Perth Boat Show

Having been at this foreign place for several years now, I have had the chance to witness the difference and variety of culture and lifestyle of local Perth folks that are truly unique, and possibly could not be found generally in Malaysia. One major interesting lifestyle here involves the waters, and that would obviously be boating, apart from other activities such as kayaking (ok, unker is so gonna kill me now), yatching, water skiing, etc etc. As expensive as a boat could cost, starting from a whooping AUD30k for a small boat without sunroof, surprisingly boats are very common for everyone here. The main reason would be the easy access to the blue waters of the river and not to mention, the coastline is less than half an hour drive away from the city itself.

PERTH BOAT SHOW 2007

There was this Perth Boat Show happening in the Convention center, and I was invited to join Jay and Jak Yew for an afternoon there. I did not expect much from such an event, after, how interesting could boats get? right?

WRONG. I was very wrong to assume so negatively. Much to my amazement, the event itself was an eye-opener to the western culture that I have not witnessed closely before. I enjoyed myself through and through the whole trip !!

I think the coolest thing about the show was the persmission being granted for the public to walk in and board the boats and have a view on what its like from the inside. People certainly have gone crazy over cars and cars and cars, but how could I have thought that people here can actually be so serious about boats too. Entering boats after boats, I gotta say the weirdest thing started to happen to me, I began to develop love and attraction to boats too !! This is very, very wrong.


WHITE BOATS EVERYWHERE

Come to think of it, having a boat can bring more colours into your life. Think of a lazy weekend, instead of bringing your car out with your buddies and have a drive around the boring town, why not drag everyone into a boat, hit the waters, maybe just for sightseeing, maybe going into the nearby island, or why not just go do some casual deeper water fishing which would be more interesting than just sitting at the jetty at the waterfront? The possibility is wide open.

For those of you who have watched the American drama The OC, you would easily relate to what I am saying here, and they gave quite a glimpse on the boating life and culture, there was one episode where Merissa borrowed her father's boat and brought all her friends out for a boating trip, more like a memorable sweet double date on the boat into the ocean under the sun. You get the idea, and that particular episode kinda got stuck on my head, and yeah, I pictured myself doing that while I was at the boat show.

And you may think that being stranded in the middle of nowhere in a boat can be boring and unentertaining, wait till you see what is inside the boat.

ENTERING A 3-LEVEL BOAT

Having looked at the boats from their exteriors, wait till you see what is inside !!! What they appear from the outside may seem boringly stereotypical and plain white, just step in, it is a different world.

THE COUCH

THE WASHING BASIN

THE BED !!! WAH LAU....

You gotta admit, they DO look COMFY...

PANTRY, WITH LCD TV AND A MICROWAVE OVEN !!!

With a mini kitchen/pantry, you can just cook your catch right away. How convenient is that?? Fish and dine on the boat. Maybe a bottle of wine to go along with the trip. Sweet, just sweet.

We noticed that many boats also come with mini toilet/washroom, and also fridge fascilities, which would just be enough to turn the boat itself into a...

HOUSE !! Yes, with all those built in a boat, it can unmistakenly be a well-equiped home, and whats better, the boat can float on water.

Some boats even had full stereo sound system built in, with powered sub-woofer some more.

MORE BOATS...

Look what else we found there....

KAYAKS !!!

I am sure if Francis Ho were here in Perth, he would somehow end up being one of the top promoter/organizer of the kayaking section, and making it a much grander one. This is scary, everytime I see Kayak, I will instantly think of Unker.


Goodness gracious... most of the good boats (with better fascilities built in of course) easily cost above 300k, and basically everything there would be in the range of 6 figure pricing, PLUS GST. I think I would have to work my ass out day and night for 20 years before I can purchase one myself, and embrace the luxurious and definitely, unique lifestyle of the locals here.

Alright, it is time for camwhoring. Yeah, and you thought I forgot about that, I tell you, I NEVER.

JAY

JAK YEW

ROBIN

Like any great events out there, of course, there are chicks.

So.. coming up next entry

BOAT SHOW FASHION DISPLAY

After this event, there is the UWA Expo 2007, happening on 19th August. I will be there, and as usual, it would be a great opportunity to see the livelier side of the old place.

Check back for those coming entries. Have a nice weekend folks.