Author: Chris Singh

Novocastrians are about to receive greater access to the vast beauty of New Zealand as Virgin Australia plan to be the first airline in 16 years to introduce direct services between Newcastle Airport and Auckland. Newcastle Airport will welcome the new routes during the peak holiday period from 22nd November 2018 to 17th February 2019,…

Arnott’s have been doing a lot of crazy things lately. Last July they translated four of their most iconic biscuits [that aren’t Shapes] into ice creams, they recently opened a giant Shapes box, and now they’ve fattened some of their biscuits into indulgent mini cakes. And it’s the ones you would have asked for anyway:…

A new digital service which allows passengers to communicate with Etihad Airways via WhatsApp has been launched by the airline as part of an ongoing strategy designed to provide an enhanced offering to their premium guests. For now, the service is only open to guests at Abu Dhabi International Airport and allows them to chat…

Dubai’s famous Atlantis, The Palm isn’t about resting on laurels when it comes to the destination resort’s highly regarded culinary scene. The luxury property, which is already home to Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen & Bar and Chef Noby Matsuhisa’s NOBU amongst others, will welcome the renowned Hakkasan Group later this year as they open…

Adding substantial new character to Hong Kong’s picturesque North Point waterfront is a new twin-tower hotel – Hotel VIC on the Harbour – bringing the bustling precinct 671 guestrooms and suites, with every room boasting panoramic views of both the harbour and the city. With designs on catering to all types of travellers, the property…

Up from the 36 chambers the legendary Wu-Tang Clan have announced a triumphant return to Australia with two exclusive, very special shows celebrating the 25th anniversary of their iconic debut Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). The 1993 classic will be performed in full by all nine surviving core members at none other than the Concert…

Based on the success of Merivale’s Enmore debut, the hospitality group have now opened a second location for their Cantonese kitchen Queen Chow, which moves into the former digs of waterfront meat-sweat haven Papi Chulo. Patrick Friesen and Eric Koh are aiming for “classic neighbourhood Cantonese” inspired by the way the diverse cuisine is recreated…

Ultimate troll Sacha Baron Cohen is back in form for his new show Who Is America?, screening for Australians exclusively from today on Stan, and this time he’s splitting his time between four characters. You’ve got the right-wing blogger for a fictitious website dubbed “truthbay.org”; a cis-gendered liberal who is so open-minded he watches his…

With Bastille Day rolling through Sydney (and the world) this weekend there’s going to be plenty of celebrations throughout the city geared towards all things French dining. And seeing as French cuisine is one of the most diverse and technique-heavy in the world, that’s not a bad reason to get out and eat your way…

Anyone heading over to Hawaii this summer and desperately looking for ways to treat oneself while also saving some money will be happy to know that Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki are having a rare suite sale, with room rates falling to half the usual price. That’s a pretty sizable chunk of savings right there,…

The most exciting time for foodies to visit New York City is once again upon us; the 26th annual NYC Restaurant Week is set to make a huge return, stretching from 23rd July to 17th August with the admirable aim of making 380 of the city’s greatest restaurants, of all ranges, a platform for culinary…

As forward-thinking Tokyo is, the idea of classicism still very much permeates many of the city’s institutions. Elegance and efficiency is a pathological expectation, and more often than not, those expectations are met tenfold. This is a large reason why, despite an overwhelming language barrier and high degree of cultural shock (for first-timers anyway), Tokyo…

Furthering their presence in regional areas around Australia, Mantra – whose Mantra Group was recently acquired by AccorHotels for $1.2 billion – has opened a shiny new property in the border city of Albury, overlooking its section of the vast Murray River in the heart of the Riverina town. This is the first hotel to…

Introducing fighting elements to a tennis game was a clever move from Camelot, and its one which carries much of Mario Tennis Aces into uncharted territory, giving the gameplay just enough depth to justify stamping this as the finest Mario Tennis title to date. While there is most certainly a feeling of missed opportunities peppered…

Now that all three of their venues across Sydney (the original Surry Hills location, North Sydney and Barangaroo) are well-established, Devon Café has never been in a stronger position. The highly influential and pioneering café, which arguably bolstered the cities offensive in its ongoing dining rivalry with Melbourne, remains one of the best and most…

