Yoni's Culinary Adventures

In a recent post I reflected on the inappropriateness of this blog's title 'Yoni's Travels' due to the fact that I'm no longer travelling. Today I thought a more appropriate title might be 'Yoni's Culinary Adventures' because, sadly perhaps, second to meeting old friends, food seems to be the most interesting thing going on in my life right now. I am, however, going back to England soon, where the culinary adventures will surely end, so perhaps its better I just dedicate individual posts to food instead.

Central Asian Cuisine: Laghman
During my time in Central Asia one of the most common dishes I encountered was handmade noodles. In Chinese 'pull noodles' are called lamian. In the Turkic languages of Central Asia this has been corrupted to laghman. The dish originates from China, but can be found in all the 'stan' countries along the ancient Silk Road trade route. It normally takes the form of white flour noodles topped with grilled lamb and green & red peppers. It's delicious. But day after day for weeks, well, it becomes a chore to eat. But, it's been ages since I ate it, so today I followed my cravings by getting a serving at a specialist Chinese-Muslim restaurant in Sydney.

The noodles I found in Sydney were remarkably similar to those I ate in Western China , even if the atmosphere wasn't. I attach a photo of noodles I ate in the desert oasis town of Turpan in Western China. Turpan is populated by ethnic Uighurs, descendants of Turkic tribesmen. They don't look Chinese. I ate these noodles in a small restaurant in the local market, where I sat with my friend Rayner alongside fierce looking Turkish men wearing robes and turbans, and attractive ladies in conservative dress and sporting fashionable monobrows. The town itself is famed for its grapes, of which I attach a photo. By contrast, in Sydney I ate the noodles under plastic grapes in a small restaurant directly adjacent to my university's library in urbanised Chinatown.

Laghman in Turpan, Western China

Laghman in Sydney

Middle Eastern Cuisine: Falafel
The Muslims certainly know what they're doing with food. Israeli cuisine piggy-backs on the culinary traditions of its Arab population, who are responsible for the country's 'national dish', falafel. Falafel are small balls, a deep-fried paste made from chick-peas, garlic, cumin, and parsley. They can be found in many Middle Eastern countries, but some of the best are to found in Israel where the falafel balls are smaller, and served in a fluffly pocket of pita bread with various salads and sauces.

I decided on the weekend to go eat some, along with a uni friend, his girlfriend, and another friend who I met on a train in China. We went on a fine Summer's day to a favourite Israeli falafel cafe near the world-famous Bondi beach. The falafel was divine, served with fresh lemonade flavoured with rose-water. Lunch was followed by another divine Arabic treat, baklava - a dessert made with pastry, honey, nuts and rose-water. We also did some sight-seeing along Sydney's attractive coastline near Watson's Bay.

Falafel and baklava for lunch in Sydney

In Sydney's East

Strolling around Sydney

The days pass, I meet another friend, revisit old haunts, take some pictures...

Go to a festival...


Visit the shops...


Think about things...

A wedding

I went this weekend to the Blue Mountains to attend the wedding of two very dear friends of mine. All went to plan, ie. they got married. The day was, as one would hope, a most jovial affair. The setting was pretty, on a quiet hillside, surrounded by nothing much more than trees. The ceremony was held in a tiny chapel. The bride and groom entered to the traditional bridal march, and after various words, facial expressions & kisses later, they exited to the bridal march theme from Star Wars as we all blew bubbles from a little contraption we were each presented with. It was most excellent. I stayed the night in a cottage nearby, along with a hoard of Irish people, who had come down especially for the wedding (the groom is Irish). It was cold.


At dinner I was even asked to say a few words into the microphone for the newlyweds, for which I was rewarded with some chocolates. I sat at a table with friends and was merry on food, drink and good company. When some had dithered off to the dance-floor, and when not engaged in conversation, my thoughts drifted to other things. I contented myself by blowing bubbles, watching them fly about in their funny way, and thinking about a girl I know.

I spent the previous evening alone at the Royal Botanical Gardens, where someone had erected a cinema screen on the water for 'moonlight cinema'. This was pleasant, I saw the film 'the Darjeeling Limited' which was ok enough. It's a romantic place there, over looking the town and sea by night. Oh well. Good things come to those who wait, I'm told...


