REC

Food review: Burch and Purchese

reclog — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:00:09 +0000

I had heard about this place from a view bloggers and was recommended by a couple of friends to visit this place. Hidden away from the hustle and bustle of the main strip of Chapel Street in South Yarra, I made my way there and was greeted by the friendly staff keen for me to sample some of their latest creations. I struck up a conversation with one of the sales attendants and from what the she told me is that Burch & Purchese do a seasonal menu, so not all the deserts will always be there. However they do have some items which are always on the menu so don’t be frightened about an always changing menu just in case you develop a favorite.

Inside Burch & Purchese

Selection of gorgeous cakes

I think I have already pointed out the absolutely wonderful customer service they have, with staff ready to help you with any enquiries about any of the cakes, chocolate or ice creams they stock. Or even provide you with suggestions of cakes or confectioneries if you are buying for friends or family as a gift. The place is lovely and small with no seating so heads up for those that want to sit down and have a coffee, it’s not that kind of place. The cakes and chocolates are all crafted exquisitely with some amazing and definitely different flavour variations so be sure to be adventurous and try some of the lesser common combinations.

Smoked white chocolate, coffee, aniseed and lemon cake

Coconut, passionfruit, ginger and mint dessert

Since it was my first time I decided to try their cakes first so I bought a coconut, passionfruit, ginger and mint dessert (this wasn’t quite a cake) and a smoked white chocolate, coffee, aniseed and lemon cake. The first one I tried was the smoked white chocolate. What really interested me about this cake was the smoked chocolate, I had never tried it before and was curious to see if it really had the smokey flavor. I took my first bite and it was DIVINE!! This cake was amazing, the smoked white chocolate was there but only slightly so it’s not overpowering the rest of the intricate layers of the cake. Everything they had claimed that was in this cake was in it! Each layer was different, a lemon curd, brownie sponge,crunchy almond meringue, aniseed syrup it was all absolutely beautiful and the combination of it all was sheer bliss. Not only is presentation impeccable but also the favours were just amazing. Words cannot describe how good this cake was I can only highly recommend you go to this shop as soon as possible if you’re an avid cake lover such as myself. As for the other dessert the coconut, passionfruit, ginger and mint dessert it had several layers (not as many as the smoked white chocolate cake) and just like the previous one tasted incredible. The textures of the coconut caviar (as they called it) gave a wonderful texture combined with the ginger and salted oat crumble on the bottom leaving me almost refreshed with the tart passion fruit curd in the mix as well. Truly when I ate this I cried a little because it was just so darn good. So my overall opinion for Burch and Purchese is that it is one of the best places for desserts I’ve been to in a while. I highly highly HIGHLY recommend you give this place a go I know I’m definitely going back again for seconds, thirds, fourths and more.

Kyary Pamyu Fairy Kei inspired photoshoot

reclog — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:24:35 +0000

Last week I did a Fairy Kei/Kyary Pamyu inspired photo shoot over the weekend. This shoot was my first one where I had to create a set for it. It took alot more time than expected but it was a good learning curve and in the future I am very keen to construct more sets for future shoots. For those that are not familiar with Fairy Kei or the celebrity Kyary Pamyu here is a mood board so you have a better idea of the style the photo shoot was influenced from.

Here’s a bit of background on both the styles just FYI.

Fairy Kei is a style that started In Japan and mostly consists of pastel colours. Fairy-kei, also known as “Spank girl” (after the pioneering Fairy-kei brand Spank!), is one of the most recently developed Japanese fashion styles. The style takes a palette of pastel colours and mixes it in with 80s vintage clothing, inspired by kitschy characters like My Little Pony, Popples, Care Bears and Jem & the Holograms. The look often includes tutus, mini frilled shorts, T-shirts with cartoon characters, vintage reebok trainers, scrunchies, silly badges, acid wash denim, bright coloured hair and hand-made accessories in pastels or sparkles.

