Ibyang Sanchez, Author at Ibyang

Style Musings: Weekend in Stripes

23 September 2011 Ibyang Sanchez 3 Comments Category: Style Musings

The night before the Husband’s Birthday Staycation in Sydney, I packed our stuff so late, I just grabbed whatever decent clothes I could find. On Friday night when we unpacked at the hotel, I realized all clothes I brought for the weekend were stripes and all my clothes’ dominant color were blue.

Saturday morning trip to the Zumbo Lab

This orange tote bag is one of my favourite bags. It’s roomy and light. I use this as an overnight bag and for when I’m wearing casual outfits.

Blue & Orange Knitted Shirt: H&M
Black Oversized Cardigan: Paper Scissors
Jeans: Overhauled Jeans by Bench
Black Sandals: Charles & Keith
Orange Tote Bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs
Sunglasses: Dior

Saturday afternoon rendezvous in the City

My favourite shoulder bag right now is this black & grey LeSportsac which I bought from LeSportsac in Greenbelt 5 (Manila, Philippines). It’s roomy and has a lot of little compartments. Compared with their other designs, this one is discreet with embroideries of little cats with gold bow tie.

Traveling light means bringing a pair of shoes that will go well with all of my outfits, hence, sandals that complimented a pair of jeans or skirt.

Blue Striped Knitted Shirt: Valleygirl
Skirt : HerBench
Black Sandals: Charles & Keith
Shoulder Bag: LeSportsac

Sunday morning on our way home

Same ensemble as the first photo only I wore a different shirt from Mango

Have a colourful weekend everyone!

Medicare Supplemental Insurance

23 September 2011 Ibyang Sanchez 1 Comments Category: Everyday Life

Nowadays, it’s important to have medical insurance for the family. Regular health maintenance and unexpected illnesses will not worry you or your family as long as you have the security of a medical insurance. With medical insurance companies being innovative, they have now introduced Medicare Supplemental Insurance to families and individuals.

Medical Supplemental Insurance is a way to provide policy coverage for gaps not included in one’s health insurance. An individual can avail supplemental insurance via http://www.medicaresupplementalinsurance.com as long as he or she has availed the basic coverage of the Part A and Part B of Medicare. You can get basic health insurance from private institutions such as Medicare.org or Aptus Insurance and whatever gaps in coverage there may be, you can get a Medical Supplemental Insurance to fill in for you.

Health is wealth. These days, it’s better to be safe and healthy with both the basic coverage and gaps in insurance taken cared of.

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Sydney Tower Eye + Max Brenner = 23 September Launch!

22 September 2011 Ibyang Sanchez 2 Comments Category: Aussie Life, Food

Received this on the mail today:

Sydney Tower Eye + Max Brenner = 23 September Launch!

If you’re wondering who “Avigail ” is…yes, that is me!

The New Sydney Tower Eye

Perfectly timed for September school holidays, and coinciding with Sydney Tower’s 30^th birthday the new Sydney Tower Eye viewing experience is set to re-launch on September 23. The new Sydney Tower Eye is bringing the best views in Sydney to brand new heights.

Starting from the base level of Sydney Tower the new Sydney Tower Eye offers guests breathtaking views of one of the world’s most beautiful and captivating cities and provides the ultimate introduction, or reintroduction, to Sydney.

Each visitor will begin their Sydney Tower Eye experience with a prelude to the amazing views they’ll experience above – a preshow of fascinating facts and history about Sydney Tower’s construction and Australia, coupled by sweeping images of iconic Sydney.

Next, visitors will enter the new 4D cinema – featuring the first 4D film ever produced in Australia. The 4D cinema experience uncovers a new dimension to Sydney with spectacular footage transporting you across Sydney Harbour, its famous coastline, iconic landmarks and events that are integral to the city. The engaging film experience is taken to the fourth dimension with evocative in-theatre effects including wind, bubbles and fire – a perfect way to get to know the inspiring city of Sydney.

