Australia in 10 months!

Hi! How's it goin'? ..Yeah, that's probably how you'd be greeted here anyway. :) 

..It has been ages. Perhaps it's time to write about the experience.. 

and yes, it's my tenth month this week here. 

Almost a year ago, I quit my job in Dubai - one which I actually loved, in the aspiration of succeeding elsewhere, Australia in this case. I was very optimistic of the outcome back then. I've always had this high regard of myself thinking that I could make it all work. I had the future all pictured in my head. I knew it wasn't going to be easy but still I pushed through. 

Nonetheless, nothing really could prepare one to the actual experience. Not having a permanent job in a new country with new culture was harrowinggggg that I still occasionally look back and question my decision. I would tell my friends that - had I known it was going to be this hard, I wouldn't have embarked on this journey. What did they say? ..What would you have said?!

Then again, it was useless for me to dwell on what has been done. I had to accept and adapt to what is here and now. As in the maxim - 'change is the law of life'. Pretty easy to say but takes an awful lot of discipline to make it work ;) but with good support system (family and friends) it can be done (just expect bills piling on.. :p). 

And so, I tried to recall what has happened in what was close to a year! To my surprise, it wasn't all that bad! I can only be thankful  for having been able to endure such difficulty
(which actually amounts to nothing in comparison to many other problems in the world!). 

So, here.. I'm sharing my journey with you :)

The places I've been lucky to see:

Melbourne Central Business District

Perth CBD

Melbourne CBD

State Library of Victoria, Melbourne
Anyone can use it and it has free wifi :)

Places of worship
(L-R) St. Patrick's Cathedral Melbourne, St. Mary's Cathedral Perth, Church in Melbourne

Interior of the Cathedrals above

The beauty in nature..

Unlike the clear blue skies of Dubai, clouds seem to frequent the skies of Australia
..that's the walk home (Coy and Lyn's home :)

They have nice parks here. Generous green spaces.
Pictured above is Hyde Park, Perth, WA & Sky High, Melbourne.

Rainbows. Double rainbows sometimes.

(L-R) Perth Street Scene. King's Park. Mounts Bay Road.

Kaili's Fish and Chips, Fremantle WA
Fish and chips (deep fried breaded fish+fries) is big in Australia.
Fremantle is such a good place to witness sunset.
It's nice to see the colour of the sky reflect on water.

Places, things and activities I was happy to take part of..

Dolphin Quay, Mandurah, WA

Dandenong Ranges, Victoria.
In the middle photo is the famous Ms. Marples, renowned for their waffles and scones.
A lot of specialty shops here.

Inside one of the shops in Dandenong Ranges.
That's Faith, having a hard time picking her kind of tea!

Perth CBD, Forrest Place. Middle picture - London Court, Perth
No plans for Fridays? Not to worry, there's food fair at Forrest Place!

Cottesloe Beach
Sculptures by the Sea 2014 Event

Cottesloe Beach
Sculptures by the Sea 2014 Event

Transportation.
L-R. Tram in Melbourne, Train Station in Melbourne, Train Station in Perth

That's my long walk from bus station to the office - left.
 Perth Metro-mid. Right - At the bus stop, it was raining when I was waiting for my bus, not really ideal place for waiting. It was very very cold.

What's uniquely Australian?

A lot of plant species in King's Park, Perth WA 

Woolies! Fresh produce.

Buskers. Cycling is big here. They have Jamie's!
Not that Jamie is Aussie. It's just that people here like it I guess. It's always fully booked.

Asian food is good. Government (partly) funded outdoor theatre performances. Freshly picked cherries and berries.
Walking and cycling lanes. Bikes shops. People jog a LOT.

Celebrity chefs are a hit. That's Colin smiling right at yah! Lucky you!
Cooking, almost all the ingredients are available.
Barbie (they tend to shorten words and end it with "-ie". Barbecue ~ barbie. Lollipop ~ lollies. Traders ~ tradies)

The food I've learned to cook out of Sullaga's, Timtiman's, & Oreiro's pantry.

Pinoy Macaroons. Chocolate Cake. Cheese bar.
Butterscotch. Red velvet. Crinkles.

Brownies. Ube cake na medyo blue lols >>> Bluebe cake. Kamote.
Cassava cake. Red velvet.  All time favorite, French toast.

Sweet and sour fish. Red curry. Chicken bbq.
Pansit. Guisadong gulay. Spaghetti + pork + corn +edamame (soybeans)

Kamote, brown butter, crayfish.
Yes, brown butter is important. lol. It is actually hit or miss. So I'm pretty happy I got it.

The stuff I had to learn, 

painfully. lol. 

Most houses are timber.

Precast and prefabricated materials are very common here. 

Hence, engineering opportunities are limited in a way.

Middle - Waffle Slab Construction.
I've been phone interviewed about it but unfortunately, I had no experience on waffle slabs :(

The industry I'm currently in.

Some happy thoughts. 

Gonna see you baby soon! 

Min's doing well in school and I'm very proud.

Reminders of good friends from afar.

Beauty of God's blessings.

This is me. Irrelevant of anything in the post! I want to get glasses soon but can't afford.