Charmed Life of a Mrs Archives | Page 30 of 98

Midnight Shopping at KMart

7 December 2011 Ibyang Sanchez 1 Comments Category: Aussie Life, Charmed Life of a Mrs, The Married Life

One of the things we miss in Manila are the malls that open til late. Here in Australia, the shops close early (city area at 6:30PM and suburbs at 5:30PM), then each state has their late night shopping (in Sydney, late night shopping is Thursday until 9:00PM). One of my tips when travelling in Australia: know the business hours of the shop/mall you’re in because it sometimes vary. When you are in Australia, it would always be safe to assume that the malls/shops would close early.

We’re lucky that we have KMart which is the only 24-hour store in our suburb. We normally go there on a Friday night after we do grocery shopping. If we’re not dining out with friends on a Friday, we hold our fortnightly grocery shopping on Friday after work so our time for rest, recreation and chores doesn’t affect the weekend anymore. Since KMart is open 24-hours, we’d sometimes drop by and have a feel of shopping at night.

As mentioned in my Elmo The Rockstar post, we visited KMart two Saturdays ago where we had fun playing with toys during the wee hours of morning. We had dinner at our relatives’ place and our little party ended at midnight so we decided to drop by KMart.

We were there until two-ish in the morning but didn’t really buy much. We just wandered around and looked at prices of stuff, then compared it to other stores’ prices.

Isn’t it nice to shop when there’s no one around?

We spent most of our time at the toy section where we get to play with (what else?) toys. It’s so much fun because it was just the two of us and we’re like in a big playground only that our toys were arranged in aisles haha.

The Husband saw these Angry Birds stuff toys in different sizes–Small, Medium & Large. Here are the small ones we found.

These are the medium-sized Angry Birds.

The Husband really really really likes them so we bought the medium-sized red Angry Bird. If you squeeze the head part of the toy, you’ll hear the sound it makes in the game.

I, on the other hand, found the Care Bears Movie DVD and it was less than AUD10.00, so I bought it. I just can’t resist something that reminds me of my childhood.

Even if it was already late, we went home feeling happy and rejuvenated..and not sleepy at all. Hanging out at a shop in the wee hours of morning with my favourite playmate in the world is so much fun.

Cafe: Oliver Brown Belgian Chocolate Cafe (Chatswood, NSW)

22 November 2011 Ibyang Sanchez 1 Comments Category: Charmed Life of a Mrs, Deep Thoughts, Food, Restaurants

What do you do when the person you’re supposed to meet up is running late?

I’m not really patient by nature and I used to get annoyed when schedules run late but life has taught me that delays can be an opportunity for some unexpected “Me” times and discovering places I never thought existed.

Last week’s Thursday meet-up with the Husband at Chatswood was supposed to be at a Korean place that serves Korean fried chicken. And as I arrived at our meeting place on time, the Husband called to say that something came up at the office and he will be late for our dinner date.

I immediately went on “wanderlust” mode and walked around Chatswood and looked at shops and restaurants in the area. There was a Night Market at that time too but I had to go inside Westfield after a few minutes because it rained.

Since my legs were also needing rest from all the walking and I was craving for coffee, I went inside Westfield. Tucked in the corner of the 2nd level, I saw a cozy-looking cafe called Oliver Brown.

Cafe: Oliver Brown Belgian Chocolate Cafe (Chatswood, NSW)

Oliver Brown is a Belgian Chocolate Cafe that serves great tasting chocolate and coffee. The cafe looks attractive with its contemporary design and iconic patterned tiling.

I just love it when restaurant owners are consistent with branding the little details inside their restaurant–like the cups and serviettes. It makes the service more personal. And yes, I always take note of these little things when I dine out.

I ordered a Cafe Latte and it was creamy and beautiful.

I love that they served a few bits of their Belgian Chocolate with their coffee. Their chocolates were delicious so I decided to buy some truffles for the Husband when he arrived.

I bought two dark chocolate truffles, two white ones and a nutty truffle. The truffles were not as expensive as the ones made by famous chocolatiers but they were good chocolate.

Another great cafe find during my unexpected “Me” time.

Oliver Brown Belgian Chocolate Cafe
Level 2, Store 212
Westfield Chatswood
Phone: 9410 3774

Snapshots from the K-POP Music Fest in Sydney

16 November 2011 Ibyang Sanchez 3 Comments Category: Aussie Life, Charmed Life of a Mrs, Cherished Memories, Entertainment, Photography

“Is this crazy or what?”

