New media new ways to eat

The first time I’ve come across in-table screen menus – or perhaps you can call them e-menus – was at Barney’s, New York. Whilst having a break from being a tourist there we had a late lunch in their cafe.

And if we wanted more fashion then there there it was on the screens that we could scroll along. But Barney’s hasn’t lost the human touch with waiters/waitresses still asking you for orders and serving you after going through the on-screen menu.

This new technology is in the place you eat – there are lots more apps and websites that help you in other ways related to eating or even paying for a taxi which is what at least one taxi driver had in the US. The e-wallet approach is taking us to a cashless economy some would say. An article in Choice magazine clearly describes the basics of e-wallets and what is and isn’t currently possible on different phone systems.

Square.com is a cashless mobile app and there are other apps that help with pre-ordering food or drinks. I’m glad  though that Barney’s still has people and that the service even runs late sometimes.

A taste of Los Angeles style

You have to walk a long way between shops on Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, but it’s worth it – we found ‘Creatures of Comfort’. It’s is a must-go to clothes shop where there’s an eclectic mix of their own brand and Isabel Marant clothes amongst others. After and hour in there, we were dying for a coffee so we were directed across the road to the boutique Hotel Palihotel Melrose Avenue.

The cafe is fresh and fun. Its’ interior is an eclectic mix of old and new with odd juxtapositions of materials  that seem to refer to the building’s former use as a seniors’ centre. Who knows as it all somehow works and has a great warm and friendly feeling about it. I can only gather it was designed by the Paligroup’s own team of designers.

Down on La Cienega Boulevard,  West Hollywood, is Opening Ceremony, a cult fashion retail environment which blew us away. It’s worth having a look just for the experience.

Similarly the restaurant at The Huntley Hotel overlooking Santa Monica beach is eclectic as is the downstairs reception area and foyer. It was remodelled about five years ago with interiors done by by Thomas Schoos Design. It may be a bit Architectural Digest but for the weary traveller it is sheer luxury especially with the’ views across the beach towards home somewhere (Australia).

The hotel’s fact sheet describes the interior as:”Step into the lobby of The Huntley Hotel and be entranced by our chic beach hotel in Santa Monica, where eclectic furniture from post-modern to raw refined timbers and soft leathers mixed in with the pale tones of elegant wall coverings transfer the beaches of Santa Monica into the hotel lobby.” And it works. The restaurant is even better though, with its’ predominant white colour wrapping you in a lightness and airiness, chandeliers sparkling even at breakfast, really comfortable chairs to linger over your meal in and warm wood to walk on.

For someone who’s not from LA, LA is not a hustle bustle city. We drove through what may be hustle bustle but no, it’s all about traffic and roads and not walking. The beach is probably the most hustle bustle place that there we saw and we really enjoyed that.

How would you describe your home city or town?

Recently I was describing to a friend what Sydney is like. It was quite tricky I to pin down in a few sentences what captures my home town or city – it’s not just those idyllic places such as Bondi or the harbour. There’s an overall geography that makes the place what it is and also how you move around and relate to it.

What sprung to mind was how the harbour  divides the city in two and then there are  several  city centres such as the Central Business District on the harbour and near the Opera House;  Parramatta out west near where the Olympics were held (everybody’s heard of the 2000 Olympics);  how it  takes about an hour to get out of Sydney whether you go north, south or west if you’re coming from the east. That’s a long time to get out of a city so no wonder we hang around the beaches.

It made me think, well how do other people describe their home cities or towns? How would you describe your home town or city?

What is Anish Kapoor doing to our minds?

The  scale of the sculpture in the ground floor gallery is so large and visceral – it’s like I wanted to get on my knees and play with the coloured wax. You feel small like when you’re on a mining or logging site. The other sculptures by Anish Kapoor at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney are much smaller but no less absorbing.

The visual play of light-absorbing pigment is incredulous in other works. What you swear is a flat plain is actually a three-dimensional recess. There is no end of visitors looking at the side of several pieces to try and figure what is really going on in them. Other pieces play on optical allusions in different ways and on the play of spatial distortions that they generate. All the distortions that he creates are difficult to pick up in images but here are a few:

Backyard basics

What do you do with a backyard that has a cracked up concrete pad and not much else? You can’t spend money on it – the owners have invested in the house and not the yard.

There is a big crack though in the concrete which had potential, literally. Perhaps it them up with new soil and plant annuals? I just bought a couple of packets of mixed flower seeds and scattered them over the soil.

It seems to have worked – all we need are the flowers to bloom so I’ll keep you posted.

A communal garden with a twist

Walking the dogs in Waverley Park I came across the Waverley Communal Garden. These gardens often take quite a lot of space but this one is more like what you’d see in a street verge or like a pocket garden where there are no fences, typical plots nor storage areas.They have a roster for watering and get together once a month so it is still communal but with a twist.

And that’s exactly it – that’s their vision. The garden works on a lab principal where people take what they learn from here and put it into practice in their own gardens or as an educational resource for Waverley Council as part of their Sustainability Street program. Sustainability Street is a whole movement concerned with sustainable living so I’ve now found out from discovering this garden.

We made it to Crystal Falls not Mossman Gorge

On our ride at Blazing Saddles I was a talking with our guide about going to Mossman Gorge World Heritage site in Queensland, for a swim after our ride. Instead of going there, his suggestion was to go where the locals go – Crystal Falls.

It was a matter of which place was easier to get to rather than the actual place itself. Crystal Falls/Falls is closer to a half hour drive from Cairns rather than a 77km drive from there past Port Douglas to Mossman Gorge. The Falls aren’t serviced by public transport so it isn’t the easiest place to get to.

With our hand drawn map we found our way to the Falls going through Redlynch and up into the hills and rain forest. As the mountains loomed ever more closer, we were just suddenly there. There’s a wide concrete pathway running alongside the falls which takes you to a look out that’s currently being upgraded. You can duck down to the river off the pathway and go swimming in a water hole or go sliding down the cascades. For somewhere that’s not meant to be well known we found it quite hard to find a spot that wasn’t full of other swimmers it’s that popular.