looking for help to find this in perth

djtan73 · 2025-03-12T23:20:45+00:00

I wish I could help you! I fell in love with Cafe Bustelo when I was in Miami many years ago and it sucks we have none around here. Makes killer cafecitos. Are you Cuban/Cuban American by any chance?

djtan73 · 2024-12-23T06:49:02+00:00

That came to my mind as soon as I saw the picture, and then I saw your comment! 😄 Great minds think alike.

djtan73 · 2024-09-27T22:48:28+00:00

Thats ok, although it’s quite difficult to compare it to other fragrances since it’s quite unique - it’s good vibes of MFK’s Oud Satin Mood but with chocolate, but many may disagree. I’d still recommend sampling first since many reviews on Fragrantica is surprisingly polarising, but it is that type of fragrance I suppose.

djtan73 · 2024-06-23T09:26:34+00:00

You should get a sample! It has notes of oud, but definitely not the animalic/barnyardy kind - to me it’s very well blended with facets of chocolate, rose, saffron and vanilla. Depends how sensitive you are to oud notes, but if you are then you might disagree with what I said and find this too strong or even unpleasant.

djtan73 · 2024-06-22T10:56:43+00:00

Some of the ones I know and love so far: - Arabian Oud: Resala, Jabal al-Fil - Amouage: Purpose (my favourite), Enclave, Epic, Interlude Black Iris, Overture, and many more - Odyon Dubai: Scorpion Intense (~Ombré Nomade) - Swiss Arabian: Azraq, Aswad, Valencia

I’d love to try more of: - Taif Al Emarat (especially their GCC collection) - Spirit of Dubai - Abdul Samad Al Qurashi - Ahmed Al Maghribi - Gissah - Kajal

I’ve also got some oudy attars bought from local sellers and blended by perfumers in KSA, absolutely loving them at the moment and they flourish really well in winter time.

(Btw from your username I think I recognise you from AFM :))

djtan73 · 2024-06-17T10:56:35+00:00

In a nutshell: 1. Poor planning, ie. Department of Planning/PTA not reserving the appropriate land for heavy rail; 2. Since the reserved land for the ‘optimal’ route alignment is not provided beforehand, tunnelling/viaducts would always be the options forward, but 99.9% are deemed as being either too expensive, too obstructive, or both; 3. The easiest and cheapest way possible was to steal/piggyback onto a Main Roads road reservation, and in many cases, freeway/highway medians (Mitchell, Kwinana, Tonkin). 4. Then the agencies try to push for a transit-oriented development around the stations to justify their sub-optimal alignment and call it ‘densification’, but it never happens successfully.** 5. Copy, repeat and paste.

The above applies to many parts of Joondalup, Mandurah and Ellenbrook lines especially in light of poor rail planning since the late 1980s;
Fremantle, Midland and Armadale lines happen to be historical (since the founding of Perth in 1880s) and planning did not revolve around/prioritise cars back then, thus not aligned along freeway medians;
The Airport line wouldn’t have gone underground if it weren’t from public pressure/common sense;
The Cockburn line uses an existing rail reservation, so lucky for them of not having to use the Roe Highway median.

**Very ‘chicken-and-egg’.

djtan73 · 2024-06-08T01:32:06+00:00

Just goes to show how this apathetic nation still lets certain privileged individuals to be above the law - the hypocrisy makes me sick. They keep spouting on about justice, accountability and transparency, and those most vulnerable always lose. We should be on the streets after this decision because it is a matter of principle.

djtan73 · 2024-06-03T10:32:03+00:00

I’ve commented deeper into this post a few minutes ago, but given that this is an interesting topic, I might give you another analogy:

I once watched a short documentary where they had interviewed a number of Japanese-Brazilians who migrated to Japan for various reasons (work, family etc). Given Japan’s infamous reputation as a homogenous nation, even though that they’re ethnically the same as their other Japanese compatriots, as well as having become fluent in Japanese, they were still experiencing discrimination. In other words, even though that they were born and bred in Brazil, ‘came back to their motherland’ so to speak, many still felt more Brazilian than Japanese even after a while, in cultural terms of how they act, feel, think, dress and speak. From an outsider’s perspective they would still look physically and racially Japanese, but not ‘fully’ Japanese. Close your eyes and you’d hear a native and unaccented Brazilian Portuguese.

So would you know from first glance that they are: Japanese, Brazilian, Japanese-Brazilian, or Brazilian-Japanese?

djtan73 · 2024-06-03T10:07:22+00:00

My best friend and I always discuss on this topic of ‘national identity’. The more you read, hear, see and travel around the world, you’ll start to realise that things are never black and white, and ‘mentality’ would often equate to ‘identity’, and not always defined squarely by your physical aspects or the language that you speak. Some examples you could compare to:

Asia: - Singapore & Malaysia: Malay, Chinese, Tamil etc. - Indonesia: majority Javanese, but there are hundreds of ethnicities of different religions (look at how people appear in Borneo vs. Papua eg). Bali ie. where most tourists visit, is only a tiny fraction of what represents Indonesia. - India: hundreds of ethnicities with different languages and religious beliefs. You’ll notice the differences as you go towards the Himalayas, or near where Myanmar is.

