As far as I can remember, I’ve always associated the land down under with the outback, kangaroos, koalas, the great barrier reef, driving on “the wrong side” of the road, Hugh Jackman, Yvonne Strahovski and Ruby Rose. Yes, all those are true of Australia so it was no surprise that the autumn winter was pleasant, the scenerie breathtaking, the koalas adorable, the people friendly and the accent sexy… What blew me away was… the coffee.

Having lived in France where sitting in a café for hours was part of la vie parisienne (not that the coffee was particularly amazing, mind you), I thought my friend was exaggerating when the first thing he told me about Australia was that “cafés are a big deal”. Big was definitely an understatement – these Aussies take their coffee seriously. In fact, I’m gonna be bold and say it: Melbourne has the best coffee I’ve had. I’m sorry, Italia, but I found my new coffee heaven.

I set out on my coffee adventure determined to visit as many cafés and take as many shots of the good stuff while avoiding an untimely OD. I’m not gonna list down all the cafés, though. I’ll only write about my two favourites in the CBD. They’re both amazing for different reasons.

First up, Degraves Espresso Bar (23 Degraves Street). Right down a tiny street, Degraves, filled with tables and chairs in the middle of the road leading up to some of the many lanes, you’ll ifnd this small but ever so busy espresso bar. This street is right in front of Flinders Station, walking distance from Federation Square. It’s impossible to miss with the queue of people outside the door, mostly locals waiting for their favourite brew to go.

When I got there, it was packed, so I was waiting around for a table hoping that someone’s bound to leave soon. After a few minutes, I almost gave up – it was the peak of brunch time and I was getting ready to just move to another place… but just as I placed my order to go, a table freed up. Score.

A big rusty iron sign, with a huge champagne pommery poster inside. The menu is written in chalk, with breakfast specials including bagels, quiches… It was busy but the staff was cool and most of them were cool inked kids with funky hairstyles and awesome style. I suppose that’s something to do with an art supply store just next door.

I ordered a soy latte that morning. I’m no longer lactose intolerant and I don’t usually order a soy latte basically because milk is very important in coffee and soy doesn’t really do coffee justice, in my opinion. However, their soy latte was surprisingly really good. I was impressed. I was really tempted to order another one, but I had to refrain myself. Unfortunately, I was not able to try any of their breakfast specials.

Although, there’s a Little Cupcakes shop right down the street. The thing I love about this little piece of heaven is the fact that they have “mini” cupcakes. That way I can indulge in many different flavours without feeling too guilty! As an out and proud cupcake addict (and biased towards Magnolia Bakery), I was happy with the mini red velvet and the orange poppy seed. It wasn’t too sweet and you can actually taste the flavours bursting in your mouth. Yum!

Equally as incredible is Brother Baba Budan (356 Little Burke Street). A little further into the heart of the CBD, this one is a little trickier to find. I almost missed it because it didn’t have a massive sign out front. In fact, there was no sign… at all. I checked!

The first thing I noticed walking into the place is how small and quaint the place felt. There was one big “common table” with chairs around where you can hold meetings, or hang out with friends… or you can sit alone in peace. However, due to the fact that the carafe d’eau and glasses are set up in the middle of the table along with the sugar, it also forces some sort of interaction. Kinda like a community feel where you see the locals enjoying their java with the morning paper.

That in itself is a cool concept but the really interesting thing are the chairs hanging from the ceiling. Yup, wooden chairs. Lots and lots of wooden chairs. Pretty cool if you ask me. I couldn’t help but snap away…!

They serve two kinds of coffee each day: the house ’spro and a single origins blend that changes daily. I asked the server a little bit more about their blends. That day they had a Colombian Carlos Imbachi, which was fruity and zesty. (I wasn’t able to catch her name though, but she was super helpful and she knew her coffee.)

I had a house ’spro machiatto, it was smooth, not too strong and only slightly acidic. I don’t have a photo because I enjoyed it so much that I forgot to take one. However, this was the house ’spro latte, and it was smooth – i love it when they steam/froth the milk just right. The milk didn’t overpower the coffee, you can still taste the coffee without feeling like this is coffee flavoured milk.

Aside from the coffee, my favourite thing about Melbourne is the massive amount of street art. Yes, street art is legal and some establishments even encourage it. It definitely adds personality and feel as you walk down the streets with these masterpieces watching over you. There’s a distinct separation between street art and tagging. It was interesting to see a guy with a white paint bucket in one hand and a roller brush on the other walking around painting over the tags. (I read somewhere they accidentally painted over a Banksy a while back… whoa!)

For some street art goodness, check out a post I had with a photowalk I had with the band, Kill Kurt Reifler in Fitzroy.

Melbourne has definitely become one of my favourite cities. It’s relatively small – the CBD is pretty much a grid with trams cutting through and connecting people to the various suburbs around it. It’s a good mashup of old and new. Old buildings with intricate iron works and sky scrapers and the Docklands with modern condominiums. Calm neighbourhoods and busy downtown streets.

Melbourne CBD reminds me of Manhattan. I personally describe it as what happens when you toss NYC and Paris in the blender, add crème anglaise and a pinch of swoon-worthy accent. Yup. It’s definitely the best of those two plus an awesome chill vibe.

i was very lucky to have been in sydney town when this art exhibit was held.

