Money and Shopping

We’re belatedly celebrating Peter’s 11^th birthday from June so he gets to pick out some toys for himself.  Given all the sightseeing options, all he wants to do is go to Target, so we go…

We spend the day at the Broadway Shopping Centre (Target, Kmart, etc), and from the food court he chooses the local delicacy, Subway.

 

And here we are, in Sydney, Australia!

Is it just me that thinks it's weird to keep this penny ride around

after Steve Irwin has bitten the dust?

Peter is excited to find a gangster video game that he’s been wanting for quite awhile.  I ask the saleslady for guidance on the appropriateness for his age.  She said a lot of kids his age play this and asks what he plays.  I tell her, well I know he plays Grand Theft Auto, and she waves me off, “Ah, well that one’s way more violent than this one, so you should be fine!”  A little disconcerting, but I guess he is allowed, so I get it for him and pay the $50 Australian mark-up.  

Epilogue:  I had thought it was for a game he had with him but found out later it was actually to play when he got back to the States.  Unfortunately when he tried it back at home, we discovered it was not U.S.-compatible.  Sigh.  So if anyone has use for a large plastic rectangular coaster with Mafia II on it with matching round disc, please add your contact info to my comments!

Speaking of the Sydney mark-up...

Cost of Living

I never thought I would live to see this phrase pass my lips, but:  “New York City is cheap!”

It’s all relative of course, relative to Sydney.  My husband read an article the other day that said Sydney was 40% more expensive than NYC.  Not sure if that’s accurate, but it’s beginning to feel like it.  A 15-minute taxi ride, say from the CBD to Mosman, has been $30 (so that is a $60 outing unless you never come back).  In NYC, that distance would be about like going across Central Park if there’s traffic (which might set you back maybe $12 or $13?  I can’t even remember clearly anymore).  The other day we took a cab to Longueville from the CBD and it cost $43 for about 20 minutes.  Going back we had to call a cab, which was $61!  We literally could have rented a car with husband’s company discount for less than half of that!  (and should have)

Babysitters are around $23-25 an hour (not going through an agency, which could be $40 as I mentioned earlier).

Entrees at a nice restaurant are $35-45.

Small water bottle is $3.

Movie ticket $22.

Entries to museums and the like are often around $25; Sydney Aquarium costs $45 for an adult ticket.

Lego spaceships are about the cost of an actual spaceship back home.

(This is Australian dollars.  Would be nice if the exchange rate meant it was actually less, but it’s close to dollar for dollar.  Good for me, so I don’t have to do any math when making purchases.)

But they do have cool see-through money!

The coins have continued to confuse me and I am sure have furthered the stereotype of the dumb American all over Sydney.  But the sizes don’t make sense:

5 cents, 10c, 20c, 50c, 1 dollar, 2 dollars

I thought that was kind of dumb, until I remembered our own coins don’t make sense, either.  

No pennies here, though, so that’s progress.