Originally Posted by Seasider

You very kaypoh one. Six years.

Originally Posted by Seasider

all the ABCs look at me as if I'm loopy.

Originally Posted by Vash the Stampede

Wa lau!

I picked up the lingo from my Singaporean colleagues when I worked for Australia Post.

They used to call me kiasu because I was a bit competitive.

Originally Posted by Seasider

I was in a cafe yesterday and a guy sitting near to me was on his phone, I just knew he was Singaporean without even looking round. Sing-songy convo littered with lahs; made me smile.

My problem here is I'm so used to speaking Singlish with anybody remotely SEAsian that I can't stop doing it, and all the ABCs look at me as if I'm loopy.

Originally Posted by sr71

A couple of things.

Arrogance regarding history is something that really annoys me. Australia has some of the oldest continually inhabited areas in the world. Take the Wurundjeri aboriginals that have lived in Keilor for 40,000 years and were around when Tasmania was still connected via a landbridge to the rest of Australia. And in any case all Australians can rightfully lay claim to their ancestors history too.

Secondly, car prices are obviously driven by their value in the market - their value is not determined by what you think they should be in comparison to other countries, their value is determined bye what buyers and sellers are willing to pay - it is that simple. It's like people who complain about their house prices and say things like "It's worth $500K" - No, it's worth what someone will pay for it.

And in many respects I think the UK car prices are ridiculous and are unrealistic. They don't last as long over there so do depreciate more, but easy credit, keeping up with the Jones's etc has a big effect on them beng undervalued. Many of my colleagues were obsessed with changing cars every 2-3 years and it's turned them into a disposable commodity.

Originally Posted by ABCDiamond

What's an ABC ?

Originally Posted by ABCDiamond

What's an ABC ?

Originally Posted by Family of 3

My God. If a Singaoporean thinks you're kiasu......well I can see where you get your user name from.

Originally Posted by Geelong Gent

Australian Born Chinese

similar to

British Born Chinese (BBC)

Originally Posted by Seasider

Australian Born Chinese, not to be confused with BBC. I like Singlish; it's economical. I say Alamak! and Aiyoh! a lot. Still say can or cannot, too.

Originally Posted by joho

There is always a debate about wether Australia is now expensive to live. Lets have some facts.

I have been here 3 years+ and find that I really dont think about the diffences in price anymore. But when I first moved I did think that it was exspensive. One of the reasons I think is that when you compare dollars to pounds it sounds so much more for a start which will trick our brain into thinking it is. When I compare a price I use an exchange of 2.5 to the pound because thats approx what it was when we moved and anything after doesnt matter because we live here and we dont have to exchange it anymore. Some things are more expensive but some are cheaper lets compare some.

Council Tax/rates $1300 approx a year
Water $200 a year (for me less tanks)
Electric $170 a month but no gas
Car ins $46 a month
car rego and green slip $550 a year (probably more expensive)
house ins $80 a month building and contents
Phone bill is approx $150 a month but includes top broadband, free local, free std, free to optus mobiles and uk calls 2c a minute (3 teenagers too)
Petrol at a massive $1.65 approx still cheap to uk though.

Jo