Five Best and Worst of Oz

Hi, Jasmine here again.





Today, I want to talk about the 5 best and 5 worst things of Australia, in my opinion.


Note that this is purely my opinion, construed based on what I have read up, and researched on Australia itself.


Because I haven't actually set foot there yet (insert a smirk here). In one and a half years, hopefully we Adelaide girls will!

We're going there one day..

Getting on with it though, the five best things about Australia would be..


Firstly, the Aboriginal culture.

Must seem weird, for me to love Australia because of an ancient race that forms more of the Oz past rather than present, but like Jing has written, the aboriginals form an integral part of aussie, and their tragic history plus their myth-ridden origins make them a truly captivating allure that draws me to the land of Oz.


Secondly, the language, or should I say slang of australia.

Ever heard an Australian speak? Find it hard to understand the slang? Same here!

G'day mate!We can be all chummy like since we've something common about us!

...obviously I still have to work on this.


Thirdly, the unique animals.

Cutesy animals!

I have written extensively on koalas, and in the same post touched briefly on kangaroos. But Oz here also has the tasmanian wolf, the platypus, the dangoo and other equally interesting, beautiful animals.The black swan in particular reminds me of one of our own gals...


Fourth, comes the tourist hotspots.

Who has not heard of the Great Barrier Reef? The Outback? The Sydney Opera House? The Gold Coast, which is in Brisbane and so worth the trip just for the activities you can do on the beautiful beach!


Lastly--the sport.

No, really.

I will be the first to admit I am not a natural sports fan.but something about the aussie team spirit awakens in me an appreciation for sport.Maybe it is due to the fact that Malaysia and Australia are similar in that sport is a tool of unity for them.


There you go--the purported best things about the Land Down Under.


Now about the five worst things. .


Firstly, the cost of living.

This I have heard from students who actually go there, and is pretty self-evident due to the exchange rate of MYR to AUD. The costs of living here is high, which is significant if especially if you are studying at the place.say goodbye to your pocket money if you don't spend wisely.


Secondly, the somewhat harsh rules.

Imagine you are walking on a street in Australia. You swear at someone who bumps into you, walk on grass and text your friend that you are outside the house--

And later you find that you have been given 3 fines on each respective offense.

Need I say more?


Thirdly, the lack of a particular food or cultural heritage to name its own.

Australia's national food is..er. the national outfit is...ah.australia is not malaysia and so does not have these things we are accustomed to recognising as part of a country's identity.


Fourth, is that Aussie has dangerous animals.

Eight of the world's most poisonous snakes, wild crocs and the deadliest spider call Oz home.wow, animal enthusiasts be careful.


Lastly, the complicated history.

Why is there a Western Australia and a South Australia but no Northern or Eastern? Brisbane is in the east region, but you just say East. And what does Tasmania have to do with Australia? Or New Zealang for that matter?

All questions I cannot yet answer because I get too confused befire even starting.


So there you have it; Jasmine's five best and five worst of Australia!

The other side of Australia

Hello hello, it's me again Dalilah for this post i would like to share the weirdest, the real facts and some of it's hidden mysteries that's living here in Australia. Dispict from it's lavish and sophisticated things here in Australia, there are actually some hidden or the other side to it let me start off with,

From the Abbyss It is Birthed 

Back in the 1770s the British Empire discovered Australia and after finding it generally unfit for human habitation, proceeded to send all of their criminals and generally unwanted peasants there.. because basic human empathy was not to be invented until the year 1821.

After somehow managing to survive on Monster Island for over a century, it was considered only fair grant the Australia citizens their freedom and on January 1st, 1901, Australia gained federation of its colonies, and The Commonwealth of Australia was born. 

This is how a Kangaroo got its name, kinna funny! :p

DEADLY CREATURES TO LOOK OUT FOR!!

These are the deadly creatures that we ought to be careful of whenever you're in the Australia

  

Grrr... looking at those list just gives me the chills 

In Australia everything is different, including...  

Oh ohh, and yeaa there's this really really funny Party called THE..

The Deadly Serious Party is a joke party that stood candidates in Australian elections in the 1980s. Its platform included dispatching a flock of killer penguins to protect Australia's coastline from Argentine invasion, an age freeze, and the appointment of silly people to all the portfolios that matter. It was deregistered effective 2 November 1988 for not having the required 500 members

Yup that is just about it then for this time, i do hope you guys enjoyed our post, kindly do comment our post or if you do have any opinion or suggestions do not hesitate to just drop a comment below, i'm your girl dalilah reporting from the home of these wonderful yet WEIRD-FUL creatures. TTFN Everyone!

