I thought since its Australia Day today (26 January 2005), I should write something about Canberra, my home for the last 10 years.
Canberra was derived from an aboriginal term which means Meeting Place. Not a lot of people are familiar with this city but it is actually Australia’s capital and seat of government.
Compared to its more cosmopolitan sisters, Sydney and Melbourne, it has a reputation to be boring and sleepy. But its not all downside when we talk of boring here. It just means that you do not have lots of traffic, pollution and crime that you get to accept when living in bigger cities.
Canberra is about 4 hours drive from Sydney. It has a spectacular landscape of hills, vegetation and lake which at night can be breath-taking . It is also home to most of the embassies and government institutions including the Parliament House.
It is independently governed and covers an area of about 2,349 square kilometers. It has a population of about 300,000 and has a relatively small but tight Filipino community that is oftentimes preoccupied with church and bowling.
Malls normally close at 4:00 pm except on Fridays (9:00 pm) when its late night shopping day. During weekends, people tend to go to parks here where you can barbie (barbecue) and play footy (football, Australian type) with friends.
Its either you love or hate living in Canberra. If you are young and looking for some action maybe this is not the place for you. But if you have a young family, the city is perfect.
Leah and I plan to live here. At least for now. We don’t know where the future will bring us but as long as we are together that place will be our home.
Canberra was derived from an aboriginal term which means Meeting Place. Not a lot of people are familiar with this city but it is actually Australia’s capital and seat of government.
Compared to its more cosmopolitan sisters, Sydney and Melbourne, it has a reputation to be boring and sleepy. But its not all downside when we talk of boring here. It just means that you do not have lots of traffic, pollution and crime that you get to accept when living in bigger cities.
Canberra is about 4 hours drive from Sydney. It has a spectacular landscape of hills, vegetation and lake which at night can be breath-taking . It is also home to most of the embassies and government institutions including the Parliament House.
It is independently governed and covers an area of about 2,349 square kilometers. It has a population of about 300,000 and has a relatively small but tight Filipino community that is oftentimes preoccupied with church and bowling.
Malls normally close at 4:00 pm except on Fridays (9:00 pm) when its late night shopping day. During weekends, people tend to go to parks here where you can barbie (barbecue) and play footy (football, Australian type) with friends.
Its either you love or hate living in Canberra. If you are young and looking for some action maybe this is not the place for you. But if you have a young family, the city is perfect.
Leah and I plan to live here. At least for now. We don’t know where the future will bring us but as long as we are together that place will be our home.
~ post by jopek
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