Underground Cinema giveaway

The lovely people at Underground Cinema are great supporters of the blog ((see my review of their previous event) and once again they’re offering a free double pass to their next screening on Sunday 29 May at 6pm. This isn’t just a bog-standard double pass though – it’s a VIP double pass which includes a drink on arrival and is valued at $100!

This month’s screening has the following intriguing introduction:

Irasyaimase!

お客様 A valued customer! いらっしゃいませ! Welcome! Welcome! So nice to see you Sir and it’s a pleasure to be in your presence Madam! Come in! Please come in! You have chosen a divine moment to visit our humble establishment, a divine moment indeed! Top shelf Sake in abundance and kaiseki-ryori, dumplings and wagashi fresh from the kitchen! We look after our clients! Yes, we look after our clients. You’re very important to us, yes very special indeed. This way! This way! Follow me, please, フォローミー.

The theme is ‘magical’ and the dress code is Oriental/Magical/Harajuku – any guesses? The location is secret of course but I can tell you that it’s in the CBD….

To win the VIP double pass all you have to do leave a comment below by midnight Sunday 29 May.

The winner will be drawn randomly on Monday, just in time for you to work out your outfit. You can also buy tickets for this session and other sessions on Friday 27 May or Saturday 28 May via Moshtix.

HOT: Lost & Found Hotel Room, Level 2 at Captains of Industry, 2 Somerset Place, Melbourne

The most coveted hotel room in Melbourne is back for its second season.

The Lost & Found Hotel Room is a pop-up hotel room which is open for 3 months from 1 May to 31 July. It’s in the heart of Melbourne, upstairs from gentlemen’s outfitters and cafe Captains of Industry (who also provided the winter-cosy catering for the opening and will be on hand to get you breakfast during your stay) and specially designed by Six Degrees Architects. The interior has once again been curated by Right Angle Studio, the people responsible for the Lost & Found e-newsletter for Tourism Victoria.

The room is free, fabulous and VERY Melbourne – what’s not to love? To apply for a stay, all you have to do fill out a form and cross your fingers. In the meantime, here’s a sneak peak of what to expect as you await your reservation confirmation…

This year, the room is much bigger and they’ve really embraced the idea that one of the best parts of being in the Lost & Found Hotel Room is being able to share the experience with your friends. So there’s a lot more communal space – the living area is set out with gorgeous Danish mid-century leather couches Grandfathers Axe, while the dining area has a round marble dining table by Daniel Barbera matched with dining chairs from Grandfathers Axe and a floral arrangement by Cecilia Fox.


The rug has been specially designed for the room by Sydney artist and graphic designer Jonathan Zawada, who in a nice continuation of the Lost & Found story was a guest of last year’s hotel room.

The bed is a mattress atop a low platform, draped with a translucent boudoir-like curtain and with special L&F linen.

There’s an adjoining grass-green area next to bed, perfect for lolling about with a glass of red wine from Dal Zotto while nibbling chocolates from Monsieur Truffe and feeding your mind with literature from Mag Nation, World Food Books and the NGV Shop.

Along one length of the whitewashed room is a low shelf showcasing all sort of lovely objects, such as handcrafted ceramics from Mud and Shelley Panton, Japanese wares from Collingwood’s Cibi and Brunswick’s Mr Kitly and elegant stemware from Plumm.

Fantastical lighting from Dedece – and look at the view from the window!

Artwork from Utopian Slumps.

Once again, the Lost & Found Hotel Room has a cultural concierge who will help you make bookings and provide insider tips for exploring Melbourne. This year there’s even a budget for restaurants vouchers if dining out is on your cultural checklist for Melbourne (so pick your 50 word application carefully)!

You can check out my blog post about last year’s Lost & Found Hotel Room here and read my review of my stay in the hotel room here.

Portabello Bride Boutique Wedding Market giveaway

Happy Monday! What did you get up to on the weekend?

My weekend was full of weddings. On Sunday it was my one year wedding anniversary and RM and I had our first baby-free evening out, although we still had dinner at the parent-friendly hour of 6:30pm. Thank you Kat’s Cakes for our unexpectedly large one year anniversary cake too!

