Life After "Eat Pray Love": Elizabeth Gilbert in Sydney

After reading Eat Pray Love, I instantly became a fan of Elizabeth "Liz" Gilbert. Finding her book was a journey and weaving thru its pages was a learning experience to me. Her next book, "Committed" was another insightful book that related how someone like her made peace with marriage. 

Sometime last year, Liz Gilbert started tweeting and it was thru her that I learned that she will have a talk at Sydney Opera House. Her talk will be about Life after "Eat Pray Love" and how she has managed success and pressure when she became one of America's famous authors.

I tweeted about her show and surprise, surprise...she favorited my tweet! :)

Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of the multi-million-copy-selling book Eat Pray Love, which spawned the Julia Roberts starred blockbuster film of the same name.  Gilbert has also written several other critically acclaimed books and was a writer-at-large for American GQ where she has received two National Magazine Award nominations. 

Eat Pray Love, published in 2006, chronicles Gilbert’s trip around the world after her divorce and what she discovered during her travels.  It remained on The New York Times Best Seller list for 187 weeks. 

In this talk Gilbert will discuss her life after Eat Pray Love and how she’s dealt with the pressures and expectations of commercial success, the trappings of fame and the inevitable question - ‘after such a huge success, what do you do next?’ 

I bought tickets as early as November 2012. I feel blessed that I will get to see her and listen to her inspiring story three days before my birthday. I consider this happenstance as one of the universe' gifts to me this year.

As I write this, I'm suddenly reminded how blessed I am too last year when on my birthday, I watched my tennis idol Roger Federer at Rod Laver Arena. While I enjoy the bonuses that life gives me, I am most thankful whenever fate surprises me with once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

If you would like to see Elizabeth Gilbert on 19th January (4:15pm), you can buy tickets via the Sydney Opera House website.

Giant Rubber Duck in Sydney

Sydney starts the year with a festival. Every January, Sydney Festival lightens up the city with cultural celebrations based on art, music and ideas. For three weeks, the city is treated to around 80 events which involves a thousand artists from here and abroad in the field of visual arts, dance, music, theatre, cross media and forums.

This year's major attraction is the Rubber Duck, a gigantic inflatable duck created by Florentijn Hofman. The giant rubber duck's purpose is to relieve everyday tensions, as well as define them. The rubber duck is there to create a new perspective in a public place and simply amaze people. It will continue to fascinate at Darling Harbour until 23rd January.

It's HUGE!!! But it's one of the cutest things I've ever seen in my entire life. I've seen photos of it a few days before we went to Darling Harbour but when I saw it in person, I was shocked at the enormity of it. I was in awe and can't get over how something as huge as this Rubber Duck can be as cute! I wanted to hug it!!!

Shared some of photos of this Rubber Duck in twitter, FB and instagram and I'm glad it made our family friends from around the world smile too. They were even reminded of Ernie and Bert's (of Sesame Street) Rubber Duckie song:

Rubber Duckie, you're the one, 
You make bathtime lots of fun,

Rubber Duckie, I'm awfully fond of you...

It's amazing how an experience such as seeing a giant rubber duck will bring cheer to anyone and even remind them of their childhood. To the organisers of Sydney Festival, thank you for bringing the Rubber Duck to our city.

-oOo-

It was fortunate that we got to meet up a few friends after work on Friday. They too wanted to see and have a photo with the Rubber Duck so we met up at Lindt Cafe (located at Cockle Bay Wharf) for afternoon tea. It was a hot day so we all had a Iced Chocolates and a few pieces of Salted Caramel macarons. It was the perfect way to say hello to our weekend.

New Ramen Joint: Ippudo Sydney (Westfield Sydney)

Sydney's already got a few good places to have ramen and things just got a bit more exciting when Ippudo opened it's first branch at Westfield Sydney.

A little history on Ippudo: 

On October 16, 1985, IPPUDO was opened with a counter seating capactiy of 10. Shigemi Kawahara the Ramen King really impacted the industry with his original interior designs and Tonkotsu (pork based) ramen. The classy shop interior with its heavy reliance on wood is almost like a wood sculptor’s studio and is kept sparkling clean with modern jazz playing in the background. The attention to detail and hospitable service translate to quality dining in a modest establishment with a decor and ambience that hits at sophistication and quality.

