Sculptures By The Sea

During the month of March, Cottesloe Beach is playing host to over 60 sculptures from local and international artists. M and I went down there this weekend to check it out and it seemed like thousands of others had the same idea!

It was a beautiful day walking along the beach looking at all the different pieces of art.

It is on until the 22nd of March so if you get a chance check it out!

Hot Night In The City

Last Friday night M met me in the city after work so we could go check out the Twilight Hawker Markets in the Murray Street Mall.  What we didn't expect was that so many other people had the same idea as us! So we had a wonder around but decided to eat elsewhere as the lines were so long!

So because we were already in the city we decided to make a night of it and check out some of the bars that we had been talking about.

The first one was The Boheme on the corner of Murray and William Street. This used to be the old Bobby Dazzlers which was a bit of a run down old pub which smelt of beer and old bread. It was renovated into a bar and restaurant and I think it is quite nice! It is a bit dark on the inside but the restaurant looked like it would be the best place to be, Surprisingly the restaurant wasn't very busy but I think they have the layout right with it being separated from the drinking crowd.

As with most bars in the city on a Friday night, it was packed with people who had finished work and wanted to let their hair down. M and I had a drink but found it a bit too crowded for what we wanted to we decided to move on. 

Venn's gift shop next to the bar

Venn, a bar and art gallery in one, had only been open for a week but when we walked down Queen Street to find it, we discovered they were already at full capacity! We decided to wait for some people to leave so we could go in. The lady at the door was very friendly and we didn't have to wait long at all before we were let in. 

Venn has an art gallery upstairs and at the moment they have a exhibition from Matt Doust on. Unfortunately for us the gallery closes at 7pm so we missed out. 

The bar is located at the back, behind the gift shop, and it includes an outdoor area as well as an area inside with tables and chairs. If you go, take the second to look up and see the upside down pot plants hanging from the roof!

M decided on a beer and I ordered a cider with ice.

Even though it was packed we were lucky enough to grab a table and chair in the corner so we could relax with our drinks. It was a bit of a mixed crowd in there but it definitely had a friendly vibe!

Venn have the option of some bar snacks  and they also do breakfast during the week. I am going to have to get up early enough one day to try it!

After our drinks we decided to get some air and head off to Wolfe Lane, located in a lane way (funnily enough titled Wolfe Lane) just off Murray Street. 

We walked up to the wooden door which opened automatically and walked into the very busy room. 

I ordered a sparkling rose but the room was full of the scent of fresh fruit, obviously from their cocktails. We headed upstairs near where the DJ was and thought it was the perfect place to go after Venn as the music kicked it up a notch and got us into the grooving mood! 

So we continued our night there and ended up having an awesome time and the perfect start to the weekend!

The Partisan - East Perth

One very hot Saturday morning Miss Top Perth and I met for a big catch up and breakfast at The Partisan in East Perth. We had both never been there before so we were excited to try somewhere new and it was quite easy to find, right next to Toast in Claisebrook Cove.

Even though they have plenty of tables outside in the shade it was boiling hot so we went for the preferred option, inside with the air-conditioner. We had both never been there for breakfast before so we were excited to try somewhere new. Inside the Partisan there were quite a few things which were a bit odd. As my dear friend described, it is almost a mix of the Cabin, with the Greenhouse with too many weird things going on. It pushed it over into the trying too hard realm if you know what I mean?

We asked for a couple of glasses of water, which were served in two Little Creatures beer bottles, and some coffees. Trying to decide what we were going to order we were surprised to discover that we had two different menus. Not majorly different but enough for us to question that I had Fresh Fruit Salad in my menu and the other had Poached fruit. Not a major drama, just unusual.

We finally decided to order the Platter for two ($15) and Fruit Salad with mint and berry yoghurt($9). The platter for two included 2 pieces of fruit toast, two pieces of normal toast, conserves, croissant and a piece of carrot cake. 

The meals and coffees arrived not too long after and we started by cutting the pieces into halves. The fruit toast was beautiful but I didn't have any of the normal white bread. I nibbled on the croissant and the carrot cake but the real star of the breakfast was the fruit salad. The fruit was fresh and juicy. Full of flavour and nice and cold. The mint added an extra zing to the flavour and it was perfect for the hot morning we were enduring. 

About half an hour after our breakfast was served, we were approached by a waitress with a plate full of bacon and eggs which she tried to serve to us. This is a common mistake to make but it wasn't very busy. 

The price is nice for the Partisan but the service was a little lacklustre. I would go back there, if not for the service, but definitely for that fruit salad and the views of Claisebrook Cove. 

Michael Buble at Sandleford Winery

Excuse the crappy photo, It was from my iPhone

M was lovely enough to purchase us platinum tickets to Michael Buble last year and after months of waiting the day finally came last Friday night. Micheal Buble (or "Bubble" as M and I call him) has been a long time favourite of mine and when he came to Perth last time (2008) I saw him play at Challenge Stadium. Even though Challenge Stadium is pretty ho-hum as a venue, I was 5 five rows from the front and he was magnificent. So I had high hopes for last Friday's performance and in some ways it didn't match my expectations. 

M and I arrived at about 6:30pm and after buying a couple of drinks ($10 for a very bogan bourbon and coke!) we went down to our seats. As you can see from the picture above we were no where near as close to the front as I would have expected for our tickets! 

First up there was his support act Naturally 7. They were the support act last time and it is a group of 7 guys who sing and make music with their mouths, not using instruments. They are really good but they were on between 6:30 - 7:30 with Michael starting at 8. During the half hour break there was nothing going on so it didn't really warm up the crowd at all.

Michael started and he started off with "Cry Me a River". It was great to hear him with the big band behind his music. After that song finished there were fireworks going off behind him, it looked great!

He is always a fantastic performer. He is a bit of a comedian and does so much to interact with the crowd. He included one of my favourite songs "Mack The Knife" which was an awesome surprise. He spoke about how Michael Jackson was an influence on him growing up and he performed a piece of "Billy Jean". 

It was a beautiful night to be sitting outside but there were plenty of mosquitoes going around. I thought that because there were so many people to choose from that we wouldn't be bitten but I was wrong! 

Sandleford Winery as venue isn't too bad. They had a good layout once you were inside and the sound was perfect. The only thing is that I would have thought that Sandleford would have worked out how to get cars in and out of the venue. It took us nearly an hour to get back onto the main road after leaving the venue! It definitely put a bit of a dampener on an otherwise great night.

Overall he is an amazing performer and I can't wait until he comes back to Perth!