Perth : Perth Entertainment Centre - Abandoned Stadium

I don't know how he did it. I'm telling you, that was the best rice I have ever eaten. There's a whole other side to the dish, sure. Fuck that was some tasty rice. Semi-transparent, glistening, aldente, and with chicken as well, I put it up there as probably the best meal I have ever eaten. Three bucks. Airfare to Singapore is under four hundred, if you plan ahead. Four hundred and three dollars, for the best meal of my life? I'd pay that tomorrow. But, this is more a Bangkok story. Singapore, has it's charms. Like a nerd cousin. I don't mind nerds. Some nerds. A few nerds. Anyway, that's Singapore. Bang-kok. Bangkok is like the cousin you wanted to visit when you were a kid. The one that lived near a space invader cocktail machine, at the squash courts down the road. There was going to be a point here, something about abandoned stadiums. Perth Entertainment Centre? Abandoned? Three hours in the P-E-C, and memories come flooding back. Gigs, movies, ALVA skate team, b-ball, circus, beer. I'm still giddy. This adventure, well it felt like a swan song. The photo's, a last waltz. Perth's greatest ever abandoned building, is moments from it's final lament. For just a few hours, the amazing Perth Entertainment Centre gave me one last magnificent performance. Truly, a Perth icon that will never be forgotten.

Bonus number of photos this time, let the memories roll. 36 shots, old school.

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Perth : Abandoned Toy Factory, O'Connor. AKA, Detroit.

Abandoned Toy Factory, Detroit, AKA O'Connor, Perth, Western Australia. Detroit is a shrinking city. In the few decades that Perth, Western Australia has gained a million residents, Detroit, Michigan, has lost a million. Mostly whiteys. Mostly.  Look, I could totally check that, and prove it as fact. Right in front of me, I have the "Atlas of Shrinking Cities". Picked it up at the Bahaus bookshop this year. That's in Germany. Dessau, Germany. Atlas der schrumpfenden Städte. A's with dots, you can't make that shit up. 2006, Phillipp Oswalt und Tim Reieniets. Henning Schirmel, you know it. So, I just checked, Detroit 1950, 1,849,568 heads. Perth 1950, 312 thousand. Who gives a fuck. There's no point. This is O'Connor, not Detroit. But, for a few hours last month, it was Detroit. Here's an abandoned Wooden Toy Factory, and some other shots of O'Connor, one of Perth's most serene and beautiful locales. If Bali was our 911, O'Connor is, our Detroit.

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Restaurant Review : Good Fortune Roast Duck House, Northbridge. Plus, Abandoned Sail Factory Photo Tour

Good Fortune Roast Duck restaurant, William Street, Northbridge. An institution. However, during a recent visit, something terrible happened to me. I feel so dirty. So ashamed. So... so... white. I ordered the boneless roast duck with noodles, and an extra serving of choy sum. Its a great lunch time treat. Always delivered to the table quickly. This time,  something was wrong. Very wrong. Trinny and Susannah wrong. Although I am finding it difficult just remembering the experience, I have to write it down here, you know, to let it out, and move on with my life. Yes, I got the dreaded - Guilo Special. AKA the whitey deluxe. No duck sauce. No plum sauce. Am I really, just another Guilo?

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Fremantle : Freo's Best Tourist Attraction - South Fremantle Abandoned Power Station Part 2

Built 1946, abandoned 1985. 34 years of life for a power station seems kind of short. Call this part two, as most of this building has been featured before on 6000times. A trip back down to Fremantle really was worth it just to view the North West section of the structure, which I hadn't previously seen. Yes, Fremantle. Home of John Butler, Luc Longley, and about 24 thousand freaks. Far out man. I haven't seen that many freaks per-capita since my trip up to Two-Rocks, visiting abandoned-Atlantis.

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Perth - Abandoned Hopsital - Menora - Oy Vey!

Maybe, there's been a bit too much emphasis on Perth's abandoned schools, TAFE colleges, hospitals, warehouses, hotel/motels, power stations, and federation era buildings lately on this blog. Maybe not - abandoned buildings are just SO good.

In any case, the latest installment here is an entire abandoned hospital, located in Menora - Perth's Jewish heartland, and suburb of death. Surrounding the hospital are blocks and blocks of apartments and small villas. Formerly a retirement village, the whole area is now in the process of demolishment. These photos were taken literally moments before the demolition crew got to work.

As far as architecture goes, I did take a drive to Guilderton yesterday, to take photos of a suspected Iwan Iwanoff beach-side house. These stylish chairs would have looked perfectly at home on the front deck, overlooking the ocean.

As with the Abandoned Campus of Death, it was like the old Jewish folks just got up and left. Plenty of paper work and hospital records remained. I was told by the helpful demolition artists that their first job was to securely destroy all paperwork.

Mornin' Ralph. Hello Sam.

Plenty of dark hall ways to explore.

