AUSTRALIA

How to survive Perth with only $400

Friday, April 28, 2017



Malaysians love Australia. Ever since I was small, people talk about Australia and its kangaroos and koalas all the time. Back in 2015, I started a job that didn't allow me to take a long break.  Often, I would imagine myself strolling along the streets in Perth. It's what kept me motivated to save up and plan this trip. A trip to Perth was like a gift for myself after I quit the job in July. Even with a tight budget, I was grateful I was still able to enjoy Perth.


Listed below is our real expenses in Perth for 6 days.
Click the image for a better image quality.


Until this moment, I couldn't believe that we were actually able to restrain ourselves from shopping since there were a lot of things that were way cheaper than in our home country.

Maybe some people wonder about our flight tickets and accommodation. Below are the details for 3 persons.

Return flight : MYR 2,051.52
Mountway Holiday Apartment : MYR1465.67
Visa ETA : MYR 60 with Akasia Travel and Tours

Now I can safely say with only $400 in my pocket, I survived Perth.


It's not impossible to visit Perth with a limited budget. All you need are careful planning and research. Good luck.

AUSTRALIA

Perth, Australia : Tips for Moslems

Monday, April 17, 2017


Below are some tips for my Moslems friends who wish to visit Perth.

1. Halal Food

The first question my mom asked when I suggested for us to visit Perth was whether it's easy to find halal food. 
The answer is YES! It's very easy to find halal food as there are so many f&b outlets owned by Muslims around the city. It may be a bit harder the further you're from the city but worry not, with websites such as HALAL SQUARE , ZABIHAH and AUSSIEMUSLIMS now you don't have to order seafoods anymore.

At the supermarket, there are so many products with Halal logo certified by various bodies such as Australia Muslims Authority, JAKIM (Malaysia), The Islamic Committee of Thailand (Thailand) and Indonesia.

2. Prayer halls

A shared prayer hall can be found near car rental kiosk at the Perth Airport. Most of the tourist attractions however do not provide prayer hall. 
At Watertown Brand Outlet, a prayer room is available at the information office, if I'm not mistaken. When there is no prayer room available,we would perform our obligations anywhere we ought suitable and clean. 

For example, we prayed in the middle of the dessert, under a tree at Lancelin Sand Dunes.
At Fremantle Round House, ablution was performed with sea water behind the Round House and we found a secluded area to perform our prayer. Don't forget to download apps such as Muslim Pro that provides information about prayer times and qibla. (Available for Android and iPhone).

3. Islamophobia

I didn't experience any discrimination by the locals nor tourists despite of my headscarf. I believe that Aussies are very open-minded that they don't allow such a negative influence to penetrate their mind. Hehe.
I hope the tips on how a Muslim travels in Perth would be helpful to you.


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AUSTRALIA

Perth, Australia : 9 tips to visit Perth on a budget

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Budget is actually one of the main things to plan when you go for a trip. I'm always a cheapskate when it comes to travel. I'm not really a backpacker, but I do travel on a shoestring budget. Below are 9 tips on how to minimise your spending when you visit Perth.

1. Plan your itinerary
Having an itinerary is one of the most crucial things for those who are visiting in limited time and have a tight budget. Take time to plan your itinerary. 
For those who just learned to travel on your own without following any travel agency, you can refer to other people's itinerary and from it, you can arrange which attractions to visit on which day.

2. Public transport vs Car rental

My visit to Perth was with my parent. I cannot imagine having my mother carry her luggage onto the bus or trains. As most of the points of attraction we would like to visit are not within walking distance from bus stations and in my opinion, it's cheaper to drive rather than to hail a cab/taxi. So hiring a car from and to the airport was our best option. Below is the list of some of the car rental companies as promised.
It is also wise to visit Vroom Vroom Vroom to compare the best car rental deals from several companies. 


The best deal I got was from the Ace Car Rental which was only AUD220.01 with unlimited miles. I heard from other people, Bayswater also offers good deals for their cars.

What are the things you should know before you hire a car in Australia? I'll do a different post for that.

3. Skip expensive tour

Travelling on a shoestring budget doesn't mean you experience less than other people. However there are certain activities that can be skipped to save your money such AUD 28 for 1 hour-Mandurah Dolphin Cruise and AUD20-60 for Fremantle Prison Tour Packages. It's not because those tours are not interesting but in my regret, I paid too much to see a dolphin for less than a minute!

