Pacific

HOT: Don Don, 321 Swanston St, Melbourne

December 28, 2009 ⋅ 10 comments

Have you heard of the ‘sports icon’ Takeru Kobayashi? This Japanese man is one of the great champions of competitive eating (he’s now ranked second according to the International Federation of Competitive Eating, after an unheralded six years at the top). I watched him in action in the documentary Crazy Legs Conti: Zen and the Art [...]

HOT Gig List

December 27, 2009 ⋅ 7 comments

Today we say hi to my new guest blogger CC, a cool ex-Melburnian who now calls East London home. Skinny jeans aficionado, mosh pit veteran, classical pianist now electric guitarist, CC will be bringing you news of upcoming HOT gigs in Melbourne. Her motto is ‘with great musical wisdom, comes great musical responsibility’ and this [...]

HOT: In Search of the Perfect Rice Paper Rolls

December 24, 2009 ⋅ 4 comments

Lin Tan and I journey into Melbourne’s own piece of Saigon in the search for the perfect rice paper rolls, in pushy, exotically fragrant, fishwife-shouty Victoria Street, Richmond. Joyce: Before commencing the rice paper roll marathon, I asked my Vietnamese friends for recommendations amongst a choice of over 20 Vietnamese/quasi-Vietnamese restaurants. Surprisingly, they told me [...]

HOT: In Search of the Perfect Gelato

December 23, 2009 ⋅ 8 comments

Lin Tan and I go hunting for the finest gelato in Melbourne. Joyce: When you think about ‘Italian culture’ in Melbourne, you think Carlton. Hence, the perfect place to start our, ‘In The Search For The Perfect Gelato’? – Lygon Street. So what makes a perfect gelato? In our view – small batches, taste, texture [...]

HOT: In Search of the Perfect Mince Pies

December 22, 2009 ⋅ 5 comments

In our own personal advent calendar, Lin, Billy and I went on a trip around Melbourne’s CBD in search of the perfect mince pie. “On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me….12 mince pies and 2 macarons in a pear tree.” Joyce: We had optimistically planned 12 tastings in keeping with [...]

HOT: Nicolangela, Level 1, Shop F174, Melbourne’s GPO, 350 Bourke St, Melbourne

December 21, 2009 ⋅ 8 comments

When I was a young grad, fresh out of uni, I used to do walk up to Nicolangela’s delightful Greville Street shop (which is no longer) and peer inside longingly, just like Holly Golightly drinking her coffee outside Tiffany’s. The store was a treasure chest of beautiful dresses designed and made in Melbourne, from sleek [...]

HOT: Ponyo, Ford Fiesta Moonlight Cinema, Royal Botanic Gardens, Birdwood Avenue, South Yarra

December 19, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments

Over the years, RM and I have been to Moonlight Cinema many times together – as friends, as friends-dating-other-people, as kinda-a-bit-more-than-friends and as boyfriend-girlfriend. It holds a special place in both of our memories of Melbourne, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d proposed on a picnic rug at Breakfast At Tiffany’s (a sure [...]

HOT: Eco Innovators Showcase, Cnr Little Collins and Swanston St, Melbourne

December 17, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments

Melbourne is riding a pop up store wave and the Eco Innovators Showcase is about as ‘pop up’ as a pop up shop can get. In the morning: one unremarkable, poster-plastered news stand pillar standing innocently on Swanston Street. In the afternoon: the pillar has been transformed, Tardis-like, into a shop stocking over 25 Melbourne [...]

HOT: Melbourne Op Shop Tours (Part 2), Inner West, Williamstown to Footscray

December 15, 2009 ⋅ 9 comments

Read Part 1 of the tour here. Another quick train ride to Spotswood then St John’s Op Shop (612-614 Melbourne Rd, Spotswood). ‘Great variety of household goods’ is an accurate description, with ‘variety’ being the operative word. This is an OCD sufferer’s nightmare. The rabbit warren of a shop was full of surprises – an [...]

HOT: Melbourne Op Shop Tours, Inner West, Williamstown to Footscray

December 14, 2009 ⋅ 4 comments

Fashionistas know that the surest way to score a one-of-a-kind outfit is to scour old shops and vintage stores. Melbourne Op Shop Tours helps you take up the op shop challenge by running small group (max 10 people) tours through various areas of Melbourne. What makes it different from other op shop tours is that [...]