Roo on the menu

So far during my stay in Perth, I have yet to see a kangaroo. Today, I got as close to a kangaroo as I possibly could.

Australia's national symbol in a burger. I felt quite guilty eating Skippy.

Served with fresh lettuce, bacon, tomatoes on toasted bread, the meat was very lean and tasty. Quite pricey at AUS$16.50 (RM52).

Admittedly, I felt a tinge of guilt for consuming Australia's national emblem. But I wouldn't mind savoring it again if the price was lower.

Sunset at Fremantle

Some pics taken with my Nokia N96 during a recent visit to Fremantle.

Christmas in Perth

This is my first Christmas away from home. Usually, I spend it at home with family. But during my stay in Perth on this Christmas day, I had Christmas lunch with Coach Matt Magee and his family, and Christmas dinner with Peter and Christine Choo.

Needless to say, I had an awesome lunch and dinner today. Aussie hospitality is simply unbeatable.

Surprisingly for me, Perth was very quiet on Christmas day. It seems Christmas in Australia is somewhat similar to Chinese New Year back home. Everything just shuts down.

WA custom plates

Some custom plates I wouldn't mind having:

WA state age meet

Some pics taken during the Western Australia State Age Swimming Championship at Challenge Stadium today:

Toyota is obviously a big sponsor of the meet. Note the two Toyota CRVs in the background.

A view of the starting end of a 100-meter event. The diving pool is closed off with lanes for cool down, with the swimmers' marshalling area behind it. A coaches' corner has been set up in front of the swimmers' marshalling area.

The spectator gallery at Challenge Stadium during the meet.

Scarborough open-water swim

I attended (as a spectator) my first open-water swim event this morning at Scarborough Beach.

Scarborough Beach early in the morning. Beautiful beach with soft sand.

The participants registering for the open-water swim. The number tripled within the next 10 minutes.

And they're off!

The participants were set off at different intervals. The ones with the white caps were the faster swimmers. Those were set off first. The kayaks in the foreground as well as the rubber boats in the background were used by the life-guards.

That's me with the Indian Ocean in the background. The water was cold.

Safety of the participants was taken very seriously.

The participants finishing the race at the other end of the beach.

Swimming Australia

Today is my 14th day in Perth. So far, I've learned a lot of new things, seen many different styles of coaching and had the privilege of working with accomplished coaches such as Greg Hodges, Bernie Mulroy, Matt Magee, Ian Mills and Gary Shaw.

My two weeks here have shown me a new point of view in coaching methodology and how to plan and structure workouts. What I've seen has also answered a lot of "how to" questions that I've had.

Though the coaching science may be the same, what's particularly new to me is the interaction and communication with the swimmers as well as the management of the swimmers, some of whom are world-class swimmers. Giants in their field, in other words.

Here are some pics taken during my first two weeks:

The Western Australia Institute of Sport (WAIS) building at Challenge Stadium in Mount Claremont, Perth.

The 50-meter pool at Beatty Park Leisure Center in the town of Vincent at West Perth. A 25-meter pool is in the background and there is another 25-meter pool indoors. The pools here are heated at 26 to 31 degrees Celsius.

The indoor pools at Challenge Stadium. Though the indoor stadium itself is air-conditioned, the pools are heated.

Coach Matt Magee demonstrating stroke technique during a workout session at Challenge Stadium. Note the large flat screen TV behind. Underwater cameras capture the swimmers' strokes and the video is projected on the TV screen.

That's me, all wrapped up during a workout session at Beatty Park.

Workout sessions usually start at 5:30 AM. The temperature in the above picture shows 18.3 degrees Celcius. This is a good day. On some mornings, the temperature can drop to 16 degrees Celcius.

Taking photos at swimming pools are not permitted here, so it's quite difficult to post any photos of the workouts or swimmers. But more to come soon ...

Perth city

During my time-off on weekends, I had the chance to drive around and explore Perth city. What's fascinating about Perth city is that it isn't a large city but it's spread over a large area.

Sunrise at West Perth. Notice the clear skyline.

