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News.com.au
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Aussie bloke baffled over barista's ‘creepy' coffee act to girlfriend
A Sydney man's dilemma over his girlfriend's special treatment at their local coffee shop has gone viral, prompting a flood of advice from thousands of viewers. Jake Craig explained in a TikTok that he moved in with his girlfriend, Beth, to a suburb that's new to him but not to her. Mr Craig, keen to establish a nice morning routine with his girlfriend, always offers to make her a coffee at home each day using a French press. But Beth, a self-confessed coffee enthusiast, prefers to get her caffeine fix from their local cafe, which she's been visiting for about three years. 'They know her, they know her order, the main guy knows her name, and everyone knows each other,' he explained. Most of the cafe staff have even begun to recognise Mr Craig and are 'friendly enough,' he says. However, things took a turn when Beth took a week-long break from her local haunt, and upon her return, was greeted with an extremely warm welcome. 'The main guy said, 'Oh Beth, it's been so long, we missed you.' He looked over his shoulder at one of the staff and said, 'Oh, he really missed you.'' Things heated up when her coffee cup that day arrived with love hearts drawn on it and the words, 'my love' – from the man who supposedly missed her. The next time she visited, her cup read 'my secret' and then the third, 'My secret love'. Each time, Beth returned home giggling about the situation, seemingly amused by the attention. Mr Craig, for his part, insists he isn't 'threatened' – but described the whole situation as 'crazy' and 'odd', before turning to the comments for advice. Many suggested practical solutions – like getting an espresso machine at home, or buying Beth a reusable coffee cup that can't be written on. Others simply praised the couple for being able to laugh about the situation. 'Can we just appreciate the healthy relationship, though? The fact you can all just laugh about it,' pointed out one. However, not everyone was laughing. Some thought the responsibility was on Beth to put an end to the barista's behaviour. 'Kinda curious why Beth isn't setting the record straight?' asked one person. Another said Beth needed to 'put in the boundaries'. Others called out the barista's behaviour. 'If someone flirts with me and knows I have a partner, I get very upset that they're so happy to blatantly disrespect my partner to my face,' one user said. However, one fellow barista argued that cafe staff often joke around with regulars like this and don't mean any harm by it.
Daily Telegraph
16-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Telegraph
Young family sell Australian dream for apartment living
Rose and David Ung's family thought they were 'crazy' for selling their house and moving into a unit with two young kids and a dog. 'We have always lived in houses when we were growing up with family, then when we got married we bought an apartment, when we had kids we thought we needed more space so we had everything that comes with a suburban house and block' Ms Ung said. 'But It just wasn't the same.' The couple then decided to switch the narrative and move their young family and dog into an apartment. 'We love being in an apartment,' Ms Ung said. 'Once our family saw what we had, they understood.' 'The community aspect, shops, convenience of things… I've connected with the community and local cafe, built connections and I'm a magician so we've worked together to put on community events,' Mr Ung added. MORE: Where you can buy a house for unit price For Ms Ung the safety aspect was one of the biggest benefits. 'There's CCTV and plenty of people around, Rhodes is a really safe area and the access to public transport as well.' A big draw card for them was also the facilities for their kids. 'We have seen an up-tick in our own kids' self confidence,' Ms Ung said. 'Since we moved here, we've made friends that live around the area and our kids play with their friends in the park, there's a real sense of community,' Ms Ung said. On top of the pet-friendly park for their dog, they had access to plenty of family friendly and entertainment facilities including an expansive swimming pool with private cabana's, a children's splash pad, poolside grille, table tennis, cinema and games room. There was also a library and work-from-home spaces for residents wanting to work or study outside of their apartment but still within the complex. MORE: Boom to bust: home prices plunge in key Sydney areas Huge promise Hemsworths made about Byron Bay 'When you're in a house you tend to stay in your house and you only know your neighbours to the left and right,' she said. 'Our weekends look a lot different now, we can hang out as a family instead of me mowing the lawn for half a day,' Mr Ung added. The couple did consider looking at houses in Rhodes but found they would lose out on plenty of the benefits of apartment living for a premium price. 'There is such a big (price) difference between the houses, a couple million dollar difference … we have a three bed apartment and study, so it's quite generous and works for our family, there wasn't a benefit then forking out a couple extra million,' Ms Ung said. Billbergia's latest Rhodes development, the Peake and Oasis towers, have now been 95 per cent sold and have a range of one-, two-, three-bedroom apartments as well as penthouses and 'multi-generational' units that feature two living spaces. Billbergia's development director planning and design Saul Moran said buyers wanted 'liveability, the convenience of living close to amenity and transport'. On top of the apartment amenity, Billbergia has developed an $85m sports and recreation centre with childcare, multipurpose courts, a gym and swimming pools. '(Families) realise they don't need the big backyard anymore, and once they try high-density living they tend to love it' he said. MORE: 'Over the top' house sells for $18.5m Aus's worst neighbours exposed Named: 20 Aussie suburbs where prices will rise
