Ibyang
Ibyang

Charmed Life of a Mrs

Glebe Cafes: Naggy’s Cafe and Fair Trade Coffee Co.

I love spending mornings with the hubby having breakfast and coffee with him. I just feel so relaxed throughout the day when I start the day with him that way. In the meantime that he’s not working yet, it is a privilege that I get to see him awake in the mornings. So it is a treat for me that once in a while he accompanies me to the city in the morning just so we can have breakfast together.

When I started working it Glebe Point Road (location where I work) I have always dreamed of Chris and I exploring some of Sydney’s unique cafes there. So when Chris arrived here, I took him to two cafes I’ve been eyeing on for months.

Naggy’s Cafe (333B Glebe Point Road)

The cafe is situated about a few meters away from my office, about a 2-3 minutes walk. Its unique name came from the chef and owner Nagendra Gautam.

Recently opened this year, this cafe caught my eye because of its eclectic interior designs. The first thing you will notice are the chairs…they’re all mixed and different.

Then at the back part of the cafe, they seem to have these Victorian drawing room with red sofas—I love it!!!

They have this antique-looking lamps on the ceiling that made it more romantic in a way or just cozier perhaps.

On this one corner where the Victorian sofas were, they painted the wall red too.

On the walls, there were several framed flower photographs and paintings hanging. They even have mirrors of different sizes on the wall.

Chris ordered a Cafe Mocha while I had Cafe Americano, both poured into cute looking cups and were deliciously made.

We ordered Eggs and Bacon with Toast, a simple Australian breakfast that was well-cooked and arrived about 10 minutes after we ordered.

The staff are quick, friendly and attentive. We were taking photographs before we ate and the girl barista came over and asked us if we want to have our photograph taken…but we declined and said we’re alright.

While some of the cafes in Glebe seemed old-fashioned, this cafe seems to be for the young and hip of Glebe. I see a lot of high school students hanging out here in the afternoons before going home or some uni students having coffee while engrossed typing away on their laptops.

Naggy’s Cafe also serves lunch (I’ve tried their pasta for lunch and it’s delish!), cookies and yummy cakes.

Fair Trade Coffe Company (33 Glebe Point Road)

Located near the corner of Glebe Point Road, this cafe is known for their Fairtrade Coffee and organic food they serve to their clientele.

Their interiors may look scattered or chaotic but it is homey and cozy nonetheless. When I was there, all I could say was “This is an artist’s cafe”…so colorful and eclectic and poetic. Their walls have photographs and paintings that convey messages like this one:

Not to mention that they have an alligator for a table (hehehe)…

According to The Fair Trade Coffee Company their coffee and tea are free from exploitation. When you order a cup of coffee or tea from them, you can be sure that it is certified fair trade, meaning that every worker involved in producing that cup is paid a fair wage for their work.

Also, all proceeds from the Fair Trade Coffee Company go towards funding volunteer placements in countries such as Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea and Kenya to assist in skill exchange programs which offer hope for a long-term, sustainable future. Ayos diba? Nabusog ka na, nakatulong ka pa!

And all their food is ORGANIC so its healthier….but then we ordered bacon, sausages and eggs (haha).

They served brown bread and it tasted good.

The bacon, eggs, sausages, mushrooms and tomatoes all tasted delicious and fresh.

The staff are friendly and accommodating. Newpapers and magazines are available all over the place so feel free to grab one and read while enjoying your fresh cup of coffee or tea.

This entry is for Armi and Arlene…cheers to our love for coffee!!!!! I hope one day soon I’ll be able to join you both as you say “Prost!” before taking that first sip of delicious coffee.

Naggy’s Cafe visited on 18 April 2008. Fair Trade Coffee Company visited on 9 May 2008.

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Dinner at Pepper Lunch

Just because I wanted to unwind after work tonight (I had to deal with someone else’ work {read:problems} today at the office that left me officially exhausted), it was a toss between going to the Apple Store or having early dinner at Pepper Lunch…of course, Pepper Lunch won! The Apple Store can wait, my craving for Pepper Lunch can’t hehehe.

This time we ordered the “Hitokuchi” Cut for Chris….

and “Shimofuri” Pepper for me.

While finishing up, I noticed the the hole on Pepper Lunch’s chairs was actually Pepper Lunch’s logo:

One of these days I’m gonna tell husband to make us a logo, so that when we have our dream home we can personalize our chairs hahahaha. Husband will probably say “Ang jologs mo talaga!”.

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Finding Some ‘ME time’ Now That I’m Married

Nearly three months after Chris has arrived here in Sydney, time management-wise I’m slowly adjusting to being really married.

For the first two months that Chris was here, I was finding it very hard to inject some “ME time” due to a lot of reasons—parties to attend to, shoots, projects we acquired now that we are together, exploring Sydney, packing and unpacking our stuff, and household chores to name a few. Life is indeed so much busier now that husband and I are doing our responsibilities as husband and wife and as individuals.

And now I think, I’m really getting the hang of managing my time as for this weekend I was able to do a lot of “Me time”: took afternoon naps on Friday and Saturday, briskwalk and jog at the park today, blog and surf the net, watch Koreanovela at night and read a chapter or two of the novel I’m reading before I go to sleep. So yay me!!!!

