Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! First off, a very sincere thank you for your readership and interest in my little posts and images. This blog is extremely young, but I hope you'll stick with me in the future as I archive my tiny escapades and I'll always endeavour to post more exciting and interesting photographs!

I realised that the year's almost over and I haven't once placed up a selfie of myself. So for those curious about the face behind all this typing, here it is. I was playing around with the dials and functions on Jiro and thought it'd be fun to try and take an indirect selfie.

Now, on to new adventures in the new year!

Snow Pony

Whenever someone I know comes to visit Melbourne on a short trip, I always find it a darn shame that they are never able to appreciate what lies outside the city circle, usually due to time constraints. Without a doubt, the CBD has an enormous amount to offer, even after 25 years I still haven't explored everything the little alleyways contain! As a local who has lived both inside the city and out in the suburbs, I've always found that some of the most rich qualities of local culture are in fact scattered in the neighbourhoods.

So when my dear friend, Jenny, came over for an extended weekend right before Christmas (I've mentioned her visit and our adventures here and here), I decided to do right by her and take her deep into my neck of the woods to truly enjoy what the suburbs have to offer!

One of my must-go-to brunch joints in my neighbourhood is this wonderful little cafe where (yes you see correctly below) there is a giant Snow Pony proudly sitting atop the store front.

Once you enter, the atmosphere is a unique almagamation of industrail light fittings, exposed brick work and leather uplhostered chairs that reminded me of these bar stools I'd seen in a jazz bar.

Food and coffee are just fantastic, and very reasonablly priced! I ordered the Budha Bowl (photo below), and with the amount of greens beneath my poached egg, I was feeling thoroughly healthy, and a little zen by the end of the meal! Jenny decided to take a leaf out of my gastronomy book and opted for the Crushed Avocado (photo below).  Lets just say there wasn't much talking while there was still food on our plates!

I fell completely in love with the flowers and teal vase shown above. It was such lovely colour combination I'm now on a personal hunt to recreate it for my own room!

NGV Goes “A.W.”

I'm a little ashamed to admit that despite living in a city well known for its art and culture, the total tally of visits I’ve made to the National Gallery of Victoria can be counted on one hand. So when the NGV announced that they were holding the Andy Warhol-Ai Weiwei exhibition between the months of December to April next year I penned a date in my diary and committed myself to go. And boy was I glad I did!

The exhibition contains some of the artists' most iconic pieces such as Warhol's Campbell’s Soup, and Weiwei's very controversial Study of Perspective. What was most impressive was how the entire exhibition had been carefully curated to display the parallels between these two artists and their creative approaches to their subject matter.

Below is but a very small peak of what is displayed. My collection of photographs certainly doesn't do the exhibit justice!



1) Banner along the north facade of the NGV



2) Photography exhibition of New York and Beijing taken by each artist
3) Campbell's Soup
4) Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup and Ai Weiwei's Coloured Vases


5) Photography exhibition of New York and Beijing taken by each artist cont'd
6) Absolut Vodka campaign by Andy Warhol
7) Self Portrait
8) Wallpaper design by Ai Weiwei


The above piece by Andy Warhol is my favourite out of the entire exhibition. It is a series polaroid portraits taken of celebrities and of Warhol himself. Most of the images we view of the famous and glamorous are either on heavily edited covers of magazines or extremely unflattering angles of a brief moment where they were caught off guard just being human. I love how Warhol has allowed the nature of the grainy polaroid film to capture a very human quality in these otherwise highly publicised figures. The consistent dimensions of the polaroid also emphasised the fact that even a famous figure is just a face in a sea of people. You really need to press your nose right up against the glass to figure out who it is you're looking at!


9) Study in Perspective by Ai Weiwei


10) Coloured Vases by Ai Weiwei
11) Bamboo with Porcelain by Ai Weiwei


12) Water feature entrance to the NGV


For anyone around Melbourne during this period, this is a must-see exhibition (I'm seriously planning a second visit!).

