Writing From Perth (2)

G'day mate!

I'm writing in dim light as the other 2 are sleeping.

We left the hotel at 8 am and visited UWA today where I dropped off my 2 books at the Reid Library. I also walked past my old lab where I had done my PhD under Prof Redgrave. We meet him tomorrow evening, insyaAllah. He offered to drive us to the airport.

The weather was still warm at 8 am. I didn't need a sweater. It was windy and that cools down the temperature a bit. I saw the Malaysian tourism office on Wellington St but I didn't enter as we wanted to go to UWA.

We took a bus from its last stop to get to the Perth busport (depot/station). The last stop to the busport is free on any bus. We waited at platform E1 downstairs along with some students.

We reached UWA and got to Winthrop Hall, took a lot of photos of the admin buildings and the sunken garden. I remember representing my university for the UWA's 75th anniversary and walking to enter/exit Winthrop Hall. I was clad in academic dress for a PhD and was the youngest representative at that event.

Walking towards Reid Library and seeing the UWA logo printed on the grass for its 100th anniversary felt heavy. But I didn't cry. I handed my 2 books to the staff and we took photos. Then I went down to the front lawn. It was great to be back on the front lawn of Reid Library, the same lawn where I had posed for a Sydney-based professional photographer for a university prospectus many years ago.

I remember the sundial behind the Physiology building where I had posed with my labmates for a group photo. I don't know where everyone is today except for BC and my PhD supervisor.

We stopped at the Co-op to get myself something but got something else better. I received 3 SD cards (4MB each) free from the lady there (Alison). We took a photo to commemorate that lovely event.

We then walked to Broadway Fair to get ices, Turkish kebabs and fries. Kebab costs AUD$9.00. Fries are for AUD$4.00. We paid AUD$22.00 for 2 kebabs and 1 fries. Affandi got the ices from the store across upstairs.

I then went to the University Cameras to get a card reader for my camera/SD card. They don't have the cable that I need for my Lumix camera.

Returned to Perth busport by bus #102. Switched to Blue CAT at platform E3. Got down at the Town Hall bus stop.

Walked to the AUD$2.00 shop and got souvenirs. Met a Singaporean lady at the shop. She is Zuhaidah, a Universiti Malaya staff/student/graduate. She has lived here 5 years and her uncle has lived here for 30 years. She wanted to invite us to her place in Mirabooka but we were short of time.

We walked to Insan Cafe for lunch. We had mi goreng and lots of fruit juice. We all agreed that mi goreng here was delicious.

At Hay St Mall, we shopped at Betts for a pair of boots for our youngest daughter, Yusrina. She's 14 and likes boots and phones. She picked a pair of blue suede boots for AUD$70.00. Socks are not for sale at Betts - BYO (bring your own).

We then walked to the Samsung store to get her a Samsung Galaxy III for AUD$760. Rebate is possible at the airport. There is 10% rebate for all goods bought above AUD$200 on a single receipt. The Samsung Galaxy III uses a micro sim card, not the standard sim card. A new standard sim card is AUD$2.00 but a new micro sim card is AUD$30.00. We will try and get her a micro sim card here to try out her new phone. Her brother Ibrahim has the Samsung II which uses the standard sim card.

Update: When we reached the airport in Kelantan, the girl at the Hotlink booth trimmed the standard sim card to fit the micro sim card slot of Samsung Galaxy III. There is no need to purchase a micro sim card after all.