Cranky Weather

Saturday, October 28, 2006

A couple of weeks ago, SE Australia sweltered under soaring temperatures (see my post dated Oct 13) which peaked at 36 freaking degrees in Melbourne. 15 days later it has been turned on its head. Rained heavily here in Melbourne last night, while it snowed in Hobart (2 weeks ago bushfires threatened to incinerate it's suburbs)...and temperatures hit the dizzying "heights" of 17 deg C at its peak today with occasional drizzles. At 9 PM it was 10 deg C here in Northcote. So much for balmy spring weather.

Not exactly four seasons in one day, but not exactly a bag of fun either.

On another note, just got a job offer from an aircraft components manufacturer as a Technical Librarian. If what I gather is correct, my jobscope will be part of what I did in Singapore (though not necessarily a portion of my former workload) as a QA Engineer for more pay than what I got in Singapore (before taxes). Will meet them again this coming Wednesday, still undecided about taking it up because jumping back into the rat race might interfere with my plans to start up a biz, among other things. Ah well...decisions decisions... -DSM

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ThE DonGSteRs at |11:55 PM|

Busy busy *sob*

Monday, October 23, 2006

now that i've started a new job, things have been going on full gear...it doesn't help that im starting from scratch and there isn't anyone who is an expert in payroll..sigh have to do all research by myself and the tax laws in Australia are so very very confusing! arrghh...and their version of CPF contributions is the superannuation which every Aussie can choose their own fund..good for them but so bad for me..haha so many forms to fill in! lucky my boss and colleagues are supportive and understanding so far so hope to at least enjoy a slower pace at work (doesn't help that my boss is Singaporean and everything also must be efficient..typical Singaporean..muahaha)

just went to see the site where the new house will be yesterday..things are progressing quite fast and looks like we probably will be able to move in early next year..we took some shots so will upload them the next tim..oh yeah tomorrow is Hari Raya Puasa..holiday *so envy*..got to slog again tomorrow..payroll this week *groan* - DSA

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ThE DonGSteRs at |9:41 PM|

Our new wheels

Friday, October 13, 2006

Yup, now that we've both got jobs and a steady income, thought has got to be given to getting a set of wheels. Public transport doesn't cover the metropolitan Melbourne area all the well (especially the suburbs) so a car is needed more than in Singapore. Was a tossup between the Honda Jazz and Hyundai Getz but in the end the difference of about A$4000 settled the issue in favour of the former. All up, it cost us A$21,000 thereabouts which is less than the S$44,000+ it would have cost in Singapore (so I'm told). Got a licence plate for it that says YEO339 (the 3 letters for obvious reasons and 339 as its the licence plate number for all my extended family's cars back home). Still have yet to settle the comprehensive insurance (which should set me back another A$1000+ per year) so theres more outlay...still its a lot more convenient and at least the price of fuel is not as prohibitive (for now...)

While I'm at it, yesterday was a scorcher of a day over here. Temperatures hit 36+ deg C in Melbourne itself while some of the western outlying areas saw the mercury touching just over 37 deg C! Unlike in Singapore, where you sweat buckets due to the humidity, the dry heat here simply means you feel like you're in a giant oven. Little sweat comes out, although you feel stifled and need lots of fluid. Thankfully today is cooler although I dread to think what summer's gonna be like. - DSM

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ThE DonGSteRs at |2:05 PM|

Hen's Nite

Sunday, October 08, 2006

haha..its not mine thats for sure...i went to a colleague's hen's night last Saturday at this place call "Dracula" and there were 20 of us to celebrate with the bride-to-be. Well, she was not the only one celebrating her big event, apparently that night was full of celebrations - people turning 21, wedding anniversaries, Kiwis, Tazzies, another hen's night etc...anyway Dracula was fun fun fun! its a place where spooky entertainment and food are mixed to a great entertaining night...food was great, entertainment was good...can't wait to go another time coz they change their routine every now and then...its like Boom Boom Room but more :) - DSA

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ThE DonGSteRs at |8:27 PM|

My Tulips (",)

Sunday, October 01, 2006

See how my tulips have bloomed! Nice! =) - DSA

*tried cooking Laksa today - Hubby says Good! use the Prima Taste brand (got this in Chinatown, now we can prepare more local food at home), really miss the food back home..can't wait to go back for Chinese New Year..4 more months to go! - DSA

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ThE DonGSteRs at |11:13 PM|

yesterday we went to the Tesselaar Tulip Festival which is held every year from September till Oct..yesterday's theme was "Wine, Food and Jazz". The place was fantastic! Lots of tulips of different colours, there is this area where we can pick and purchase our tulips ..bought 5..hehe..food was fantastic and we had big chunks of ice cream *yummy* reminds us of the time we were in Holland but the weather was bad and we didn't get the chance to see the tulips there - DSA

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ThE DonGSteRs at |10:56 PM|

today is a good day to go out, 26 degrees but windy- see the clear blue sky..so we decided to bring our camera along to take some pics of our neighbourhood..this is Fairfield where we are staying at the moment...that's Fairfield Station where we take the train to work (well most of the time is me) and the Faifield neighbourhood mascot..hmm don't know the significance but its huge! - DSA

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ThE DonGSteRs at |10:50 PM|