Checklist: Adrian Doyle’s Melbourne

SINGAPORE — You can tell that acclaimed street artist Adrian Doyle is a true Melbourne boy.

“I went to Italy and the coffee s***s!” he intoned. “The Italians should come drink our coffee.”

And he is similarly proud of Melbourne’s laneways and art scene: He runs The Blender Studios, which nurture fellow artists as well the city’s Street Art Tours conducted by actual street artists.

“Do you know the laneways are the No 1 free attraction in Melbourne?” he shared. “We have 70 laneways just in the CBD and you can walk through every one without getting onto the main road.”

START THE DAY RIGHT

“There’s a huge breakfast culture in Melbourne. I love my breakfast. I especially like Hardware Societe. The chef is wonderful; the breakfast menu is truly fantastic. You won’t get just ham and cheese and eggs here — you get eggs and cheese with great ingredients like jamon or chorizo sausage and marchego cheese. It’s not cheap but it’s really good.”

ART RULES

“I feel the National Gallery Victoria is a wonderful place for me. Note that we call ourselves the National Gallery, even though there’s also National Gallery Australia in Canberra, because we think we’ve got the best collection of art! We also own a large collection of headless drawings I’m pretty fond of. As for my favourite street art laneways, it’s has to be Hosier and Degraves.”

TO MARKET, TO MARKET

“I love going to Queen Victoria Market on Tuesday. That’s the day when a lot of locals tend to head to Queen Vic and it’s always nice to chat to fellow shoppers who’ve been visiting the market for decades. A street art mural will also be up at Queen Vic next month as part of the 20th International Aids Conference. Come see!” Serene Lim