Elsja Down Under

A New Adventure October 23, 2010

Well I’ve already shared my iPhone joy with you all but I did mention that there were a few other exciting things going on as well. The biggest news in the last few weeks is that I got a new job!! I do have to admit that getting this new job is a tad bittersweet. I have worked for my current company for nearly six years now and for the last three I’ve been able to work from home, part time. I’ve been able to fly back to the US any time I wanted which usually meant that I was able to see my friends and family at least 3 times per year. Plus, since I worked from home, I was able to spend a lot of time with Andrew.

With this new, exciting adventure also comes a massive change in my lifestyle. It’s hard to imagine only seeing my friends and family once a year. It’s hard to know that I won’t have even half the time with Andrew that I usually have- especially since he seems to always work on weekends lately. Even with those realizations, I know the job is going to be great and it will give me something to call my own here in Sydney.

I’m really looking forward to my new adventure and to learning new things. I feel like I’ve found a job that matches my interests perfectly and so I truly feel that I will enjoy going to the office every day. I’ll have a long commute but 20 minutes of relaxation on the ferry every morning isn’t a bad way to start that commute.

So what will I be doing? I’ll be working for a boutique marketing agency in Darlinghurst and I believe my title will be marketing and social media coordinator. I’ve been reading as many articles and newsletters on social media lately as I possibly can and they are all so interesting. I’m really looking forward to learning as much as I can about this rapidly growing industry. I start in two days so I’ll fill you all in with what it’s like once I start!

Wish me luck!

My iPhone Makes me Happy October 18, 2010

It was a very happy happy day last week when my wonderful new iPhone came in the mail. I didn’t waste any time getting it all set up and I just can’t tell you how gitty this little piece of technology has made me. So far I definitely have some favourite apps. These include:

1.  Trip Planner – this little gem gives me all the ferry and bus schedules… amazing I tell you!
2. Google search – who doesn’t love the ability to search for things by simply taking a photo and/or asking a question? If you don’t have this app- get it! Asking a verbal question is SO much easier than typing it all out.
3. Foxtel- Ok so I haven’t actually used this yet but I absolutely love the fact that if I’m out for the night and realise I’ve forgotten to record my favourite show, I can just push a few buttons on my snazzy little phone and like magic, my show will be recorded and waiting for me when I get home.
4. Mobileme – yes, this is a ridiculously expensive program but I do believe it is worth it! Mail, calendar and contact syncing is pretty important to me so I’m loving this application.

What are your favourite apps??  Oh and speaking of contact syncing-  I’d also like to mention that while in the process of setting up my beautiful new phone, I was able to clean out all my contacts which just so happens to be # 15 on my 101 list. Who would have known that buying an iPhone would help me to achieve one of my goals? Win win!!

Stay tuned for more things that make me happy. There have been several over the last few weeks and I can’t wait to share them all with you!

Please Vote October 11, 2010

My brother-in-law Paul entered a contest to be the Australian voice for TomTom. It literally takes 3 seconds to vote and the best part is, they don’t require that you sign up or regsiter for anything. So, you don’t need to worry about spam!!

CLICK TO VOTE

You can vote once a day and he needs all the help he can get to catch up to some of the people who entered before him. If you feel so inclined, please share this with all your friends and family. I’m sure Paul would greatly appreciate it!!

Optus Customer Service: so far so good… October 5, 2010

Watch out world, I’m FINALLY getting with the times and becoming the proud owner of an iphone! There was a bit of a dilemma when we were trying to decide which provider to use so I did what I do best… I analyzed everything. I asked friends for recommendations on Facebook and Twitter, I called friends who have iphones, I created a massive spreadsheet that included a comparison of four different providers (roughly 2-3 plans per provider) AND I spoke to representatives for Telstra, Optus and Vodafone either on the phone or on wonderful online chat.

So Friday the Optus online chat guy told me that if I ordered my iphone online, I’d get it in 3-5 days. Not bad considering Vodafone said I’d have it in 4-6 weeks!! (Another bonus point for optus!) After consulting with Andrew on Saturday, we decided that Optus was the way to go. Telstra was a close second but only because Ben and Mike gave them good reviews. To be honest, Telstra’s plans are rubbish! Vodafone has some of the worst customer service known to man so I was not too sad to be leaving them. I didn’t hear much about Virgin so I just decided to not waste my time there.

I promptly went online to try to order my phone. I went through the entire ordering process only to have the “we are processing your order” message stay on the screen for about 5 minutes before it timed out. I  tried about five more times before sadly giving up after I received a  message saying I needed to call customer service to provide more info. Well, I couldn’t do that because they are closed on the weekends. Not only that… it was also a long weekend due to the holiday so I had to wait THREE days!! I told Andrew I felt like a kid on Christmas who just got a really cool toy to play with but my parents forgot to buy batteries.

