A long one. You've been warned!

First Church Service...Sort Of
Visited my cousin Sean's church - Church of Christ on Lygon St - yesterday. Took the train from Macleod to Melbourne Central on the Sunday Savers ticket ($2.50 per ticket - great savings cos a normal 2-hr ticket is $5.20 for adults).

We were so hideously late we decided against going in, in case we disrupted the service. Were shivering on the pavement outside and staring at the signboard to see if there was a later service when a 50-ish Chinese guy (Charles, formerly from Adelaide) came up to say hello and asked us if we were tourists. We explained we were there to say hi to Sean. Later met Andrew (from Sg) and Boz (a pri sch teacher). Boz invited Beth to Sun Sch, took her hand and off they went, just like that! A great testament to Boz's chemistry with kids. :)

Met more S'poreans in the back hall. Benjamin & Grace are expecting their first child in Jan. They've been here for 2 years. Ben's bro Adrian just moved to Melb a few weeks ago with his wife and 6 y.o. daughter Adrienne. He's also looking for a job, which is news that makes us feel less alone.

Adrian's wife shared a very useful tip when I told her of Beth's reluctance to bathe: she alternates wet baths with dry ones (using QV Bath Oil) for her daughter because children's skin is sensitive, and too much bathing in cold weather strips away the skin's natural oils and makes it irritable. Am so relieved to know it's ok not to force Beth to bathe if she doesn't want to!

Met Pastor Melvin and his wife Sui Yew, who have 2 daughters. One of them is Beth's age. Her name's Isabelle and she and Beth were colouring in companionable silence side by side in the Sun Sch classroom. Was glad to see Beth adapting so easily to her new environment. After we left, she was chatting happily about her new friend Isabelle. It's obvious she won't have problems settling in this church!

The only issue is that it's quite a walk from Melbourne Central Station, not much fun when one is getting progressively heavier with each week. Will look for a church closer to where we're based...at least till after I've had bb.

Cheng Ann Gets His Driving Licence
This morning, we drove to the VicRoads office at Diamond Village Shopping Centre, Watsonia (about 20 mins away), where hubby got in line and obtained his Victorian driving licence. Being S'porean, he's exempted from having to take the eyesight test and drivers' familiarity test.
The driving licence is one of the Proof Of Identity documents required by government agencies and third parties, so it'll come in handy when we rent a house etc.

First Encounter with the Public Healthcare System
At Greensborough Plaza, a new and stylishly laid out mall in the middle of Greensborough, we walked into the Medicare Family Assistance Office and attempted to register with Medicare.

The Welcome Kit for New Migrants put out by the Victorian Government on the Internet mentioned that we should wait 10 days to apply for Medicare, and we had wondered why. Now we knew. Apparently, that's the length of time needed for our details to flow from DIMA (the Dept of Immigration & Multicultural Affairs) to other agencies, including Medicare. Once the info is through, Medicare will not ask us for further supporting docs. We've been asked to come back on 20 Sep. With the Medicare card, we can then get on with finding a gynae, making appointments and booking the hospital for bb's delivery. Yay.

Getting a Tax File No.
A TFN is essential if you don't want to be taxed on your bank account balance, and if you don't want your employer to hold back 46.5% of your pay. To apply for one, you have to supply certain original Proof of Identity documents and complete a paper form, available at Australian Tax Office (ATO) shopfronts, Medicare offices and Centrelink offices.

Was scrutinizing the paper form when we realized that as PRs, we're exempted from supplying POI docs and can obtain our TFNs online. Found the appropriate link on the ATO website and submitted an application tonight. The TFN will be posted to us within 28 days. So simple!....except that we may not be physically here in Bundoora by then. Will have to remember to notify ATO of our change of address.

We Got Our Oz Mobile Nos!
Walked into a Telechoice shop @ Melbourne Central and bought 2 Yes Optus prepaid calling cards for $29.95 each. We were able to activate our new numbers by calling a designated number and supplying our particulars. Now I can terminate my AutoRoam facility; am not looking forward to my next M1 bill tho'!