All posts filed under: Lifestyle

Melbourne Spring Fashion Week

Spring is coming which means Melbourne Spring Fashion Week, one of the most anticipated events of the year, is almost here. Presented by City of Melbourne, MSFW will showcase why Melbourne is known as one of the fashion capitals of the word. Highlights include: Adult sized ball pit – Ground Level Emporium Reimagine your child hood ball pit, step into it and create your very own fashion moment to keep to yourself or to share on social media. Shop the City – Melbourne CBD, 28 – 30 August Kicking off with Vogue Fashion’s Night Out on the Friday, this weekend long shopping experience will offer exclusive sales and discounts in key retail precincts. Designer Runways – Melbourne Town Hall 1-4 September Held over four evenings this series of one-off designer runways will showcase Australia’s best fashion designers and highlight key colours and styles with their spring and summer collections. Emerging Designer Market – 30 August Discover our city’s talented new fashion designers as you browse through their latest range of clothing, jewellery and accessories. Creative Bloggers Workshop …

A Grand Evening with Robyn Annear

Published by We Know Melbourne

On a typical, cool wet Melbourne winter evening in August, 42 literary buffs attended an exclusive, three course dinner at the Grand Hotel for a night of wine, fabulous food and an enthralling, intimate chat with author Robyn Annear. Partnering with The Wheeler Centre, this event was one of three to be hosted by the M Gallery Collection Hotel’s in Melbourne, the first, being held at The Lindrum in May, and the last to be held at The Como in September. The night kicked off in grand style, all guests greeted with their choice of champagne or the hotel’s signature drink – a John Batman Apple Martini, chosen for the hotel’s historical location significance, as it was originally the site of Melbourne’s founding father’s fruit orchard. The conversation flowed amongst guests as did the wine and before long, everyone had polished off their generous entrée, mains, and the main event kicked off. Interviewed beautifully by Wheeler Centre representative, Helen Withycombe, Robyn Annear was charming, entertaining and a perfectly eccentric. Guests found themselves listening to a …

Modern Love

Published by We Know Melbourne

“You would think that a rock star being married to a super-model would be one of the greatest things in the world. It is.”—David Bowie They say that when David Bowie first saw his supermodel wife, Iman Khan it was love at first sight. 23 years later and the couple seem to be going as strong as ever. But before Iman, David Bowie was as prolific in love as he was at amassing one of the world’s most epic catalogues of art. Check out the ‘knew that’s’ and ‘no-ways?’ of his love life: Angela Bowie: Before Iman, there was Angela Bowie, David Bowie’s first wife who he met when they were dating the same man. They divorced 10 years later. Susan Sarandon: Susan spilled the beans and that during the 80’s she had a “wild love affair” with David Bowie after co-starring with him in the 1983 Vampire Flick – The Hunger. Susan, we never knew! Mick Jagger: Acccording to Mick’s 2012 books, “Mick the wild life and mad genius of Mick Jagger, “ Mick and David had an ongoing …

Meet our Street Art Ambassador, Marcus

Published by We Know Melbourne

Melbourne is famous for its vibrant street art scene and Marcus Ashford is our hotel’s Street Art Ambassador. Marcus has been interested in popular art from an early age, spending hours drawing and even putting together his own comics. As a teenager, Marcus’s tastes progressed to street art and graffiti. By his early 20’s Marcus was examining the work of renowned street artists such as Banksy the mysterious British street artist with an international following and American designer Shephard Fairey famous for his Giant Andre the Giant “Obey” artworks. Marcus is happy to direct guests to some of his favourite street art locations in Melbourne. He names the two best spots to check out fresh work by local and international artists as Hosier Lane (near Movida) and Crofts Alley.

Bounce

Published by We Know Melbourne

Bounce is an amazing indoor wonderland of trampolines, foam pits and bouncing. It may seem like child’s play jumping on a trampoline for an hour, but this place isn’t for the faint-hearted. Over 100 trampolines line the floors and wall of the warehouse style play center, and there is plenty of padding and foam too, so that you can safely live out your jumping dreams. Bounce Inc. is a place not only for children, but also teenagers, and adults who are young at heart. It’s also for adults who think themselves mature and without that inner child – although believe me, once you’re done with Bounce you will have changed your mind! It’s a wonderful family outing for the school holidays or the weekends, and this one is NOT just for the kids. I arrived with my posse of excited jumpers on a Friday afternoon at the reception of Bounce, where the place was packed with kids and parents alike eating, watching others bounce around or just chatting. We received special socks to jump with …

The Eva and Les Erdi Humanitarian Charitable Foundation Bestows Gift on The Alfred Hospital

