I have heard so many people talking about it, and I am sure many of you heard of it too. Some of you might have experienced it; or some of you may even be experiencing it right now! I am referring to the Australian life.
The 10 days spent in Melbourne have been nothing less than bliss. If I was asked to describe the city in two words, those words would be… “very liveable”. I guess it was no surprise that Melbourne came second in the Economist’s World’s Most Liveable Cities 2008.
Some may say… “Hey Zewt, that’s because you were on a holiday!” Trust me, if I blog about the working life in Australia, we who work in Malaysia will need to take anti-depression pills. I have 2 stories about people working in Australia in the pipeline, but not today.
To me, Melbourne is such a liveable place simply because it is a very well planned city populated (mostly) by educated-law-abiding citizens and governed by a govt who truly works for the betterment of the public. When you put all these elements together, you get a place where waking up is a joy everyday.
It may appear that I am exaggerating but that is how I feel. There are many good things that I can talk about and I will in the next few days but let me just start with something I find really precious and hard to come by these days… the air… clean air.
I have blogged previously about the poor air quality here in KL and how the rain has been a blessing in disguise. Having been to Melbourne and back, I can confidently raise my arm and confirm the distinctive difference in air quality between here and there. How?
Some of you may know that I have persistent throat irritation that often leads to traces of blood in my phlegm to which the ENT finds no problem in my throat. The mucus in my nose is often green and I have todig clean my nose everyday.
During my 10 days in Melbourne, my throat irritation was completely gone. I had no crap in my nose for almost 8 days before some dried mucus dropped off, and it was white. The moment I came out from the airport here, my nose was blocked and on the night of my return, my green mucus has returned.
Have you ever clean your window or the table in your house? Imagine that layer of black-dunno-what in your nose; or worse… in your lungs. That is something KL can never provide and with open burning openly ignored by the authorities, it can only get worse.
Like one of my friend said… “it’s scary what we are breathing in here”.
I year ago… The changes, expected changes and the un-changed… The conversation with the driver… Some info on UK work-travel Visa and contract employment
2 years go… It’s a boss thing… I was at the party… They clever or I stupid?… Lifestyle of the smart and not so smart
The 10 days spent in Melbourne have been nothing less than bliss. If I was asked to describe the city in two words, those words would be… “very liveable”. I guess it was no surprise that Melbourne came second in the Economist’s World’s Most Liveable Cities 2008.
Some may say… “Hey Zewt, that’s because you were on a holiday!” Trust me, if I blog about the working life in Australia, we who work in Malaysia will need to take anti-depression pills. I have 2 stories about people working in Australia in the pipeline, but not today.
To me, Melbourne is such a liveable place simply because it is a very well planned city populated (mostly) by educated-law-abiding citizens and governed by a govt who truly works for the betterment of the public. When you put all these elements together, you get a place where waking up is a joy everyday.It may appear that I am exaggerating but that is how I feel. There are many good things that I can talk about and I will in the next few days but let me just start with something I find really precious and hard to come by these days… the air… clean air.
I have blogged previously about the poor air quality here in KL and how the rain has been a blessing in disguise. Having been to Melbourne and back, I can confidently raise my arm and confirm the distinctive difference in air quality between here and there. How?
Some of you may know that I have persistent throat irritation that often leads to traces of blood in my phlegm to which the ENT finds no problem in my throat. The mucus in my nose is often green and I have to
During my 10 days in Melbourne, my throat irritation was completely gone. I had no crap in my nose for almost 8 days before some dried mucus dropped off, and it was white. The moment I came out from the airport here, my nose was blocked and on the night of my return, my green mucus has returned.
Have you ever clean your window or the table in your house? Imagine that layer of black-dunno-what in your nose; or worse… in your lungs. That is something KL can never provide and with open burning openly ignored by the authorities, it can only get worse.
Like one of my friend said… “it’s scary what we are breathing in here”.
I year ago… The changes, expected changes and the un-changed… The conversation with the driver… Some info on UK work-travel Visa and contract employment
2 years go… It’s a boss thing… I was at the party… They clever or I stupid?… Lifestyle of the smart and not so smart
24 comments:
Ohhh, so u'be been on a holiday eh? Was just wondering what happened to zewt!!! Welcome back n looking forward to more entries! :)
ya!! agree agree!! is that you in the picture? u look very 'yeng'...
Dear Zewt, i am inspired now...Melbourne should be on my 'map of life'..thanks for sharing about how 'cool' is melbourne about giving the best living and working environment to the inhabitants.
Thanks for the short but concise and yet personal account of your holiday. Your comparison seems very fair. I also noticed the thing about stuffed nose and not to mention my hives will go into overdrive when I am in KL. In London, I don't suffer as much eventhough the London air is pretty bad!
I can't wait to breathe in the precious Melbourne air, then - heh!
