The Bunches of Bai Yon…

and the lunches of Bai Yon can be found at this new Thai restaurant in Old Perth Road. In an interesting commercial mix, which I think is a first for Basso, if not the world, this enterprising business is selling both Flowers and Food.

You can get lunch from Monday to Friday and Dinner 7 nights a week. I have eaten there myself and can say it is value for money, with a classic Green Chicken Curry available for $10.50. Now that is recession busting eating.

I was also tempted to buy a bunch of red roses as I walked home from the train station. At $15 for the bunch, I am going to need some Ruddy good economic stimulation to keep myself in flowers if I am tempted every week.

There seems to be some small problem with the restaurant awning which has been propped up with steel supports for some time, though with all the flowers decorating the front this is hardly noticable. I guess they need to turn a bit more profit before they can get it fixed, so come on citizens, get yourself a cheap feed, a bunch of flowers and help a Basso business prosper. Take away available – 9279 7979 – good number hey? Very Basso!

Comments welcome from anyone who would like to review the Bai Yon Thai Restaurant and Florist!

The North / South Divide

You will be familiar with the phrase “the wrong side of the tracks” which generally refers to the lower socio-economic side of said tracks. In many a Hollywood movie, the less than des res address of the hero is a significant barrier to social progress or even wedded bliss.

Right here in Bassendean our own right side / wrong side debate rages. Bassendean is a town divided against itself by the hard iron lines of the Midland to City railway. Which side is the best side has been a discussion best avoided if you are visiting from the other side.

When I was a young and living on the Northern side, we were pretty sure that our side was the best. After all, it was the more recently developed side, and in the heady years following the space races, anything new was better. Ths South side was seen as a bit passe.

But since this time, a wave of nostalgia and environmentalism has swept the suburb and cottages and riverbanks are back in style, in spite of the disadvantages of leaking roofs and mosquitos.

I have recently made the move from North to South and I seem to have swapped my allegiance unpatriotically quickly.  South has the donwtown, the river, the footy oval, the Bassendean city farm and the petrol station. Admittedly, the North side has Charlie’s, Ida St. Deli, faster access to Galleria and the Arboretum.

North or South, please let me know whether your side rules, or whether you long to make the switch to the other side of the tracks.

Sun on the Rubble

The old Pyrton and TADWA site in Lockridge is being dismantled. For those who aren’t aware, TADWA stands for Technical Aids to the Disabled WA. At TADWA, dedicated volunteers with engineering knowledge make custom designed aids to help people with disabilities access work, education or recreation activities. Having recently moved to new premises in Collier Road, the old site at Pyrton is being dismantled and provided a great photo opportunity.

There is something very sad about abandoned wheelchairs.

 The original plan for the old Pyrton site was a new prison, but fortunately that idea was chased off by the usual suspects, who I believe in this case definitely represented the views of the majority.  At the very least my views and that of at least one neighbour.

The site once contained interesting and well maintained gardens and there are many unusual trees on the site, as well as many well established and beautiful natives. I hope it will be kept as parkland. I believe a section has been earmarked for housing. Perhaps someone in the know can comment?

I love a good tangle of wreckage.

Early success for Round the Bend

Only a couple of posts ago, I complained about the state of the pedestrian stairwell at Basso train station. Check here.So you can imagine my delight when I came through the station this afternoon and saw that it is now being fixed! Round the Bend brings change to Bassendean.

Unless of course it was already scheduled to go ahead today….

Nah, I’m sure its because of the massive readership of Bassendean locals on this site!

Basso Fiasco

For the 99.9% of Bassendean residents who missed it, here are some photos of the Planet Earth Festival. What does the main street of Bassendean look like when we put on a festival?

Slightly less busy than when there is no festival.

 These stall holders must have been pleased to have received  so much attention by working on Saturday and Sunday.

And the bands were really pumping – shame about the audience.

It is painful to see a whole lot of rate payers money being burned for no good reason. Only last Sunday, a street festival was held in Angove St, Leederville. This was a great success as it was advertised as  ‘Cappucino Festival’ with large banners on busy roads around the city for a couple of weeks before the event. Town of Basso staffers take note – if you are going to spend money on a festival – make sure people know it is on. There is a lot of competition in entertainment at this time of the year. The local mall was open on the same Sunday as this festival. This means you need to persuade people to come to your party.

There are many ways this festival could have been better promoted – a poster at the Bassendean Railway station would have been seen by many, many people. Instead, the Town used on the same signage they have on the streets all year round. Obviously, people have stopped looking at these. I could go on and on, but I think the pictures speak for themselves.

And I think there is a law against a band playing for over 12 hours without a break. Yes, the sky could be falling after that performance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ratepayers – please vote for no festival next year.