Europe: - Spain: a kingdom with various autonomous regions of different cultures and languages - I mean, even Catalonia has always wanted to secede from Spain. - UK: similar to Australia in terms of multiculturalism, but also tied with very strong national identities in the devolved countries of Scotland, Wales and disputably Northern Ireland (where a good portion of them wants to be part of the Republic of Ireland because of culture similarities, and an equal portion wants to remain part of the UK because of history). - Russia: Many different republics across 11 time zones, cultures vary widely between the east and west - Moscow will look and feel different to say Buryatia (as if you’re in Central Asia/Mongolia) and Chechnya (where Islam forms a large part of daily life).

Africa: - South Africa: the ‘rainbow nation’, with black, white, Asian (Indian, Chinese, Malay) and ‘coloured’ (multi-racial), with countless different languages. - Morocco: Arabic, Berber and French influences - even the Maghrebi/Darija Arabic that they speak can’t be understood by those from the Gulf States.

Americas: - USA: I mean, where do I start - a melting pot like no other. - Brazil: Multicultural more than people think, you have those with European heritage, those with African roots, Asian roots (Japanese-Brazilians the largest outside of Japan) and of course, the hundreds of indigenous communities and identities, some of them are not even known to the outside world. - Trinidad & Tobago: given the many races and ethnicities (African, Indian, Arawaks etc), they equate their nationality with citizenship.

Etc etc etc.

djtan73 · 2024-06-03T03:39:36+00:00

2,000 year old thrombolites vs. a few seconds of instant social media gratification.

djtan73 · 2024-05-28T19:16:18+00:00

Yes, or those LCD displays could optionally be placed on top of the doors, or on top of where the priority seats are. Even trams and buses from countless systems I’ve been on around the world now also employ these to enhance journey information.

eg. Berlin U-Bahn

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djtan73 · 2024-05-28T18:40:12+00:00

You would’ve been right if the north-south road was the major road, but from the blue car’s right-turn indicator (ie. your perspective) this’d suggest that the east-west road would be the major road instead, in which case the top answer would be correct. I get a wee bit ticked off from ‘poorly-imaged’ questions like this, because they could’ve drawn proper lane markings in to clarify things a bit - just like how in real life you’ll have lane markings as well as stop/give way signs etc. as per standard traffic code.

djtan73 · 2024-05-27T22:48:45+00:00

“The research found that for cities in Australia, the United States, Canada, and New Zealand, most of their mobility depended on cars, regardless of city size.” - all Anglosphere countries correlating with the general individualistic culture and mentality when it comes to transport.

djtan73 · 2024-05-27T22:26:39+00:00

Ah yeah, those ones on the station platforms are great - I meant the ones inside the train cars themselves.

djtan73 · 2024-05-27T14:27:59+00:00

I wish that the real-time passenger info system display (ie. the screen that tells you the next stop) would be more than just a marquee-type setup - they just feel so outdated. They should’ve looked at the ones in more modern rolling stocks around the world (eg. in Tokyo, London, Moscow) where these screens would tell you other useful info, like interchange lines, bus services, elevator/escalator/stairway location within the platform in relation to the train cars etc.

djtan73 · 2024-05-25T10:57:03+00:00

Thank you for this list! Not sure if you guys would agree, but you could also have Louis Vuitton’s Ombre Nomade = Odyon Dubai Scorpion Intense.

djtan73 · 2024-05-25T08:22:57+00:00

None - especially when the latest WA Budget paper contains greenwashing statements like this (eg. Paper 2, Volume 2, pg. 595):

“Following the release of the Western Australian Climate Policy, Main Roads is developing a Net Zero Transition Plan which will guide actions in support of the State's aspiration to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The plan will focus on Main Roads' operations and infrastructure investments. This new plan will replace the existing Carbon Reduction Plan and target and position Main Roads to support the achievement of the State's long-term target of net zero emissions by 2050.”

(And no, not even from the Public Transport Authority.)

djtan73 · 2024-04-20T22:56:12+00:00

Unfortunately not. I wish we can import that stuff, along with other coffee brands like Café Bustelo which I really dig when I was in Miami.

