Sotong wanted a final holiday before being stuck in Singapore for perhaps forever.
I very much wanted to go to Europe, but it was going to be a costly affair to sponsor parents and extending a loan (that may never get repaid) to Sister. We settled on Australia, a country that has never been on my radar. Now it's the perfect choice due to the proximity, development status and low exchange rate. I decided on Melbourne since Sister wanted to go too. And I could see the Great Ocean Road! Sydney looks a bit boring actually.
Brother wanted to go in January 2016. Better in early January, as SIL would not have started on her new job and flights are even more expensive nearer to CNY!
The best flight I could find was Scoot for $603.16, with 20kg check-in baggage for every 2 persons. Paid $42 for each check-in baggage, each way. Each person still has 7kg of carry-on baggage.
I was surprised to learn from Brother that Singapore passports actually need to apply for a visa to visit Australia! I thought we were friends! The Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) application fee is AUD20!! For 5 of us, that would be AUD$100?!?! OMG so expensive! Ya, the visa is valid for unlimited entries within 1 year, but it's not as if we would be gorging ourselves on Australia...
It appeared that tour agencies also provide visa application services and some charge less than $20. I endeavoured to find the cheapest service provider in Singapore. As usual, HWZ forum has the best lobang. Apparently, there are many people offering this service for less. Kangaroos Kang got my business for just S$7 per visa! And she's super-responsive - I emailed her near at midnight, thinking she would see my email only the next morning, but no, she replied literally in a minute and got everything done 37min later!! How did she do it sia! But I was in bed already, so I verified the applications the next morning. O, you must must verify, coz she made a mistake on my Brother's application. To think I almost didn't want to check! She rectified it very quickly. To show my appreciation, I paid her (via internet banking) the same evening, the moment I was done with work. Case closed in just 19 hours and 1/3 the price.
The only con was having to handover your passports copies to a faceless stranger. Perfect if you could get over that. I went for it only because many others have been there, done that. So far, I have not found any suspicious activity either.
And o, Kangaroos Kang has even helped with my Malaysian relatives' visa application. She accepts Ringgit too, but I requested to pay in SGD.
Recommended!
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