Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

I used to buy a lot of paper magazines when I was younger, but stopped a few years ago – the large volume of paper that ended up going into the recycling every month was a strong disincentive.  The same applies to newspapers – we don’t buy paper editions at all anymore, preferring to get our news online instead.

That doesn’t mean I don’t like browsing through magazines! So I was excited to discover the wide range of digital ones available on the iPad – quite a few of which are free. Here are some that I came across recently while trawling the iPad Newsstand…

Best find so far is an archive app of old Oprah magazines – you can download all the editions from Dec 2010 to Dec 2012 for free. The link is here – be warned that it’s quite data intensive and that each magazine will use up (I think) about 450MB of storage space. Having said that, you have the option to archive each edition when you’ve finished reading it.

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If you’re a fan of iPhone photography, it’s worth having a look at Hipstamatic’s free Snap Magazine. The software is a little clunky, but it’s amazing to see the stunning art that’s being produced through the teeny tiny lens on iPhone cameras!

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The Australian Gourmet Traveller magazine is brilliant in digital form – so good in fact that I’m thinking about subscribing. They provide two free issues as a sample – April 2012 (Italian) and July 2011 (French). The layout uses a very clever mix of horizontal and vertical scrolling, as well as interactive elements.

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Coles Supermarkets have their Curtis Stone hosted magazine available on iPad – and every edition is free!  I’m not sure if this (or the Gourmet Traveller above) will be available overseas, but it’s certainly accessible from Australian iTunes accounts. The link is here.

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As you saw from my last post, I’m a big fan of National Geographic photos (although less of the actual magazine). The main magazine doesn’t offer a sample, so it’s hard to see what it would look like in digital format, but NG Traveler does. I’ve downloaded it for a quiet read on the deck a bit later on this afternoon.

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Hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend! ♥

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It is one of the great banes of my mother’s existence that I’m not more “girly”.

I don’t wear makeup or perfume. I refuse to colour my very short and greying hair which I only get cut once every ten weeks. I’ve been known to wander around the neighbourhood in my pyjamas. And I would sooner eat my own spleen than go away on a “girl’s weekend”.

My mother’s dismay extends to my choice of handbags. She would love me to carry a nice leather designer bag (and bless her, is constantly offering to buy me one), but I’m addicted to Crumpler bags.

It’s possibly because there’s a Crumpler clearance store in nearby Newtown (edit: sadly, this has now closed), staffed by the nicest shop attendants you’re ever likely to meet. I spend hours in there, opening and trying on every single bag, and they’re always completely happy to let me do so.

Pete and I both have Crumpler messenger bags, and their appeal lies in both their durability and carrying capacity. We often wander to the shops and bring back groceries in our bags, slung easily over a shoulder on a long, wide strap. The Cordura outerwear fabric is water-resistant and as sturdy as old boots.

For the past year, this snazzy red number has been in daily use. It’s a discontinued style known as “Western Lawn” (Pete’s large laptop bag is called “The Dreadful Embarrassment”)…

Last week, I finally had to face the fact that it was incredibly dirty – the white trim had black smudges all over it, and the red was grotty and oil stained (from a recent laksa).

Crumpler don’t recommend that you do anything more to their bags than spot clean them (doing so voids the Lifetime Warranty – oh, did I mention that the bags are guaranteed to last forever?). However, spot cleaning only served to show up how filthy the bag really was.

So…I put it through a short cold cycle in my front loading washing machine (I personally wouldn’t try this with a toploader, as they’re not nearly as gentle). Then I hung it up to dry, finishing off the pockets with a hairdryer. Crumpler would be appalled, but my bag came out spanking clean…

I was so pleased that I went back to the clearance store in Newtown to look for a new bag. Red is lovely, but even I had begun to notice that it doesn’t match everything I own. I picked up two new bags, including a basic black version of the Western Lawn…

The colourful lining is also made from tough outerwear fabric, which means it will last as long as the rest of the bag does…

And I can’t seem to walk into the store without buying a red bag! This small  “Herbas” satchel will be perfect for times when I just want something light (she says, trying to justify the purchase)…

Crumpler started in a little shed in the Victorian city of Ballarat in 1992 and have since expanded worldwide (although I believe the European and Aus/US companies are now separate entities).

Here are a couple of the quirky freebies I’ve picked up over past visits – a little flip book and miniature matches…

The matches are so small that I’m not sure how to use them without setting fire to myself…

We have no affiliation with the company (clearly, or I wouldn’t be telling you that I’d put their bag in the washing machine), but we are huge fans of their excellent products!

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Crumpler (Australia) Website

(Sadly, the Newtown Crumper Clearance store has closed)

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Federation Square sits right in the middle of Melbourne.

It’s a glorious spot, filled with funky buildings, restaurants, an enormous screen for public viewing, and open performance spaces. And glass, oodles and oodles of glass, creating the most enchanting and captivating reflections…

We caught the train from Prahran into the city to visit ACMI, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, to see their Hollywood Costume exhibition…

It wasn’t until after we’d paid for the tickets that I was told photos weren’t allowed…

It was a great exhibition nonetheless, albeit an incredibly crowded one, and they did allow us to take photos of the Gatsby costumes at the entrance…

On our way there, we inadvertently alighted at Southern Cross station instead of Flinders Street. A happy mistake, as Southern Cross is, in Pete’s words, “architecturally notable” for its remarkable wavy roofline…

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After spending most of Sunday immersed in popular culture, we paid a short visit to the Melbourne Museum.

