Staying safe online

A lot of International students when they come to Melbourne may not be aware of the dangers of the Internet.

It may be easier to meet your prospective friends online. Remember people may not always be who they seem to be online so here are some tips to staying safe online.
Here are the do's and don'ts of the web.

Don't:
* put personal information online. Hobbies and where you study might be okay, but not addresses and birthdates etc.
* put personal pictures about yourself online. Or anyone else for that matter. Pictures of food and places is generally okay.
* talk about money online

Do:
* exercise caution especially with sites you don't know.
* Install anti viral software.
* know how to use it and do regular scans of your computer for viruses.
* Do understand the privacy settings of the website you are visiting
* Keep your online friends, online. If you want to meet someone that you haven't met before in person, do it in a public place and during the day. Try and meet them in a big group. Ie, on campus if you can

Remember there are a lot of bad people out there in the world that may hack into your online accounts. Facebook is generally safe as they monitor all the messages that people send and stuff, but you can't be too careful.

What are your experiences online?

The Game Day 1-7

Welcome to our weekly Game posts where we will post up each week about what we ate and did that day.

This is the Duck season where it is a little strict in terms of food and exercise due to Christmas. I'm not much of a wine and beer person, hence no wine or beer for me. I don't smoke.

 Day 1
 This is the day that the Game officially started. There are five people in my team. I went for a walk in the park for an hour.
I had a plain salad for lunch that day .Aren't I great?

I am allowed to have one healthy snack per day and this is mine- flavored rice crackers. Its better than chocolate any day I say.

Day 2
I had last nights pasta for lunch today. I forgot to take a photo of this. I had a lots and lots of fruits and vegetables that day.

I had two pieces of bread with margarine and tea for breakfast this morning.

Day 3
Today I had sushi outside. I really got know the other members on my team that day. One of them is a schoolteacher. All the members on my team have day jobs just like I do. Except I work in Media and with food so it is hard to resist the temptation but I am getting there.

Day 4
Today was a really hot day, about 40C. So I had lots and lots of water.  Like Monday I had a salad. For dinner I had lamb chops and rice with salad

Although it was hot I still did my daily exercises

Day 5
I went out for breakfast that day because I didn't have enough stuff at home. But I made a salad for lunch. I still went for my half an hour walk to the tram stop.
I slept a good seven hours that night.

My Vietnamese Breakfast.

Day 6
Went out for dinner that day, but I still managed to be healthy by ordering chicken rissoles and beans. I did have a spider though. Naughty me. But I drank plenty of water before I left the house for dinner. And I didn't join in the Christmas shopping spree as that would have made me stressed.

I really wanted the fish and chips that Katherine had though :(.

Day 7
I made another pledge to take good care of myself during the game. That means brushing teeth and using skincare. Something which we neglect in our busy lives.

We will in time have a post on How to brush your teeth and exercise in the home in the coming week

Stay tuned for week 2, coming next week.

The Game- Introduction post

This was a sponsored post.

I was invited to try the Game for free.

The Game is a website designed to encourage you to lose weight and be healthy without a trainer. It is normally $40 to join but for us it was free. The Game goes for three weeks.

This game is technology  based where you have to enter a score. But you also communicate with your teammates about what you can and can't do. There are many classes and things in Melbourne in which you and your team participates in. These contribute to points earned. There is a voting system as well.

The game is designed so you learn some healthy ways of living and you develop healthy habits. It is also designed so that you learn about team work. You can interact on Facebook or via phone to your teammates.

You register and pay the $40 for three weeks learning about health and then you have to do all the pre reading and checklists before you start. This is like uni except there are no tutorials or lectures. The Game helps you keep track of your health and wellbeing. During the Game you develop a series of good healthy habits which you'll hopefully keep and use after the Game.

On the site there are also articles in which you can read to learn more about being healthy.

There are very few rules but you can make other rules with your teammates. If you are an individual you get put in a team.

Each day you have to enter your score and there are rules and guidelines about the scoring on their site.

Each week we will have some posts from the Game up on our site.

For more information about the Game check out the site.

A day at the HUB Melbourne

The League of Extraordinary Women gave everyone a free day pass and I went to open day. So I was keen on reliving that experience and using the pass.

So on this day I worked at the HUB. The HUB was a rather interesting place to be in. It is a stone's throw away from DFO and restaurants in the Docklands area. There are lovely views of the city from the building. You can hear the trains from the nearby station.