SEVEN HUNDRED PHOTOS

SEVEN ARTISTS
SEVEN FASHION DESIGNERS
SEVEN HOTEL ROOMS
OF INTERACTIVE, LIVE PHOTO SHOOTS.

PART ART SHOW, PART FASHION SHOW, PART LIVE PHOTO SHOOT!

it was such a wonderful thing to be surrounded by all these artists, art enthusiasts, my kind of people. i was with a friend, Joey, who i met through CouchSurfing. she’s a super wicked cool awesome photographer and i also got to meet some of her friends. just hang out, chill, shoot… awesome night. good times.

it helped seal the deal in my love affair with australia.

i shall upload some photos soon… hang tight. x

red velvet love

la joie de vivre.

we are all embers from the same fire.

embers • just jack

i don’t do hallmark holidays so instead, i’ll just stick with happy new year. it is officially 2010. last month was just a dry run… this is it. let’s go!

i apologise for the hiatus. the sudden move to china meant i barely had time to sit down and update the blog. on top of that, the move also meant that my internet access was restricted (thanks to the great firewall of china). yes, social networking sites and youtube are blocked… and blogging sites as well! it’s crazy, i know.

anyway, i am back in uncensored interwebs so i actually have no excuse not to update regularly, huh.

i can’t really say the past four-six months have been uneventful because no matter how “boring” it may seem… something crazy always happens. that’s life’s guarantee, at least in my life. i will eventually post missing photos from last year and include some serendipitous adventures. yes, i love that word – serendipity.

i’ve learned that once i keep myself open, good things will always come. a lot of my most awesome experiences are the “random” encounters, the spur-of-the-moment/unplanned adventures… i’ve met the most amazing people by just… well, living life and being open to what life throws my way. life is full of wonderful surprises like that… just roll with the punches and go with the flow. things have a way of falling into place.

as my friend, oyo said: live like it’s your first and last day.

people have always said to “live like it’s your last day”… that’s true. living life as if you could lose everything any moment, as if it could all end any moment, makes you feel things a little more intensely, appreciate the little things more, listen more attentively, be a little more understanding… basically makes you not take things for granted.

but remember what it was like being a kid? as a kid, everything was interesting, magical… there’s that sense of awe and splendour even at the little things. as we grow older, we tend to lose that. we tend to lose the magic and disregard to see the beauty in things. everything becomes mechanical, mundane.

that’s why i agree to live like it’s the first and last day… to have that sense of desperation to experience everything, to truly feel and appreciate life and all it has to offer… and more importantly to regain that sense of wonder and awe… even in the little things. because once you do that, you realise that life is great. life has a lot to offer. you just have to open your eyes, heart and mind.

it’s not easy to do – to feel deeply for everything everyday… but i believe that it’s the only way to truly live. i’m trying to understand and apply the concept of not getting attached. at least, not in the typical “attachment”, the way i used to get attached before. i’m human and getting attached is human nature… but i’m learning to be able to hold something, someone dear in my heart while being able to let them go at the same time. i don’t know if that makes sense… i want to be able to take with me the people, places, things i encounter in life but be able to look back at them without feeling the pain of leaving, of separation. i’ve been able to do that with some things and even some people – my family, my friends… no matter where i am, they are with me always… i suppose once it’s because there’s a bond that is forged, a bond that i know will never be broken.

live like it’s the first and last day. that’s going to be my mantra.

2010 looks promising. the year awaits. my adventures have already been lined up and more opportunities are presenting themselves. work. projects. people. travel. i am very thankful. i am blessed. 2010 will definitely rock.

i won’t always love what i’ll never have.
i won’t always live in my regrets.

23 • jimmy eat world

i have been away the past two weeks hence the sudden lack of updates. now i am back and i have quite a few photos (aside from the old ones) mostly b&w taken with my old skool fm3a… so i promise to put up more photos as soon as they’re developed.

going home made me miss paris even more… i cannot even begin to start how much i miss paris. mostly, i just miss the little things, the simple (yet complicated – it’s the french, it’s never simple) little daily random things, my bestfriend, all the insane food treks, loooong walks, random finds, the marais… the list goes on and on and on. i miss paris so much. i hate admiting it out loud but i do. i miss it so much that when i heard a couple of french tourists back home, i almost ran up to them and just start speaking in french. it’s good i still speak a little bit of french ‘cos i really do not want to lose what little french i know. i miss paris so much that this old french couple made getting stuck at admisibility review almost – keyword: almost – bearable.

these photos were taken during one of my last few days in paris. p and i were walking, just wandering from the 18th to the 10th… we saw a bunch of pigeons feasting on a broken baguette… it was really interesting just watching them – i’m not a big fan of pigeons but it was pretty cool how they were just perched on the railing and cooing. it reminded me of old ladies just hanging around late in the afternoon to just chill and gossip. i dunno, i thought it was pretty cool.

i miss paris, i hope to be able to get back to that side of the atlantic by the end of the summer… and it would be awesome if i could also drop by north africa.  *fingers crossed*