Arrival in Perth

The Qantas touched down in Perth without any incidents and I breathed a sigh of relief. I was even more relived when my wife told me her bleeding has stopped. So the trip was looking good after all.

The first thing that struck me upon arrival was how strict the customs is in Perth (or in Australia generally, I suppose). You have to declare not only any foodstuff that you bring in but also any wooden products and even any footwear since it may carry soil that may contaminate. They even had sniffer dog moving among the baggage. The good thing is that everything was done very politely and in a friendly manner so you do not feel intimidated.

We cleared the customs intact and I breathed the fresh cold Perth air. It was cold since we arrived in the early hours of the morning and it is still winter in the southern hemisphere. My god sister was there to receive us and she drove us to her home in the suburb of Dianella. After a light snack, we tucked into bed. No problem sleeping since Perth is in the same time zone as Malaysia so there is no jet lag.

This morning my godson has to sit for his entrance test for Chisholm College and at the school I had the first glimpse of how cosmopolitan Perth is. There were kids and their parents of various races - Chinese, Vietnamese, Indians, Africans and of course, Australians plus many other Europeans. After dropping my godson, we went to Centro Galleria, one of the larger suburb shopping centres in Morley, neighbouring suburb to Dianella. Despite being a Saturday morning and barely 9 am, there was already quite a number of people in the shops. So the Perth Aussies start their day early and finish early as well (about 6pm for the shops) so that they can devote the rest of the day with the family.

In the afternoon, my god sister drove us to meet my long forgotten godparents in Winthrop after getting lost in a wrong turn. Since we have not met for over 20 years, we chatted for a while before we went home to prepare for dinner as we need to attend the evening Mass at the Holy Infant Jesus Church. We chatted some more after Mass and after watching part of the Olympics on TV, we went to bed. Thus ended my first day in Perth, sampling the relax and family lifestyle of Perth. Good night.

Ronald Kwok
http://cbpirate.com/s/cbp/ronaldkwok