I've migrated to Melbourne, Australia !

Hey my fellow Steemians !!

First, I need to apologize as I haven't been active for over a week now. As the title suggested, I've recently migrated to Melbourne, Australia :D made my move on 10th January and arrived on 11th January. It was my first entry into this beautiful country, and alone. So I had to quickly organize myself over the past week, do some groceries shopping, learn to cook, learn to use public transport, finalize bank account, register tax file number, register medicare and etc. :)

Seems like I got a lot of things to write here :P

So why did I chose Australia to call my new home? Well, a lot of the reasons you could probably find online by simply google search it. But my biggest motivator was my girlfriend. It all started about 6 years ago, we were chatting online through Windows Live Messenger (previously MSN Messenger). Yes that's right ! the good ol messenger that everyone loved :D

I remember I was sitting in my room next to a window sometime in the late afternoon. We were discussing plans for our future. This is when she mentioned the idea of us migrating to Australia and living there together. I thought, hey great idea !! So i immediately did a quick google search, and happen to stumble upon Australian Skilled Migration Visa subclass 189/190. I thought to myself, this is doable for me, and so in the next 6 years I dedicated my life into getting this migration visa. Thanks dear Quebe Soong :D

So, the other reasons why we chose Australia (pronounced straya locally??) is:

1. Low Air Pollution
Australian air is a lot cleaner compared to Malaysia. The first time I landed in Melbourne about a week ago, I could immediately felt the difference. To give you an idea for comparison, please click on this link

2. Excellent Healthcare System
Australia's healthcare system (Medicare) is known as one of the best in the world, as it covers many health care cost! to get a more comprehensive details, click on this link. Can't say much as I have not utilized this benefit yet. Hopefully I do not need to as I don't want to be sick :P

3.Awesome Landscapes and Sceneries
Many breathtaking sceneries!! One of my favorite would be Ayers Rock or Uluru which is located in the northern territory. I would visit this place someday :) I think I was captivated by the sight of this rock, with it's red colored texture since I was a kid. If I remember correctly, I first laid eyes on this rock during a TV commercial, it was Dunhill TV advert if I'm not mistaken.

Source

4. Quality Education
Australia has among the best quality education in the world. Although recent reports suggest their education system is declining, I feel i'd rather have my future kids study here than in Malaysia. Now, i'm not condemning Malaysia as Malaysia has produced many outstanding world class graduates.

But hear my opinion. From my experience being taught in Malaysian Primary/Secondary/Tertiary education system, I was somehow led to believe that every problem out there has a textbook solution. At first I did not realize I had this mentality. It was until my first employment in Western Digital that I realized this. In my first 2 years of work, I struggled as I relied on my superiors/seniors for almost any issues I encountered in the company. It was when my boss assigned me to spearhead failure analysis capability in my team that I soon realized there are many ways to work around things. It does not matter if the method is glamorous or crude, as long it works then it's fine.

I started to think, why am I doing things like this? As I kept asking myself this question, a sudden epiphany came to me. Back in school, I remembered the teachers would prefer exam questions be answered using certain methods. It does not matter if the methods you invented lead to the correct answer, you have to use the methods which is approved by the teachers to score. In my humble opinion, this killed the creativity in most students. I am fortunate I broke out of the shell. Please do not be offended by what I am saying here, it is purely my opinion. Malaysia has produced many outstanding graduates over the years. Maybe it is just me? So yeah, I'd prefer my kids to try out the education in Australia as they encourage curiosity in schools, and let's see how they turn out :D Maybe that will be my Steemit post 30 years from now :P

5. Worklife Balance
Have you experienced where your HOD called a daily meeting around 4-5pm, and in the meeting they require you to deliver a report the very next morning? So what do you do? stay back late to complete the task given with no compensation? I was in this predicament during the early days of my employment. Thank goodness the HOD retired early and this nonsense came to a stop. Unfortunately my girlfriend is still in this predicament, and we hope we can get out of this culture altogether. Australia has very strict employment laws where the employee must be compensated if over time are required :) else you gotta leave work on time and enjoy with your families and friends :D

Well, these are the main and sub reasons why we chose Australia. Anyhow, curious of some pictures I took so far in Melbourne? :D Here you go !!

Emotional farewell with my girlfriend and family :( my tears almost came out while walking to KLIA2 immigration :( I thought I wouldn't experience these emotions, but I guess the human heart can really surprise you at times.

During the immigration hand baggage check, this happened >.< my bag zipper spoilt :( I carried this bag with the busted zipper all the way to Melbourne and into my temporary accommodation. If I were to practice what Tony Robbins said about gratitude, this event (with panic emotion) stopped me from almost crying for leaving my girlfriend and family behind :P

Below is where I'm temporary staying at :D it is within eye sight view of Monash University Clayton Campus.

Had this amazing sunset view from my living room ;)

View from the kitchen, I love those brick walls!!

My suburb's train station :D called Syndal Station. Was on the way to Glen Waverly to meet my girlfriend's relatives.

Melbourne CBD ! :D Along Collins/Elizabeth/Bourke/Flinders Street. Sorry forgot which is which :P too busy admiring the clouds and buildings :D Although it is summer, at some days it can be cloudy/rainy and cold as depicted in these pictures. Every hour the clock building will go ding ding dong ;) Like the Japanese school bells if you watched anime or been to their schools :D

Saint Paul Cathedral right outside Flinders Station.

Flinders Station

Forgot which street is this :P apologies for my photography skills >.<

The next few days, during a time of heatwave. The weather was reported to be around 41C >.< clear beautiful blue skies, but don't be fooled. The intense sun rays in Australian summer like this is known to cause skin cancer. Pictures taken near my accomodation.

When I got lost in the intense hot weather :( I think I accidentally took a bus to a nursing home :O I think that is a nursing home.

I have to end this blog here as I have shared almost everything up to now :) I will share another post about my journey in applying skilled migration visa in the future. Maybe that will give you guys some idea how to migrate to Australia. Thanks for reading ! :D

Here is a link to my other post:

1. PTE Academic: Tips for Scoring