How It All Began

When the Foo Fighters announced on 5 June that they would be touring Australia and New Zealand in the summer of 2023 to support the release of their latest album, But Here We Are, I knew immediately that I needed to watch this concert, because I loved the new album so much and I wanted to hear the new songs performed live. Of all the cities on this leg of the tour, Perth was the most ideal because it is the nearest to Singapore and there is no time difference. Thus, flights would be cheaper and I didn’t need to take much time off work to travel there. On 9 June, I bought my General Admission Standing 1 concert ticket for A$235.60 (S$219.57), including processing fees.  

I always have a soft spot for Perth because that was the first city outside of Asia that I travelled to when I was a child. Perth was also where I did my first solo trip in 2008, coincidentally, to watch a Foo Fighters concert as well. In fact, my last trip to Perth in 2015 was also to watch a Foo Fighters concert, so this would be my third time travelling to Perth to watch the Foo Fighters. You can tell how big of a fan I am.

For my flights, I decided to buy two one-way tickets – Scoot for the outbound flight and Singapore Airlines for the return flight. This is because the return flight timing for Scoot wasn’t very good, and I had some Krisflyer miles to redeem on SQ. I used the Scoot promo code “SAYGDAY” for 10% off flights, and my outbound flight cost S$173.42, with only cabin baggage allowance of 10kg.

For my return flight on Singapore Airlines, I didn’t have enough Krisflyer miles to redeem the full flight so I redeemed all of my 17,862 miles and purchased the remaining 3,638 miles for A$227.18 (approx. S$198). Including airport taxes of A$83.61, the total amount I paid was S$283.32, including 30kg of checked baggage.

For my accommodation, once I determined that this would be a solo trip, I decided to stay at a hostel to keep my costs low. I looked for lodging that was near the concert venue (HBF Park) and in the city centre so that it would be convenient to move around and save on transport costs. I eventually booked a 4-bed dorm room at Hostel G Perth for 4 nights at S$194.81, or about S$48.70/night. I booked the room through booking.com and redeemed A$46.93 worth of credits that I had amassed from my past bookings.

For my travel insurance, I came across an advertisement at the MRT station for Tiq by Etiqa Insurance, where new customers can receive $30 off their travel insurance plans. I checked out the promo and it was legit, so I purchased my travel insurance from Tiq and paid only S$3.60 after redeeming the promo code. Good deal!

And with all the essential things settled, I was ready for my trip!

(Exchange rate: AS$1 = S$0.876)

Day 1 – 27 November 2023, Monday

I didn’t sleep very well last night as I was a little under the weather with a sore throat and lost my voice almost completely. At 4am, I woke up to use the toilet and couldn’t go back to sleep because of a blocked nose, so I only managed around five hours of sleep before I climbed out of bed and had a light breakfast before leaving home for the airport.

At 6:50am, I hopped on to the Tada car together with mum and dad. We arrived at Changi Airport Terminal 1 at 7:17am. The Tada fare was $26.47, much cheaper than Grab, Gojek or Zig, which were all above $30 when I compared the prices. I’m a fan of Tada now.

After bidding farewell to mum and dad, I entered the Departure hall and went to the Marhaba Lounge to have my second breakfast and chill. I used my Priority Pass to access the lounge for free. There are two other lounges at Terminal 1 – SATS and Plaza Premium Lounge, but I chose Marhaba because it was the nearest to my departure gate. The lounge was quite empty at 8am and it was very quiet. The food selection was quite limited but it was sufficient as I wasn’t very hungry.  I had a small pancake, a slice of toasted bread, a sausage and a cup of coffee.

The Scoot aircraft was a Pikachu Jet so the exterior of the plane was adorned with colourful Pokémon characters while the interior was decorated with images of Pikachu on the seat rest covers and overhead cabins. There was also exclusive Pokémon merchandise on sale. The Scoot flight TR10 was supposed to depart Singapore at 9:30am but it was delayed due to a last-minute change in aircraft so additional paperwork needed to be done. We only took off at 10:29am and touched down at Perth International Airport at 3:03pm, later than the original arrival time of 2:30pm.

Clearing immigration was a breeze as Singapore citizens are eligible to use the Smart Gate automated system. I also didn’t have any checked baggage so everything was very fast. However, the airport security personnel decided to check my luggage, probably because I was a solo traveller. They took out my Poh Chai pills and scrutinised it before giving me the all-clear. Australia has a very strict policy of not allowing food products into the country. But other than that, it was a very smooth process and I was out of the airport very quickly.

The first order of business after arriving in Perth was to buy a local SIM card. My Singapore data roaming plan on MyRepublic was prohibitively expensive – S$55 for 1GB of roaming, which is simply daylight robbery. At the Arrival hall in the Perth airport, the shops for the three telcos Telsim, Optus and Vodafone were located side by side. I went to Telsim first to check and saw that they had a tourist plan at A$30 for 10GB of mobile data.

I then popped over to Optus and saw that they had an even better deal – 60GB for only A$25. This Traveller Mobile Plan usually costs A$35 so it was a really good deal. After signing up, I inserted the SIM card into my phone and the line was activated immediately. And the mobile coverage was 5G too, very impressive. This A$25 (S$22.10) proved to be the best purchase for my trip as I didn’t need to worry about running out of mobile data at any time. I didn’t even have to use the Wi-Fi in my hostel.

After exiting the airport terminal building, I followed the signs to the Airport Central train station. It was a sunny day and the temperature was a cool 24 degrees Celsius, simply perfect. I was very lucky because just the week before, Perth experienced a rare spring heatwave and the temperatures went up to 38 degrees C. That would have been unbearable even for me, coming from Singapore where it’s always hot and humid.

