Cherished Memories Archives | Page 4 of 29

Christmas 2013 Celebrations

29 December 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 1 Comments Category: Charmed Life of a Mrs, Cherished Memories, The Married Life

The start of December meant the start of Christmas celebrations. While we’re still busy finishing tasks at work, our free time were spent preparing for meeting up with loved ones. Our Christmas was a balance of simple merriment and quiet moments, making this year our most relaxed Christmas.

I realized that having a relaxed Christmas is all in the attitude. Instead of thinking how Christmas is always a busy time, the Husband and I just went with the flow and didn’t care about crowds in the malls or panicked that we haven’t completed gifts for loved ones. We just did what we could with the free time we had after work. On Christmas week, we’re happily eating out and leisurely hung out at the shops in the midst of shoppers. It also helped that get-togethers with loved ones were organised in advanced.

Below are a few snippets of how we spent Christmas:

Our annual get-together with Kolokoys (the name of our group) was an afternoon of catching up and playing games. We alloted one Saturday so we can have enough time spent with each other.

Our Sydney Tweethearts get-together was a breakfast party in the city.

Drinks after work with my team was a good breather for all of us. It was also a celebration for the great year we had at work.

Christmas date with Hubby in the city. We walked inside Strand Arcade and I had a photo of my favourite Christmas Tree in the city. Before we went home, the Husband indulged me with a cup of Toffee Nut Latte.

Last day of work was on the 24th. We had a festive breakfast at work as the boss grilled some bacon, eggs and sausages. It was a chance for the whole office to sit down and enjoy a meal for one last time before 2013 ends. After work, I met up with Hubby for late lunch.

We spent Christmas morning at church and then had a lovely lunch with family. It was an opportunity not just to spend time with family living here in Sydney but we took time out to video call family living in the Philippines and America. Technology these days are such wonderful help in getting connected to loved ones around the world. We had lots of yummy food that left us full and satisfied but made room for the grand finale, a Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato Cake.

Boxing Day, the 26th is when some parts of Australia come alive with malls opening and offering big discounts on their merchandise. A lot of people troop down to malls and shop to their hearts content. The Husband and I took a quiet route of watching a movie instead of go to the shops. We enjoyed the second Hobbit movie.

Last Sunday of 2013 was Yum Cha lunch with friends. A solid 4-hour of eating good food and catching up. A great way to end our Christmas week.

This Christmas, the Husband and I decided not to give gifts to each other. We wanted to focus on spending time with loved ones and true meaning of Christmas, which is the birth of Jesus.

November on Ibyangram

17 December 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 0 Comments Category: Aussie Life, Charmed Life of a Mrs, Cherished Memories, Deep Thoughts, Ibyangram, The Married Life

Ibyang + Instagram = Ibyangram

While my instagram photos are shared on my twitter page and sometimes on my tumblr and fb page, I would like to have a monthly dump of ibyangrams on AWCL too. It is thru instagram that I share everyday moments and random finds. I use instagram as my real time mini-blog. Every end of the month, I’ll be choosing a couple of photos from my instagram and share it here because I have something more to say about a certain ibyangram.

Christmas came in early this year as November was filled with moments spent with family. The whole month, I made efforts to spend as much time with my Mom and relatives here in Sydney and from America. There were lots of going around Sydney, eating out, big and small get-togethers and we even sneaked out of Sydney to spend a day at the Hunter Valley. To have family living in different parts of the world is always a great exercise on being present in the now and being grateful for time spent with them. Time with family is the best Christmas gift we have received this year.

I’m sharing a few snippets of our time together in last month’s Ibyangram and a few other things that made up my November.

Mom’s first Spring visit in Sydney. I’m so happy that she finally saw the pretty Jacaranda Trees that I’ve always talked about!

Christmas came early this year in the guise of my Mom. So as I have my first cup of my favourite Toffee Nut Latte, I’m spending it with her.

An IKEA breakfast spread. Treating Mom to cheap Swedish brekkie haha!

Wearing Spring hues on a gloomy, rainy day. Wickedly happy colours!

Inspired by Royce’ Potato Chip Chocolate, the Husband created his version only that his one was dipped in Dark Chocolate.

Pastry breakfast for three at the La Renaissance Cafe.

Exploring Watsons Bay. A charming little beach where we had fish and chips for lunch.

An El Jannah dinner! We finally have an El Jannah branch near our place. It’s the best charcoal-grilled chicken in Sydney.

Grateful for thoughtful friends. Received a package from one of my dearest friends from Manila and it included a “bling-ified” Snoopy charm that can be used as a chain for phones. I love it! It’s so pretty.

Spectacular view of a vineyard in Hunter Valley. Our family spent the whole day tasting wines, eating cheese and having lunch and coffee at the Hunter Valley Gardens. Oh and we did a bit of shopping too.

Rewarding ourselves with Adriano Zumbo’s Macarons. Delicious flavours: Pandan Sticky Rice, Toasted Marshmallow, Salted Butter Popcorn, Apple Pie & Chocoron (the one with the smiling face).

Lovely day, lovely wedding. Our family witnessed the beautiful wedding of my cousin. Lots of happy smiles and touching moments.

