Aussie Life Archives | Page 7 of 42

Magnum Pleasure Bar (Sydney, Australia)

24 August 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 4 Comments Category: Aussie Life, Food

For six weeks, the Magnum Pleasure Bar in Westfield Sydney gave Sydneysiders the pleasure of creating their own Magnum Bar. The pop-up store gave each Magnum bar creator a choice of chocolate (white, milk or dark) and and three to four of 18 toppings for just $7.

We went passed the Magnum Pleasure Bar on its last Friday and there were so many people on queue. As much as we would like to experience creating our own Magnum bars, we just couldn’t sacrifice our time for waiting. With the line that we saw surrounding the pop-up store, we thought one would need to wait for at least 40 to 60 minutes.

Nevertheless, it was fun to watch the staff behind the Magnum Pleasure Bar dip the Magnum vanilla bars in chocolate coatings and shower them with lots of toppings. The Magnum Bar creations look divine and pretty at the same time. Maybe the next time they do something like this again, we’d have our chance. Or better yet, this could be a sign that soon enough, we’ll have a Magnum Cafe here in Sydney.

Were you able to create your own Magnum Bar at the pop-up store? What coating and toppings did you get?

Christmas In July Celebration

30 July 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 2 Comments Category: Aussie Life, Charmed Life of a Mrs, Food

This may sound corny or ridiculous to some but since Winter falls from June to August in the southern hemisphere, there is such a thing called “Christmas in July. In countries such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, some people get together for a “Christmas in July” celebration to have that Christmas feel during winter.

I learned about “Christmas in July” when I moved in Sydney . The concept was introduced to me by girlfriends who thought that we should come together for a Christmas-inspired meal. No giving of gifts, no fancy trimmings, just pure love for food and togetherness. We have made it a tradition and look forward to it every Winter. While my friends and I always catch up often during lunch/dinner/coffee/parties/special occasions, our Christmas in July celebrations are a bit special because we make sure there’s Baked Ham on the table.

The truth was we almost skipped our “Christmas in July” celebration this year. I was semi-hibernating and busy at work. Our weekends are compromised as the Husband and I are working on web design projects. Our other friends also had things going for them. The only solution was to take a day-off during the week and fortunately, a few of us were able to get a day-off on a Thursday.

We were blessed with lovely sunny weather and a table laden with delicious food. We had Baked Ham, Beef Bulgogi, Fried Chicken and Salads. Dessert was this beautiful Mocha Roll (that tasted exactly like Goldilocks) created by our friend and ice cream on chocolate cups.

Instead of dinner, we opted to get together for lunch so we can spend the day out in sun and play with the kids.

I love that there is such as thing as “Christmas in July” and I’m glad that it’s a valid occasion here in Australia. It’s the kind of Christmas that I like where all you have to do is share a plate of food and just be there for the people you love. It’s also a wonderful excuse to get together in the middle of Winter and feel the warmth that genuine friendship brings.

Related Posts:

Christmas in July!

The Wonderful Things That Make Up A Weekend

Our Happy Christmas in July

Elizabeth Gilbert – Life After Eat Pray Love (January 2013)

5 July 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 2 Comments Category: Aussie Life, Charmed Life of a Mrs, Cherished Memories, Deep Thoughts

This month, “A Wife’s Charmed Life“ is celebrating its 6th birthday in the blogosphere. I sometimes look back at the journeys this blog has taken and I always wonder in awe at how much it has grown and how much I’ve grown too as person. So as a gift to my beloved readers, let me share a special moment that happened on my birthday six months ago: attending Elizabeth Gilbert’s talk at the Sydney Opera House where I also got to meet her.

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Elizabeth “Liz” Gilbert is intelligent, funny and endearing. Her aura illuminates with such positive energy. Listening to her talk about her life and advices when it comes to following one’s passion was a very inspiring experience.

I love Liz Gilbert. Her book Eat Pray Love brought a lot of sense to me and thru it I learned the missing link in my life then which was the value of balance. It was a dream come true to see her and learn a lot from her stories.

The best part was I got to meet her too! She did this talk three days before my birthday in January this year and it was one of best gifts the Universe has ever given to me. When we met, she complimented me that I have a beautiful name (she referred to Ivy) and then greeted me a “Happy birthday!” when I mentioned that she is fate’s birthday gift to me. It was so surreal!

Elizabeth Gilbert, Life After Eat Pray Love (January 2013)

Here she is signing my old Eat Pray Love book. 🙂

I’m sharing a video of her talk at the Sydney Opera House below. It’s lengthy but it’s worth your time. However, if you have no time to watch just yet, here are some things I learned from Liz Gilbert’s talk:

On her life:

Writing is her only talent, she does it good and had always been her path.

She’s experienced life in Wyoming as a ranch girl.

She’s gullible…she easily believes in everything.

She enjoys the company of men as men are more interesting.

She describes herself as an introvert trapped in an extrovert body.

On writing

When writing, one should have a particular person/audience directed to .

On writing Eat Pray Love

It was a letter to her friend Darcy.

It’s her most intimate book as it is her story but she had no regrets writing it, it is a great blessing to her life.

