Today we finished an experiment in travel – take less stuff and do laundry. There’s a washeteria here in the hotel, so it shouldn’t be much of a problem, right? I checked it out ahead of time, there was a soap dispenser, 2 washers, 2 dryers.
OK, here’s a hint – always make sure that the DRYERS work as well as the WASHERS, and do this BEFORE all of your clothes are wet. It’s one thing to pack dry dirty clothes in your luggage before you travel on; after all, you can always do the laundry later. Wet clothes weigh much more than dry ones, though, and are much more difficult to pack.
I came to this realization as I took both loads of laundry out, dumped them into the dryers and tried to insert my coins ($2.20 to wash, $1.20 to dry, and $1 for a little cup of detergent). One of the dryers didn’t work. Not to be stymied, since I still had one more load to go, I put the wet stuff in the collapsible laundry hamper that lives in the suitcase (undoubted the best $5.00 we’ve ever spent on a travel gadget) and went to the front desk. Fortunately, it was just full of money and when I came down to check in half an hour or so I was able to use both of them. It still took about 4 trips through the dryer on “toasty” to get things to the point that I could fold and pack without the fear of mildew. Soured damp clothes would, in my mind, be even worse than wet clothes.
This was how I spent all morning and part of the afternoon. By the time it was done, though, I had a bit of cabin (hotel?) fever and decided to go out and get some lunch.
Perth’s downtown is an interesting place, although it’s very much like lots of other midsized cities. There’s no mall like we think of in the US, but there’s the “Hay Street Mall”, which is essentially a closed street with shops on both sides. There’s a several-square block area of these kinds of shops, and between them, through the buildings, are “arcades”, essentially passageways through with shops on either side. Sometimes these are multi-leveled as well.
The problem with this much like the tunnel systems under some cities – it’s easy to take a wrong turn and come out somewhere other than where you anticipated. For those of us who are directionally challenged, this can lead to adventures you don’t anticipate.
This time, one little gem presented itself. The video shows a native aboriginal musician who was obviously having a good time. He smiled broadly and welcomed my video camera (after I put some money in the cup – after all, the guy’s got to make a living), but it was very apparent that he was just enjoying what he was doing. He also seemed to be pretty popular; a number of people dropped money in his bowl as they walked by. The other street musicians that I saw didn’t seem to be having nearly the same success. Unfortunately, after looking at the video I realize that my skill lacks a lot still, too, but you get something of the idea. ** The video won't upload this afternoon, so I'll try again later. Sorry. :(
The rest of the day was spent packing and at a dinner with Eddie’s coworkers – a very nice restaurant on the river where we decided that the waitstaff were hired not only on their abilities but on physical appearance as well. Without fail, everyone that worked there – mail or female – was very attractive. We both opted for the fresh fish (Red Emperor Fish, according to the waiter, although I’ve still not got a good grasp of what that is other than some type of white fish). One thing that takes a bit of getting used to here is that the salads are served with the main course, not as an appetizer.
