There are so many good coffee specialty places these days we are getting way too spoilt for choice. Most of these coffee specialists boast swank interior design, top-of-the-range equipment and most certainly all sorts of single origin arabica royalty. But every once in a while, you stumble upon one which has all of the above…and more. Continue reading
A friend teased recently that he had been checking on my website and for months all he kept seeing was “the prawn“. Hello again everyone! It has been a while indeed. I was in Ubud with a buddy for a weekend trip and captured some wonderful memories on my iPhone. If you are swinging by Ubud, here are a few worthwhile stop-bys. Continue reading
If the kitchen is your favourite room in the house, then you will be right at home at Kappabashi Dori in Tokyo. Every time I visit, I spend hours eagerly trawling the entire stretch of the street, fascinated by the myriad of kitchenware displayed in the shops Kappabashi is so famous for. From the sharpest Japanese knives, to realistic plastic food-lookalikes, to exquisite ceramic ware; if you need it, I’m sure Kappabashi has it. But for a street that has everything to do with preparing food, there is nary a spot for weary shoppers to rest and grab a drink to recharge. I am in for a pleasant surprise this time. Continue reading
Happy 2012 everyone! I do realise that my previous post was on coffee, so I really shouldn’t be posting yet another so soon. But I am so excited about this one I couldn’t wait to share it with you. I am a lover of good coffee and a sucker for beautiful spaces and this one takes the cake on both counts. Have a look. Continue reading
This place is no longer a secret. In fact it is so well known and popular that I was contemplating for a long while if I should bother to write about it. But call it paying tribute. I love Papa Palheta. Continue reading
Flying red-eye into Tokyo is not much fun, especially when you arrive groggy, water-retained and not able to check into your hotel just yet. Such was my predicament last Sunday morning; I figured there was perhaps one thing that could solve all these problems for me.
Coffee.coffee.coffee
Apart from the St. Ali group, the cult coffee scene in Melbourne is heavily dominated by the Seven Seeds group and Market Lane Coffee, both of which were our next pit stops on our whirlwind coffee crawl during our short visit down under.
Seven Seeds was our first stop and not straightforward to find, which can be a good thing in our opinion. Located inconspicuously in a row of industrial warehouses with only “prison-like” iron bar windows to allow outsiders a peek into their secret world, Seven Seeds was certainly a hidden oasis that was enchanting and seductive. Entering through their large wooden doors, we immediately felt like part of an exclusive club – it was certainly a treat worth any trek down to! Continue reading
Our first port of call in Melbourne was St. Ali, a coffee mecca housed in a converted warehouse in South Melbourne. St. Ali’s reputation is founded on its incredible array of coffees. Paying homage to Ali ibn Umar al-Shadili, a 14th century mystic considered the patron saint of the coffee port of Mocha (in Yemen), the café boasts a mind-boggling range of beautiful beans sourced from all over the world. If you’ve always wanted to try Kenyan Tembo, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Tanzanian Kilimanjaro, Cachoeira Estate Yellow Bourbon or Guatemalan Finca El Bosque, St. Ali is the place to be. Continue reading
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