In the foyer was a blue whale skeleton – the largest animal to ever live – although after some discussion and pacing out the length, Big Boy and Small Man decided that this specimen was just a small one. They estimated it to be 18m in length (they were close, it’s actually 18.7m), only about half the size of the largest blue whale ever recorded (34m). How they know all this stuff off the top of their heads is beyond me…

There were the preserved remains of a giant squid, found in the stomach of a whale…

A room full of stuffed animals from all over the world…

Interestingly, Melbourne Museum offers a Forest Gallery, with over 8000 individual plants, including huge gum trees. The gallery is open air and includes a variety of live animals…

A giant slice of Kauri pine from Northern Queensland shows 600 years growth in its rings…

This art piece, titled Sky Raising Magpies, was created as part of the “Bute Ute” project for the 2002 Melbourne Festival. It tells the indigenous legend of how the magpies created the dawn…

Our primary reason for visiting was to see Phar Lap, one of Australia and New Zealand’s most famous racehorses. His mounted hide is displayed at the Melbourne Museum, his skeleton in the Museum of New Zealand, and his heart in the National Museum in Canberra.

One thing that struck me about Phar Lap was how thin he was. I wasn’t sure if that was how the horse actually was in real life, or simply a result of the taxidermy process…

The museum shop offers some seriously cool science toys, including this MOVA globe. Its movement is powered by the room lights via very specialised solar cells and maintained by the earth’s magnetic field..

Big Boy bought his girlfriend the ultimate geeky gift – a lab grown bismuth crystal. “It’s one of the rarest heavy elements produced in a star during a supernova”, he insisted…

A brief, but highly enjoyable visit. Small Man has already asked if we can go back the next time we’re in Melbourne!

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Well hello there, you gorgeous curvaceous thing…

On our recent visit to Melbourne, we stayed at The Cullen Hotel in Prahran.

We really like the Art Series hotels. We’d previously stayed at The Olsen, but were unable to secure a room there this time, so booked into The Cullen instead. It was a great move too – our big family room was spacious and comfortable, the staff were young and friendly, and the location couldn’t have been better. It was an easy 500m stroll to the railway station, and directly opposite the fabulous Prahran Market.

Like the other hotels in the chain, The Cullen is fully decorated with the artwork of Australian artist Adam Cullen. It wasn’t really to my taste, but I did find this gorgeous fibreglass cow very appealing…

Several of Adam Cullen’s artworks revolve around images of iconic Australian bushranger Ned Kelly…

The hotel offers Smart Cars, bicycles and Vespas for hire, all emblazoned with signature artwork…

One of the best features of the Cullen is the independently run Hu Tong Peking Duck and Dumpling Restaurant – their wontons in hot chilli sauce were sublime. We ordered two more takeaway serves on our final night there…

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The Prahran Market, Melbourne’s oldest fresh food market, is located directly opposite the hotel. Despite being under renovation, the produce on offer was mindboggling!

Our first stop was Damian Pike’s Mushroom stall…

I’ve never seen such a wide range of wild and cultivated mushrooms for sale before…

These baby snowball cauliflowers were the size of a softball. They didn’t have a price on them, but I hope they were expensive, because they’re a right bugger to grow…

Beautiful romanesco broccoli – did you know that it grows in a Fibonacci sequence? Not in our backyard though, we’ve never managed to get one to germinate…

A further stroll through the permanent stalls at the markets took us to the fabulous Naheda’s Choice…

And even though it was only 11am, we found ourselves tasting the wares of the incredibly generous Ghassan and Naheda…

“We’re only here for the day,” I explained, not wanting them to waste their samples on one-off customers. They just laughed at me and kept offering tasting bites of their incredibly delicious dips. There was so much to choose from that it was hard to decide, but we finally settled on their guacamole, garlic dip, tabbouleh and traditional tarama (they had three different varieties in the cabinet).

As we were paying, they insisted on giving us a small tub of their traditional garlic dip to try (an emulsification of pure oil and raw garlic), as well as a packet of rice crackers to go with our purchases.

I was intrigued by their Turkish Delights dipped in rose petals (but didn’t buy any)…

If you’re in Melbourne, please pop into the Prahran Market and buy something from Ghassan and Naheda. Folks who are so passionate about their product, and so eager and generous to share it with others, deserve our support!

Armed with our bag of dips and some fresh leg ham we’d picked up at the neighbouring deli, we went in search of bread to complete our lunch. The sourdough at Noisette looked very tempting, and they were kind enough to hand slice a loaf for us…

The fresh produce section offered a wide range of specialty organic meat, free range poultry and seafood providores…

It was great to see free range chicken stock at D & J Poultry…

A tower of anchovies, carefully constructed that  morning…

A large Essential Ingredient store occupies a corner of the market…

In the open air section of the market, we came across a stall selling freshly cooked mussels…

…and this delightful jazz trio, who were more than happy to ham it up for passersby…

Prahran, I think I love you. We’ve definitely found our favourite place to stay in Melbourne!

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