Portia

.

Hello Australian Perfume Junkies and friends, So glad to have you drop by Scent Diary. Grab a cuppa or beverage of choice, sit back and check what has happened, been eaten, spritzed and seen in our lives in Sydney, Australia.

At then end please leave us some comments. What or who did you see, do, eat with. Did you spritz, purchase, have arrivals or finish a sample? What’s happening in your world? If you’re writing or reading opinions, we can disagree but keep it nice and try not to give or take offense. Right now the world needs a web of friendships and connection more than ever. We all have perfume and each other in common. That’s a whole lot.

Scent Diary: 28.9-4.10.2026

Monday

Morning Routine: 10 Minutes.

1. Don’t Touch The Phone
2. Avoid Negative Input (TV, Socials)
3. Drink Water
4. Sunlight In Eyes
5. Move Body 3 Minutes
6. One thing I’m grateful for
7. One Small Win
8. Tea, Black Pepper and Turmeric

Cloudy and drizzly morning. I freaking love this weather.

Jin is making his special Chili Sauce that South Koreans eat with seafood. We are off to the Fish Markets with a small crew for lunch. It’s a brand new build and I’ve been dreading going because I can tell already that it’s a f*cking stupid design and I’ll be annoyed all day while we are there that they did such a terrible job. Even though it’s ostensibly a last hurrah for my birthday, I don’t like seafood and I’m very resistant to visiting this new, gorgeous, badly planned, ridiculously expensive behemoth. I’ll report back afterwards.

Gucci Bloom Acqua di Fiori. I’m going salty floral aquatic for the fish market. It should be a perfect fit.

Lunch was excellent. We took the Aunties, met Jin Tattoo and Martin there and got ourselves a front row table. Arriving at 11am was a genius idea by Martin. By 11.30am the place was heaving. The food was so fresh and delicious. While I still think the designers need a firm talking to and their architects licenses revoked it wasn’t all bad. The bird problem is outrageous, with seagulls and bin chickens unbelievably bold. At some points it was like snippets from Hitchcock’s The Birds. We all felt a little Tippi Hedren.

This is the best shot of Jin from the day. He just seemed to be in these weird positions every time.

Home. An unsuccessful nap. Straight to the computer to start my Trivia Q&A. Moderately successful. Reading socials and blogs? VERY successful. I’ve just joined SubStack. Goodbye life, and blocks of hours. I’m rabid for it.

Maria Candida Gentile Exultat

Faffed.

Off to Aquarobics. Jin did Body Balance to stretch and strengthen his muscles. I love the crew there, we have fun, move our bodies and it’s quite social.

Jin and I went to Thai for dinner. It Wass spectacular, as always. We were too busy talking and eating, I completely forgot to take a pic. Soz.

Home. Fed and walked Momo. Jin went to bed.

Fort & Manle Fatih Sultan Mehmed

Bed, reading.

Tuesday

Missed some Morning Routine: 10 Minutes. Sorry body. Did everything except the movement. It’s very grey and chilly today.

Jean Desprez Bal a Versailles vintage EdC and extrait.

Fed and walked Momo.It was freezing as we left the building and halfway around the cemetery the clouds cleared and the sun came out. Suddenly it was a Magritte sky and warm.

Trivia organising, printing, preparing.

Lunch. Leftover Chicken Penang Curry! OH YES!

Watching Ted Lasso S4.

Jin came home, we watched some Ted Lasso together.

Bathtime with my beautiful Fiji Bath Soak from Sue. I feel so lavish, it softens and light,y scents my skin. MMMMM

Jin went off for golf.

I did some clearing up of the mess on the dining table. It’s still a mess, just less so.

Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely. Still so good.

Nap

DAMNIT! I wish there was a photo of tonight. I looked really good. GRRR! We were busy too. 106 people in the room. Woo Hoo!

Home. Undressed.

Got dinner from work but was late so didn’t get to eat it there. Steak and green veg with Bernaise sauce. MMMM

Watched Ted Lasso

Fed and walked Momo. Chilly out.

Van Cleef & Arpels Van Cleef

Bed

Wednesday

Morning Routine: 10 Minutes. Very low key.

Fed and walked Momo in the ridiculously glorious sunshine.

Today I had a list. Everything in bold is completed by close of day.