Kyary Pamyu started as a fashion blogger, and then began her professional career as a model for Harajuku fashion magazines such as Kera! and Zipper. Known for her unique fashion and popularity amongst the youth culture crowd in Harajuku, Kyary rose to fame by promoting her own line of fake eyelashes as well as going into a singing career releasing her popular hit “PONPONPON”

So here are some of the final shots of the day, I’m very happy with how they came out, shout outs go to Magdeline and Mitch for being my models and providing me with their awesome wardrobe, Set design and wardrobe styling done by myself as well as the photography. Enjoy guys .

Tiger and Bunny cosplay shoot

reclog — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:41:49 +0000

A while back I did a photo shoot with Cosplayers Min, Jen and Jill from Perth whilst I was there on holiday. They did a cosplay based off an anime series called Tiger & Bunny, Min did Kotetsu Katsuragi, Jen did Barnaby Brooks and Jill did Kaede Katsuragi (Kotetsu AKA Tiger’s daughter). It was quite a difficult day as lighting kept on changing due to the sunny and suddenly overcast lighting which unfortunately affected some of the photos. Most shoots I’ve done alone, however more and more I’m finding that I will need assistance on shoots in the future as the need for reflectors or flashes will be needed on future shoots if my images are to remain top notch quality. Besides the lighting the shoot went well. We sourced out several locations and spent most of the day shooting. We shot till the night however the secondary photographer did most of the shooting as there was some technical difficulties and in the end I could not shoot anything at night. We ended up finishing at around 2am in the morning, exhausted and tired but very satisfied with what we got from the day. Here are some pics from the shoot, thanks go to Min, Jen and Jill for power housing it through the day, you guys were great, and secondary photographer Wilson. for letting us use your awesome factory . Enjoy the shots, if you would like to see more you can check out my deviantart site here.

Food in Perth review: “Beluga”, “The Avairy” and “Sherbert”

reclog — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 19:00:04 +0000

For the holidays this season I went back home to Perth for a while to spend some time with the friends and family. Once I returned I was lucky enough to be invited to dine at some new restaurants, well new to me at least . One of them was called Beluga located within the Claremont Quarter quite close to KOKO black. A fine dinning restaurant with a lovely interior, top notch staff and food which was to die for. We went in a group so we ordered a few entrees to share so we could try all the different varieties. We ended up ordering the gnocchi, braised clams, stuffed zucchini flowers (which were amazing!) and the tortellini. The stand out was the clams and stuffed zucchini flowers however the gnocchi and the tortellini was good but nothing to scream about. Mains were a bit touch and go, some were incredibly delicious and some just didn’t make the mark. For example the Pork Belly which I ordered was not crispy, meat was dry and the crackling was chewy. A chilli mussle broth, whilst the mussels were tasty the sauce was watery and bland. If you were to order a side of bread to dip into the sauce I honestly wouldn’t bother as the bread itself would taste better by itself. A lamb shoulder which was mouth-watering, seasoned nicely with herbs and lemon rind, marinated, slow cooked to perfection and was just divine. A Duck confit with a lovely salad which I thought was the best dish of all, and some Barramundi fish sticks accompanied with celeriac on top. Don’t be perturbed by the name of the dish, it was a lovely, tasty and light, although the serving size was a bit small it was still very nice. All in all it was a good experience, I would say definitely give it a go, prices average about $30 for a main and about $20 for an entree depending on what you order.

