Paris Hilton claimed that she was broke when she first moved to Los Angeles. Not too many people believed her at the time, so hopefully that is not going to be her excuse as to why she skipped out on a $7.70 bill at Sloanes Cafe in Sydney. Apparently, at the restaurant (which is worth a stop if you're in Paddington) Paris' publicist paid for a couple of burgers, but not the mineral water and frappe that Paris decided to add to her meal. The heiress waltzed out with her crew -- without paying for the drinks.

Speaking of exclusive and members' only bars in Sydney, De Nom is another one that Sydneysiders looking for luxury might by interested in checking out. It is located on the third floor of Ruby Rabbit in Darlinghurst and it "represents a new era of decadence for Sydney." The room is modeled after the Palace of Versailles and has a capacity of only 80 people, who will be attended by "bartenders in bow ties" and "waitresses in ball gowns" while they lounge on gilded furniture. Only 100 memberships were made available at $10,000AUD each. They're probably sold out by now, but the lucky members receive wait-free entrance to the club, a private car and driver to take them to and from the venue, access to a members' only wine list, and use of the room for one private function each year on top of other benefits, not to mention that the membership card is solid gold and encrusted with rubies.

[Thanks, Tom!]

At an international jewelry exhibition in Sydney, Australia, thieves managed to make off with over $1.1 million ($1.5 million AUS) in diamonds, despite the fact that there was very tight security. In fact, the police and security overseeing the transport and delivery of the stones were supposed to be some of the best and strictest in the world. The heist could be the biggest diamond theft ever in New South Wales. Over 500 uncut stones, of various colors and sizes, were stolen prior to their entry in the trade exhibition, but aside from the fact of the theft itself, organizers seem disturbed that no one can determine quite when they went missing.

After finding a forgotten bottle of body spray in the bottom of a long-unused suitcase, I popped open the lid to check out the scent. Not only did it bring back memories of the the beach, the harbor and good friends - it was from a trip to Sydney - but it smelled wonderful. It was fresh and flowery, with definite fruity overtones. Very feminine and very springy.

I'll be the first to admit that this bottle of Evoke Surf Chic body spray was a drugstore purchase, probably bought out of necessity at the time, but I was glad to have found it. The problem was that I didn't know how to get more. A brief search turned up no sites that would ship overseas to the US, though the company still makes it. I wrote down all the fragrance notes and, in the hope of finding something similar, I turned to Sephora's Fragrance Finder.

Floral was my first selection, followed by floral, again. Looking at the options on the very first page, I was completely astounded to find that Yves St Laurent's Baby Doll perfume contains the exact same fragrance notes. I drove out to the nearest Sephora to compare the scents and, except for the slightly more alcoholic note of the perfume, it was nearly identical. Twenty minutes later, I was home and reliving the memories of a great trip via my new perfume. Price, 1.6-oz.: $54.