The best thing that has happened during her journey was the 4 months she spent in India as she finds a peace resolution to herself.

On overcoming that judgemental voice

Be more stubborn to that voice; quiet that voice so your own voice will come out.

Be kind to yourself and forgive yourself.

Push hard, be relentless because it has to be done.

On making your dreams come true

Anything challenging is worth doing.

It is your passion, it is your responsibility.

Stop complaining.

On empowering women

We as women need to constantly be realistic perspective on how far we’ve come in such a short time.

Relax and don’t be hard on yourself.

It doesn’t help when society dictates what women should do etc. but there are new freedoms.

(source)

Last year, the universe gifted me with Roger Federer. This year, it was Liz Gilbert. Words cannot express how much I’m truly grateful for these inspiring encounters. Moments like these will always warm my heart.

Book: Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

The Australian Open 2012 Experience

Back From Melbourne

Our 6th Anniversary

A Happy Ibyang Day!

Where I Buy Filipino Longganisa In Sydney Metro

25 June 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 2 Comments Category: Aussie Life, Food

I’ve very fond of eating Longganisa (Filipino sausage) that everytime I’m in Manila, my Mom makes sure that the household has enough Longganisas to feed me all throughout my stay. She also makes an effort of buying different kinds such as the ones from Vigan, Lucban, and Caloocan.

When we moved here, I learned how to do it but I was never patient enough making them (I’m more inclined to make Tocino). I once settled buying the frozen ones imported from the Philippines (they’re available in Asian supermarkets) but I long for Longganisa made fresh and available from the butcher.

During one of my usual visits at my “suking” butcher, I found that they’re selling Filipino Longganisa! Wow!!! I immediately asked him if they were made them by a Filipino and he confirmed with a smile. Since then I’ve been coming back to our butcher not just for the usual meat products that we need but also for my beloved Filipino Longganisa.

This Longganisa I found tastes very similar to the Filipino Longganisa that my Mom buys in Caloocan. The only difference is it’s not as sweet but the taste is really Pinoy, a balance of sweet, salty and peppery taste. The good thing about it too is that it’s not laden with food colouring.

If you’re a Filipino in Sydney Metro craving for Longganisa, check them out at Good Luck Butcher Shop, located at Good Luck Plaza Blacktown. The Longganisas are not available everyday so I suggest you call them first (02-9261-6696).

The Longganisas are priced at 9.99 a kilo.

Vivid Sydney 2013 – Our Favourite Photographs

10 June 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 2 Comments Category: Aussie Life, Charmed Life of a Mrs, Photography, The Married Life, Travel

This is the last instalment of my Vivid Sydney 2013 posts. If you missed the first two parts, please check this and this.

I just want to share a few of our favourite photos from the three nights we went out exploring. Most of these are just shots of the Harbour Bridge and the images on Sydney Opera House.

Under the Harbour Bridge, with the city of Sydney Opera House (left side) and the city of Sydney (right side). I love all the elements in this photograph. Technically, this photo took a lot of tries. Night photography is not easy and to put people into the frame is more challenging (I had to not move for a loooong time). And then we added that “halo heart” around me which made it very tricky. Nevertheless, we are very happy with the result, we did it! Big thanks to our photographer friend Larry, who created this concept.

Vivid Sydney 2013 - Our Favourite Photos

Surrounded by the glowing lights of Sydney. Here’s the Husband who lights up my world with a thousand bright colours {cheesy!! pardon me but that’s really what I wrote in my instagram :)}. It’s seldom that the Husband and I have a decent photo and this one below is a rare moment when a photographer friend makes a superb job of photographing us.

The iconic Harbour Bridge captured in different lights with a backdrop of the city. It was the first time they lit this up for the Vivid Sydney. Two years ago, we were in one of the pillars of this bridge taking photos of Vivid Sydney (VS) from above. This year, we had to go near it…and under it because it’s one of the main attractions of VS.

The Sydney Opera House showed the best spectacular images to-date. The biggest attraction during Vivid Sydney is the Opera House. We always have high expectations when it comes to the lighting of its sails simply because it is Australia’s most famous icon. And this year, the Opera House’ light show exceeded our expectations. It was the most attractive light show of the Opera House and we loved its concept “Play“.

“Play” showed images that reminded us of the 80s such as the cassette tape.

In line with concept of play, an image pertaining to a Pinball Machine was shown.

An image of Luna Park, Australia’s amusement park.

Artworks and movements projected on the Opera House.

I believe this year’s Vivid Sydney was the most successful we’ve had. On the last weekend of Vivid Sydney, we learned that hundreds of people went to the city to see it. The thick crowd was likened to the New Year’s Eve Sydney celebrations. Nowadays, it’s not just Sydneysiders that come to see it but also travellers from all over the world. It’s amazing that this city is slowly becoming known for Vivid Sydney.

Vivid Sydney had a dramatic end on 10th June when on the last few hours, a blanket of fog covered the city. The fog seem to have brought an ambiance of sadness but to me, it was the perfect dreamy way of taking a bow and bidding us adieu.

Vivid Sydney 2013 – Our Darling Harbour Experience