Got in my seat with an empty one next to me and an almost naked girl in the next seat. I had heard her speaking to her friends in the departure lounge and she had an accent. She had obviously come from a Northern Hemisphere summer and wasn't really aware of the climactic differences. In my head I pondered “How long will it be before she asks for a blanket?”

6 minutes was the answer. She requested a blanket to cover up her modesty, and promptly slept. As usual the food was pretty bad. After the meal, and 2 small bottles of white wine (as I had gone for the chicken), I attempted to sleep myself. I outdid myself at failing at this task. It is difficult to explain just how badly I did at sleeping on the flight, but I think it can be imagined.

As we were about to land, the young lady next to me, all covered in blankets due to her coldness, started talking to me. She had spent the previous 40 minutes applying layers of make-up (not that she needed it, she would have looked better without all that shit on her face). She started telling me that she was here to visit her boyfriend who worked in Perth and that she had been on 5 planes, San Antonio to LA, LA to Melbourne and Melbourne to Perth. I know that's 3, and you know that's 3, but she seemed to think it was 5. Oh well, who am I to disillusion the young lady? I wished her a good trip and we went on our separate ways.

There are shuttle buses from Perth Airport to the city, but there was a 20 minute wait for the next one and they don't provide door-to-door service like my friend Oli the Bosnian Cabbie does. The cab cost $15 more, but the shuttle bus driver doesn't regale you with glorious stories about fleeing war-torn Bosnia in 1992 and coming to Australia with his young wife (who, by the way, is an excellent cook and if she hadn't been, he would have told her to fuck off). So, it turns out, the old ways are still quite popular amongst the former Yugoslav republics.

Get to the hotel and the room is small but clean. The TV didn't work and when I called reception, the girl told me that I probably hadn't held the power button down long enough. After holding it until my arm went blue, I went to the counter and she saw the blueness for herself and called a maintenance guy up. There was an issue with the power cord, so he sorted that and then I turned the TV off and went for a walk. It's my first visit to Perth and the city seems nice and quiet. I had always been told that outside of Melbourne and Sydney, other Australian cities weren't quite as expensive. This rule may be true, unless the word Belgian is in the name, as this adds $5-$10 to any beer price. I enjoyed a quiet beer at the Belgian Beer Cafe (about $300), and then continued on my walk getting back to the hotel at about .

Nanna nap time! I slept for an hour and went out to get some dinner. If you do this, please read the menu... I saw Bacon Burger on the menu and assumed that it would be a burger with some bacon on it... How silly I was... There was no burger... Just 6 slices of bacon and salad on a bun... The menu did say this, but I made an assumption that no-one would want a burger like that, but it was surprisingly not bad...

Tomorrow is Fremantle, and a personal Hajj to the Little Creatures brewery... I am looking forward to it immensely.

written by  Big_T on June 1, 2010 from Perth, Australia
from the travel blog: World Cup
tagged Perth
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It is wonderful!

written by  jytbag on June 3, 2010

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Wicked Story and good writing. Wholly entertaining.

written by  Dana on June 3, 2010

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nice start! i like the part about the wife and cooking :P

written by  ceci on July 3, 2010

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