Some Updates

Guys, I bought a ticket. After what seems like forever I am returning to my favourite place on earth this December. I am so excited for a NZ summer! Road-trips, Kapiti ice-cream, hikes, waterfalls, P.Y.O berries… ah, the list is endless. I also can’t wait to simply kiss my family to death. I told my mom, I said, I’m just gonna take the first three months to sit next to you in some beautiful park on some probably-graffitied bench and just breathe and enjoy the moments.

So, I’ll be home in December. And that’s all I know of my future at this stage. And I don’t mind it. I don’t mind it one bit because I like the possibilities such openness of plans brings. I’m grateful and I’m excited. If travelling has taught me anything, it’s that the world has SO much to offer and that I am by far in the top top top wealthy and fortunate. So, not only is it my dire obligation to really live but my calling to make the most of it.

Some updates: 

These cuties recently arrived back from their epic holiday in Israel to their mountain-side home in Japan, but here are some of the pics Lifa sent me last. Sabich is an Iraqi and Israeli sandwich, consisting of a pita bread stuffed with deep-fried eggplant, hard boiled eggs, salad, tahini, amba (mango pickle) and spice. Lifa says this is healthy street food at its best. Oh man. What a tease. Me want now.

Pics from Jose (father of the munchkins I looked after in Spain) of the kids and their mother making brownies and biscuits. I miss Spain and I miss Jose’s delicious and healthy dishes. Of course I miss you too, Bea! Are you still eating my homemade muesli for breakfast?

Yasu, my unexpected friend is still making healthy smoothies like I taught her and spending me pictures of them. I can’t wait to see her again. Also, her middle sister recently got married and oh my, the pics are gorgeous!

As for me, I was recently taken to a really fun and delicious Mexican restaurant, one like I’ve never experienced and I LOVED it. I can’t say enough. I wish NZ had something like this. First off, everyone is given complimentary chips and dip. Then throughout the night, if you wish, your chips are topped up again and again by the wait-staff walking around with literal shovelfuls of chips – in the same manner coffee cups are refilled here. Anyways these chips, they’re not like your regular over-salted thick Dorito crips. Instead, they’re really thin and light and crispy and unsalted. So good. Okay and the food, cheap as chips (as Kiwi’s say and of course, suitable in this context) fresh, and flavoursome. I had vegetarian enchiladas and he had something called a Chicka Chicka Bang Bang. Or was it Boom Boom (hehe)? I can’t remember.

Last but not least, don’t forget to check out my latest Savvy Article featuring baby potatoes and I use “baby” in the strongest sense of the word here, by clicking THIS.

When in Cambodia…eat Vietnamese food!

Ohayo dear subscribers.

Sorry for the brief silence; I’ve been eating my way through Phnom Penh. And believe me, at every bite, have been earnestly yearning to do a blog-post and share the deliciousness with you. I ate many things in Cambodia; street food, restaurant food and lovingly home-cooked meals. Interestingly, some of the most delicious foods I ate in Cambodia were of Vietnamese origin; cooked and sold by Vietnamese folk. After the classic Banh mi (an out-of-this-world sub), the two following VEGAN treats were my favourite.

The first was a mixture of Xoi (sticky rice – white, black and green-tinged) mixed with black-eyed peas, wrapped in a thin crepe (like a burrito) and topped with shredded coconut and palm sugar. It was served hot in a small plastic bag. My lovely friend and expert tour-guide instructed I squeeze the “burrito” together tightly (whilst still in the plastic) so that later it wouldn’t fall apart. Imagine a hot sweet coconuty burrito with a rich fruity aroma. Oh mama. One cost 0.40 cents. 10 more please!




The second was a hot sweet tofu drink sold by the most adorable little man. An adorable little man with no sign or model or any indication whatsoever of his product. Luckily, I was accompanied by a local who instinctively knew the contents of this man’s two pots. The drink was ordered and I was WOWed. Firstly, my cup was filled with hot silken tofu, followed by warmed coconut milk and lastly, topped with a strong ginger syrup. It was seriously yummy in addition to being VEGAN and HEALTHY. In other words, my next trip is to Vietnam. For if the rest of Vietnamese food is anything like these two (three including bahn mi) then I’m in lurve! A mere 0.25 cents for one. Yes, you read that right.