Things I miss about Singapore

When I left Singapore a couple month ago, I never ever thought that I could find 1 thing that I would miss about the island nation. Yet here I am, a few months after I left Singapore, I came up with a list.

Compared with Australia, Sydney in particular, here are the top 10 things I missed from that little island.

1. Cheap taxi fare
With flag charge at S$2.50, Taxi cost about S$10 to S$15 to practically anywhere in the town. Even from the airport it would only cost about S$15 to S$20 to the city center. Compare to when I had to pay A$ 46 from Hyde Park to Maroubra (total of 11.5 km) in Sydney!!!

















2. Cheap public transport fare
The public train (MRT / SMRT) cost about S$2.10 one way for the longest distance. And no surcharge for airport line what so ever.
















3. Ez-Link card
Instead of using paper based ticket, 1 plastic card is enough for both bus & train in Singapore. It's convenient, rechargeable balance, hassle free determining the fares, and "greener" as most likely you will stick to only 1 card, compared to multiple paper tickets.

4. The food
Where do I start talking about the food? Singapore has all kind of cuisine from practically every country, starting from dirt cheap (S$0.70 for breakfast) to high class fine dining.


















5. Long / late trading hour
Not only they have yearly "Great Singapore Sale", they also have "Late night Shopping" where very last Friday of the month, shopping malls open up till midnight.


















6. Low income tax rate
Free tax for the first S$20,000 income, and 3.5% for the following S$10,000, and so on.


7. Easy access to the airport
How to go to the airport? Read reason no.1 above and hail a taxi! Or simply hop on the train for less then S$ 3.50.


8. Fast & efficient immigration process at the airport
The longest I waited at the immigration booth is 15 minutes.
















9. Holiday Destination options
Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Hongkong are all within 3 or 4 hours flight and has many budget carrier.
















10. GST refund
GST rate in Singapore is 7% and as a temporary visitor, you can get back the 5% GST you spent for your shopping at any shop in Singapore.

Australia Customs & Immigration

Australia probably has one of the strictest custom & quarantine regulations in the world. Everybody without exception will be checked once they arrived in Australian soil.

I found a “gift” on one of my package I sent from Singapore to Sydney:













First is the travel documents / visa. For some who hold certain countries passport, it could be as easy as apply visa online. For others, well… gonna takes more than just your time and money.
















After the travel documents, comes the quarantine section by AQIS. What you can not take into Australia? AQIS has provided the answer and brochure (PDF) for that.















Filling out “Incoming Passenger Card” can be quite an adventure for those who has no clue what the question is about. So help your self, download the PDF of Passenger Card and ask your friend or family to help you. Asking a stranger may not be a good idea to help you with this task.

And if you think Australian is not serious the immigration, for your convenience sake, they have made this whole customs & Immigration things into a TV series.

Moving out

Recently, my Koala Permanent Residency has been granted! I have been waiting for this news for almost 1 year. So without wasting another day, I throw my resignation letter and kiss goodbye to my old job.
















First problem is done, now comes the second… packing & sending my stuff. Oh how I wish I have Monica from Friends to help me with packing.















I had no idea how much stuff I had accumulated during my 4 years life in Singapore. What I thought would only be less than 100 kg, has swelled to a whooping 250 kg, spread over into 23 boxes!!!
















After asking around for shipping price quotation, I found out that Singapore Post “Speed Surface Service” does actually has the cheapest rate. Unlike cargo, they go by weight like a normal parcel, but still it’s so much cheaper compared to freight forwarders.















Singapore Post website states it would take about 5 – 7 weeks for my stuff to arrive from Singapore to Sydney. Well, in reality, it took over then 8 weeks before it arrived. So you might want to recalculate the timing.

Kurama

On the third and final day of my 3 day Kansai Thru Pass, I decided to go Kurama, located in Kyoto’s outskirt. From Kyoto, I cycled to Demachiyanagi station, and then continued by train to Kurama station.













There are only 2 things to do here; see the temple on top of the mountain (Kurama Dera) and then to soak in Kurama onsen.













Entrance fee to Kurama-dera is 300 yen. After that, you have 2 options: to walk your butt up to the top or to take the cable train to the top for additional 100 yen. Being a lazy bum, it took me less then 10 seconds before I reached my pocket searching for 100 yen coin.













With the red lantern all over the mountain, the height, the view, and the fresh clean air, Kurama-dera is surely one of my favorite place around Kyoto. It’s surrounded by mountain and not so many people, left alone tourist, can be seen around.













The court yard of the main temple is full of sakura trees. Unfortunately I came her in winter, leaving the trees without a single leaves on. I will be back here during the sakura season one day.













To get to the onsen, I walked back to Kurama station to catch the onsen’s free minibus which transported me for free to the onsen’s door step. I chose the lunch + onsen package for 7,000 yen.













The food was not disappointing, while the indoor onsen is just average. The outdoor bath, however, is quite an experience to try. The view of the mountain is just spectacular! By “spectacular”, I don’t mean the naked male bodies around me!

Arima Onsen

On the second day of my 3 days Kansai Thru Pass, I decided to its furthest travelling distance it allows me to travel, Kobe / Arima Onsen.













