Sometime back, I stayed up one night to help a Singaporean lady to do up her itinerary for her 5 day Perth trip later this year. I realised it isn't that straightforward doing that for a stranger than, say an old friend. You do not know the stranger's personality, budget, traveling objectives and needs. It went smoothly, as she wasn't too fussy on the items I recommended. Looks like a pissed poor peasant's idea of cheap but meaningful trip isn't as unpopular among Singaporeans than I initially thought so.
With that done, she disappeared back to her busy Singapore life only to emerge a couple of weeks later asking for my help. Apparently, the farmstay I recommended her did not get back to her with a confirmation of booking email despite payment was being made. Hmm... that sounds bad. I did a check on the dates. Payment was made 10 days ago. Minus the weekend, it would be around 8 working days. After being here for so many years, I didn't think anything was amiss but I decided to help her check things out anyway.
The lady at the farmstay answered the call. Friendly people. Family business. I told her the story and she revealed that they had not left the farm and gone to the bank yet but they would do so today. She does not foresee any problems with payments and will send a confirmation email to the lady once she view her bank statement. I thanked her and wished her good day. Since the booking was done 2 months in advance, I could almost imagine the lack of urgency on the farm's owner's part. This is, after all, Western Australia.
So they say, Western Australia means Wait Awhile. The first time I heard of this was from Micky. Yeah that Micky, Cheeky Micky. Well, the little acronym play is funny because it aptly done. Things do move a little slowly here in Perth as compared to other cities in Australia. To an average Singaporean, the pace of life in WA can be vexing or even infuriating. Things get done slowly here as compared to the breakneck efficiency in Singapore. However, people do get used to it and don't see the point of rushing anyone or flying into temper to get their ways like we often see in Singapore. There is no need to even queue here. Just go home and wait awhile.
We will be suffering, if we aren't yet. We will never be able to compete with other countries and the Australia lucky show will end before long. Till then, Perth remains slow.... and beautiful. Why rush the soul and toil and toll, when you can simply wait awhile.
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