I used the Skybridge and walked for about five minutes to reach the Airport Central Station. I initially wanted to buy a SmartRider travel card but the helpful staff member at the InfoCentre advised me to buy single-trip tickets instead because I was only in Perth for a few days. He said that the SmartRider card costs A$10 (non-refundable) and requires a minimum top-up amount of A$10, and it wasn’t so straightforward to obtain a refund if I didn’t need the card anymore. Hence, I heeded his advice and went to the machine outside the InfoCentre to buy my ticket.

From Airport Central Station to the city centre, it requires travelling across two zones and the fare was A$5.10 (S$4.51). SmartRider card entitles the user 10% discount off the standard fare, so it would have led to savings of A$0.51 per trip. Thus, I would have needed to make at least 20 trips to recoup the A$10 cost of the card. For my entire stay in Perth, I ended up making only four two-zone trips, so the staff member was correct in saying that it was more cost-effective for me to buy single-trip tickets instead of the SmartRider card. Now, that is good customer service, putting the customer’s needs first!

At 4:22pm, the train departed Airport Central Station. The train was very clean and comfortable, and it was a smooth and enjoyable ride. The journey to the city centre took only 17 minutes and I arrived at McIver station at 4:39pm. I then walked for 10 minutes to my hostel.

Hostel G Perth (click here) attracts not only backpackers but also families as they have a variety of dorm rooms and private rooms to cater to different budgets and needs. It is one of the largest hostels I have stayed in. Besides the numerous dorm and private rooms, there are also many recreational facilities like pool and foosball tables, a large projector TV screen and many tables and benches for guests to socialise or do their work. They also provide free bicycle rental.

My 4-bed dorm room was pretty spacious and well-furnished, and it came with an ensuite bathroom. The other three beds were occupied so I took the remaining upper bunk bed. Upon checking in, I was given fresh sheets for the mattress and comforter, and a pillow case. I had to lay the sheets myself, which was not an easy task for an upper bunk bed.

At about 5:15pm, I left Hostel G and walked to the city centre, which was less than 10 minutes away. The hostel was conveniently located at 80 Stirling Street, a quiet street just outside the CBD and shopping belt. The main shopping area in Perth is concentrated along Murray Street and Hay Street. This is like the Orchard Road of Perth, with two of the biggest department stores, Myer and David Jones, located here, as well as flagship stores of international brands like Apple, Uniqlo, H&M and Zara.

My first destination was the JB Hi-Fi store at Murray Street Mall. I hoped to snag some good deals because it was the last day of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales. There was indeed 20% off CDs and vinyls storewide, but they were closing at 6pm so I only had around half an hour to browse and make my purchases, which was barely enough time! I ended up buying only three titles, which was a major achievement of self-restraint.

After leaving JB Hi-Fi, I saw that David Jones was still open so I went in for a look. The huge department store was deserted, with only a handful of other customers. Even though it was still bright outside, most of the other shops at Murray Street were closed already. In Perth, most shops close around 5:30pm or 6pm, and slightly earlier on Sundays. It is very different from Singapore, which is always busy till 9pm or even later.

I walked around to take some photos, just to get a feel of the area since it was my first day. I then remembered that I did not have a proper lunch so I searched for something to eat. I settled on Betty’s Burgers because I was hungry and too tired to walk far to find something else. I ordered the Betty’s Deluxe burger, French fries and a small Coke, and the bill was A$26.50 (S$23.43). The burger came with Angus beef and bacon and it was very yummy. Comfort food on a day when I needed it.

After dinner, I went to Woolworths supermarket. I love visiting supermarkets overseas, not necessarily to buy anything, but just to see what local products they have on their shelves. As my throat was still sore and I was feeling the onset of flu, I bought some Nurofen cold & flu tablets. Actually, I brought along some meds from home but I felt I needed something stronger. I also bought a pack of five oatmeal & raisin cookies and a bottle of fresh orange juice for my dose of Vitamin C. My mini supermarket shopping spree cost A$16 (S$14.14).

I left Woolworths at 8pm and was back at the hostel 10 minutes later. I took my shower in the ensuite bathroom but the water was not hot; it wasn’t even lukewarm. But thankfully, it was still bearable. I then packed my day bag for tomorrow and organised my belongings, picking out my clothes and chargers for my electronic devices.

When you’re staying at a dorm, you need to be quite organised and have a system for arranging your things. After years of backpacking and staying in dorms, I can say that I am pretty good at it. It is important to be organised because you don’t want to disturb your roommates unnecessarily, especially if you’re planning to start your day early the next morning or if you know you’ll be returning late at night.

When everyone else is sleeping, you don’t want to create a ruckus by rummaging through your bags or switching on the room lights. And it is especially important if you’re occupying the upper bunk bed, because the ladder will creak whenever you climb up and down, not to mention it’s a hassle to go up and down repeatedly to pick up something you forgot.

Sharing a room with strangers, I am also very mindful of my valuables and personal belongings. I will keep my most important items (passport, wallet, money, mobile phone) close to me when I sleep, or keep them locked up if there are lockers in the room. Even when I go for my shower, I will bring my valuables with me to the bathroom. I will not leave them unattended in the room. I did commit a faux pas on this trip though – I forgot to bring my own padlock for the locker so I had to buy one the next day. 

After deciding on my plan for tomorrow and packing my stuff, I was tired and feeling slightly sick so I popped some meds and went to bed early at 10pm. Hope I’ll feel well enough to do some cycling tomorrow!