The traffic in Perth city center is very smooth on weekends. Best of all, there aren't any motorcycles. High-rise buildings can only be found in the city center.

The Regal Theatre at Subiaco in West Perth. Classic architecture and beautiful. The crowd isn't lining up for tickets; there's a pub on the ground floor and they're waiting for "Happy Hour".

It's not unusual to find Asian restaurants in Perth. This is the Little Chutney's Indian Restaurant at Subiaco in West Perth. It's also not unusual to see stretched limos in Perth either.

 

Tree with a face carved into it at Kings Park.

In Australia, the crows are fat and huge.

I didn't cover as much ground as I had hoped to today, but hopefully my next drive around Perth will be more interesting.

To be continued ...

First home-cooked meal in Perth

I cooked my first successful home-cooked meal in Perth yesterday.

Yummy!

It's home-made "yong tau foo" cooked in chicken stock. The ingredients were bought from Chinese provision shops at Newcastle Street in Perth city.

Thanks to Christine and Peter for taking me around.

Dive and try

The City of Perth Swim Club held a "Dive and Try" talent i.d. session this morning at Beatty Park pool.

Talent i.d. session in progress. Behind the crowd at middle left, there's an oven for frying sausages and a table for drinks.

Some 26 kids aged from 7 to 12 years showed up for the recruitment drive in the blazing hot sun. National swimmers and Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Blair Evans also attended the function, the latter signing autographs for the kids everyone.

Me shamelessly posing with Blair Evans for a pic.

Overall, it was a fun experience for everyone. Even for me.

Slow news day

I'm surprised to learn that my stint in Australia is even being reported in the local media:

Source: Bernama Online

Getting around in Perth

Here's my rented car in Perth:

My parking lot is on the top level of the elevator lot behind.

It's a 5-door Holden Barina 1.6. It's small and easy to get around in. Even comes with airbags but no reverse sensor.

Driving in Australia has been a rather pleasant experience for me. There are road signs everywhere and the roads are well-marked.

Traffic is not a problem either.

Aussie drivers are the most courteous drivers I have ever met. They signal before changing lanes and they don't zip in and out of traffic. At pedestrian crossings, Aussie motorists wait for the pedestrians to finish crossing before they zoom on.

A welcome change from what I'm used to back home.

Cars actually slow down from 60kmh to 40kmh at school zones.

The only downside to driving in Perth is the parking. Parking in the city is a whopping AUS$3.30 per hour. That's more than RM10 for one hour's parking.

Ouch!

Maybe that's one reason why there aren't a lot of cars in the city.

Food, expensive food

One thing I've noticed about food in Australia is that it is expensive. Almost everything from croissants, sandwiches and lunches cost from AUS$8 and above.

That's why every since I arrived in Perth, I've been living on cup noodles.

Five days of this stuff is enough to drive someone nuts. So today, I thought I'd try cooking my first meal in Perth:

Ok, so that's not exactly "cooking".

It tasted horrible. If cup noodles tasted like gummy noodles in icky gravy, this tasted like gummy noodles in dish water.

Ok, so it's back to cup noodles for me. But tonight ...

McD's "Legend Chicken Burger" ... something not available in Malaysia.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to indulge once in a while.

Coaching placement in Perth

On Sunday, 28th November 2010, I arrived at Perth International Airport.

Welcome to Perth.

The Aussie customs officers were very thorough. I must have gone through at least three layers of security screening before being allowed into the Arrival Hall. Meeting the customs officers and having them ask me questions made me feel like I was in an episode of "Border Security".

From the airport, I was met by Alan, who drove me in a limo to my serviced apartment at Outram Street in West Perth.

48 Outram Street. My apartment's on the second floor.

It's a nice apartment in the upper class business district of West Perth. The apartment comes fully furnished with a washing machine and dryer, stove, refrigerator, microwave oven ...

My home for the next 6 weeks.

... and even a flat screen TV and free Wifi.

Don't ask me what's that on the TV screen. It's just some commercial that was on when I snapped the photo.

More to come. Stay tuned.