Arima Onsen is not as easy as Nara to get to. It takes around 2.5 hour train ride from Kyoto, and change lines a couple of times. But I have been intoxicated by onsen from my last trip to Japan, and Funaoka Onsen alone was not enough to satisfy my urge.













From Wikitravel and Japan Guide, I learned that there are 2 ways to get to Arima Onsen:

1. The fun & expensive way Via Mt. Rokko and then descend to Arima Onsen using ropeway.
   
2. The cheap & easy way Using train from Kyoto (Hankyu Line) to Arima Onsen station.

View Kyoto to Arima Onsen by Train in a larger map

Heck, I have spent so much money & time to come all the way to Japan, why should I choose only one way? I decided to combine them! I took to the easy way to go to Arima, did sight seeing, soaked in onsen, and came back to Kyoto via Mt. Rokko.













I have made a detailed Google Map and separated it into 3 parts:

• Kyoto to Arima Onsen station (by train on Hankyu Line)
• Sightseeing in Arima Onsen
• Arima Onsen to Kyoto via Mt. Rokko

Kyoto to Arima Onsen station (by train on Hankyu Line)
Kansai Thru Pass covers all expenses in this way. It’s a pretty darn good deal considering the distance between Kyoto & Arima Onsen. It’s difficult to explain by words, please refer to the map I made in Google Map.

Sightseeing in Arima Onsen
If you have booked an expensive onsen trip / package, chances are: there will be someone waiting for you at the train station. If you are on a budget like me, I would suggest Tourist Information Centre as your first stop.













It’s located just 5 minutes walk from the station. If you plan to go to Mt. Rokko, make sure you ask them the time table of the ropeway.

They have a very complete sightseeing map / brochure with all onsen, what to see in Arima, restaurant, etc. Download the English version of the map here.

I came to Arima onsen with 2 things in my mind, to try either the Gin-no-yu or Kin-no-yu onsen and to try Kobe (Wagyu) beef.













I arrived in Arima 3 hour before lunch time, so I walked around first, tried the free foot onsen...



















Ate manju...













Japanese croquette...













And finally I soaked in Gin-no-yu. The best way to spend cold day is to soak in bloody damn hot onsen water.













Now is time to taste the wagyu beef. I found this kiosk or (restaurant?) while walking back to the bus stop.













Instead of Kobe / Wagyu beef, it’s selling “Tajima Beef”, with hand written explanation claiming Tajima Beef is the origin of all Kobe / Wagyu beef.













It's probably the most honest restaurant in Japan too, with this poster posted outside its door:













Anyway, I tried 2 stick of it’s Tajima Beef + rice for 1,000 yen. The taste doesn’t disappoint me.

Arima Onsen to Kyoto via Mt. Rokko
Kansai Thru Pass does not cover most of the cost in this. Bus (from Arima Onsen) to Mt.Rokko Ropeway station costs 100 yen.

I recommend buying a package ticket in the ropeway station which covers:

• Ropeway to Rokko Sancho Station
• Mt.Rokko bus
• Cable train to go down from Mt.Rokko
  

After that, you can use Kansai Thru Pass again on the Train to Kyoto.
Refer to the map I made in Google Map.













When you reach Mt. Rokko, before you take the bus to cable train, I made my walk to Jukkoku Observatory, where I saw a scenic view of Kobe city harbor. Well that’s probably the reason why most people even bother forging extra yen to go up the mountain in the first place anyway.

Walk to the right sight of Mt. Rokko station, continue under the bridge, until you find your self in an open space with full view of Kobe city harbor below. The night view from here is breathtaking, but I did not wait until its dark because I chose not to miss my connection bus.












Refer to my Google Map for easier view of the route I took.

Australian PR Update (May 2010)

Australian Immigration has revised the Skilled Occupation List (“SOL”) on 17 May 2010. Check the immigration website for detailed changes.

The SOL will come to play from 1 July 2010, unless there’s new update from the immigration office. Click here for the updated SOL (PDF)

The changes indeed cloudy & gloomy for those with their occupation no longer in SOL.













As you may notice, the new SOL is shorter compared to the previous one, meaning there are lesser occupation is sought by the Australian Immigration.

If you are wondering why the Australian Government decided to change the SOL, give this PDF a read.

Nara

I bought my 3 days Kansai Thru Pass (5,000 yen) from the in front of the Kyoto Station. It’s a small building outside the station, so it’s not the JR station.













The staff will ask you to fill up simple form for your detail, where you’re from, Passport, etc. 10 minutes later (and 5,000 yen poorer), armed with Kansai Thru Pass, I hopped on the train to Nara, to Kintetsu Nara station.













I have made an appointment about 1 month before with Nara Student Guide through their website. They are a group of student in Nara who volunteer their free time to guide tourist around Nara.

Thanks to my guide, I visited more places in Nara, got a really good history of each building, temples, and shrines. We did all this sight seeing on foot, just under 3 hours. That's included my numerous stops to take photos.













I have made a walk through map in Google Map, with some photos along the path I walked. Visit the link here.


View Nara on Foot in a larger map

Just like its neighbor, Kyoto, Nara also has a long track of history which can be seen on its buildings, trees, temples, & shrines.













However, I found Nara has more nature to offer, and I’m not just talking about the deer on the street.