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PS. My latest poll asking 'Where should Yoni stop on his way to London?', has ended. Token support for China, Taiwan and Thailand. I suspect one person embarked on a campaign to get me to go to Canada, because Canada received a whopping 19 votes, and I only know two people living there. If we rule Canada out, virtually everyone thought I should go to Korea. Thank you readers for your votes, and support. I still don't know where I shall go. I'd like to do as you've suggested, but, well, it's complicated. New poll soon.

Sydney

Well, I'm now in Sydney. I used to live here, for 5 years. It hasn't changed particularly since I was here last - just a year ago. The main purpose of this visit, apart from seeing my friends, is to attend the wedding of two dear friends of mine. The wedding will be tomorrow and it will be in the mountains. Last night was the 'stag' night, also sometimes called a 'bucks' night. This started at a Belgian Beer cafe for dinner, and beer, and later proceeded to a, erm, 'gentleman's establishment'. This was a curious experience, as none of us had ever been to such a place, we were all quite shy and embarrassed, yet oddly contented.

Time in Sydney spent so far meeting friends over food. It's a bit of a joke that after having come back from Asia I seek out Asian food in Sydney, but after all it is rather good. Enjoyed Malaysian and Taiwanese food so far. And ice-cream.




Yesterday was Valentine's day. Lots of couples on the streets holding red roses. Flowers are an awkward gift to give a girl, I once discovered. What's the girl supposed to do with the roses? Hold them for the rest of the evening? To say thank you and then dispose of them would be the most practical thing to do, but that would only wound the guy's fragile ego. Perhaps I wouldn't be cynical if I was lucky enough to have a special girl to give flowers to. I guess I have to exercise patience until I meet her~

Sunshine Coast

With a bit of tact, consideration and careful execution, all manner of things are possible! This weekend, for example, I somehow managed to play my cards right by convincing three lovely girls to join me on a drive to the mountains and beaches of the Sunshine Coast.

We set out from Brisbane first thing on Saturday morning. After briefly engaging in a car-crash on the motorway, we continued our journey into the mountains. Our first two stops were at the small mountain towns of Maleny and Montville. There we enjoyed the views, lunch, we visited a vineyard, a cheese-factory and several quaint boutique shops.




From the mountains we made our way down to the coast, to sit on the beach at Noosa, perhaps the most famous beach on the Sunshine Coast. I fell asleep in the shade while the girls played on the beach.


We then drove back towards Brisbane and stopped once more along the beach. This was a special spot. It was all pastel shades of pink, green and blue, the sun had just set. There was a gentle sea breeze in our faces, we just took some photos and walked along the beach a little. We even saw a giant sea turtle, but it slipped away into the water before we could get our cameras out. How marvellous to have an encounter with such a large creature from the sea.



Lots of driving took us back to Brisbane, where I crashed on a couch while the girls took care of dinner. It was a great day. ^^

A spot of rain

It's been raining on the Gold Coast. A lot. For weeks. It's flooding in places. And yet, the city's water reserves are supposedly still at critical levels. So much so that we still have in place level 6 water restrictions - this means that by law we are not allowed (in most circumstances) to water our gardens, to wash our cars and we are expected to take very short showers. Failure to comply results in hefty fines.

Flooded cricket oval - not particularly severe flooding, but then, this is after only a few hour's rain.

Meanwhile, for better or for worse, my mum decided to return to the Gold Coast a week early. So at the moment, it's just me and my mum at home. There's not all that much going on, we still go for a walk to the beach - even today, despite the rain. My weekly highlight is usually a trip up to Brisbane on the weekend to see people.

Attaching some pictures from today's outing to the beach. I fear this blog is degrading from a chronicle of Yoni's Awesome Adventures to a mere chronicle of Yoni's Mundane Daily Happenings. I hope it still provides interest for some readers. At least today's post features a photo of a turtle, albeit with it's head eaten off. Sorry about that.

The beach

Beach houses

Beach erosion - persistent bad weather and high tides have caused serious erosion right along the Gold Coast

Debris - bad weather has scattered debris / flotsam right along the coast

Sea froth

A dead turtle, washed up on the beach