FINALLY this afternoon I was able to call to speak to someone. Well, the not-so-helpful customer service rep quickly dismissed my request and said “you couldn’t order one because we are out of stock.” That’s it. No explanation, no estimate as to when they would get more… nothing. Any question I asked was practically ignored and he simply said he couldn’t help. I was deflated. I don’t understand why they had so much stock on Friday and NONE after a weekend where NO ONE could have called up to order one.

You are probably wondering why I think Optus has good customer service after this guy was such a tool. Well, I just refused to just accept his answer. I noticed on the Optus site that I could “Tweet” my customer service question or request. So, I did… and I got a response right away. I was pointed in the direction of a site to enter my query, so I did… and I got another response right away.

Then a guy name Julz called me and after speaking to him and another guy, Craig, I was promptly set up with a new phone plan and my brand spanking new iphone 4 will be here by Friday. I’m so excited.

I’m so thankful for the latest trends in using social media as customer service. No longer do we have to sit on phone forever with our questions and complaints. I just sent a quick little message and my questions were quickly answered. Good job Optus (just get rid of that first guy I spoke to)!!

Now Vodafone– there’s a company with a pile of crap for customer service. I had to call this morning to deal with a pretty major technical  issue and I was on the phone with the idiots for about an hour before my issue was FINALLY resolved. I will NOT miss them.

Two New Sydney Restaurant Reviews October 3, 2010

For your reading (and perhaps dining) pleasure, I present you with two new restaurant reviews.

1. Ripples, Chowder Bay

We headed to Ripples a few weeks back to celebrate the birthday of our good friend Ben. I had a great night and really enjoyed the food. Here are my thoughts on the place.

Decor/Setting: 8: I just love the area! It’s not an easy restaurant to find, but that’s what makes it unique. We sat in the outdoor section but it was enclosed in clear plastic and there were heaters to keep us warm which was definitely a nice touch. The seats were comfortable, the lighting set the mood. I think it would be a nice little romantic date place.

Value: 7:  While the food is overpriced, you sort of understand why when you have a look at the view and your surroundings. The food is also really good… well, mine was. Andrew thought his lamb was just ok. We were very pleasantly surprised to find that Ripples is BYO! Who would have guessed that a higher class restaurant would allow you to bring your own wine?? Just that alone made the meal much more affordable. All in all, we got some bread and dips for the table to share, we each got a main AND a dessert and it was $50 bucks each. We actually expected it to be a lot more than that so I suppose it wasn’t bad for a special night out. Don’t get Andrew started on the parking situation though… paying heaps to park for dinner is no bueno.

Service: ?? – I was drinking wine, so I was in no great rush. I don’t really remember the service been bad at all so it must have been decent enough.

Taste: 9- My pasta was great!!! I’ve always heard about pumpkin ravioli with burnt butter and sage. I had NO idea if I’d like it but I do like pumpkin and butter… so I figured I’d give it a shot. It was really good and I’m now sold on this well-known flavor combination. We ALL got a dessert and my heavenly coconut macaron tower was rated by some of our friends as the best dessert of the night (I have to agree).

Would I go back? Yes, but only for a special occasion.

2. Lee’s Fortuna Court

A few nights ago, we headed to this little Chinese place in Crows Nest to celebrate Stu’s birthday. How happy am I that all these birthdays give me a perfect reason to try new restaurants?? Here’s what I thought of it.

Decor/Setting: 4 It wasn’t hideous, but it wasn’t nice. The tables are pretty decent with the convenient lazy susan in the middle but the decor mainly consisted of signed photos of sports stars, not really my thing.

Value: 5 – to be honest, this was some pricey Chinese. Granted it wasn’t BYO, but we ended up spending more per person here than we did at Ripples and the two restaurants are worlds apart in terms of class and setting so I definitely wouldn’t have expected this to be more expensive.

Service: 9 – Here’s where they win out!! This is some of the best service I’ve seen in this country. I ordered a bottle of wine and the server poured a tiny bit and asked if I would like to taste it. I was a bit shocked since that’s not the type of service you see often at Chinese. The servers were very attentive with water and drinks and they brought out a free ice cream cake for Stu’s birthday. This was not just a little individual cake for him- no, this was a cake for the whole table! The only reason I didn’t give it a 10 is because they seemed to get confused when taking our order and brought out an extra dish that we did not want (but that was probably our fault anyways).

Taste: 7- The food was good. It is nothing I’d crave (like my Pei Wei cravings from back in CA), but it was good. The best thing was that they actually had a chicken breast dish! I went in there thinking I’d have to order vegetarian because I assumed they would not serve white meat chicken. I was very happy to find out they did and my white meat cashew nut chicken was pretty good!

All in all it’s not the best Chinese food I’ve had but it’s definitely good. The prices seem really high but the service was quality enough to match the prices so I guess it all evened out in the end. I probably wouldn’t go back unless it was for an event but that has nothing to do with the restaurant, it’s simply because I like Thai food way better than Chinese.