MELBOURNE Victoria

Planning to fly into Melbourne, one of the world most livable city, find what you need before your fly into in beautiful city. While being voted as one of the most beautiful and livable cities in the world, it is definitely easy to get around here. Come down under and discover the different cultures that build Melbourne as a city worth visiting.

Melbourne offers you a city of many different cultures and races. This can be seen along the busy streets of Melbourne city centre. Different types of restaurants show the wide range of races living in Melbourne. This forms a unique society that is truly Melbournian. Remember, everyone is from somewhere in Melbourne, your home language can definitely be heard here!

“Melbourne Victoria, the Place To Be” 

Photographed by me. 

10 Things a Must Before Flying Away on a Journey

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Disembarking to a foreign land is never easy. In my opinion from my travel experience, the hardest thing to do is getting yourself ready before heading off towards your journey. These are ten things I reckon is essential for you!

1:. Passport

Having a passport is essential and the key before leaving your beloved country. It is basically your main form of identity outside your country and should be carried close to you wherever you go. Depending which country you’re from, allow at least two months before you leave to prepare your passport.

2:. Visa

Another thing essential before leaving on a journey out of your country is to obtain an appropriate visa before disembarking. Depending on which country you’re from, certain countries require visas to go in. Having a journey plan will help obtain whatever visa is needed before travelling. For example, you may not need a visa to enter Hong Kong, but you’ll need a visa to enter China even though both places are technically side by side and under the China. Therefore, it is important and efficient to obtain appropriate visas from your home country. This makes the process faster and easier.

3:. Air Tickets

For most travelers, the best part of disembarking on a journey is your air flight out of your country to a new far away land. That excitement of entering the airport and going to an unknown land is one of the best feelings I’ve ever had. Well, therefore one of must items is having an air ticket. Air ticket can be booked and purchased online. Make sure air tickets are bought 6 months before disembarking. This is so that the air tickets are cheaper and you’ll make sure your travel plan is actually happening. Many people plan to go on a trip but hesitate to buy the air ticket. The more you think about it, the more you’ll delay your dream travel plan. On occasions, you might be able to obtain an air ticket cheaper closer towards your travel period. But it’s a gamble cause most of the time air tickets go up, as it gets closer to your flight date. Get your air tickets as early as you can!

4:. Insurance

When disembarking on a journey, it is important to obtain travel insurance. Travel insurance maybe costly, but you may not know what bumps you might stumble across while traveling. Travel insurance is like a support package that helps you has an ease of mind if anything unfortunate happens. Travel insurance, depending on which plan, will cover basic stuff such as lost of baggage, medical, thievery, lost of gadgets such as cameras or hand phone, and many more. Research the places you’re going to get a better understanding on which travel insurance package to go for. For more information, click HERE!

5:. Driving License

Driving license is another must bring item. You’ll find this very useful when travelling. When going to a foreign country, not everywhere you want to visit will have public transport to take you there. Therefore, having your driver’s license on you will give you additional options to get there. An example situation, you’ll realize that it maybe cheaper to hire a car with a group of travelers that following a tour, having a driver’s license will open up that option.

6:. Clothes

Packing up a luggage is never easy. You might not know what to bring or pack your whole wardrobe. Understand that, the more things you pack, the more weight you’ve got to carry around. Depending on the duration, I would recommend that packing for 5 days worth of clothes is sufficient. This is because most places travelled; there will be washing machines and dryer available at hostels and backpackers lodge, or cleaning services at hotels for travelers on a higher budget. Another important note is that research about the place you’re going to bring the appropriate attire. Research things such as currency, weather, lifestyle and so on. This will then help you decide what is needed and what is not. I know I included currency; this is because for example a place like Hong Kong, shopping is fairly cheap there. Therefore, by looking at its low currency and cheap shopping, you’ll therefore pack less and shop there instead.

7:. Camera

Having a camera is important as it captures your journeys experience. A cheap digital camera is sufficient enough as it is compact and easy to carry around. However, travelers who want to capture high-resolution professional images, a DSLR will be good to have around. But this is extra weight to carry around and make sure to keep an extra eye so that it doesn’t get stolen! A regular question is what if I have a smart phone with a pretty good camera? Well, if you loose your phone, at least you still have your camera to capture the remainder of your journey.

