Tag: the-f

Why you need the Victorinox Spectra suitcase for your post-lockdown travels

Victorinox-Spectra

Standing at the luggage carousel at any airport around the world, the sea of suitcases on rotation in a mind-numbingly wide array of different variations of black is about the most unexciting element of any airport experience. Not to mention, the struggle of trying to find the bag that’s rightfully yours as you prise it from another tourist’s confused and equally as frustrated hands. Enter the Victorinox Spectra, latest luggage range by Victorinox, the guys who you’d know thanks to their years of dedication to the pioneering of the Swiss army knife. The Spectra 2.0 Collection combines lightweight durability in a few different, new and interesting colours. They help identify what’s yours and make it a lot easier to remove from the jostling crowds as it glides across the floor with ease thanks to its four wheels that provide an easy 360-degree range of directional motion. It’s spacious, upright, has the little strap that ties it all together inside and has Victorinox’s seal of approval and pride. It makes the whole waiting experience in the arrivals hall that much more exciting after any tiresome trip. “At Victorinox, we aim to meet the demands of the ever-changing market and to bring our consumers fresh new designs and plenty of variety,” said Dan Tarala, VP Product Strategy & Design Travel Gear. Perfect for a recent jaunt to Port Douglas with the Pullman Sea Temple Resort, the Victorionox Spectra 2.0 in Lagoon was about as big a lifesaver as the best of them. Hello check-in luggage. The Victorinox Spectra… Read More

New Zealand’s month-long food festival is coming to Wellington

Wellington plate food

New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, is about to say hello again to its favourite food festival, Wellington on a Plate. For the first time, they’re taking it out to a new and improved format and extending it to the whole month of August. Think 31 days, 5 weekends and loads of foodie goodness. Bars, bistros, food trucks and fine dining will pump out hundreds of dishes through heaps of foodie events alongside creative menus, burgers, cocktails and food pop-ups for die-hard bingers. It even comes complete with over 20 top international and local chefs from all over the world to the shores of Wellington to cook right here in the culinary capital. These names are synonymous with exciting and innovative cuisine, often only available in far-off places, and will be sure to excite both foodies and newbies alike. See more at the Wellington on a Plate website.

Don’t let disaster derail your day!

Man screaming

In a perfect world, life would move forward pleasantly and uneventfully. There would be no sudden disasters or emergencies to deal with. Everything would work out fine there would be no need to worry about anything. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? Sadly, we don’t live in a perfect world. Not even close. We live in the real world, and the real world likes to throw things at you when you least expect it. You really can’t predict when life’s going to decide to throw a spanner in the works and send everything spinning out of control. Whether it’s a medical emergency, mechanical mishap or home disaster. You know what they say, if something can go wrong then there’s a pretty decent chance that it will go wrong. Hopefully, this doesn’t all sound too doom and gloom! Don’t worry, though, because there are always things that can be done. And the best possible thing that you can do? Well just follow the advice of the Boy Scouts: be prepared! Making sure that you’re thinking about things that might go wrong in advance is the best possible way to be able to deal with them when they happen. If you plan ahead, you’re never going to find yourself panicking with no idea how to handle an emergency when it presents itself. Here are just a few common problems that you’re going to want to be ready for when they happen. Car catastrophes We all rely so heavily on our cars these days we hardly even think about them…. Read More

Burger wrappers in the NGV: Celebrate life’s banality with artist Darren Sylvester

Darren Sylvester NGV 2

The dude known for his consumption by consumerism who then turned it into art, Darren Sylvester, has an exhibition on at the National Gallery of Victoria from 1 March to 30 June 2019. From a pulsating coloured dance floor based on an Yves Saint Laurent makeup range, to a chaise lounge upholstered in cheeseburger wrapping, more than 70 of Darren Sylvester’s works – known for their pop culture and multinational brand references – will be on display at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV. The exhibition is called Darren Sylvester: Carve A Future, Devour Everything, Become Something and reveals the artist’s ongoing fascination with consumerism, the banality of everyday life, love and mortality, which he presents in a playful way. On show will be 43 of Sylvester’s hyper-colourful photographs, all an homage and commentary on pop culture, music and advertising as a way of exploring the ways in which everyday life is shaped by branding. Also, a gigantic YSL make up compact lit-up dancefloor interpretation will be one o the stars of the show, thanks to its colour scheme that is ‘proven’ by market research to appear flattering. Darren is a Melbourne man now, having made the move from Sydney in ’74. See his exhibition at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square, Melbourne from 1 March 2019 – 30 June 2019. Entry is free at NGV.MELBOURNE.

Blue Water Grill by Rockpool Dining Group is returning to Sydney

Blue Water DIning 1

Chef Neil Perry is bringing Blue Water Grill back to Sydney diners after a 30-year hiatus with a six-day pop-up in the heart of Sydney city. Blue Water Grill will open up for the limited time at 11 Bridge Street from Monday 19 November to Saturday 24 November with lunch and dinner sittings daily. On the menu will be seafood with Asian flavours that Blue Water Grill was renowned for, and foods that defined Neil Perry’s reputation as a champion of sustainable catches. They’ll have around 20 hallmark dishes on the menu, complete with an ‘80s-style cocktail list and a list of Australian wines. Neil Perry will be hands-on in the kitchen, frying fish, stir frying squid, char-grilling seafood and mustering up fragrant green curry, coconut sambal, chilli sauces and salsas. They’re all the quintessential dishes that put his first restaurant and super-fresh seafood straight off the boats on Australia’s culinary map. See more and the new menu at the Rockpool Dining website and the menu below: Freshly shucked oysters with candied ginger $4 Fried goats’ cheese, beet salad, Sichuan pepper $19 Sugar cured Ocean Trout, tomato, onion, chilli $19 Raw tuna, avocado, sweet sesame dressing $25 Mussel, garam masala noodle soup $19 Char-grilled baby octopus, mint, chilli salad $19 Stir-fried king prawn, lettuce, tamarind dressing $24 Stir-fried squid, water spinach, black pepper, curry leaves $25 Pipis, black bean, chilli $25 Leather Jacket green curry $25 Char-grilled Swordfish, mango chilli salsa $29 Char-grilled tuna, spicy cucumber peanut salad $29 Pan-fried Red Throat Emperor, coconut sambal $29… Read More

Redfern Surf Club opens and locals are as into it as they are confused

Redfern Surf Club 1

Because Redfern is so known for it’s pristine white sand, crystal blue oceans, exponential horizons and endless supply of beach-goers, it only made sense for the place to open right in the thick of it all, the corner of Henderson and Botany Road. The new Redfern Surf Club is all the bits of Redern you love in one, complete with classic, fun bevvies with free popcorn and an inclusive, unpretentious approach to service. It’s the baby of Yannick Maslard, who used to be the manager of The Cliff Dive and Oxford Art Factory, so it’s got something good going on. Yannick and his pals wanted a place that stayed true to the ‘local’ that everyone has in their own community, right in the heart of the suburb, accessible all the time. That’s the spirit of the surf club. “We built the bar we all wanted to hang out in,” says Maslard, speaking for an extended family of Sydney hospitality regulars and friends who have chipped in to overhaul the sun-drenched, heritage-listed space – once a bank, and most recently a chook shop. Wielding paint brushes and power tools, a team of good mates have donated their time and creativity to help transform the former Grill King site into a lush indoor courtyard with a collection of curiosities and an enviable supply of plants. The walls have photos and paintings combined with surfing paraphernalia and a pool table. It’s about lazy summer holidays down the coast, right in the middle of town. It’s casual, easy and welcoming. They… Read More