Alice in Wonderland , Enrich Brisbane and South Bank

And another exciting performing arts event is on the horizon of the Brisbane's cultural scene - Alice in Wonderland is at QPAC!

Basing his ballet on Lewis Carroll's much-loved children's books, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, François Klaus has created a captivating piece, brimful of wit, humour and charm. With its whimsical flights of the imagination, eclectic music and joyful dance, Alice in Wonderland is delightful entertainment for all ages.  The show is on from the 31 Mar 2012 - 14 Apr 2012 . 
You need to hurry up though as there are hardly any tickets left - I tried to book tickets for the last week the show is on - and there were NO TICKETS LEFT! Very disappointed!!!
Alice in Wonderland - Playhouse, QPAC, South Bank, Brisbane - Tickets & Packages

Now, being devastated from inability to see Alice in Wonderland, I might go and indulge in eating and wine tasting at the Enrich Brisbane, that is on next weekend (30th of March - 1st of April) .

Enrich is a 3 day event that showcases  delicious food matched with premium quality wine.



A lovely video about one of the favourite places in Brisbane - South Bank! Particularly liked the music! 

My Winning and Dining Favourites in Brisbane

Sometimes I think how primitive I am, but a nice meal in an unusual  setting  makes me happy! I tend to get all excited about the way  a menu looks , the interior design, how food is presented on my plate.
Being in Brisbane  for only 2 years I have yet to visit many good places, and I  am really enjoying discovering the new favourites.
Luckily, this is a never ending process as Brisbane seems to keep surprising us with new unusual winning and dining places on a regular basis.
Still not being  successful at creating gourmet masterpieces at home (even though I did attend a cooking class, which I will write about in another post) , I had a chance to visit a few new places.
Some were great, some not so good and some were just average.

 My current  Favourites (this will change  soon, as we girls are so fickle!):

• Wagaya - Can't get enough of ordering my sushi and sashimi from a touch screen! And of course the design and atmosphere are very soothing, excellent for a date and friends' get together as you  get that privacy.  MUST make a reservation - gets totally booked out!

• Stokehouse - a fairly new dining precinct is a great new edition to South Bank dining, with Stokehouse definitely being worth a visit. Oysters are amazing! Besides, high attention to detail is felt in avery aspect of the restaurant - starting from attentive and knowledgeable staff and ending with unusual design of the menus and plates.

• Super What Not - little hidden gem in the city is great for afterwork drink in a  bar with a character. My only BUT - gets too busy on Friday nights, which demonstrates desperation of Brisbane people for new places!

• Canvas Wine and Cocktail Bar - Who would have thought that just 2 minutes from my house  there is such a stylish bar, that offers  a wide variety of  creative cocktails, wines, light meals and even live music! The design deserves attention too - posh leather couches, wooden tables, and eclectic paintings.

• French Martini - and again back to my favourite Soutth Bank and its new addition to the Little Stanley dining options. 
• Spring - new edition to the city 'all-in'one' spots: coffee, lunch, bistro, wine, gourmet food retail and even a cooking school! Moreover, Spring features a very unique design, with the abundance of whites, light wood and exquisite decorations - something truly uncommon for the CBD dinning! 

Back to life - What's Happening

I have been really slack recently and haven't  written any posts! To my defence though, I was busy with:

• enjoying life with no assignments, exams and night lectures (go me!)
• settling in the full-time working routine 
• going through the visa application process (don't even get me started on this!)

However, there is no real excuse.  I have read recently in a book: There is no such excuse as  "I don't have time for this." We always find time for things we MUST do or really want to, so next time you think of saying "I don't have time" and start the never-ending procrastination process, try to say: "This is not a priority for me". Once you say it out loud you will either realise that this is really something that you can't see any benefit in doing or you will stop putting it off and finally find time to do it - it's all about setting your priorities right!

Anyway, finally instead of saying to myself I will start writing again, I made myself a cup of hot chai tea, lit a few candles, took my laptop and started typing (I am determined to stop my procrastination!)

Maybe the inspiration came from a highly productive and inspirational Sunday that kicked off with a 3,5 hour brunch with a girlfriend at a recently opened restaurant in the new South Bank dining precinct.
Jetty can boast great attention to detail in its thought-after design, beautiful river views, relaxed atmosphere and an extensive wine list. The only downside - it gets really busy and the service was really slow!

Jetty 

Sunday evening was marked with a dinner at the recently opened French Martini in South Bank again (located on the Little Stanley Street) - lovely atmosphere, French music and staff with the cutest and sexiest French accents, beautifully presented food and reasonable price - a very pleasant experience!  The highlight for me were the bright fuchsia umbrellas on the ceiling  - no way you can miss the place when you walk past! 

