Ibyang

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.

From Australia to the Philippines: Two Ways to Send Help (#YolandPH)

12 November 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 2 Comments Category: Deep Thoughts

Thank you, @Snoopy!

Two ways to send help to the Philippines:

LBC Australia will send your donations to the Philippines for free. Just bring your donation to any LBC Australia branch: Blacktown, Glendenning and Melbourne until 30 November 2013. You can find the locations of all their branches here. Suggested donations: canned/bottled food, medicine, bottled water/juice/milk, sleeping bags, mosquito nets, toiletries, laundry/detergent soap.

Caritas Australia is accepting cash donations online. Go to their website and click “Donate Now”.

How is Caritas responding?

Since even before the typhoon made landfall, the Caritas network has been working with communities affected. Early preparations included evacuating people from hard hit areas and we now continue to assess the emergency needs and deliver vital humanitarian assistance where required. We are working closely with local partners to ensure those who are most in need will receive help.

The international Caritas network has committed more than $1 million to the relief efforts through its member organisations. Caritas Australia has commited $100,000 so far.

Our network partner CRS (Caritas USA) is prioritising emergency shelter, water and sanitation, household relief items (blankets, kitchen items, cookware), potable water and toilets.

This aid will help at least 16,000 families and includes:
18,000 tarpaulins for emergency use
1 million water purification tablets to ensure people have access to safe, clean drinking water
18,000 emergency shelter supply kits
5,000 water, sanitation and hygiene kits
5,000 non-food item kits

“We are ready to respond through our networks in any way we can to this disaster,” says Richard Forsythe, Caritas Australia’s Humanitarian Emergencies Coordinator.

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!

Dinner at NaruOne…For Some Korean Fried Chicken!

30 October 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 1 Comments Category: Food, Restaurants

I asked my Mom, “Do you miss eating Korean Fried Chicken?” She answered in the affirmative.

The thought came to me as the Husband and I were talking of where to bring Mom for meals in Sydney. I remembered that eating Korean Fried Chicken (KFC) in Seoul was one of the things that she enjoyed when we were there. So the Husband and I took her to dinner at NaruOne Korean Restaurant, which is famous for their KFC.

It was a cool night when we dropped by NaruOne for dinner so we opted for a bowl of Thick Beef Bone Soup. It’s very watery and the taste was a bit bland (low salt) but I tasted the natural flavours of the beef.

Then came a whole plate of Korean Fried Chicken. We ordered the “Half-Half” which meant one half was regular and the other half was spicy. The chicken pieces where enveloped in thick coating, wasn’t oily but satisfyingly juicy. The spicy flavour was really hot which I enjoyed with my little bowl of rice.

Every Korean restaurant have their own versions of Korean Fried Chicken and the Husband and I have a bit of fair share in trying a couple. While NaruOne’s version was the most crisp we’ve ever had, it isn’t the most tasty for us.

Will we come back? We certainly will because we want to try their Ginseng Chicken. And yes, maybe try their Korean Fried Chicken again.

NaruOne Korean Restaurant

375 Pitt Street, Sydney
Phone: 02 9261 2680

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.