Shop H16, Hay St Level
Carillon City Arcade
Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 9321 5853
http://www.citygems.com.au/
Opening hours
Monday-Thursday: 9:30am - 5:30pm
Friday: 9:30am - 7:30pm
Saturday: 10:00am - 5:00pm
Sunday: 12:00pm - 5:00pm
City Gems is a gem on its own - a humble but noticeable mini-shop in the Carillon Arcade that has been catering for unique Venetian glass (now rarely seen), nice pieces of silver, resin, and local designers jewellery for quite a few years. They were the first to cater for Venetian glass pieces in Perth, but in the last two years or so they have decided to cater the ubiquitous fashion for the masses Pandora, which is surely more profitable than the local designers' pieces. Still, City Gems has a good eye to bring to their window unique colourful pieces in different materials, colours and styles. They will will satisfy the Indie in you if you also have a colourful creative personality infused in a bit of "poshness". Have a look at their website to get an idea. If you like what you see, run to the real shop and try their "thingies:: http://www.cityge...
The staff are very friendly, and they don't get crossed if you try gazillion things and don't buy anything, I know because I do so sometimes. However, most of the time, it is love at first sight for me as it takes me a second to buy one of their pieces.
The prices are moderate, and the compliments you get are guaranteed. I have been getting compliments on my pieces for years.
The shop has a loyalty/reward points system that gives you discounts if you are a regular, which is very nice. We love discounts, don't we?
UPDATE
They don't cater from Pandora any longer, and have replaced it with Chamellia, which has very similar silver beds and charms.
They've also added some fun watches by Morellato to their collection, some authentic Venetian glass items, and Mexican dry flowers pendants.
Brands Polli and Parfait mien are the only Australian-made around, together with some isolated silver earrings, and some of the old art-glass pendants and earrings.
The price of a real good quality pair of earrings can go from 20 something dollars to 100, but can buy something beautiful for 40-70 dollars, and it is classy and will withstand the pass of time and go with everything you wear. Their silver is good quality and much cheaper than in other shops around, where prices are impossible.
Some of the fancier staff can be pricey, and not that classy, still so very artsy, and will get you lot of compliments and looks.
Their point reward system really saves you lots of money, if you like their stuff, as they do, and go there often. They also have private offers for their registered customers, and will email you with special events just for you.
To be honest, I cannot pass by the shop without buying something, so I try to avoid it as much as a I can.
429 Fitzgerald St
North Perth Western Australia 6006
(08) 9328 4839
http://auspost.com.au/index.html
Hours:
Mon-Fri 9:00 - 17:00
Sat 9:00 - 12:30
This tiny branch of Australia Post offers the usual services you find at any branch, plus a basic selection of office and fancy supplies. Two things stand out for me in the Post Office branch in Fitzgerald St in North Perth. The first is that they are open on Saturdays, which is always great for any person with a tight work schedule during week days. The second one, is that the office is family operated, and they are a bunch of very kind, friendly and welcoming people, fast at attending long cues.
Cnr Vincent And William St
Mt Lawley Western Australia 6050
http://www.vincent.wa.gov.au/Home
Hyde Park is one of my secret public spaces in Perth. I have a deep personal energetic connection with the place and I have always believed that this place has some real magic going on there, and that my stay in this city is interconnected with the life of the park.
The park is almost in the heart of the city, so there is no excuse not to take a stroll and have a look, especially on weekdays when the crowds are elsewhere, and its magic is, well, more magical.
Why I do love Hyde Park? It must be the magnificence of the trees, the symmetry of the ponds, the orientation of the park and the way the light walks through the leaves at certain times of the day, the ever-changing colours of the place, the circular walking/jogging track, the beauty of it, the size of it, the black swans, the ibises, the ducks and ducklings, and other funny birds that call HP home. One of the things I love the most it is that it is both a private place and a community area that holds private weddings, concerts and community events.
Who goes there? The regular daily walkers and joggers are joined by couples, specially those in their first relaxing dates (take me there on a date!), or looking for a quiet place to hug and kiss, couples on picnic dates, heavy drinkers, the mentally anxious type, kids learning to ride their bikes, dog walkers, kids playing in the playground areas, bird watchers, photography lovers, passers-by, I-want-to-take-a-beer-on-my own sort of people, book-readers, thoughts-munchers, Ta-chi devotes, dancers practising their routines, jugglers, Gothic tribes, wedding-goers, parents of the world, and so on. A colourful tapestry of specimens of the human species.
