Studying in Sydney NSW, Australia - tips and info thread

[franklhy]

i'm not exactly sure how to use http://sydney.gumtree.com.au/

under the 'Unit / House, Real Estate' category, which of the 4 below do i click?
- house / unit / apartment rental
- house / unit / apartment rental wanted
- flat share / house share
- flat share / house share wanted


then after that under 'Location:' i choose 'Sydney (13254)' followed by 'Greater Sydney (4969)'? after Greater Sydney there are further small areas:

- Blue Mountains (117)
- Canterbury/Bankstown (43)
- Eastern Suburbs (1306)
- Hawkesbury (6)
- Hills (15)
- Inner West (436)
- Liverpool / Fairfield (16)
- Macarthur / Camden (14)
- Northern Beaches (214)
- North Shore (195)
- Northern Suburbs (50)
- Parramatta (68)
- St George (64)
- Sutherland (52)
- Sydney City (2066)
- Western Sydney (88)

which ones should i blacklist? heard you all say some are unsafe right? is UNSW in 'Sydney City'?

 

[no7_ken]

UNSW is in the eastern suburbs. most of my friends who study there stay in kingsford or randwick. sure there are tons of singaporeans here, just look up the singaporean society in your uni.

 

[petetherock]

Rather than huddle in SG groups, you have a few years to go out there and make friends! Come home with a Aussie g/f! BTW Malaysian ladies are nice... trust me
Try their cooking too

 

[SilverRayX]

YEa i believe its important to make friends from all places, but of coz its human natural to stick to wad ur used to in the first week of arrival, as ur still blending in with the community and settling in...

By the way, could anyone share the mobile prepaid plans they r using atm? I'm looking through the big mobile providers and thoguht virgin mobile seems good, their rates that is. Any comments would b greatly appreciated ^^

 

[Sonic_]

can i just enter with o levels results and go to foundation year?

 

[miracleman]

YEa i believe its important to make friends from all places, but of coz its human natural to stick to wad ur used to in the first week of arrival, as ur still blending in with the community and settling in...

By the way, could anyone share the mobile prepaid plans they r using atm? I'm looking through the big mobile providers and thoguht virgin mobile seems good, their rates that is. Any comments would b greatly appreciated ^^

I'm on Optus Turbocharge Cap. A lttle overkill, but its all good. You have to recharge every month, and if you get a 'student' line, you get a lot of "myTime" credits which can be used to call 5 optus friends.

So far, I've had a lot of credit roll over month to month, but almost finished everything in the past 5 days when I was holidaying in Gold Coast, because I called back SG everyday.

The reason why i picked Optus is quite lame, but I shall share it with you. Singtel has a significant holding in Optus, so, I'm supporting local company.

Lastly, I'm so glad I chose Sydney over the other Australian states.. Being in Gold Coast for 5 days has made me appreciate Sydney more.

 

[miracleman]

Rather than huddle in SG groups, you have a few years to go out there and make friends! Come home with a Aussie g/f! BTW Malaysian ladies are nice... trust me
Try their cooking too

Yep, I agree. my best friend here is a Malaysian.

 

[franklhy]

exactly where is gold coast? in sydney?

 

[miracleman]

exactly where is gold coast? in sydney?

No, Gold Coast is near Brisbane.

 

[justinmicoud]

exactly where is gold coast? in sydney?

Gold coast is in Brisbane, not anywhere near Sydney...i think he/she went holidaying and prefers sydney.

I've been to both sydney and melbourne...personally my preference would be melbourne > Brisbane > Sydney...but that's just me...haha

 

[miracleman]

Gold coast is in Brisbane, not anywhere near Sydney...i think he/she went holidaying and prefers sydney.

I've been to both sydney and melbourne...personally my preference would be melbourne > Brisbane > Sydney...but that's just me...haha

never been to melbourne.. but between gc and sydney, i'd pick sydney any day.. give me hustle and bustle.. quiet, laidback and relaxed are for retirees.

 

[justinmicoud]

never been to melbourne.. but between gc and sydney, i'd pick sydney any day.. give me hustle and bustle.. quiet, laidback and relaxed are for retirees.