Thank goodness husband has been very helpful in the home (he irons our clothes, cleans the house and helps in the washing of laundry), never asks too much from me and always gives me space to do things I want to do like take afternoon naps, briskwalk/jog to the park alone or just spend 10 minutes by my lonesome while sipping green tea.

As early as now, I’d have to say that I’m lucky that I found a partner that respects my value for solitude. It is rare to find someone who understands and is sensitive to one’s need to be alone. My need for solitude is not relative to alienation or loneliness, it is simply a need for me to reflect, meditate, talk to myself or simply stare into nothing and just breathe. Silence is golden for me and in that silence I always find my center…I’m more aligned to whatever directions I’m moving towards to. The solutide that I reward myself is one reason why I maintain a healthy soul and mind. And I’m glad my husband knows and respects that.

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17th Month (Phantom of the Opera)

Last night we celebrated our 17th month a day earlier (today’s our monthsary) by watching “The Phantom of the Opera”. I realized that for the past 5 years of being together, I never introduced Chris to “my art”, it’s always been “his art”–graphic design, photography, exhibits, etc. And so I bought tickets to The Phantom of the Opera in February (tickets were selling like hotcakes, May schedules were already sold out!) so I can share my love for theatre with him.

According to him, the only plays he had ever watched in Manila was “Noli Me Tangere”, El Filibusterismo” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and for me that doesn’t count at all, coz they’re the kind of plays one had to watch when you’re studying Secondary School in the Philippines. So in effect, this was Chris’ first time to watch a play–and I’m glad it was The Phantom of the Opera that we watched.

It was also Chris’ first time to go to Star City (Sydney’s Las Vegas), this was where we had dinner at Trophies.

Our dinner: some Chinese BBQ Pork and Roast Duck

Infront of Star City where they have this big Phantom of the Opera paraphernalias

Chris’ first time to see a Musical Play…this was infront of the Lyric Theatre in Star City

Very excited to see The Phantom of the Opera as I heard it has the best production ever.

The Lyric Theatre was full even on a Thursday…there was not an empty seat on the theatre last night.

The Phantom of the Opera was the most spectacular play I’ve ever watched. It is indeed the musical that has the best production from costumes to stage set-ups for every scenes. The actors were sooooo good–all had equally powerful voices but it was The Phantom’s voice that I fell inlove with. Other than the voices, all did well in acting too.

It is from this musical where the song “All I Ask of You” (which I’ve always loved since I was in High School) was from and now that I’ve seen it sung in this play, the song has more meaning to me, more heartfelt knowing why it was sung and which part of the story it was sung. I fell inlove with the song all over again.

Chris enjoyed his first musical (yay!!!!) and I’m so glad he liked it as much as I did. This morning when he woke up he looked for his “All I Ask of You” MP3 and played it while he was surfing the net. I guess my love for theatre rubbed off on him aye? Success!!!!

After the show, we hang out a bit for a hot chocolate at the Lyric Cafe and to end the night going thru the scenes we love best.

In Act One, these were the scenes that made an impact on us:

Scene 4 where The Phantom and Christine (the lead female) were in the Labyrinth Underground singing “Phantom of the Opera.”

Scene 5 where The Phantom sings “Music of the Night” to Christine in his secret hideaway place.

Scene 10 where Raoul and Christine sings “All I Ask of You” on the roof of the Opera House.

In Act Two:

Scene 1 where the unforgettable and vibrant Masquerade was sung.

Scene 9, of course who would forget the last scene? This was where The Phantom had to let Christine go even if he loved her so much.

Since we had an advanced 17th month celebration last night, we stayed home today and only went out to do some grocery shopping. We also catched up on sleep…hindi na talaga ako sanay magpuyat.

Other than introducing Chris to my love for theatre I have decided that we should once in a while see a play instead of a movie. A different form of art, a more enriching learning experience. So next month, we are seeing another musical play.

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One Thing I Like About My Job

…is that I can take a day-off for the shallowest of reasons.

Gone are the days when I would feel shy in asking for a day leave just because I have some personal stuff to attend to.

Bakit naman kasi sa ‘Pinas, kailangan mo pa ng matinding dahilan para lang makapag-leave???? I remember before, I still go to work even if I’m deliriously sick. As if naman titigil ang mundo kung hindi ka papasok. At kung hindi ka papasok sa work dahil may sakit or may emergency situation kang dapat na asikasuhin, nagi-guilty ka pa…parang nahihiya ka pang magkasakit.

This morning I told my workmate/teammate/partner-in-crime that I’m taking the day-off tomorrow just because I’m having a late night out with the husband tonight. Ang babaw ng rason, parang wala akong karapatang pumasok dahil mapupuyat lang ako. But then I don’t feel any guilt at all.

Because the best part is that people here are happy that you are taking days-off or taking a long vacation. Sa ‘Pinas, pag magli-leave ka, iba ang reaction mga workmates mo. Dito, they celebrate when they know that you are going away for a long vaycay. I remember when I told them that I’ll be going on a 2-week vaycay, on my last week before I left, all my workmates kept approaching me wishing me to have a happy vaycay. May assurance pa yan na “Dont’ worry, we’ll take care of everything when you’re gone.” On my last day, my boss even kicked me out of the office before noon telling me to go home and rest and get ready for my trip the following day.

What about you? What do you like about your job?

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