Let's Go Eat Some Good Pho!

I'm back from the motor bike ride. I doubled with Tim and Byron rode next to us. We parked the bikes and jumped a fence to walk through this park in the pitch dark by Sydney Harbour. It was gorgeous. I could hear flying foxes nearby and the sound of the waves lapping against the stone walls. After deciding it was late enough to return home I find myself sitting on my bed reflecting on all the food I was able to eat up until today when my doctor informed me I am now restricted to vegetables and fruit for the next two weeks, eek!

Several weeks ago I visited an old friend from my first year of university. Kylie is also a good friend of my house mate Tim and it was he who introduced us a few years ago.

Kylie was starving after working and exercising so we decided to walk from her beautiful terrace house in Hyde Park in the centre of the city to the 'dirty end of China Town' (personally I did not realise China Town had a 'dirty' end but I shall continue with this story regardless...).
Kylie was excited to be taking us to this really fantastic and unbelievably inexpensive Vietnamese restaurant for some 'Good Pho!'.
The funny thing is I thought she was trying to be ultra cool and shorten the word 'food' to 'fo' but nooooo, we did indeed dine on Pho and rice noodle salads with beef and pork, accompanied by chilled, sweet coconut juice. Tim ordered some kind of spirulina-looking funky green liquid, which I affectionately dubbed 'jungle juice'.

The restaurant itself was small and busy with a rapidly rotating crowd of young and old customers. Aesthetically, the restaurant was nothing to look at, though it did appear clean and the service was prompt and helpful. The meals were made using the freshest vegetables and I am looking forward to returning soon now that my doctor has sentenced me to a fortnight (minimum) of vegetables ONLY.




If you're interested, please send me a message or comment and I will divulge the location of this funky little secret spot hidden in Sydney's bustling Asian food district...

Tomorrow I will share with you the menu I selected with my friends from the sexy, albeit noisy Mexican restaurant 'Agave', situated in the sleek and sophisticated Sydney suburb that is Surry Hills...

Happy Dining


Bella xx

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Counting Sheep in Sydney in the Spring Time

Where to begin? Sometime ago we reset our mechanical clocks one hour forwards. The hour of sleep I struggled with losing was strangely difficult for my body clock to adjust to but is a small price to pay for the extra hour of sunlight I have gained with each new day- And it is a personal gain as I feel wonderful when I wake up now.
I’ve spent a great deal of time travelling to see friends in various locations over the past five months since moving to this busy metropolis and the long days have certainly played havoc on my sleep bank account. Debit, debit, oops you’ve overdrawn… Those closest to me may have noticed I have become a little grouchy when tired but a note to you dear people: I am aware of it now and have taken measures to ensure Bubbly Bella is back and is here to stay. Earlier to bed, swimming and walking to work to ensure I am actually tired when my active mind hits my pillow- Oh and I’ve brought my bed back from sleepy Armidale… I can almost see my sleep account growing, by one jumping woolly sheep* at a time.
* I could easily substitute woolly sheep for Maximilian, my nocturnal cat who tends to perform running laps of my bedroom until I evict him around 2am. Maxi made the arduous journey with me in the car to Sydney last weekend with my good friend Mitch, to whom I owe a very big ‘Thank You’ for assisting with the move. Thank you, Mitch :o).
In other Bella news I thought I would update with a few pictures.
Remember when I mentioned I was going to visit the photo booth? Well here are some of the pictures from that day…

My beautiful friends Tim and Michael..

It was seriously cramped in that tiny photo booth, and YES, we are having as much fun as it looks like we're having...

These are some highlights from last weekend in Armidale when we visited the gorgeous Blue Hole…



Here are Tshiamo and Erin enjoying the picnic we brought down the hill with us...



The boulders at Blue Hole..I'm standing in the middle...



…And these pictures follow on from our harbour side visit to my sunny hometown. Ahh the memories- both from that weekend and my happy childhood.



Here I am captured in time by my good friend Stewart Hayes, looking at fossilised shells near Lake Tabourie..we were later stranded on this island when the tide came in.


We collected driftwood sticks for a fire...


Here I have captured Stew and Tim discussing some of life's mysteries on our tiny island around the blazing fire...




The next day at the harbour side market with some second-hand tools Tim purchased.



A BIG thank you to Stewart and Jade for their photos, mixed in amongst those from the photo booth and my own. I hope you have enjoyed the different photographic styles.

