The light at the end of the tunnel

Although we would hate you to think that we had an unnatural love for tunnels, we think it’s only fair to warn you that new lights have been installed at either end of the Hataitai/Mt Vic tunnel that are so bright that you’ll think you are outside in the sunshine already, even at night. It doesn’t make people honk any less though.

Make the society pages with us

Shiny like an Oscar. But drinkableBy now you’ve either cast your votes for the First Annual Wellingtonista Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence, or you’re still trying to decide whether you <3 Good Luck or San Frindigo more. You might want to get a wriggle on with that, as voting closes at 5pm on Thursday.

Thanks very much for voting, it’s very choice that you got involved. If you’d like to get even more involved with us (ooer!), please come along to our awards ceremony at Mighty Mighty (above Mr Bun in Cuba Mall) on Friday night.

Drinks will start out at 6.30pm and the awards themselves will probably kick off around 7pm.

If you haven’t met us yet, you’ll be able to spot us easily as we’ll be the ridiculously attractive people patting ourselves on the back.

We’ll be drawing names for prizes then too, but as we are good people your attendance is not mandatory in order to win. However, what possible reason could you have for not wanting to attend?

If you would like to buy us drinks, naturally a dry martini would be the standard, but we imagine that we would drink pretty much anything you gave us.

It should all be a frightfully good time, and we look forward to seeing you there.

First Annual Wellingtonista Awards Voting

It is with great pride and pleasure that we announce the nominees for the First Annual Wellingtonista Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence.

The Wellingtonista have sweated and slaved over the categories, and now it is your turn for action. Step up and send us your votes before November 30. The awards will be announced in an elaborate* ceremony on Friday December 1 which we would love for you to attend.

Why should you vote? Because your opinion counts. And so that you’ll receive an invitation to the awards. And because you’ll go in to the draw to win awesome prizes, including but not necessarily limited to goodies from Babylicious, signed copies of 101 Stories That I Want To Tell You, tasty salads from Kapai (disclaimer: we wrote nice things about them before they offered up prizes), stunning tshirts, signed photos of The Dropkicks and lifelong Country Club membership.

The categories are after the jump, and nominees are suggestions only – you’re free to write-in your winners.

Kai in our puku

bread bowlsRecently we asked you where the best places to eat on Lambton Quay are, and naturally, the internet word-of-mouth answered: Kapai Salads in Lambton Square.

There’s plenty of reasons to love Kapai, including:

  • Whānau: Everyone knows someone who knows the owners, hence the mass emails and bulletin board postings about the shop.
  • Mata: Your salad will be freshly made right in front of you, and you will get to choose the ingrediants yourself. No droopy lettuce and skankyass grated cheese here, no no.
  • Taiao: The soup is served in bowls made out of bread, while salads are served in potatopaks (which you probably wouldn’t want to eat, although technically they’re safe enough to), minimising environmental damage. Plus, the coffee’s fair trade.

We’d like them to offer lists of available ingrediants and make it a little clearer which are the gourmet ones that’ll set you back an extra $1.50, but when you can get a rocquette, falafel and feta salad with aioli in less than five minutes and feel good about doing it, you’ll definitely be going back.

Eating outside my comfort box (heh)

Everyone knows that large corporations eat puppies, but what do the people who work for large corporations eat for lunch?

The Wellingtonista is closing down its Courtenay Place branch on Friday and is opening up in mid Lambton Quay instead. After a year and a half down this way, we’d just finally got the good people at Sahara Kebabs to know that we like just a few onions and garlic yoghurt, tahini and hot chilli on our (mixed vegetarian, mujaver and falafel only) kebabs. Where are we going to eat now?

Big shoes to fill

Most of the time it’s nice being the tallest female Wellingtonista (Martha and Natalie may get the column inches but I gots the height inches), but the trouble with being tall is that I need great big plates of meat as feet to support me. And you know what they say about girls with big feet – they need big shoes.

That’s why I’m so excited that Willow Shoes – a website I’ve been shopping from for years since they specialise in shoes size 10 and up – has just opened up a branch in Wellington, in my neighbourhood even, at 27 C Waitoa Road in Hataitai. This is going to be especially handy (or err footy, badoom chish) now that Minx Shoes have moved their factory outlet from Waikanae to Otaki.

Snakes! On a plane! In Wellington!

ph33r my photoshop skillsNot that long ago, the London Time Out ran a feature on pirates in London to celebrate the release of Pirates of the Caribbean 2. Way to be hip, Time Out. Everyone who’s anyone knows that the actual most important movie this year is Snakes on Plane – or as some like to call it “Motherfucking snakes on a motherfucking plane”. So, in tribute to this movie that opens on Thursday, the Wellingtonista is proud to present this very special activity guide to recreating snakes on a plane in Wellington:

Dancing in the streets

Amnesty International are looking to recruit street performers to support human rights as part of Freedom Week 2006(their annual awareness and fundraising week 31 july – 6 august)

Money collected on the streets this year will support their crisis campaigning work, in particular their work to stop human rights abuses in Darfur, Sudan.

To help raise the profile of Freedom Week, and boost public donations, for the first time this year, they’re asking artists, buskers and performing arts students to give up half an hour or an hour of their time to busk on Freedom Day, their street appeal day. In Wellington that’s Thursday 3rd August.

This is an invite to dance for love in the street to support Amnesty International’s Freedom Day.

What: Freedom Day street performance with Wellington Batucada (for Amnesty International’s Freedom Week)

When: Thursday 3rd August, between 5 and 6pm

Where: Corner of Lambton Quay and Featherston St (in front of Old Bank Arcade)

Costumes: To be advised

Other: There will be no practices, so you will need to be confident in following carnival/samba reggae moves as lead by a teacher and freestyling as well.

Shake it for a good cause, or just go along and show your support.

And we will party on, thanks to you

The front page story on the Dominion Post is Party on, says dying Il Casino Boss, and all media grumbles about the horrible exploitative nature of that stupid newspaper aside, the Wellingtonista is really upset to hear that Remiro Bresolin has terminal cancer. Readers will surely know how dear to our hearts Il Casino, Scopa and Boulot are, so our thoughts and well wishes are with the family.

Harem Scarum

Because she is obsessed with Elvis, and also maybe due to some experiences on tour buses that she alludes to but never puts her photos on flickr from, our intrepid publisher decided to treat us all from the Wellingtonista towers to lunch at Harem to celebrate the launch of the new URL.