Full to bursting with stuff to say, it was high time for me to meet up for a chat with my friend Susan in Perth CBD.
They say that a balanced life includes looking after your mental and emotional health. This means making time for relationships – Significant Others (SOs), family and friends.
As long-term expats, and now living a peripatetic sort of life between Singapore, Europe, South Africa and Australia, my SO and I are seldom apart from each other (how can I miss you if you won’t go away?), but we have had to get used to long separations from family and friends.
On the plus side, it’s always a joy to meet up with them again.
What would you do if I sang out of tune?
There’s something special about old friends. You know, the ones with whom, no matter how long you’ve been apart, you can effortlessly pick up where you left off – almost in mid-conversation. That’s what it’s like with Susan.
Last year, she showed me fabulous Rottnest Island (click here for my blogpost on that) and Mandurah, where she lives (click here). A few days ago, we agreed to meet up at the glossy new Elizabeth Quay in the CBD for lunch, followed by a lazy afternoon on the water.
I arrived starving at Annalakshmi on the Swan (annalakshmi.com.au), having fasted overnight in preparation for a routine blood test – and then, perhaps ill-advisedly, gone for a run.
Foolishly following Susan’s frugal lead, I didn’t dish up enough from the delicious vegetarian buffet, and then felt it would be greedy to go back for more. (I know, that doesn’t sound like me at all.) I’ll have to go back on my own to pig out properly.
Like Annalakshmi in Singapore, at Annalakshmi on the Swan you pay what you feel like paying, no questions asked. Operating costs like rent, food ingredients and so on are sponsored by well-wishers and the place is run and staffed by volunteers.
Susan has been coming here for several years, both with her own family and with her high school pupils. “Contribute at least $10,” she advises them. Your contribution helps to feed those who are unable to pay.
Absolutely delicious: white Basmati rice or pulai rice, rasam soup, dosai, potato masala, vegetable stir-fry, dahl, jeera pani (cumin water), plus a simple dessert with tea or coffee.
Annalakshmi has a great location in Elizabeth Quay’s Barrack Square. It’s near the famous Lucky Shag and has prime waterfront views.
We are sailing…
On such a perfect day, Susan suggested taking a post-prandial cruise on the Little Ferry.
While waiting for our boat to come in, we chatted with the opposition, Swan River Tours. (Sue is a bit like me – she will talk to anyone.) After extolling the benefits of his cruise, the blue-shirted chap below entertained us with a joke that’s clean enough to tell the kids:
Q: What’s invisible and smells of eucalyptus? A: A koala fart.
Described as an Edwardian luxury boat, The Little Ferry is an electric vessel that plies from Elizabeth Quay to F&B complex On the Point, Claiesbrook Cove, the fancy new Optus Stadium and back to Elizabeth Quay.
You also get close-up views of the spectacular new Matagarup Bridge. This bridge connects East Perth to the Burswood Pensinsula, so footy fans can walk across it to watch the game.
Now that Susan is back at work – she’s an English teacher at a CBD school – it’s not going to be as easy to enjoy a day out. But we’ll have to find the time, if only to complete that unfinished four-hour conversation…