The HUB is open 24/7 for its members.

You are meant to bring your own computer, but obviously I have forgotten hence I used my smart phone. They do have chargers but sometimes they don't work. Must remember the charger next time.

The WI-FI there is great though. It is fast and reliable

Here this focuses on community and everyone is encouraged to share. At the HUB it feels like home.

They have $1 coffees in the kitchen as well as make your own coffees.

That day was a rather productive day. I got a lot done that day.

In 2014 the place is set to bigger and better with 200 more spaces and bigger team rooms. It is said that there will be carpeted floors as well.

Want to sign up? It is $20 per month for membership and $50 per day to work at the HUB. The HUB also has other memberships and you can check this out here.

Dymocks Book cafe

Dymocks cafe is in the heart of the city. Sadly there is only one Dymocks that I know of and its in the citythere used to be one in Highpoint. I had $50 (courtesy of Collins 234 which they gave out to everyone at MSFW- Melbourne Spring Fashion Week) book voucher to which I bought some books. Some of them are gifts for friends.

The cafe is small and hidden in the corner. But its cozy though and you can enjoy reading a good book in there. This is cash only and you have to pay for your books beforehand.

 There are no bathrooms in there. They are at Australia on Collins.

The service was friendly and the food is great for the health food freaks like myself. They have vegan food and they use a2 milk. I had an all American breakfast of bagel,coffee and fruit cake. All for $14 altogether. Loved it except my coffee was burnt. The fruit cake was crumbly and not too sweet. The other lady admired my cake.

The long black coffee was burnt. I couldn't taste that nutty flavour in my coffee.

Id love to come back and try the other cakes. Maybe with a pot of tea next time and a very good book to read.

Yo-get-it

As part of the Game

Yo-get-it is a frozen yoghurt bar. These are popping up everywhere in Melbourne and Highpoint is no exception. Yo-get-it is a chain store serving just Froyo. They have one in St Kilda, Windsor, Frankston, Narre Warren etc. When I saw the Highpoint one I was eager to try this out. The store is outside the Myer Miss shop which is one floor above the cinema.

I saw the samples the other day and had a few. I also saw the toppings and loved a couple of them.

The lady behind the counter looked a little too weary for words. Perhaps they were understaffed during the Christmas season? The place was just a tad bit dirty with all the spills from the machine etc.

But the yoghurt and the offerings made up for it. Here they have about seven different flavours including chocolate and caramel and mango. Like all froyo places it goes by weight (100g is $2.60). But the concept here is different; guess the right weight of your yoghurt and it is free.  I had the original with fruits and the caramel with chocolate. In the original I had mango pearls and strawberry pillows. These were nice, lushicious and juicy. The mango popping things literally popped in the mouth.

The caramel one is good for the sweet tooth. This is good for those going to the movies downstairs as it tastes like ice cream except its lighter in kilojoules.

Yo-get-it has been opened for four months at Highpoint, so they are still getting used to things. Give them some time and hopefully they will improve. Its one of the better stores in Highpoint. Its better than the overpriced candy bar. Next time when I want my ice cream fix before the movie I shall come by. Go here for the yoghurt and don't mind the service.

The Lakehouse by Katherine

The Lakehouse has been only opened for four months and already they have been busy.

It is a gastropub in the side of Edgewater which never really had any good places opened until now.

It comes with views of the lake. On a nice sunny day you can sit outside and enjoy seeing the beauty. But unfortunately we came on a wet rainy day. But we still
enjoyed the view from the window.

Service was friendly with a smile which is great to see. I really liked the lady with the red hair. She seemed to know everyone and everything. Its not too often you'll see this in a pub, let alone a gastropub.

For drinks I had lemonade ($3.50 for a big glass) and Sally had a spider. Sally really enjoyed her spider.

Sally was playing the "Game" so she couldn't have junk food. She had to be virtuous and have just chicken breasts and beans. She really  liked it. She finished it all, whereas I struggled with my huge plate.

I had the fish and chips ($24). Having seen other people's plates, I really wanted to go for it. The fish was fresh and not over cooked. The chips were a tad bit dry, unfortunately. The salad was a little bit overdressed for my liking. The dressing would be better on the side, rather than in it.

The meal came a bit late for my liking, but they did have a function though. So they can be forgiven easily.

All in all I recommend this as a good place to eat near Highpoint. This is a great place for special occasions.