8:. Notebook

A notebook is important as you can note down everywhere you’ve been. Make it like a journal of your own travel experience. The best thing about noting down your travel experience, you can look back and trace back your travel experience. Pair it up with images taken from your camera, make yourself a travel photo book!

9:. Smart Phone

Most travelers tend to neglect this point. Most travelers tend to purchase a cheap candy bar phone to travel. But in this modern day, having a smart phone will ease your journey in many ways. Most countries these days has some form of data plan, it can be either 3G or down to GPRS, but still connectable to our modern day Internet. On of the most important feature is the built in GPS in your phone. This helps you get around a foreign place. Another important feature will be local public transport app. This will help you know which public transport to take while you’re in a foreign country. Google translate is another useful feature in a smart phone. If you don’t speak the language, no worries, type it our in your own language and let Google Translate does its job. Travel apps are useful to know what’s the main tourist attraction of the location you’re at. Lastly, you’re constantly connected to social media, which means you’re constantly connected to your friends and family. This helps ease loneliness and having the feeling of being homesick.

10:. Recommended

Here is a list of extra recommended things to bring
·    Electrical converter
·    Tiny flashlight
·    Toiletries
·    Sunscreen/lip balm
·    Sunglasses
·    Tiny first aid kit
·    Rain jacket
·    Cheap watch with alarm clock
·    Flip flops
·    Guide book
·    Inflatable neck rest
·    Extra passport photos

Getting Around Melbourne

Melbourne is a one of best city to live in. Being the best city to live in, the first thing you’ll realise is the public transport. The moment you get off the plane, you’ll understand the conveniences of getting around.

SKYBUS

Getting out of the airport, the best way to get into the city center is by taking the SkyBus that is located at the start of the drop off zone and at the end of the pick up zone. The ride from the airport to the city takes around 20 minute on normal times and 30 minutes during peak hours. These busses come regularly, every 10 minutes to be exact. The bus has places available for passengers to store their luggage. Don’t worry about the size of your bags cause the compartment is huge. Besides that, this compartment area is not located under the bus but within the bus so you wouldn’t have to worry about people taking the wrong luggage. Passengers going to specific hotels can be dropped off using one of SkyBus facilities. The SkyBus drops passenger at Southern Cross, which is also the place where travelers can transit from one public transport to another. The cost is fairly cheap and family deals can be purchased too. It is definitely the cheapest and most convenient way to get from and to the airport. Prices are available HERE!

 

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MYKI

Arriving Southern Cross, the first thing about taking public transport is having a valid ticket to travel on it. In Melbourne, this valid ticket is called MYKI. This is the key to getting around Melbourne. At Southern Cross, there is a main MYKI booth available at the entrance of Southern Cross. Need not fear if you can’t find it cause MYKI cards can be found is all 7 Elevens and most convenient shops in the city. MYKI prices and information can be obtained HERE.

 

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TRAINS

Trains are available to most suburbs in Melbourne. They are technically the fastest way to go to suburbs that are slightly further out of the city. There are a total of 16 train lines that spread our across Melbourne. All trains are comfortable and exceptionally clean. It may be pack during peak hours but most of the time, seats are available. Trains on weekdays comes every 10 minutes during daytime and 30 minutes during the night. During weekends however, trains comes every 20 to 30 minutes. You may experience delays on trains due to the old train systems compared to other developed countries. Metro Train timetables can be obtained HERE!

 

Image by me.

TRAMS

Trams are considered uniquely a Melbourne thing. It is not because it’s the only city with trams but mainly because trams are fully used as a main form of transportation to get around Melbourne. There’s a total of 28 trams line around Melbourne and by looking at the vast number of tram lines, its easy to understand that trams is a highly used by Melbournians. Trams come at an average time of 7 minutes during they day and 20 minutes during the night. For the Yarra Trams timetable can be found HERE!

Image by me.

BUS

Busses are available around Melbourne. Busses are most popular in suburbs further away from the city center. This is because suburbs further out of the city don’t have the luxury of trams. However, if you’re out partying at night and worried about not having trams and trains to bring you back, busses runs all night to accommodate this. This is called the Night Rider. More information about busses in Melbourne can be found HERE!

 

Image by me.

