes u i tried to suck up to the girl which desk i was assigned to heh

i'll be heading down to sydney early sat, but will be free starting monday i suppose. any one wanna meet up for coffee or something? i have limited friends in sydney as most are rooted in melbourne and adelaide, and myself will be temporarily staying in randwick until i find a permanent place so i'd be pretty bored alone. pm me for those who are interested

btw, anyone knows where i can get free wifi in sydney?

theam, quackie : not sure whether i'm still gonna go ahead with my postgrad application, its hanging halfway now. thinking about the impending recession gave me second thoughts about postgrad studies, cos even if i can support my own living expenses my dad will still have to fork out the fees, which i think is unfair given that he has already semi-retired =/ i'd much rather work a few years and save up then decide if i still wanna do an mba, of which i can in the states if i wanted to after saving up myself. let me know if ur heading down to syd quackie, haven't met u since kl or theam

cheese : i'm looking for a 1mth temp accom atm, just in case. i'd be staying with my sis and my gf once we find a permanent place, of which we have a choice but still waiting for more to come and evaluate them all at the same time. for the moment tho i'll be staying in randwick in some temp accom that my sis booked for me (dunno where that is, she said costs 230p/w inclusive of brekkie and dinner), but if nxt week we still havent secure a place to stay, i'll have to get a one-month room rentals that are in abundance on gumtree.com so i can share it with my gf (since the temp accom doesn't allow room crashing i think). i'll pm u my contacts so u can gimme a buzz or leave me an sms when ur in syd.

denzy : refer to the previous few pages, there's a wealth of information. i used to drive in perth, didn't really care about translating. drove a whole year with just a normal cdl (had cdl since 04). got pulled over twice. once i just showed the cdl. the other i showed my international license (120rm for 1yr). no biggie, won't get caught. but at the very end i just converted my license, walked in for theory test, and took the practical the very next day. cost a total of er, 250-300aud thereabouts. anyway, just get it converted if you want to, might prove useful to u if u club/pub often, or the casino, since a WA license also acts as a proof of age so u dont have to carry around your passport.

usually fail twice and you'll be barred from retaking the subject, plus earning yourself a nice little chat with the sub dean or something. that's what i know of my uni though, and i think most of the unis in australia has at least some similar regulations in place.

the minimum that i've experienced in perth was 0c, but in actuality, it is not THAT cold. on the night of the 0c, which happened at around 3-4am and reverted back to 2-4c slightly after, i went out for a short stroll with a jacket n short pants. not really cold, unless the wind is blowing. 0c under a non-windy condition is much more bearable than a 6-8c on windy days.

sesshoumaru : give them a call back after u get your line working or after the technician has gone to your place. tell them of your problem, and you want the charges between the first day the problem surfaced until the day it was fixed removed. the proof will be the first day you made a call in, they have the record for that. if you argue hard enough, usually u'll get the charges recalculated.

question : for those of you guys that have been in sydney for an extended period of time, how often it is that conductors will go onto trains to check tickets/concession passes? i've been taking the train pretty regularly (maybe once every two days since 2 months ago) but i haven't met any. i've taken the bus everyday slightly before i started taking the train tho, and out of my daily bus travel in two weeks, i've met one conductor checking us out.

just wanted to know cos when i was taking the bus i nearly got busted for using a concession ticket

it was 37x, forgot the last number, should be between 371-374. was riding from cowper st in randwick to the city cos i was still staying at a temp place, and this was what happened :

i was a regular day, i think the sunday after mardi gras, was heading to the city when the bus stopped over to pick up some dudes along the bus lane beside the cricket grounds. right after they came up, they went 'we are from the something or other authority, please prepare your tickets/concession passes so we can have a look'. i was thinking i'm screwed since i was using a concession pass (just moved to syd and still adjusting to the transportation price which is exorbitant!), and i was right. when the conductor came to me and i showed him the ticket, he demanded to see my concession pass. i went 'do we need to have one? i'm just here on vacation' and i pulled out my uwa student card instead.

i told him i was a student in uwa, am on a holiday visiting friends and checking the universities, and will be in sydney for 5 days only. so he took my card and asked me to wait while he went on to check the others on the bus. finally when they stopped at another stop(still at the cricket grounds), a few blokes were asked to follow them down. i nearly pissed myself cos i knew the fine is gonna cost more than 100. then the dude gave me my card back, told me 'you have to have a concession pass to use this ticket' and something else which served as a warning, which i nodded in agreement and apologized while looking blur. i assume they had better things to take care of (like maybe the dudes who looked like they rode for free). so in the end i was scott free.

i moved to wolli creek only 2 days after the ordeal, and travel on the illawara line and the east-hills/airport line nearly everyday, but have never seen checks done on any trains, apart from the occassional railway officers conducting patrols(security rather than fee evasion) or some cleaners walking in the train picking up rubbish.

hence my question, do they really patrol the trains like how the check the busses?

sorry to say but that doesnt apply to every university. i used to have a few lecturers that explicitly asked for a decent level of proficiency in english, and u'll be marked down for shoddily written assignments or incomprehensible presentations. btw, afaik, most mainlanders or koreans/japs are here for english courses, or that if they manage to make the cut for normal courses, they'll usually be back markers. top scorers are few and far between.

on the contrary, in a free economy, market forces will determine everything, which will be hard-hitting during the onset, but things will adjust gradually, as opposed to a planned economy where reserves are needed to artificially prop up or hold down the exchange rate

if u've read clearly haya, my statement is a reaction to kvr's that a free economy requires a large hold of reserves. personally i'm all for an open and free economy.

you can apply for your student visa online. you'll have to print out the forms for your med check though. once u've gone through the check and xray and the doc has cleared you they'll send the results to the embassy.