Australia // Food & Drink and the strange case of the BYO

"There are many points in life when we cannot see what awaits us around the corner, and it is precisely at such times, when our path forward is unclear, that we must bravely keep our nerve, resolutely putting one foot before the other as we march blindly into the dark" 

Ciao a tutti,

Back in Milano after an 18-day-trip along the East Coast. Simply perfect! Breathed every single moment, tasted every single street, swum every single sea and surfed a wave every 10 ;)

Once arrived in Sydney last September I realized very quickly I forgot almost everything of my year there and I felt a bit upset. How was it possible? Everything already gone?

Actually, it wasn't.





Everything was there... I just needed to feel home again.

For instance... at the Coles (ed. an Australian supermarket chain) I felt as strange to see the liquor section outside the supermarket. I was in front of a reality I perfectly knew - I mean I know that alcohol is sold outside the supermarket - but I was not used to it any longer.

You might not know that .... but in Australia if you want a bottle of wine or a 6-pack of beer, you don't find it in the aisles of the supermarket, but at the shop next-door because according to the Australian laws every liquor shop requires a special license and that's even the reason why some bars or restaurants do not sell alcohol.

Some of them are called BYO, or Bring Your Own, that means that people can bring their own wine or beer to enjoy with their meal since they do not have a licence for that. Usually a small corkage fee is applied - around 5 / 10 AUD - either per bottle or per head.

BYO was first introduced in 1965. This was pretty cool because many small restaurants were able to open without having to pay thousands of dollars for a liquor license. Dining out suddenly became affordable. In particular for travellers lol. And that's was my case (Yellow Tail n°1 - btw we have that brand in Milan as well).

Me @ Pyrmont Bridge - Sydney, 28th April 2015

My first work place, a pizza shop, was a BYO. Its name was Gladiatori, unfortunately it has changed owner, but trust me that was for me the best pizza I have ever eaten. All ingredients coming from Italy... I can honestly say that I didn't miss Italian food there.

The shop was located in Pyrmont, a residential area of Sydney, very close the CBD. I still remember the long walks from Market St. to get there across the Pyrmont bridge. If I close my eyes it's still all there...

I am at home.

"The person who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd.
The person who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been before." - A. Einstein

Tax File Number - otherwise known as TFN

Bondi Beach - waiting for the perfect wave

In exactly one week I'll be leaving to Sydney again :) Trying to arrange a kind of planning to visit the most of the East Coast in 18 days. I guess I'll try to keep you posted on the way.

However I still need to accomplish my first task, that is supporting those who are starting their gap years in Australia, so after the steps I have already pointed out:

- Bank Account
- Sim card
- Health Insurance -- Medicare

now it's the turn of the TFN. What's the TFN?

It was the ...3rd July 2014 (ThUrSdAy) - The TFN

TFN stays for Tax File Number which is your personal reference number in the tax and super systems.

Before finding a job there (and well this reminds me I have to talk about how to find a job in Australia, it'll be on my next post), you need to apply for a TFN.

It's necessary to declare your income and pay taxes in regards to them (as you do in your Home country) and once you leave the Country you can claim your taxes back... which I have not done yet... my fault...

I'll try now to get informed and I'll let you know as soon as possible. I'll do next week once in Sydney. (Cool to say that)

To apply for it, it's really easy... please click here and you will find all the instructions, step by step. Hard to miss it :)

It's all for today. Share the love!
Val

d2R

Chapter 2, part 2 - Newtown and its vintage touch (#vintage #vinnies #thelentilasanything)

Good evening, Everybody!

"With the sunshine in my pocket" or maybe "with the moonshine", I'm writing (as promised) my second chapter on Newtown and its vintage loving soul.

Newtown's vintage clothing and retro furniture scene began when vintage was still called second hand and most people were just thinking of second hand as a way to save money.

Now it is not like that anymore. Vintage is urban, posh and alternative and that's Newtown as well.

Newtown suburb

This lively suburb is located to the south-west of Sydney and easy to reach by bus.

A good place to start your 'retro' journey is to head down to South King Street. A large street full of old stuff everywhere, weird things and ... dust... heaps of dust 😊

Among all the various show windows, there is a chain called "Vinnies" which you will meet almost everywhere in Sydney and I guess all around Australia as well.

