PANDA SAKE

Want to know why Great Eastern Food Centre at 183-185 Russell Street, Melbourne is truly great? Because it stocks Miyozakura Panda Cup Sake, that's why! Just $8.50 for an alcoholic beverage and succulent glass, wow.

TIM MCMONAGLE

I've always enjoyed Tim McMonagle's Beatrix Potter meets Brothers Grimm paintings, and his new show - That's the style, Mary - at KalimanRawlins is just extraord. Combine a visit before 12 Nov with lunch / early dinner at Red Spoon Korea (176 Commercial Road, Prahran; be sure to order the deep fried chicken wings). You can read an interview I did yonks ago with KalimanRawlins co-owner Vasili Kaliman here.

MIGO'S

If I'm having a super hectic day at work, I try to make time to hottail it over to Migo's (Shop 2, 289 Flinders Lane, Melbourne) come lunch. Their veal and rosemary fettucini makes anything AOK, plus the atmosphere and service is whatever the Italian version of mama-san might be. The perfect workaday escape.

MUMOKUTEKI

The best find of my recent time in Kyoto was Mumokuteki, at which I consumed the best vegetable ramen of my life. A gorgeous little cafe just around the corner from the Nishiki food market, Mumokuteki proudly serves 'no meat, no egg, no milk, no sugar.' But is super duper delicious. And sits above it's own emporium. Check it out at 2F / 351 Iseya-cho, Gokomachi-dori, Rokkaku Sagaru, Nakagyo-ku. PS: Words cannot describe my sadness and worry for the people of Japan post-earthquake / tsunami / nuclear disaster, so I'm not even going to try. If you can, please donate here, and be sure to visit Japan some day soon to show your support in person.

KENZAN GPO

The closest I've come in Melbourne to the Asian Clear Soup with Poached Chicken at the Noodle Bar, David Jones (Market Street, Sydney) is this Marinated Chicken Breast and Soba Noodle Soup from Kenzan GPO (8G / 350 Bourke Street, Melbourne). $15 and guilt-free. Wishing you could slurp beside me, Deb!

DAISO

Have you visited Daiso yet? Think Tokuya, but supermarket style. Plus it's an actual Japanese hyaku-yen chain staffed by actual Japanese people. And everything is $2.80! We went yesterday on the way home from The Art of Chess at Bendigo Art Gallery (Maurizio Cattelan's set was extraord), and I got this adorable poisson-shaped peeler, which worked a treat on the carrots for tonight's dinner of Japanese chicken curry and Israeli salad. If you fancy a trip to Daiso (opposite Minh Phat on Victoria Street, Abbotsford), try to go at a non-peak time - there are often super long lines for the checkout and it can get a little frenzied!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

I don't have the nostalgic childhood memories of trick-or-treating my born-and-bred-in-the-US friends have, and I hate dressing up. But I like the symbols of Halloween - the elements of Autumn like scarecrows and pumpkins; the monsters and magic seen in the greeting card above. Want to celebrate, like me, without dressing up as Snooki? Then whip up a batch of the lovely Chanie's Halloween cupcakes - they are frightfully delicious!

STAR ASIAN SUPERMARKET

Is there anything better in the world than a dolphin-shaped clothes peg? From the Advanced Family Articles for Use Series? I think not. I found these in the subterranean Star Asian Supermarket, off Howey Place, yest - if you've yet to visit this fairyland of foodstuffs, get over there, say hi to Ken, then stock up on sauces. And steamers. And Hello Panda. And Pocca Iced Oolong. And fried tofu. And bath scrubbies. Yep, I'm 100 percent obsessed!

CHOCOLATE PANDA

Who in their right mind would choose a chocolate bunny over a panda? Haigh's has welcomed Wang Wang and Funi to Adelaide Zoo by creating delicious treats in their likeness, yum! Just $8.50, and a percentage of the proceeds go to the Zoo's Panda Nutrition and Reproductive Programs. So help baby pandas get made this Easter and buy a Chocolate Panda from Haigh's! Locate your closest store here.