It’s no Singapore

A bit disappointing – the three words I’d use to describe the City’s Christmas decorations. I guess my standards are particularly high after seeing Singapore’s impressive display of festive cheer at Orchard Road – yet my expectations were still low because, well, it’s Perth. Are we maybe called Dullsville for a reason? We definitely aren’t the liveliest state in Australia (but probably the most beautiful I might add) – and the lack of people shopping last night somewhat supported this statement. I didn’t stand in a queue once. Maybe people were just unaware of the extended trading in the City. It worked in my favour nonetheless. I could really get used to the extended trading hours :) Tis a shame they end after Christmas.

I came across this group of people on Murray Street. I gathered that they were a Christian group from Korea. They were entertaining a small audience (in this picture they are being penguins) and one guy gave his testimony. It reminded me of being on missions.

But then it occurred to me – missionaries are coming to Perth!? Shame on us! We are more than capable of reaching out to those living here yet apparently we aren’t doing it enough! That thought really affected me and has motivated me to strategise for next year. We need a kick up the bum and we need to begin seeking opportunities to share the gospel!

Motivation!

Dear Australia

I will miss you. But I’ll only be gone for two weeks. In fact maybe I won’t miss your scorching heat. But I will definitely miss your lack of sweat-inducing humidity of which I will experience plenty in Singapore.

I will miss some of your food – a staple diet of three vegies and meat will be lacking from my diet. I have a gut feeling it will be replaced with mouth-burning, bowel-cleansing food (i.e. curries). I’ve been told that once the taste buds are burnt, the food is somewhat bearable. I’m a sceptic, but we’ll test the theory nonetheless.

I will miss my family – Sunday reminded me of how much fun I have around my friends. But soon enough we will be united once again.

Goodbye my sunny state. Take care of Jonni while I’m gone.

Heaps of love,
Jason.

Another sad chapter in the Nanny State

By Gareth Parker | View Archive October 23rd, 2009, 10:39 am

British public intellectual Charles Landry could not have been more correct in 2007 when he identified Perth as "the city that says no".

To the list that reads no shopping after 6pm, no shopping on a Sunday, no daylight savings, no pubs open after 10pm on a Sunday, no innovative new architecture, no mid-rise buildings near the beach, no new football stadium and countless other examples, you can now add "No jumping off the Cottesloe pylon".
Renovations of the iconic structure, beloved by generations of beachgoers, were finished today after $122,000 of Federal taxes and a $50,000 Lotterywest grant were tipped into the project.
Yet we find out today that the concrete pylon, originally constructed as part of a failed shark-proof fence, has been deliberately angled and covered with a slippery surface so that swimmers will not be able to climb it.

I guess in ten years’ time we’ll be able to tell our kids “Back in my day, we used to climb that bell and jump off it.” One benefit? We won’t have to witness guys in the nuddy climbing it in the moonlight.