That was the only thought I had from the time I bought us tickets to the K-POP Music Fest Concert.

The Husband and I are not fond of watching concerts. The one and only concert we watched (one that I will always remember) happened years ago. Although we enjoy music and watching artists perform on stage, there’s something about concerts that we’d rather wait for the DVD and watch the show in the comfort of our home. I fear big crowds that have a potential to be rowdy–there I said it. I know, I’m such a coward haha.

Anyway, when I learned about the K-POP Music Fest (thanks to my friend Trish who messaged me) and found out the line-up of performers, I got excited. With so much hesitation, I gave in to that excitement and got us tickets the morning they went on pre-sale.

Snapshots from the K-POP Music Fest in Sydney

I got us tickets away from the front so we can be far from the more energetic fans. We knew that most of the people who’d come would be young adults who may like to dance and jump around while we just want to watch, listen and enjoy the show. So I intentionally got tickets in the silver section. Luckily, we got good seats not too far behind from the front section.

This is the first ever Hallyu concert in Australia to celebrate 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and Australia.

Here are some snapshots from the concert:

Shinee

Miss A

Secret

2AM

4Minute

CN Blue

All the groups that performed at the K-POP Music Fest in Sydney

Highlights:

Each group sang at least two to three of their hit songs.
Dance showdown that featured SNSD’s Sooyoung, Hyoyeon, Yoona and Yuri and Shinee;s Taemin and Minho.
Song number from 2AM’s Jo Kwon and Changmin, 4Minute’s Gayoon and SISTAR’s Hyorin. They sang Beyonce’ “Halo”.
Song production from BEAST’s Yoseob, MBLAQ’s G.O. and CN Blue. They performed Huk Gak’s “Through The Sky”.
Best highlight! 4Minute and Miss A performed Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”. Such a sweet gesture to Australian fans for doing this.
At the end of the concert, they called out all the groups to give a final bow and a group performance. They sang “Arirang” then handed out autographed plastic balls to fans.

The show started at exactly 7:00PM and ended at 10:00PM. I’m amazed at their punctuality and professionalism which resulted to no dull moments as groups came out the stage one after another.

The concert was a blast! We really enjoyed it. There were 11 groups that performed and the artists were all great and each production were visually entertaining. The money we paid for and time we spent was all worth it.

Starbucks Toffee Nut & Christmas Blend

15 November 2011 Ibyang Sanchez 6 Comments Category: Charmed Life of a Mrs, Food

Knowing that their Christmas menu is already available, I dropped by Starbucks and had my coffee “Me” time with a tall Toffee Nut Frappuccino last Friday afternoon.

Starbucks was packed when I arrived. It was a warm day so most people grabbed a cup of frappuccino to go. I sat myself at the bar and watched people passing by while I have a quiet moment. Before I finished my drink, I made a call to one of my girlfriends in Manila and we had a bit of chitchat. It was like I was having coffee with her already. The “Me” time and my conversation with a friend was a good way to cap my busy week at work.

What’s in a Starbucks Bag?

The Christmas Blend is also available in stores right now so I went home with a Starbucks bag full of Christmas Blend beans. I was also happy that they have the Christmas Blend in Ready Brew so I grabbed a 12-pack box.

What’s also inside my Starbucks Bag is the Starbucks Re-usable Bag (last photo). It’s smaller compared to a normal-sized re-usable bag. A perfect bag for lunch boxes etc.

Ready for the K-POP Music Fest in Sydney?

11 November 2011 Ibyang Sanchez 2 Comments Category: Aussie Life, Charmed Life of a Mrs, Save the Environment

For more than two months, I’ve been waiting for the K-POP Music Fest to unravel. I somehow forgot about it in October because life was just busy. Yesterday, I realized that it is happening in a few days. How time flies!

The organizers sent out an email yesterday and for those who weren’t able to buy tickets to the concert, YOU CAN STILL JOIN in the fun that the KPOP Music Fest Outdoor Event will bring.

The KPOP Music Fest Outdoor Event will be held from 12 noon to 5:00pm on 12 November at the ANZ Concourse. Everyone will get the chance to join in activities, eat from various food stalls, buy souvenirs and watch unexpected performances from famous KPOP groups in the evening.

For more details about the concert, please check this out.