Mister Bianco

RNIS dined courtesy of Dimmi

Mister Bianco is a little understated place in Kew. It was busy on a Tuesday night during dinner with many diners enjoying a quiet Italian dinner together. It was here that five other bloggers wrote about the service and the food, especially Ashley of Im So Hungree who first discovered it.

It is about 20 mins by tram from the city.

Here the service is really friendly and the place is photogenic. Here I was a given a new phone thanks to Paypal and Study Melbourne and had the chance to use it.

They have a really good wine list here and their desserts are to die for. Also they are known for their pastas. But the pumpkin ravioli ($29) was really small though. There were some good Italian flavours and cheeses but it was small.

Pumpkin Ravioli

The complimentary bread came in a brown paper bag which was cute. Moreover I really enjoyed the sea salt. It was very addictive.

I also enjoyed the $3 cannoli which was made in house. A cannoli is a small Italian sweet and this did not disappoint. The passionfruit soufflé was really good with the blood orange sorbet ($17). That soufflé was to die for and so was the sorbet. The sorbet had the right amount of tanginess.

Rating: 18/20- lovely place to dine at and reasonable sized portions for late diners.

The new pasta by Andriamo

As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015

Just this week I discovered these 3 minute serve one pasta in small boxes appeared at the supermarket. Vetta started making them and then Andriamo made them. I think theirs was gluten free.

I bought this pasta from Coles and it was $3. I got the tomato and onion pasta. I put it in the microwave and set it to three minutes and it was still hard.  I put enough water in it and drained it after cooking it.

The sauce was cold. You add the sauce in after you boil the pasta. 

At least I felt healthier afterwards. Still I would not buy this brand.

The end result

Students work in the sex industry

As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015

More and more students turn to the sex industry for work. Last year alone there were about 550+ brothels in Melbourne, most of which are small businesses.

An Illegal brothel. Image courtesy of news.com.au

Students are turning to brothels in order to find work which pays well. Some enjoy it because of the high amount of money that they get from working there.

According to the Age many of them go on to become managers of brothel. Most of them enjoy the work but there are some which don't.

In Victoria alone there is about 800 brothels, about 523 of them are a part of a smaller company.
According to the CAV report it said that many of them were happy to work there.

But there are a lot of diseases in the brothels, though and some students may be unprotected. Also the work is done after dark in a lonely street.

Clients pay somewhere between $100-$400. A licensed brothel usually gives most of the money to the girl but an unlicensed one keeps half the profit to themselves. A license is aroudn $90-$200 per year.

The disadvantages
Social stigma is one of them. Many workers cannot tell anyone that they work in this industry for fear of being stigmatised. Some of them felt discriminated against

Also the hours and work per week varies and they may have to move places. Some of the workers hated that.

Diseases are widespread so its easy for a worker to get an STI (sexually transmitted infection)

The advantages
Workers get to take home about $1000 a week and some don't have to speak English.
 It is also easy for those to work the 20 hours a week. 

How to earn extra income

Students do you need some ways to earn extra money? As students things in Australia are very expensive so here is how.

Image courtesy of surveymonkey.com

Surveys
Marketers are always on the lookout for what you think about their products. The only downside is that you need to check your mail. Signing up is really easy.

Another downside of that is sometimes you may not qualify for one survey and eating some money can be a little bit difficult. But Rewards Central and Opinion World are both good where as with Nielsen you need a home address.

Selling your stuff

You can sell your extras at the markets on Sunday if there is enough stuff. You can also sell your stuff on ebay for free.

Blogging

Blogging is a great way to get noticed and build your portfolio. It is a good way to improve your English plus tell people about your experiences in Melbourne.

But did you know that you can also earn money via Affiliate programs such as Google Ad Sense, Amazon books and other ones. Do spend a bit time browsing the net for some programs. Every time when someone clicks an ad you would earn $0.50- $100 (depending on who you signed up with).

You can also be invited to special blogger events if you are good enough for the business/brand.

Mystery shopping

Applying to be one is quite easy and we applied for the job at mysteryshopping.com.au. Here you will get money within two weeks. You can pick the jobs that you are interested in.

The Hamodava Cafe

The Hamodava Cafe is a not for profit cafe run by the Salvation Army.  RNIS donated some money online.

Image courtesy of that'smelbourne.com

They are at 69 Bourke st where the Couch is and they serve low cost and affordable meals to everyone. Their meals are always changing and they are always healthy and nutritious.

The cafe is warm and cozy and they are always on the lookout for volunteers to help with either money collecting, The Couch or the cafe.

I have been for breakfast a few times and have had their coffees which are always nice. It is table service at this place.

They are always busy at lunchtime and the volunteers are very friendly. But my hot chocolate came waaay after my lunch. When it came it was good for that cold winters day and I added no sugar to it as sugar is bad for the teeth.

The potato mash was very nice and it went well with the beef stew. It had cheese on top, but I wished there was more. I was more than happy with my serve of sour cream and I didn't mind that the sauce in the stew was bland

The jelly was Aeroplane jelly and it was ok. But I liked the cream on top. What would be better is ice cream. I have had their vanilla flavour and it was delish. I have also had their apple crumble and it was really good for that cold winters day.

Do support this little gem if you can and if you need a free feed do drop in. You can donate online