So this is the skyline of Perth city which is pretty distinctive because these seem to be the only skyscrapers in the whole of Western Australia.
Anyway, I thought it looked quite similar to Sing*pore's:
And this is a typical street in Perth CDB area.
It's not very impressive architecture but I kind of like it because of that. All the steel-and-glass skyscrapers you see in the CBD here are designed to loom and cast shadows over passerbys and to give you the we-are-a-first-world-city-so-don't play-play impression.
The streets of Perth are just clean and quiet, and lined with these pleasant-looking, low-rise Victorian buildings. But as the night descends, some of the streets became very boisterous because of all the drinking places they have there. Beer-drinking seems to be their only night-time activity because everything else closes at about 5pm. No shopping, no nothing. I think in Australia, can't drink = no social life.
We didn't see any drunks, but one evening, as we were walking around, teenagers in black T-shirts (Metallica etc on them) and dreadlocks and piercings started to spill out from who knows where into the streets. H and I were both kinda nervous and walked as fast and as nonchalantly as possible back to the hotel, and with nothing to do during our self-imposed captivity, we munched on fast food and fruits and watched the infamous Busty Girls Jumping Vigorously On Trampolines on TV. I really don't think the girls should do that too often. Gravity is going to get to them and they'll sag terribly--the trampolines, I mean.
Now, let's leave booze and boobs for awhile and venture out of the city.
This photo was taken in Fremantle, a small town near to a fishing harbour and with a relaxed, resort feel. The air was crisp and fresh without the salty tang you get sometimes from the seaside breeze here. In fact, they nicknamed it Dr Fremantle because it's supposed to be so good for you.
I wanted to try the fish and chips in Fremantle but we didn't have a lot of time to spend there. We did go to their popular weekend market though, and bought bottles of honey, strawberries and stuff. Things are not very cheap but at least the market was not as chaotic or clastrophobic as the ones in Bangkok, so shopping there was a relaxing experience.
Fremantle has a lot of cafes along what they call the Cappucino Strip, all housed in 1- or 2-storey colonial buildings which my Australian manager calls the shophouses of Australia.
These buskers were playing along the street there and adds to the resort feel of the place. Usually, it's awkward when you see buskers in Sing*pore as everyone seems to be ignoring/avoiding them by giving them a wide berth but these guys look like they just decided to get together and have a good time and earn some change for a cup of java later.
We also went to tour the sand dunes on this giant 4-wheel vehicle for an extremely (and deliberately) bumpy ride which was accompanied by unbearably cheesy music with some chap yodelling about "great summer rain". What has any of this got to do with rain, I thought, but I didn't dwell on it for too long as I was too busy screaming my head off. 
I did a bit of sandboarding down a slope that looked really quite steep but was actually pretty OK. It was real fun except that we were guided by this chee-ko-pek (lecherous) guide who openly molested a friendly Japanese girl by patting her bum and also tried to tickle H and me. What a crappy guy, trying to take advantage of a girl and masquerading it as harmless fun. More later.
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