going down under

Australia has its own qualifying test for potential citizens. It's called the airport tax.

Nearly fell off my chair when I was told the airport tax at Brisbane was around 300 bucks. That's 60% of the bloody airfare, which, incdentally, wasn't included in the advertised price because of instability due to last minute fluctuations. Or something like that. Talk about hidden costs.

At that price, I could actually fly to Europe. Or Japan/Taiwan/China. Tempting.

So, moral of the story: you have to be rich to go to Australia. Or at least not so broke that you balk at a measly 300-dollar airport tax. It's like those luxury stores whose goods don't have price tags: if you have to ask, you can't afford it.

Being broke and unwilling to get ripped off, I'm now looking at taking the budget option (thank heavens for Tiger Airways) to get to Brisbane to visit Domee and watch U2. Substantial savings via that route, since Tiger Airways is having a half-price offer to Darwin, and I can use Virgin Blue to get to Brisbane. Takes me about a day more, but definitely worth the savings (I don't make $300 in a day, after all. At least, not yet). And I get to look around Darwin too.

Travelling during uni days was way easier. Europe is so much more travel-friendly: low prices and lots of choice. The anti-thesis of Australia.

Talking about post-uni, here's something I grabbed off The Dilbert Blog, Scott Adams' (creator of Dilbert) blog. Amazingly hilarious. Really. Go visit. Meanwhile enjoy this:

Wisdom for Grads

I"ve been asked to compile some Dilbert advice for new graduates who have no idea what"s awaiting them in the business world. I"m talking about practical advice. Here are some of the ones that come to mind.

The person who sits nearest the boss"s office gets the most assignments.

Your potential for senior management will be determined by the three H"s: Hair, Height, and Harvard degree. You need at least two out of three. (Non-Harvard schools will be acceptable if it"s clear that you "could have gone" to Harvard.)

Your hard work will be rewarded. Specifically, your boss"s boss will reward your boss for making you work so hard.

There"s no such thing as good ideas and bad ideas. There are only your own ideas and other people"s. If you want someone to like your idea, tell him he said it last week and you just remembered.

Teamwork is what you call it when you trick other people into ignoring their priorities in favor of yours.

Leadership is a form of evil. No one needs to lead you to do something that is obviously good for you.

You can estimate the time for any project by multiplying the number of idiots involved by one week and adding the number of capable co-workers times four weeks. (The competent ones are busier.)

In any group of three coworkers, at least one of them will be a sadistic loser intent on grabbing your ankle as he circles the drain.

Non-monetary incentives are every bit as valuable as they sound.

Business success is mostly about waiting for something lucky to happen and then taking credit.

Preparing a Powerpoint presentation will give you the sweet, sweet illusion of productivity.

It is better to be an "expert" than it is to do actual work.

The first month on any new job should be spent talking smack about the "idiot who had the job before you."