New breakfast show visits Cabramatta

Noodlies, Sydney food blog shows Tash, Tarsh and Matho around

If Australia’s breakfast TV is starting to look same-same to you, Wake Up is hoping to be a breath of fresh air. The show hasn’t started yet, but it’s already causing waves. For the next few weeks, the hosts will be touring Australia in a huge bus, stopping at capital cities and regional centres so they can talk to people outside the usual CBD hubs. The intriguing project has a presidential campaign or political community cabinet feel to it.

Kudos to the Wake Up team for putting Cabramatta on their itinerary and other suburbs in the west like Penrith. When the crew asked to grab lunch with noodlies to talk about issues important to locals, I jumped at the chance to showcase the vibrant local community.

Wake Up Cabramatta noodlies

The chemistry between Natarsha Belling, Natasha Exelby and James Mathison is immediately apparent, there’s a warm, relaxed camaraderie that’s immediately noticeable. As is their obvious interest in Cabramatta. I think they left with a greater understanding and respect for migrant communities, in particular their punishing work ethics which has led to much success.

wake up bau truong

At our lunch at Bau Truong, they saw how this delicious and popular institution started out in a laneway and the struggles of Bac Cang Nghieu, being tormented by drug dealers daily during the bad days of Cabramatta (the hosts above with Michael Thai from Bau Truong and noodlies).

wake up vinatas

And of course we had to go to a Vietnamese hot bread shop, where they met the owner of Vinata’s and got a glimpse of the long hours – they start work from 1am each day (above).

We also talked about the bad Cabramatta drugs days and how the community got together to make it a better place and, during that process, discovering their path and role in Australian society. Co-incidentially that story is told in Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta, a landmark three part documentary currently showing on SBS One, the final chapter airs this coming Sunday, 6th June at 9.30pm (promo above).

Noodlies is looking forward to the launch of seeing Tash, Tarsh and Matho on Wake Up on Channel 10 – coming very, very soon.