Category: Australia

  • Plan to track HIV-positive visitors

    No, not in the Philippines, but in Australia. Prime Minister John Howard has written to his immigration and health ministers asking them for advice on whether HIV/AIDS poses a public health risk and on the public health implications of letting HIV-positive people into the country. Source: The Age

  • Travel Expenses: Gold Coast 2007

    Yay, I’m (very) slowly working through my backlog of entries! Here’s the expenses breakdown of my Gold Coast 4-day weekend trip last March. I flew via Jetstar, and lucky for me, their Gold Coast segment flies from Tullamarine and not from Avalon airport (which is about one and a half hour from Melbourne). I stayed…

  • Travel Expenses: Sydney 2007

    Ah, Sydney. How I loved thee. I’ve fallen inlove with Sydney, mainly because of the harbour and the ferries. I don’t know why, but I just love riding commuter ferries. It’s one of the reasons why I loved the Chao Phraya in Bangkok. I only spent 3 days in Sydney, though I wish I could…

  • Bill Bryson’s Down Under

    I can be quite a cheapskate when it comes to buying books. Though I may spend a lot on comics, I have reservations about shelling money on books. Looking at the way I take care of my books, it seems fitting that I buy second hand book instead of brand new ones. It was just…

  • Being cheap in Australia

    Coming from a third world country, where things are dirt cheap, checking price tags in Australia can be quite shocking (not the good kind of shock you get when you look at Indonesian prices). At first the prices look cheap, but once you convert it to peso… ay caramba! That is why they say that…

  • Happy Mardi Gras!

    Sydney’s Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras is a month long celebration, starting on the first week of February and ends on the first weekend of March with a parade as a grand finale. Of course, when my sister asked me when do I want to fly to Sydney for a weekend, I picked the Mardi…

  • A word of advice

    When riding the Melbourne trains at night, steer clear from the seats at or near the end of the rail cars. That’s where the teenagers converge, drink beer, swap obsceneties and a spit or two. Unless you want to join in, of course.

  • Adventure Travel & Backpackers Expo

    If you’re going to be in Melbourne in the next couple of days, head on to the Royal Exhibition Building at the Carlton Gardens for the 12th Adventure Travel & Backpackers Expo. The Expo is the fun and festive way to find out where to go for the time of your life -around Australia and…

  • On the banks of the River Yarra

      Last night was the first night I went out to the city. I met up with a group of Pinoys who are visiting Melbourne from Canberra. It was funny how they’ve seen more of the city than I have. Must venture out from the libraries sometime.