Travel & Lifestyle

Meet the Makers: Women in Beer, Wine & Spirits Festival is coming to Sydney to celebrate Australian and New Zealand’s female brewers, winemakers and distillers. CellarMasters has teamed up with BWS to launch Australia’s first ever drinks festival that has an exclusive all-female line-up. Taking place at Australian Technology Park in Sydney, the festival kicks off…

The Carriageworks Chef Series Masterclass returns again in 2019. The first person off of the rank is Duncan Welgemoed, the head chef and owner from the award-winning, Africola in Adelaide. Welgemoed’s techniques draw upon his rich cultural history including his chef dad, and Portuguese and Italian grandparents. We sat down with Duncan to learn more…

Dust off your favourite pineapple print button-up because café chain Jamaica Blue are slanging free drinks and meals to anyone who rocks up wearing their best pineapple patterned clothing or fashion accessory (pineapple tattoos count). It’s to celebrate their new “pineapple themed menu”, of course, with the freebie deal including jerk chicken tacos, breakfast bowls,…

There’s been a surprising amount happening at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast over the Summer; with the season set to come to an end with the launch of a brand new ride, Sky Voyager (which you can see being built to the left of the Dreamworld globe in the image above). Though the official opening…

You don’t have to look hard to find a picture-perfect villa in Bali. The shimmering private pool, the immaculate bathroom and the lofty bedroom – and we’re just talking about the small ones – is the now generic Villa recipe plastered all over social media (mostly Instagram) every single day by people living out their…

It’s no surprise when the nation raves about a restaurant in Tasmania, the island state best known for its impeccable produce and the quirky festivals like Dark Mofo and Mona Foma. Usually that hype is focused in on Hobart though, so it’s refreshing to hear that Australia’s official New Restaurant of the Year, as crowned…

Two of the World’s Best Bars are coming to Sydney for a “Singapore Social” party; Nespresso are wheeling people around in free rickshaws to show off their new sustainable boutique; and a bunch of the world’s hottest producers and contemporary hip hop artists are taking over Olympic Park. There is an incredible amount of reasons…

Recently opened luxury resort Riley has lifted the lid on Cairns’ first and only rooftop bar and restaurant, presenting locals and guests with Rocco which sits on the property’s 12th floor. Defined by its 270-degree views of the tropical city and the surrounding Coral Sea, Rocco is being pushed as a venue big on “atmosphere,…

Famed for their exclusive wagyu beef omakase menus, Tokyo’s Wagyumafia has officially begun expanding outside of Japan, with their first international location opening up in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. Fitting into a modest 18-seat space on Oi Kwan Road, the members-only restaurant (non-members can still go, but they’ll get a pared down menu) has unsurprisingly…

Back when I lived in Vancouver, the only real option of getting between downtown Vancouver and Vancouver Island – home to British Columbia’s capital Victoria – was by way of a large, run-of-the-mill ferry operated by BC Ferries. It’s relatively affordable – at under $20 each way – takes about 90 minutes and has food…

One would reasonably expect that Shangri-La Hotel, Vancouver is entirely worthy of the opulent luxury brand and its reliable reputation. It is, after all, Shangri-La’s North American flagship and – so far – only one of two on the continent, with the other being in Toronto. In 2008, it was the first to open; slightly…

Valentine’s Day is upon us, and as we rush towards the middle of February and into an overly commercialised bouquet of roses, chocolate and declarations of love (or, you know, single awareness), Sydney’s best are coming out to play. Let’s not get too cynical about it though, especially when venues across the city put their…

Bondi restaurant Rocker will host a 3-course offal showcase this February thanks to a transformation by The Kraken Black Spiced Rum. Titled ‘Eat Your Heart Out’, the menu has been developed by head chef Stuart Toon, as well as celebrity chef and restaurateur Darren Robertson who is co-owner of Three Blue Ducks, Rocker & Locura…

What is being described as an “exceptional and inimitable Japanese dining experience” is making its way to Sydney Harbour’s Campbell’s Stores, set to open later this year and set a new benchmark for the city. Titled Ura San, the ambitious restaurant is one of the first announced for The Rocks’ restored harbour-side precinct, an adaptive…

Way back in 2011, when I was flying home from my second SXSW, I jumped on a Southwest flight flying from Austin, Texas to Los Angeles. En route, I enjoyed a brief stop over in El Paso – a common stop with this airline (for whom El Paso is a hub) – an airport which…

