Migrants leaving Australia

They flew in from around the world, chasing the Australian dream, but now they can't wait to fly right back out. So what's causing this mass exodus?

The latest figures show that migrants are leaving Australia in record numbers.

There are those who want to stay, and those who can't wait to leave. The grass is supposed to be greener, but it seems ‘the sunburnt country’ is losing its appeal.

Last year alone the number of people coming here to live dropped by nine per cent to 127,000. As well as that 88,000 left, planning to never return. That's double the number of a decade ago.

Some of the comments were:

• Australians in general not as accepting of foreigners.
• TVs, fridges, cars - they're double or triple the price here.
• Movies take like three months to get here.
• There's nothing to do at night.
• It was good enough to get a Skilled Migrants Visa, but not good enough to get a job.
• With all the qualifications under the sun, you might as well throw them in the bin - they're not worth the paper they're written on.
• You need to retrain, get certificates I, II, III for almost everything.
• Everything's more expensive.
• Coming to Australia is a huge commitment, and an expensive exercise.
• Australia's rules, regulations and red tape forces abroad the migrant merry-go-round.
• Life is more expensive, petrol's more expensive, and going to the supermarket is more expensive.
• Cost of living is spinning out of control.
• Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are now among the top twenty priciest cities in the world, where a decade ago they would've just scraped into the top 100.
• Sydney is the most expensive at a $638,000 average. Melbourne is down two per cent to $550,000. Brisbane is at $428,000, and Adelaide at $389,000. Perth is down six per cent off a big high to $450,000. Darwin is over the half million mark, Hobart is at $345,000, and Canberra at $505,000.
• A lot miss the interaction with family, and also lifestyle factors. You know things don't turn out quite as they expected they might.

Read more: http://au.news.yahoo.com/today-tonight/latest/article/-/12721871/migrants-leaving-australia/

Travel Review: Cameron Highlands

We left from Butterworth around 8.30am. Checked the tyre pressure ok and enough petrol. Full tank of petrol is more than enough. At current petrol price of RM1.90/liter, it takes about RM40 one way to Cameron.

The journey was smooth without much traffic on a Sunday morning. After 1.5 hours of drive, we reach Jelapang toll that cost RM16.80. Continuing on, we took the Simpang Pulai exit (RM1.80) to try the new road up Cameron which is wider and less winding.

After passing the toll, at the first traffic light, make a right turn. Then, follow by another right turn at the next traffic light. From here, it's all the way to Cameron. We took our time driving up the mountain while viewing the natural beauty around. Wind down the window and feel the cool breezy air.

After about 45 minutes of drive, we saw the first stop on the right. But we didn't stop. We drove for awhile more and decided to stop at the 88 Holiday Fun Garden, just to look at what it has. We do not recommend buying anything from this stop or earlier stop as the price is simply exorbitant. Maybe they are the first few stops so people might be unaware that cheaper products can be purchased at Brinchang, where there are more choices and prices are more competitive.

We felt hungry so we stop at this 99 CH family food center to have lunch. There are chicken rice, economy rice, fried koay teow. The price is a little pricey but that's expected at tourist places like this. For a plate of chicken rice, it costs RM4. The place was infested with flies though, so I'd recommend trying other places with less cleanliness issues.

After lunch, we continue on our journey to Bharat Tea Estate aka Cameron Valley. We took many pictures of the tea estate and bought some tea products there. Although it's not the best tea estate but it's definitely the most accessible compared to 'Boh' Tea estate at Sg.Palas (more about that later). Disappointing thing about Bharat Tea Estate is there is no guided tour on tea plantation, tea extraction. Just take pictures, get some tea products and leave.

We stop at a few places along the way. There are many stalls along the way. At some places, we stop and bought a small bottle of honey. Honey price are not cheap in Cameron. They go from RM28-35 for the big bottle and RM18-20 for the small bottle. One word of advice is bargain. We manage to bargain for RM12 for the small bottle of honey at the road side stall (later we manage to buy the same bottle for RM9 at Kea Farm). We also bought a pack of strawberry for sample back in the hotel.

We stopped at a mini market and bought strawberry jam and dried strawberry. It was the cheapest strawberry jam you could find in Cameron. Two bottles for RM10. Other places are selling RM6-7 for a bottle.

