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

Got Fruit Flies? WWMcGD?

I’m not sure where these fruit flies are coming from, but I’ve been finding fruit flies loitering around my sink (damn hooligans!). This is not my ideal sink situation. So I asked myself - what would MacGuyver do?

A quick Google search provided a plethora of ways to catch and/or kill these pesky insects – one way even suggested utilising the oven or dishwasher as a trap to lure and subsequently torture/kill the fruit flies at extreme temperatures. I instead choose a more humane method.

All you need is;
Red Wine Vinegar
A small glass jar/cup
Cling Wrap
A fork

Half fill the small glass jar with Red Wine Vinegar and then cover it with cling wrap. Using the fork, poke some holes through the cling wrap – this acts to let the fruit flies in, but not out. The fruit flies are attracted to the smell of red wine vinegar because it smells like rotting fruit. Place the jar near the infested area and watch as the fruit flies trap themselves. Simple! Leave the device overnight and in the morning you will find nothing but floating remnants of a past problem. Thus, with a few simple, household items, I was able to manifest a device so successful at catching fruit flies that I now find myself wanting more of these pesky insects around (if only to catch them again).

Sexy Spanish can be made at home? Ole!

Upon my return from Hong Kong, my partner and I received a belated Christmas present – a Spanish cooking class voucher from Red Balloon. We were elated by this because learning to cook an exotic cuisine had placed high on our to-do lists of 2010.

Spanish has always been one of those cuisines that I assumed I could never make myself - a litre of sangria will do that to you. However, this course did show me that it is as easy as empanadas!

The Cheeky Chefs (from the Cheeky Food Group) Terry and Daniel, demonstrated everything from the basics of cutting an onion without getting emotional to the numero uno dish - seafood paella. Oh, and lets not forget the scrumptious chorizo dish that consisted of chorizo, sherry and flames (the eyebrow singeing kind). Simplicity never tasted so good.

During the three hour class your hunger for learning slowly develops into real hunger and the blood, sweat and non-tears that went into the cooking is rewarded with an earned (self-cooked) culinary feast and a few glasses of wine.

Muchos gracias Cheeky Food Group!

Why I have been M.I.A.

Yes, I know I have been seriously slack and M.I.A over the holidays and in the New Year. I apologise and assure you that I have been doing stuff which I will definitely share on my blog.

All I need now is to find the time to regurgitate all my experiences...

For a sneak peak into my adventures I'll tell you that I have been to Hong Kong and Macau, I've been to a rad concert at the Enmore and I have watched some pretty good movies. I will also include a rant about Richard Wilkins- a man who continues to frustrate me, I know I never get personal, but this guy is asking for it.

So yes... please watch this space for the adventures of Kat.

Blog you later!

New handbag!

For my upcoming trip to Hong Kong, many have warned me of bag snatchers.

So I have been in search of the ideal handbag to take in order to keep my must needed shopping dollars safe. Today at the Strandbags at East Gardens Westfields, I found the one! It was perfect. With an over the shoulder strap which was adjustable with a zipper for the main compartment and one at the front for change. There's even a zipper on the inside for valuable documents. It's also big enough for my camera!


Price: $24.99