There is also a separate venue for kids titled Studio Cats where children (and adults!) can experience the title artists' love of cats.

Morning Rituals

I love waking up to a fresh crisp early morning with a cloudless blue sky. Something about the stillness of the early hours contains a meditative calmness that's perfect for contemplating and reviewing the day to come. But as much as I love the mornings, it takes all the effort in the world and a substantial amount of coffee to wake me up. I'm definitely someone who needs to begin their mornings on the right note to set the tone for the rest of the day.

So when I woke up to find rays of sunlight streaming through my bedroom window (one of the reasons I love the summer), my usually snooze-button-prone-body had an easier time sliding out of bed. After I'd conducted my morning ritual of brewing my caffeinated elixir, I decided to head early to the studio.

I recently started incorporating a new morning habit of taking photos during my coffee. Perhaps it’s due to the sound and feel of the shutter or the motion of capturing these rare quiet moments before a busy day, but the act gives me a small sense of having done something to jump start my day to complete bigger (and sometimes tedious) tasks. I also found that some of the best natural light is during daybreak!

Today's photos contain what lies ahead on the to-do-list. Lately, I’ve been pretty slack researching for my thesis so I decided to stack some of the books I need to read for my literature review and power through them (notice the large french press in the background to help me through).




Bottoms-up to the coffee!

A Turkey Dinner

A couple of years ago, my family came to accept the hard fact that though we all love each other very dearly, we are terrible when it comes to the art of "Christmas-gift-selecting". By terrible, I mean that at one point we each had so many socks that I could've designated a pair a day for several weeks and still come out on top! Birthday's and other special occasions we do fine, but for some reason, Christmas has always been a great challenge to us. So we decided to institute a new holiday tradition whereby we, the kids, take over the kitchen the entire day and cook for the entire day (breakfast, lunch & dinner) according to what our parents request to be on the menu. This year mum requested something very radical (i.e. a non-Asian menu), which was for a traditional Victorian style Christmas dinner complete with a roast turkey and vegetables.

Having never roasted a 5kg bird before, I went surfing the net and read everything from "Martha Stewart's traditional roast turkey recipe" to "To Stuff or Not To Stuff: Why you should forego the turkey stuffing".

12 hours of prepping, cooking, and hovering over the oven later, our family's first Christmas dinner with a roast turkey centerpiece was ready to be eaten!

I've always found it extremely gratifying to watch the people I love devour what I make. It's true when they say, "an empty plate is the greatest compliment you can give to the chef".
So please enjoy perusing some of the moments captured below of a turkey dinner!

Christmas Greetings!

Happy Holidays everyone!
And a special thank you to my dear friend Marie for hand modeling in this Christmas card.

Film Noir

These are some black & white photos I took while taking a break from hopping around the city searching for some presents still left on my Christmas list. I've always loved monochromatic photos. The monotone colour palette coupled with the sharp contrast between light and shadow often creates some exceptionally engaging visual images. And truth be told, it makes photos taken by amateurs like me appear just that little bit more professional (Haha!). Hope you enjoy viewing these as much as I enjoyed taking them!

In a Little Warehouse…

Food and coffee are two things done oh-so-right in Melbourne! So when one of my foodie friends flew over from Perth for the weekend and declared she needed a good brunch it was a no-brainer to take her to Industry Bean.

The food is mouthwateringly delicious, and the coffee is right on the mark! They also roast and package their own coffee beans that can be purchased pre-ground to suite your machine or as whole beans.





The above image is of the stacked sacks of coffee beans that are personally roasted in-house. It also forms the feature wall of the waiting area where you're allowed to take a closer look at some of the machinery involved in making these little brown beans of caffeinated heaven while waiting for a table.



I’m a huge avo fan and the Avocado Smash with a side of wilted spinach did not disappoint! As a true burger fan, Jenny opted for Coffee Rubbed Wagyu with a side of polenta chips and complemented the chef by downing the pattie in record time at 10:00am in the morning.