French Martini

The evening finished off with a movie with Johnny Depp - The Rum Diary. 

I wouldn't add the movie to my favourites list, but it is definitely worth watching just for the sake of watching a Hollywood hottie for 2 hours! 

This was a wonderful Sunday and I feel very pumped to start a new working week - besides, I have many ideas for the blog as well as a few other exciting things coming up! 

Next post will be devoted to my current 'favourites' in Brisbane and recently visited places! 

xoxo 

LIfe After Uni

This Thursday I am officially going to be a Graduate! 3 years of lectures, tutorials, assignments and sleepless nights - and I will proudly have a degree.

Studying hard;)

Even though it may seem like now it's time to realise that I have grown up, I really feel like being back at school - working full-time Monday to Friday is a lot like being back at school and waiting for the weekend like a 15 year old student!

So, the myth of having plenty of time ones uni is finished is completely ruined, however, I am still very determined to go through my "TO DO" list, that became quite long during the last semester,when all I did was repeating like a mantra: "as soon as I graduate I will do this!.."

Anyway,
1) I have finally went back to he gym and occasionally make it to my pilates classes after work (HOW can some people work out during their LUNCH BREAK and then get back to work all pumped and energised??)

2) Went camping to Byron Bay and went to see the lighthouse and slept in a tent

Light House

Amazing Beach

3) Booked Chritmas holidays (VERY EXCITED!)

4) Started reading books just for pleasure

5) Went to the movies on a weekday

Is quite a good, fairy-tale style movie

No Studying Weekend

Beautiful City view

 Exams are all  over! 3years of studying went by like one semester, and now I don't have to worry about assignments and exams anymore!

This evening I finally realised that I can simply just read a magazine,write a blog post, watch Gossip girl and  not feel guilty that I am not studying. This is a very good feeling!

This semester was tough and I felt that  I was slowly turning into a semi-depressed book-worm with  sleep deprivation, but I managed to do it somehow and really felt I need to celebrate that!
So, celebration kicked off on Saturday at Friday's (I know right, Friday's on Saturdays;))

Friday's

Girl's Power;)

I had the best time with friends and woke up with a bit of a head-ache this morning, but nothing could spoil my mood because Sunday was the day of our Ambassadors Get Together Picnic!








 I haven't had so much food in a while - everybody had to bring their home country national dish, so you can imagine how many different things we got to eat!!

And I even got a ride on a scooter! 

Thanks Mat!

th dessert part; )

It was such a great day, fantastic way to spend your Sunday! More photos from the picnic are at Ming's, Baduil's and Nimal's albums, check them out! 

Fun Times in Between The Exams

Arghhh !! The most stressful times for students have arrived ( all uni students in Australia will understand me ; ) And certainly we are all being real book worms trying to absorb contents of thick textbooks and piles of lecture notes!

In the meantime, very interesting events have been taking place and being all about 'study-work-study - a bit of relaxing' balance I couldn't miss them.

First, of course, one of the most significant celebration - fun days for the entire Australian population - Melbourne Cup (How can you miss Malbourne Cup - perfect excuse to dress up and drink champagne in the middle of the week at mid-day??). 

I was lucky to enjoy the day to the full, with a 3-hour eating indulgence with the views on the beautiful Brisbane River (big thanks to my boss;)) at the Organic Char! (really wanted  to take home  some of the chocolate truffles that were served for dessert -again I got impressed with chocolate the most! )

Lunching:)

Cosmo's

With my lovely colleagues

Even though my horse did not win (probably Drunken Sailor wasn't the wisest choice), I had lots of fun embracing real Australian cultural event! And already looking forward to the next year's Melbourne Cup!

On the weekend I got a chance to visit one of my favourite Brisbane's precincts - Southbank and check out the recently opened Spanish restaurant - Ole. 

Despite being a 'newby' it was very busy, apparently it has already gained good reputation. The concept of tapas and sharing of food is really appealing to the groups and friend gatherings.  

I can't really judge the authenticity of food (have already told my Spanish friends in Brisbane that we need to go together for an 'expert evaluation') , but we really enjoyed it, even though at first it seemed that the choice is quite limited. However, the concept is great and Sangria is amazing! : ) 

And on Sunday we had the best time with the ambassadors at the Movie World and Paradise Country!

Superman ride

Kid's Club;)

cute Koalas at the Paradise Country

Relaxing

 It was a warm,sunny day and we really had a fun day all together - the long-awaited catch up combined with the inflow of adrelanie from all the rides made all of us forget about the exams!