New Year, New Beginnings

I was a little bit slack during the holidays as I do a lot of my blog posts while I am trying to kill some time at work. I was lucky enough to have quite a few days off and even luckier that I was able to go to Italy and spend Christmas with Alex's family. So I naughtily have done nothing but eat, drink and be merry and I hope you all had as lovely a Christmas and New Year's as I did. But the point of this post is to share my New Year resolutions. I thought if I write them down and make them public I'm more likely to stick to them, right? Well here they are:

1. Update my blog more frequently - This is super important as I was MEANT to do that while I was travelling and instead was very lazy and I am now dealing with the consequences by playing catch up!

2. Eat more healthily and exercise - This is pretty much my resolution every year but is much more important this year. With London's cold climate I'm tending to turn to the comfort food more often with dire consequences. I also was very fitness motivated before I travelled and while I was travelling I was doing a lot of walking. Unfortunately in London I have done sweet f**kall! So like I said New Year = New Beginnings so I need to kick my own butt and get myself sorted again.

3. Keep travelling - The whole point of moving to London was that I was in close proximity to Europe and this coupled with very cheap airfares would mean I could explore more of Europe that I wasn't able to get to in my 2 month trip. In the few months that I have been in London I have gone to Paris, back to Rome, Capua and Zurich, so I want to keep this the focus of my time here.

So there they are, wish me luck and I hope all of you who have made resolutions stick to them as well!

Wanderlust for a Glutton

Wanderlust is a strong desire for or impulse to wander, or, in modern usage, to travel and Glutton is a person who eats and drinks excessively or voraciously.

A few months ago I decided to make some changes in my life. I had been doing the same thing, without any sort of direction for some time. I decided to make one big change to prevent myself from going stagnant, to inject some excitement and learn and live some more. My boyfriend, Alex and I decided we would start saving for our adventure trip of a lifetime. We are starting in his home country of Italy, taking to the Middle East in Egypt and right back around through Europe again from Turkey, Greece and Spain to name a few, and hopefully we will make to South America after working in London.

It is because of this decision to embark on a travel adventure, combined with my ultimate passion of food that I decided to start this blog. As anyone who knows me can attest to, the one thing that can have me talking for hours, with that starry eyed look in my eyes and excitement in my voice, is food.

These two passions of travelling and food for me have been forever intertwined. Being born in Cebu, Philippines but growing up in Melbourne, Australia since I was three meant I have been brought up with a great appreciation and understanding of other cultures and their food.

Growing up Filipino meant food was an integral part of family life. My dad cultivated not only a love for Filipino food but also other cuisines from around the globe as well. For as far back as I can remember I was taught appreciation for food and how to cook. I look back fondly on memories of leafing through my dad’s recipe books and tasting the finished outcome of a delicious meal. My dad’s passion for food resonated with me, as he taught me about other cultures and their cuisines.

Every couple of years I travelled to visit the Philippines, and other countries in Asia. I got to experience Filipino barbeques, the live fish markets of Hong Kong, and many other amazing experiences of Asian culture and cuisine.

The next chapter in my gastronomic adventure will be Europe, the Middle East and South America. Here is where I will share them with my friends and family. Whether it is here in my home town of Melbourne, or in my escapades around the globe I’ll be sharing my food experiences with you.