Gnocchi

Stuffed zucchini flower

Tortellini

Clams

Lamb shoulder

Pork belly

Duck confit

Chilli mussles

Baramundi fish sticks

Next place I tried out was the fairly new ‘The Avairy’, a roof top bar and restaurant. Very nicely designed so extra points from me (I’m a sucker for a good interior) , unfortunately I only partially saw some of the Aviary as my friend and I decided to eat on the roof top bar area. Lovely setup with faux grass, colourful stools, undercover bar, plenty of room and a great view the atmosphere and ambience of the place is ideal for some drinks after work and/or lunch date. We sat down and proceeded to look through the menu, although alot of dishes didn’t seem to stand out it seemed it was your typical run of the mill kind of stuff. Alot of pizzas, steak sandwiches, salads, the usual but a little more directed to the upmarket crowd. We decided on a salad and a pizza in the end and got ourselves a lovely pear cider to sip on in the 35 degree weather. Our salad came out first, an apple smoked chicken with mixed lettuce, candied walnuts, crutons and prosciutto and an array of other ingredients, it was quite delicious and surprisingly filling although my only qualm would be the presentation of the salad could do with some work. Next came our chorizo with rosemary, and potato pizza garnished with fresh rocquette on top. A lovely thin pizza with what tasted like a white sauce for a base instead of your usual tomato base, with sparing ingredients the pizza was also a tasty dish. My overall opinion of this place is good food and great atmosphere although a little pricey for what you get.

Rosemary and potato pizza

Smoked chicken and candied walnut salad

Last destination was a bakery located in Maylands called Sherbert. I met up with another friend at this quaint little cafe with cakes leaning more towards your older traditional and simpler styled baked goods. I had the lemon and carrot cupcake and my friend had a nice cake with a passion fruit icing on top (I couldn’t remember exactly what cake she bought). The cupcake itself was quite nice although the icing on top was a bit too sweet and overpowering, when i bit the 2 together all I could really taste was the icing and not the cupcake base which was quite nice by itself. My friend’s cake was very good, even though the icing is spread thin it still has a definite kick to it. The ratio of cake to icing was just right making this a perfect cake for a cup of tea. Extra points for serving on cute little decorative plates and cudos to the excellent and fast customer service.

Lemon and carrot cupcake

Perth food, you did not disappoint and I look forward to returning to you to try more of your delicious delights, plus friends and family are a good thing too

Victoria’s Kingdom Fascinator shoot

reclog — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:00:16 +0000

Hi guys, so about 2 weeks back I did a photo shoot for Victoria’s Kingdom, a local Lolita brand in Melbourne specializing in Lolita accessories. We had already done product shots earlier on in the week so all that was left to do was the fascinators. For this we required models and a studio so here are some shots from the day. Shout outs go to the ever lovely Annie who also runs a blog called Archadian Skies, who was one of the models and also did the make up for the day, and Siera, epic cosplayer, model and always full of laughs. If you’d like to see more of Victoria’s Kingdom accessories you can check out their website here at http://www.etsy.com/shop/victoriaskingdom. In the meantime enjoy these shots of the lovely ladies .

Melbourne Tweed Ride

reclog — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:00:15 +0000

A few weeks back I attended the annual Melbourne Tweed Ride for 2011, clad in the closest thing I could find that resembled tweed I headed down to Melbourne Fed Square with 2 other friends/participants. The Melbourne Tweed Ride is an annual event in which participants clad themselves in tweed (as much as possible) and ride about town on some of the most snazziest bikes I had ever seen. This was my first tweed ride so I didn’t know what to expect and I tell you what I wasn’t disappointed. Lovely lads and ladies were clad head to toe in some very dapper outfits, some not necessarily tweed but very snazzy none the less. Here are some shots of the day of the outfits and bikes and you can see the rest of the photos here on my flickr site .

One Day in Paradise 3rd Birthday

reclog — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 10:18:19 +0000

This year One Day in Paradise turned 3 years old!! Congratulations to Marie the proud owner and local Lolita here in Melbourne. In traditional Lolita fashion there were lovely cakes, drinks, tea and sandwiches all laid out for the pickings. A DJ playing awesome music, great company and all the fabulous dresses!! The whole event can be seen here on my flickr account, but for now I shall leave you with shots of the day and outfit shots .

and before I forget, it’s not a party without…………….

MACARONNSSS!!!!

