Monthly Archives: March 2012

Cotton Duck


Kingfish pastrami with tomato and fennel seed.


Pork belly without crunch? Somehow refreshingly different and left of field.


Autumn gourd roasted and stuffed with quinoa, organic vegetables & babaganoush. Loved dissecting this arty and hearty dish.


Boer goat braised on the bone with root veggies and fermented grape juice. Very hearty and comforting.

Last night Christina and I had dinner at Cotton Duck on Holt St. Surry Hills. It’s situated next door to Muum Maam and run by the same guy who runs Danks St. Depot.

After a bit of Googling around I was looking forward to checking out the sustainable inspired decor as well as the tables which were set far apart from neighbouring tables but on entry we soon realised that they had no reservation for us (I did receive a confirmation!). They were very sorry and were quick to offer us a table in their lounge area, which a lot of people were eating in too so we took a bench and accepted complimentary glasses of champagne as an apology.

They’re shutting shop tomorrow and I’m not too surprised. The booking stuff-up is unacceptable, the food whilst hearty and well cooked was far from wow for the price ($40 mains).

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Field Trip update

With quite some time to go until Field Trip Creative Conference Melbourne (20th of April) I’m glad to say that we’ve got only 100 more tickets to sell before it’s a sell out full house event! Our nerves in relation to ticket sales are somewhat calmed but we’re just as (perhaps even more) excited about how it’s all going to pan out.

As mentioned earlier, the concept revolves around process. I’ve been to countless creative conferences where the speaker on stage shows off their folio for an hour. Whilst that’s all good and dandy, what really inspires me is seeing HOW people make things. Process is king and for a speaker to give away their secrets, live, on stage is a big ask, one that we’ve managed to convince our speakers to do!

Head on over to http://www.thefieldtrip.com.au/ for artist info, tickets, schedules and more.

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Sun hugs


Glorious day.


Impromptu picnic!


Jurassic feet on this bird were jurassic.


Orb-weaver spider doing it’s thing.


Poor possums don’t get free reign on all the trees in the garden.


Fluffy goodness.


Cute, right?


I love the succulent garden!

Nanami’s been cooped up in the house for a few days with the flu so I made it my mission to get her out of the house for some much needed sun hugs before going in to work this morning. Nothing better than being a tourist in Sydney, she’s so special when the sun’s out!

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Peking Duck


Duck in the oven!

The feasting continues! Peking Duck, Xiao Long Bao, fried rice… a Chinese feast with Nanami, her Mum and her Mum’s sister who’s visiting from Tokyo.

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Makoto


Makoto – owned by the Masuya Group so you know it’s good.


Salmon Deluxe for two. Decadent? Very!

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ALL STARS CARS @ Mighty Car Mods Meet

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The Mini copping a LOT of attention!

Photos by Jayson Fong of Form & Function. More photos here.

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Picasso


www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/picasso

Nanami and I checked out the Picasso exhibition yesterday (it ends this week so we’ve left it late!). I’ve never been a massive Picasso fan, but I figure it’s an absolute privilege to be able to see so many of his original pieces all in the one place (and I’m still kicking myself for missing the Dali exhibit a few years ago) so I took a day off work to check it out.

Really really enjoyed it. 10 rooms with some amazing work from the 1900’s through to the 1970’s. It’s quite humbling, and mind blowing to be able to see someone’s life work displayed in front of you like that. Highly recommend it, go go go.

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Motoractive


Motoractive HQ.


Real Street BLVD.

Had a great meeting with the guys at Motoractive last Wednesday. These guys run Meguiar’s MotorEx (now in it’s 12th year) and they’ve invited us to take over this year’s Real Street BLVD on Saturday July 21st 2012. 60 car spaces and we’ll be representing inside too. We’re chuffed, excited to be working with such passionate car guys from a totally different scene to what we’re used to. Collab’s where it’s at. More news as it comes!

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Mini Update


Before.


After. Massive progress!

Sergio’s been in the zone on the mini! More words and images here: http://zengarage.com.au/2012/03/zen-x-all-stars-mini-project-update/

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Mini Van – 1st Drive


Rad, right?!


John in the drivers seat.


HEAPS of space!


Love!


She’s so gorgeous.


Deep dish, 10inch, ADVAN’s too.


Whilst the paint is tip top on the outside, the interior needs a lot of work.


Check the hand brake lever, those little rings have numbers engraved into them, they act like a combination security lock, very nice huh?!

I heard it before I saw it :) Sounded like a motorbike! Sergio dropped in to Zen today with our Mini (we’re going halvies on this one). Love at first sight? Pretty much! She’s gorgeous! Interior needs a fair bit of work, but nothing major. The car came with new carpet (yet to be installed), we’ll need to replace some tyres too.

Of-course I took her for a spin. First thing I noticed was that I couldn’t see jack shit. Seriously. Blind spots are hardcore due to not having windows on the sides, there’s no drivers side rear view mirror and the silly decorative mirror on the passenger side os useless! Despite the car being so damn small, even backing out of the driveway was a nervous affair!

The gearbox is as vague as they come. The gear shifter returns to centre after every shift (very strange!). Grabbing first and second is fine, but 3rd is strange as it’s closer to first than you think and grabbing 4th is even more strange as you’ve got to come back towards 2nd! Crunch crunch crunch! The drum brakes are SO WEAK it’s damn dangerous. Stopping suddenly is just not a possibility so I’d like to look into whether or not that’s normal (ie: can be bettered as is), if not I’d like to entertain the idea of a disk brake set-up.

I only drove her around the block but I was giggling and smiling the entire trip :) SO much character, so much attention. She sounds fantastic and handles great too (go kart for sure!).

All in all, once we sort out some mirrors for better vision, and the brakes she’ll make for a much better ride! :)

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