I would like to talk briefly about what is behind this chain.

One of the paricular shops on South King Street

It was found by the Vincent de Paul Society, a lay Catholic organisation that works to shape a more just society and tries to offer a "hand up" to people in need.


You can donate your old clothes (but still in good conditions) or buy at these shops knowing that you are helping someone.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Me in "Flashdance-mood" @ Vinnies

One of the vintage shops in Newtown

I bought several good things there and sometimes I had even great fun in trying different styles through times. If you have theme parties or special events you can really find what suits you at a very good deal.

"When you give up your dreams, you die." 

Another interesting stop there is at the Lentil as anything. From outside it looks like a regular bar but it will save your belly if you do not have money.

It's a unique not for profit community organisation, at whose core is "the pay as you feel" philsophy, where customers give what they feel the food is worth.


So basically you can eat as much as you want even for 1 $, though this organisation is made to help the community.

So if you feel like supporting them and you can, please pay 50 $/dish LoL.

It's all for today. I wish you a lovely night and follow your dreams!



How to get there: from Central station --> buses 423 // 308, metro T3 direction Bankstown Line

Medicare

16th June 2014 (MoNdAy) -  ThE MeDiCaRe

Picture taken on 9 August '14, somewhere in Sydney

G'day, mates!! Remember that:

"Nothing is impossible the word itself says I'm possible" 

Today I'll go back to those famous first steps to take once you arrive in Australia. So here we are.


Checklist:

1. a bank account (see my previous post)

2. sim card (see my previous post)
3. health insurance

Every time we travel we need both a travel and health insurance. In Australia the medical system relies on the so-called Medicare.



It provides access to medical and hospital services for all Australian residents and certain categories of visitors to Australia, coming from New Zealand, the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, ITALY, Belgium, Malta, Slovenia and Norway.

The agreements between Australia and those Countries allow:

- Australian residents to get help with the cost of essential medical treatment when visiting these countries 

- residents of  these countries can get some essential medical treatments while visiting Australia.

What you need to do as Italian citizen is to go to the ASL (a kind of Local Health Authority of your town) and ask for the"Accordo di reciprocità tra l'Italia e l'Australia in materia di assistenza sanitaria" (Reciprocal Health Care Agreements).

---- VERY VERY IMPORTANT ----

This agreement lasts for the first six months, after that you need to purchase a private insurance. The supplementary insurance of the months left on your visa has to  be purchased in advance when you are still in your homecountry.

Picture taken on 26 September '14 - CBD, Sydney

In December I discovered that it was much more expensive to buy one there, so I decided to think positive and I was sure I didn't need one :)

But PLS do not do that!

So to sum up, what you have to do is:

- going to the ASL office of your hometown and request the Reciprocal Health Care Agreements

- purchase the remaining six-month insurance

- once in Australia go to FAMILY CARE DPTM, they are almost everywhere in Sydney. I went on 16 June to the Town Hall Arcade (464-480 Kent St.). I've just found the note on my agenda.

There you need:
- your passport and a valid visa
- identification card showing you are enrolled in your country's national health scheme (tessera sanitaria italiana)

If your Medicare application is approved, you will receive an Australian reciprocal health care card in the mail in two weeks' time :)

Follow this link to find your closest medicare in Sydney.

Italy // Roma: The Gianicolo walk - "The Rome that distracts from the bad days"

Today I won't talk about Sydney for once :)

I know it has been a while I'm not updating my blog, but honestly I was not really in the mood and I have decided not to do anything against my mood  any longer ;)

SO.... A MONTH LATER... HERE I AM!

The Gianicolo - view

It's the turn of Rome, the eternal city. This time I'm not alone, I'm with Patrizio, a friend of mine who is here for work... while I'm chilling :)

Why not Sydney today? Simply because my journal is a travel to the hidden selves of all the cities I've visited.

It's about all the places I have been and which chapter of my personal travel they represent.

I believe that everytime we decide to start a journey there is always something we want to demonstrate to ourselves. And it works like this for everyone.

So going back... last March Pat and I had a nice walk to the Gianicolo and - on a cloudy day - it looked funny we both found this sentence quite perfect for us:

"La Roma che distoglie dalle
giornate storte"

"This is the Rome that distracts from the bad days"


Up to the hill we found the Tempietto of Bramante, a hidden treasure.

