Searching for an apartment with no credit

I think, as of this morning at least, I am about 90% done finding an apartment.  It's been quite the process down here without having any Australian credit history.  Trying to get a cell phone, credit card and now an apartment has all been quite the challenge.  Best part of it all is I only think I found a good place in a good location.  Everyone has said it's a good spot, close to restaurants (just a few blocks from the 67th best restaurant in the world) and bars and such but until I actually start spending sometime there, I just won't know for sure.

Assuming everything goes as expected, I've taken a few shots from the website.  This will probably jinx it.  It's a one bedroom with an open kitchen and living area.  The part that I really liked about it was that it has floor to ceiling windows and two balcony's that run the length of the apartment; one off the living area and one off the bedroom.  It's a new building which will was also a big seller seeing as though most of the places I looked at didn't look like they have had any work put into them in the past 10 years.  And I was told it will include a fridge and washer/dryer so I won't have to worry about buying and moving with that.  Of course this could all fall through, but I'm hopeful.

Happy ANZAC Day

It's ANZAC Day here in Australia and New Zealand. The day celebrates the two countries landing in Gallipoli during World War I. It's similar to Memorial Day in the states with fireworks at Darling Harbour last night, a march (parade) today and a day off of work tomorrow. The march goes right through downtown and there are about 1,200 WWII vets marching in one way shape or form.

I spent yesterday looking for apartments and after walking (and sometimes running to make an inspection) I calculated I walked around 16k yesterday. Thankfully I think I found a place. I have to put in an application on Tuesday and hope no one got there before me.

Well, today's the first bad weather day in Sydney since I got here so I think I'm going to check out a movie. I checked online and it said it was AUD$27. Hopefully I misread.

Fries with that, mate?

I’ve noticed that Australian TV is just like US TV, only two weeks behind. A good number of the major shows (Two and a Half Men, Modern Family, Survivor, American Idol, and yes, even NCIS and every spin off that has been created off that show) are airing relatively recent episodes. With the way internet works down here (paying for a certain amount of data per month), it’s good to know that I won’t have to stream it all through Hulu (unless of course the iPad Hulu app turns out to be pretty slick).

Most of the times I’ve laughed out loud have been at the commercials. There’s nothing stranger than watching a McDonald’s add than to have Ronald make an appearance with a thick Aussie accent. Even though all the other actors are locals, I wasn’t expecting Ronald to have the accent. It was nice to see that he was teaching fire safety to the kids instead of pushing french fries though.

Another commercial that I hadn’t seen in the US was for the Duvet Suit. Sure, the US has its Snuggie, but the Aussies have taken this to a whole new level. The Duvet Suit (www.lazypatch.com) is a full on suit (pants and coat) with boots, if you want, made out of a comforter. Not only can you answer the phone without the free and unobstructed arms, you also don’t need anything else to fall asleep with in the winter (which only gets down to the 30s here, by the way).

The Aussie TV shows are pretty entertaining to. They have a show about Kings Cross during the mob years of the late 80s and 90s. I walked past Kings Cross this past weekend leaving a bar to see what it was all about. And it was everything that everyone warned me about. From what I saw, it looked like a street full of bars that were packed with every single study abroad student treating every weekend like it’s spring break in Cancun. It was entertaining to see, but probably only because I kept my distance.

There is also a show here called Master Chef which is a competition for amateur cooks. I think it’s coming to the states soon and judged by Graham Elliott and Gordon Ramsey. The basic premise is there are 50 cooks who make some type of dish (Barbeque, regional, etc). The bottom 10 have to cook a specific dish with a provided recipe and the 5 worst are sent home. After seeing last night’s episode, I know why Gordon Ramsey wanted to be involved (other than the paycheck to help his empire that is going straight down the financial drain). The top 10 were chosen to cook for two spots in the final 24 all based on their ability to cook (if you’ve watched Hell’s Kitchen you probably have an idea of what they had to make) Beef Wellington. The best part was half the people on the Aussie show had no idea what it was. Beef Wellington, for those that don’t watch Hell’s Kitchen, is apparently the hardest thing that Gordon Ramsey thinks someone can cook and just about everyone seems to fail making it on his show. Outside of the entertainment factor (one guy’s nerves made him slice the tips of two of his fingers in the first episode), the complete over-the-top judges makes it worth watching. Everything comes across as maybe the worst thing in the world until all of a sudden, he says that it’s the best ever. Definitely a little contrived, but entertaining none the less. Now I just have to figure out how casting works for next season.

Trust the streets

So after my first week here, I think I'm becoming pretty familiar with the area. I have noticed a few things that are though:
Always trust the streets…

I’m still having a hard time just walking on the left hand side of the sidewalk. I can only imagine what it will be like once I get behind the wheel of a car. People must think I’m drunk drifting from the right side back to the left.

I started to look for apartments this weekend and went out to Bondi Beach. It was a great view…

Until I saw this…

Not really sure what this means, but I’m definitely going to have to look into that. I looked at all unfurnished places this weekend and found out pretty quickly that unfurnished really means unfurnished. None of the places had a fridge though they all boasted about having laundry. Turns out laundry means hookups for a washer and dryer. That probably wasn’t too bad because I didn’t really see anything I liked. I have a few other suburbs (more like neighborhoods) to look at this weekend. Hopefully there will be something a little newer and bigger.








I feel like I had a few other things I’ve noticed, but since I still don’t have internet at my place and didn’t write them down, they're gone (aren't I too young for this to happen). If I come across them this week, I’ll try to do better.

Oh, and I finally got the picture from the office:

I've been welcomed to the land down unda

After a good 22 hours of traveling and sitting around I've made it. What was almost more impressive Than bring on time was that my 4 monster bags and golf clubs made it as well (and that I wasn't detained going through immigration). I got situated in the corporate housing but unfortunately there isn't any internet connectivity. I found a cafe with wifi this morning and ordered a coffee. While I don't drink coffee too often, this stuff is bad. About as thick as sludge.

The office will be a tight space for five people but it's on the 56th floor and has a great view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I still have figured out how to add pictures here, but I'll get some up soon. It's bright and early here and I'm hoping to get a few local accounts set up and explore the city today. I also plan on finding a good place for dinner. Now that I'm wired from more caffeine than I've had in the past 6 months I'm off to wander.