Lolita meet up: Cooking with Alice

reclog — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:24:22 +0000

About 2 weeks back I was invited to an afternoon of cooking with one of the local lolita’s, Alice, who was kind enough to host the get together at her house. We started off the day by visiting the Victoria Markets to buy ingredients. After we got what we needed we headed back to her house to begin the cooking/baking process. All the loli’s brought a variety of recipes including both sweet and savory dishes, a few examples were apple and goats cheese tarts, smoked salmon with dill and cream cheese and cucumber on crackers, apple crumble, an assortment of cakes, mini pizzas and more. Here are some outfit shouts of the day along with food shots and Alice’s adorable apartment.

Lack of inspiration for designs? Here are some tips to get you out of that rut

reclog — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:10:42 +0000

Hi guys, as some of you already know I’m a graphic artist who dabbles in photography, illustration and some film. I don’t know about you guys but now and then I tend to lose my inspiration when it comes to creating projects, and find myself frustrated and in a rut. This post will centre on some handy tips I have discovered to rid you of your designer’s block and get the creative juices flowing once more.

Tip 1. Collect your favorite designs. See something you like, an ad that was funny or cool? Take a pic, grab the ad, do what ever you can and store it in your good ‘ol inspiration book. (Extra tip: For those that did not see my last post about inspiration diaries you can check it out here)

Tip 2. Design Magazines. If you’re in Australia there is an assortment of magazines you can purchase that have handy tips on how to succeed and excel as a graphic designer. Some examples such as Computer Arts, Indesign mag, Desktop, Photoshop, and even monthly/tri monthly/bi monthly issues such as Curvy (more for illustration), semi permanent, and more.

Tip 3. Always practice. Try new things, learn aspects of your software you didn’t know existed. Indesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop are brimming with extra goodies so you might as well make the most of your software. To make it easier to learn so your not just aimlessly pushing buttons and functions check out tutorials on the web. They are helpful and handy and quite fun to master once you get into it.

Tip 4. Take a break. Often when staring at the design you’ve been slaving over for a few hours it’s best to step away from it for a while and either have a coffee and chill for about 15 minutes, or go for a walk. Occupy your mind with something else and you’ll soon find once you’ve distracted yourself a little you’ll begin to float back to your design with much more enthusiasm and new outlook.

There are plenty more tips however these 4 should be key to getting you out of your rut. I know this has helped me several times and I hope it does the same for you.

Macaron Review – Pierre Herme’

reclog — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 17:57:41 +0000

With a name known all around the globe how could I not try this famous french chef’s macarons. For those that are unaware of Pierre Herme’ he is known to be one of the best dessert/pastry chefs in Paris. Popular for his confectionaries I could not miss the chance of sampling some of these delights whilst I was in London. The initial plan was to try the macarons in Paris however due to the language barrier and time constraints I thought it best to try the branch in London located in the shopping mall “Selfridges”. I ordered several macarons, the Creme Brulee, Chocolate and Yuzu, Chocolate 40% cocoa, White Truffle & Hazelnut and a Hazelnut Praline & Crispy Praline. I can’t go into detail as it was quite rushed but I can say with confidence he’s known around the globe for a reason. These macarons where delicious! Wonderful crisp shells that cracked under the slightest pressure into a soft slightly spongy inside and an explosion of flavor from the macaron filling. Each macaron differed from the other, unlike alot of macarons where the sugar content tends to mask any flavor the chefs claim to have but in there. However these macarons were not overly sweet instead they were very pleasant and enjoyable to eat, especially and surprisingly the truffle and the 40% cocoa macaron. The strong pang of the white truffle left you a little confused to whether you like the interesting combination at first but once you get over the initial shock your palette adjusts leaving you with a satisfied blend of flavors. The 40% chocolate offered a refreshing bitterness to the whole sweet sensation (I must admit you can’t eat too many of these in one sitting), a good finish to the wonderful macaron tasting. All in all the macarons were great, wonderful flavors all different from the next, all evenly made (didn’t encounter any ‘one of these things is not like the other’) and the colours were not horridly artificial. A great experience and unfortunately I’ll have to wait to go to Europe once more in order to try these delicious macarons.