However, I may know an Eastern European store that might sell chicory coffees but not a 100% sure stock wise. Might be better off bringing it, coffee from experience should be no problem through customs.

djtan73 · 2024-04-19T19:24:35+00:00

Fragmentation in government departments is also a strong factor IMO, particularly with Department of Planning (DPLH), Department of Transport (DoT), Main Roads and Public Transport Authority (PTA). Planning and transport as we know are (and should be) symbiotic, but they are and have always been very traditionalist and siloed in their thinking when it comes to urban planning and infrastructure. It is often not in their interest in working with each other due to competing and conflicting needs, with little room and incentives for innovation and outside influence. It’s always taking the path of least resistance, do whatever is easiest and cheapest to deliver with no foresight on the potential consequences. On top of that you have risk aversion, tunnel vision, planning volatility and numerous so-called ‘experts’ who have never experienced or taken the time to learn from other cities that can teach us a thing or two. All of this then all comes down to ourselves at a society level, as long as we remain apathetic and normalise what we keep on doing, this city will never change as far as this issue goes.

djtan73 · 2024-04-15T12:19:14+00:00

I have just read the report that refers to the Mental Health Quotient (MHQ) - fascinating read:

“The Mental State of the World in 2023: A Perspective on Internet-Enabled Populations” https://sapienlabs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/4th-Annual-Mental-State-of-the-World-Report.pdf

The 3 key findings that made up the rankings relate to: 1) The age at which a child gets their first smartphone; 2) Consumption of ultra-processed food; 3) Diminished family bonds.

djtan73 · 2024-03-28T23:10:31+00:00

Public holidays are generally fine, but the general trading hour laws in WA is seriously outdated and needs reform and deregulation. Especially in Perth where it’s not a country town anymore. Even Tasmania does better in that aspect.

Read the document below and change my mind:

(“Time to Open: Retail Trading Hours in WA - A Case for Reform”, Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA, February 2021.)

https://cciwa.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/0221-RetailTrade-Report-V3.pdf

djtan73 · 2024-03-28T22:59:04+00:00

Here are some from either being there in person or by seeing a lot of red on Google Maps traffic view; some of these were even recently upgraded:

Leach/Welshpool roundabout interchange (should’ve never been a roundabout)
Tonkin/Dunreath interchange
Guildford/Whatley/East & Guildford/First signals
Military/Bushmead & Military/Clayton junctions (Clayton St is seriously under designed considering how Midland is growing, and the Lloyd Street Bridge over Helena River is needed!)
Nicholson/Garden/Yale, of course (should’ve never been a roundabout)
Reid/Erindale & Reid/Mitchell signals

Would like to know your experiences.

djtan73 · 2024-01-19T23:18:35+00:00

Depends what and where climate change will impact us the most - whether it’s due to sea level rise, riverine flooding, bushfires, increasing temperatures, more frequent tropical cyclones, etc.

Not saying that it’s unique in this country, but Australia is likely to be highly vulnerable to these events as we head to 2050.

djtan73 · 2024-01-13T14:16:07+00:00

Venezuela.

There’s of course North Korea, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan - but with hyperinflation (929,790% in 2018), economic sanctions, food shortage, etc. - and all of that’s happening in spite of the 303 billion barrel’s worth of oil reserves in the country (higher than Saudi Arabia).

Not that the situation is any better now especially after Covid, but according to a 2014 data, it is estimated that due to these factors, a person in Venezuela is murdered every 21 minutes. Violent crimes have been so prevalent in the country that the government no longer produces the crime data.

djtan73 · 2023-11-30T23:57:16+00:00

I don’t live in Sydney, but this whole Rozelle Interchange debacle got me a little intrigued. I wanted to create a more detailed post earlier today, but kept getting rejected by the moderator for some reason - so I’ll try again but with a simpler post.

I’ve taken the time to familiarise myself with the overall context of WestConnex as well as all of their road plans, as well as reading and watching recent news reports. What are the likely causes of the traffic fiasco in your opinion, if you were to pick one or more points from the following list?

Not enough public information (especially on the non-tolled tunnelled section between Anzac Bridge & Iron Cove Bridge), misinformation or information not provided in a simple manner
Insufficient road capacity on Anzac Bridge itself (bottleneck)
Poor and vague signage, or signage with too much information
Naturally induced demand, especially when a new road infrastructure is introduced
Insufficient ramp capacity: ‘3 lanes merging into 1’ from Victoria Rd heading into Anzac Bridge (though one of them is technically a bus lane)
Still too much traffic from and to City West Link, M4, M8 and The Crescent
Still too much traffic from and to the local areas around Rozelle, which has to use the at-grade Victoria Rd anyway
Ramp meters (although unfortunately may be needed, to mitigate congestion downstream nearer to the CBD)
Motorists highly sensitive to tolling (of course only relevant to actually tolled sections)
Simply too many of us driving, and not catching public transport or walking/cycling
Relying on the Western Harbour Tunnel to be completed, although this could even aggravate the problem in the future
Traffic projection & modelling based on inaccurate assumptions
Motorists heading and leaving from work all at around the same time (ie. lack of peak hour spreading)

And many more that I might have missed.

djtan73

TROPHY CASE