Well blog me down and call me hungry!

In an initiative brought on by Fairfield State MP Joe Tripodi to “bring the Leichardt to Canely Heights” (as you do), Santos has emerged as one of the top eating establishments in the Canely Heights area. It offers traditional Italian cuisine for an early lunch or late dinner. AND for a reasonable price.

I ordered an awesome creamy pasta with prawns which was covered in deliciousness. My boyfriend’s mum ordered a steak which was cooked to her liking and smelled like it was cooked with love and a side of veggies. Boyfriend’s sister ordered a dish called spaghetti no.46, it had an array of marinated seasoned veggies and the waitress recommended it with penne instead of spaghetti (a wise choice indeed) as I had food envy the whole time!

So if you’re in the area and feel like a good feed, check out Santos. The wait staff are also very helpful and the restaurant as a family friendly atmosphere.

Address 231 Canley Vale Rd (Cnr. Derby St). Canely Heights NSW
Phone (02)9727 0580 Open Mon-Thu 11am-midnight, Fri-Sat 11am-2am; Sun 11am-11:30pm

Feel like pineapple, but also wouldn’t mind some liquorice?

Darrell Lea have the answer! Pineapple Liquorice! Now don’t freak out just because it sounds like a crazy Willy Wonka concoction (it actually tastes like the Willy Wonka Fabulious Raspberry), but with the artificial sweetness of a freshly cut baby pineapple. It was exactly what I needed on a Friday afternoon at the office.

I also scored a double bonus soft eating liquorice hit because at Darrell Lea you could buy a bag of liquorice for an extra dollar with any Darrell Lea purchase. The store also looks like a chocolate Easter bomb exploded in it. So go nuts!  

Got juice? (Insert photo of me with a juice moustache)

On the Urban Remedy detox, you GET juice!

This detox system has passed the lips of Vogue and madison editoral as well as early morning starter Melissa Hoyer (as well as many Twitter-ettes), and since I’m such a sucker for experiences which others have tried and tested, I thought I’d give the 1 day juice detox a try. Urban Remedy‘s 1 day detox involves 6 juices you have every 2 hours from 9am to 7pm. You’re not allowed to eat, but if you must it allows you to have some cucumber sticks or mashed up avocado. So it’s not the end of the world, but damn was it difficult (yes I caved and had cucumber sticks- they were the best cucumber sticks in the world!).

The awesomeness involved in this process is the cute mini esky you get with the juices (it can later be turned into a lunch bag post detox) and a juice delivery right to your door (minimal effort=me likey). You also don’t have to think about what to eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner. And suprise! The juices are quite filling.

The not-so-awesomeness part was the drinking of the juices, some just did not taste so great, but it all depends on the person. I mean if you don’t mind beetroot, silverbeet or parsley in your juice then you’ll love every sip of these juices. I did have a favourite; pineapple, apple and mint. It was dee-licious!

So how did I feel the next day? Meh… I was expecting a boost in my energy levels, especially since I was feeling so lethargic and tired before my detox, I actually felt the same as I did before, so I suspect that the 1 day detox did not incite much change. I would consider doing the 3 day detox next time, but as a first-time detoxer the 1 day detox was definitely a good idea.

Suffering from Post- Traumatic hair-cut syndrome?

I was a sufferer. It took me 5 months to grow out my fringe from my last hair cut and I have been in no rush to get a trim. So I hit the websites and blogs, searching for hairdressers in Sydney who can handle cutting thick Asian hair, in order to avoid another 'hair-tastrophe'. When I moved into Inner West Sydney I thought I’d try the Newtown strip of hair boutiques.

Noddy’s on King: Has won several awards in the past and I think they have gone straight to their heads. All I wanted and expected was little trim, 7cm off the ends later I ended up with a shorter than expected cut. The people were nice enough, although the guy who cut my hair started bagging out Sydney and how everything closes early and there’s not party life. All I wanted to say was “Dude, nobody brings down my town!” if only he converted all that negative energy into positive hair-cutting energy. There was also nothing special about my hair cut - it was just really short and I paid too much for it.

Price: Senior Stylist $85 (includes a shampoo and blow dry which they describe as ‘complimentary’)

Toni & Guy: This place gave a great hair cut and the stylist actually listened to what I wanted. They also offered a wide variety of beverages (I chose hot chocolate because it was winter and raining), she didn’t cut too much off the ends and also recommended a reasonable treatment for my hair, in order to keep it healthy. The only reason I didn’t go back was because the atmosphere was a little too 'come in get a cut and go' - there wasn’t an intimate atmosphere and I had a feeling if I had come in again in 2 months, the stylist who cut my hair wouldn’t remember me. You see for me, having some sort of relationship with my hairdresser is important - I am more enticed to ask for product recommendations and go back for those special occasions.

Price: $83 for a cut & blow dry with a top stylist, $30 for a deluxe treatment.

Dirty Girl hair: This was the place which caused my traumatic hair experience. At the time I was told that it was Daniel Mostyn’s ‘budget’ salon as his official salon had moved and he had hired a bunch of new hair dressers to run Dirty Girl at 230 King Street Newtown. There is an edgy industrial feel to the store so I was a little excited for a new look. I sat down and talked it over with the stylisy who was about to Edward-scissorhand-me and I was expecting a slightly shorter fringe and lots of layers, which was fine. She took me out the back for a wash and then it happened. She hacked into me hair like it was going to attack her. It is true, I have the Asian hair, thick and lots of it, but still there is no need for hair-cut rape. I ended up with a diagonal fringe which was 2cm at the shortest and then it eventually blended in with the rest of my hair. I ended up being fringe-less for at least 2 months, it is a look which my forehead does not care for!

