Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Mercedes - Benz Fashion Festival 2011

The end of August was an exciting month for all the Brisbane's fashionistas, as Mercedes- Benz Fashion Festival hosted by Southbank was showcasing the latest trends and 'must-have' pieces from 20th till 26th of August.



Now in its sixth year, the Festival makes fashion accessible to everyone, with nine group shows and an off-site swimwear/resort show. Guests could also enjoy a drink and a catch-up amid the buzz of pre- and post-show festivities in the Wintergarden Lounge at the Cascade Court, QPAC.
Thanks to Brisbane Marketing I got a chance to visit one of the fashion shows - the Emerging Designer Group show.

with Ming (Singapore) in the front row at the MBFF 2011 


with Danielle from Brisbane Marketing at the Wintergarden Pre-Show Lounge













my favourite!=))






It was a great show, the designers were so creative!! 

I am still hoping to find my perfect dress for the upcoming Butterfly Ball  in the end of September! :)




Wednesday, August 3, 2011

a vistit to Browns English Language School

Today my fellow ambassadors and I were invited to  the Browns English Language School, which is located in an AWESOME place, 102 Adelaide Street, right in the centre of the CBD facing the City Hall (this already sounds like a Unique Selling proposition!!;)

We were given a guided tour around the campus by Roy and Ricky - international relations managers, who are in charge of marketing the school overseas. They were very friendly and made us feel welcomed at  Browns.

They told us all about the facilities while showing around. 

The campus is really great and boasts impressive common room area, 53 computers with high-speed internet access, 


installed with the latest high-speed wireless internet access around the campus, 55 inch LCD cable connected big screen TV in each class room to show all the presentations, documents, videos on the big screen, comprehensive library, stunning large outdoor balcony  for students to eat lunch with their friends. 










Besides, there's a modern kitchen with 10 microwaves, 2 fridges, filtered water, ice maker and a hot water system for making tea and coffee.






Browns school positioning is about quality not quantity,  therefore there is huge emphasis on responding to students' individual needs and a lot of effort is put into tailoring the study program according to the each student's skills and knowledge level. The teaching team recognises that while a student may be great at speaking, writing may still be at elementary level and needs more work on. Therefore, every 
students receives a BROWNS Passport (pretty cool red document!;)




 which is a  personal learning record for BROWNS students. A living document that is updated weekly by the CORE teacher, it allows the students to see at a glance which areas for improvement they should focus on each week in order to accelerate their progress. 



There are a lot of learning resources available for students to improve their English, however Browns really encourages students to participate in the informal social activities and make friends and speak English not only when in class. There are heaps of different activities organised throughout the week, like soccer in Botanical Gardens, Ping Pong, Pizza and Movie nights.




The atmosphere at school is really friendly and the staff is happy to talk to students and 'hang out' with them during lunch. 


There is a strict ENGLISH only policy which means that you can't speak your native language while at school at all, if you get caught a few times you get penalised for that ; )) 

Monday, August 1, 2011

After eating all the chocolate....

So it's already Tuesday, 2 days after the chocolate festival and I have already started researching gyms and fitness clubs nearby my place;)

But let me tell you about the festival first !
The festival took place on sunday at the Portside Wharf at Hamilton, it was my first time there and I really liked the atmosphere, there are a lot of nice restaurants(Sono, that you can find in the city on Queen Street, Byblos,Manx, etc.)  there and my favourite Movenpick ice-cream ! (SO YUUMM!!)


So I am definitely planning to be back there some time soon!
The festival itself featured numerous stalls with branded hand-made chocolate,

cupcakes,


 brownies and of course best coffee! Coffee and chocolate brands presented their products, offered tasting,

 expert advice and just educated visitors about their brands and the art of making coffee.


All delicious coffees were sold for just 2 dollars, I was seriously worried about my heart ;)
The first thing I tried, was strawberry chocolate fondue, that was dipped in a chocolate fountain!

As if that wasn't enough, next came  hand made chocolate, which I think I can eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner ! They all had different flavours and were very very delicious!!

Throughout the day there were master classes run by industry professionals, so that visitors could learn more about chocolate and coffee, but I opted for tasting rather than listening ; )




After the Chocolate Affair festival we headed to the Regional flavours Festival at Southbank, which was really massive, and had really A LOT of wines, cheeses, and other very tasty things,

which I didn't really get a chance to try because I was feeling way too full from chocolate!



However, my fellow Ambassador Ming, went there as well, so assume we'll get a chance to read about the best things there from him some time very soon!


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