And in a nice turn of events, on Saturday we attended the wedding of a friend which was held in the same location as our own wedding a year before, the Portico Balcony of Melbourne Town Hall. Melbourne turned out a gorgeous sunny day, the bride and groom looked very happy and the father of the bride teared up. Oh I do love a good wedding :–)

So today’s giveaway is well-timed, as I reflect on my wedding and weddings in general. Portobello Bride is a website and blog that features wedding suppliers who are cool, unique and interesting rather than the frou frou and once a year they hold a boutique wedding market. While I have a fear of bridal expos generally, I know what it’s like to work full time, have a busy social life and still try and fit in wedding planning. The Portobello Bride Boutique Wedding Market contains a curated selection of 30 or so stallholders in one place who will hopefully provide you with some creative inspiration beyond the norm.

For brides (and grooms) to be out there, I have 5 free tickets for the market on Saturday 26 March 10am-5pm which is being held at St Kilda Town Hall (cnr Carlisle St and St Kilda Rd). All you have to do is leave a comment below and the first 5 responses will win. If you miss out you can still purchase tickets for Saturday or Sunday here or at the door. Good luck!

HOT: Funerals & Food: Inspired by Tradition, Nelson Bros Funeral Services, 81 Kororoit Creek Rd, Williamstown

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Funerals & Food: Inspired by Tradition is definitely the winner of Most Intriguing Event during the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival (though technically it’s not part of the festival’s official program).

Nelson Bros is Australia’s oldest family owned funeral company and at their historic Williamstown funeral home they hosted an afternoon of panelists exploring the rituals and traditions of funerals and funeral food. The free event included refreshments from a classic afternoon tea such that you’d expect to be served by Nelson Bros for families plus the macabre-sounding funeral jelly from artisan ‘jellymongers’ Bompas and Parr from the UK, who are guests of the festival this year.

The crowd began to gather in the bright afternoon sunshine, some dressed in mourning garb, some not. At last the event began with Bompas and Parr entering the venue in a black car, behind an elaborate 19th century hearse drawn by a pair of extravagantly plumed horses.

Then out popped these two young Englishman dressed in neat shirts and twee bowties, reverently holding a wobbling red jelly pyramid. Oh this was going to be fun!

Inside the chapel, four panellists had been gathered by Adrian Nelson, a 5th generation funeral director, to speak about the funeral traditions. Why funerals and food? Because in effect funerals are a celebration of life and food is a vital part of living.

First up was Elizabeth Chong, a chef and educator famous for bringing Chinese food to the Australian masses. She spoke about Chinese traditions of mourning, including the burning of paper images of items from the person’s life, money, servants and clothing – all so the deceased would be comfortable for their journey to the afterlife. This tradition still happens in modern times and you can now buy a funeral package for a woman consisting of paper diamonds, a Gucci purse, mobile phone and gold Omega watch! A Chinese funeral banquet consists of strictly 7 courses of simple food, with a separate round table for the immediate family who will eat only vegetarian food. Typically, the rest of the guests will partake in dishes such as a sweet soup (to take away the bitterness of sorrow), a mixed cold platter including poached chicken, crispy pork and bean curd), a Buddhist dish consisting of 10 dried ingredients, sweet and sour pork (again, representing the sweetness taking away the sourness of the occasion), e-fu noodles with mushrooms, vegetarian fried rice and a fresh fruit platter.

Alan Samuel from Temple Beth Israel then spoke about Jewish funeral traditions, some of which had parallels with the Chinese customs. The wake was often held in the home of an immediate family member with neighbours and friends preparing a ‘meal of condolence’ for the family to eat. This meal consisted of round rolls, bagels and hard-boiled eggs, all items representing the eternal, cyclical nature of life. The egg in particular would be the first item to be eaten after the funeral, as it had no mouth and represented the mourner in shock with no words for anyone. Neighbours and friends were also called upon to make meals for the immediate family to eat for the next 7 days, the period of ‘shiva’ or mourning.

George Haralambopoulos is the head sommelier at Werribee Park Mansion Hotel and also gives English sermons at the Greek Orthodox Church. The funeral food of the Greek Orthodox church is based on the meal that the Virgin Mary ate after the crucifixion – a small handful of olives, dry bread and some sweet wine. The wine, called commandaria, is the world’s oldest named wine still in production, and is used as part of communion as well.