Spicing up the town.

A new flavour has been added to Old Perth Road with the opening of Kishan Jee Indian Grocery Store. I have yet to sample the delights within, but I was very happy to see this new addition to our Downtown shopping area. I will be dropping in soon – perhaps today during the Planet Earth Festival happening this afternoon.

Having a vibrant Downtown is one of the perks of living in Bassendean. Unfortunately, quite lot of businesses closed in Old Perth Road this year and I was beginning to fear we would be left with the Library, the Bank and some boarded up shops. Fortunately, there still folks out there with the dream of owning their own business even in these time of economic uncetainity.

I will be checking out the businesses along Old Perth Road and commenting in future posts. In the meantime, please give these intrepid pioneers of mixed retail some of your disposable and check back here to let me know what you think.

Duct tape shortage in Basso

We all know that duct tape can fix anything so when a crack appeared in our pedestrian overpass at Bassendean railway station, maintenance got straight to work with the wonder product.

Just in case any unsuspecting pedestrians were tempted to step onto the cracked edge of the stairwell, a witch’s hat was carefully placed to warn them. Some black tape was attached to the handrail as an extra warning but this came undone and fell off a few weeks ago. But the duct tape keeps on keeping on.

 Or does it? It may be beginning to show signs of giving up…

Yes, that is a cigarette butt lying in the crack between the tiles. Oh, I should get a few hits with that line!

But back to the subject at hand – why is this ever more urgent safety issue being steadly ignored by all those who will be in the sueing line should the overpass fall down in the next shower of rain? Is there some argument about the maintenance contract? Are the town council, the architects and transperth locked in a bitter dispute over who should pay? Is there a serious duct tape shortage in the Town of Bassendean? If anyone knows the story, please enlightment me.

Eyesore on Old Perth Road

For about seven months, a piece of bitumen in Old Perth Road has been for sale and fenced off.

The Rent a Fence surrounding the plot is extremely ugly and is surely costing the owners a small fortune.

OK, it does give any potential purchaser a visual picture of the boundaries, but surely if someone is really interested they can be shown the boundaries of the title on a map? The size and shape of the plot is, in fact, indicated on the for sale board.

The fencing is adding to the lack of parking in Old Perth Road and, as I am fairly sure the new owners will want to develop the site, rather than keep it as a car park, this will be an ongoing problem for all retail business in the street.

Another problem is the sorry state of disrepair of the plot. It is not being maintained and is covered in rubbish and weeds. Isn’t it sensible to maintain something that you are trying to sell? There is no way the state of the site will be encouraging any potential buyers. This eyesore in the centre of town will certainly not be doing much for any of our propery prices in these troubled times.

Should Town Councillors be paid?

Town councillors receive a minimal renumeration for the long hours they put in and the boring documentaion they have to read in the service of their community. One of our local councillors in East Ward Bassendean has just quit the post and I assume it is due to workload and lack of reward. Because where is the reward? Little of either money or recognition.

Look at the duties – you have to make the effort to actually understand local issues and then take a postion which you will have to defend at council. If it was me I would glance over the background reading and roll over for the councillor who had the loudest voice at the meeting.

But that’s just me. I retain the hope that some people on Council are fair minded, hard working and community orientated individuals doing a thankless task for an uncaring populace that will be the first to complain when things don’t go their way.

It is equally likely that councillors could be self interested individuals who havea financial stake in controlling the rezoning of the Town and other matters related to property values.

What do you think?

Daylight Saving

This week daylight saving started in Bassendean, and the rest of WA. It is impossible to find anybody who doesn’t have strong views on the subject. Sandgropers either love it or hate it. The line being pushed by the politicians is that it is healthy for the community, because you will have more daylight for exercising after work. This doesn’t really stand up to scrutiny as people could just get up earlier and exercise before work, especially in summer. Some people would prefer that. There are a lot of people who don’t work 9-5 in our community, so it really doesn’t make any difference to them.

My argument with daylight saving is that here in Basso what is there to do after 5pm? Ok, we could walk to the river, that could be entertaining one evening out of seven I suppose, though the mosquitos are a real problem at dusk. On the other six nights of the week, the shops and cafes are closed and the pubs do not have beer gardens. I like walking a lot, but I don’t want to always walk to the same place and I like the walk to be worthwhile, to have some destination. Previously, this was provided by Guildford, being an excellent destination for all Basso dwellers, where we could enjoy the ambience while pitying the people who have to live in the flight path. But since the Guildford Hotel burned (long may it be mourned), there’s no longer much to do there either. There is al fresco dining at the Rose and Crown, but the Basso salary will only run to those kinds of prices about once a year.

So my question is, what can we do with all the extra sunlight, other than sit out in our own backyards?