Brewery Yard Markets – The Living Mall

Brewery Yard Markets launched last Sunday under the blue sky and blazing sun, where shops from The Living Mall and beyond came together to showcase their trendy products.

“Held adjacent to Chippendale Green every second Sunday from 10am to 4pm, you will be delighted by street art, quirky crafts, jewellery, local designer threads, acoustic music and live entertainment.

My oh my was it a beautiful day! Couldn’t really ask for better whether, aye? If you haven’t been to The Living Mall, it is a $2 billion urban village in Sydney, designed by the world’s leading architects to the highest standards of sustainable urban living. They’ve bought innovative shopping to Sundays with their newly launched markets and it was fabulous seeing so many people checking it out! So let’s cut to the chase.

Heading the escalators, past Woolies and out into the open area, I noticed that all the outdoor restaurants had white fenced greenery with sun umbrellas for their customers to enjoy the summer sunshine. #winning

There were so many stalls! I only expected a couple but it seems like everyone was willing to contribute!

Say hello to the Museli Man!

I have a feeling I totally agree with this sign..

Since I last came to Central Park, there have been a few more cafes/restaurants that have popped up, one being Autolyse. The name itself doesn’t say much but the display of breads just made my mouth water. Did I mention that there were croissants and danishes to sample? Loved the crunch on the pastries- it was French-quality (and Angela approved) and I’ll definitely going there again!

A good ol Aussie BBQ is an all-time favourite at the markets. You can’t go wrong by having one of the burgers for lunch!

Work-Shop Gallery had a massive display including someone drawing live. I guess I’ve always liked my so it was fabulous seeing it come to life.

Coco Cubano’s stall saw the virgin Mojitos and iced Granitas. Read my previous review of Coco Cubano here. For a sunny day like this, ice granitas are the perfect way to cool down.

I love how Raw Eats aimed to educate passer-byers. They had a sign explaining what it means to eat ‘raw’ and its benefits.

Speakeasy Co. are hand cut, hand brewed and hand poured hand-made candles.

Pigeonhole had their quirky jewelry,  fun polaroids, and other fun stuff displayed.

I love cactus’s. I’m not the best at watering plants and Huddle Co’s potted plants are definitely on my list of things I would love to buy.

Have you tried Marysol’s Haberno and Ghost chilli sauces? I tried it and it aint for the faint-hearted!

Remedia’s soaps were a specialty! How pretty are they? Check out the Orange Blossom and Organic Coconut, or perhaps the Black Forrest?

I was so close to buying one of these Growing Books! Basically its a cactus planted in a book! I would totally put this on my work desk.

After having a look at all the stalls, I settled at the back and joined the small-ish crowd listening to the tunes. #chillaxing

Brewery Yard Markets, it was a pleasure visiting you on your first day! For me, these markets add a bit more fun and it’s really nice to go ‘outdoor shopping’. There were a lot of bits and pieces and this would be the place I would go to get presents for friends and even a bit of deco here and there.

Rating Review: (1-5, with 5 being exceptional)

Event (Brewery Yard Markets): 4/5

Ambience: 4.5/5

Service: 4/5

Value: 4/5

Would I recommend going to Brewery Yard Markets? Like the outdoors? Maybe looking for some nice presents to give to a friend? Perhaps you just want a place to chill in the sun… head down to the Brewery Yard Markets and you’ll be delighted to a range of quirky arts and crafts, cool tunes and a diverse range of delicious food!

Highlight: Having a place where you can sit down and have a tan. Often markets are packed and too crowded. There’s no space to move, sit down and enjoy your freshly made lunch. Central Park has a massive open space so after you go around seeing all the stalls, you can sit back, chill, then go around again!

Suggestion of improvement: I loved the variety here and it wasn’t just stalls from The Living Mall but beyond that! It’s actually quite rare that so many shops in one place got involved but what I could suggest is maybe getting the public involved as well. Perhaps the talent from UTS or even USyd students? There are heaps of students around so they can definitely leverage on that.

Link: http://www.centralparksydney.com/shop/brewery-yard-markets

Official hashtag: #breweryyard #bymcomp

Angela Bee

Plant Giveaway – St Mary’s Cathedral Square

Fill your environmentally friendly tote bags with pots of colourful plants – a free giveaway from the Living Colour floral display held on Sunday March 16, 2014.

Last September- October, designers use more than 30,000 individually grown potted flowers and plants to create the stunning floral designs in dozens of separate displays, which naturally develop so people can watch the art piece grow and change.

So before going to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade this Sunday morning, I decided to pop by St Mary’s Cathedral Square to see if there were still any plants available. Mind you, it started at 8am and I was too exhausted from work. #fulltimefun

Surprisingly, there were still a nice collection of plants even thought I arrived at 10:30am. Petunias here look slightly dead.

Marigolds are literally a potluck of gold! Blooming in their healthiness.

There was mint too. They didn’t smell very strong though.

Sage looked luscious.

You guys have to help me here.. I’m not a huge gardener although I know my fruits and vegetables really well.. If you know any, could you please put the number (in brackets) and its name? #whattheflower

These are absolutely gorgeous little buds (1).

Pretty big variety and totally should’ve bought more bags for this. There was also an option of given a donation to the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation.

Established by a dedicated group of Bobby Goldsmith’s friends in 1984, the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation has helped thousands of men, women and children living with HIV. Totally unrelated to plants, but- sure!

I’m hoping to develop a website/app that allows anyone to post or review discounts/coupons/freebies like this, in exchange for a voucher on next purchase, or if you don’t wish to accept it, the money you’ve saved from the voucher you are given is donated to a charity. This is pretty much a real life example already! (Also a call for any programming nerds to help me out!). Kudos to my high school friends for doing this up.

Great initiative, City of Sydney!! 5000 plants were given away. They usually finish up at noon. There’s even a ‘Tree Management Coordinator’ who works for CoS #topjob

Review Rating: =D  =)  =|  =(

Product (Free plant giveaway): =)

Ambience: =)

Service: =)

Value: =D

Would I come again to get some free plants from the City of Sydney? For those who didn’t know, this is not a one-off event. It has happened quite a few times already so I was curious as to which kind of plants they had and how long they usually last until. I would definitely come again and if I eventually move into the city, this would be the best thing ever! They aren’t the best plants but they could add a little colour to your balcony/back yard.

Would I donate the money I saved to a charity? Bunnings sell plants from as little as $2.25 for small pots of marigolds, to $$. I would’ve given at least $5 per pot. If you know nothing about plants, then its normally say, $10 for a good small plant. If you nurture them well, they’re well worth it. There is also heaps to consider: amounts of water, sunshine, shade, soil, size of container..

Highlight: seeing so many people come and grab some plants! I mean, people who actually bought bags and came in just for it! It’s hard to live in the city and grow things. There’s always the misconception that I have ‘too little place’, but if you know your gardening, then there is always room! Hang some herbs on your balcony, grow a cactus in the house, or even keep some tulips on your dinner table to brighten your meals.

Suggestion of improvement: it would’ve been tons better if there were little signs to say which plants were what. I admit, I’m not an expert so I had to eavesdrop on some conversations. Even little markers that Cumberland State Forest has on their plants. They tell you important information about how to grow it. The last thing you want is turning up at your doorstep after work and seeing a dangly brown dead plant. Sad.

Ends: March 16, 2014.. but look out on http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/

Link: http://whatson.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/events/17539-living-colour-plant-giveaway

Next plant (tree) giveaway: http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/live/trees/free-tree-giveaway

Angela Bee