Singapore : Brisbane

Since my arrival in Brisbane, I have been experiencing new things and comparing what Brisbane has to offer to what my home country, Singapore has. I am taking time out every other day to piece the content of this post together (though it may sound very pro-Singapore). It is a fact that I appreciate Singapore a whole lot better after coming to Brisbane. This post is of no intention of me complaining that Brisbane is bad, it's just different, very different as an International Student. Shopping  Singapore : Australia 11pm : ~5.30pm Man, these Australians are taking the 9-5 rule way too seriously. Out of 7 days, only 1/2 days the shops extend their opening hours. In Singapore, even if we end school at 4/5/6pm we could still head to almost ANYWHERE with a mall to grab a meal, do some window shopping. Here in Brisbane, what it's literal window shopping - that is the glass windows between you and the shops. No chance of entering shops if you reach the shopping area late. The pros of this is that it forces you to head back home after classes (especially if I end classes at the campus near the city). Oh, what's worse is that during public holiday, NO SHOPS are open. (WTF, most lucrative business day also don't want, and man, it's so boring. In SG, even if it's Lunar New Year, shopping malls are still open). Anyway, shopping here isn't all that good. I would say Singapore has better style and fashion shops than in Brisbane. p/s: some clothes here are really ugly. Postal Service I'm not sure if it's because of where I stay and how the whole entire apartment building layout is weird that cause my REGISTERED parcels not delivered to my doorstep. The stairway to the main side door of the apartment where the intercom is, is beside the all the mailbox/letterbox (but with a wall dividing these 2 areas). So, I have been receiving parcel collection slips in my mailboxes till now. Sometimes, if the parcel is small, I go to the post office in school, or if it's too big, or the postman is just lazy to deliver, I have to take a bus, down 2 stops and walk a distance into the bigger Post Office at Bishop Street. Just dislike it that they do not even attempt to ring the intercom to get the parcels delivered. Heard from another group of Singaporean living downstairs that sometimes the postman will just leave the parcels outside the main side door (anyone could have taken it). EzLink : Go Card (Or Transport in general) Here in Brisbane, I have to have my Go Card, which serves the same function as an Ezlink back in Singapore, but I have to bring along my Tertiary Transport Concession Card in order to use my go card (student concession price). Why so many cards just to take public transport?  Waiting time for a train here in brisbane can be 2-5 times longer than in Singapore, so glad I live nearby school so I get spared the torture of waiting for public transport. Internet This has got to be the worst! Okay, before I get down to the nitty gritty, who agrees to a limited data usage ON CAMPUS? No Singaporeans will say 'yes'. Here in Australia, they give u a limited amount of data to use while you connect to the school's wifi. Mine's 3GB/Month. LIKE WHATTTT?! The only less sad thing about it is that after 5pm and on weekends, whatever you use will not count towards your 3GB/Month. But still, it's so restrictive right? So, even if you have long breaks in between your lessons, no youtube, no running man etc to spend your time. Not sure if it's Australia's government aim to get students to study > play. Because, if you only read journal articles etc, you wouldn't use up 1GB, whereas, if you watch youtube and running man, 1 episode of running man is at least 600-700MB (0.6-0.7GB, if you can't do math). So, I guess you might want to say "Use the house's internet then!" I wish I could, but it's either laggy or it disconnects mysteriously. Let's look at this: 

Excuse me, this happens EVERYDAY, countless times. I am so thankful my past 20 years in Singapore, I do not have to deal with this shit. Even dial-up doesn't lose its connection! Australia has to step up on its internet game.  Washrooms Washrooms here are so old school and manual (not that I have no hands, but it's for hygiene purpose), turning head taps? I am skeptical about the cleanliness of the toilets, like people who pee/poo and clean themselves up then touch part of the tap? Eeeww. What's worse for girls is the sanitary pad bins. IT DOESN'T HAVE A STEP-LIFT FUNCTION. You have to lift it up yourself. My goodness. Toilet designs are also so bad here. Most toilets have 2 doors (an additional one before it leads you to where the toilet cubicles are), and the sink area is in between these 2 doors. How do you open/push the door with your bacteria filled hands? Or would you even want to touch the door? #AussieLogic #IDontGeddit  So glad that Singapore has sensor taps, and step-lift functional sanitary pad bins. These are 2 very basic improvisation that make life happier. There are differences and similarities while living here in Brisbane, so I'm really glad to experience a different life and appreciate what I have back home.  I might blog soon again, hopefully with a video as well. Mini-haul about things that I have bought in Brisbane, might be going to Habourtown in Gold Coast (all hail the factory outlets) this coming mid-semester break. I see lots of sports brands there, hopefully able to get a bit of stuff.  Till then, HAPPY EASTER!