Thank You 2010!

My 2010 was a good year.  Not spectacular, not as I what I hoped it would be but it was good to me.  It was year of extremes---moments that brought me enormous joy and moments that gave me so much heartache.  The challenges that 2010 faced with me with situations that resulted to an imbalance in my world.  Lots of times, I lost my sense of equilibrium.  If not for my faith in God, a sunny disposition and support from loved ones, I would have never surpassed this year.

2010 rocked my world!  My phrase for 2010 was, "STEP UP!"  I learned that challenges are a means for breakthroughs to happen in my life.  The difficult moments of 2010 gave me a chance to find my centre and learn that I have the capacity to step up and do more than what I can do.  In 2010, I have learned to use whatever negativity happening in my world to motivate good actions.  I have also learned to be more humble and accept that some things are meant to happen in order to make me a better person. 

Some 2010 Highlights:

Reunions and Meet-ups: My Mom visited us last year.  Our friends Jeanny and Agnes visited Sydney.  Our Melbourne trips gave us the chance to be with friends Dith and Lui.  Chris' College friend, Jemma, migrated to Sydney and we were able to spend time with her.

Photography:  We were able to cover several events and engage in photoshoots last year.  This is something we wish we could do more but time is always a concern because we have a 9 to 5 job that needs to be prioritized.  Last year though, I realized that photography is something I would really love to do in the future.  I see myself having a real career in photography given the right time and opportunity.

Blogging:  2010 was a good year for "A Wife's Charmed Life " (AWCL).  In 2010, AWCL was recognized as a food blog and was finally granted a Page Rank of 3.  A great milestone for the blog and a huge source of happiness for me.  AWCL has also increased in readership and I have received lots of appreciation from readers (turned online buddies) and loved ones.  I'm very thankful for all the comments, feedback and suggestions for AWCL.  I'm doubly thankful to everyone who take time to read what I share here.  Your time is precious and I value the time that you spend here.

Writing:  I never dreamed of writing for a newspaper but last year, I was gifted with a column of my own in a Filipino publication called "Ang Kalatas".  This blessing has given me the opportunity to improve my craft in writing, learn new things and meet new friends. 

Career:  The big bulk of my 2010 was work.  Last year, I had to give up a lot of my time for photography and blogging, even sacrifice time for myself and family, just to give more attention to my job.  Work has taught me to step up and get out of my comfort zone.  I think 2011 will still be busy but I hope and pray that things at the office will be a bit more stable than what it was last year.

Health:  I gained weight last year...and no it wasn't because I ate too much (hehe).  Due to my surgery in December 2009, I had to fully recover from that.  While I was able to do physical activities and even served time at the gym for a while during 2nd quarter of 2010, I still felt pain.  So I had to minimize doing physical exercises and followed my mom's advice to wait a year.  True enough, after Christmas, I tried doing my usual exercises and the pain was gone.  One of my immediate goals for 2011 is to get rid of the kilos I gained from being inactive.

A challenging and humbling 2010, I'm grateful to you nonetheless for the many blessings you brought me and my family.    Thank you dear God.  Thank you, universe.  May 2011 be a kinder and better year to us all.

Make Your Mark in 2011

 Video courtesy of skyshowfan. Thanks to John Fick for the lead. 

Sydney also prepares a Family Fireworks at 9:00PM on New Year's Eve.  It runs for 8 minutes for the benefit of those who want to go home early.

Video courtesy of imodeboi.  Thanks to Lorrie for the lead.

HAPPY 2011 FROM SYDNEY!!!!!!

No one does fireworks more spectacular than Sydney!!!! That's why people from around the world come here just to witness this event.  That's why people book nearby hotels in Circular Quay and pay AUD$1,000 to AUD$2,000 a night just to be there.  That's why people book into restaurants and parks in Circular Quay and pay a hefty price just to be a part of this celebration.  That's why people endure long hours of waiting and sunburn, waiting all day around the city just to save a good spot on NYE.  That's why at the stroke of midnight, Sydney stops whatever it is they are doing, whether at home or outside and look up---or in our case, we look at the TV just and watch the spectacle of the NY fireworks.

The symbol of this year's fireworks was a HANDPRINT to go with the theme
MAKE YOUR MARK.

Make your mark and reflect on the decade that has passed and the lasting impressions left by your actions.

Make your mark by contributing to a better future, a better decade.

As we start a new year and a new decade, let us be inspired to MAKE A DIFFERENCE to ourselves and to the world.

Wishing you a year full of love, joy and peace!

Boxing Day in Sydney 2010

I forgot that malls in suburbs are closed on the day after Christmas--Boxing Day.  Due to being busy leading up to Christmas, I guess I've really lost my sense of time and forgot about when shops open and close in our suburb during Christmas holidays.  Take note that I've lived here for five years already and only this year that I forgot that we always go out to the mall on the 27th December and not Boxing Day.

My Husband and I woke up early and even planned to have breakfast at our favorite cafe at the mall.  When we arrived at the mall, it was closed and only then I realized that we were a day early.

Hungry and a bit sleepy, we went to the only place opened, McDonald's, and had breakfast there while we figure out what the heck we will do for the day.  It was raining so the Husband thought we should just go home but he took pity on me because I really wanted to go somewhere that day.  The only option was to go to City and be part of the mad rush of Boxing Day.  So off to the City we went to experience Boxing Day in Sydney.

