markb28

If you're young, stay somewhere young that has life and central! Bondi, Surry Hills, Newtown, Glebe. Otherwise you will be lonely and bored.

The last week has been super depressing weather-wise and it's going to continue throughout the week. It's 12pm here in Waterloo and it's practically dark. What is everyone doing to entertain themselves?

My partners family lives in Kellyville, its a little dull but I certainly haven't noticed anything particularly bad when I have gone there. Houses seem like they are built well there. It also has the strangest looking pub I have ever seen: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ettamogah_Pub

Going for an interview for a Project Mgmt role and have been asked if I'm self employed and have an ABN. I have been working here so far as a casual employee on company payroll. The recruitment cons have offered to help me set it up. How does this normally work - will they just pay me the gross and I file a tax return at the end of financial year? If so what could I offset as expenses. Work is in the IT/facilities field. Thanks Mark

Lindt for me as well, tastes just like it does in Europe.

I have found the VPN's don't support HD quality streaming. There is a much more efficient method - I use a DNS service called http://www.unotelly.com which not only gives you the UK catch up TV service on all your PC's, tablets and phones it also allows you to cycle through all the netflix regions (including Brazil/Mexico/Denmark/Norway). It means my PS3 works exactly the same for catch up TV that it did in the UK and also has an excellent PS3 Netflix application. Works on Xbox too.

I had the same issue, bought this: http://www.jbhifi.com.au/tv-lcd-led-plasma/media-players/teac/hd-set-top-box-sku-87484/ It's actually quite well featured for $60, plays MP3, AVI, MP4, MP3, MKV from usb hd's/flash disks and also records programs from the tv guide. However, I rarely record, Australian FTA TV is shockingly bad.

http://www.woolworthsmobile.com.au/ ​

I use Woolworths mobile, it's a good deal. It's on the Optus network gives 5GB and $250 Optus credit, $250 other networks. It also lasts up to 45 days before expiry. I also used the data allowance for tethering before I got ADSL installed. It costs $29 per recharge. If your credit lasts the 45 days then that equates to only $20 a month over a year which is an excellent deal. Pick up the sim package for $2 from any Woolworths.

Apparently just opened, being local I got a flyer about it today. Might be worth checking out before it gets mobbed - it hasn't been discussed much. http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/explore/facilities/swimming-pools/prince-alfred-park-pool Mark

Try unotelly.com - much better performance that the VPN's. You can try an 8 day free trial.

​We brought our British blue shorthair to Sydney with PetAir in Oct last year, was a good service all round. Cat survived quarantine and was in good shape at Eastern Creek - well looked after (although he learned to meow loudly there). He's sitting on my leg as I write this. However he is still a demanding little b*******!

I find the food in Sydney is pretty good, however I don't go to the expensive places - I can't justify spending $100 per head on a meal really. In London there were always great places to eat, I'm finding that there are great places to eat in Sydney also. But in general there are winners and losers in most areas: Chinese food - far superior in Sydney, Chinatown in London serves terrible food. Korean - far superior in Sydney Thai - better in Sydney, often cheaper than London also Pub food - better in Sydney generally due to the lack of massive pub chains although the choice can be limited however there are better gastropub options in London Indian - nothing here compares to Tooting/Wembley in London. I'm finding the cheapest Indians in Sydney are better than the expensive ones Seafood - better in Sydney obviously but ridiculously priced at top end Tapas/meditteranean- probably close but London would win on value Italian - haven't been to many yet A few cuisines widespread in London are pretty much absent here, Carribean/Jamaican, North African...

I do find being here sometimes that racism is around, probably at the level it was in the eighties back in the UK before the nation became more sophisticated, new communities integrated and racism became socially unacceptable. Although there doesn't appear to be much hate crime, casual racism does appear to be accepted and exists in ethnic communities as well - I've heard a few instances in the six months I've been here. Coming from London (and now in Sydney) you are shielded from the worse of it, in the UK regions, up north it is far worse. Racism always gets worse when times are hard which is why its increasing in frequency and I would expect the same would happen in Oz in recessionary times. However, I'm sure it's improving here compared just a few decades ago and the younger generation to appear to have a more international outlook as opposed their parochial parents. You only have to look at the Australian comments on Facebook, youtube, twitter threads spouting racism, typically of the F*** off we're full variety to get a handle on it. A lot of people are not very smart - their racist online footprint will follow them for life. I'm mixed race, however you wouldn't realise it to look at me and the amount of casual racism I've heard in my lifetime could fill a book, you have no idea how disheartening it is to make a friend on your travels only to realise they are in fact a bigoted arsehole.

Probably the best asset is its proximity to the airport, it's about a $10 cab ride. Erskineville is nicer, but a pain to find a rental - its really popular and right next to Newtown.

Using the Hola unblocker (must be enabled within Chrome). You can access BBC1/2, ITV, C4, C5 live streams through the following site: http://www.filmon.com/ Easier to use than going to each site in turn.