TAXIS

Taxis are available all around Melbourne. They are colored in bright yellow, which makes it easier to spot. To know whether the taxi is vacant or not, there is a light above all taxis. If its on, this means the taxi is vacant. According to Melbourne law, taxis with their lights on have to take you anywhere you desire. All taxis have a GPS in the car. Therefore if the taxi driver doesn’t take you to your destination, you have the right to not pay them. If the taxi driver is lost while you’re in the taxi, they will have to stop the meter. MYKI cannot be used in taxis. However, passengers will have a choice to either pay by cash or credit card. Taxis are not ideal as the cab fares in Melbourne cost a lot. Taxi are only worth taking during late nights when both trams and train aren’t running. 

  

Image by me. 

Mobile Apps

Public transportation timetable, information and fares can be downloaded through your mobile phone by using these mobile phone apps such as the PTV Journey Planner App and Tram Tracker App. These mobile apps can be found on the either Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.

 PTV Journey Planner
This app has many features such as timetables for train, busses and trams. However, the main feature of this app I would recommend is the Journey Planner. This is useful as it lets you know the fastest travel ways, which trainline or tramline to take and also the duration. This helps you to know when to depart from one point without being late arriving the next destination.

 TramTracker
This app is useful if you want to know when the next tram is arriving. Besides that, it also shows where the nearest tram stop is based on your location. Lastly tram timetables can be found on this app.       


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I Love Traveling The World

Photographed by me, Kit Tong @ Instagram

My passion in life is to travel. I'm currently studying Bachelor of Communication in Melbourne, Australia. Melbourne was definitely the right choice for me. 

Melbourne is a place where wherever you're from, you'll definitely feel somewhat at home. The cultural diversity here is one of a kind. Coming from Malaysia, the moment I landed, I felt like I fitted in perfectly. 

Having met many backpackers here, I can say that every one of them will agree that Australia is definitely one of a kind. Despite the soaring high currency, it is still worth it. I would recommend a year is the best duration to travel in this lovely country.

A TIP, get a barista job at Starbucks as they support backpackers with an experience in Starbucks. This is crucial for sure cause it will help you take advantage of the high Aussie dollar to self support and maybe save up for an epic end for your trip somewhere in Southeast Asia!

Effects from Technology Changes

Photographed by me, Kit Tong

Technology today has change the way we think, create and market our products. In the travel-writing world, things are not much different. Lonely Planet publication is an example, changing their strategy towards this never ending technological changes.

Lonely Planet has had a web presence since 1995. Our modern day technology and consumer behaviour however has changed tremendously. The company therefore overhauled its Web presence and publishing process and covert the concept to real-time and mobile tourist information. In other words, with technology today, consumers prefer and real-time guide that is updates a few times a year, easy to carry and can be viewed anytime, anywhere and on any smart devices. According to Lonely Planet’s online platform manage, Darragh Kennedy, one of its main challenges is how to keep its digital contents fresh without having to take loads of different opinions form other competitors such as Frommers, which was recently owned by Google.

One of Lonely Planet’s first responses to our technology change is by investing and making their digital space their main priority, which began in 2008. The company introduced an agile mythology in to their business. An agile mythology business is a way often used in software development and helps teams in an organisation to respond to unpredictable changes by increasing and repeating the work sequence, called sprint. Using this development, Lonely Planet is then able to assess the direction of their business throughout the whole development process. They are also able to continually revisit their, design, etc, throughout their process and change its direction anytime, providing more time to steer the business towards a different direction as our technology changes. This is also called the “inspect and adapt” concept. Besides that, this concept is less like to halt the business from making any process while building the right product.

Photographed by me, Kit Tong

Today, Lonely Planet is a maker of its own apps and EBooks through partnerships such as Nokia Maps, Microsoft Bing Travel, Facebook and Twitter. Besides that, Lonely Planet’s writers now use an new system where and auther can write while on the road, sends the information to its headquarters and distribute the contents to their different digital channels. This plays an important part as it makes it more secure and faster for a reader to obtain these contents.

Lonely planet publication owners, BBC Worldwide has written down the value to cope with its high cost transition from traditional print media to digital media. When BBC Worldwide bought over the remainder stakes form Tony and Maureen Wheeler, the estimated value was approximately 130.2 million Pounds. However, due to its costly transition to digital media, the current value of Lonely Planet publication has dropped to estimation value of 85 P million pounds. BBC Worldwide blames the high currency of the Australian dollar, resulting to higher cost in managing the company. Besides that, one of the major changes is moving the business from Australia to the UK. These changes therefore eliminate a total cost of 5.1 million pounds.

