We've been seeking some quality dining chairs for many years now and wanted something to match the superior pedigree of our table, a late 50's Danish masterpiece. We'd toyed with the idea of sourcing chairs from Great Dane in Sydney or Melbourne, but nothing really seemed to take our fancy. Some vintage chairs Cass spied in a magazine were not available, but their modern equivalent were listed at Great Dane for $1,950 each just recently. Yes, each!
We took stock of the situation, then began to do a little investigating. We've often said that one of the major cities of Asia is growing up at a rate of knots and should be able to supply anything we need. Enter "Danish Warehouse" a Danish furniture treasure trove for vintage furniture from the 50's to the 70's. Located in a tiny back lane, nestled behind a keyhole community garden just off the hectic fury of Roosevelt Road, section 3, it was an oasis of beauty and chic style. We were really in heaven in this place and loved every single piece we saw.
The main gallery is stocked with exquisite and delicate hand crafted pieces exhibited on a rolling schedule. We were ushered down to the basement to test the chairs we were interested in. They are 1951 design, used, sourced from Denmark, Arne Hovmand Olsen designed, teak and leather chairs. Straight away we both knew we'd found what we were looking for. The only trouble was that Jack, the owner, just had three left and we needed another. He will source another and bring it in on his shipment in early 2015, whereupon we'll pick up, or ship, all four.
We delighted in a cup of tea at one of his dining settings as the paperwork was done and took a deep breath and a relax after our train trip down to the heart of town. Feeling very pleased with ourselves, we strolled over to KGB burger for our mainstay weekend meal, the lunch/tea, and enjoyed a couple of "Kiwi Mates" (pineapple and beetroot, lentil patty for Cass, beef for me!) while discussing our golden finds.
After MRTing back home early in the evening, we decided to go home for an hour or so before travelling in the other direction up to Tamsui to see the band, QvQ, this time featuring even more of our friends as guest artists. Wally and Kenny are mainstays, but this time Morgan and Ben were joining them for a few songs at the beginning of the set. Despite the fact that I knew the address and had looked it up on the map, the venue was impossible to find. The area where it was supposed to be was just an empty space under the railway lines. I discovered today that the place was up a small footpath and hidden away from view from the road: anyway, Cass and I enjoyed a nice train trip and a relaxing look at the Bali wharf and river on a Saturday night!
My adopted AFL team, the Richmond Tigers, succumbed in the worst possible way in their semifinal on Sunday being roundly trounced by Port Adelaide. The bright spot was that the Knights were in sensational form and tamed the Dragons easily. I was posting the photo of my viewing on a third screen as I watched the two games concurrently on a combined platform of laptop and television: screen madness!
All the boys went down to Patio 84 on Friday night to see Geelong wither away after an onslaught by favourites Hawthorn: at least, unlike Richmond and the Knights, they get a chance at redemption next week. Finals action is in full swing here and should keep us very occupied on the weekends for the next month or so...
Photos: on our way to school, we spotted these strange bunches of tiny bananas...not sure what's going on there! The school carpark at dismissal time is bedlam, our chair and Cass in situ at the Danish Warehouse, two screens are better than one, and Youbikes continue to rule the world with their easy pay pass system!