Walking away with the title of best pizza in Australia is nothing to be taken lightly. That’s exactly what Lucio De Falco did at this year’s authoritative World Pizza Championships, snatching the title from the usual suspects and bringing it home to his two Sydney restaurants, Darlinghurst’s acclaimed Lucio and its more recently opened Zetland…

Emirates has become the world’s first airline to introduce virtual reality on its digital platform, allowing would-be flyers access to 3D seat models as part of a visualisation engine displaying a 360-degree view of the interior of both the Emirates A380 and the Emirates Boeing 777. This has been designed especially to give customers a…

Travelers heading over to Finland’s famous three-day Rusirock Festival to see the likes of N.E.R.D and The Chainsmokers will be the first to test out a new electric Taxi service that has found a different way of charging customers for rides, one that doesn’t involve cash, credit or any cryptocurrency. Those taking advantage of the…

Australia’s most divisive spread is taking over! Last month Boost Juice threw a Vegemite smoothie on their new ‘Aussie-themed’ menu) and now Village Entertainment (Village Cinemas and Event Cinemas) have announced a limited edition Vegemite Popcorn. Part of their Chef’s Gourmet Premium Popcorn series, the ubiquitous cinema brand will be offering movie-goers the classic snack,…

Music lovers in and around Brisbane are about to be spoiled for choice with this year’s Brisbane Festival, which stretches from 8th to 29th September, book-ended by an opening night and closing night that both feature massive line-ups taking to the Riverstage. The former will be headlined by Ball Park Music and San Cisco in addition…

We don’t all have the funds to be regulars over at storied Rose Bay restaurant Catalina, but while many may keep this as an occasional indulgence, it’s always well worth seeing how this dining institution is constantly evolving thanks to their unwavering commitment to change. Like most seasonally-focused restaurants, Catalina switches up their signatures with…

Southern Cross Station’s collection of casual eats just took a big step up with the opening of acclaimed Malaysian-born restaurant chain PappaRich. A 40-seater venue was unveiled earlier this week, bringing the authentic flavours of South-East Asia to Melbourne’s CBD with a new-concept lean towards fast service, best represented by self-serve kiosks, a first for…

After a month-long competition resulting in fierce competition between the many different metal scenes of Finland, the official “Capital of Metal” has been named. Lemi, a small municipality with a population of just over 3000 in rural Southeast Finland, has walked away with the honour based upon them having the most dense metal scene in…

Tokyo’s iteration of Marriott International’s energetic and youthful Moxy brand has done well to distinguish itself among the many traditional hotels that lie across the sprawling city. Located in the Sumida Ward, just five minutes on foot from JR Kinshicho Station, the property is a creative and playful entry to a neighbourhood most tourists wouldn’t…

For the first time ever Matt Moran will be taking his iconic Sydney restaurant Chiswick and hosting a 80-seat pop-up iteration at this year’s Splendour in the Grass. The iconic three-day festival will no doubt benefit from Moran’s planted-to-plated approach which has seen Chiswick, both the original in Woollahra and the extension at the Art…

Over the next three days, Melbourne locals will be able to get their hands on a free pair of prescription glasses as popular online retailer VisionDirect.com.au opens its very first Vision Direct Optical Centre in the heart of the CBD. They’ll be going large for their opening week, committing 100 free premium acetate frames and…

Spike Lee is quite clearly fired up as he scatters sharp, defiant dialogue all through BlacKKKlansman, his first feature film since 2015’s good-but-uneven Chi-Raq and without a doubt one of his best works to date. That is no overstatement either, with Lee directing a big middle finger to the racism both explicit and implicit, by…

There are millions of interesting little details threaded through the rich, and often controversial, history of Los Angeles, one of the most storied cities in the world thanks to its confluence of just about everything you can think of. It’s one of North America’s most multi-cultural, famed for it’s (mostly) sunny weather and largely distinct…

Arnott’s Shapes are still very much top of the line as far as Aussie snacks go, which should come to no surprise seeing as 230,000 packs of the things are consumed every day across the country (compare that with 100,000 packs of Jatz, and 43,000 packs of Vita-Weat). In a response to the strong-as-ever popularity…

Australians will have greater access to Hawaii over the Christmas holidays as Hawaiian Airlines increase their non-stop service between Brisbane and Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport to up to four weekly flights from 10th December 2018 to 8th January 2019. The expanded summer schedule will see additional flights departing Brisbane at 10:30pm on Mondays,…