Perth – City with Parks or actually Parks with a city?

I like Perth. I used to think Perth is pretty boring as it is somehow not as prominent as Sydney or Melbourne. After 6 days here, let me declare this. I like Perth and yes, I did browse through realestate.com.au to understand more about the properties here. On a scale of 1 – 10 on probability of buying with 10 as surely buying, I am only at 4. Haha. Main reason because I would prefer a landed property but those available to foreigners are mostly smaller strata titled properties and more often than not, you get to buy because the Australians themselves weren’t that interested in these smaller and more expensive in price per sf units. We shall see if there are opportunities in future. No rush. I would have no issues to fly to Perth on a quarterly basis if I am able to plan ahead. Oh yeah, I have not been to Sydney or Melbourne before. One of these days, if Air Asia tickets allow me, I would. Haha. That does not take away the fact that I enjoyed my ‘virgin’ visit to Perth.
Within Perth, there are parks, gardens, reserves and these are everywhere! I stayed in Belmont and within Belmont itself, there are already way too many parks for me to complete within this one trip. My baby daughter loves them. Anyway, she would love anything with grass for her to run and playground for her to play. Some names include: King’s Park and Botanical Garden, Stirling Garden, Booyembara Park, Adachi, Faulkner, Tomato Lake, Point Walter Reserve, Mosman Park and more! Yes, I have been to more than these stated ones and I enjoyed everyone of them. Somehow I felt that instead of Perth being a city full of these public spaces, it’s more like all these public spaces being filled by buildings and thus become Perth. Picnics are a must and so many Australian families do so at Point Walter Reserve. Best part, since I am from Malaysia is that their toilets are very, very, very clean. Design wise, I do not see huge difference but I guess the users and the level of civic mindedness are still lacking for us versus them.
I do not remember Perth being ranked a top destination for retirement but I think my parents like it enough to stay here for a while. Just like me, they would prefer Malaysia but hey, if you are really thinking of staying at a city full of parks and internationalised enough for your Chinese, Japanese or Korean food, you have a good choice in Perth. AUD350,000 may be needed at the minimum level for a small 1 bed room unit here and buying a second hand car is going to be easy. Huge numbers still plying the road and pretty cheap. Only the fuel may set you back a bit unless you are used to earning AUD$. My brother also told his wife, ‘this is quiet and yet exciting enough for us to visit again in the near future.’ If you are visiting Perth and would like to know more, do write to me. I can send you my itinerary and also some tips on car rental, where to stay, where to eat etc etc. Happy visiting.
written on 26 Nov 2014
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