Afternoon Tea at Max Brenner. Left work early so I can hang out with the family for afternoon tea.

Shared our love for Korean Food to the family. Went to Koreatown in Strathfield for a Korean BBQ Lunch at Won Jo and then ended up having coffee and Bingsu at My Sweet Memory Cafe.

Gold Coin for the Philippines. Our office held a fundraising morning tea for the survivors of Typhoon Haiyan. We served Brazo de Mercedes & Leche Flan Chiffon Cake (from a Filipino bakery) along with biscuits & cheese, brownies, chips & scones. I’m so grateful to everyone who participated.

My lomo cameras have been calling out to me lately so I bought 3 rolls of 36-exposure films. I already finished a roll of film and currently waiting for them to be developed.

Grateful for my November. Later on, after a few years perhaps, I will chance upon looking at these November Ibyangrams again and all I’ll feel will be appreciation and love.

Morning Walk At The Rocks & Circular Quay

14 November 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 0 Comments Category: Aussie Life, Cherished Memories, Travel

When my Mom was here in October, I made sure that all my Fridays will be spent with her. She became my Fridate! 🙂

We somewhat made a ritual. We start early, dine out for breakfast, have long walks around the city, have lunch and do a bit of shopping before we go home.

Our first Fridate was at The Rocks and Circular Quay. These areas have the best vantage point if you want to see the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. It’s a massive area that has a lot of open spaces, restaurants and shops.

We walked towards The Rocks, where you’ll see the Harbour Bridge if walk towards the end of it.

We passed by the Museum of Contemporary Art.

The Rocks and its heritage-designed buildings. The facade cannot be changed unless approved by the government.

Bicycles are used as street decor or for holding a signage of an establishment.

Flowers on the side street.

A red phone booth. The phone inside is functional.

On Fridays, The Rocks in George Street corner Argyle Street is closed for market stalls. You can find lots of food, fruits and specialty items for sale produced by small to medium-sized businesses.

A clock tower at The Rocks.

From The Rocks, we walked towards the other side which is the Circular Quay area. It is where the Opera House is located. In front of the Opera House, this is what you’ll see…

Here’s my Mom and I with the Opera House behind us. From the Opera House, we made our way to the Royal Botanic Gardens located not too far away.

We enjoyed our leisure walks in the city. Mornings are great for such activity as there’s no crowd and we get to go to more places when were out early.

More of our morning walks in future posts.

October on Ibyangram

8 November 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 2 Comments Category: Charmed Life of a Mrs, Cherished Memories, Food, Ibyangram, Photography, The Married Life

Ibyang + Instagram = Ibyangram

While my instagram photos are shared on my twitter page and sometimes on my tumblr and fb page, I would like to have a monthly dump of ibyangrams on AWCL too. It is thru instagram that I share everyday moments and random finds. I use instagram as my real time mini-blog. Every end of the month, I’ll be choosing a couple of photos from my instagram and share it here because I have something more to say about a certain ibyangram.

My Ibyangrams are back!!! You probably thought I’d forget about my Ibyangrams for the month of October but I just won’t let that happen. The first week of November have quickly zoomed in BUT better late than never is what I say.

My October was hectic, challenging, fun and very happy.

The start of October had me sick with tonsilitis and flu. Not a great combination, I tell you. It was a terrible time as I panicked that I won’t be well enough to prepare for my Mom’s arrival. But thankfully, the antibiotics kicked in soon enough. I got my affairs in order and our home ready for my Mom’s vacation.

Work has grown incredibly busy and it seems I will be running training programs until Christmas (!!!). I’m under a lot of pressure in getting all tasks accomplished but I’ve embraced the “hectic-ness” of it all and have decided to let go of things that irritate me and just focus on getting work done.

Exciting times at the family front as my Mom arrived from Manila to vacation in Sydney for six weeks. She’s the first one to arrive from overseas as our clan will have a little reunion of sorts this month.

For the rest of how my October was like, here are some Ibyangrams which I hope you enjoy…

A Love Package From My Parents. Received so many gifts from the parentals which included lots of clothes from Uniqlo, rubber stamps and Lori Baltazar’s book entitled “Dessert Comes First“.

Sunday Mornings. Having coffee with the Husband on the balcony of our home.

Tonsilitis and Flu Attack. Changing of seasons have to flu and inflammed tonsils. Doctor’s orders: lots of rest, fluid and drink my antibiotics on time.

Better on Friday. Felt stronger by end of the week so after my doctor’s check-up, the Husband took me to our usual brunch place and shared a bagel. Grateful for the Husband who took a day-off so he can accompany to the doctor.

Picked up a few Pink Things right after that coffee and bagel. I found a cute iPhone case for only AUD$5.00, some washi tapes and a pretty pouch also for AUD$5.00.

A Small Pot of Kimchi Ramyeon for Two. Our default meal whenever we’re too lazy to cook lunch on a Saturday.

Our first Halo-Halo this warm season. After a heatwave-ish day, we can’t help but indulge in Halo-Halo, a Filipino dessert made of ice shavings, beans, jelly, sweet beans and leche flan (some add Ube and Ice Cream too).

