Creative and curious natured person defined by my passions in life. Graphic designer by trade, but with interests in photography, art direction and painting. Love having fun and travelling, meeting new people, cooking good food and drinking good drink. Always up for an adventure. Currently self-employed and travelling, working as a graphic designer and always kicking around a bunch of small projects.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

To meet new people, show them around my city of Melbourne, which is definitely a city that is best seen through the eyes of someone that lives there, getting access to the off-the-radar places that you might not know about. I actually hosted a Dutch guy for a number of nights, and got to party with him in Melbourne for a few crazy nights before he went to New Zealand, but not through the website, just someone I met hiking in Cambodia, and it was such a great experience. Didn’t know about the couch surfing website then, so gladly would have done it more. Such a great way to meet peeps, get entwined into the city and the inner workings of what is actually happening, get off the backpacker circuit, and meet some locals. The western version of homestay, what could be better ?

Interests

Food. Design. Art. Partying. Film. Music. Writing.
All creative outlets and expressions. Love massive cook-up’s and bring everyone together through food and drinking – lot’s of Italian heritage there, so always cooking a lot of that, and one-pan type of dishes. Korean BBQ always a favourite. Always having people over for wine and dinners during the week. Hanging out with mates at bars, talking rubbish – great conversation, going out and partying, going to gigs and festivals, always surrounded by music and sharing a drink and a few cigarettes. Dressing up in costumes for festivals, or just after a big night out, always a plus. Love camping and getting outdoors, being surrounded by the wild and hiking.

Love trying weird food all over the world, and will always try something once – have had grubs and spiders in Cambodia, chicken sashimi and raw horse in Japan, tripe and chicken liver in my own country.

• arts
• writing
• design
• graphic design
• photography
• festivals
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• wine
• bbq
• partying
• drinking
• boating
• traveling
• painting
• music
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• backpacking
• camping
• surfing

Music, Movies, and Books

Ahh, such a huge question. Directors I dig – Ridley Scott, Alexandro Jodorowsky, The Coen Brothers, Akira Kirosawa, Takeshi Kitano, Gaspar Noe, Kubrick, Scorsese, Tarantino. I religiously go to The Melbourne International Film Festival, and a lot of Melbourne screening events, so film is very close to my heart.
Blood Simple by the Coen brothers one of my all time favourites, as with 2001: A Space Odyssey. (imdb ratings – http://www.imdb.com/user/ur10353940/ratings)

Music – pretty much anything with drums or a breakbeat. Rare grooves, hip hop, funk, soul, jazz.
Lot’s of deep house, disco and techno too – which is what I actually party to, or go to shake it to.

Steady dose of most areas of hip-hop from '88 through to now. Big Daddy Kane, Eric B & Rakim, Beastie Boys, Gang Starr, J-Live, A Tribe Called Quest, Smif-N-Wessun, Boot Camp Click, Black Moon, Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, MF DOOM, Dilated Peoples, Sean Price, Ghostface Killah, Guilty Simpson, Masters of the Universe, Grand Puba, Run the Jewels, Pusha T, Czarface, Blu, Little Brother, The Roots. The list goes on.
Some neo-soul – D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Hiatus Kaiyote, The Internet, Leon Bridges ...
Instrumental stuff – Flying Lotus, Oddisee, Thundercat, Gaslamp Killer, Nosaf Thing, Shigeto etc

All dance/deep house/techno and electronic stuff – Derrick May, Pomo, Mihai Popoviciu, Jamie XX, Sleazy beats records etc.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

A 4 day trek in the protected forest that forms the border of northern Cambodia and Laos.
Ate milt, chicken sashimi, raw horse and sea cucumber in Japan.
Did ayahuasca in a Mexican protected forest reserve with a Colombian shaman.
Partied in a warehouse in Bushwick NYC on new years with circus performers juggling fire overhead.
Karaoke’d my ass off in Kobe, Japan until the first trains started operating.
Did a 2 night homestay, and a full day trek into the remote wilderness in Sa Pa, Viet Nam.
Walked a deserted 7 km beach on Christmas day with nobody else around on Koh Rong Island.
Had a 15 course dinner at The Fat Duck with one of my best friends when it was in Melbourne.
Got drunk and partied on a junk boat rooftop in the middle of Halong Bay.

Teach, Learn, Share

Happy to share some cooking knowledge, and show some recipes. Australia doesn’t really have a ‘cuisine’ so to speak, it’s still in development. My father is Italian, so can cook quite a few Italian dishes, as well as a mean Korean pork bulgogi and Japanese beef gyudon (beef rice bowl). Mediterranean roast cauliflower salad is also one of my favourites. If you’re interested in graphic design, photography, or websites – I know how to build and develop website, online stores, edit photographs in Lightroom and use all the Abobe CC.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Cooking ! And I will gladly drink too. Always up to cook an amazing meal, share cooking duties, or just share food and some great conversation. Travel stories, always, and exchanging of cultures.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Cambodia, China, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia