Higher Ground @ Little Bourke Street


This is a 19th century powerhouse situated at the corner of Little Bourke and Spencer Street. 

And you will not be able to guess what's inside!


Higher Ground is one of the newest Insta-worthy brunch places for food and photography lovers. 

With a 15-metre high ceiling and arched windows with rustic industrial interior, Higher Ground is one of the newest Insta-worthy brunch places for food and photography lovers. 

Unlike conventional small, cozy but crowded cafe, Higher Ground provides more than 130 seats over a few levels. 






With a 15-metre high ceiling, crumpling-exposed bricks paired with arched windows and an overall rustic and industrial interior with a tinge of greenery, Higher Ground is definitely something different from your usual cafe and brunch spots. In fact, it's not exactly a cafe nor a restaurant nor a bar, it's more like a mixture of everything. 









Providing over 130 seats on 3 levels, Higher Ground offers breakfast, lunch as well as dinner. Sitting in here, you don't need to follow the traditional rule book of "coffee in the morning and cocktail at night" as they offer cocktails for breakfast too.  

If you have time to kill, you can just grab a good novel and sit here from day to night. Quite literally. 




Came here with my new pretty friend Angel on a Saturday morning ☼♥ 

怎麼我身邊的朋友都那麼漂亮啊，讓我這只章魚要往哪裡躲啊？欲哭無淚中~


Angel's latte and my cappuccino (I'm a creature of habit)


The mandatory cafe photo of me and my coffee


Ricotta Hotcake topped with maple syrup, seeds & grains, cream and seasonal fruits and flowers ($21)

Does this look familiar? If so, you are right because the owners of Higher Ground are the same owners of Top Paddock and Kettle Black. Though I haven't gone to Kettle Black just yet, I did blogged about Top Paddock last year (read HERE) hehe!

Compare to Top Paddock's this hotcake had more toppings on it BUT I still couldn't finish the whole thing on my own >< Got a little too sweet for my liking when I ate more than 1/4 of it. However, tonnes of bonus points to those edible flowers!!! YAY



Spiced cauliflower, scrambled eggs, curry leaf, roasted chilli on housemade flat bread ($19.50)

Surprisingly this reminded me of aloo gobi on roti canai, I don't know why...OMG How I miss Indian food! The downside of this dish was that it's not exactly worth the money you are paying and it's rather small despite its aromatic curry and spices. 


If you are arriving late, please be prepared to wait in the line for quite a while. We finished our brunch approximately 11.15am and this was the situation outside of the cafe. If you don't wanna be caught in the line, please put some effort into waking up early so you can enjoy your breakfast without having to wait - I'm impatient like that. 

From my humble opinion, Higher Ground is definitely a must-go place if you are here to take Instagram photos. Nevertheless, I don't understand its hype and definitely not worth to be kept in such a crazy line. Plus, the cappuccino was rather MEH - it was bubbly instead of having a thick smooth froth. If you are about the vibe, then definitely yes. It's a good hangout spot with your friend if all you care about is having a nice looking place for a long waited chat, then I'll definitely recommend Higher Ground. 

To conclude, Higher Ground is good BUT it's not mindblowing enough for me to come back in the near future. 

Higher Ground 

Address:
650 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000. 

Contact: 03 8899 6219 

Website: http://www.highergroundmelbourne.com.au/

Email: info@highergroundmelbourne.com.au

Opening hours:
Mon-Wed 7am-4pm
Thurs - Fri 7am-11pm
Sat 8am-11pm
Sun 8am-4pm
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Vincent The Dog @ Carlton

I discovered a little dog as I walked to Fitzroy on one fine morning - Vincent. 

Vincent The Dog, that's a funny name for a brunch place. I knew I'd love to pay this place a visit thanks to its innovative name. A cafe with such a cute name would be serving interesting dishes, aye? *Fion's logic*

I brought my evil biatch Erica here for a brunch date before I headed to work the other day as Vincent The Dog is situated on Drummond Street, behind Cinema Nova, which thankfully is less than 5 minutes walk to my workplace. 


As we entered the door, we were greeted by a coffee retail display that screams "coffee is our passion"!






Having been to several famous brunch places in Melbourne, never have I encountered such interesting coffee making tools - or maybe I'm just noob and ignorant like that?! 

