Smileys That Make Me Smile

Lift your head, baby, don't be scared
Of the things that could go wrong along the way
You'll get by with a smile
You can't win at everything but you can try.

Baby, you don't have to worry
'Coz there ain't no need to hurry
No one ever said that there's an easy way
When they're closing all their doors

And they don't want you anymore
This sounds funny but I'll say it anyway.

Girl I'll stay through the bad times
Even if I have to fetch you everyday
I'll get by if you smile
You can never be too happy in this life.

In a world where everybody
Hates a happy ending story
It's a wonder love can make the world go round
And don't let it bring you down
And turn your face into a frown
You'll get along with a little prayer and a song.

(Too doo doo...)
Let me hear you sing it
(Too doo doo...)

In a world where everybody
Hates a happy ending story
It's a wonder love can make the world go round
But don't let it bring you down
And turn your face into a frown
You'll get along with a little prayer and a song.
 

Lift your head, baby, don't be scared
Of the things that could go wrong along the way
You'll get by with a smile
Now it's time to kiss away those tears goodbye
 

(Too doo doo...)
Let me hear you sing it

(Too doo doo)
 

song by Eraserheads

-Should a dive steam in the unlucky volunteer? -

Some Things I Finally Got Around To Doing

Do you sometimes have things you really need to do or buy but put them off just because you're busy?  Who doesn't, right?  If you are a wife that work and manage a home and at the same time have no household help, your lists of "to-do" get longer if when your schedule gets pretty hectic.

I'm grateful that for the past months, the Husband has been very supportive of my busy workload at the office.  Some weekends, he does the groceries alone so I can stay home and have more time to rest.  Sometimes he does all my errands just so I can have more time to finish my deadlines.

These past three weekends, I decided to allot time for some some serious shopping.  Although, I have started buying Christmas gifts since June, it's about time to finish up my list and start wrapping up presents as we will be attending parties soon.  Plus, there are stuff for the home that needed to be bought or replaced (thank goodness for the Husband that take note of things like these right now!).

Replace bottle stoppers.  We realized of late that our bottle stoppers are of unreliable quality so when we found these bottle stoppers on sale, we bought them.

Replace Tefal Non-Stick Pans.  We've used our Tefal Non-Stick Pans for two years and it's about time we buy new ones.  The non-stick coat of our old ones had already dissociate (not good to use anymore) so we had to replace them. 

Buy Pasta Bowls.  Finally!!!!  I've been meaning to buy pasta bowls for like forever, I finally remembered to buy a few pieces.  We always have pasta once or twice a week so for three weeks now, we are now eating pasta dishes in proper dining ware.

Cook Fettuccine Carbonara.  As a way of saying "thank you!" to my Husband's for being my angel during my rough and tough days, the first pasta I cooked for when we used our pasta bowls was his favorite.  I love pasta in red sauces but I try to have a balance between cooking pasta in red and white sauces.

Sort out our Winter and Summer clothes.   At the start of November, we allot an hour or two every weekend just to sort out our wardrobe.  This is also the time of the year when we give out clothes to charity so some clothes we choose are to be given away.  I've taken out some of our summer clothes and put away the winter clothes.  This takes time so I do it phase by phase, and we finish this task by the end of December (because some weeks in December we don't really have time to do it).

I still have a few more things to do but I sure feel real good when I have some things ticked off my list.  

What are some things you have got around to doing lately?

Affirmation: One Fear at a Time

Affirmation: 

I'll avoid worrying 

and face my fears 

one at a time

Personal Reflection:

Worries and fears take a toll on our body and spirit.  These two things are normal in our everyday lives but it is never healthy when we indulge with worries or fears all the time.  

As adults, we sometimes wish we can go back to days when we were young and more carefree--when life is so much simpler.  Whenever we look back at those days, we laugh at ourselves for worrying about the trivial things.  But then, during those times, they weren't trivial at all.  Our worries and fears then were very real and important to us especially when we overcame them because they defined us to be what we are now.

Nowadays, our worries and fears are of bigger scale as we have more responsibilities.  Now that we're older, we have more complicated wants and needs, more goals to achieve, more people that we care about.

Until now, I still haven't found the right formula to avoid worrying and feel fear.  There are moments when I feel anxious about things. There are moments when I need a loved one to tell me, "Everything's going to be alright.", in order to restore belief in myself and have more faith.

Whenever I have moments of uncertainties, I draw strength from my faith and loved ones who give moral support.  In moments when my mind seems to be filled with noises of insecurity, I listen more to people and learn inspiration from them.  Whenever an adversity presents fear in me, I accept that it is normal to feel fear and that something good will come out of it.  When I feel fear, I use that as a way to look for a better perspective and an opportunity to change.