Beginning of Another Week

The end of another Monday and the beginning of another week. Today is this simple black & white number taken of a building that stopped me in my way to Hardware Society for brunch. It’s one of many apartment complexes in the heart of the CBD (I should really find out who the architect is!) What caught my eye was the curved line of the extruded blade walls, I couldn’t help but follow the edge and look up, up, and up till I saw the sky. Once again, the architect in me dictating the direction of my camera.

Taking Shelter in a Coffee House

Any Melbournian will warn a non-local that the foremost thing they must be prepared for when visiting is our infamous 4-seasons-in-one-day temperamental weather. So it wasn't surprising (but still awfully annoying) that what started out as a sunny Sunday morning suddenly switched into an overcast downpour, leaving everyone along the streets of Brunswick running for cover. Which is exactly what we did when we ducked into Jasper Coffee.

The Christmas spirit had obviously seeped into the beautifully decorated (and well stocked) store, and the smell of coffee beans just heavenly. But the real treasure was at the back where a sliding door leads into a small enclosed courtyard, which had once been an alleyway.

I get so excited when I find hidden gems like this, places even as a local you wouldn’t know about until you do your own exploring and cafe-hopping. So I couldn’t help but whip out Jiro and click away.









The above image is a sneaky shot I took of my dear friend Jenny taking it easy as we waited for the rain to stop while sipping some well-brewed soy and chai lattes.

3 Good F’s: Friends, Food, Festivities

The month of December means holidays, parties, excessive shopping and a lot of tinsel. Here in Melbourne, Australia it also means the start of summer and sweltering 38 degree days. So when my friends and I caught up before everyone was too busy with their own holiday schedules, it was a no-brainer to visit the Aviary on Victoria St after dinner. Sure could use one of those cocktails right about now!


The photo of the watch was taken by my good friend Marie while she was marveling at Jiro. It could be an ad out of a catalogue!

This is the first time I’ve ever shot with Jiro in the evening and I’m starting to really appreciate the advice “experiment with different natural lighting” given by professional photographers. I love the level of contrast between the light and shadow coming out in these shots. I’ve always wondered how the professionals achieved that beautiful quality of depth and mood in their photos. Now I know how!

8 Days to Go!

Yes you read correctly, there is exactly 1 week + 1 day to go till Christmas! I always find how amazingly quick the year’s gone by just before the holidays. Below are some shots of a tiny cafe that’s been on my to-drink-list for a while now but never had the opportunity to visit. I finally managed to pop by whilst doing some much over-due Christmas shopping. The hydrangeas just popped against the bare concrete walls and I couldn’t help but take a few cheeky snaps.

My lge soy latte didn’t last the short leg across the street to BigW, I really need to learn how to pace myself when it comes to my coffees. In my defence, it was a much-needed pick-me-up after shopping for a dozen people (and several more presents still to purchase) and the coffee was just that good!

Toast to a New Blog Before the New Year

Hello world of blogging! The past year I've been trolling the internet and saturating myself with some of the most wonderfully curated blogs created by different bloggers and I started seriously tossing up the idea of starting my own. One of the most wonderful aspects of these blogs was that each post accumulated into a digital archive of unique moments (both BIG and wee) that were experienced by the author, and then shared as "narratives" with the world.

My main source for hesitating came from the doubt (and I admit fear) that I would have nothing to contribute to an already rich mass of existing blogs. However, I decided that there was no point in worrying about something that could or wouldn't happen until I tried. One thing I can promise myself is that the images (photographs and illustrations) I place up on my posts will all be mine. I just recently bought a FujiFilm x-t10 (which I have fondly named Jiro) and have been snapping everything and anything that I find interesting and attractive.

So here's to the first step of starting something I have never done before. The mixture of both nerves and excitement is a rather conflicting feeling.
The image above was taken at my uni. I was walking towards the bus stop and (being an architecture student) couldn't help but stop in my tracks to admire the old heritage-listed stone facade of the Elisabeth Murdoch Building sitting in front of the modern teal cladding of the Ian Potter Museum. History meets Present.