Ibyang
Ibyang

Deep Thoughts

January on Ibyangram

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 January was about milestones and celebrations. Other than welcoming the new year, the Husband and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary, my birthday and the lunar new year. The year’s first month is always about knowing how truly blessed and how enormously grateful we are for a having a good life together. We know this everyday but rings very true on special occasions.
We’ve gone back to our daily grind of routines. It wasn’t that hard to come back to work because I went straight into it on the second day of the year. The start of the year looks promising. Our January was occupied with the things we care about and we’re very inspired that it will stay that way the whole year. 
Here are some of the things that made up my January….

First day at work. Enjoying the silence of my office so I celebrate with a strong cup of UCC Blue Mountain Coffee & Speculaas cookies for morning tea.

Brought the Husband to work so I treated him to an Eggs Benedict brekkie. On the other hand, I had Eggs & Toast with Bacon.

First Friday mass at St. Mary Mackillop’s Chapel. Said a special prayer for my parents who are celebrating their 38th wedding anniversary today.

I found a piano and when I sat down, I realized that I’ve forgotten how to play and that made me sad.

My version of Laing composed of Kangkong leaves, light coconut milk and shrimps.

Stir-fried Ampalaya with scrambled tofu and egg. One of our favourite meals at home.

Shared a Club Sandwich with the Husband during our dinner meeting/travel planning.

Making good use of the our phone’s calendar in scheduling travel itinerary. We note the train we’ll get on, its schedule & other information for easy reference.

Late lunch at Grill’d: Chicken Caesar Salad, Chips & Beef Burger.

Tea time! Chocolate shakes and some Churros at Chocolateria San Churros.

Storm Trooper Cake and Star Wars Cupcakes in celebration of our friend’s birthday.

Will travel. Will write. A wall in Coco Cubano that showcased vintage items.

A Yukata Kimono and a pair of Geta (Japanese wooden footwear). These are old gifts I treasure from a cousin who lived in Japan for a few years. 

Anniversary dinner at TGIFridays. 

Happy 7th year to us! 🙂 

Baked Kale Chips. I snack on these in the afternoon or partner it with soup during dinner. 

Hubby’s workmate got us some treats from her Japan travel. It’s like she read my mind! Grateful she got us my favourite Kit Kat Sakura Matcha. 

A happy Ibyang Day! Happy birthday to me! 🙂

Australian Open dinner! Korean Fried Chicken & Dokkboki from TwoTwo and a thin-crust pizza I made which consisted of Hungarian Sausage, Ham & Onion. On TV is the Federer vs Nadal semi-finals.

Nespresso Self-Serve System. Coffee shopping made easy.

What an apt coincidence that the latest Nespresso magazine features Tokyo.

Birthday celebration with family. They got me a pretty Sleeping Beauty cake! 🙂

Baked Eggs with Chorizo, Beans & Sourdough Toast. Birthday breakfast courtesy of Coco Cubano.

Peanut Butter Besos. A yummy concoction of chocolate and peanut butter. So good!

Happiness is a surprise catch-up with a dear friend from Melbourne!

Happy Seollal! Sae Hae Bok Mani Ba Deu Seyo! 새해 복 많이 받으세요! Celebrating the lunar new year with Wagyu Chuck Steak & Udon.


I hope your start of the year was just as fun and filled with good memories. 🙂

READ MORE

Happy Ibyang Day! :)


Today is Ibyang Day! 🙂

As a treat to myself, I took the day off from work, stayed home, read a good book and took a long nap. Right now I’m watching Australian Open on TV while I reply to greetings from loved ones. As a bonus, the Husband stayed home with me too (he was supposed to work but changed his mind this morning) and he made coffee for me…twice! 

To everyone who remembered and sent good thoughts my way, THANK YOU! I’m blessed and grateful you are part of my life. 

READ MORE

7th Year: Seven Things We Are Grateful For Today

Seven years ago, we said “Yes!” to a lifetime adventure called Marriage. 

Seven things we are grateful for today:

Our faith in God and the values that we share.

How much we adore each other. That after all these years we have remained in love and still find each other’s ways cute and adorable. That we are still cheesy and make an effort to surprise each other. 

That we are the best of friends. There’s magic in being the best of friends with your partner. We just have so much fun! Also, there’s so much respect that goes into a relationship when you treat each other as friends. 

That we have family and friends that support and love us. Our life together has been blessed by wonderful people around us. 

We are blessed in lots of ways, everyday and always. Married life isn’t always rosy but at the end of each day, there will always be something/s to be grateful for.

We share our passion for the things we love: travel, photography, food, books and writing.

Our hopeful dreams and positive outlook for the future. Brought about by a few challenges through the years, time has taught us to be resilient together. As a team, we learn our lessons and move forward together.

-o0o0o-

Seven years…what a great milestone. Thank you dear Husband for seven wonderful years. 🙂

READ MORE

Thank You, 2013!

2013 was a great year for me. While I never ran out of challenges from time to time, I believe this year has been a wonderful journey of achieving milestones. I experienced a lot of breakthroughs as an individual and a wife and partner to my Husband. I appreciate my moments of awakening as a person. I seem to know myself more, of my needs and wants, of people and moments that matter to me. Some of my biggest learnings include: 

  • go back to my core when I feel uncertain 
  • that I take a different path from others…my journey is mine and I shouldn’t be pressured to do anything I don’t want
  • that most of the time, I don’t owe anyone an explanation 
  • to think, feel and speak kindly towards everyone 
  • that it’s okay to ask for things to be easy instead of asking for strength or patience (God listened to me a thousand times and more often, he’s made things lighter for me when I’m getting weak)
  • to walk away from anything or anyone that disturbs my peace and happiness
  • to find joy in the ordinary
  • to spend on experiences instead of things (because when accumulation of things are mismanaged, they just create clutter)
  • time is the greatest gift that one can give to a loved one
  • to love more and live more


My “Thank Yous”

Thank you for the abundance of blessings that 2013 has brought me:

…the gift of courage to stay away from unproductive things and negative people

…the gift of discipline to give up habits that doesn’t do me good

…the desire to always learn, whether it involves my job or personal interests

…the opportunity to have a job that I love and one that loves me back

…the passion to do things as best as I could; be more proactive and think of results instead of excuses

…the gift of forgiveness and healing, to acknowledge my faults, forgive myself and forgive others

…the gift of peace and acceptance

…the chance to travel and experience another country’s food and culture

…the gift of coming home to our motherland, the Philippines. 

…the gift of time spent with loved ones, of friendships that re-connect and hearts that reunite.

…an abundance of indulgences in the form of material things, good food and great company

…the gift of friends; their friendship is food to my soul

…the gift of good health and a safe home
…the gift of faith that never waver, for a God that always listened and gave
…my family, their love is the most valuable thing in my world

We have done well, 2013. Thank you, dear God. Thank you, Universe.

READ MORE

November on Ibyangram

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.

READ MORE