What I Like/Don't Like About Living in Brisbane

It has been 2 weeks since I got here. Just a list of what I like and dislike about living here thus far...

Likes:

1. Shopping catalogues
2. Huge shopping malls
   
3. Fascinating variety of groceries at supermarket
4. Eating places to chill out
5. Christian radio station
6. Culture of using shopping bags (as supposed to plastic/paper bags)
7. Beautiful parks
   

Dislikes:

1. The safety of some places
   
2. People around me not speaking Singlish :p
3. Shops closed early!
   

Shopping catalogues get dumped into our mail boxes everyday. It makes me happy just to browse through them and see what's on sale and what's available :)

When I walk into the supermarkets, I am just happy to walk around and browse the products and items. And it excites me to see a huge variety and choice of food (including Asian food products) on the shelves. But I cannot say the same for boutiques and most other shops :p

I am also happy to see people using shopping bags instead of plastic/paper bags. I like to see people recycle stuff :)

My face also lights up when I see a row of big shopping brands which are located in a warehouse-like building. Just in case you think I'm on a shopping spree, I'm not :p Browsing makes me happy too :)


In the car and at home, the radio plays FM 96.5 "96Five" station. This station is mainly focused on Christian family living and there are also the usual features like news, weather reports, traffic reports and some competitions. They will play Christian songs, play sermons at certain time slots, read a Bible verse, discuss/talk about Christian life/living. Its amazing to have a radio station like this, freely played and able to reach people at large.


Over the last 2 days, I went out and had meals at places where it was really relaxing and chance to chill out (or was it that every other place here is like that? :p) Visited the huge Ikea store (as big, if not bigger than the Singapore Tampines store) 15 mins' drive away from where I stay. It was Ekka public holiday on Wednesday but the store was not crowded. This is so unlike Singapore, where many Singaporeans would crowd the Ikea stores during public holidays. Sitting outside the alfresco dining place at Ikea having my meat balls in the cool evening... its such an enjoyment :) Yesterday I had lunch with Y at Paddington. Paddington has many small cute shops and a few unique cafes. Y and I went to the Paddington Flower & Cafe where the shop front is a flower shop with beautiful fresh flowers and the back of the shop is a cafe. The cafe also features canvas paintings of flowers and they are for sale. The cafe served breakfast all day long (amidst other food) at very reasonable portions and prices.

Dining at Ikea (Logan)

Lastly I like to visit Koorong Book Store. I think I prefer the West Ryde branch at Sydney where there is a cafe in it and I can sit down for a cuppa and read some books there. Anyhow, I finally went to the branch just outside the Brisbane city and spent a good 2 hours there myself to read. Unlike the Christian bookstores in Singapore, there are comfortable sitting areas for people to sit down and even a small indoor playground for children to be kept occupied with. Isn't it family-friendly?

So what is it that I dislike? There are apparently some places where it is not safe to drive and park there at night. This means that some parks are maybe not that safe to go to at night. And if I were to go to places at night, I won't feel safe to be walking in the dark streets by myself. Even alone at home at night makes me a bit paranoid. I think I am used and really appreciate the general safety in Singapore...

Shops close early here. Most of them close 4-5pm. Every Thursday is late night shopping, and it means some shops extend their hours to 6pm? 8pm? Good thing is that supermarkets close at 9pm. They only close slightly earlier like 7pm on Sundays. So this means that if I need something at night, I won't be able to get them that easily...

And yah lor, I need to get used to people here who don't speak Singlish!! Good thing I can some daily dosage of it with W :p