Appreciated. One of my trainees gifted me with a bouquet of Hyacinth flowers. They smell sweet and reminds me so much of the Philippines’ Sampaguita.

Orange Skies Due to Bushfires. The warm weather is indeed upon us. As temperatures soared between 33-38 degrees, certain parts of Australia are susceptible to bushfires. It’s devastating and scary. A thousand homes were affected and several families were displaced in evacuation centres. Not a happy time down under.

The Sun, Fiery Pink. Still due to bushfires that resulted to haze which made the atmosphere looked smoky and deep Pink. The Sun looked and beautiful but it’s a reminder that things aren’t well for some.

“Naiibang Manila. There’s No Place Like Home.” Is what this poster from Papemelroti says. I finally framed it!

A Colourful Visitor. I heard a bird “singing” on the balcony and when I came out, I found a colourful bird resting on our balcony. It was kind enough to let me take its photo.

Grandma and Her New Sewing Machine. This was one afternoon where she taught me how to cook “Ginataang Hipon at Kalabasa” afterwhich we helped her set up her new sewing machine. It’s looks so pretty.

Justice Gundam. My cousin has a hug collection of Gundam robots and this pink one called Justice Gundam is my favourite from the lot.

My Mom’s here!!! 🙂 Happy times for me and our family.

UCC Coffee and HOP. Thoughtfulness in the guise of my favourite things, all thanks to my dear friend, Hazel. While I was aware that she will be sending over one of my favourite coffees in the world, I didn’t know that she’d also throw in a box of HOP (House of Polvoron) goodies. It was a yummy surprise that the Husband and I enjoyed and savoured.

Patbingsu. Korea’s version of the Halo-Halo, only that their ingredients are made of ice shavings, red beans, cereal, little mochis and ice cream. My reward for going thru a 3-day work week where I squeezed in 5 days worth of workload.

Hello there, classy-looking silver 5S! Ended my two-year 4S contract so I renewed and chose the iPhone 5S. It’s much faster, has better camera capabilities and the battery stays longer than my 4S. I’m happy with it.

Royce Nama Au Lait and TWG’s Silver Moon Tea. Whenever my Mom comes here, she brings a few of our Royce favourites. These are two of my favourite indulgences and I’m glad I got to have them together, once in a while.

Sunset Watching. One Saturday afternoon when we hung out on the balcony and played with our fisheye lenses.

That’s a little peek in my October. I will share some of my time spent with my Mom in a few blog posts soon.

Now I can finally say…hello November!

Lunch at Sydney Fish Market

28 October 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 0 Comments Category: Aussie Life, Charmed Life of a Mrs, Cherished Memories, Food, Travel

I have received a few emails from AWCL readers asking for must-visit places when in Sydney/Australia. I have written about a couple of places I’ve visited in Australia in the past years so I guess the ones who have only known AWCL recently, they might have missed these blog posts. Now that my Mom’s here and we’ll be visiting a few places in Sydney, I will share each of our day-out here on the blog.

Whenever my parents visit us, their only goals are to spend time with family, take leisurely walks around Sydney and eat good food as often as they could. So for my Mom’s visit this year, we make sure we take her to favourite places and let her enjoy her favourite food.

Our first day-out was at Sydney Fish Market. We were blessed with wonderful weather. The sun shone brightly but it was breezy so we ate by the wharf and enjoyed some fresh seafood.

Why We Come Here?

The Sydney Fish Market is a seafood lover’s haven. Sydneysiders and tourists flock this place to have a taste of Australia’s freshest seafood produce. We come here to indulge in the freshest and afford seafood in the city and enjoy a view of the wharf.

Best Time To Visit:

Weekdays and early mornings. There are lots of people during weekends and public holidays.

Location:

Bank Street, Pyrmont NSW 2009

How To Get There:

You can catch the Metro Light Rail from Central Station, Haymarket or Darling Harbour to the Fish Market stop which is located across the road from the Market. Services run every 10 – 15 mins from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm (12:10 am Friday & Saturday) from Central and 6:00am to 11:20 pm (12:30 am Friday & Saturday) from Lilyfield.

You can also catch the Bus Numbers 501 and 443:

501: Bus service departs from outside the Sydney Electricity Building, on the corner of George and Bathurst Streets, and Central Station every 20 minutes during weekdays and every 30 minutes on weekends. Passengers disembark on the corner of Harris Street and Pyrmont Bridge Road. The Market is a five minute stroll down Pyrmont Bridge Road.

443: Bus service departs from outside the Queen Victoria Building every 20 minutes during weekdays and every 30 minutes on weekends. Passengers disembark on the corner of Harris Street and Pyrmont Bridge Road. The Market is a five minute stroll down Pyrmont Bridge Road.

Here a few snapshots of our Sydney Fish Market visit:

Seafood Platter for two for me and my Mom included 2 Battered Barramundi Fish, 2 Oysters Kilpatrick, 4 Battered Prawns and Chips.

Be mindful of your food when you’re at the wharf as these Seagulls will steal your food with their quick demeanour. Here they are waiting for people to throw some food at them.