Next we saw the Sg.Palas 'Boh' tea estate sign and decided to go for it. It's a one and last time experience for us. The road to the tea estate is one of the most narrow we ever drive on. 2km of narrow road. At some places, it's really just one-way for 2 cars. Remember to honk at the curves also as it's impossible to know whether there's car at the opposite direction! It was so scary that we have to concentrate full force and couldn't take photo to show how narrow the road was. The worse part is some unthoughtful drivers who drives fast even though they know that there are traffic coming the opposite direction.

But Sg. Palas 'Boh' tea estate is a nice place. Worth to go at least one time. We've been there once, maybe you should go there once to experience the drive and the place itself. The places is well design and taken care. After parking at the designated parking area, it's about 200m walk up the steps to the tea estate. There's a nice sky cafe where you can enjoy tea. I guess they try not to be too english like hence there was no scone to go with the tea. We had the butter lemon cake and a pot of tea. It's a nice place to take pictures of the tea farm. There is also a guided tour on tea extraction, etc. The main thing is to buy the products. We bought a couple of tea products. Not sure if it's any cheaper to buy here than from Tesco. We'll check that out and update later. We took our time to enjoy our time together there since it's the first and last trip to 'Boh' unless they do something to widen the road. (Few suggestion that 'Boh' can take to ease the way to the estate - (1) put traffic lights at narrow one lane part to allow only one traffic to move at a time (2) put mirrors at the curve as it is impossible to see the opposite traffic.) We spent time until it was nearly time to close about 4.30pm. Then we left. As we left, we still see cars coming in. It's either they're not aware that the place at 4.30pm or they must have started their journey thinking that they can make it to the place before it close but little did they know the road is so narrow, it take a really long time to get in.

Next stop was at Cactus Point. We bought two pots of plants for RM9. By then we were already tired and decided to drive through Brinchang straight to the hotel and check-in at 5pm. Took some rest and head out for dinner at Brinchang town. We tried the steamboat. The set for 2 ppl cost RM15/person. It was okay. If you really want to try the food, just get set for 1 ppl and try other food nearby. Go back hotel and sleep.

Next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel. We could see Old Smokehouse from our hotel room. Strawberry Park resort is also nearby so we decided to take a look. The road to Strawberry Park is one of the most winding road. This is also a first and last place. It's also a land slide prone place. Not recommended to stay. But the Strawberry Park resort is a nice place.

Next to the Strawberry Park resort is the Kasimanis Strawberry farm. this is a recommended place. One of the best strawberry farm in Cameron. The price of strawberry here is cheap. For a box of chunky strawberry for only RM5 elsewhere selling pathetic small strawberry for RM4. The chunky ones are sweeter and best of all, Kasimanis let you try the strawberry before you buy them.

Next we stop at the Multicrop Central Market. Worth to stop. They sell lots of things. you can get pots, stones, key chains, etc. But remember not to buy any roses from the stall outside Multicrop Central Market. They sell 'treated' roses. A packet of 3 stalks cost RM2.50. Nonsense! We can get better deal at Kea Farm where a packet of 6 stalks go for RM3. The cafe at Multicrop Central Market is worth the price. It's cheap and good. We were little hungry and decided to try the hot drink and apple strudels.

Beside Multicrop Central Market is the Uncle Sam Farm. Worth a visit. Well, can't really say what's worth to buy here except for the cherry tomato if you're a tomato fan. One kg of cherry tomato only RM6 and you get to pick from the basket and the cherry tomatoes are huge. Other place one kg goes for RM7-8 and you get small tomatoes. Or the tomatoes come pre-pack. A small pack of 100gram cost RM2.00.

Next stop is Kea Farm. Look out for the first stall on the right. The malay lady here sell honey very cheap. A small bottle of honey RM9, everywhere else RM18-20. Big bottle of honey RM14, elsewhere RM28-35.

Lunch was at Strawberry View restaurant. Nice food, reasonable price. After lunch it was already 4pm. It's time to go back home.

Fun try: one simple way to know when you're getting near to Cameron is by winding down your window. As you get nearer to the top, the air gets cooler.
Tips:
1. if you feel like, stop and take a look at the shops as you drive up from Simpang Pulai. if you need to check-in late, just give a call to the hotel and inform them that you need to check-in late. Take your time to visit the shops along the way. But we remind you, the price is not worth it unless you really like/want the product.
2. remember to honk on your way to Sg.Palas 'Boh' tea estate. the opposite traffic can't really see you. Honk and be safe.
3. Get steamboat set for 1 ppl share 2 ppl and try other food nearby.