The only thing I don't really like is the fact that you can be in your own mystic or lay personal trance, in one of those moments of inner bliss and ethereal mood I am sometimes while at HP, and the smell of sausage barbecuing hits my nostrils from the public BB areas. I love free BBs and I do eat sausages but, dear sausageers of the world, there is something anti-trance, anti-relaxing, anti-sexy, anti-sensual, anti-spiritual, anti-natural about the smell of a fatty sausage in the middle of a natural setting, especially in a small park as this one.
Cyclists, please, notice that there are signs asking you to dismount when entering the Park all around the Park. I have no problem with bikers riding at all, but I do have a problem when they are in a hurry and ring to you so you move out of your way, or ride dangerously. Sweetie, I am walking, so it is you who is out out the way and should move your muscley bottom out of my sight. Understood?
Hotel Sentral
30 Jalan Thambypillai
Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur 50470,
Malaysia
http://www.hotelsentral.com.my/
Tel No: 603-2272-6000
Fax No: 603-2272-6099
Email: hskl@hotelsentral.com.my
The hotel is centrally located, at 2 minutes from the monorail, 7 minutes walking distance from KL Sentral Station and the Skybus/Airbus buses to the LCCT Airport, with plenty of local cheap eateries in the same street.
This is not a fancy
hotel, still a good and comfortable one. The room is basic,
still clean, with a decent set of amenities in the bathroom, coffee
facilities, and anything that you can need for a short stay or
overnight. Free wi-fi and free buffet breakfast included! The staff were lovely, very helpful and friendly.
My room was a bit small, but this is not a problem for me, me being small. However, it could be a problem if you are travelling with your partner or you are big.
On the down side, the safety box and the fridge were not working. However, the staff offered me to take my valuables downstairs and to put it in the hotel's safe, which was great, while I was away wandering around the city.
There were a few local eateries in the same street, those not frequented by Westerners, which are always a hit with me.
Stayed December 2011
Renaissance is a French-UK-Luxembourg motion-capture animation movie whose story revolves about Detective Karas' investigation to find a kidnapped young scientist working for the Avalon Corporation. It is Paris, year 2054.
Renaissance is a detective sci-fi thriller, with a visual style strongly based on classic detective comics, film-noir and German expressionist movies. The film is very artistic, with great dynamic action scenes, and superb lighting, shadowing and texturing. The atmosphere is great, as well as the music. The recreation of Paris in the future is completely believable, as the city still looks like modern Paris, but projected and transformed according to urban development and organization of the space that have futuristic verisimilitude. The emotional drawing of the characters is good, and it has depth, and the story is intriguing enough. What is more, it poses some interesting questions to the viewer: Is life meaningless without death? Is murder excusable if, by murdering someone, you save humanity from an uncertain future? If the answer is yes, who decides that the future is already written and a person is responsible for it?
Despite everything, the movie never lifts up and, despite being a thriller, it is never thrilling enough. All the characters seem lot lack human warmth, despite the story having warmth in it, and that's the result of the poor performances of the actors lending their voices to the characters, especially Daniel Craig, who destroys Karas's character with his dull lazy dubbing. On the other hand, there are too many clichés in the story, from the cigarettes to the femme-fatale/cop affair, to the evil-good approach, while the interesting philosophical questions are never truly explored with seriousness or the challenges of the near future either. Being so, the viewer finds difficult connecting with the characters, despite enjoying the animation or being intrigued about the fate of the kidnapped girl.
Renaissance is marvellous from the animation point of view, but the story struggles to grab the viewer's attention. Still has wonderful elements, and is worth watching, even if it is only for its visuals.
Perth Cultural Centre James Street
Western Australia Western Australia 6000
(08) 9228 6300
http://www.pica.org.au/
Hours:
Tuesday - Sunday 11am - 6pm
THREE MATTER-OF-FACT FACTS ABOUT PICA
1/ It is in the heart of the city - Open your heart!
2/ It is free - Free your spirit!
3/ It is good - My Goodness!