In term of changes from traditional prints towards digital media, Lonely planet has shifted publishing travel guides, such as India, Australia, etc, towards their all new platform such as the Lonely Planet TV, Digital EBooks, Lonely planet website, and smart phone apps. These changes contribute to 23% of the total revenue and are increasing slowly. Their EBook title has grown 200% since its launch of digital publishing platform.

With new technological platforms of gizmo era, having a flexible way making changes according to new technological tools is important. Understanding ways to use these technologies is essential towards keeping yourself up to date with these changes. Many may say they don’t have skills to do it. I, however, beg to differ. Technology has always advanced to ease everyone and allowing normal people to expand their creative skills to express their ideas. Many online tutorials can be found on the Internet to help you get a better understanding of these programs. Therefore, there are many apps, softwares, etc, to help create your creative piece without much hassle. Lastly, patient has and will always be the key toward learning, understanding and creating something awesome!

Expressing Your Travel Journey...

Photographed by me, Kit Tong

Writing a travel blog is harder than one expects. Ideas may come and go but expressing your idea is the hardest. How does one creatively put a piece together and engage the reader towards your idea? Blogs became a useful tool for writers to express their ideas. Blogs provide better opportunities for anyone to self-express. For travel writers on the other hand, blogs are useful tools to upload travel experiences in real time and give people a feel of having been there with you, to feel like you’re on the holiday itself.

Photographed by me, Kit Tong

BLOGGERS BUBBLE! 

According to the article “want to be a successful travel blogger?” by Christine Gilbert, the main way to be successful is to first get out from ones travel blog bubble. Social media site such as Facebook, Twitter, etc, are useful tools to self promote. But this gives a disadvantaged twist as it leaves some lingering pressures. These pressures will affect a writer’s way of writing, blocking the mind from creating a creative piece of self-expression. These pressures are such as whether or not the writer will get any likes, is anyone reading it or, is it being retweeted. These pressures are what Christine considered under the bloggers bubble. Travel writers trying to self-express their ideas should first be engaged with their own writing before thinking about what the reader thinks. These give a more natural effect opposed to a structured effect. Travel blogs should be written in way where readers feels as if they’re on the adventure themselves.

Photographed by me, Kit Tong

10 THINGS NOT RECOMMENDED TO YOU

These are ten things not recommended to you when working toward achieving your dream as a travel writer.  

1.     Don’t be sloppy!

Writing a travel post on a blog is a form of communication that will definitely be part of your portfolio toward achieving your dream job as a travel writer. Therefore it is important for you to not be sloppy in your aspiring content to therefore allow yourself to be presented in the right light. Remember, first impression matters!

2.     Don’t treat your travel post as a personal diary!

When self-expressing your travel ideas or story, it may be wise to not sound too formal, but that doesn’t mean treating it like a personal diary either. Don’t tell a story about yourself but about the journey you went on. This gives a better value towards the reader. "IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU! IT’S ABOUT YOUR JOURNEY!" So go crazy in telling your journey!

3.     Don’t give empty promises

Posting “Stay tuned for my next big post tomorrow!” is good as it leaves your readers wanting more. However, the twist behind that is you’ve got to deliver that promise. An empty promise kills your audience’s mood and impression about you. It definitely alienates your readers! Treat your readers like editors. If you do not deliver on time, you might have just lost your chance! Lastly, your readers may have just left you for other travel writers! 

4.     Don’t be a jerk!

Staying humble and friendly is the key to connecting with others. This makes a reader feel more welcomed into your life and your travel journeys. Telling your journey is like letting someone into your shoes to feel what you felt during your trip, providing readers useful tips and advice, just like a helping hand for readers or other travelers. Nobody wants to hangout or be associated with a douche bag. The more likable you are towards your reader, the more like you will get from them! 

5.     Don’t stay shallow and general

It is good to find out what your expertise is. Knowing what your strong points are will give you a better idea on what your direction is. Don’t say anything you like or make comment on anything you see. Create a strong area where you’re most comfortable at and built your comments from there.

Photographed by me, Kit Tong

6.     Don’t demand respect but earn it!

Respect is one of the most important skills to have, not just from a travel writer’s point of view, but also as a traveller in general. When travelling, respecting other people’s history, culture, religion and country is essential to have to grasp a perfect understanding about the place you’ve travelled to and learn to adapt better in a foreign country. This reflects in your travel writing. Remember, when you start respecting others, other will respect you!