Ups and Downs of Land Down Upper - er, Down Under

Hi, Jasmine here again.


Today, I want to talk about the 5 best and 5 worst things of Australia, in my opinion.

(Note that this is purely my opinion, construed based on what I have read up, and researched on Australia itself.

Because I haven't actually set foot there yet (insert a smirk here). In one and a half years, hopefully we Adelaide girls will!

Getting on with it though, the five best things about Australia would be..

Firstly, the Aboriginal culture.

Must seem weird, for me to love Australia because of an ancient race that forms more of the Oz past rather than present, but like Jing has written, the aboriginals form an integral part of aussie, and their tragic history plus their myth-ridden origins make them a truly captivating allure that draws me to the land of Oz.

Secondly, the language, or should I say slang of australia.
Ever heard an Australian speak? Find it hard to understand the slang? Same here!

G'day mate!We can be all chummy like since we've something common about us!

...obviously I still have to work on this.


Thirdly, the unique animals.

I have written extensively on koalas, and in the same post touched briefly on kangaroos. But Oz here also has the tasmanian wolf, the platypus, the dangoo and other equally interesting, beautiful animals.The black swan in particular reminds me of one of our own gals...

Fourth, comes the tourist hotspots.

Who has not heard of the Great Barrier Reef? The Outback? The Sydney Opera House? The Gold Coast, which is in Brisbane and so worth the trip just for the activities you can do on the beautiful beach!

Lastly--the sport.
No, really.
I will be the first to admit I am not a natural sports fan.but something about the aussie team spirit awakens in me an appreciation for sport.Maybe it is due to the fact that Malaysia and Australia are similar in that sport is a tool of unity for them.

There you go--the purported best things about the Land Down Under.

Now about the five worst things. .

Firstly, the cost of living.

This I have heard from students who actually go there, and is pretty self-evident due to the exchange rate of MYR to AUD. The costs of living here is high, which is significant if especially if you are studying at the place.say goodbye to your pocket money if you don't spend wisely.


Secondly, the somewhat harsh rules.

Imagine you are walking on a street in Australia. You swear at someone who bumps into you, walk on grass and text your friend that you are outside the house--
And later you find that you have been given 3 fines on each respective offense.

Need I say more?

Thirdly, the lack of a particular food or cultural heritage to name its own.

Australia's national food is..er. the national outfit is...ah.Australia is not Malaysia and so does not have these things we are accustomed to recognising as part of a country's identity.

Fourth, is that Aussie has dangerous animals.

Eight of the world's most poisonous snakes, wild crocs and the deadliest spider call Oz home.wow, animal enthusiasts be careful.

Lastly, the complicated history.

Why is there a Western Australia and a South Australia but no Northern or Eastern? Brisbane is in the east region, but you just say East. And what does Tasmania have to do with Australia? Or New Zealand for that matter?


All questions I cannot yet answer because I get too confused before even starting.






So there you have it; Jasmine's five best and five worst of Australia!

Festive Seasons @ Holidays!

Hmm.. apparently there aren't that many public holidays in Australia as compared to Malaysia :(
 But one thing for sure, they do take breaks between season and Ozzies are used to Summer Break.

summer with surfing

Similar to what we have in M'sia, Oz summer breaks lands in december. The break usually lasts up to 6 weeks. During this time, I believe, the gold desserts are a big hit. Especially PAVLOVA! Yay :))

Main dessert during summer

Anyway, since we're already here in December, Australia celebrates Christmas and Boxing Day. Both these days are public holidays.  Now, would u wanna know more about Christmas in Australia?

here we go : 

What surprise awaits in Australian Christmas pudding?

 The answer remains hidden in the post -.-

New Year Celebration is also not to be missed for all Aussies XD

The highlight of the celebration would definitely be the fireworks! *I can't wait to see them*

Sydney, at the harbour, will usually have the largest celebration during this day. So do drop by Sydney and witness the fascinating firework show if u happen to be there in the land down south~

So, welcome to the firework and let the party begins!

Sydney Incredible Fireworks

Apart from that, the Sydeney Harbour Bridge would also be a main reason for us to celebrate! Artists and technicians usually work round the clock, perhaps for months to set up this annual event. Kudos to these Ozzies :)

 See how wonderful it is?! ^^ 

I could actually feel the vibe and adrenalin rushing to witness this event!