Sydney just seems like a different version of singapore, everyone's seems to be rushing to somewhere...

yeah brissy's pace is a tad slower than sydney's...haha...melbourne has a bit of everything...great place to live in albeit the erratic weather they have there...

 

[petetherock]

Mate, do you do any preps at all?
Did you do NS?

AOS: assessment of situation
Recce: forward recce before main mission....

Please tell your classmates you are from M'sia or some other place.....

exactly where is gold coast? in sydney?

 

[franklhy]

what kinda sports are aussies into? like singaporeans are into soccer and stuff

 

[petetherock]

ALL sports and I mean it.
Aussies love everything and are warm hearted and sporty.
Of them cricket, footie (which means Aussie rules) and rugby are tops.
They also do walkabouts, surfing and swimming

 

[gt2006]

Gold coast is in Brisbane, not anywhere near Sydney...i think he/she went holidaying and prefers sydney.

you have been in Brisbane for approx 2 years and you don't even know that Gold Coast is NOT in Brisbane. Both Gold Coast and Brisbane are part of Queensland.

Brisbane, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba are cities that make up Queensland.

Newcastle, Sydney and Wollongong are cities that make up New South Wales.

States include, Victoria, South Australia, Northern Territory, New South Wales, Queesland, Western Australia, etc.

 

[justinmicoud]

you have been in Brisbane for approx 2 years and you don't even know that Gold Coast is NOT in Brisbane. Both Gold Coast and Brisbane are part of Queensland.

Brisbane, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba are cities that make up Queensland.

Newcastle, Sydney and Wollongong are cities that make up New South Wales.

States include, Victoria, South Australia, Northern Territory, New South Wales, Queesland, Western Australia, etc.

Sorry my bad..only realise my mistake after you spotted it..thanks for the geography lesson smarty pants..does that make you any better?

Wikipedia does amazing things sometimes...and from reading your past replies, you seemed like someone who aint got the nicest words coming out from your mouth...

I shan't elaborate on such stuff since it's irrelevent to this thread.

Cheers

 

[gingermasz]

should i . . .

I'm estimating to arrive in Sydney on the 20th July, which is on the dot for orientation at Uni Syd.

i reckon most apartments will be taken up. (am looking at 1/2 bedroom apartments)

should i go with Pre-booked accommodation like SUV / IH or motels? Are motels on weekly basis advisable?

I'm arriving that very late cos' i just got my results from my current University and still pending for a final offer from Uni Syd. I'm in Singapore now, and will be attending my graduation before flying to U.Syd

 

[miracleman]

I'm estimating to arrive in Sydney on the 20th July, which is on the dot for orientation at Uni Syd.

i reckon most apartments will be taken up. (am looking at 1/2 bedroom apartments)

should i go with Pre-booked accommodation like SUV / IH or motels? Are motels on weekly basis advisable?

I'm arriving that very late cos' i just got my results from my current University and still pending for a final offer from Uni Syd. I'm in Singapore now, and will be attending my graduation before flying to U.Syd

if you're REALLY lucky, SUV might still have studios... but all the good ones taken up already. I've seen some ads for accom flying around campus area, maybe you might get lucky with one of those.

 

[aoishi08]

flight tickets

somebody please advise me? usyd students.

1. if i arrive on 23rd (earliest air ticket i can get), will i be missing alot on orientation? 'cos I really want to know how the uni works, points system and all.

2. i can't get accommodation yet. do you think i should stay in a temp accomodation first, then approach SUV/unilodge when i reach there?

3. should i buy return air ticket? or just one way? Will it be more economical to fly back to Singapore in November, when semester ends, then go back by end Feb, or I should just stay in sydney and work there?

4. Regarding the semester break after november, if i'm staying in hostel/SUV/unilodge, do I still need to pay for the rental fees of the studio when I fly back to Singapore? but when i return, will the original apartment be gone?


argh. if anyone out there can save me. i'm so blur. and i need to confirm the tickets so quickly. please help?