Finally, Priscilla Nelson spoke about the development of the modern funeral and the role of a modern funeral home and funeral directors such as Nelson Bros.

The second part of the event was Sam Bombas and Harry Parr discussing how they became to be jellymongers and in theme with the title, how they came to make funeral jellies. They first started out applying for a jelly stall at Borough Market but were rejected for the silliness of their idea. However, in the meantime Sam was studying architecture and encouraged by his tutor was applying his knowledge to designing jelly moulds. Together with Harry they decided to launch a competition amongst the world’s leading architects to design jelly moulds. To their surprise they receive thousands of entries.

They were excitable, funny and obviously loved their job. They passed around the first jelly mould that they made, a very ambitious replica of St Paul’s Cathedral – you can see the jelly in action here and an example of the sort of classical structures which make the best jelly shapes.  Everyone then got to try the funeral jelly – a wobbly, melt-in-the-mouth plum and prosecco jelly.

They are looking at developing commercial jelly moulds for sale, with their first project being a Royal Wedding commemorative mould to be sold at Selfridges! I’m putting that down on my shopping list for my London-based friends.

You can read about another Bombas and Parr adventure by my friend Gourmet Chick, who attended the Courvoisier’s Complete History of Food in London last year.

Giveaways galore! Lendan winner and tickets to Underground Cinema

While new motherhood means that I’m not able to get out as much as before and the blog schedule is a little haywire, one benefit to you, dear reader, is that I’m able to pass on invitations to events that I can’t attend.

So, this week’s giveaway is a double pass to the fabulous Underground Cinema (see my review of their previous event). Their first screenings of 2011 are being held on Friday 18 March and Saturday 19 March at a secret location with a futuristic/time traveller theme.  So maybe you’re going to watch 2001: Space Odyssey? The Time Traveller’s Wife? Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy? The mystery is part of the excitement.

To win, all you have to do is leave a comment and the winner will be drawn at random on Tuesday 15 March so you have the whole week to plan your outfit :–) Good luck!

Also, thank you to everyone for your entries for the Lendan giveaway!

I’ve dipped into the Kitchenaid of Fortune and the winners of a $65 prize pack are:

– Emma

– Nessbow

Please send your postal address to to collect your prize and have a great weekend!

Thanks again to Lendan Australia for sponsoring the giveaway.

Posted in free stuff, giveaways, health and beauty | 12 Replies

Lendan Giveaway

Today’s giveaway is for the pretty ladeeez out there.

You may have heard of Lendan, a professional hair, skin and beauty brand from Spain with their Australian operations based in Melbourne. Lendan products are dermalogically tested, non-comedongenic, SLS Free, have no animal bi-products, are not tested on animals, and use recyclable packaging.

They are commemorating their 50th Anniversary in 2011 and to celebrate the good folks at Lendan Australia are offering a prize pack valued at $65 to two lucky readers residing in Australia. The prize includes:

–          Rich Nutrition Shampoo 250ml (RRP $24.95) – Shampoo with Brazil Nut Oil to hydrate and nourish dry and damaged hair.

–          Rich Nutrition Mask 150ml (RRP $24.95) – Containing Brazil Nut Oil, an extremely moisturising and deep nutritive mask that instantly repairs dry and stressed out hair.

–          Beauty Flash (RRP $14.95) – serum that eliminates signs of fatigue, smoothes away wrinkles and provides both extraordinary firmness and a healthy-looking glow.


To enter just post a comment below before 5pm Thursday 10 March. The winner will be randomly drawn from the Kitchenaid of Fortune and announced on Friday 11 March.

Good luck!

Posted in free stuff, giveaways, health and beauty | 49 Replies

St Kilda Openair Cinema giveaway

Happy Valentines Day!

Nothing is more romantic than a movie under the stars, so today’s giveaway is perfect for all you lovebirds out there.

St Kilda Openair Cinema screens new release and classic movies on the rooftop of the iconic St Kilda sea baths. It’s a pretty special atmosphere as you watch the sun set and listen to the waves lap below you, then snuggle into your deck chair to enjoy the show.

I’m thrilled that St Kilda Openair Cinema are offering 5 free double passes for blog readers to see any movie remaining in the 2011 season, which ends on 26 February. The selection of films is pretty eclectic, from Gallic rom-com Heartbreaker, childhood favourite The Neverending Story to 80s classic Top Gun.

