P&A: Discount tips in Perth

1) Shopping in Coles***** (P&A favourite shop), Woolworth or IGA. When you spend above $25 (Woolworth) or $30 (Coles) on a single receipt, you’ll get extra 4 cents discount when you fill up at their petrol station. Coles = Shell station, Woolworth = Caltex, IGA = The Peak

But Coles is always the cheapest option in Australia. Quality is okay too.

The dockets (receipt) you get from these supermarket purchases have vouchers printed on the back. We always use the ‘Hungry Jacks’ Buy 2 Whopper for only $6.45. That’s only $3.23 for a big WHOPPER burger =)

2) Ikea restaurant (located at Sunray Dr, Innaloo, Stirling, just nearby stirling station) offers 50cents hotdog every Saturday! And the unlimited refills of hot drinks (cappuccino, latte, long black, tea, hot choc) everyday for only $2. Meatballs special price on Tuesdays, and Wednesday breakfast at only $2.95.

3) Gelare Waffles half price every Tuesday. It is served with honey and fresh cream. Or add a scoop of ice cream to it. Boy it is yummy . . .

4) Taka Japanese Restaurant @ Barrack Street. Their large set (priced around $7.30) comes with soup and very big bowl of rice. We tried the katsu don, fish and chicken teriyaki. Taste is average but it was value for money. For us, we always order just one large meal, which was enough for the two of us. That time, our stomach hasn’t grown that big yet! HEHE

P&A: Strawberry picking tips in OZ

Well, it’s the first job we got in Perth, and it is voted as the toughest job by almost every backpackers. But it was a pressure two weeks in Perth now that we aren’t able to land a job. Many jobs are available in the northern part of WA. Farming or f&b retails such as Mcdonalds’ in Karathaa. Paying $22 per hour but it will take 20 hours drive from Perth and the weather is extremely hot up there. Also, accommodation is super expensive, about $250 per week as it is a mining town.

So when we found through gumtree on this strawberry picking, we were really eager to earn some money by working hard! We were provided accommodation for $75 per week (though it’s cheap, but the house is ‘cheap’ as well). Wake up every morning at 4.45am to start work at 6.30am for $13 an hour, working at some farm near Wanneroo Road (Those farms are owned by Vietnamese), 30minutes from the house. Some days we may get 4 hours work, other days 10 hours. And we have to bring our lunchbox for lunch. The strawberry season in Perth ends October, then it will be tomatoes.

P&A Top 8 tips on strawberry picking:

*must haves: hat, long sleeve shirt, long pant, sunscreen, water bottle, hand gloves, lunchbox . . .

*flies net would be a very good investment, to keep those irritating bugs off yr face. When it gets hot during the day, the flies will come and bother you! In it goes to yr nose, ears, eye, anywhere! AAARRGGHH. . .

*put on knee pad too, to protect yr knees as you will use it to drag you along the farm picking this red yummy fruit when you leg doesn’t have the strength anymore. That’s what we did, but we didn’t buy a knee pad. Consequences are, our knee bones still feel pain after one month.

*ipod

*don’t need to be too fast, (of course not too slow). Just follow everyone else’s pace. Else the owner might expect you to finish fast each time.

*if you are working in farm for second year working holiday visa extension, check the farm’s post code first if they are qualified for that.

*we got ourselves bags of ‘rejected’ strawberries (those which maybe too small or over ripe). So Peter made strawberry jam! Just crushed it, add sugar and lemon juice to it. It may last for few weeks. And it’s real fresh jam.

*yea, you can pop strawberries into yr mouth. But it is covered with pesticides. So wash it with yr saliva first. You don’t want the farm owner to see you eating his strawberries though. Else, hold yr temptations and eat it after it’s washed!

When our bones can’t take it anymore, we quit the job after 6 days. One of the reasons is that we believe we could find a better job, since we can at least speak good English, and we won’t need to work in farm to gain visa extension. Since Malaysians won’t be entitle for second year visa ext anyway. So off we go! We felt really grateful to the houseowner, An who was extremely helpful and righteous, who also gave us discounts on the rental and keep looking jobs for us. We met some new friends in that house too, Japanese guys Takashi & Tomo, German girls Anna, Michele and Teresa.

