AUCKLAND101 @auckland101 - Tumblr Blog

Tiong Bahru has come to Holland Village! ☺️ #tiongbahrubakery #tiongbahrubakerychipbee #tbb #cafeswithnicefeelsSG #cafeswithWIFIsg #workfriendlycafeSG #weekendworkfriendlycafeSG #doodlefriendlycafesSG #nicecafestositinSG #niceplacestobealoneSG #singaporecafes #igsg #igcafe #instasg #sgcafe #sgcoffee #cafehoppingsg #soylatte #doodles #pencilcasedates (at Tiong Bahru Bakery)

staff

Search!!!!

Everyone, we’re delighted to show off a feature that we’ve been hard at work on for the last few months and badly addicted to for the last few weeks.

The new Tumblr Search has been rebuilt, front to back, to help explore all of your 65 billion(!) posts.

Here are a few of the big additions to check out:

You can now use multiple #tags in a single query to find all that #hello kitty #nail art.

Searching for “government shutdown” now returns posts tagged #government shutdown or that mention ”government shutdown”. Searching “#government shutdown” will limit the results to posts with that #tag.

You’ll now see related blogs in your search results.

Use the new Filter menu to filter by post type!

And in an effort to make the explicit content filter more transparent (and less confusing), we’ve moved the option right to the search results page. We’ve also been able to use this smarter filtering to unblock innocuous keywords in our apps that used to be prohibited by app store policies. #reaction gif #happy!

Please take the new search for a spin! (And let us know if you catch it acting up.)

<3

CELLPHONE / MOBILE

There are three main mobile-communication companies in NZ:

Vodafone

2 Degrees

Telecom

I would recommend using either Vodafone or 2 Degrees as these have the best options for students and general people.

From my personal statistics, most of my friends use Vodafone. They have really good options for Vodafone to Vodafone txts/sms and calling.

2 Degrees is ultra cheap. Their sim cards are really cheap and have really cheap cellphone deals. But Vodafone users will be reluctant to txt/sms/call you because it costs them extra money to contact people on the 2 Degrees network.

So yeah, your choice.

Oh, and for those of you who aren't familiar with the whole "sim card" thing, I will explain. Basically all cellphones used in NZ have a sim card slot (you may be familiar with sim cards if you have an Iphones). This means that you can keep changing cellphones and use whatever cellphone you want as long as you have a sim card.

Vodafone and 2 Degrees sell sim cards. I believe Vodafone sim cards are around $30 and 2 Degrees sim cards are $5 or cheaper with special bundles.

Then you can buy top up "credits" at convenience stores or Vodafone/2 Degrees branches. You then get charged for what you use. When you use up all your credits you can no longer make calls/txts so you need to top up again.

You can also buy monthly plans using your credits buy txting special codes to Vodafone/2 Degrees (explained on their websites). Eg. TXT5000 costs $10 and gives you 5000 txts to use for 30 days.

GROCERIES

There are two main grocery stores in the Auckland CBD and a third one being built at the moment.

A = "New World" on 2 College Hill.

B = "Countdown" being built on Victoria St. Opening date not yet announced.

C = "Countdown" (formerly "Foodtown") on 76 Quay St. Can be entered from Britomart Pl or Scene Ln too.

I'm pretty sure New World has shuttle buses that go around the city to pick up and drop off shoppers. I think Countdown does delivery for a fee. But I will have to check.

So yeah, these are the main, large grocery stores. There are also lots of convience stores, almost every 100 metres in the CBD but they are really expensive.

Please note:

The grocery store marked as "B" has not opened yet and may not be ready to open for quite some time. ***WOO UPDATE!! THIS STORE HAS NOW OPENED***

There is a Free City Circuit Bus that goes up and down Queen St and also goes to the end of Fanshawe St. So both grocery stores "A" and "C" can be reached by catching the Free City Circuit Bus and walking a few minutes.

There is another large grocery store opening around 150 Queen St!

#groceries #food #public transport

ACCOMODATION

Flatting in an apartment in the city centre or sharehouses in areas surrounding the city would be a good option. Flatting would give you more flexibility on the period of your stay compared to renting an apartment on your own. (Also less lonely!)

Trademe Flatmates is a good place to find sharehouses/flats.

If you prefer to have a place on your own or you have a friend you want to find accommodation with, Trademe also has lots of rental listings.

There are quite a few apartments on Symonds Street (which is where the Univ of Auckland and AUT are). I would look for apartments with addresses between 25 to 120 Symonds St. Or on Anzac St (which is connected to Symonds St).

Suburbs like Ponsonby, Mt Eden, Parnell have regular buses to uni and are nice areas with lots of restaurants and cafes. City Centre would be ideal if you want to be in walking-distance to uni but it might cost a little more or the size of your room may be smaller. Any of the areas within the blue circle would be okay:

Just as a side note, personally I would not live on K-rd (Karangahape Rd). It is an interesting area during the day, but not the best place to be at night especially if you need to study or sleep.

Another option is finding a "Homestay" family. This would usually be in a residential house so it would normally be in areas outside the blue circle. Homestays may provide breakfast and dinner, and the rent you pay usually includes all expenses like electricity, water, gas..etc. It may take around 20~30minutes to get to Uni on public transport. (eg. From suburbs like Grey Lynn, Mt Albert, Epsom, Remuera)

If you are thinking of homestays as an option, the North Shore (over the bridge) may also be a good option. It is a less busy area with families with young children/teens. It may be cheaper and takes around the same amount of time to get to the city centre (20~30min) as there are regular express buses. Takapuna, Forrest Hill, or Milford would be ideal suburbs in this case.

There is also the option of hostels. Note that you will be sharing the kitchen, fridge, bathroom...etc with others.

Universities also have their own halls of residence. They usually provide three meals per day. Check out your host university's website for more information.

When you are looking online for accommodation, try checking "Street view" on Google Maps. You can get a feel for what kind of area it is. Also, Auckland has lots of hills so you can check out if you are going to have to climb lots of hills to get to your apartment/flat.

#accomodation #flatting #renting #homestay

Studying in Auckland

So you're coming to study in Auckland for the first time? Well, you've come to the right blog! :)

Exchange student? International student? Study abroad programme? I know it would have been a long process getting approvals for universities, visas, etc... so congratulations!

Auckland is a great place to study and very safe too. Recently, Auckland has been ranked as the 3rd most livable city in the world.

I too have been on exchange to a university in another country so I understand it can be difficult trying to figure out what is the best way to do things in a new country.

I will be posting regularly with tips on accommodation, public transport, restaurant, stationery/supplies, grocery, travel...etc

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me. There is a link on the right sidebar :)

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

AUCKLAND101