The awkward moment when you're the only Asian within a 100km radius

One of the many qualities in people I love is when they have talents and interests completely different to mine. It gives me an opportunity to explore places and things outside of my little Blacktown comfort zone/bubble.
For those of you who follow this blog weekly, you'd know that "X", a guy I'm seeing who is working in Western Australia at the moment came back last week to visit.
He and I are very different. He loves the outdoors and getting amongst nature, whilst I am a 5' Asian who's afraid of butterflies. My idea of an extreme outdoor adventure is getting the mail from the mailbox in Winter without a jacket on.

One of these experiences I was able to live out was riding on the back of his motorcycle to a small country town called Picton. If you haven't heard of Picton, I don't blame you. It is literally one street of civilisation (if you could call it that) in the middle of the bush. I feel as though it is a place not many of us get a chance to escape to due to our busy lifestyles, so let me save you time and petrol and give you my analysis of 'The Real Picton'.

The first thing to note about Picton is the scenic journey to the town. "X" took me there because he "enjoyed the ride" (meaning, the roads that lead to Picton are winding and the speed limit is over 100km/hr) for the majority of the trip.

I'll let the below Google map illustrate the wondrous sights on the way from point B (my house) to point C (Picton) from the perspective of a pillion passenger.

So much to see and do....

The Main street of Picton has a wide variety of stores and facilities to keep you entertained for hours on end. Below is a guided scenic tour of the town.

As you can see, the local Picton surf shop has all the latest surf gear and merchandise. I would say this is a reflection of Picton's convenient proximity to the beach.

Should your vehicle happen to break down in Picton, FEAR NOT! Picton Tyre and Mechanical is the answer to any of your automobile crises.

Auto Parts Picton stores the latest and greatest in auto parts. Lucky for you, Picton is conveniently located close by to all major cities in Sydney, only 2 hours and 25 minutes from the Sydney CBD.

The local tattoo parlour has showcased it's finest artwork in the window to entice potential customers. I don't know about you, but I would say it is well worth the trip for this calibre of art.

Need a cheeky root canal? Picton Dental can sort you out.

Picton is also renowned for it's state of the art emergency services, with their facilities and resources updated regularly with the latest in technology.

Picton Police Station (last modified 1928)

Picton Fire Station (last modified 1971)

And just when you think you've seen it all, Picton brings you the famous Picton Mall, complete with Coles, Asian nail salon and an under construction Target.

Just when I thought my day couldn't get any more rivetting, I assumed we were heading back home after a fun-filled adventure in such a happening town..... NEK MINNIT, "X" surprises me with a trip to Warragamba Dam (he does engineering, he's into that stuff) - COULD MY DAY GET ANY MORE EXCITING!?!?!

All in all, I was completely out of my element travelling to Picton and Warragamba, but as mentioned, I like experiencing places and things outside of what I'm used to and for that reason, I'm glad I went.

In other news, I'm writing an article for a magazine called 'Warhol's Children'. The article will be about life's underrated simple pleasures, and I would love any suggestions. So far I've got:

• Getting to the platform right in time for the train. 
• Not being colour blind. 
• Watching the trailers before a movie. 
• Air freshener availability when you have to go at your friend's house. 
• When the person you don't like at work is away. 
• Having just enough change in your wallet so you don't have to break a note. 
• When McDonald's accidentally give you 7 nuggets, instead of 6.
• When your favourite song just finishes playing on the radio, and you change the station and it starts to play again on the other station.  
• When you walk into a public toilet and there ISN'T urine on the seat.
• When you find a chip shaped like a love heart
• When your Asian parents let you switch on the air con during a heatwave.... for 10 minutes.

Let me know if you have anything to add?


And with any luck, I'll see you back here next Sunday.