Thursday, November 11, 2010

Life in Auckland....is good!

It’s been two months living in Auckland and I have no complaint whatsoever (ok, except the apartment we currently living in but that’s just temporary anyway, so doesn’t count!).


I don’t know if it is just us, we have found that living expenses here in general is surprisingly on par if not cheaper than in Wellington. One of the worries we had prior to the move was the transportation (to work). We thought we may not be able to drive to work anymore due to the terrible traffic (that everyone has warned me about) and the exorbitant parking fees. Then guess what? Our parking fee here only costs us the humble $5/day as compare to the crazy $12/day in Wellington! Even the parking fee right in the CBD is no more than those in Wellington. As for the notorious traffic jam, well we are yet to experience it as our apartment is only a mere 10 mins drive to our office and we have early start/finish working hours.


Here, we are spoiled for choice, be it food, Asian grocery stores, Asian hair salons, clothing, cosmetics brands and whatnot. There are many Japanese/Korean cosmetics that I used to source through Ebay can now be found right in the stores. Top that off with designer brands LV, Gucci, Dior, Loewe, Prada etc (Chanel when are you coming?) to freshen up my eyes.


And just last weekend, we were thrilled to have big bowls of delicious noodles for just $6.50 each, $4 cheaper than in Wellington! Gosh!


We have also learned that, a friend of ours who own a house in a nice area pays less rate to the council. Their house value is worth much more than ours in Wellington and yet their rate is almost half of ours. House price is generally a bit higher here which is expected (Hey, it is Auckland!) but I am sure we will find one that we can afford.


Comes to the weather, Auckland wins, hands down! Needless to say more.


Daycare for Athan – cheaper, better, cleaner, more systematic and professional.


International travel? Cheaper, easier and less troublesome. No more transit to Wellington.


And why the hell did I live in Wellington for the past 9 years?

6 comments:

pinkylicious said...

Haha...glad you love it there. Here's to a better life in Aukland ;).

oceanskies79 said...

Fantastic, I am happy fo you that Auckland meets most of your needs and desires, if not all the key ones. :)

Happy living in Auckland.

keeyit said...

Happy for you that your new env is good for you...

Looking forward for new photos from you..

tuti said...

sooo happy that you and rick settled in well!
wah, really fated about the working place thingy. super coincidence. harder to touch than lottery, lol.

sylvia said...

Happy to hear that u live good in Auckland :)

jezalmy said...

haha, forget about the 9 yrs, now please start count your life in Auckland