Yes i regretted the shit i didint stay in melbourne and apply for a PR there :( Neway, if you want to have a liveable life, melbourne is where you should head. But if you want to have a business life, melbourne is pretty hard coz opportunities in msia are way better. Opportunities are better but hindrances are also bigger :P
You know my fren was a businesswoman here, she left her business to pursue her marriage life in melbourne. She used to have a tai tai life due to her business, but now she needs to work 9-5job to sustain her family. I say in life, we face tradeoffs and ultimately it boils down to what you want in life :)
Zewt, i suggest you go melbourne coz ur heart is already there :)
hahah, talk about clean... New Zealand is even cleaner!!!
the recent survey has Auckland as the most affordable Western city in the world...when you've got the chance to come to the even arse-end-of-the-world, you'll know what i mean!
but anyway, welcome to Down Under and enjoy the great Ozzie life eventually :)
Zewt ...
I totally agree with you that Melbourne is indeed "very liveable" .. i was there for 2 years .. the best years in my life in terms of living. Air is clean. People are polite. Life is relax. Food is affordable (please don't convert). What I wanna say is the quality of lifestyle that Malaysian would never get.
In my 2 years stay, I hardly fall sick. At most I might get hay fever during Spring time but that is small matter.
In fact I regret coming back to Msia. I should have persevere a little bit longer to get the PR and work there. Well, in the end I guess it is my destiny to come back meet a lovely wife.
I wish one day, I can migrate over there. Bring my family there.
That clearly explains why Aussies love their country so much...
Maybe no durians there, that's why. LOL!
Winters are cold there though. I was there some years back and almost had cramps. Yeah, NZ is really much better when it comes to air quality.
Hi Zewt! Long time no visit. Hope all's well. Thanks for coming by. Yeah, my main blog sometimes does the disappearing act on me - but it's okay today. Pls revisit. Thanks.
So you didnt experience the water shortage in certain part of Melb...Was staying there for half a mth at my friend's at Carnegie 2 mths ago.
Goodness gracious the way the neighbourhood resort to water saving is alarming - no plant watering everyday, no car wash, water recycle at every possible way eg..reuse water from washing machine/vege washing etc.
Apparently water level in the dam is at critical stage hence the on-going campaign. Generally, Victoria is experiencing drought for a long time.
I've been here for 4 years, and yes, i love it. However, it gets kind of confusing, because, life's so good, but at the same time, it just doesn't feel like home at times.
Just my 2 cents (sen)
Lol, so when you wanna move down under buddy?
"maemee" - yeah... a very good one... thanks :)
drumsticks - yeah, that's me :P
Fi-sha - give it a visit... u will then know what i am really talking about.
Tsu Lin - i think london air is pretty much ok unless you are in the underground. if you are in the suburb like peterbrough... then the air is also splendid.
Aoki - yup, here in malaysia, you can get rich. otherwise, you struggle. there, no one get rich, and yet, no one struggle.
pavlova - i MUST pay auckland a visit then... :)
Alex Yap - it's absolute bliss isnt it? something you can never find here in KL. well, now that you are back and have a lovely wife.... it's time to think how you can get back there.
Terra Shield - they not only love their country, they really work on preserving it.
HappySurfer - hahaha... honestly, i prefer cold weather to hot weather. here, it gives me a headache!
Anon @ 18/3 5.43pm - i did. was asked to shower double time and how ppl cannot wash their car and all. will definitely blog about that part of the story. i dont see it as a bad thing.... i actually look at it and see the passion of australians in preserving their life, unlike here.
Malaysian in Oz - true enough, no matter how good oz is, it will never be home. even when i do move over and spend the rest of my life there, malaysia is still my home.
sinergy.starfall - as soon as possible ;P
its true that the air quality in KL is very bad. a friend who stays in KL has an asthma problem. the air is so bad these days he perpetually has his nose blocked with lots of green gunk coming. his house is properly sealed and he needs to air filters in his room to get some comfort. :(
I'm not sure if I have shared this.
I have a terrible sinus problem since birth my nose is very sensitive to many things, polluted air, cigarette smoke, air-conditioned place, dust etc. and as such I will sneeze non-stop and have a bad running nose when exposed to those particles. For the first time in my life when I went over to Wales for my studies I didn't suffer from any effect from exposure to those elements simply because the air in Wales is extremely clean, there are strict laws prohibiting smoking in public etc. it felt like heaven. Now that I'm back, my sinus problems are back to the same state as it has been before I went to Wales, sneezes and running nose everyday :s
stop making me jealous can or not?? =P
lingzie - that is why i dont intend to stay here for long. it's going to kill us sonner or later.
jlshyang - yes, you've told me before, still remember it. but no harm reiterating that, we really need some form of air quality control here.
huei - where got :P
Don't put so much hope into Aussie Government but be prepared for deficits years after years from now on. Higher taxes on their way also.
If you happened to be an aussie citizen remember don't vote for Labour Government. I would always vote for Liberal. Only Liberal has brain.
Ai Shiang - hahahaha.... i am no aussie citizen, only PR... but definitely not putting faith on any govt.
hey zewt, you mentioned you had two stories about ppl working in aust....did you blog about them yet?
EYiscurious - i think i did, need to look for it... send u the link later.
Malaysia is still a lot cleaner than China... I need to clean my nose at least two times in a day when I was there.. and the things that came out was pure black, compare to grey colour here...
linda - and i will definitely find that out myself in a bout 20 days time...
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