Right now I am going to stretch (never underestimate the value of a long stretch when you get out of your massive pillow-top bed- Bliss!) and I am going to make crepes for my French girlfriend Audrey (Read: adopted sister), whom I collected from a 21 hour flight from Paris, via Seoul yesterday morning (seriously, where does she get her energy from?).

Oh heck: I forgot to update the food portion of my blog!
Yesterday I made Greek green lentil soup and we enjoyed it after taking a long sun-drenched stroll around the Sydney Harbour foreshore. I also made Minestrone Primavera for lunch today and pizza dough ala Uncle Rudi Valentino’s Italian recipe for pizzas. I will make one pizza bianco and another with Spanish chorizo, tomato and chilli**.

This afternoon we will venture over to the annual Glebe Street Fair. Stay tuned for more exciting stories and a picture or two..

** Sadly in this blog post there are no food pictures as my new camera has a corrupted memory disk and I am too poor to replace it just yet ha ha! Sad but true and who wants to look at green lentil soup anyway? It tastes like a Greek dream but looks like green mush... To appease your interest in the Italian recipes, feel free to look up Franco Leoni’s Italian cookbook. The recipes are simple, yet mouth-wateringly delicious and you will not be disappointed.

Buon Appetito…or with my French company in mind, Bon Appétit!

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Goodbye Sleepy Armidale

On Tuesday my new housemate and one of my closest friends, Mr Tim Fisher bragged to one of his friend’s and fellow ‘foodie’ that I write a food blog. I felt rather guilty as it has been months since my last entry and decided it was time to update but how??? Since then I had been procrastinating about it until this morning when my friend Becky asked me if I still had a blog and it occurred to me that some people might actually enjoy reading it so here goes- and my sincerest apologies to all you closet blog readers…



In my short lifetime I have realised that time inevitably flies by when you are having fun, are really busy, or want something to last. In the past couple of months I ‘put the feelers out’ for a new job and new direction. Since embarking on this journey, I have had a nerve-wracking interview, been to 'The Gong' (where Tim made us this delicious French Toast breakfast) for a coastal weekend with Delia to learn to kite surf and forget all about the silly interview.... Then I somehow secured the job and have moved from my 'safe', quaint and endearing community (Read: Bubble) in Armidale to the big smoke. Sydney.


It's nice to wake up and walk 100 metres down the road for a lovely flat white.
In the past few months since I left you lingering on the idea of my sticky date pudding, I have formed new friendships, lived a little on the wild side and grown closer to my small circle of existing friends in the Dale. I have danced all night, studied all day, pained over my French, learnt two new songs on the piano, kissed someone, gone on a city adventure with amazing people, watched the sun rise from a rooftop spa (after leaping into the outdoor rooftop pool, in the rain, in the middle of Winter and middle of the night with my friend Jared Nicholas…ha I remembered his middle name). I’ve played around with the guitar, ran off the road in the wet in my little red Getz en route to my new city…and new home (Oh my God, how will I make this my new home?), I’ve started to read Under The Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes on the train to work each morning and I have inevitably cooked in my new, albeit small kitchen. Apple pie, chicken pad thai, yellow curry, Italian bread…..the list goes on.
I’m pleased I am now living in a terrace house, loaded with character and charm with the following amazing people: Tim, Lyla, Ali and Kristina.

This is the view towards the garage (mind our washing!), which has been converted into another room.

View from the terrace towards the house. I live above the kitchen so all the lovely aromas from downstairs waft up to my bedroom. It's wonderful!

I do miss my friends back home, in particular Erin, Jade, Kailee, Kate (about-to-pop) Kirby and Maxi (Yeah! Maxi cat!).

As the weeks progress I’ll post more entries about my Sydney adventures and a heads up for those who have read this far… Tonight I will bake my favourite peach cobbler for new and ‘old’ friends, then I will embark on a night time adventure with the one and only Michael ‘Mini Braz’ Brazier as we traverse five floors of dilapidated abandoned hospital with naught but torch light, enthusiasm (a touch of insanity?), and a keen sense of adventure. We will visit a 1950s style milk bar on Parramatta Road, a café that time has forgotten, have our pictures taken and printed in black and white from an old-school style ‘print-while-you-wait’ photo booth in Broadway, and will conclude our evening walking about the lights and sounds of Sydney town.

Tim just bounded up the stairs (thump, thump, thump!) and burst into my room with a freshly blended strawberry smoothie, complete with mint sprig and sweet strawberry garnish. I opened my window to let the cool breeze in and will enjoy my breakfast listening to the birds as I start my day. I love sleep ins on Saturdays!
Have a wonderful weekend!

Bella xx

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