Jasmine Chia: Destinations

My oversea holiday plan has been like on a dry spell until lately, H told me that we need to make a short trip to the land of Oz. So I had to apply for an Australian subclass 601-T tourist visa. This application can be done online and it's easy. On the other hand, I also understand that applying for it will cost me AUD20 per person and seeing how expensive MYR to any global currencies, I decided to google for cheaper alternative.

Finally I ended up using the service from EasyETA, it cost about USD9.95 (at the time of application) and save about AUD8~ per applicant using this service. My application was submitted on a Thursday night at about 11:34PM by the next morning, Friday 7AM my approved visa is already sitting in my mailbox. It's really quite a breeze and all done in less than 12hours!

I was excited but not for long. Seeing that I only received an email with my approved visa in the form of text, not even a PDF file or Australia immigration logo, I became uneasy. In my email, it's even noted as below but that doesn't give me a peace in mind and it just feels too sloppy:

An ETA confirmation email is equivalent to a visa, as there is no stamp or label in your passport and no further need to visit an Australian diplomatic office. Your ETA visa is electronically linked to your passport number.

It's like asking me to have faith in a stranger and you know how our parents always taught us never to trust a stranger. The day of my departure and I get kicked out of my plane, I will be super piss and I can't blame anyone but myself for falling into some sort of stupid scam. Then I started to think, how do I know whether my visa is valid? Rather than waiting to be kicked off the plane, is there any way for me to verify and correct the situation if I really fell for one? There are many scams out there, how can this service be cheaper than the one offered by the Australia Immigration?

So I started to look for ways to verify the validity of my visa and what better way to check other than the Australia immigration website, right?

I click on Check an ETA and came to an input screen with the below:

I don't have a reference number and have no idea where to find one. I entered all possible numbers that I can find from the email I received from EasyETA but to no avail. I became worried, have I been scammed? I've been such a internet savvy person, there is no way I can't sniff a scam. I even google using the keywords like "EasyETA + scam". Thank goodness, I manage to read reviews saying that it's legit but that doesn't mean I can let it go. Surely there is a way to prove that my visa is valid from the Australia immigration, right?

Then I read some where that the only way to know if your ETA is legit is by attempting to apply for one and I did just that. When through all the hassle, keying in the necessary information all over again and right before payment is being made, the system did a verification and notified me with a screen like below:

To cut the story short, there is no direct way to find out your visa validity except you go through with the Australia's immigration system like applying for a new one.

The following are the links I used:

EasyETA

Electronic Travel Authority

I found another cheaper options for visa application (only MYR20!!!) but I have not used it before and can't comment about it's validity. If you have, let me know your thoughts. I may try it the next time I need to apply for visa.

Australia Visa

Cheers!

Australia - Sunday, August 23, 2015

Verifying your Australia visa validity? Here is how...

My oversea holiday plan has been like on a dry spell until lately, H told me that we need to make a short trip to the land of Oz. So I had t...

A view from their common dining area, it is quite breathtaking and pleasant when sitting there having breakfast.

Truth be told, when I arrived I was ill-planned and ill-informed. I was not aware this place is going to be naturally cooled throughout the place, i.e. no air con, until a day before arrival. We always love a good family gathering, this place works out perfectly for us. It can accommodate many people at the same time and have ample space for everyone to sit together and chat.

Don't expect your Starwood points to be of any use in this remote area. The villa is located deep inside some remote village, around the edge of some forest. Leaving the villa compound can be quite tricky, it involves exiting from the gate that requires key from the local residents and it's usually locked. You can put away the thought about driving out to buy necessities especially in the middle of the night, we have no idea who to ask to have the gate open too.

One of the many villas available. Villa Shorea is currently the biggest that can accommodate the most number of occupants. One of the cons with this villa is the common kitchen is next to it, so you will be disturbed not just the noise from the kitchen but also the smell.

Looking out from one of our windows. Everything look so serene and calm. The noisy cicadas and crickets will be the only music that will accompany your stay throughout.

You might wonder since we're staying out in the open, we might get mozzies attack but to our surprise, we didn't get any of that. Flying insects may not be an issue but creepy crawlies can be. We experienced an attack by the red ants army in one of the bathrooms in Villa Shorea. Not something you can easily spot with their dim yellow lighting especially at night.

The temperature at night though, is something you need not worry about. One of the nights here, we experienced a heavy rain fall in the evening and the temperature became quite chilly at night. I had to wear my thick jacket to sleep.

One of the helpers hired from around the area. The villa offers in house cooking so that you need not worry about your meals. This is also part of their way to create job opportunities for the villagers around here. I have only tried their breakfast spread and I think it's quite a good try.

A different view that makes me wonder if I will see a Godzilla of some sort coming out from their hiding tonight.

One of my favourite things to do, sitting on the bed by the window.

One of the chandeliers that I have no idea why I'm fascinated with it but I really like the idea of high ceiling. It makes the whole place seems bigger. Over here, if you are a fan of Ikea, you will easily see that a lot of the loose fittings are actually bought from there.

In between our villa and Villa Bougainvillea, is a swimming pool. The pool can be shared by all guests that stay there. We also rented the opposite villa but it's much smaller. Suitable for couple or small family.

This place has a picturesque view in the morning and can certainly capture lots of likes and shares on your Facebook. There are also fast developing the surrounding with more villas to cater for more demands. I suppose that is a good indication of how good this place is but I certainly hope they will retain as much of their nature as possible because that's the very reason why we are there.

Villa Shorea // Kampung Pantai, Jalan Jelebu, Seremban // Open daily

Destinations - Wednesday, June 03, 2015

Villa Shorea: near wilderness experience

A view from their common dining area, it is quite breathtaking and pleasant when sitting there having breakfast. Truth be told, when I ...

I never really understood some of the people's fascination over beach holiday. A beach holiday will absolutely involves being under the sun and to me that's a big no-no. We have all heard about the damage that can be done being under the sun yet it doesn't deter people away from it. All the talk about skin cancer haven't deter much people to worship the sun.

Not too long ago, when Ron mentioned that we will be heading to Phuket for Songkran festival, I was not the least bit excited about it. Images of me getting sweaty and tanned instantly conjured in my mind. Needless to say while he is all hyped about the excitement awaiting while I am making a mental checklist of the things to bring to block away the sun. Armed with the highest SPF lotion we finally made our way to the island.

Bangla Road, it is where the water war will begin before the rest of the town. If you're not interested in getting wet, check their calendar before coming. I've seen puzzled tourist getting all mad when being splashed with water. Please don't get mad because you're not suppose to and people won't care whether you're carrying a camera around your neck.

No amount of preparation will be enough. Be careful of people wiping you with perfumed powder all over your face. Some of these powder they used can come as strong smelling while some can be just some harmless baby powder. Oh and don't bother about rejecting it because they will do it anyway.

One of the more memorable shootings was when Ron and I shot water at a local young man and he return with two buckets of cold water and rained on us.

In the mean time, it is also Phuket Bike Week. The town will be filled with people riding huge bike and in groups. All will be proudly displaying flags from the different factions they represent. Also lots of local delicacies can be spotted, all gather in a corner so you don't have to find them all over the place.

We spotted a mod car that looks like one that came out from a scene in Transformers. Sometimes it's amazing how much effort and money one is willing to spend on a hobby they are crazy about.

... and of course some alien looking bike for the enthusiast. I think this guy got his inspiration from one of the aliens movie that I cannot recall. Maybe someone can help me on this (perhaps?). I am more interested to see if this bike works.