Ippudo’s tonkotsu ramen soup is free of the usual smell of pork with a light aftertaste. The selection of ingredients and the seasoning suited to the customer’s well-being has won over female customers tempting them to want to try it everyday. Ippudo was also the first to refer to broth by color, Shiro (white) and Aka (red), which soon became a standard industry practice. Till today, Shiromaru and Akamaru continue to helm as Ippudo’s signature ramen. (source)

Ippudo offers three ramen soups:

Akamaru Shinaji. A powerful Tonkotsu broth combined with Ippudo's secret miso, garlic oil with lean slices of pork, black mushrooms, soybean sprouts and scallions

Shiromaru Motoaji. Original Tonkotso broth with Hakata-style noodles topped with pork, soybean sprouts and shallots.

Karaka Men. Combination of the Ippudo signature Tonkotsu broth and Hakata-style noodles topped with pork belly and spicy Karaka miso.

We were incidentally at Westfield Sydney on Tuesday because of the heatwave. This was where we met up to have dinner until the sunset. After we got out of Yogurt World, we noticed that Ippudo has already opened. It was only 6pm and there were already a few people on queue. It seemed that this is the ramen joint of the moment. We waited for less than 10 minutes (I think we were 5th on queue) and was seated in a big communal  table in the middle of the restaurant. Although we were seated with other people, the table was big enough not to annoy anyone's private space and it felt festive as the music plays in the background and the staff kept on shouting Japanese greetings to patrons. The place was darkly-lit and cozy. We had a good view of the men working in the kitchen which always fascinate me. They worked fast and exuded cheer as they serve food-loving people like us. 

I love taking photos of serviettes. The Husband loved their chopsticks. 

We decided to order just two dishes. Yu-Rin-Chi, their deep-fried chicken was very crunchy. It came in a bed of salad and drizzled in tangy sweet sauce. The perfectly cooked chicken was very tasty that there was no need to add sauce anymore.

The Karaka Men Chashu came with the softest pork belly I've ever had. The Hakata-style noodles were ultra-thin and yet mouthful. The comforting broth was spicy and flavourful. 

Based on our visit, Ippudo is one ramen place to visit. But I must warn you to be prepared to wait especially if you arrive during peak hours. While we had dinner, the queue outside suddenly became one long line. So be early. 

No time to wait? They also accommodate take away requests. 

Ippudo Sydney
Level 5, Westfield Sydney
Pitt Street, Sydney NSW
Phone: 02 8078 7020

Happiness is Indulging in a Cup of Salted Caramel Yogurt!

Due to the heatwave last Tuesday, the Husband and I decided to meet up at Westfield Sydney after work. The temperatures went up to 42 degrees Celsius, it hurt the skin even if we're not directly under the sun. There's no way we're going to brave riding the train and sitting out the heat at home. I didn't want to cook anything at home too as it will add up to the heat. Our best solution would be to hang out at an airconditioned mall and wait out the sunset there and that's what we did.

As per usual, I had some time to myself. I window shopped and had a looked at sales to entertain myself. When I learned that the Husband's about to arrive, I walked up to Westfield's Level 5 Food Court where we're supposed to meet. I plan to reward myself a large cup of Brown Rice Milk Tea at Chatime but my attention diverted to a newly-opened restaurant nearby. It was a yogurt place called Yogurt World.  The place was nicely-lit as the dining area faced the windows. Love their concept of bar stools.  

Yogurt World has 16 flavours and about 101 toppings available in store. That's a lot!

By this time, I've forgotten about having milk tea. I had a quick look at their yogurt flavours and found SALTED CARAMEL! They have a salted caramel yogurt! That is sooooo brilliant!

With that, I quickly grabbed a cup and poured some yogurt and toppings. 

Based on my previous yogurt experiences, I'm not very much on toppings. I think I get overwhelmed with all the choices before me that I can't really think. But what I always choose are the marshmallows and blueberries. With chocolates, it varies. This time, I put two sticks of Kit Kat, one for me and one for the Hubby.

I love their coloured spoons! It had Yogurt World etched at the end. It's very personal. 

This is now my favourite yogurt! It's not as sour that even the Husband can tolerate it and it tastes so much like ice cream. It's so good I regretted not getting more.

I realized now how fixated I am with Salted Caramel. You can easily tempt me with almost anything that has Salted Caramel in it. To begin with, I really love Caramel-inspired food like the Philippines' Yema. And I love cakes and ice creams that has Caramel in it. 

Last year, Salted Caramel Macarons became one of my food favourites. Now I add Salted Caramel Yogurt to my list.

Yogurt World

Level 5, Westfield Sydney

Pitt Street, Sydney NSW