Things you should remember when you go to Australia....
Before I went to Australia, nobody
told me that I needed to bring the adapter. I thought Australian adapter is the
same like American, but the truth is it was not. Australian adapter is
different, as you can see in the photo.
1. Australian adapter.
So before you depart, DON’T FORGET TO BRING YOUR ADAPTOR or
you can’t charge your phone or laptop when you arrive. Moreover, if you forget,
you can buy one in JB HI-FI, Dick Smith, or any electricity store in Robina
Shopping Centre or Pacific Fair in Gold Coast.
For
cell phone plan, Australia has a lot of mobile plan like Telstra, Vodafone or
Optus, but I choose AMALAYSIM - website:
www.amalaysim.com.au,
which is not popular brand. I choose to buy the sim card at AMALAYSIM because it is the cheapest plan
for mobile in Australia.
For
example:
·
$30 prepaid in Vodafone, they only give you 1.5
GB Internet, its only last for 28 days and they do not give you any credit to
call international.
But
·
$30 prepaid in AMALAYSIM, they give you 2 GB
Internet, the plan lasts for 30 days, give you some amount to call
international, text and call unlimited.
You
can order the sim online and choose the number that you like on their website.
After that, they will deliver to your home address within 3-5 days. If not, you
can buy the sim in Seven- Elven Store
and it costs $2. After that, you have to pay and choose the plan that you want,
but the important thing is that you cannot choose the number.
I prefer to go on their website and buy the
sim and plan because you can save $2 and you can choose your favorite phone
number, too. Sometimes, they have a promotion, which is, they will discount 50%
for first month.
For
transportation, Australia transportation is much more expensive than Hawaii.
They don’t give student UPASS like our Hawaii. Even if they still have student
bus pass but it is still very expensive. For the bus pass, you can buy it in
Seven- Eleven Store or in your school bookstore. I refer to buy it in
Seven-Eleven Store because you can use your credit card.
In
Australia, the bus pass calls GO CARD. You can use it for bus, tram, or ferry.
The different here is that, you have to put money into the card. For students,
the GO CARD is green and it cost $5. You have to put money into it in order to
use the services. Whenever you go on the bus, you have to touch on and touch
off when you get off the bus. You touch on when you get on to see the amount of
money you have on the GO CARD. You touch off to see how much the fare costs you
and how much you have left. It is very expensive because the first week of
school costs me about $30 AUD for the bus.
2. Go Card for College Students
One thing you should
remember when you use the tram is that: Even if when you get one the tram,
nobody check your Go Card, but they still have a machine outside of the tram,
you have to touch on before you go on the tram because sometimes, the operators
may come and check your card surprisingly. If they did not see it through their
devices, you will have to pay the fine, which is $250.
So whenever you use
the public transportation, please CHECK ON and CHECK OFF.
About
supermarket, Australia has 3 biggest supermarkets, that is: Coles, Woolworth,
and Aldi. I think Aldi is the cheapest supermarket because they always have a
lot of items on sale, but sometimes, you cannot find anything you need in Aldi.
When you go to Aldi, do not forget to bring your own bag because Aldi does not give
us free plastic bag. If you want one, it may cost you $0.05 cents.
I
think food in Australia is very cheap. Milk, bread and meat is cheaper than
Hawaii. Fruits and seafood are kind of expensive.
Having traveled
to two cities Otavalo and Baños I feel as if there are too many great places in
this country to visit that choosing only a few is going to be incredibly
difficult. Along with the beautiful scenery are the passionate Ecuadorians that
I have met, Ecuadorians much like the Greeks are very focused on family. My
host mother immediately took me under her wing and introduced me to the intricacies
of life in Quito. However, having to speak Spanish every day is physically
draining. I find myself coming home every day from university exhausted both physically
and emotionally. Life in Quito is hard, it takes twice the effort to accomplish
anything and it’s hard to try and blend in when you are clearly a grienga that
is taller than almost everyone. 
