north melbourne

HOT Chat: Akisa from BeautySwatch

February 28, 2010 ⋅ 2 comments

You may remember that at the Nuffnang Christmas party I met Akisa, the brains behind a cool beauty website called BeautySwatch. I liked her idea so much (a huge colour library containing swatches for thousands of lipsticks) I thought you might be interested to hear more about Akisa and her work with BeautySwatch.
Hi Akisa, can you [...]

HOT: Launch of MEL: Heat Map

February 6, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

For those of you who may not have noticed yet, there’s a new little button on the top menu of MEL: HOT OR NOT - MEL: Heat Map.
What’s that, you ask? Well, I have been spending my waking hours putting every review on MEL: HOT OR NOT onto a single map. So that means you [...]

HOT Spots Summer Edition 2010 and Summer Serve

January 24, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

It’s summer. The sun doesn’t go down till 9pm. Everyone is feeling relaxed and refreshed. So why not spend some time discovering, or rediscovering, the great things Melbourne offers in summer?
If browsing through MEL: HOT OR NOT doesn’t provide you with enough inspiration, pick up Hot Spots Summer Edition 2010, a cute booklet produced by [...]

HOT: Auction Rooms, 103-107 Errol St, North Melbourne

November 25, 2009 ⋅ 4 comments

Auction Rooms is a casual cafe/restaurant set inside the old WB Ellis auction house in North Melbourne. In fact, the long wooden floorboards, exposed beams, distressed brickwork and high ceilings hoisting a series of whirring fans reminded me a lot of the interior of an airy Queenslander home. It seems like the kind of place [...]

HOT: Thread Den Market, Lithuanian Club, 44 Errol St, North Melbourne

November 23, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments

I LOVE markets. I will even travel across town for an hour on public transport on a Sunday morning to get to a market if it’s being organised by the lovely ladies of Thread Den.
I’ve written about sewing lounge Thread Den before, and they’ve now have expanded their little empire to encompass an occasional craft [...]

NOT: Burning Daylight, Marrugeku, Meat Market, Arts House, 5 Blackwood St North Melbourne

November 21, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Burning Daylight is a contemporary dance and theatre production about the remote north-western coastal town of Broome by the indigenous and multicultural troupe Marrugeku. It was a reasonably entertaining production but on balance I have given it a NOT based on a single criteria – would I recommend it to a friend? And the answer, [...]

HOT: T2 Tea Too, 340 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

October 28, 2009 ⋅ 4 comments

As my regular readers will know, I’m getting married soon – and as a Chinese bride it is traditional to have a Chinese tea ceremony.
So, another thing to tick off the wedding to-do list was to find a tea set. I wanted something that was vaguely Oriental, without any gaudy gold leaf or dragon/phoenix motifs. [...]

HOT: Mr Price’s Foodstore, 502 Queensberry St, North Melbourne

October 27, 2009 ⋅ 3 comments

The first time someone wrote to me ‘looking forward to meeting you IRL’ I had to look up what IRL meant. Ah – In Real Life!
Since joining the Twitterverse a few months ago, I’ve been collecting followers and following others. Most of the people I’ve never met IRL, despite knowing all about their likes, dislikes, [...]

HOT Alert: Week of 12 October 2009

October 11, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

My foodie friend from London and the Jetsetting Parents are in town this week, which means fewer social events and a LOT more restaurant reviews. Look out for posts on Grossi Florentino Grill, The Press Club, Yu.u, Mr Price’s Food Store and Nobu.
Also, don’t forget on Wednesday 14 October it’s National Ride to Work Day. In Melbourne Bicycle [...]

HOT: Leonardo’s Last Supper, North Melbourne Town Hall, 521 Queensberry St, North Melbourne

October 10, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments

The beginning of Peter Greenaway’s multimedia interpretation of Leonardo’s Last Supper certainly replicated my experience in Milan. Lining up, waiting, herded inside, more waiting…
When we entered the dark room of the North Melbourne Town Hall the famous painting was projected onto one end, and the other painting in the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie [...]