prices of foodstuff in melbourne, australia

over in australia, prices of foodstuff can be ridiculously high. example: one mangosteen (yes, one piece and not one kilogram) is priced at aus$1.68 cts. in singapore, i pay between $1.50 and $4.00 for a kilogram of the fruit. one piece will cost slightly more than 10 cts to about 35cts. and the mangosteen here is not of any special variety. i guess they are from thailand. in fact, some of the mangosteens are not even eatable because the rinds are so hard.

even the local fruit and vegetables are not cheap either. watermelon is sold by weight and one kilo costs around aus$1.29. in singapore, i can get a whole watermelon for slight over s$2. grapes are not much cheaper also, except when they are on special offer. i do like their way of selling/buying fruit - if you want one banana, you just pluck one from a bunch and pay for it; you do not have to buy the whole bunch.

the coke from the vending machine costs aus$2.40 (s$3.00). the cheapest bottle of mineral water costs aus$1.50. in singapore, you can get it for 40 cts. one cup of coffee costs around aus$2.50 but at taste of s'pore, teh tarik is cheap, aus$1.50.

there is no way you can have a wholesome meal for $2 in australia unless you settle for a simple donut. not like in singapore where you can have 2 plain pratas for $1.20, 6 pieces of chwee kway for S1.50 or one piece of you tiao and a cup of coffee for $1. 30. in the food court in australia, you pay about aus$7.50 for a small plate of rice or noodles which will you can get for less than $3.00 in singapore.

are the prices higher in australia because of the higher cost of labour or higher cost of living? must be the higher cost of living. transport cost is high, like when we took the train to the city from clayton. in singapore, maybe, we will pay about $1.60 for that distance but over here it is aus$5.30, which works out to 4 times our cost.

trash collection @ clayton

over here in melbourne, the households separate their trash into two bins: one for paper, cardboard and boxes and the other bin for food, rubbish, nappies and bags. they used to have another category - glasses, bottles and plastic . it seems they have lumped this with the first category (recyclables).

the one-man operated trash truck comes around once a week, every friday. so, early on friday morning or on thursday evening, the residents will move the bins from outside their houses to the main road, if their houses are not along the main roads, like ivy and ida's.

i think there are two separate trash trucks that come round on fridays to empty the two different types of bins. the operator does not have to leave his truck to empty the bins. the truck comes equipped with a mechanical clamp which grabs the bin and dumps its content into the truck. i learnt from ivy that the truck that collects recyclable waste comes around once a fortnight.

people here are generally quite disciplined and environmentally friendly. they separate their trash accordingly and used plastic bags to contain food remnants and soiled stuff.

now i understand the need for two bins. one is for recyclable stuff and the other is for non-recyclables.