Pelo hair: After being a hair perve for the last few weeks- checking out my friends’ tresses. I asked a friend of mine with a great cut and curly hair, who tames her mane, and she referred me to Pelo hair at 526 King Street Newtown. She recommended Brigitte or Kelly, so I made my appointment and I tried to psyche myself up for it, reminding myself that it will be different this time. When I walked through the doors, I was welcomed into a warm and friendly environment, the chatter sounded like everyone knew each other and the laughter confirmed this. My appointment was with Kelly and she looked at the condition of my hair and the aftermath of my Dirty Girl cut, she then understood the development of my post-traumatic hair cut syndrome. We basically needed to balance my hair out, since it was starting to look a little Carol Brady. So I got my wonderful and relaxing shampoo, then it was down to business and I ended up with an awesome cut which hid the fact that there are still sections of my hair that needed to be grown out. Kelly is my hair savior! I have already made an appointment to see her again for a wedding I have coming up and now that she knows my hair, she’ll know exactly what to do with it!

Price: $78 for Kelly (Who also owns the salon with Brigitte) they also do complimentary fringe trims!

This is definitely my kind of place!

I Miss Chu too!

My work colleague, Elise and I decided to treat ourselves to an awesome lunch feast. My namesake was the answer! Miss Chu at 1/150 Bourke Street Darlinghurst has the best dumplings in town (and that’s coming from an Asian with dumpling experience).

The store is presented as a canteen from primary school, complete with lunch bag style menus and old-school desks. It is these nostalgic little details that make Miss Chu's so appealing - and it definitely helps you forget about the noise from neighbouring Kings Cross and construction sites.

Then there's the food!

I highly recommend their entire menu, you honestly can’t go wrong! From the duck pancakes to the custard buns, prepare your taste buds for a delicious journey to flavour-town! With fresh ingredients and food prepared to order, Miss Chu's will have you wanting more.

The awesomeness continues because Miss Chu's doesn't just serve you lunch, they cater too! So if there's a baby shower or a work lunch, think of Miss Chu's! This once little 'hole-in-the-wall' has demonstrated the power of word-of-mouth, and flourished into a true food contender in the Sydney food scene.

P.S- This lunch (Shanghai dumplings, Asian veg. dumplings, custard buns and pork buns) was only $17.50 and it was enough for two people!

Note: Limited seating and a large lunchtime following (translate to mean - lunch rush or very busy).

Do you know random stuff and want to make $$$ from this knowledge?

Test how much you REALLY know @Newtown RSL, every Sunday at 4pm - Free Trivia, with Trivia Master Steve. There are several chances to win free grog and first prize is $50 in cold hard CA$H!! - I have only had the privilege of winning once, and the winnings were put towards an awesome Thai dinner.

The questions are a mix of subjects reminiscent of the game Trivial Pursuit, but instead of ‘pie’, there’s alcohol. The questions are reasonable, even if a bit ‘Gen-X’ – however, this shouldn’t deter anyone from participating, because most of the answers are filed away in the ‘I’ll never need to remember that’ part of the brain. For example...name a country made up of one word that contains all the vowels? (I will reveal the answer in a week's time, unless someone can beat me to it?)

So get your butts down to the@ Newtown RSL, on the corner of Station St and Enmore Rd. and test out your know how! A good way to chillax on a Sunday afternoon with friends.

Like a ‘dance’ virgin - Confessions from an uncoordinated dance floor

Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow have demonstrated to us (through their extremely fit bodies) that the Tracy Anderson method works. Tracy has also sculpted the bodies of Shakira, Kate Hudson, Jennifer Aniston and cougar Courtney Cox. So who the heck is she?

Initially an aspiring dancer, Tracy was battling some weight issues. After gaining more than 25 kg during her pregnancy she was determined to ‘cut the fat’. She began questioning doctors and doing extensive research and discovered that the key to weight loss was working the accessory muscles (not those ones that make you pick up that cute handbag), rather than the large muscle groups. So after using herself as a guinea pig for six weeks she had slimmed down to her current size and has stayed the same shape ever since (FYI Sam is now ten).

Tracy then decided to take this out into the world and tested on 150 customers, which confirmed that she “could take any woman from any genetic background and turn her in this teeny-tiny dancer type”. You could even eat whatever you wanted and still maintain this shape - She had me at eat whatever I want.

I was an eager beaver and bought two of Tracy’s DVD’s; The Tracy Anderson Mat Workout (which will be reviewed at a later date) and the Tracy Anderson Method. When the DVD arrived I thought “Woohoo, small dancer’s body here I come!” Then I hit play - turns out in order to achieve a small dancer’s body, you must dance. Who would have thought it! A choreographed dance routine from multiple views, intended to ‘get her flow’, left me feeling less like a dancer and more like an uncoordinated relative on a wedding room dance floor.

To get a second opinion I then let Elise borrow the DVD and her response was “It's hard, but for the wrong reasons. She isn't a good instructor. Her moves felt like an 8 year old trying to choreograph a routine in her backyard after 6 months of dance lessons.” So it’s not just me. Phew!

Despite my reaction to the DVD, there really is no stopping this petite dancer/fitness guru as a reality series is in the works that is said to be a ‘docusoap’ that will chronicle her life in New York City.

I also still have her Mat workout to try; my current expectation is that it’s a mixture of Pilates and dancing – review to come soon (without photos of me prancing around Tracy Anderson-style, this dance is not visually friendly).

Picture Source: EzyDVD