Salt Meats Cheese has long been a stalwart of reliable Italian produce and dining in Australia. The group have been expanding rapidly over the past few years, so it was only a matter of time before Sydney’s Northern Beaches got their first taste of Edoardo Perlo and Stefano de Blasi’s lively concept. Following their most…

When I was a child learning to count and spell, I never thought I would visit Mississippi, the word used to measure time and to prove how good I was at spelling. But, I took a chance on Clarksdale. It’s a small town located in the north part of Mississippi, about an hour south of…

It was bound to happen some day, and there’s no surprise that Sydney’s Milky Lane, harbingers of ridiculously over-the-top and indulgent foods, were the ones to do it. The five-store chain (Parramatta, Cronulla, Gold Coast, Coogee and flagship Bondi) has decided to go full “broke millennial” and spray rounds of Mi-Goreng inspired goodness on top…

Today we’re jumping on board budget airline Jetstar’s regular service from Hong Kong to Osaka (KIX) in Japan. The journey starts in Terminal 2 of the busy Hong Kong International Airport and takes us to the Kansai International Airport in Osaka – with a landing time of about 2am. So how does the flight rate…

The minds behind cult favourite Mary’s Jake Smyth and Kenny Graham are opening a new live music venue as they take over and reimagine the former site of The Basement into Mary’s Underground. The venue, which has hosted everyone from Slum Village to Prince during its 45 year history, will very much continue as a…

Kyoto band Zahatorte are a genre-defying trio who blend old-world European cafe sounds with the undeniably Japanese penchant for perfectionism. They’ll be coming to Australia next month for the first time, and before we show them our own country, we asked them to share with us their nine favourite secret hangouts in their hometown. So…

Gamification in the tech industry is nothing new. Apps like Habitica have taken even the most mundane tasks like ticking items off a checklist and turned them into a role playing game in which you, personally, are the star. You might think that’s pretty full on, but hold on a sec because it gets way…

Sitting atop Farrer Park MRT station and on the edge of Singapore’s Little India is Park Hotel’s latest addition to their hotel family. Only a few train stops away from the Singapore’s MRT hub, Dhoby Ghaut, Park Hotel Farrer Park is a good choice if you want to have a little peace and quiet but…

Whether you like it or not, it doesn’t look like the NSW state government are removing the shackles they first placed on Sydney’s once vibrant hospitality (and hence, tourism) industry in 2014. And while people continue to campaign against the paralysing ‘lockout laws’, it’s looking like adaptation is the best way to go, at least…

A luxury resort in Bali offering the kind of lavish stay island fantasies are made of, built with all the ostentation and pampering you could possibly want, is nothing new nor surprising. In fact, it’s expected on the Indonesian island nowadays, where a consistent influx of tourists watch as hotel and resort brands, both internationally…

Gentrification hasn’t yet swept through Sham Shui Po, one of Hong Kong’s least affluent working class neighbourhoods in Kowloon. As one of the more underprivileged areas in the city, it’s certainly a few steps removed from the comparative polish of Central or Tsim Sha Tsui, but that doesn’t mean that tourists won’t find anything to…

Over the last few years, Melbournians have increasingly utilised the Lower Yarra River as a major social and gastronomic hub. And if the popularity of venues like the Arbory Afloat and Supafish are anything to go by, the idea of floating on the iconic river is forever appealing to the masses. If only you could…

Sydney’s ever-changing dining scene has welcomed some super strong entries over the past few months, and while there are almost too many to list in just one article, we’ve done our best to zone in on five we think deserve extra special attention. From a Waterloo restaurant bringing an interesting dimension to vegan dining, to…

Melbourne’s older trilogy (The Larwill Studio and The Chen are fairly young in comparison) of gallery-like properties from Art Series Hotels are located not too far from one another. You’ve got The Cullen, where it all started, directly opposite Prahran Market; The Olsen in close proximity at the top-end of Chapel Street; and finally The…

It is widely known that travelling across Europe by train is a quintessential experience for the nomadic Aussie. The trains, connected all over the continent, are a fast, convenient, accessible and, most importantly, flexible way to get hop from one city to another, with around 40,000 Australian travellers alone making use of Eurail’s rail pass…