7.     Don’t be quiet!

There are many travel blogs on the Internet. The truth is most of them are boring. A reader doesn’t want to just know the facts about a place. A reader wants to hear your feelings and emotions about a place or a journey. Be interesting about your travel adventure! Make your reader laugh, excited, passionate or even cry!

8.     Don’t lie

Lying is just a no no in the travel blogging world. Bolstering about yourself by lying to readers just doesn’t cut out in the travel-content community. It’s about the truth about your experience and ideas, not a lie that you searched off the Internet.

9.     Don’t ignore your audience

Your audience is probably the most important factor towards being a successful travel blogger. It is therefore important for you to know who your audience is. To do that, you have to search and know your audience. This is called writing for a target audience. This also helps you find a theme for you blog and allow you to feel more comfortable! Make sure you know whom your creative piece is intended for.

10.   Don’t not try!

Travel writing is not easy. It takes a lot of determination, perseverance and resilience to be successful. It's understood that it is catastrophic to fail. But how does one learn unless one falls? Mistakes and failures help build a better knowledge of what can be done the next attempt to succeed. Never say no and just go for it! If it’s your all time passion, never let “NO” stop you!

Photographed by Kit Tong

OVERCOMING THE WRITER'S BLOCK

Writers tend to over think the outcome of their travel blog post than actually thinking about the good times while travelling itself. Another issue faced by, not just travel writers but all writers. This is called the writers block. Here are four simple steps to ease this burden.

Step 1. Whenever unable to think of what to write, take a deep breath and stop thinking about your travel blog for a while. This therefore helps ease your mind. Once you feel relaxed, go back and try again!

Step 2. Writing should not be forced. Expressions should come out naturally. Just like verbally expressing yourself, the word should come out naturally. It's okay if the words ain’t flowing out. Just take a break! The next thing you know, your story will just flow out! These words however might not make sense at the time. Give it a day and it might just make sense. Just like “jump starting your mind!”

Step 3. Read other people’s travel blogs. This might help gain ideas on which direction your writing should go. It is good to have a fair amount of resources to help gain ideas on your writing. The more ideas and resources, the more equip you are to share your journey!

Step 4. Brainstorming is a good way to spill ideas out of your mind. Brainstorming words that express your trip is a good way to understand your own emotions and feeling regarding your own trip. Don’t just stop after a few words, keep going until you have a full page. While brainstorming, do not look back at what has been written and just move forward. Analyse what has been written after!

If you believe that travel writing is your future, hopefully these tips will help you achieve your dreams! Happy travelling! 

Photographed by me, Kit Tong

RADelaide..

Photographed by me, Kit Tong

Adelaide is considered to be one of the world’s most livable cities. Without a doubt, I totally agree with this fact! Adelaide, also known as the city of churches, is a place to go where peace and calm can be found. Adelaide isn’t a big city. It only has 4 main streets in its CBD. People in Adelaide are friendly. Walking down the streets, many people will wave and greet you “good day”. This gives you a real welcoming feeling towards this beautiful city. Cleanliness is another factor that makes this place so beautiful. The buildings, roads, parks, etc, are well maintained. There are also many buildings with unique architecture located at the main district of the CBD.

Top 5 things to do

Photographed by me, Kit Tong

Photographed by me, Kit Tong

Central Market

This is a place where locally produced foods, arts and crafts can be found. It is also at this place where you’ll get a good impression of the lifestyle and culture of this beautiful society.

Botanic Gardens of Adelaide

Located between the CBD and North Adelaide, it is a great place to read a book, have a picnic or even just laze around. It is a nice clean place wherethe sound of the wind whistling through the trees can be heard. The main attraction is a restored 1877 palm house.

Art Gallery of South Australia

Photographed by me, Kit Tong

The art gallery is free for all to explore South Australia’s local creativity. It takes around 2 full hours to walk around the whole art gallery. Information such as the history of this lovely city can be found there. Besides that, information about the history of different cultures can be found within too.

Rundle Mall Pedestrian Street

Rundle mall is a pedestrian street for shoppers to shop and buy international or local branded items. It is said to be Adelaide’s main shopping district. This pedestrian street is located between King William Street and Pulteny Street.

Glenelg Beach

Glenleg beach is located at the bottom part of Adelaide and takes around half an hour tram ride out of the City Center. Trams can be taken along King William Street to this lovely beach! The best time to be there is during sunset. The sunset is amazing and will definitely takes your breath away. 

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