Travel Review: Cameron Highlands part 2

Where to buy:

Roses:

• The best place to buy roses would be at the Kea Farm market.
• Sometimes roses are aplenty - when it's not raining; you can get 2 dozens roses (that's 24 stalks!) for RM5. But during rainy times, roses are less available and goes from RM3 for 6 stalks of non-red roses and RM3 for 4 stalks of red roses. (Not sure why red roses are more expensive??)
• Even at Kea Farm, it's still possible to find different stalls selling difference prices. Some stalls are selling a packet of 6 stalks for RM3. If you buy 4 packets for RM10. There's this stalls that sell a packet of 10 stalks for RM5. Worth it!
  
• Beware of the stall selling roses at Multi Crop market. They're selling for RM5 for only 2 packets of 3 roses each. Super expensive! They're selling on the pre-text that their roses are "treated" roses. (funny look)

Honey

• Don't get honey from the bee farm. Very expensive. Generally they go from RM28-RM35. For this price, it's better to get imported Capilano honey from Australia.
  
• The best value honey can be found in Kea Farm market also. The first stall on the right along the road, you can buy the honey for RM15 for the big bottle and RM10 for the small bottle. We manage to bargain it to RM14 for big and RM9 for small.
  
• The other stall along the road and mini markets are selling at RM28 for the big bottle and RM18 for the small bottle. At the mini market, it's fixed price. At the stalls, because you can bargain, you can get the big bottle at RM25 and small bottle at RM15. But if you want it cheaper, try Kea Farm.

Strawberry

• This is tough. Everywhere strawberries are selling from RM4 for a small box to RM15 for a big box.
  
• When buying strawberries, choose the bigger berries as they are sweeter. The smaller ones , even though they are cheap, are not worth it.
  
• The best place to buy we think would be Kasimanis Strawberry farm. you can ask to taste the strawberry first. their strawberries are bigger and taste sweeter.
  
• 
  

How To : Protect Yourself Online

According to Google*, malware poses an increasing threat to Web surfers. The search giant carried out in-depth research on 4.5 million Web sites and found 1 in 10 Web pages can successfully launch a "drive-by-download"—such as a Trojan—onto a user's computer.

So what can you do to protect yourself, your privacy and your identity? Here are five tips that should have you surfing more securely:

1. Use strong passwords.
With everything requiring a password, from your email, to your facebook, to download accounts and bank accounts, it's easy to choose a simple password to make it easier to remember. Unfortunately, this leads to hackers finding it easy to bypass your passwords and gaining access to YOUR information. Make sure that it's protected by using a strong password :

• must contain at least 8 characters.
• contains a mix of letters, numbers, and special symbols.
• must not be a word in the dictionary.
• should never be any personal information such as a name or address.

2. Secure your browser.
Oftentimes, it's easy to just click OK to every pop up that comes along. "Remember your password?" Click OK. "Always trust content from this publisher?" Click OK again. What you may not know is that you may be clicking OK to a hacker to access your browser. Increase security in your browser by always reading the pop up messages and understanding before you click OK. Increase the security levels of your zones in the browser, by using the Security option under your browser options menu.

3. Keep a clean cache.
Every website you log into will populate a cookie on your browser. Cookies are little bits of text files that are stored in your cookie folder, which essentially logs your IP, activities, username and passwords. They are also used to prove authentication during a session. For instance, once you have logged into your bank Web site, a cookie is created and stored on your system. If an attacker acquired this cookie, it could then be used to impersonate you. To prevent this, do not surf other Web sites while still being logged into a bank—or any secure Web site for that matter. Be sure to log out of the bank site because this will usually delete the session cookie.

4. Beware of phishing.
Websites that are configured to look like the real thing - frequent websites that are targetted are bank websites, shopping online sites and even car retails. Anything that is connected to something that you transact with either your bank account or your credit card. When you log in unsuspectingly, your details will be captured and leads to identity theft. For more information on phishing attacks and how to report them, please visit Report Phishing provided by US-CERT Coordination Center.

5. Verify a secure website.
Make sure the website you enter your personal information on is secure. When a site is “secure,” the communication is encrypted using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). There are two ways to verify that the page utilizes SSL :

1. The first method is to look at the address bar to inspect the URL or Web page address. It should begin with “https” rather than “http.”
2. The other method is to look for the lock icon. Depending on your browser, this icon will be located in a different place. In Internet Explorer 6 and 7, the lock is on the bottom right hand corner of the window. In later versions of the browser the lock is by the URL as part of the address bar. By clicking on this icon, you will be able to view the SSL Certificate by a Certificate Authority.