1. Post Office
2. Clothes Washing
3. Fold Last Weeks Washing
4. Invoices 
5. Pay Land Insurance
6. Clean Up Desk
7. Clean Kitchen & Bathroom
8. Pack for Canberra trip

The Post Office had a birthday card from Aunty Tracey! Very cool

PLUS! a vintage BNIC Christian Dior Dioressence extrait.

While out I retried the current versions of Diorella and Dioressence. They aren’t very bad. Just a little less extraordinary than my vintages. Lasting power has been excellent, still softly pumping out fragrance after 14+ hours. Can’t wait to try the new ones.

Lunch was delicious. Steak Sandwiches. I already ate one before remembering to take a pic. Soz.

Getting stuff done.

Jin came home. We think he might have MORE SHINGLES on his ass. Straight up to the doctor. Dr was unsure but gave Jin a script. If it blows out then we are prepared. Poor bugger. If it is Shingles that will be number five in under 12 months.

Off to work. Busy. Fun. PLUS one of our stalwart teams, 888, won the bottle of wine jackpot. Woo Hoo!

Home.

Fed and walked Momo.

Everything out and ready to be packed for Canberra trip. Including four Travel Sized fragrances. Obvious Un Musc, Le Galion Eau Folle, Tom Ford Oud Minerale, Hermes Un Jardin Sur la Lagune. Should be enough choice.

Bed

Thursday

Morning Routine: 10 Minutes.

Up early, Gave the living areas a quick vacuum. Made sure the kitchen looks respectable, and the lounge area.

Bubble Bath.

Zara Vetiver Pamplemousse

Today is a very sunny 32°C (90f). Beautiful day. Bumped into a few other dog walkers on my rounds with Momo. Always nice to stop and have a chat.

Packed my bag. Pretty sure I have everything.

Had lunch with Donna and TinaG. It was really good BUT I got into loads of trouble because I’d only given them an hour before I had to skedaddle. Food was YUM!

Off to the National Museum to see Bloodsuckers with Betty, Jin Tattoo and Kadje. What a fun crew we were, looking at all the ways earth creatures can suck our blood. It was gruesome and so enthralling. Even vampire FINCHES!! I bet they don’t cal a group of them a charm. It was the Lamprey that took our breath away though. Like a water version of the worms in Dune. Revolting, but also gorgeously perfect for their job.

Was so engrossed I forgot to take pics till we had coffees afterwards. SOZ

Home. Jin and I got ready, packed the car, gave Momo a quick wee goodbye and then we headed off for our long weekend getaway.

Photo taken from inside Jin’s car.

Wouldn’t be a Canberra trip without at least one Heatherbrae’s Pies visit. MMMMM

Arrived. Checked in. Went to bed.

Friday

Up at sparrows fart. Straight down to breakfast buffet at our hotel. We stayed at the Novotel and the breakfast chefs could not give a single shit about the food. Staff were pleasant, food didn’t kill us but it was very sub par.

A full day of art-ing.

First stop the National Gallery. We were there a little early so went and had a look at their great masters exhibition from the galleries archives. I had no idea that we had so many famous artists and interesting works by them

I had booked us a small group tour of Arthur Boyd’s Tapestries. A fabulous set of enormous weavings that he had payed for himself and the National Gallery bought them in a 1975 landmark acquisition. They put them away and they hadn’t seen the light since then. One woman did a thesis on them and basically forced the gallery to bring them back. These photos do not do them justice. They are monumental, sumptuous and utterly spellbinding. Jin and I were gobsmacked.

Sadly, the tour guide did not use the earphone sound system so what was supposed to be a tour with maximum 12 guests turned into 50+ people who were pushy, loud, obnoxious and rude. We ended up leaving the tour before one of us chose violence.

It did not diminish our enjoyment of the works. I loved them so much I’m seriously thinking of making the journey back to see them again.

After that we hit the David Hockney Portraits exhibition in honor of his death. Quite a journey through his works from drawing, etchings, paintings right through to his later electronic works. It was fabulous and I only took two photos, sorry.

We had a couple of hours to kill so we went via the supermarket and bought a bunch of cheese and antipasto. Came back to the hotel and scoffed it. YUM!

