A journey to Western Australia - Perth

Cottesloe Beach

Spent my 2015 Chinese New Year with my short sister to the hot, dry, humid Perth.

The weather sound so dull, but hey, I enjoy every moment of my stay in Perth. I felt so relax, with bigger space that I do not have to squeeze with people (like in Singapore), i do not had to get pushed away by people, and most importantly, i do not have to face irritating Q&A session by the aunties during chinese new year (that's why I dislike celebrating Chinese new year).

Here comes my total calculation of my 1 week trip to Perth, which I think my spending are lessor than my expectation.

Flight ticket (Jetstar) = 174 SGD
Accommodation = 156SGD (6 nights)
Transportation, food (including fresh oyster), shopping, drinks (including alcohol) = 421SGD
Day  trip to Lancelin & Pinnacles Desert = 104SGD

(My currency exchange is based by 1 SGD = 1.05AUD)

I'm not too sure, if my spending are budgeted to others (as everyone's budget limit are different), but hey, all expenses in Perth (whole australia, basically) are expensive, and i'm quite happy with my outcome.

FLIGHT TICKET

Popular question I get asked all the time:- Why can you always travel? Why are you so rich? Why buy a ticket in advance for 8 months or more?

Here is my conclusion:-
I got my ticket with JETSTAR on a promotion price of 1 for 1 ticket. Which means, BUY ONE GET ONE FREE. So yeah, I got mine air ticket after dividing by 2 person, is 174SGD. By buying my airticket in advance with promotion prices, it could help me to save a lot more money to buy another ticket to travel to another city. Make sense? =)

ACCOMODATION

I never tried AIR BNB (Click on it to the website) before, so me and my sister decided to give it a try since the money is around the same price (or cheaper) than the backpacker hostel in Perth. So why not?

Basically, airbnb is created for people who wish to host other people in their house (when they  have an extra bedroom). So , you will be risking your decision by staying over at a stranger's place, but is fun. =P

I stayed a total of 6 nights which cost me around 156 SGD per person, with a freedom of usage of kitchen, bathroom, shower room, private room, living room, laundry, internet. I did not booked my last night in Perth as my flight back Singapore is 8AM so me and my sister decided to spend the money on a taxi at midnight to get us to the airport and we sleep at the airport while waiting for our flights. (Not everyone can accept this situation, but me and my sister can. If you are a budget traveler, you would =) )

Here are some random photos of the place I stayed and to be honest, it really comfortable that sometimes I don't even wish to get out of the house.

Our room

The living room

TRANSPORATION & FOOD

Food in Australia, is expensive. How expensive it is? Any food you can get outside, is approximately at least a 6AUD and above. Basically, if you want to eat a bowl of ramen, rice or western food , it could cost you at least 9AUD per meal and above (which is not include any drinks).

Soft drinks are around 3.50-4.90 AUD
Ice cream are around 3.50-5.00 AUD (per scoop)
Beer around 8.50 AUD and above (you can't buy beer in the supermarket, the only places you can get is at the license store, liquor store, pubs, clubs)

So, i save my money by buying bread, ham, cheese, fresh vegetables, fruits from the supermarket and made our own breakfast, our own lunch and drink water from the tap water. (but i do buy lots of coke, because is so HOT, HAHA).

I am unable to recall how much I spent on transportation in a total of 7 days tho. But here are some guidelines. In Australia, public transport tickets (you can use on train, bus, ferry) are divided by Zones.

Click Here for Transperth Zone Map.

If you are traveling 1 Zone, it cost 2.90AUD, 2 Zone is 4.40AUD. Further up, I am sorry I had no idea, as the further I go was only 2 Zone (which you will be needing if you want to travel to the beaches).

All these tickets has a valid time of 2 HOURS. Which means, your ticket is still valid to use to go around as long it's time it not expired. So basically, you can go out and have a coffee or catch up with a friend and come back to catch the train/bus.

