Wishing you a lovely week of sunsets and happy smiles. 
After my gym and sauna bonding with Jeanny, Chris arrived at her apartment and joined us for dinner. As usual, Jeanny came up with another yummy pasta dish (thanks Jeanny!).
The following morning, Chris accompanied me to see our doctor for my ultrasound. The doctor needed to see if I was healing well from the inside (due to my surgery last December 2009). We were so relieved and happy when our doctor said I’m all good and healthy and it’s as if no surgery happened inside my body. Thank you God!
Watched “Alice in Wonderland” after our Thai lunch. We liked it. Entertaining and visually stimulating.
Chris tried on his 3D glasses while at lunch. We got the glasses for AUD$1.00/pair so we can use them whenever we watch 3D films.
After the movie, we window shopped and walked around the mall. It’s been awhile since we’ve done “malling” so this was refreshing for both of us.
Afternoon tea at Max Brenner to rest our feet from walking and to take a break before we headed to the supermarket for our grocery shopping.
How does one know our favorite chocolate flavour? You can base it on our skintones hehe. Chris loves dark chocolate while I love white chocolate. I love Max Brenner’s hot white chocolate—parang ka lang umiinom ng gatas :).
After attending mass on Saturday afternoon, we went to Kmart to buy chocolate Easter eggs and bunnies in preparation for Easter festivities. After shopping, I suggested we buy our first takeaway pizza for dinner.
Other than the fact that I’m still in a celebratory mood from Friday’s good news about my health, I figured we could use the break from home-cooked meals. Plus, I also wanted to have a more relaxing Saturday night.
Chris being the chocoholic that he is, can’t help but order Domino’s Choco Lava Cake too.
A relaxing dinner it was as we gorged on a large Supreme Pizza and a bottle of champagne while we watched movies.
Sunday afternoon we had coffee at Coffee Culture after we picked up our developed photographs taken by our vintage camera. We are so happy with the results! I will share more about our great vintage finds from the Sydney Camera Market in another entry.
It was during Sunday afternoon coffee that we talked about our “strategies” for our upcoming commitments. We’ve got very busy weeks ahead of us. Our social calendar’s already full til the month of May. And for some reason, it is during our coffee dates that we somehow figure out what and how we’re going to do things. Must be a habit or a ritual ours already, I don’t know. But one thing’s for sure, it during this coffee dates that we have created concepts for our projects.
One fine afternoon, I was blessed to have been picked up by the Husband and our friend John after work. John brought his car to work and they were fortunate to leave the office early, and so we all went home together.
John Fick is a photographer based in Sydney. I’m a fan of his work–not because we are friends hehe, I actually saw his work first before meeting him–because he is a born artist. He is creative and prolific. Other than skills he has acquired through years of experience, he has style and technique that inspired me to do better in photography.
That one fine afternoon inside his car, I learned more about his work, his passion for photography and his love for learning. All the more made me admire him. I’m so blessed to have spent an hour and a half listening to his words of wisdom. As in nakaka-inspire talaga. If only I had a videocamera with me, I would have taped his “mini-lecture” (Maybe I really need to buy that Sony Bloggie after all?) so I can watch it again and again. So you know what I did? I typed in all the key words of our conversation on my mobile phone to at least help me remember later.
Some thoughts he shared with us touched on topics of Light, Location, Vision, Technique, Action-Reaction (how a photographer engages his/her subject).
He shared how important it is for one to just keep on learning (no matter how long one is in the business) and to be open to new ideas.
He gave us tips on covering weddings and talked of some of his memorable experiences while shooting a wedding.
And the best thing he said that afternoon was this:
“You know, a good and successful photographer always has a supportive wife.”
Siyempre, kinilig naman ako dun hehehe.
The biggest bonus of all was that he let me touched his Leica M8. Ohhhhh la la!
I arrived home smiling and very very inspired to move further with my passion for photography. Since I’ve started learning photography, I’ve been taking two steps back all the time wondering if I should continue this or not. After my great conversation with John, I realized that God is making a way for me to really learn because for years now, God makes sure that I am surrounded by talented and creative people.
If you want to be inspired as well, visit John Fick’s website at http://www.johnfick.com/
Our wedding was three years ago…but my Husband and I celebrate our MARRIAGE everyday.
Yesterday I received a very nice tweet from one of our closest friends in Manila and it said “Just saw your photo on your blog. You look lovely. Chris must be pleased everyday of his life : – )“
To which I replied, “We’re blessed to be together 🙂 Everyday is a gift. 🙂“
It’s nice receving compliments period. However, receiving compliments from friends mean a lot to us because they see the two of us grow together as a couple.
Our married life is far from ideal. We face challenges once in a while and there are frustrations that needed to be managed. But amidst some not-so-good times, we honour our marriage more and we respect each other more than to let the challenging times get the best of us. Yes, tempers (especially mine) sometimes get way out of hand but thank God, we have not made bad tempers a habit inside the home–and we have no plans of doing so. We are both lovers of peace (we are not a fan of fighting) that we’d rather kiss and make-up than let pride get in the way of having fun.
One thing I love about our Marriage is that we never take the small things for granted. We actually believe the opposite–that it’s always the small things that matter. Small things such as the way we greet each other when we arrive at home, how we never seem to get tired of saying “love you, love you!” (yes, we say it twice), how after all these years of being so familiar with each other we say “please” when asking favors from each ther, how we still like holding hands, how we respect each other’s personal space, how until now we still get surprised when we discover some things about each other and how we always say “thank you” for being there for each other.
Everyday is a gift and everyday we celebrate our marriage and togetherness by finding joy in the smallest of small things.
Was looking forward to going home as soon as the Husband picks me up from my “me” time at the cafe in the middle of somewhere but surprise surprise, he asked me out on a date!
As mentioned on my previous entry, I’ve been busy with work and for some reason, the Husband has been busy with his. Since last week, he’s been working ridiculous hours (going home very very late) that we seldom “see” each other. Lately too, we’ve been going out with friends that we feel we haven’t had a date for so long. So I guess, we’ve missed each other that my Husband asked me out to dinner and I said “Yes!”
He brought me to this Japanese Noodle Restaurant near where he works called “Menya Noodle Bar”. He brought me there because it’s one of his favorite places to have lunch and he wanted me to try their noodles.
It’s located in a small alleyway in-between buildings. Simple but cozy interiors. Chris says the place gets very busy during lunch time. 
I studied the menu and they’ve got organic meals as well—one of the things Chris pointed out to me because he knows I look out for stuff like that in restaurants.
I look forward to eating here regularly.
As for the date, we had fun as usual, trying out new food, sharing a good meal, catching up with each other and laughing at silly things. It was a great way to end a busy hectic week.
Menya Noodle Bar is located at
Shop 2, 1 Market Street, Sydney NSW 2000. All photos taken by my phone’s camera.