-o0o0o-

Facing My Fears
by Amber Johnson

Now you see me in the dark
the dark that pulls us apart
you see what you fear
and now everyone begins to disappear
this world holds so much hate
in this world what is fate?
Sometimes we do not know what we fear
but we know it nears
and I of all people will rise
and I will learn to be wise
nor will my fears push me away
nor will I die today
I will not run from it anymore
it's time I open the door
and all those that I love
are going to know I'm coming above
I now will be able to sleep at night
knowing that I don't have to fight
this is the first step of being free
I have no right to hold up so much greed
and no matter where, when, or how
I just know it's time to do this now
its time that I let the light in
and stop running from something so thin
I do not know where I will go
but I know I'll leave in a flawless flow
this is where my life is bound
it's time that my inner self is found

-o0o0o-

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'  - Eleanor Roosevelt

Spring's Sunset

Summer is nearly here and Sydney Weather is becoming warmer by the day.  Although one can feel a cool breeze during mornings and night time , it can be pretty hot during midday til late afternoon.  Sunny but cool days--how I wish we have days like these all the time.  If I can choose one season for a whole year, I'd chose Spring!

What I love about this warm Sydney Weather is that it produces spectacular sunsets in the afternoon.  Last week, we were fortunate to come home to a welcoming sunset view.  Beautiful hues of pink and yellow as we looked out our balcony. 

And as the sunset comes to an end, stronger hues come to life.  Pink and yellow turned to different shades of orange.  

Some things in life are constant.  Although the Sydney Weather Forecast can sometimes be unpredictable, when the sun is out during the day, I know I'll come home and find a beautiful sunset show outside our balcony.

All photos by Ibyang Sanchez, copyright 2010.

Other Food Discoveries in Melbourne

LORD OF THE FRIES

Finally a fry that was NOT drown in beef tallow and juiced up with gluten; NOT cooked in the cheapest oil money can buy; NOT smothered in watered down tomato sauce and sitting in a bain-marie since the beginning of time.  For more about Lord of the Fries, read here.

These are chips that you won't get enough of.  If only these were not fattening, I would have eaten them everyday.  This is worth checking out if you're in Melbourne.

Lord of the Fries

Estreet Store 

Elizabeth corner Flinders Street

Flinders Street Station

Across Federation Square

MARGO'S (Crown Entertainment Complex)

Located at the gaming floor of Crown, this restaurant and bar specializes in seafood and steaks.  On the night that we had dinner at Margo's they offer a steak meal for only AUD$19.50.  It came with your choice of a glass of wine, chips or mashed potato and a siding of vegetables or salad.

The steak was perfectly grilled and very filling. 

Margo's Restaurant and Bar

Gaming Floor, Crown Entertainment Complex

Sun to Thurs: 6am-12 midnight

Fri and Sat: 6am to 1am

I Dream of Gardens and Coffee

There are three things I want for our dream house to have: (1) a large kitchen, (2) a garden with lots of commercial planters where I can have coffee with the Husband and (3) a red sofa where I can lie down and read my books.  I always mention those three things to my Husband and I know one day we will make our dream house come true.


I'm not sure if I have a green thumb, but I sure hope that with the help of outdoor commercial planters available these days, our dream garden will look amazing!

It would be lovely to have a commercial planter such as this...

Or maybe some large commercial planters such as these...

Nowadays, there's so much options on how to beautify the garden of our dreams.  With the right planning,  finding the right resources and of course, help from the Husband, one day soon we will have our dream garden where we can relax and have coffee.

Some Wednesdays Spent With Coffee

Some Wednesdays I give myself a treat.  I get out of work "earlier than early" and I go to a cafe and order a cuppa.  Sometimes I call a friend of mine to join me.  Sometimes one of my friends will find me sipping my cuppa inside the cafe and he or she will join me.   Sometimes I am alone reading an e-book or watching people pass by as I savour my coffee.

I stay there for an hour...an hour and a half tops.  Then my Husband will drop by to pick me up and we will go home together.

An hour of good coffee in the middle of the week.  A rejuvenating moment to give me some respite on a busy week. 

I sometimes have my affair with coffee on Wednesdays because I don't want to wait for my "me" time on Friday.  I don't NEED to wait.

What about you?  What reward do you give yourself on a hump day?

On Selecting A Car Insurance

It's always exciting to have a new car, isn't it?  I remember my Husband and I buying our first car (our first major investment too!) almost two years ago and we were like kids all happy and anxious to pick up the newest member of our household from the dealer.  Since it was our first time in acquiring a car and even if we've done a bit of research online and asked friends about their experiences, we had a vague idea on the nitty-gritty of having a car such as maintenance and car insurance.  Thankfully, the staff from where we bought our car were very helpful and patiently answered all our questions.

One of the things we really thought about before we bought a car was the insurance we will be availing.  We studied and compared several car insurance companies in order to get the most practical policy for us.  

