David Bromley.

David Bromley is an Australian artist whose paintings are among those rated as highly collectible in Australia. I love how he captures the feminine form, mystery and innocence in his work. His use of colours give the art appreciator a sense of a familiarity and a vintage almost 60s, 70s feel.

260 Little Collins St, Melbourne.

Now that I'm counting down 10 days to the next decade of my life, I thought I'd put up a photo that would remind me of the years that have passed. Today's is the apartment block that I lived in when I was living in Melbourne. It's right smack in the city, has a strong art deco design. I do suspect that the original building was only 4 storeys tall and it was extended upwards later to it's present 9 storeys. The apartments in the original building featured much higher ceilings and some units had bay windows. The apartments in the extended floors, had lower ceilings, but still had big windows. Those which were on the 5th floor, had also little balconies which they could stand out on and take in views.

My old unit was on the 4th floor. It had very high ceiling, big beautiful windows that light would stream in from, lovely wood flooring, ceramic hobs and a nice bathroom with a tub. I loved it! I could live in it for a long time to come and moving out of it was so sad, especially when I was moving out of the city into a boyfriend's place which was smaller, warmer and in a bad neighbourhood (lots of druggies).

Absinthe Salon.

I remember a road trip that I took with a couple of uni-mates and their other halves a few years back. My then fiance and I were going back to Melbourne for our annual ski/snowboard trip. We decided to plan a road trip to Port Fairy with our uni-mates and stay by the river for a little fishing and bumming for a few days. At the airport, we decided to buy a bottle of vodka and we hankered over what else to buy till we spotted absinthe. I thought it was a good idea to bring along a bottle of the green fairy. I must declare that the boys are terribly good drinkers on most accounts. They polished the bottle of vodka with ease even pairing it with nachos and fruit gum snakes. They were still terribly sober after that one bottle of Absolut. Then came the bottle of absinthe. They made it only halfway through the bottle and were in a bad state. We are talking about 5 boys (and 4 girls, forget about the girls, we drank little. More beer and wine) who were in a terrible state. They hated absinthe, were vomiting in the front lawn, walking out in the wee hours of the night to our private jetty while puking. Another one just broke up with his girlfriend of many years, was talking trash and crying. I've never seen the boys so trashed. The girls were just high and laughing at the state of the boys. All these bring back fantastic memories of a carefree life.

Absinthe has been controlled and hard to acquire for the longest time. Recently, it has been made popular again. In Sydney, an Absinthe Salon has opened in Surrey Hills to promote the forgotten culture of drinking absinthe, traditionally. By the way, the water fountains, perforated spoons and vintage looking glasses are also for sale online through their website. This could be fun for a drinking party, lots of novelty and sure to have your friends talk about it for weeks to come.

Cascade Apple Isle.

This is my absolute all time favourite drink. It used to be the first thing I drank in the morning to perk me up. It is made from clear pressed Tasmanian apple juice and is carbonated. After returning from Melbourne, I have never drank anything quite like it. It has such a unique flavour.

Since we are on the topic of Cascade Brewery (the oldest brewery in Australia), I thought I'd feature their special ale, the Cascade First Harvest. It is brewed with fresh hop flowers from that current season of hop harvest. It is brewed in small batches, making it very limited. The current year's release is expected in April/May.

283 Bank St, South Melbourne.

Neometro in Victoria, Australia never ceases to delight me with their architectural offerings. 283 Bank St, South Melbourne is no exception. It was auctioned off last Saturday. As this is one of the few townhouse developments by them, I felt the need to feature it.

Their design of the unit invites in a lot of sunlight. On each level, there are many open spaces, like terraces, patios and gardens. I love their installation of solar heaters, rainwater tanks and hydronic heating and air-conditioning. They have also allocated storage spaces that are in the roof. All the rooms feature high ceilings which I adore. It being in South Melbourne, makes this almost too good to be true.

The Sydney Picnic Company.

I will un-bashfully declare this. I absolutely love picnics. Nothing like sitting on a mat in a quiet park when the sun is just about to set, running your fingers through grass, having a meaningful conversation and of course, paired with a beautiful selection of food and drinks.

The Sydney Picnic Company founded by Natalie and Simon, understand how important it is to combine quality food with the element of surprise. Simon has had experience working for Simon Johnson, the famous Australian grocer as well as his family owned wine bar in the UK. Using all that knowledge, he has put together a beautiful line-up of food to sit in the park and savour.

All picnics should have an element of surprise for the other party who is not packing the basket. It's great to discover what you might be having for dinner or to have little details like linen for napkins, nice drinking glasses, a bottle of pink moscato, etc. I suppose that is what makes picnics so much more special and intimate that a dinner in a restaurant. It's like being in a world of your own. Your little escape.

Here's a sneak peep at what they have on offer now. Note that prices are for two.

The Brit Pic. AUD$105

• Tasmanian free range wood smoked ham with tomato chutney
• Quickes cheddar cheese & pickled onions or Cropwell Bishop stilton & toasted walnuts
• Patchett’s pork pie
• Quiche lorraine & green salad
• Sonoma sourdough
• Marinated strawberries & vanilla cream

The Sydney. AUD$145

• Roast almonds, chilli & sea salt
• Black olive tapenade
• Slow roast tomatoes, basil, toasted almonds, marinated Meredith goat’s cheese
• Australian King prawns, kipfler potatoes & watercress with tarragon & lemon dressing
• Sonoma ciabatta
• Valrhona chocolate brownies with organic pecans, sour cherries & vanilla cream