Mamamiaa! Magnifique okeyy that is obviously not Australian, Gooddayy mate! Yes! that's better, hehe. Nahh, This is Dalilah reporting for duty i'll take it from here , now let me share with you another holidays that the Australian celebrate that is waittt for it!! Tadaaaa it's

Boom boom boom fireworks! ahaha

This holiday which i believe most of you are very familiar with that's famous for it decorated eggs and a bunny as a symbol to this famous holiday. 

It falls on every third Sunday in the paschal lunar month, or, in other words the Sunday after the paschal lunar month's 14th day.

What do people do?

Many churches hold special services on Easter Sunday, which celebrate the Jesus Christ's resurrection after his crucifixion. Many people also decorate eggs. These can be hard boiled eggs that can be eaten later, but may also be model eggs made of plastic, chocolate, candy or other materials. It is also common to organize Easter egg hunts. Eggs of some form are hidden, supposedly by a rabbit or hare. People, especially children, then search for them. In some areas, Easter egg hunts are a popular way for local businesses to promote themselves or may even be organized by churches.

                                   Kids are having fun collecting these colorful Easter Eggs! :D

       My God! Look at these beautiful decorated eggs it is just too pretty to eat, *Excited face* heee

                  These cute creatures are believe to be guilty for hiding those easter eggs!! XD

                              "You are found guilty for hiding those Easter Eggs Mr. Rabbit"

LOL, okey then that's it from me, see ya' real soon, ohh pity Mr. Rabbit. 

It's a Getaway

We're here today with an interesting theme, holidays~ whee~

Fun Fact 1: Australians love to be tan as they believe that people who are tanned are richer. People with more free time will be able to sunbath and therefore they are pretty much tan, with lots of $ in their pockets!

Right, let's pack your bags and prepare your cameras as we walk through this beautiful land down under :)

First stop, Uluru.
Uluru , aka Ayer Rocks, has an area of 3.33 sq kilometer, and a circumference of 9.4 km. It is also an ideal place for sunrise and sun set as it changes its colour range.

Uluru and its fascinating red rocks

Next up, Great Barrier Reef.   The Great Barrier Reef is a world heritage site, and it houses the world's largest coral reef. Another interesting thing about this spot is that it is the ONE AND ONLY visible living thing on Earth from space! :0 now that's amazing! ^.^

Great Barrier Reef, the wonders of the world!

More photos:

Aerial view of the Great Barrier Reef

Coral reef

 Among the top tourist destinations in the Great Barrier Reef are Haggerstone Island, Heron Island and Bedarra Island. Haggerstone is famous for its serene and remote surroundings. It offers an exclus

ive sanctuary for privacy. The Heron on the other hand is popular for scuba diving and snorkelling. This is also where one can easily spot the green-head turtle. Finally for Bedarra, it a complete package where one can laze around or have fun with the sea.

The next holiday destination will be Tasmania.

Speak of Tasmania and every Aussie will tell u of its flora and fauna. Tourists who enjoy outdoor activities would definitely love this place as the mountains, rivers and terrains are all in one place.  Who will not enjoy the roaring surf, the jet boats, the kayaks, diving, mountain biking, rock climbing and even white-water rafting and abseiling! Now can u feel the thrill of it?!! I'm so excited to experience these when i get to Australia.

A waterfall for outdoor lovers <3

scenice view of the rocks

   

View of sea waves from a cliff

Who wants more?! *I can hear u screaming*

Very well, here's more. Kakadu National Park.

When we speak of Australia, we'll definitely talk about the wildlifes there. It only exists in Australia and found no where else on this planet earth. 

Kakadu National Park

As you can see, the wildlife not to be missed will definitely be the kangaroos and the koalas. The photo below belongs to a mixed breed of koala and bear. 

Mixed koala and bear

Up next, we have Adelaide. Our last spot for today. Adelaide is famous for its food and wine apart from the botanical garden apparently. So how many of you have actually seen the real wine processing? :D Now, aren't you hyped up to see that? Let's pack now and witness it.

The main valleys where one can witness and taste wines are Clare Valley, Adelaide Hills, Barossa, and Mclaren Vale.

From the comments of tourists, the smell of a young wine is called "aroma" while a matured wine is more elegant, "bouquet". I am pretty sure that most of you know wine are made from the fermentation of grapes, however here comes the fun part! Teehee XD

Fun Fact 2: Wine grapes are among the highest fruits crop planted in the world.

Fun Fact 3: Wine tasters swirl their glass like those in movies to release the powerful aromas and collect it around the glass. Hence wine should always be maximum 1/3 of the glass.

Till then, enjoy le vin~! 