Boxing Day (26 December) is a great opportunity to go shopping as this is the time of the year that stores in Australia give huge discounts on their merchandise.  My Husband and I save up and allot money just so we can shop on Boxing Day because the discounts are really big!

Our first stop was at the Lululemon Athletica (yoga clothes and apparel store) where I found a pink shirt for only AUD$29.00 (original price was $75.00)

And I love their re-usable bags---very inspiring!

On our way to Pitt Street, we passed by the Apple Store and noticed a lot of people inside although Apple never goes on sale even if it's Boxing Day.

Then we arrived at Pitt Street.  Before lunch, there wasn't much people yet. 

But during lunch time, the crowd grew thicker.  This was the entrance to Myer.  There was a long queue just to get inside.  And when you get inside, there were long queues to elevators and escalators, whether you are going up or down.

Street performers entertaining the big crowd.

Traffic in the city was slow.  Rarely do we bring the car when we go to the city due to traffic and parking concerns.  For us, it is best to just take public transport.

There were long queues everywhere; from going in and out of stores, up and down the escalators/elevators, food courts and restaurants, toilets and even for public transport on the way home.  If you are not in a good mood and have no sense of humour, you won't be able to endure the big crowd that Boxing Day brings. 

My Husband and I, however, enjoyed the moment while we were there.  It was challenging to shop but we got the stuff we came for.  We weren't able to eat at a decent restaurant, instead we had very late lunch at a food court.  It was the first time we experienced Boxing Day in Sydney so we didn't let anything irritate us or dampen our spirits.  We may not do this again but we will remember the fun we had on that day.

Our good buys this Boxing Day:

Christmas wrappers and cards.  The best time to buy Christmas stuff is after Christmas!  I always buy our Christmas needs AFTER Christmas.  So the stuff I bought this year will be used for next year.

Beauty products.  If you want to try a new beauty product, this may be the best time to try them out!  The L'Oreal moisturisers I bought were on sale for AUD$9.99 each (original price was around AUD$35.00-45.00) so I thought I might as well try them out.  This is also the time I replenish on beauty products such as a mascara.  I found this Maybelline mascara for only AUD$11.00.

The Husband bought new work clothes.  He only buys new work clothes during Boxing Day sale.  A few shirts and pairs of pants to last him the whole year and he's a happy camper.  I'm a happy wifey too because we saved lots from all the big discounts.  It also saves us time because we never shop for his clothes the whole year.


AFTER Boxing Day, we went to the mall in our suburb and bought a few more stuff.  There are lots of remaining items on sale and I'm glad that we found a few Tefals frying pans.  I just bought a small one because that's the only one I need.

Our After-Boxing-Day shopping loots were mostly for the kitchen:  a StickMaster Plus, pizza cutter, pastry brush set and a 20-cm Tefal frying pan.

This year's Boxing Day sales was fun and fruitful.  We got to experience something new and we were able to buy stuff we need for us and for our home.  

Christmas at Home

I'm really not that ready for Christmas this year.  I have to admit that for the first time in my life, I'm not feeling the spirit much.  If I had to choose, I'd skip it this year.  I'd go away and be on vacation and come back after the New Year.  The culprit, you might ask?  My work.  Not that I want to blame my work.  I thought the month of December would bring me a bit of peace at the office, a bit of breathing space but nooooo.  Work turned out to be more demanding as we closed down for the year.  *sigh*.

Anyway, enough of that. The 24th of December marked my last day at work.  My Husband and I made a pact that we will meet for lunch no matter what happens.  As a young family of two, we make sure that we have our own traditions when it comes to occasions such as these.  We believe it is good practice to have these traditions when we have little ones to celebrate occasions with. 

It is tradition that we celebrate the start of Christmas on Christmas Eve lunch til after the New Year. We are on vacation leave on the week between Christmas and New Year.  We only go back to work on the first working day of January.

We get off work early (half-day off) on the 24th to have lunch.  This year, lunch was at the Chefs Gallery.  After our sumptuous meal, we hung out in the city and used the time to do some last minute Christmas shopping.

We got home late in the afternoon.  I was really exhausted but the spirit of Christmas suddenly crept in on me and thought I should at least prepare a little something for Noche Buena.

Christmas Eve dinner is usually spent with our relatives but they are currently having a white Christmas in America so this year, we had a quiet celebration.

At 10:00pm, the table was set and food was ready.  We didn't wait for midnight as I didn't want to sleep late.

I just prepared a simple pasta dish and fruit salad for dessert.  We had leftovers of roasted chicken from dinner the other night and voila!  Instant Noche Buena for two.

There were no surprise gifts from both of us these year because we already gave our Christmas gifts to each other weeks ago.  We however opened gifts from thoughtful loved ones after our Noche Buena. 

Gift or no gift, we are grateful that we have special people who are great blessings to us.  Their love and friendship are more than enough not just this season of love and giving but throughout the year.

On Christmas day, we just attended mass in the morning and spent the whole afternoon sleeping.  We finally got our well-deserved rest.

How was your Christmas?