At Vincent The Dog, you shall be able to satisfy your coffee cravings. Be it single origin coffees, espresso, precisely calculated filtered coffee or a plethora of special teas.




Opt for your seat at the communal table / by the window / at the little backyard :) What can I say about this place? It's so cozy <3 

I prefer uncrowded brunch places like this so you can totally have a comfortable and quiet brunch with your loved ones without having the pressure of finishing your food quickly to avoid keeping others in the line. 



Open concept kitchen 


Quirky wall decor 


If it wasn't for my stupid sore throat, I would've ordered their coffee! I really appreciate baristas putting in extra effort and care into making the perfect coffee - this chart alone makes me wanna come back in the near future just for the sake of its coffee. Perhaps, I shall just come with a book in my hand and stay here for half a day! 


As usual, Erica ordered her hot chocolate. This little girl doesn't know how to appreciate coffee despite being in Melbourne for so many years *girl, I know you are reading this, DO SOMETHING!*



Just a simple dish with a generous amount of salmon and avocado with blood orange slices and 2 poached eggs. 




Right before I wolfed down everything!



Erica's fried chicken burger which looks incredible. My stomach is literally growling right now. You'll find a little surprise for you as you cut through this burger - underneath the fried chicken has hidden layer of fruits which gives this dish a very refreshing touch despite the deep fried chicken! 

I shall order this dish the next time when I come back!



What's brunch with your bestie when you don't have any selfies, especially when you bestie is a crazy selfie person :P

Although there weren't a lot of dishes for us to choose from, both of us were really satisfied with our food. They seem simple but definitely yummy with generous amount of ingredients. You'll get the best value of money from this place.

On the side note, Vincent The Dog also partnered with 5 & Dime, so you can order their famous bagels here as well, if you are in your New Yorker mode hehe

In short, I LOVE this place. It's cute, warm and peaceful! Plus, it's just around my neighbourhood which is a major bonus point! Can't wait to go back for their coffee!

Vincent The Dog 

Address:
348 Drummond Street,
Carlton 3053, Melbourne, Victoria.

Contact Number:
+613 9348 2068 
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MakeSpace, For Your Dream Closet

One of the biggest problems that I face in life is the constant desperation for a bigger and more organised closet. Since I moved to Australia back in 2012, I have been living in small apartments with really small closets. I hate the idea that I have to switch up my closet according to the seasons as I would love to see all my clothes being hung on hangers in a perfect manner T__T


Hope I'd be able to earn enough money to afford to have a walk-in closet myself.

That being said, let's take a peep at my dream closets.




Images taken from Google Images

Looking at these photos of my dream closets, I am literally at the brink of drooling all over my keyboard >< 

So, to be one step closer to my dream closet, a few months ago, I did the Konmari-styled declutter. I threw out so many clothes that were balling, too small for me, don't suit my taste anymore etc. Although I still am struggling with the problem of not having enough storage place, at least I have ensured that closet now has the pieces of clothing that are in good condition to be worn out at anytime. 

According to Konmari, there are only a few steps in her method, take all your belongings out and examine them and ONLY keep those that spark joy in you. Remove those that don't bring happiness out of you and then find storage spaces for those that do. 

But...for someone like me, I have sorted things out with her joy-sparking rule but staying in a shared small apartment means that storage spaces are NEVER enough. Here's where MakeSpace comes to play. 


MakeSpace is an app that helps people with their self storage problems. Like its name, MakeSpace aims to help YOU make more space in your home by storing away your unused items on your behalf. They offer pick up services so you don't have to do the painstaking job of putting things away yourself. Whenever you feel like having your stuff back, MakeSpace will deliver them to you too! 


So perhaps all those decluttering and organising tasks are over, I shall reward myself by inputting some dream pieces of mine into my dream closet. 


WELL, I'm the type of girl who can make up excuses to convince myself that shopping shouldn't be guilty. 

Just like Blair Waldorf said "Whoever that says money can't buy happiness, doesn't know where to shop!". To me, perhaps those people don't know HOW to shop *smirks*




Now it finally dawned on me that to be able to achieve all these, number 1 I shall have a nice house, a perfect closet and a good strong source of income! 

Let's do it for THE DREAM CLOSET! 
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