This afternoon, I discovered iSelect's way of helping car owners to decide on the best car insurance for them.  All you need to do is go to their site, fill in  the required details and the comparison engine will give you some options for your car insurance.  I tried it and it gave me reasonable results.  The process took only a few minutes.

At this time of the year, car insurance are one of the things we think about as we will again renew our policy early next year.

{Image Source}

Movie Date with My Girls: Eat Pray Love

From organizing get-togethers, dinners and coffee dates, my girlfriends and I watch chick flicks together too. At this point of our lives, it's a blessing to find time to do this activity.  The tricky part is always with the movie schedule wherein we really have to be there on time so we had to work our schedules around it.

We've seen Sex & the City 2 a couple of months ago and then last month, EAT PRAY LOVE was finally shown so we trooped to the cinemas and watched it together.  Some of us have read the book and for the others who haven't, they just looked forward to seeing it.  

We all enjoyed it.  It's not spectacular or anything but it was a "feel good" movie where possibly a lot of women are able to relate to Elizabeth's story.   We walked out of the cinema feeling happy and relaxed--it's as if we all had our "me" time only we shared the moment together.

And when we have get-togethers such as these, My Husband and little Jiona (our friends' daughter) will always have their play time.  After hanging out, my Husband will always have some photographs of them like these....

Isn't it cute???? I just want to share these because I was so amused when I saw them.  Jiona is at that stage where she can already mimic what you are doing, she's so smart and cute in front of the camera. 

Seeing this movie come to life on the big screen is a dream come true for me.  Although the movie never showed some important bits and more substantial parts of Liz Gilbert's book I'm glad that somehow the movie showed her journey to finding herself, balance and love.  I love her Italy trip the best from all the three countries that she visited. 

Some quotes from the movie that I like:

"Balance is not letting anyone love you less than you love yourself.”

"I want to go some place where I can marvel at something."

Liz Gilbert: I’m sick of people telling me that I need a man.
Felipe: You don’t need a man, Liz. You need a champion.

"We call it “dolce far niente”, the sweetness of doing nothing.”

‎"The resting place of the mind is the heart. The only thing the mind hears all day is clanging bells and noise and argument, and all it wants is quietude. The only place the mind will ever find peace is inside the silence of the heart. That's where you need to go."

 

“Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation.”

After the book "Eat Pray Love", Elizabeth Gilbert wrote another book entitled "Committed" which tells the dramatic journey of Liz and Felipe to saying "I do."

Crust Gourmet Pizza Bar

Yesterday, we went back to Westfield Sydney to have dinner again.  Since my craving for pizza was not satisfied the other night, I just had to go back to have my pizza at  

Crust Gourmet Pizza Bar.

Crust offers oil-free quality pizza prepped and ready to go to the oven in a few minutes.  They have a whole range of pizza flavors from Traditional, Meat, Chicken, Seafood and Vegetarian pizzas.

I had the tomato-based Sausage Duo topped with Italian Sausage, Chorizo Sausage, Roasted Capsicum and Caramelised Onions, garnished with authentic Buffalo Mozzarell.  

The Husband ordered the Smoked Ham and Pineapple topped with Smoked Ham, Pineapple, Tomato and Brie, garnished with Fresh Basil. 

I love that each order comes with green salad.  The pizza is non-greasy and the toppings are all fresh.  

Crust Gourmet Pizza

Westfield - Sydney
Level 5, Cnr Pitt St Mall and Market St
NSW 2000

Operating Hours:
Mon - Wed 9.30am to 6pm
Thurs - Sat 9.30am to 6.30pm
Sun 10am to 6pm 

New Burger Place: Charlie & Co. Burgers

Westfield Sydney (Westfield: Online Shopping), the newly re-developed shopping haven in the metro, opened its door to the public two weeks ago.  We dropped by during opening and it was packed with so many people.  Lots of boutiques have opened and there are more shops to look forward to in the coming months.  However, the Sydney Room Food Court  at Level 5 is fully-operational.  When we got there, it was full of people.  I knew there was going to be many people and never expected to be able to have dinner there but I wanted to have a look nonetheless.

I only had a light lunch today and so when I went out of the office, I was famished.  I called the Husband to meet up with me and have dinner before we go home.  We went to Westfield Sydney expecting there won't be too many people as today is Wednesday.  And we were right, not much people.

We went up to Level 5 and what joy to take photographs when there aren't too many people around.

I was actually thinking of having pizza for dinner but when I mentioned that there's a new burger place in the food court, the Husband immediately looked for it and told me, "I want to eat here", when he found it.

Charlie & Co. Burgers is the newest venture of Justin North (Restaurant Becasse, Plan B, Etch and Le Grande Cafe).