By walking around it, it's possible to descend a tiny and tight staircase into its base, and see the altar with its traditional upside-down cross, the cross of St. Peter.

You can see the Tempietto anytime by peering through the gate, but of course if you get the chance to walk in it's much better to have a look from the inside.




The Church was built where Peter was thought to have been martyred. The shape is circular, a beloved form in the Renaissance.

A true jewel of the "Eternal city" that does distract from the bad days.




Well, it's still not all for today! But I need to go... see ya!

Lovely Italian food :)

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place" - G.B. Shaw (Amaysim, Telstra & Co.)

China - Italy - Australia

Gb ergo sum.


Second thing in a foreign country is a SiM cArD. It's really important to discover which mobile plan suits you most. For me it was Amaysim. My first flatmate Robert suggested me this company and I was pretty happy with that.

My plan was of 45 dollars/month but I 've just had a quick look on their web page and I have seen they have a kind of  "no worries" mobile plan with 5GB and unlimited talk & texts for 39.90 dollars/month.

Basically, the best deals are usually from smaller mobile companies which use the big telco companies networks (Amaysim and Yatango Mobile use for instance the Optus Network). The best deal depends on your calls, texting, data use and how long you want your credit to last.

We can split the users according three types:

- heavy
- medium
- light

Getting ready for work @Gladiatori

For heavy users the Amaysim Mobile Unlimited ist the best pick, that is 5GB and unlimited talk & texts for 39.90 dollars/month.

For medium users there is unlimited calls & texts + 1Gb Mobile data for 24.90 dollars/month always of Amaysim and

for light users the best offer is from Telstra with 200 dollars calls & 200Mb Data for 12.50 dollars/month.


When I started with Amaysim, the activation was really quick. Everything can be easily requested online and once done you receive the sim card by post. You get the bill monthly and it goes directly away from your bank account. That's why the first step is to open one (see my previous post).

Once again it's all for today :) I wish to all of you a good night and sweet dreams :)

"How beautiful the world would be if there were a procedure for moving through labyrinths" - U. Eco

Chapter 2, part 1 - Newtown (#Gawaa #SteertArt)

---- First draft, 15th May '15 ----


Today we are in another verly lively suburb of Sydney, Newtown.

ARTISTIC

VINTAGE

RECYCLING

GRAFFITI

URBAN

STREET

ART

MULTICULTURAL

VIBE

UNKNOWN

INSTALLATIONS

ALTERNATIVE

These are just few of the words that pop into my mind while thinking of Newtown.

Actually, I discovered this area quite at the end of my stay in Sydney (it was in May), accidently from a bus. It was so full of lights, people, sounds, traffic and I had simply realized...

I didn't know all that :) 

I went back a week after to explore the place and take some notes for my journal. So here I am :)

"ThAnk YoU tO the South WeSt GoBi deSEerT wINd aNd itS bLuE Sky, My BiRThPlaCe", #Gawaa

Newtown - Sydney, #toomanythingstodonotenoughtime, Gawaa

This poster, "too many things to do, not enough time", belongs to the so-called Goddard Street Gallery, which is a sort of open-air art gallery.

It has been realized by a Mongolian ARTIST, Gawaa, who moved to Brisbane and then to Sydney a while ago.

His work is mainly based on experience as a Mongolian living in Western Society and he creates that by RECYCLING materials he gets from the STREETS.

This is not the only artist active in the area and unfortunately I was not able to collect info for all the GRAFFITI I saw there, but I've recently found a very interesting page on facebook which gives a clearer picture of the suburb.


"Good shoes take you good places"

Just a few steps later on the main street I met a "shoes pole". It's a massive INSTALLATION completely covered by shoes, which for me was really impressive.

UNKNOWN artist, at least to me. If any of you knows something more about it, just please let me know. I'd really appreciate that.

Newtown will surprise you from every point of view. It's a mix of everything ALTERNATIVE you can imagine. It's the home and hangout of a huge population of students, artists, musicians, backpackers, local and foreign, giving the area a MULTICULTURAL taste.

I'll come back soon with another chapter, aware of the fact it will not be enough for NEWTOWN :)

Good VIBES to all of you :)
VaL

Newtown - Sydney, Goddard Street Gallery

Newtown - Sydney

Newtown - Sydney