Up at the top, from the renovated Observation Deck, visitors will be completely surrounded with sky-high views that stretch more than 80km in any direction. They will be able to see from the Blue Mountains in the far west, to Botany Bay in the south, to Sydney Harbour in the north and the Pacific Ocean in the east, and everything in between.

Sydney Tower Eye visitors can take their experience to a higher level and join the SKYWALK. This premium experience allows visitors to soak up exhilarating, outdoor, open-air views 260m above ground level, on the roof of the Observation Deck. Visitors will be guided by experts who know the ins and outs of Sydney during a full 45 minute tour around the top of Sydney’s highest peak – Sydney Tower.

Price: Adult $25 and Child $15 for the SKYWALK premium experience add $40

Combo tickets also available combining entry to Sydney Tower Eye with Sydney Aquarium, and/or the new WILD LIFE Sydney experience, and/or Oceanworld Manly starting at $50 for an adult and $30 for a child.

Enquiries: +61 2 9333 9222

Meet the Bald Man!

Max Brenner is opening his 25^th Chocolate Bar in Australia and will be in town to celebrate with all things chocolate! The Bald Man invites you to watch, smell, taste and feel his chocolate love story.

Share the excitement, meet the Bald Man himself and celebrate in Max style with chocolates, chocolates and more chocolates on the opening day of 23 September, 6-8pm.

Indulge in Max Brenner’s ultimate chocolate experience. Be careful though, you might find that the experience is highly addictive!

Date: 23 September

Time: 6 – 8pm

Location: Level 6, near Sky Pheonix

Thank you Westfield Sydney for the invite!

(Text and photos courtesy of Westfield Sydney)

Wanderlust Wednesdays: Insadong (Seoul, Korea)

21 September 2011 Ibyang Sanchez 5 Comments Category: Travel, Wanderlust Wednesdays

As we got out of Changdeok Palace, we just crossed the street and walked towards the heart of Insadong.

Insadong is the centre of Seoul’s commercial art world with over 50 small private art galleries displaying and selling the work of Seoul’s top artists, potters and sculptors. Masses of small shops sell pottery, antiques, calligraphy brushes, handmade paper, embroidery and souvenir knick-knacks.

Wanderlust Wednesdays: Insadong (Seoul, Korea)

Our first mission in Insadong was to find lunch. Like any other areas in Seoul, the place has an abundance of BBQ restaurants and family-owned restaurants. We were nearly starved but we took our time walking along the streets, taking photographs and going in and out of shops.

Here’s something that’s very Korean (see photo below). All throughout the day, you can see medium-sized trucks selling vegetables going around the streets and inviting people to buy from them. The trucks have a megaphone and the driver would be announcing what’s he’s selling and the sales of the day. When they stop at the side of the street, that’s when people come near the trucks and buy from them.

Went inside this shop where you can buy souvenir items such as Korea’s musical instruments, fans, Buddhist items, etc.

We bought a miniature version of Korea’s traditional drum called Buk.

We found a small but well-lit restaurant called “Jongro Chicken Centre” in the heart of Insadong.

Happy to sit, rest and finally have our late lunch.

While waiting for food, the Husband and I took this chance to study our map.

Now we know where the cutlery can be found.

The Husband had the Pork Cutlet with Parmesan Cheese. The pork was deep-fried in batter and topped with gravy and Parmesan Cheese.

While I had one of my favourite Korean dishes, the Bibimbap which came with soup and kimchi.

After lunch, we went around some more. We saw lots of street stalls, jewelry stores and lots of fashion and cosmetics store.

When in Insadong, eat! Don’t forget to try Korea’s street food available in various carts lined up all over Insadong.

Here’s me making “usyuso” with the Ahjumma‘s paninda. LOL. (Ahjumma means aunt).

Rice cakes in spicy sauce…really hot!

Deep-fried everything! From vegetables to seafood, they deep fry it!