THREE SUPER-DUPER FACTS ABOUT PICA
1/ It is full of "exhibitionists". You know, people who stripe their souls and brains bare and display them on the wall, on the floor, from the ceiling, and so on.
2/ It is full of unusual pieces of art, on any sort of media you can imagine of.
3/ They also have art "talkalists". Those are a rare species of artsy people you rarely find elsewhere.
TEN REASONS TO VISIT the PICA
1/ You like Contemporary Art/s.
2/ You don't know what Contemporary Art is all about, but don't want to confess this to anybody, so better go and check something out: an exhibition, a show, a talk, whatever.
3/ You want to feel the magic of expanding your artistic horizons in a confined environment.
4/ You have a new somebody in your life who is artsy, and want a place to take and impress him/her without going bankrupt.
5/ You want to show the world that you are brave enough to visit a place that doesn't serve alcohol at midday and requires of your full senses to move around.That makes you officially hot! Can you handle your hotness?
6/ Did I mention the Art/s?
7/ You are leaving the country and have spare change for their gold-coin donation box. No gold? Dontawori, ozi coins are cool, too.
8/ Nobody will display a nosey attitude because you are wearing your flip-flops, micro-shorts, a stinky "unwashed" T-shirt at the gallery. They welcome the artsy-fartsy in you.
9/ You want to say hello to the lovely guys that work there.
10/ You want to get your official stamp, all over your face, as PICAchu, PICAdian or PICAmisù. Choose your adjective at pleasure, dude.
MANIFESTO
I swear I was not paid by PICA to write this oh-so-fabulous review. I do so out of pure l-o-v-e. However, one of those wonderful prints by Louisa Hansal, would be an invaluable addition to the bareness of my apartment's walls. Ahhh, day-dreaming is free, as everything at the PICA.
CURSE
If you reproduce this review without my permission, or mutate it to suit your needs without my permission, I swear to the Three Muses of the Arts that I will curse you so hard that you'll be frigid all over. You've been warned!
7/623 Beaufort St
Mt Lawley Western Australia 6050
(08) 9227 5551
http://www.antoniosfresh.com.au/
Hours:
Mon-Fri 8:00 - 19:00
Sat-Sun 8:00 - 18:00
Antonio fresh continental store encapsulates the spirit and style of those old Southern-European traditional shops that were in vogue some decades ago. Those shops, like Antonio's, had a bit of everything in them (fresh, cooked and tinned food, a few staples, and some fancy sundry goods). Most importantly, they had something that made them part of your life: the owners and people behind the counter treated you with respect, courtesy, efficiency and, as part of the family if you were a regular. Antonio's continental store has had that since ever, despite the pass of time, and the new ways of selling food sprouting in the city in the last years.
Antonio's offers a great selection of cold meats, cheeses, preserved foods, gourmet and traditional pasta brands and pasta-related products, Italian and Spanish olive oils, wonderful oil-based antipasti, classic Italian dishes to take away, fresh rolls, precooked vegan pizzas, a great selection of packed dry fruits, chocolates, Mediterranean traditional sweets, and a few other things that are Australian-made but still very Mediterranean. They also have some Italian stuff and brands that are very sentimental for an Italian, like Felce Azzurra, Baci, Carmelina, Tilly, or the oh-so-lovable traditional coffee makers.
The prices are similar to those you find at other continental shops, therefore, a bit pricey. However, there a things that are also good-priced, like the dry fruit, or the grated Grana Padano (real Italian), to put just two examples. Nonetheless, they sell fresh good-quality products, and have prices properly displayed, so you don't get any surprise.
Although the old lady owner only goes there a few hours a week nowadays, and some of the youngsters have been leaving the place, the staff are as friendly and familiar as ever.
This shop is part of my sentimental Perth, those businesses that make of Perth home to me. And that is a lot to say.
UPDATE 28/2/2013
Antonio's will be closing down by May 2013, about two weeks after Easter.
Antonio's has been open for about 15 years, and is a favourite among the Lawleyians. Unfortunately, the planned refurbishment of the building, the no-renewal of the leases, and Antonio's family personal illness will be the end of this lovely place, which does not intend relocating or opening elsewhere.
They have such a high standards of service, that it is difficult not to feel sad at the news.
I wish this hard-working family the best. They will be certainly missed.