Australia's Big Names: the Group of Eight

Hey -- Jasmine here, starting this post with an opinion and an almost proven fact:

In this world, there are two groups of people...
1) those who have heard of the Group of Eight and give congratulatory squeals when someone they know secures a place in the university ;

2) those who have never heard of it, and when the name is brought up asks skeptically,"Do you mean the G8 Summit?"

Well, today is the day I will convert more people from the second group to the first group.


So..what is the Group of Eight, really?

Simply summarized, the Go8 is basically Australia's top eight best universities.
Think of Oxbridge in the UK or Ivy Leagues in the US -- what these universities are to their respective countries is what the big eight is to Australia and any students applying there. Students look upon these universities with the same starry-eyed wonder, the same intake of breath, and seal the envelopes containing filled admission forms with the same hope for acceptance and the same fear of being rejected from among a pool of countless other hopefuls.

These universities are research-intensive, one in particular having made inroads in areas of cutting-edge research and appearing in almost every research paper (No, I didn't know that either) and Reader's Digest (as an avid fan of Reader's Digest, that I knew.)

Let's take a look at what universities make up the Group of Eight:

• University of Melbourne
• University of Sydney
• University of Adelaide
• Australian National University
• University of New South Wales
• Monash University
• University of Queensland
• University of Western Australia

The Group of Eight

So those are the Big Eight! UNSW, UQ, UoA, UniMelb, ANU, USyd, Monash and UWA -- whether through abbreviation or their real names you can be sure to have heard of some of them.

Why have not many people heard of this term, this Go8?

Well, I would say that unlike the UK or US coalition of super universities, the coalition formed by Australia's best is fairly new. In 1999, actually. That was just a little over 20 years ago.

Now, for some interesting facts...

• There is a University of Queensland.. and then there is a university IN Queensland. The other one is University of Central Queensland (UCQ) and while this one is a delight for the fact that it has kangaroos living on the grounds, there is not much information to be found save the university site itself.
• All the universities are put in cosmopolitan areas. Considering the eight universities all land within the world's top 100 and so are applied to by innumerable students each intake, this isn't truly a surprise. No Tasmania here, folks!!

• The only university between the eight to offer the course that Jing and I are doing is the UQ -- Queensland. That is one of our two choices, one of the two places currently that we can head off to.What course? OHSE. What's that?
• Australia's syllabus is very research-intensive, with even undergraduates required to undergo some form of research in order to earn that scroll and mortarboard. Heck, we have to undergo research in AUSMAT / SAM, termed "issue analysis."

So hopefully, that would at least enlighten any clueless readers the next time any other Australian-bound students (coughcough US) mention Go8 or you yourself want to know more about it.

I could write more about it...once I get there that is. Once the three of us get there.

In one and a half years, hopefully! :D

The koala brothers

Greeeeetingg earthlinksss,

okey i guess i have to stop with the doubles and triples, i love doing that, to express how excited i am, writhing this post, well, this is my 1st time writhing a blog since i was too busy making this planet a better place to live, and that is by doing nothing, (hah, that's really productive) :p as u can see i've actually posted a post before about food in Australia. c:

okey okey, that's enough crap for now, back to the serious stuff. tehee. Very well, if you've read the earlier post written by my non-identical twin Jasmine about Koala, you would know that they are not bears at not, and they are more related to kangaroos and the platypus

A platypus really?? err.. 

well, it's because they are the marsupials, okey i like you to observe this cool lyrics that the koalas are begging us not to call them bears

Please Don't Call Me A Koala Bear lyrics I'm a koala not a bear And I don't think it's fair The way that people always add a word that isn't there I'm a marsupial and proud of it And there can be no doubt of it I'm closer to a kangaroo than I am to a bear So please dont call me a koala bear Coz I'm not a bear at all Please don't call me a koala bear It's driving me up the wall If your name was Tom And everyone called you Dick Perhaps you'd understand why I'm sick, sick, sick I'm simply a koala And I want the name to stick So please don't call me a koala bear I live here in Australia In a eucalyptus tree I'm as cuddly, cute and charming as an animal can be I don't understand fair dinkum How anyone could think them Grizzly bears and polar bears Are anything like me So please dont call me a koala bear Coz I'm not a bear at all Please don't call me a koala bear It's driving me up the wall If your name was Tom And everyone called you Dick Perhaps you'd understand why I'm sick, sick, sick I'm simply a koala And I want the name to stick So please don't call me a koala bear

You guys must absolutely, totally have to listen to this catchy song i bet the lyrics won't get out of you head like it did to me. Happy listening everyone!! HAHAHA

DALILAH :)