All you have to do is be one of the first 5 people to email with the film you’d like to see. You’ll then be put on the guest list for that film and on the night simply check in at the door.

Good luck!

QLD Flood Appeal Auction

As you no doubt know, Queensland has recently suffered some the worse flooding in decades. People have lost their homes, their livelihoods and even their lives.

I spent the majority of my childhood in Brisbane and many of the areas that suffered the worse flooding were places that I grew up in – the local shops, the university, the places where I used to hang out. The areas of devastation are all too familiar.

As such, I’m asking for your support for the Nuffnang United Queensland Flood Appeal Auction. There are 30 items up for auction via eBay and one of the items is my donation, the Bronze Quilted Double Panniers Bags from my business CycleStyle. These lovely panniers (of which there are only two in Australia) were featured by Lady Melbourne on her eponymous fashion blog. Bids start at $50 and postage is free.

Please dig deep this Australia Day. 100% of all winning bids will be donated to our fellow Australians affected by the Queensland floods via the Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal.

HOT: Scandinavian Christmas Bazaar, Swedish Church, 21 St Georges Rd, Toorak

Even though I’ve spent most of my Christmases in the Australian summer, I have to admit that I don’t think I’ve ever felt more Christmassy than my time spent in the Northern Hemisphere. Maybe I’ve been indoctrinated by Christmas cards featuring reindeer in snow and songs about a white Christmas, but it just feels more right to be spending Christmas in the cold.

The closest we get to a White Christmas in Melbourne’s 30+ degree heat is the Scandinavian Christmas Bazaar held at the Swedish Church in Toorak. The church is actually an elegant white mansion (reminiscent of Tara in Gone with the Wind) tucked away in a residential tree-lined street of Toorak. Every year Melbourne’s Scandinavian community welcome visitors to its pretty grounds, which hosts all manner of stalls selling Scandinavian goodies.

I haven’t been in a few years and the market seems to have gotten bigger in that time. Stalls varied from the fabulous Swedish inspired stationery shop Kikki K, Danish Christiana bikes from PS Bikes and cute Christmas decorations and Marimekko serviettes from Scandinavian homewares shop Nordliving.

Inside there were wooden Christmas decorations galore and a Scandinavian deli selling things like knackerbrod (rye crispbread) and tarama (cod roe spread).

The atmosphere was friendly and festive – there are musical and dance performances throughout the day, lots of blonde tanned people lounge under trees chatting away in their native language and a popular day out with families as there was a petting zoo and jumping castle for the kids.

Always a sucker for Christmas decorations, I purchased four that day, in between munching on a Danish hot dog (the crunchy fried onions and sweet mustard are a must) and a cinnamon roll (I lived on them when in Norway). The only thing missing was a herring van.

The Scandinavian Christmas Bazaar is held every year in the first weekend of December – so sorry if you missed out. Keep it in mind for next year!

HOT: Mingary, St Michael’s Uniting Church, 120 Collins St (enter Russell St), Melbourne

I’m not a religious person but I think everyone can do with some quiet time in a quiet place once in a while – to rest, reflect and refocus.

Mingary is a Gaelic word meaning ‘the quiet place’ and I’ve always been curious about the signs for the non-denominational sanctuary off to the side of St Michael’s Uniting Church.

Given the church’s faintly Moorish style of architecture, I’d always imagined Mingary to be sort of like the gardens of the Alhambra, with a narrow pool of water bounded by shadowy alcoves made for sitting and strolling.

In fact, it’s a dimly lit arched room with a few single chairs along the walls and a sculpture in the middle comprising the most basic of organic forms – rock, stone and water. A few people were inside when I entered in my lunch hour – a middle-aged man who appeared to be praying and a woman who’d drawn up a chair for a nap.

The church’s website says that Mingary has been developed as a place for personal reflection and offers a peaceful escape from the hectic demands of city life. For about 10 minutes, I found myself staring at the slowly trickling water and examining the lines of the hewn rock, in a mind-space well away from to-do lists and my constant on-the-go pace of life. I became acutely conscious of the sounds of traffic and trams nearby, so next time I might bring some meditative music on headphones with me as well.

I feel blessed that Melbourne offers a place such as Mingary. It is truly a precious piece of hidden Melbourne.