melbourne cbd

HOT: The Emerald Peacock, 233 Lonsdale St, Melbourne

August 5, 2009 ⋅ 3 comments

Leave the city for two years and dingy Lonsdale Street seems to have been refurbed into the street where people go out to the hip new places. In true Melbourne style, the door to The Emerald Peacock was unmarked. However, the entrance was still noticeable from the street due to the ornate fireplace and eye-catching [...]

HOT: Cicely & Colin Rigg Contemporary Design Award, NGV Australia

August 5, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Ever since I moved into my new place, I’ve been obsessed with design blogs. I spend so much time trawling Google Reader for inspiring and ingenious art, design and craft that it might as well be my full time job. Hence I haven’t had time until now to see some real-life design at NGV Australia. [...]

HOT: My Magic, ACMI Cinemas, Federation Square, Melbourne

August 5, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

MIFF #8: The opening scenes of My Magic made me wonder whether I’d be spending half the film with my eyes squeezed shut. An enormously overweight man (who reminded me of my nightmarish ex-boss – argh!) sat at a bar alone and kept asking for his liquor glass to be topped up. When the bartender [...]

Ask the Doctor: Restaurant for 16th birthday party

August 5, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Help me Doctor!: What’s a good restaurant in Melbourne to take my family for my sister’s 16th birthday? There are 6 of us going. My grandmother is coming and she is quite old so not too many stairs would be ideal. Early dinner also preferable. I thought about Rockpool but it may be too expensive. [...]

HOT: Hansel and Gretel, Greater Union, 131 Russell St, Melbourne

August 3, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

MIFF #7: Despite the fact that I’m not generally a fan of horror movies, every year at MIFF I seem to gravitate to at least one Korean horror film (oh god, the nightmare of the octopus-eating scene in Old Boy). This year’s offering was the creepy Hansel and Gretel with its evil twist to the fairytale. [...]

HOT: All Around Us, Forum Theatre, 154 Flinders St, Melbourne

August 3, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

MIFF #6: Oh, I was completely enraptured by this Japanese gem. All Around Us (Gururi no Koto) was a beautifully measured film about a young Tokyo couple finding their way through their early years of marriage. The carefree Kanao and fragile Shoko got married because Shoko fell pregnant and at first their relationship is stiff and strained. As the years [...]

HOT: Giselle, Kino Cinemas, 45 Collins St, Melbourne

August 1, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

The second of my forays into World Opera and Ballet was the lovely 2006 production of Giselle by the Royal Ballet. Romanian ballerina Alina Cojocaru was deservedly promoted to the top rank of Principal after this performance of Giselle - her bright smile and blithe spirit were perfect for the innocent Giselle, her technique was [...]

HOT: Scanlan & Theodore Clearance Store, L3 Melbourne Central, Melb

July 31, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Scanlan & Theodore is a clothing brand which I regularly covet but have never purchased, as frankly I think the clothes are inordinately expensive for what you get. Enter the Scanlan & Theodore Clearance Store in the revamped fashion hub of Melbourne Central. As you’d expect, the fit out is the bare minimum, with signage [...]

HOT: Tales from the Golden Age, Greater Union, 131 Russell St, Melb

July 29, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

MIFF #5: One of the more memorable trips that RM and I took during our time in London was our long weekend in Bucharest and Transylvania. Our experience of Romania was a bizarre combination of wild boar meatballs, razed old towns, desolate bus stations and massage parlour tourist maps – and so we have a [...]

HOT: Zomp Shoez, 271 Little Collins St, Melbourne

July 29, 2009 ⋅ 3 comments

I’m more of a gatherer than a hunter. That means that I like to shop all the time, rather than only going shopping when I need something specific. Note I don’t think my shopping habit makes me a spendthrift – it means I have an outfit for any occasion at short notice (funeral? black tie? [...]