The Good Food and wine show and what restaurants should do to survive

This year's Good Food and Wine show had many ideas some of which are brand new like the Winescream. People really enjoyed that. It was $25 (normally $35 but with a discount from Wine selectors- restaurants should offer an incentive for people to go).

 Restaurants need to have some innovative business cards to promote their business. A black circle for a bar is a great idea as it screams exciting.

 Some sort of wine tasting on a quiet night is a great idea and restaurants should import some exciting new wines on to their menu to keep people coming back for more.

 A new toothpaste from Colgate is a great idea for those with sensitive teeth.

 A cider tasting night is a good idea for bars to get people in the door

 This paella was $5 and small samples like these will keep people coming back for more bigger dishes.

Sampling

Cheese tasting

More cheeses

The sampling was really great. People had a lot to choose from, from healthier items like the quinoa Tuckers crackers. I would go for this. Restaurants should have a few healthier, gluten free options for people that can't have gluten.

 The discounting of stock is also another thing that restaurants should do to bring customers back. Customers like to save money. The buy 2 for the price of one or for $10,$20 or $30 is a great way to save money and I loved that the tea stall did this.

The Instagram competition is another great idea where people had the chance to win a $100 prize each day for the best photo. Restaurants should do this if they have the money and the Instagram app. By the way most restaurants do. If you don't get on board today.

Colgate have released this new toothpaste for sensitive teeth. This is a great idea for those that have such teeth and go out a lot. Now these people can enjoy their food without the sensitivity. No need to worry about losing sales.

I didn't go away empty handed. I had Admona's new canned tomatoes, Colgates new toothpaste, Tuckers crackers, prunes and ABE's new bagel crisps.

Melbourne Knowledge Week

Melbourne Knowledge week is a huge event and every year they have many free events and exhibitions for all to enjoy. Here they had a film screening on at General Assembly that I was invited to attend. This film screening was about how they created games like Minecraft and other building games.

The film showcased the cities of Kenya, Stockholm, Kossovo and the US.

This film let us saw how much gaming has changed in the last few years. In the last few years the gaming industry has spent billions of dollars on the games. People create the games in a uni computer lab which is hard because there is not enough money to make them. Then they have to work for the end user like myself. They have to be engaging for all.

If people don't like the game or if the game gets a bad review then the creators of the game go broke or out of business. To promote the game the creators went to a gaming expo to exhibit the game.

Today's video games help shape the future of our city and they too can help shape the future of Melbourne. They too can help create communities.

Then the Hackathon reinforced the theme of Then, Now and in the future as teams worked together at General Assembly on a Saturday morning and afternoon on a challenge. The challenge was based on Melbourne's public transport system and how it can be better for all. The best team won bags and free bitcoins. The Hackathon gave us a sense of how to solve real life problems in the world of work.

Do come to next years Melbourne Knowledge Week and thanks to General Assembly for the invite

The comedy festival hits Melbourne

The comedy festival is on again this year and its bigger and better than ever. Here they have their own bar at the Malthouse Theatre and I went along one night to discover just how popular this festival is.

The bar gets really busy on a Friday night but during the weekdays they are pretty quiet. During the weekdays there are food trucks outside to boost patronage. There is a good selection of food inside too.

There are a lot of good Australian and international acts here and many people go there to be entertained. You get your ticket and then relax in the outdoor or indoor bar and then they call you when the show is about to commence. You can bring alcohol in there but no glass. Your alcohol is poured into a plastic cup and the glass stays outside.

Here they have a great selection of wine. Some of the brands are more expensive though such as the Janz. My shiraz was only $7 and it was really strong. It would work well with the cheese plate that they have for $18.

Note it runs until the 23rd at the Malthouse. After that there will be other shows for you to go along to and the bar is always there for your drinks and food. Food is about $10-$26 depending on what you would like to eat. But do come for the drinks.

The Malthouse is on Sturt St in South Melbourne behind the Arts Centre.

Pride March

Every year at the end of Midsumma there is a Pride March and it is free for all to attend. Here the marchers wait for a long while at the oval at Lakeside drive until it is their turn to march. And then they march down Fitzroy st to Catani Gardens where entertainment and food await them.

I went this year with RUSU Queer Department on a perfect day. It was not too hot and not too cold. Heaps of people turned up to this free event, hence all the trams going back into the city from there were packed. And some people waited for hours in bars.

Hence I decided to run the 7km back into the city after it ended.

Every year it is fun to go and say hi to the crowd as you pass them. For me that was yelping and cheering.

But every year the lines are long for the bathrooms and the food. That is why I never bothered with the food. As for the drink wristband, last time in Alexandra Gardens it was 6pm and they never bothered checking anyone's ID. This time around  they did and it was a huge queue for it.

Do go next years one if you are a uni student or work for one of the LGBTI groups as to which there are many. SEEK had a ball with their balls.