Published by We Know Melbourne

Australian Philanthropists, Eva and the late Dr Les Erdi, have given the breath of life to a major redevelopment of the emergency centre within the iconic Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. Over 60,000 people a year will benefit from what is the largest single donation ever made to the hospital in its over 100 years of operation. The donation is motivated by personal experience – the Alfred has been an integral part of the health and happiness of the Erdi family since they made their way to Melbourne mid 20th century. In a private unveiling ceremony on the 30th of June, 2015 the new title for the emergency ward was officially announced in bright, gleaming silver lettering – The Eva and Les Erdi Emergency and Trauma Centre in front of a small group of supporters. Eva Erdi was greeted with glowing praise as members of Parliament, Directors from Erdigroup (The Erdi’s primary business venture), and board members from the Alfred Hospital spoke of her and her late husbands generous spirits. Special thanks were given for their …

Infectious family fun at Strictly Ballroom

Published by We Know Melbourne

Strictly Ballroom tells the story of dancer-in-training since childhood, Scott Hastings as he faces the challenge of gaining acceptance for his creative dance steps in the competitive world of ballroom dancing. At heart, Strictly Ballroom provides audiences with an inspirational message—”a life lived in fear is alifehalf lived”—in the form of a romantic comedy. Scott (played by Thomas Lacey) joins with amateur dancer, Fran (Phoebe Panaretos), to beat the repressive nature of ballroom dancing and create acceptance for creativity and attitudes outside of Australian ‘norms’. Strictly Ballroom was first revealed in a stage play co-written by Baz Luhrmann and his fellow National Institute of the Dramatic Arts (NIDA) colleagues in 1984. The play received critical acclaim and Baz Luhrmann later transformed the story into a hugely popular film in 1992 that won many national and international awards and the hearts of audiences worldwide. If you loved the film, Strictly Ballroom, you’ll likely really enjoy the musical too. The show is full of all the great songs—Love is in the Air and Time After Time included. …

Celebrate Australia Day with our cultural guide!

Published by We Know Melbourne

Australia Day Parade Begins at Melbourne Town Hall and proceeds along Swanston St and St Kilda Road, Melbourne. Monday 26 January, 11am – 11:45am Swanston St will be tranformed this Australia Day into a wave of colour and movement in a proud display and celebration of our diverse multicultural communities. This year’s Australia Day Parade will include all the favourite traditional cultural and community groups as well as some new faces. In 2015, in recognition of the ANZAC Centenary, the Australia Day Parade will also provide an opportunity to reflect on the contribution of our ANZACs through the participation of their descendants. We will also be drawing special focus on the men and women who serve in our local communities across the state – our emergency service volunteers.www.australiaday.vic.gov.au Fireworks At 9:30pm the Australia Day fireworks will light up the sky over Victoria Harbour in a display to rival New Year’s Eve. The fireworks will be synchronised to a Nova soundtrack and will be visible from various locations around Victoria Harbour. Stay after the fireworks for entertainment on …

Your Fast Serve to the Australian Open

Published by We Know Melbourne

Melburnians love their sport—AFL Football, cricket, horse and car racing all contribute to Melbourne’s much-loved, sporting culture, but during the last two weeks of January each year, the sport of choice is tennis. Melbourne’s Grand-Slam tennis event is the Australian Open, which last year attracted a record 686,000 during the fortnight of play. Getting into the swing of it Whether you’re a ticket holder or a wannabe attendee, the We Know Melbourne team will give you the perfect serve of tennis news, insider tips, and knowledge so you can get your tennis fix, even if you don’t have a ticket to the event. Australian Open 2015—the event Who | Thirty-two seeded men’s players drawn from 21 countries and 32 seeded women from 18 countries, 49 Australian players. In total, 524 players—289 male and 235 female. What | The Australian Open is one of four Grand-Slam tennis events worldwide. It is the first in each year’s calendar of events. The others are: the French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. Where | Melbourne Olympic Park—Rod Laver, Margaret Court, Hisense Arenas …

Melbourne’s Original Escape Room

Published by We Know Melbourne

This week I finally got to experience Melbourne’s original Escape Room and let me say it was definitely worth the 3 month wait to secure a booking! Escape rooms apparently originated in Japan, but it was in Budapest that Melbourne’s escape room founder, Owen Spears fell in love with the concept. Legend has it that Owen and his partner (both psychiatrists) were so enamoured with the escape room experience that they visited 6 different rooms in the Hungarian capital in a single day. They then decided to bring the concept back to Melbourne. It was certainly humble beginnings for their plan, with Melbourne’s first escape room being set up in a bungalow at the back of Owen’s mum’s house in suburban Flemington. However their idea caught on with adventurous Melbournians and this original escape room is now booked out for three months in advance and Owen is about to open his third location. In addition many imitators have latched on to Owen’s original idea so that you can now visit escape rooms all over Melbourne, …