I live down the road in Waterloo. Not much happening in Zetland, mainly office/industrial around Green Square station but not far from Alexandria at all. Lots of modern apartment blocks in Alexandria, good food options - some very posh cafes there now, some pubs has a shopping precinct around Danks Street with a Coles, Aldi, bottle-o and cafes. Lots of young professionals there. Probably easier to find a property when you arrive than the usual suspects (Surry Hills, Glebe, Newtown, Bondi etc). I would say it can be a little soulless though and has been heavily developed in last 20 years. Nightlife is pretty dead around there however and you would probably end up in Newtown or Erskineville if you are looking for a big night. There are a couple of parks nearby, Alexandria Park and Waterloo (cricket at Waterloo, kids, BBQ's, dogs at Alexandria).

I would agree that Sydney is expensive, however after being a few months you learn how to do things cheaply. $70k for a single person in Sydney is doable, especially if you live in a flatshare and don't need a car - in fact you would be pretty comfortable and could probably save some cash. Eating out can be expensive or cheap (the cheap eats under $15 here are pretty damn good, comparable to London), plenty of yoga and stuff around here and there are a load of happy hours - a beer can be low as $3 or as much as $8 and public transport is reasonably priced. Making friends might be the most difficult bit and that will take some effort but hey - what do you have to lose - even if you go home after a couple of years you won't have the what if I actually did go thoughts.....

I've been using Win 8 for about 4 months, I wish I hadn't upgraded as it really is designed for a Touchscreen interface and Windows 7 power users will be frustrated with it. I can't see many large enterprises implementing it anytime soon, Windows 7 is stable, well established and understood by employees and not particularly out of date for standard users. Especially as the Ipad seems to be the business tablet of choice I can see Win 8 adoption being slow or bypassed altogether (like Vista was). I was working at one of the big 4 banks this week in the CBD, the majority of their desktop estate is still Win XP.

Sure, we originally were waiting for our UK freight and I went out and bought a tv. It looked odd sitting on the floor, so the cat crate came into play. Our massive tv from the UK has now arrived, now the crate and tv are in the bedroom. It could probably do with a lick of paint

Since our move to Sydney in October we still have the PetAir pet crate for our cat. However, it is now a tv stand in the bedroom with a door for impromptu storage.

Depends on the jobs you are after. Lot of competition for PM jobs in Sydney at the moment (I'm a Prince 2 PM). Many are asking for Prince 2/PMI/PMBOK (usually one of the three is fine). For BA's the qualifications mainly appear to be IIBA, but not specifically requested in many adverts and I've never seen the ISEB BA qualification mentioned. SCRUM seems to be more important if you are looking for a BA/PM job in a software development project and I'd say there are less qualified people around. For system analysts many are asking for ITIL foundation certificates which is an easy and fairly cheap qualification to obtain. However I'd say the most important qualification would appear to be an IT, engineering or business degree - specifically asked for in many advertisements.

I went to the Aldi in North Sydney. Unfortunately a lot of the best stuff in the UK Aldi is not really feasible to import here (things like german sausages, fridge based items). Bought a few things, some good, some not so good however compared to Woolies/Coles.IGA all quite reasonably priced. The best Aldis are found in Germany which have a high amount of big brands in it at great prices - famously treat their staff like sh** however. A lot of the Aussies I know who lived in the UK years ago are still dreaming of UK retail, M&S, Waitrose, Boots, Iceland - none of which have a comparable retail offer here.

Same here in Sydney applied for a ton of jobs so far but only received some sporadic contact from agencies in the IT systems management/PM field, strangely most of the rec cons that have contacted me have been British. Had a couple of interviews but not much doing as yet. Fortunately my partner (who is Aussie) found a job in a couple of weeks of arriving so we are covering the bills. The irony is that the job she is doing is ridiculously easy compared to what she was doing in the UK with much less responsibility but pays more. Working in IT, she says her colleagues are happy to discuss issues to the nth degree and are completely risk averse to making changes to resolve them while discussing weight loss/public transport/car parking and My Kitchen Rules all day! She is rationing her work out to ensure she doesn't finish her working day at 11am. I would consider doing some basic work in the interim, however you don't get considered for jobs that you are obviously overqualified for. It's all a bit disheartening as I can't really get on with my life till I've secured something. I would be happy to do some work to tide me over for some pocket cash and to meet some new people - I'm starting to see seek.com in my dreams

At your age I'd recommend the following three areas, all pretty central: Surry Hills (lots of pubs, restaurants, arty stuff, best along Crown Street) Newtown/Camperdown (ditto, slightly more alternative) Glebe (quieter but more village like - past Broadway to Glebe Point Road) Areas adjacent to the above include Erskineville, Enmore, Redfern (where I live) may be slightly easier to gain a rental. Expect lots of open house competition for rentals and a few knockbacks. A one bed in these areas is certainly doable for $500ish. You will find it very hard to find a long term furnished rental, bank on buying some appliances. We live in Redfern, not the hippest area (but up and coming) but only 15 mins walk to Central/Surry Hills/Glebe/lower CBD and Redfern is a junction station - so very easy to get around with a single train. Our rent is $580 a week, but ours is a 2 bed with a balcony. Looking for property was a real pain without a car, so definitely hire one for the weekend inspections - and have your paperwork ready for action.