I bought a bag of this deep-fried prawns (tempura) for only 2,000won. We just had lunch but I can’t help it. Exploring the streets of Seoul while eating street food is one of the best gastronomical experiences I had.

Before we caught the train to our next destination, we were able to witness a rally in front of the Bosingak Bell Pavilion (found near Jonggak Station). If New York has Times Square. Seoul has Bosingak Bell Pavilion, where Seoul’s mayor and other city notables ring in the New Year by tolling the famous bell.

Nearby Subway Stations in Insadong:
1. Jonggak Station (Seoul Subway Line 1)
2. Jong-no 3-ga Station (Seoul Subway Line 1, Line 3, Line 5)
3. Anguk Station (Seoul Subway Line 3)

The Husband’s Birthday Staycation

20 September 2011 Ibyang Sanchez 7 Comments Category: Aussie Life, Charmed Life of a Mrs, Couples Reflections, The Married Life, Travel

It has been crazy busy at work for both the Husband and I lately that we cannot afford to pack our bags and leave Sydney for a few days. Going out of state would mean time to get things ready and travel back and forth. At the moment, time for non-essentials are a scarcity.

So we decided to have a “staycation” (meaning: vacation at home or in the city you live in) in Sydney for two days and give ourselves a break from doing household chores and pretend to be tourists in our city.

The Husband's Birthday Staycation (September 2011)

Our home for two nights was near Chinatown. We checked-in on Friday afternoon after work, dropped our bags and headed straight out to explore the lively streets of Haymarket and have dinner.

Dropped by World Square and checked out the shops there. We saw our favourite Meiji Chocolates at Miracle Asian Supermarket.

Chinatown on a Friday night looks like this (see below) and how we love it! It reminded us of Mongkok of Hongkong and Myeongdong of Seoul. This main street in Chinatown becomes a street market from 5:00PM onwards every Friday.

One of our usual hangouts in Chinatown is the DVD/CD store where we looked at DVDs or soundtracks of Korean Dramas.

The Husband captured my giddy reaction whenever I see a DVD or CD I like.

From our suking DVD store, we had dinner at Yummy Chinese BBQ Restaurant then went back to Chinatown and visited the biggest Morning Glory store I’ve ever seen.

Some of the stuff I got from Morning Glory: Banana Case, telephone-inspired hair ties and a pair of Elmo earphones.

Saturday, the Husband’s birthday, I took him to the Adriano Zumbo Lab at Rozelle. The Husband has a very sweet tooth and he loves to bake so I thought that going to Zumbo’s Lab would be a great treat for him.

I will write a separate post about our adventure at Zumbo’s Lab, in the mean time, feast your eyes on the hundreds of Macarons that we saw at the lab.

Went back to the hotel for a nap (we woke up at 6am just to be at Zumbo’s Lab before 8am), then went out around two in the afternoon. This time, we hung out at Pitt Street area. Very late lunch of Burritos from Guzman Y Gomez and Pad Thai from Thai Riffic at the Westfield Dining Precinct.

Followed by a good stroll outside Westfield. Went in and out of shops, played at the Apple Store, took photos of street art and incidentally came across Mario and Luigi.

A quick coffee break at Becasse Bakery (went back to Westfield Dining Precinct) before we attended mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral.

We had plans of going to Darling Harbour or The Rocks for dinner but changed our minds. Instead of going to some posh restaurant, we bought take away KFC and went back to the hotel and had a quiet dinner while watching TV and just enjoyed being together. Indulged ourselves with dessert of Zumbo’s Macarons and green tea.

Our decision to stay in even on the night of Chris’ birthday has brought us to a few realizations. Nowadays, we do treasure moments being at home, just having quiet nights, occasion or no occasion. We appreciate traveling as much as we appreciate being in the comforts of our home. We love spending time with relatives and friends as much as we love having moments to ourselves. It’s all about balance especially when life is hectic with things to do, people to see and goals to accomplish.

On Sunday morning, we went back home and immediately faced the chores that await us but the two-night break we had, even if short, was uplifting and precious.