Yellow Bike

More Surry Hills goodness.

Surry Hills Cafe

Cafes in Surry Hills advertise interesting twists on the traditional sandwich and coffee, usually with words like "all natural" and "fresh organic", making it the ultimate hipster hangout. 

Cafes receive bonus points for the level of difficulty in finding their ingredients: "Coffee made with all natural Ma'alikh baya'ut-Peruvian nutmeg from the only remaining tree of the imposibles tufindit genus found in the tribal rainforest Valley of El Desierto (harvested using tweezers while standing on a traditional organic llama)." 

At lunch time, queues go out the doors and down Crown Street.  And this makes sense to me because you won't find such food anywhere else.

Finders Keepers

OMG, Finders Keepers is coming up next week!  It's the gathering of Australia's best crafters, artists, and designers in one fantastic Carriageworks space.  Can't wait!

(You can check out some of their previous markets here.)

Sydney Beaches Aerial Photos

You may remember this post of Coogee Beach awhile ago:

I recently found photographer Maison Gray who shoots aerial scenes around the world.  He did a fantastic flyover of Sydney beaches in February.  The colours are so gorgeous!  Makes me want to get out my cozzie and ditch work.

Pop-Up Cafe

It seems pop-up shops are everywhere in Sydney!  Park Bench is an open-air pop-up eatery with a garden twist.  Using recycled materials, the decor includes a wall of plants, as well as an AstroTurf ceiling with upside-down park benches.  A friend pointed out that the founders are from New Zealand, and that Kiwis are good at thinking outside the box.  With amazing gelato ingredients like Tim Tams and chilli peppers, I couldn't argue.

(check out this foodie blogger's post for their menu)

Havaianas Machine

Hehe, what a cool way to buy thongs. 



(P.S. Aussie thongs = American flip flops. Thought it might be important to point that out...)

Walking Sketches

Super-simple sketches observing people in the street.  On Friday evenings around 5-6 pm, foot traffic in the CBD is crazy!  That's another thing I love about Sydney-- it's such a walkable city.

Capitol Square Arcade Games

I followed pachinko-sounding arcade music up the escalator of the Capitol Square Shopping Centre to discover a whole level containing a mini-village of photo booths in Chinese mandarin, claw machines stuffed with Kawaii creatures, and a karaoke lounge.  One of the booths automatically makes your eyes big and googly like an anime character.  I though this would be funny to do with my husband, but one look at the frilly pink, disgustingly-cute polka dot sample photos and squealing teenage girls sent him in the other direction.  After staring longingly at a stuffed Totoro, I remembered my luck with claw machines isn't so good, and instead saved my money for some emperor's puffs in nearby Chinatown (Sydneysiders, you know what I'm talking about...)

Bondi Textures

Going through my Bondi Beach photos, I found an array of inspiration-worthy textures in mosaics, murals, rocks, painted tiles and sea-weathered walls.  I hope you like them too!

Blackwattle Cafe

Hi all!

I joined up with some uni students recently to teach a watercolor en plein air workshop.  The weather turned out to be warm and sunny, perfect for sketching!  We met up at Blackwattle Cafe which occupies a historical little cottage in Glebe.  When painting outside, the shadows always seem to move quickly.  I was afraid of putting on that last dark shadow of trees over the lawn, but I like the way it turned out!