Victoria Street Lunar New year festival

This festival was free for all to go to. Set right in the heart of Victoria st in Richmond this is a must see every year. Every Chinese/Lunar new year a lot of people go to the festival to see the dragon and taste the food. Each year there are many Australians as well as Asians who attend this festival.

I must admit that taking the tram there can be difficult as they closed off the line and you have to walk to McKay st which is nine minutes away. There are replacement buses which don't stop in Victoria st so most people took the train. I took the number 78 tram from South Yarra to Richmond and at the end took the tram back.

Cherries

Foods on display

The stage

The makings for Longan drink

Samosa samples

The games really were a waste of space. They are not what people come to these cultural festivals for. The balloon one was very nauseating for some people.

We love coming to these cultural festivals just to try new foods. The new foods we tried were the longan drink which symbolises good health and wealth for the coming year. To me the seaweed and grass in that drink was quite foreign to me.

There was this other Bun (Vietnamese salad) which had chicken and you had to mix the coconut sauce in with the fish and vinegar sauce. To me that was just weird and it drowned out the flavour of the salad. But still noodles bring longevitiy for the new year.

The watermelon drink was quite a refresher for me on this warm day.

Also I loved the lion dancing and that was so much fun for all to watch. On a day like today many people got dehydrated and someone had to be taken to hospital.

Many thanks for the festival Victoria st. Can I make a suggestion for next years one and that is to remind people to stay hydrated on a really hot day? People should bring two bottles full of water if they can and one big tank is not enough for a festival this size. Drinks here are quite expensive.

Pork and Cider festival

RNIS was invited to the festival courtesy of the Good Food Gift card and did not have to pay.

The Pork and Cider festival was held at Flemington Racecourse and it attracted a few people. Here I went on Sunday night were it was all fun and games. That is until I go to pay for the hot dog at Royal Mail with cash. Then I discover that it is card only. How annoying when the website said nothing of the sort. But at least Royal Mail was kind enough to offer it for free.

What a lovely tree

Outside a cider stall

At Royal Mail stall

Outside one of the stalls

There  wasn't a lot of shade and being a hot day you would want some.

There were tastings ticket for $20, all of which have 10 tastings of cider. But we were not huge drinkers and one glass of it was enough for us. Here we had the Granny Apple cider from one of the Apple stalls. This cider was very appley and light and it worked really well with the hotdog.

The hotdog was $6 and it was really great. The sausage and the brioche melted in the mouth.

The sauce stall at the end was also great- we could try out some of the lovely hot chilli sauces and then go online and buy them

The band was really engaging. This band loved their patrons so much that they asked the ladies to dance and they had fun.

I'm not too sure what the carnival is doing in a pork and cider festival supposedly just for adults.

Many thanks to the Good Food Gift card for the invite. And if this were to run again next year please advertise it as a cashless event or otherwise everyone will get confused. But at least it was good that they have free water.

What does Australia Day mean?

Australia day falls on the 26th of Jan every year and each year it is a public holiday. Each year there are many festivals and people run along the beach. There are also many BBQ's as well as people love BBQing and drinking.

The favourite foods for Australians are lamb, pavlova, Lamington, Tim tams and Vegemite. Many Asians hate Vegemite but Australians love this for their salty flavour. They love it with cheese on toast.

I of course enjoyed a lamb burger with chips on the beach from one of those old school tuckshop places outside South Melbourne lifesaving club. Here it reminded me of Andrews burgers. It was big and I only paid $10 for the chips and the burger. The lady that served me was typical Aussie blonde.

Later on at the free Docklands Australia day event I had a pavlova ice cream . It was $5 for one scoop but pavlova is an Australian traditional dessert. And International students will learn to love and appreciate this dessert. It is a meringue based dessert with passionfruit and other fruits on top.

A Lamington is another typical Australian favourite. This is a square sponge cake with jam on the inside and coconut on the outside.

Do try out these delicacies whilst you are here in Melbourne. They will make life more interesting I swear.

Midsumma Carnival and T- dance party

Both were held on the same day and it is a tradition for RMIT Newintstudents to attend. This was their 30th festival (they have one each year) and so of course it was special. Here they were both as fun and both had just as many people and lines to the bathrooms and food. The lines to the food was really crazy. Last year there were so many stalls. This year they cut it back a little. Also there were no free bottle openers which I and others would have loved.

Patting dogs

Dan Murphy's cider theatre

I would have got food but because the lines were so long, I ended up with takeaway from somewhere else. People brought food but because I did a run in the morning I couldn't be bothered carrying all.

The T-Dance party was quite fun but loud and drunken people ruined it for everyone. I tried a Fat Yak ale and it was $9 for a small can. I also tried a $6 slushee in a small cup. The tubes were $10 and people kept coming back for refills.

The dog patting and spotting was the best part of the day. Visitors brought in dogs to enjoy the show with them.

Do come to next years one and celebrate all things queer.