4. Check out for promotions, coupons,discounts and offers.

Some tourist attractions offer discounted entrance fees on certain days. You can opt to visit the points of attraction on the day they offer cheaper tickets such as the Mandurah Cruises offers discounted tour for only AUD25 on Tuesday and I find that the entrance fees for Araluen Botanic Park are slightly higher during Tulip Festival. We paid AUD12 per pax when we visited it in August 2015 while now the entrance fee stated on their website is only AUD6 per adult. They also offer special price on Tuesday.

5. Shopping at Watertown Outlet

Shopping for anything other than souvenirs shouldn't be on any backpacker's list, evah. But one cannot have too many shirts right? Watertown Outlet is actually a good place to shop. Cotton On, Rip Curl and Fossil are among the stores that sell their products at much cheaper price than their outlets in Malaysia.

6. Cook
It's pretty simple, aite? I didn't cook actually but more of heating our MREs that we brought from Malaysia. I had nasi lemak in Perth yeay.  I remember we also bought eggs and cook them in the microwave. Food in Perth is not very expensive, to be honest. But we just felt that we could save up a lot more if we cook our own meals. For this trip, I allocated around AUD10 for each person per day, just for food, errr more specifically just for lunch. We had our breakfasts and dinners at the hotel.

However before you fly in all the food stocks with you, it is advisable to check whether it's permissible or not since Australian customs are quite strict. Make sure to declare every item you bring with you.


7. Parking fees

One of the disadvantages of driving on our own is that I tend to worry about parking fees. The rate of the parking fees in Perth is quite high, in my opinion. Parking fees around CBD area could cost you about AUD 4.40 per hour. Parking area in the building is around AUD10-14 per hour. There's a free parking zone at the most of the places I visited except for the city. In the city, free parkings are available from 6pm until 8am. However most of the shops will be closed at 5pm.

8. Fill up at the cheapest petrol station

Petrol price in Australia changes daily, if I'm not mistaken (or weekly) in accordance to the international market. The petrol price will be higher the further you are from the city. The prices may also vary depending on the companies. Different companies, different price. My advice: check the price signs and compare. Most of the times we fill up our tank with Unleaded 91 at Caltex. 

9. Halal Food and Restaurant

There are so many halal food in Australia. Visit Halal Square and Zabihah to find out more about halal restaurants or restaurants with halal certificate. Most of the chocolate brands are halal and pork free. There are halal brands like Maggi, Harvest Fresh Milk, Sun Rice, Ayam Brand products available at Woolworths Mart. Fresh fruits and veggies also wouldn't cost you much. 



AUSTRALIA

Perth, Australia : An Introduction

Tuesday, December 13, 2016


I flew to Perth from Kuala Lumpur on 28th August, 2016 with AirAsia, a Malaysian low-cost airline. It was at the end of winter so the weather was still quite cold. Having lived my whole life in Malaysia, where the weather is usually hot, it was hard to adjust myself with the local temperature. My first 8 hours were spent shivering. Laugh all you want, but my body is just so Malaysian. 

Winter.... in August?
Most of us know that generally, Summer runs from June to August, Autumn/Fall runs from September to November, Winter is between December to February and lastly Summer will begin in June and end in August. However this is not how seasons run in Australia. The winter in Perth runs from June to August but luckily for me there is no snowfall in Perth.

Geography
Australia can be divided into 6 states namely New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. Perth is the capital of Western Australia. To compare it with other cities like Melbourne and Sydney, Perth is not a busy city and people tend to be more relaxed. 

People
Talking about the people I met in Perth, I find that they are very friendly especially the elderly. Greetings such g'days and hellos are casually thrown in the streets make us feel welcomed. Don't be afraid to ask for directions as most of them are VERY helpful.

Gears
Wear sport shoes/sneakers and thick socks. And and and don't forget to bring your winter clothes.

Transportation
It's easy to travel in Perth using public transports or even to hire a car. Perth has a Free Transit Zone for buses and trains. You can even check the schedule and fares on the website to save your time and budget. It is also worth to note that it is very convenient to have a long walk in Perth CBD. For car hire companies, among the popular companies are Aries, Bayswater and Hertz. I will list down all the car rental companies available in Perth in my next post.

Till next post. Tadaa.


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