News.com.au
16-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Young family sell Australian dream for apartment living
Rose and David Ung's family thought they were 'crazy' for selling their house and moving into a unit with two young kids and a dog. 'We have always lived in houses when we were growing up with family, then when we got married we bought an apartment, when we had kids we thought we needed more space so we had everything that comes with a suburban house and block' Ms Ung said. 'But It just wasn't the same.' The couple then decided to switch the narrative and move their young family and dog into an apartment. 'We love being in an apartment,' Ms Ung said. 'Once our family saw what we had, they understood.' 'The community aspect, shops, convenience of things... I've connected with the community and local cafe, built connections and I'm a magician so we've worked together to put on community events,' Mr Ung added. For Ms Ung the safety aspect was one of the biggest benefits. 'There's CCTV and plenty of people around, Rhodes is a really safe area and the access to public transport as well.' A big draw card for them was also the facilities for their kids. 'We have seen an up-tick in our own kids' self confidence,' Ms Ung said. 'Since we moved here, we've made friends that live around the area and our kids play with their friends in the park, there's a real sense of community,' Ms Ung said. On top of the pet-friendly park for their dog, they had access to plenty of family friendly and entertainment facilities including an expansive swimming pool with private cabana's, a children's splash pad, poolside grille, table tennis, cinema and games room. There was also a library and work-from-home spaces for residents wanting to work or study outside of their apartment but still within the complex. Huge promise Hemsworths made about Byron Bay 'When you're in a house you tend to stay in your house and you only know your neighbours to the left and right,' she said. 'Our weekends look a lot different now, we can hang out as a family instead of me mowing the lawn for half a day,' Mr Ung added. The couple did consider looking at houses in Rhodes but found they would lose out on plenty of the benefits of apartment living for a premium price. 'There is such a big (price) difference between the houses, a couple million dollar difference … we have a three bed apartment and study, so it's quite generous and works for our family, there wasn't a benefit then forking out a couple extra million,' Ms Ung said. Billbergia's latest Rhodes development, the Peake and Oasis towers, have now been 95 per cent sold and have a range of one-, two-, three-bedroom apartments as well as penthouses and 'multi-generational' units that feature two living spaces. Billbergia's development director planning and design Saul Moran said buyers wanted 'liveability, the convenience of living close to amenity and transport'. On top of the apartment amenity, Billbergia has developed an $85m sports and recreation centre with childcare, multipurpose courts, a gym and swimming pools. '(Families) realise they don't need the big backyard anymore, and once they try high-density living they tend to love it' he said.
New York Times
10-06-2025
- New York Times
The Travel Writer's Dilemma: Share, or Gatekeep?
As soon as a secret gets widely distributed, it's a secret no longer. That 'hidden treasure' I'm so eager to tell you about becomes a lot less hidden, and less of a treasure, the moment I share it. What's a travel writer to do? The very premise of the job is to tell you about attractive possibilities that you might not otherwise know about. But as those little-known jewels become better known, readers grow understandably indignant (that quiet and reasonably priced cafe is suddenly unquiet and unreasonably priced), while locals wonder how much to curse the onslaught of visitors and how much to try to make the most of them. I feel this conundrum ever more painfully because I have chosen to base myself for 37 years around the Japanese city of Kyoto. My first 30 years here, I grieved because nobody I knew ever wanted to visit. Now I mourn because everyone seems to be on their way here. Each month I receive dozens of messages — from friends, from readers, from complete strangers — asking me to tell them about out-of-the-way Japanese wonders that nobody else knows about. I understand the impulse. More than 75 million people visited Kyoto Prefecture in 2023 and most of them seemed to be walking along the narrow, once-noiseless paths that lead magically up to Kiyomizu temple at the same time. Of course, a longtime travel writer knows how to come up with diversions. I'll often recommend my second-favorite izakaya, in the same spirit as I tell friends who are thinking of Nepal that they may want to consider the less-developed Himalayan region of Ladakh, or those hurrying toward Kyoto to try quiet and cultured Kanazawa, two hours away, instead. I will share my favorite secret with a friend and offer a stranger something more generic. Besides, I know that a traveler's real joy comes in discovering a hidden treasure for herself; at best my recommendation may send her along some adjacent path, to somewhere I've never heard about. Traveling in Time But the abiding hope of travel is that beauty is resilient. Last year I happened to spend three nights in Kyoto right after flying in from California. Every morning I got out of bed at 3:15 and slipped out the door five minutes later (11:20 a.m. in my Californian mind and stomach). The streets were deserted, save for a handful of Japanese kids reeling home after a long night out. I came to know the friendly South Asian men working at the convenience store where I stopped every morning to buy a bottle of hot milk tea and a doughnut. Best of all, I was able to walk up those heart-stopping pilgrims' paths toward Kiyomizu and have them entirely to myself. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