There's a small section for those who want to exclusively dine in at Charlie & Co. Burgers.  For others, they can have their meals in the food court area.

We chose to seat ourselves in the food court area.  Interiors are very nice.  Does this look like I'm eating at a food court?  Here's me reading the newspaper, errr, their menu.

Their paging system looks like a phone!

The Husband misses drinking Coke while I on the other hand just had a bottle of another bloody water.

I ordered The Federation Burger, really massive!  Seasoned Angus beef pattie enveloped in cheese, fried egg, bacon, onions, lettuce and tomato.  Cooked perfectly, the meat tender and fairly juicy.

The Husband ordered The Wagyu & Co. Burger.  Not as intimidating but chunky.  Wagyu burger with beetroot relish, pickled gherkin and cheese on a toasted brioche bun.

According to news, the biggest sellers in Charlie & Co. are the Wagyu Burger and Federation Burger.

A burger meal will never be complete without chips.  For our sides, we shared an order of Parmesan and Truffle Fries.

This is just the start of our foodie adventures in Westfield Sydney.  There's a few more restaurants we'll be trying out in the coming weeks.

Charlie & Co. Burgers
The Sydney Room
Level 5, Westfield Sydney
Cnr Market and Castlereagh St
Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: 02-8072 7777
All photos taken by an iPhone 4.

No-Touch Hand Wash System

According to the commercial, this will stop the spread of germs.  Well, I say this home gadget is fun and cool! 

The moment we saw this No-Touch Hand Wash System in the supermarket, we took a second look and decided to buy it.  We got curious with how it works and at the same time, found the idea of a hand wash dispenser that automatically senses your hands and dispenses liquid for hand washing.

No more dirty dispenser pumps and no more accidental spills...nowadays, it's so fuss-free to wash our hands.

The machine is battery-operated and can be turned off.  Available in supermarkets.

Three Cafes in Three Days

I had a busy and productive weekend but I was able to squeeze in a few moments to relax here and there.  I'm still having very hectic days at work so I made sure that this weekend I spend quality with myself and my Husband.  With all the things I'm doing, it's getting hard to create balance in my life right now.  I'm finding it sometimes difficult to maintain a steady equilibrium in my world but I'm hopeful that things will soon (fingers crossed) return to normal.

I worked five days last week and on Friday, I just had to leave early as I was itching to have my quiet "me" time.  I was just exhausted dealing with work that at 3:30pm I decided to pack up and leave.  I went straight out to Starbucks to have a cup of their tall Creme Brulee Macchiato. 

Creme Brulee Macchiato is the newest drink at Starbucks.  I've tried this once and I liked it so I just had to try it again because it's a limited edition beverage.  I'm not sure how long it will be on the menu.  It is a creamy mix of crème brûlèe flavoured syrup and freshly steamed milk marked with intense Starbucks® espresso, topped with velvety foam with a roasty, dark caramel drizzle on top. 

This warm creamy, foamy drink was perfect as I had a quiet time at Starbucks, watching people pass by and playing games on my iPod.

On Saturday, my Husband and I decided to come out of the house to do some shopping for groceries and Christmas presents.  I've started buying gifts since August and for the next three weeks, we will buy a few items until we complete everything. 

We had heavy breakfast at home but I didn't prepare coffee.  I suggested that we have coffee at the mall so we can have time to just relax and talk.  We hung out at Coffee Culture where the Husband had a cup of Latte and while I had a cup of Peppermint Tea.

Coffee Culture always serve their Peppermint Tea like this...

...so when you open your cup, you'll find a surprise---two gummy bears.

My Husband and I shared toasted Plain Bagel with lots of Cream Cheese. 

For dessert, we shared a slice of Brownie.   This is the best brownie I've ever tasted.  Rich, moist and not too sweet.   It has a crunchy top part which I love the most.  My Husband makes very delicious brownies but I have to say that this one from Coffee Culture is better.  I'm sorry but I'm never biased when it comes to food.

This afternoon, we had no plans of going out but after lunch, the Husband asked me out for a hot chocolate date.  Awwwww sweet.  I had so much to do but in the spirit of being spontaneous, I said, "Yes!".

He took me to Max Brenner for afternoon tea.

This is what I call a Hot Chocolate KISS....mwah!!!!

I had the White Hot Chocolate while the Husband had the Hot Dark Chocolate.  And once again, the Husband ordered a slice of Max Brenner's Choc-Nut Fudge Brownie (he's such a chocoholic).

Such a very chocolate-y Brownie.  It had drizzles of dark chocolate and milk chocolate.  It's so mouthwatering.  And it had walnuts which I find very interesting and delicious at the same time.

That's three cafes in three days.  Short sweet moments that gave me time to clear my mind and spend quality time with my Husband.

Hope you had a sweet weekend!