Our farewell meal with Takashi and Tomo. P&A cooked Chinese styled ABC soup, Korean styled bulgogi pork and cabbage. Takashi cooked minced beef in Japanese soy sauce, with Tomo’s Australian XXXX Gold beer for after dinner. Really satisfying =)

P&A: Top 6 tips on car rental in Perth

The first seven days of our trip is one filled with warmth, laughter and happy moments with Angie’s family. Together with Verna, Uncle Boon, Christie and Ricky, we set foot in exploring part of the South West Australia as well as Cervantes.

We rented a Kia Carnival (an 8-seater car) which is very good for the 6 of us. It fits all our luggage just nicely =) We booked from Vroomvroomvroom.com.au (which we think is a good website as it compares all the major car rentals, and you just choose the cheaper of those). Just make sure on the terms and conditions, some might limit on the kilometers.

For 7 days rental, the price we booked in was $764 including the extra charges for picking up and return at the airport. The Hertz counter at Perth international airport only opens at 7am.

1) On arrival, we waited more than 40minutes before getting our car, so the guy at the Hertz counter gave us another $20 discount. Hehe…

2) When picking the car, check if there is any dent or damage before driving, take picture of it then report it to the company. So they won’t charge on you on the damage.

3) Check on how to operate the car’s wiper, aircond, heater, fuel lid, spare tyre and petrol type. . .

4) If returning the car at the airport, you can return it anytime; just drop the key at the counter box. But remember to take picture of car condition and fill up full tank if you are not buying fuel from the car rental.

5) Although there is a fee for picking the car at airport, but if there are many people sharing the cost, it is much cheaper than picking up yr car in the city since you have to take taxi or shuttle bus to the city.

6) Sometimes the car rental company will give you a different car than what you’ve booked for. We have booked for a Kia Carnival, but once there we were told that they only have a Toyota Rav4 which only seats 5 people. So that’s why we needed to wait for so long and they gave us a discount.
 
 

 
The backpackers campervan rental from ‘wicked campervans’. The cheap campervan rental around OZ. We have done a lot of research through online forums and websites, there good and bad points in hiring from this company. It’s a very cheap way to travel since you sleep in the van.
Previously we have considered renting a caravan for our 7 days trip, but considering the comfortable level and ease of driving around city, we rented a car instead. The cost for caravan is slightly higher. But if renting a caravan, you’ll have to rent a site in caravan parks for the night, which costs approx $30 for two people, and if you are a first timer, things will get quite troublesome on filling the water, charging your car… Parking is difficult too because it sure is a big car. But surely caravan looks fun =) If your travel period is longer than, caravan might be a better option. . .

Travel Tips =)

Just some humble opinions and experiences from da 2 of US~~~

* for those 4-eyed people like Angie =P, would advise to wear spectacles instead of contact lenses when taking the air flight. A: my eyes gets so tired and dry due to air conditioning especially the night or early flights, and after taking a nap, i could hardly open my eyes! *the contact lens got stuck in my eyes* Arrgh!

you could always have yr lenses in yr bag, so u could wear it right away at the airport's toilet, becoming pretty again.. keke


* we encounter some RAINY days during travels in Seoul, which is a real problem for photographers. Got ourselves raincoats which protects us well but not the camera. The ultimate savior would be an UMBRELLA and a PLASTIC BAG for the camera which works like waterproof bags.

recently we bought a waterproof casing for DSLR (brand: Dicapac), which we thought will be very useful in rainy days, underwater photography, watersports, sandboarding, winter.


* we always bring along RECYCLE BAGS, its good to use when going to supermarkets or even shopping. when you have not enough baggage space! just hand carry it.. also, GO GREEN =)


* bring an ANALOGUE ALARM CLOCK. very useful when yr mobile phone is out of battery and yr hotel fails you on the morning call. also, u can adjust the time according to time zone, no false alarm then!

this also can avoid others steal your valuable mobile phone when you're sleeping if you stay in a 6 beds dorm.