Trip to Perth
August 18, 2026 [murmur] #traveling #thinking #australia #perthOpening
I am at Perth International Airport, writing this before the flight home.
My wife booked a cheap trip to Perth for January. I looked forward to it. Shortly afterwards I lost my job. The first half of 2026 went to searching for work and keeping our finances stable, while the trip still added cost. I eventually landed a job I like and could just about afford the trip.
I am glad we came. The pace and atmosphere here are calmer than what I am used to.
Food
Supermarkets showed the first clear difference. At Coles and Woolworths, meat, fruit and vegetables carry an expectation of high quality and relatively natural presentation. Restaurants followed the same pattern: good ingredients, little dressing, often finished with lemon to sharpen the flavour.
This made me look again at Taiwanese food. Historically we tended to be frugal. We used almost every part of the pig or chicken. Some cuts had less pleasant tastes and sold for lower prices, so people developed cooking methods and sauces to make them acceptable. Over time those techniques became the default. Extra flavour was added on top of the ingredient rather than drawn from it.
In Australia the base flavour is often already good. I ate well for the first few days. Then I bought too much Tasmanian salmon, Angus beef and lamb chops. I gained about 2.5 kg. I will need to correct that after returning to Taiwan.
In Taiwan a meal often comes with soup or a drink, which quietly adds sugar. Here, locals treat tap water as the default on the table.
Portions are large. A chicken parma, a personal pizza, or fish and chips is clearly sized as one full meal.
Places
At the Perth Observatory one night, the guides explained why accurate timekeeping was once essential for navigation at sea and for determining longitude. They gave clear introductions and showed us the southern sky through four large telescopes.
On Rottnest Island the quokkas were very tame. The weather was unstable, with showers coming and going. During a heavy shower we stepped into the bushes for shelter. When we turned around, two quokkas stood there watching us. That small encounter stayed with me.
The coastline around Nambung National Park and further south along the Leeuwin-Naturaliste region was varied. The waves were powerful and genuinely dangerous in places. I visited more than ten beaches, each with its own character. We also saw six humpback whales travelling south, heading back toward Antarctica.
People
When I stayed relaxed and open, people responded without much friction.
In Mandurah, while we were looking at the lake, a couple told us about a spot where dolphins move up and down the Dawesville Channel. We went there and it was worthwhile. Similar small exchanges happened while ordering food or joining tours. Starting a conversation seemed to cost less. If I needed space, a short reply and a smile was enough to close it.
At Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse a guide used the phrase “spit the dummy.” He described people who express anger by slamming things, rolling eyes, sulking or passive resistance as behaving like infants. The point was practical: when someone has the ability to speak clearly but chooses emotional display instead, the emotion stays stronger. Putting the feeling into words tends to reduce its intensity.
Family
I usually travel alone or with my wife. Decisions stay simple. This time I brought my younger sister. The age gap between us is more than seven years. Several patterns during the trip created friction.
She went through my shopping basket without asking. At meals she watched other people’s plates and showed clear interest in the food without a direct request. The unspoken pressure felt higher than a simple question would have been. At times she also withdrew without saying what was wrong.
In the past I mostly ignored these moments because contact was limited. This trip made the contact constant. I had to look at what I was actually feeling and what I cared about. After dealing with those reactions, I decided to address the behaviour directly — to say what was acceptable and what was not — instead of ignoring it or cutting her off. It was a small shift from avoidance toward teaching basic boundaries.
Asking is respect. Even if the answer is no, the request itself returns the decision to the other person. Watching or using body language without words moves the emotional cost onto them and creates pressure.
I also looked at some of my own earlier communication habits from an angle I had not taken before.
I think this shift was helped by the calmer pace here. The long drives and open views also made space for it. I got the family here and back safely.
Closing
Back in Taiwan the difference in everyday finish is obvious. Many small details here are treated with more care than the common local habit of stopping at “good enough to work.” I keep thinking about which parts of that higher baseline can be brought back and made workable.