TIME OUT: Treasure hunting

1.       A musical treasure in the heart of Sydney

The City Recital Hall in Angel Place is a little gem right in the middle of the CBD. A bijoux contemporary concert hall, it was designed specifically for lovers of classical music in the Western or European tradition.

It hosts regular performances by the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Sydney Symphony, as well as a great lunchtime series of concerts. It is also the Sydney base of Musica Viva, and a key venue for its inaugural five-day chamber music showcase, the Musica Viva Festival, which runs until Sunday.

There are events day and night from a wide variety of artists, Australian and international, including the Juilliard String Quartet, the Jerusalem Quartet, The Song Company, mezzo-soprano Sally-Anne Russell, and Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt who is presenting Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavier”. For more on the City Recital Hall, including good dining choices nearby, click here.

2.       Community's in the air and on the menu in Melbourne

October is a busy month in Melbourne. For those few weeks between the footy grand final and the Melbourne Cup, the arts get to shine. Much of the attention goes to the Melbourne International Arts Festival which runs from October 9 to 25. (Most of its big ticket events are long sold out, however if you took our tip and booked back in August to see Casey Bennetto at the Spiegeltent this weekend, you'll be rather pleased with yourself.) Fair enough, but don't overlook the more idiosyncratic charms of the Fringe Festival, which wraps up on Sunday. Fringe events are, by definition, less predictable, less polished and often edgier (the Beaconsfield musical that got people all stirred up at the beginning of this week is a Fringe event).

Of the Spirit of the Will, a concert by City of Voices at Albert Park's Gasworks Theatre this Saturday and Sunday embodies the Fringe spirit. If you were moved by TV's The Choir of Hard Knocks, this should have similar appeal. City of Voices is a community theatre group open to "people of any age, background, experience or ability”. Here they are working with Victoria University performance students to offer up an eclectic 45-minute musical mix. It might turn out to be well-meant but ho-hum, or maybe, just maybe, it'll be something really special. That's the nature of the Fringe … you never know.

Afterwards you can continue to celebrate idiosyncrasy and community life by making the short trip to Jerry's Milk Bar, down near the beach on Barkly Street, St Kilda. The 1950s lives on here, with classic milk-bar shakes and lollies temptingly presented in a restored classic milk-bar counter. The modern world gets a look-in with all-day breakfasts, pasta and coffee (which is, praise be, strictly this century; you can even get a decaf soy latte, if you must).

It is definitely a local hangout, but don't be psyched out by the natives. They're just fiercely protective of a little community oasis in their over-hyped suburb.  

3.       Follow orders for art (or just read the secrets of others who do)

Miranda July is a US author, film-maker and artist with a very unusual view of the world. One of her most interesting projects is "Learning to Love You More” project, co-created with Harrell Fletcher. The pair dream up "assignments”, from simple to profound. Anyone who cares to can complete the assignment and upload a report detailing their experience on the project's website.

Why "assignments”? July and Fletcher write: "Sometimes it is a relief to be told what to do. We are two artists who are trying to come up with new ideas every day. But our most joyful and even profound experiences often come when we are following other people's instructions. When we are making crepes from a recipe, attempting to do a handstand in yoga class, or singing someone else's song.”

So far there have been 68 assignments, including "make a child's outfit in an adult size...and wear it as much as possible”, "make a flier of your day”, "hang a wind chime on a tree in a parking lot”, "take a picture of strangers holding hands”, "spend time with a dying person”, "take a picture of your parents kissing” and "re-enact a scene from a movie that made someone else cry”.

More than 5,000 people have done one or more. The resulting reports including a photograph sent in by a Sydney woman of the outfit she wore "on the night of the unplanned loss of my virginity” and a transcript of a real argument, sent in by a woman in Florida, in which she confesses to secretly using cocaine. Some are more banal, but as a whole, the reports make up a touching and intimate cross-section of human experience. Click here for more.

4.       Discover Brisbane's gourmet secret

Black Pearl Epicure is perfectly disguised from the outside, thanks to a business-like import/export firm façade. But inside lies an Aladdin's cave of gourmet fantasies. If you're in defiant "World financial crisis, what world financial crisis?” mode, the grade one Iranian caviar might catch your fancy. Or perhaps you'd prefer to go domestic, with hand-milked salmon roe from Victoria's Yarra Valley?

There's also a truckload of imported cheese, tanks of single origin olive oil and nut oils, a lifetime supply of the world's best chocolates and anything else you might need to extend your palate and your pantry. No sub, just prime here.

If all that's not enough to sate you, there's a cooking school upstairs where you can learn to transform rare ingredients into even rarer dishes in courses taught by a range of celebrated specialist chefs. Click here for more.

5.       Celebrate small-town life in Tasmania (relax, you can still eat well)

The name of the annual spring bulbs festival taking place this weekend in Wynyard in Tasmania, "Bloomin' Tulips”, sounds a lot better if you say it in Peter Cundall's Mancunian accent. Floriade it's not – this is a small-town celebration of honest small-town pleasures: massed blooms along the picturesque northwest coastline, fireworks over the river and the local burghers all gussied up in their finest. While there's no doubting the gentle charm of these events for drop-ins, you might find yourself longing for more of a big-city approach when it comes to your food options.

The good news is that it's just a short drive along that scenic coast to the sleepy seaside town of Penguin, which happens to be home to the excellent Wild Café (don't be fooled by the aw-shucks name, this is a proper restaurant). The food here is ModOz with an Asian leaning. It combines a light touch with sophisticated flavours. Nowhere else on this coast will you find a fine laksa or clear spicy mushroom broth with a good dose of coriander. There are café-style meals at lunch, and more substantial, adventurous flavours at dinner.

The restaurant is perfectly positioned, right down on the beach. It has a decent wine list, good coffee and a crowd of customers who look delighted to have found such fine food in such an unlikely place.