Not too much in the way of graffiti, this place was very abandoned.

Plenty of equipment remained (now gone). Beds, TV's, machinery, ovens, and most remarkable of all, in this Jewish wasteland - a cash register.

You vant I should clean the floor? Oy Vey!

The organ was cool, as were the anodised 1950's bedside lamps.

Just think of the meals that would have been served under these lids. Matzah Ball soup and bagels spring to mind. According to the IFOCE (International Federation of Competitive Eating), Joey Chestnut holds the record for eating Matzah Balls. 78 in 8 minutes. Nice job, Joey Chestnut.

Oh yeah, the black and white thing? Well, the place looked so much nicer in B&W. Rat-bait is green, blood is red, and well, lets just leave it at that.

Perth - Abandoned Hopsital of Doom in the Jewish Suburb of Death (teaser)

In a wealthy Perth inner city suburb, full of herculoidian Iwan Iwanoff houses, lays the abandoned Hospital of Doom. The year, was, 24th of November, 1995. Three billion human lives ended on that day. The survivors of the nuclear fire called that day, Judgement Day. They lived only to face a new nightmare, the war against - the Machines.

The halls echoed with ghostly voices - "I need your clothes, your motorcycle, and your wallet".

You think you're alive and safe, but you're already dead! Everybody! You, him, everybody...you're all fucking dead. You're the one living in a dream, Silberman, not me! Because I know it happens! IT HAPPENS!

More on Perth's abandoned Hospital of Doom in the Jewish Suburb of Death, soon.

Perth - More Laneways, and "Craning" its the Latest Craze for Perth's Impetuous Youth.

Take a look at the next two photos. What do they have in common? When I received this in my email, my first reaction was "are you shitting me?". The top photo was taken by a regular visitor to this site, I'm sure he will comment below. Whatup, V!

Totally inspiring. The cranes below are known amongst craners as the "Four Kings". Similar to the drive of a mountain climber, Perth's "craners" just want to bag another summit. V has done them all. Whilst I can't condone this behaviour, I can't also not not condone this behaviour. That should get me off the legal hook. One more thing, before we move on, I would not not like to see any copy-cat photos emailed to me. I mean, I really, really, would not not hate to see people doing this sort of stuff on a regular basis. Just don't not do it!

For those that need clarification, yes, the first photo was taken from one of the cranes in the second photo. The photo matter *is* one of the cranes in the second photo.

Back to Perth's lane-ways. I prefer to call them alley-ways, it sounds dirtier. Another great CBD location. The following four photos are all from the same alley, it is seriously in the absolute middle of the CBD. The potential of all of these locations is astounding. M-ust---re-sist--com-par--is---on--to-MEL---BOURNE!!!

Also, I recommend not not sitting down in the peace and quiet of that space, and not not enjoying a nice alcoholic beverage.

One more from Condor Car Park, word is that some residents have actually moved in.

Harry Seidler's QV1 doesn't really fit in to this post. But, fuck it, its the best tower in Perth, and looks at its best at night, in winter. The sun has gone down, the office lights are on, and the busy little workers are still pumping out memos, papers, and tps reports, instead of, well, something better.

For the outsiders (people from overseas or interstate, and people north of Walcott St), the last photo shows an insight into the business premises slightly north of the CBD. Not much to be said, it just looks great at night. The trading hours of this den of iniquity are an example to service providers everywhere. For the locals, keep Pier St in mind next time you are looking for a late-night ATM - trust me, its the only one in this neighbourhood.

Perth's Abandoned Buildings - Part 1, of many more to come...

Abandoned Fremantle Power Station. Pretty hard to do this building justice with photos. The scale of the interior space is huge, open, with soaring ceilings and impeccable interior design. Formerly, there must have been 10,000 panes of glass. Now, there's about three. Despite our best efforts to remove this oversight by the designers, we couldn't throw any bricks high enough to take out the remaining eyesores. Buildings like this are an integral part to the diversity and culture of any modern city. Thankfully, the entire structure has been heritage listed, and there are plans in place to preserve the artwork and remaining fixtures, including a vintage Datsun 120Y sedan.

On this day, visitors to this abandoned building included photographers, artists, and models. Progressive parents had bought their children down to play. One young child was particularly proud of his collection of empty spray cans (thousands litter the floor), his father, not so impressed with the haul. Males, females, young and old. There were no laws, no restrictions, no rules. Smoking inside was OK. Spontaneous conversations were struck with complete strangers. A friendly vibe filled the air. A perfect juxtaposition of respect, and anarchy.

EDIT : There is now a PART TWO of this building, with other area's of magnificent decay! CLICK HERE for Part Two)

To get a sense of the scale, in the first photo, look at the man, standing in the background just above the yellow tag. At a guess, I would say an eight level apartment block could be built entirely inside this space, with room to spare.

Another of Perth's cultural and architectural highlights for sure.