left our jobs, went to Asia

Mining industry is booming in Western Australia. Scattered around the vast territory, mines attract potential employees with 2000-AUD-a-week pay cheques.

Higher pay and lower living costs work like a charm. Men, leaving behind their current jobs, flock there like bees to honey. Women follow, filling in the need of waitresses in country pubs.

That creates a grand shortage of employees in cities. Can't find a street corner without five "staff wanted" ads.

Today I'm standing on such a corner. It is 5.01 P.M. in Perth, capital of the region.
A horde of office workers are running away from their working places towards a train, that'll take them home, and then surfing for a few hours.

Hordes of employees escaping their office jobs, Perth, Western Australia

In each and every ones eyes, I see a message. "We don't  READ MORE »

Having a house, two cars for a family, and a boat, in Australia means living a good life.
Some probably decide to add-on the "Villa on Wheels".

Mega super duper king sized caravan, Western Australia

At the same time we have covered nearly 4000 kilometers from Darwin to  READ MORE »

Humorous sign in Wickham, Australia

It's said that Australians possess a sense of humour, often irony and autoirony. And that they use it often in daily life.  READ MORE »

Emu running across the road in Western Australia

Road animals are a very real threat to Australian drivers. Much more so, than what we are used to in Europe. Numbers of wild kangaroos, wombats and emus are high, therefore  READ MORE »

This earth, I never damage.
I look after. Fire is nothing, just clean up.
When you burn, new grass coming up.
That means good animal soon,
might be goanna, possum, wallaby.
Burn him off, new grass coming up, new life all over.
Bill Neidjie - Bunitj clan.
Aboriginal traditional owner.

The first sight of fire burning on both sides of our road, even though far ahead, was quite uncomfortable.
Standing tall, dry grass and bushes were a good material for all-consuming flames.

Bush fires raging far ahead, Western Australia

We would have surely decided to stop or even  READ MORE »

Australian Northern territory and northern part of Western Australia are the places where most of aboriginal people live.
We haven't seen them before, and after the first occasion, a question immediately appeared in our heads that in its very simple form could sound:
"What the hell has happened?"

Group of aborigines sitting in the shade, Katherine, Australia

You see, at first glance the situation seems disastrous.  READ MORE »

If you thought being a cowboy is old school, reconsider.

Now the guys are driving jeeps and flying helicopters.

Modern cow herding in Western Australia  READ MORE »

Australia is the oldest continent on earth, separated by sea from any other land a looong time ago. As a result, most of its flora and fauna is rather unusual, sometimes strange.

Take platypus or a kangaroo as an example.

Driving through Kimberley region of Western Australia, we had a chance to see one more of the lands mysteries - boab tree.

Boab tree in Kimberley region, Western Australia

The tree makes his appearance in three places of the world - Africa, Madagascar and Australia.

And in  READ MORE »

There's always a first impression arriving to a new place, influenced by some factors.
The place can be great, but the impression - sour. Or vice versa.

Australia, and namely Darwin, met us with three cards up its sleeve:
- Fantastic variety of wild birds on city's esplanade, allowing us to approach them in some cases as close as few meters.

Wild bird at the seaside in Darwin, Australia  READ MORE »

Today we are leaving a city, that has colonial architectire nicely integrated with modern buildings, clean streets, efficient infrastructure and, in some cases - great shopping.

Swissotel and Asian civilizations museum shining across the river, Singapore

Some might argue that it lacks spirit, or that the government wants to put everyone too much under control, but it's still definitely worth a visit.

Central business district and a nearby pub area, Singapore.

My personal case:  READ MORE »

Asian "eating on the street" culture is alive and well in Singapore, which can save budget travellers from paying a lot of money for the food.

You can get food in any price range, starting from S$3 curry chicken,

Street stall selling great curry chicken for 3 dollars, Singapore

continuing with Singapore chili crab for S$40,  READ MORE »

Singapore's Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) promises both wired and wireless networks to be "easily accessable" to Singaporeans, so that they can enjoy "seamless connectivity".

In my understanding, it means "free internet access to everyone".

I can testify it works absolutely great in Changi airport, and even its budget terminal:

Free internet zone in Changi airport, Singapore  READ MORE »

View of skyscrapers and nearly empty street of Singapore

While travelling in Singapore, a constant feeling follows. It whispers to your ear that everything, especially the streets, look tidy, clean and uncluttered.

Only on the fifth day we do understand why.  READ MORE »

I've seen Microsoft Windows errors on at least several places. A few I can remember:

• Personal computers, obviously.
• PDAs.
• Kiosks and information displays.
• ATMs, even.

Now it creeps closer:

Disk boot error instead of train arrival time in Little India MRT station, Singapore

For those interested in specifics:  READ MORE »

Singapore Fireworks Celebrations 2007 was a big event, with many people attending.

Red and green colors during the Singapore Fireworks Celebrations 2007, Singapore

Just by looking at the amount of photographers, you knew it's serious.  READ MORE »