Nestled by the banks of Lake Burley Griffin — the vast, artificial patch of water at the centre of Australia’s capital city — is Bowen Park, a small recreational area that’s home to a collection of quaint groves, open, grassy fields, hungry black swans and a certain bright red caravan…

It’s charming, cute, and could pass off as a feminine chemist’s laboratory.

A recovering coffee abuser’s worst nightmare.

Not a place you just stumble upon. Not a place you will forget.

The Valley has been saved.

Rarely is a restaurant so eager to promote its primary mode of dining that it forgoes putting its own name on the front of the store in order to do so. Such is the case, however, with Sushi Club (I had to ask the cashier), a popular restaurant in Ueno’s bustling Ameya-yokocho market area whose no less than four storefront signs proudly proclaim its core culinary M.O.:  ”すし食べ放題 (sushi tabehoudai)”; or, all-you-can-eat sushi.

Unforgettable gastronomy.

It was burning in Fitzroy. A classic Melbourne heat wave. Led by a good friend, we were on foot and desperate for relief …

This Shinjuku izakaya delivers an upscale dining experience with great food, plush interiors and views to die for… all without breaking the bank.

If you’re short on yen, big on pizza, and only mildly concerned about your future intestinal wellbeing, there’s just one name in town you need to know.

I’ve been missing out on this New Farm gem for years. Why had no one compelled me sooner?

Don’t tell your dentist.

It is possibly the greatest doughnut on Earth.

No your eyes do not deceive you. That is sugar-glazed cheese and white chocolate.

Meet the Bubur Ayam Goreng McD. What is this ludicrously named McDonald’s treat?

Dine like it’s 2002 … today!

A kind of peaceful and silent cupcake invasion…

It’s that time again. All you’re after is a café that you can trust, that you can always come back to. To serve great food and great coffee, served by friendly people. That cares about how it presents itself. A place you can introduce others to with confidence. Pearl Café is that place.

It seems everyone in Brisbane knows about this insanely popular Paddington breakfast-lunch destination. On the weekend it’s common to encounter a line 10-20 deep and thus it took several months of drive-by reconnaissance to finally decide to just line up like the rest. But was Anouk worth it?

Staying with relatives who have small children is fun. One of the unexpected perks I discovered whilst staying with such relatives in Malaysia was that when you’re living with small children, there’s a good chance there’ll also be small children’s cereal around too. You know, the stuff you really ought not to be feeding to small children. Imagine my delight when I discovered that one of my all-time favourite tooth-destroying cereals was readily on hand. Then, imagine my horror at the discovery of what lay (or, rather, did not lay) inside…

Before I left for my recent trip to Malaysia, Yang made me promise to do at least one post on the hawker food scene there. I think I agreed. In any case, here it is.

A friend (thank you) had recently brought back this bottle of pleasure from her trip to the Northern Territory. Unbeknownst to me, Darwin is apparently a treasure trove of Asian foods and delicacies. If this NT Hot Chilli Sauce (self named due to no name) is anything to go by, I believe it wholeheartedly.

It’s magic in a bottle. I’ll show you what I mean.