Ultimately though, it is your responsibility to ensure that the website is secure before providing any information on it.

Food Review : OXO Queensbay

We walked into the newly opened OXO Cafelab (check it out at http://oxo.com.my/). The website was very attractive and we were very impressed when we walked in. The decor in the place is excellent - most of the dining area seating is on couches which looked very comfortable. We picked the couch on a raised dais near the entrance. Good impression so far.

The manager however was a different story. We were passed a set of "express set menu" - basically it is just a piece of paper with about 5 different sets ranging from RM11.90 - RM22.90. The set comes with soup, bread, a drink, dessert and ice cream. When we requested to look at the ala carte menu, he told us not to order it as it will "take a long time". Somehow he was very reluctant to let us see the ala carte menu - why?!? It doesn't hurt to check out the choices, does it?

Anyhow, we browsed through the menu. Prices are notably steep - the standard chicken chop that you can normally get outside for about RM7 is selling for more than twice the price (RM15.80++). When our friend arrived to join us at the table, we were scolded by the manager for not telling him that we had a party of 3 as they had to re-set the extra set of utensils on the table. And this was after we had informed the waiter that we had 3 people in our party. We're obviously ticked off by his attitude.

The final straw came when my friend spotted about 4-5 flies sitting on the bread that was placed on our table. As we had been browsing through the menu, we had not noticed that they were on it. Yucks! The place was really infested with flies! When we requested to change the bread, the manager informed us that it's normal because of the swamp nearby. Erks... does this mean all the food has been visited by the flies before?

That's what we decided that enough was enough and took a walk... out of that restaurant. When the quality improves to something beyond just the decor, we'll be back. Until then, it needs some serious upgrades in terms of customer service and cleanliness.

How To : Go Green In Your Home

Help Earth Day by going green in your home. Here's some eco-friendly steps to take :

1. Freshen The Air.
Go the natural way - throw away those synthetic air fresheners as they do release toxins that have been proven to contribute to headaches, depression, ear infections and diarrhoea. Instead, try using some baking soda to kill odours, a bouquet of flowers for natural scents or try a bunch of pandan leaves (cheap alternative) as it absorbs bad smells and gives out a more fresh smell.

2. BBQ On!
But make sure to use a gas-powered grill because natural gas burns cleaner and produces 45% less CO2 compared to coal. It is also more earth-friendly than charcoal and wood which produce soot that add to air pollution.

3. Mow The Lawn.
Don't throw away the grass clippings after you're done. The clippings will decompose in days and provide important nutrients in the soil for other plants. And good news to the gardeners, it will help stifle the growth of some types of weeds. It will also help earth worms breed which is good, as they aerate the soil and enrich it with their waste.

4. Save Water.
Instead of washing fruits and vege under a running tap, wash them in the sink or a basin half-filled with water. You save about 40 litres of water this way.

How To : Boost Your Health Through The Power Of Green Tea!

Green tea brings a lot of health benefits. To brew a top-notch cup of tea, pour boiling water into a cup and let it cool for around 2-3 minutes. Add the green tea into the water and let it steep for another 2-3 minutes. Don't oversteep it as the taste and goodness will be affected. Green tea is best enjoyed after a meal.

1. Prevents Cancer
Drinking green tea helps to prevent cancer. Green tea contains polyphenols, which block the growth of cancer cells. According to research, women with breast cancer who drink at least five cups a day, have tumors that spread slower and these women are less likely to have the cancer return. Green tea also reduces the risks for esophageal, gastric and skin cancer.

2. Protects Brain Cells
The previously mentioned antioxidant, polyphenol, when fed to mice induced with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, helped to protect brain cells from dying, as well as 'rescuing' already damaged neurons in the brain, a phenomenon called neurorescue or neurorestoration.

3. Burns More Calories
Use green tea properties to help you shed extra pounds. Studies show that people who drink green tea with caffeine burn calories faster. Studies showed that average fat oxidation rates were 17% higher after ingestion of Green Tea Extract than after ingestion of a placebo.

4. Lowers Cholesterol
Lower your cholesterol with green tea. It lowers the bad cholesterol and supports the good cholesterol. It also prevents blood clots from forming. This is important since blood clots are the major cause of heart attacks and strokes.

5. Protects Teeth
Protect your teeth with green tea. It destroys the bacteria that produces plaque.