The Italian. AUD$155

• Grissini & marinated Ligurian ‘Taggiasche’ olives
• Slow roast tomatoes, basil, toasted almonds, marinated Meredith goat’s cheese & 20 year balsamic
• Wild onions cooked in thyme & balsamic with parmigiano reggiano
• Italian charcuterie plate including prosciutto di Parma, sopressa & coppa
• Risoni with mozzarella, chargrilled zucchini, asparagus, peas, lemon zest & olive oil
• Sonoma Ciabatta
• Valrhona chocolate pots with Armagnac soaked amaretti biscuit

T

The Spanish. AUD$185

• Ortiz white anchovies with pickled chillies, caperberries & parsley
• Olives marinated in rosemary, chilli & garlic
• Paprika smoked almonds
• Chorizo, manchego & potato tortilla served with garlic aioli
• Roast artichokes stuffed with goat’s cheese, thyme, chilli, lemon zest & toasted breadcrumbs served with Jamon Serrano
• Sonoma sourdough
• Valdeon cheese with sweet olive tortas & quince paste
• Spanish almond & honey nougat

Natalie and Simon.

Kit Cosmetics and Dulux Paint Collaboration.

Kit Cosmetics, the younger sister of Mecca Cosmetica in Australia has recently collaborated with the folks at Dulux to come up with a range of nail varnishes inspired by Dulux's just released summer colour forecast. Now your nails can be as trendy as your favourite living room wall.

Each bottle costs AUD $15.95.

The colours from left to right: Dulux Hot Calypso, Dulux Blue Surf, Dulux Kiss and Dulux Exotic Flower.

St Falls, Fall Creek, Australia.

I love snow and skiing since I was introduced to it a few years ago. I reckon it would be a dream to be able to wake up to snow for a week and forget the pretty outfits, make-up and well coiffed hair, instead slap on moisturisers, lip balm and suit up to ski for a week. Imagine doing nothing but skiing, eating and sleeping. Wicked.

When I came across St Falls at Falls Creek, Victoria, I was overwhelmed by how beautiful it is. It's not just the aesthetics of the building but the way it blends into the ever changing landscape. This is definitely the property to own if you want to have an investment property which gives you a choice to rent out (you can stay for 7 weeks in a year) or keep it all to yourself. It is conceptualised by a boutique property developer, Zacomoco, it has also won Wallpaper magazine's best ski resort in the world.

If owning it isn't your sort of thing, you can also rent an apartment there (min 5 nights booking). Take a break from the madness of life (or in my case, the horrible Singapore weather) to enjoy the great outdoors (skiing, or snowboarding of course) and return to a nice toasty apartment, with retail shops, restaurants, cafes and a spa downstairs.

More pictures of The Greenhouse by Joost.

More pictures of the installation.

The exterior.

The bar counter.

The interior.

A clearer picture of the savaged wood floorboards and recycled crates chairs and tables.

How they serve their food. Note that the change is returned in a huge jar lid and the flowers are in a can.

The strawberry wall.

Different views of the exterior.

The rooftop garden.

The herbs and vegetables that are also used in the food they serve.

Greenhouse By Joost.

In my industry, the "green" term has been thrown around and on everyone's (especially government organisations') lips. It's been on everyone's minds especially more in the last decade. What do we understand by the term "green"? 

Maybe not everyone understands it as well as Joan Pick (a 68 year old granny in UK) who has the smallest carbon footprint in UK. She never heats her flat and eats all her food raw. She has avoided travelling on any form of motorised transport since 1973. Instead, she travels on foot, jogging 12 miles a day across the suburbs of southeast London. Only twice has she broken this self-imposed code: in 1991, when she dislocated her shoulder and paramedics insisted on taking her to hospital in an ambulance; and this year, at her mother's funeral, when she agreed to travel in the hearse. Her Morris Mini Millenium has been sitting in her garage since 1972.  She has even given up watching television in 1975. 

Her only luxury is boiled water - for tea, which she takes with condensed milk, and for washing - and a pair of trousers that she recently purchased, in a sudden fit of unbridled consumerism, from Marks & Spencer. Otherwise she makes her own clothes.

After reading about her, I've wondered if I could be like her. I could possibly expire without the car or telly. One thing I can do is to do my little bit by using my leftover (juiced extracted, not fully) lemons to clean. They make excellent household cleaners for sinks, shower screens and stoves (those that you would usually use chlorine to clean). Moreover, they leave behind such a fresh, pleasant smell. Is it much? No. But I am big on not overcooking. Food waste is one of the biggest contributors of greenhouse gases.

I love what Joost has done to inspire others with their green ideas. Last summer at the Federation Square in Melbourne (yes I am so proud of Melb), Corina Baldwin of bttb and installation artist, Joost Bakker collaborated on a project entitled, The Greenhouse by Joost. It is a "Greenhouse" made entirely out of recycled  and recyclable materials. Even the chairs, stools and drinking vessels  are made from old street signs, crates and jars. The greenhouse ran as a public bar, cafe and a gallery, and its walls were adorned with art from David Bromley. 

The rooftop garden is made up composting vats, a burgeoning veggie patch, rows of bay trees in recycled CHEP bins and buzzing-alive bee-hives. The growing wall has rows and rows of strawberry plants in pallets. 

The greenhouse opened for the entire of summer and has just finished it's run at the end of January. It will be deconstructed and moved to Sydney then to the Milan Furniture fair. 

Joost's greenhouse magazine.

The explanation of how a crate is transformed into a chair. The one on the left is a strawberry plant.

The finished greenhouse at Federation Square.

The Greenhouse while being constructed.

The greenhouse with its crowd and its growing wall.

Art from David Bromley behind the bar.

The seats made from old street signs.

The chairs made from old crates.

Coffee in a jar, anyone?

Drinks in old brown jars.

Green trivia.