One thing that I find it interesting is the CAT BUSES. They look like this : MEOW

All these CAT BUSES are FREE, what? Yes, FREE. They have the Blue cat, green cat, yellow cat, red cat, meow meow meow.

The Cat Bus Routes

DAY TOUR TO LANCELIN & PINNACLES DESERT

Group photo after sand-boarding

I was doing some google research for my trip and Sand-Boarding come across and it actually interested me. I'm quite keen of trying how it felt like so I did a lot of homework. But i'm here to help you out with some information.

I went to Perth with my sister, so it will not be worth for just the two of us to rent a car to go around (although we really want to as public transport in perth is not that convenience, but is not that bad). So I was trying my very best to find us the best way to go to Lancelin (as my friend recommended me to go). The cheapest one I saw was Tours with a Twist . They offer a day trip to Lanceline & Pinnacles Desert for a day and it is only a 99AUD per person which include a lunch (a sandwich), drink, a round way transport (pick up from Wellington Bus station), sand-boarding equipment rental, all entrance fees.

For more information, you can have a look here: CLICK HERE

I love any sports that is on ground and on sky tho, (even i'm scare). Sand-boarding is a must try when you had a chance. Since it is a SAND-BOARDING, so it best you use a sport camera (GO pro or SJ4000) with a case that protect it so the sand will not spoil your lenses and make sure don't forget your sunglasses and sunblock (Man, i got sun-burnt on my shoulder).

Thanks for my SJ4000 (here are some random photos and also a VIDEO )

The Hot Hot Hot Pinnacles Desert

I spent most of my time relaxing in Perth. So I went to jam and meet some new dancers on my trip, and is fun. But here are some photos of places I randomly go if you are interested.

Blue Boat House, is just located at the Swan River, bus 950 or bus 102 can get you there.

Kings Park, A very chilly places you can stay laying around for the whole day. You can reach there by Bus 37 (board at St George, or you just ask around) and bus 37 to Kings Park is FREE OF CHARGE. 

Catch the Sunset at Cottesloe Beach 

Relax yourself at the Outdoor Big Screen at Northbridge Piazza. They screen different movies (you will have to do your own google searching on their time table).

Spend your day at Framentle. Relaxing place, have some beer and fresh seafood and fish and chips with reasonable price. 

Thank you for reading my blog and here is a sexy feet for you. 

"Stay young, stay hungry and travel more"

My Footage

Finally had a little free-time to update a little here.

Some friends asked me, what is the best advice for them if they are newbie in solo traveling, my answer will be: JUSTDOIT.

If you really love travel, just go ahead and give it a shot to try up doing a trip in a solo way. You will never know how capable you are if you never stepped out the first step to try. Traveling alone, is not an easy thing to do, feeling nervous and worry is a common thing, but don't hold back because you will not regret for everything you give out for.

Basic thing you learnt from a solo trip

1. Being independent.
2. Being able to face and solve things yourself.
3. Being able to see and learn things differently.
4. Your whole life will change after seeing what you saw (IE, the cultures, the environments)
5. Learning and upgrading your time-management.
6. Learning to approach/talking to other strangers (backpackers)
7. Learning to make friends and be open minded and heart towards things.
8. Able to relax yourself and loving everything around you.
9. Being able to managed your cost (in order to survive, in budget. HAHA)


Everyone has a different point of view and also the things they gain in their travel journey. Mine are gaining on every trip I made in my life. Sometimes, you have to give and take, sacrificing is need sometimes.

Few months back, I travel alone to UK, and some part of Europe (Florence, Venice, Rome, Santorini, Athens). I sacrifice my pay by applying for a non-income salary for a month where I still have to paid my rental fees and some bills, but I still feel every minute in my travel worth more than a penny. I am glad that I made the decision and try to travel for a month for the first time.

Taking my SJ4000 (similar to a GOPRO), I've try to randomly took videos during my trips and I tried editing my very first footage travel video. I randomly pick several short videos from my camera and combine it with random music. Enjoy ~ =)