Then we headed back to the arts sector to do a tour in the National Portrait Gallery. Fortunately, there were only four off us on the tour, we had an unbelievably interesting guide who made its think and express our inferences from each work before we got the reveal of the person, painter, background and era. It was a magical way to really live art and so insightful about what we each saw represented, about us and about art. Though we only really studied seven pieces in the hour it was one of the best tours I’ve done.

We were so engrossed that I forgot to take even one photo. I’m sincerely sorry.

Back to the hotel for a nap.

Tom Ford Oud Minerale

Stepped out and wandered the Canberra late night shopping. It was heaving. We wandered the streets and malls for hours. It was such a lovely evening, just aimlessly wandering together.

Headed back to the hotel and had a very light dinner.

15,000+ steps and feeling bushed.

Bed.

Saturday

Another super early morning and back at the breakfast buffet. Staff lovely, food average.  No drama. Started our day right.

Obvious Parfums Un Musc

The weather had turned nasty overnight. Rainy and cold.

We had the morning at leisure. So we hung around our hotel room reading and drinking cups of tea. Very warming under the weather circumstances. Also, super relaxing.

I’d booked us on a boat cruise around the huge lake in the middle of Canberra. On the way we took in a very wet and dismal Floriade festival of flowers. There was hardly anyone there. Usually wall to wall people. It was so nice having it to ourselves.

The boat cruise was also heavily unattended, just eight of us. No problem. Jin and I had a boozy bevy each and basically had the downstairs to ourselves with the crew. I completely forgot to take pics. SORRY! It was fun though and I recommend it. 1.5 hours of blissful relaxation. Also, while we were onboard it passed down with rain. Biblical.

We wandered back through Floriade. Caught the bus back to the hotel. Grabbed the car and headed to the Canberra Museum for our organized First Nations Tour. Our guide Carlos was passionate, interesting and so knowledgeable. It was brilliant.

Back home afterwards we headed out again in the rainy drizzle to our Jin and portia belated birthday dinner. Just the two of us at the Meat and Wine Co. Food was so good. we ate till we groaned. It was awesome. Jin’s AmEx gives us money towards one dinner a year in Australia and another overseas. This was the Aussie one and we went all out. Amazing. There was NOTHING left by the time we exited.

Rolled home. Bed

Sunday

Up early for another lackluster but kinda funny breakfast. It was already paid for as part of our deal so we weren’t going to NOT eat it. The room and staff were lovely. Also, there was a bus load of retirees. It seemed many of them had never been to a breakfast buffet before and were completely overwhelmed by the choice and were thrilled. Made us realize how freaking spoiled Jin and I are. Sometimes a reality check is necessary. They were so sweet and wide eyed, we had to help them with the toasters and the coffee machines. Fun.

Le Galion Eau Folle

We packed and checked out.

Jin had a FULL day planned for our travels back to Sydney. The sun was shining and it was an utterly magnificent day. Even from the car.

Our first stop was one of the picnic areas overlooking Lake George which is quite full right now. Last time I was here there were cows and crops where the lake should be.

Next we headed to see the Big Merino and charge Jin’s car. Australia is famous for making enormous cement things that are culturally important to us. The Big Merino was created in 1985 and is still an icon. We were there for about 15 minutes and there must have been 50 or 60 people all lining up to get their family shots. We joined in. Of course. There is a book you can get that is an Aussie Big Things Passport. Many of our families and tourists try and get them all. It’s a big deal.

Jin got caught short on the road. Bladder successfully emptied, we were off again.

After that magic moment we headed to one of our most amazing waterfalls, The Fitzroy Falls. I must have seen them at some point with my family in childhood but have zero memory of them. Because we’d had so much rain they were in full flow. Gorgeous and wonderful. We walked out three points, about 1,500m each way. It was a good but slightly puff inducing adventure.

 

Home.

Unpacked.

Hung out with our gorgeous Momo.

Watched the NRL Grand Final. It was an edge off the seat game. Won by only one point. Fabulous entertainment.

Jin went to bed.

BUBBLE BATH.

Serge Lutens Five O’Clock au Gingembre

Bed

 

Now it’s your turn. Please tell us something you did, spritzed, ate, wore, bought or finished. Maybe you saw a friend, a show, an exhibition. Maybe you got through the week without having to bury a body. Whatever, please share something with us.

I read and respond to every comment. C’mon, let’s chat.
Portia xx