Idina Menzel in Sydney (The Australian Tour)

A night of wonderful music by the one and only Idina Menzel and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House. Did I just wrote that in one sentence? Did that happen not too long? Yes. Yes!

It has always been a wish to watch a concert at the Sydney Opera House. I feel very blessed that I was able to experience watching a concert at the Opera House with Idina Menzel as the performer. Another dream come true!

Idina Menzel was the first Elphaba (of the musical WICKED) in Broadway, of which she won a Tony Award. On TV, she was known as Shelby Corcoran, Rachel's mother in Glee. She has also appeared in a Disney movie entitled, "Enchanted".

I've only seen Idina sing on videos in youtube and Glee. The only recording that I have of her is the OST of Wicked. When I learned that she will have a concert in Sydney, I immediately got tickets so I can watch her. I have always admired her singing voice and I thought that this might be a once in a lifetime chance for me to see her perform live.  

She came out on stage in a simple but classic black lace dress. She was barefoot. According to her, she feels free and more grounded when sings with bare feet.

She took our breath away the moment she sang her first song, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Her voice was amazing. Her stage presence made us not take our eyes off her. And her humour! She was so funny and spontaneous. Like she was talking to a friend the whole time she was on stage. 

I wrote down some of the songs Idina sang that night...in the dark! That's what you call dedication haha. Here's a part of her repertoire: Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Wizard and I, Don't Rain On My Parade, Both Sides Now, Let's Dance, Love For Sale, At The Ballet, What I Did for Love, God Save My Soul, Poker Face (the song she sang in Glee), Take Me For What I Am, Defying Gravity and For Good.

My favourite parts of the evening:

When she sang "The Wizard and I". One of the songs from WICKED. Even if I will never get to see her play Elphaba, this was good enough for me.

When she sang "What I Did For Love". A song written by Marvin Hamlisch from the musical "A Chorus Line", Idina sang the song in tribute to Marvin Hamlisch who was her conductor, orchestrator and close friend. The song is a classic and hearing Idina sing it that night made it more meaningful and sentimental.

When she sang "Let's Dance". It was at this point that Idina talked about how she started as a wedding singer. She even danced a few moved which very much entertained us.

When she sang "Poker Face". In between singing this song, she talked about her hesitation to go into TV and star in Glee as Rachel's mother. She showed us her funny take on the song which she thought doesn't really make sense when you carefully listen to the lyrics.

When she sang "Defying Gravity". The song the character "Elphaba" is known for. To hear the original Elphaba sing my super favourite song in such a powerful voice just made me indescribably happy.

When she sang her finale song "For Good" in acapella. She put down her microphone and sang this song in all its rawness. The whole concert hall in silence and the only voice heard was hers. It was beautiful, it was touching. Singing "For Good" with no music made us feel her sincerity and gratefulness for having performed for us. It was her best gift to us that night.

I was able to buy a Idina's concert playbill and it came with stories of her achievements and a short interview. The most important question was asked, "Would you ever return to Wicked?" And sadly for now, she doesn't think she'll ever do it again.

I watched Idina's concert with the Husband and two of my dear friends. We all enjoyed it immensely and felt very spoiled for living here in Sydney, having the chance to watch concerts at the Opera House with performers such as Idina Menzel.


Below are videos of her performances in her Barefoot at the Symphony concerts where she sang "Defying Gravity" and "For Good":

Video Sources: (1) and (2)

Hello, Spring! Hello, Cherry Blossoms!

Spring is here! My favourite season when nature comes alive with colour and vibrance. Days will gradually become longer and temperatures will be warmer. Spring equates to two of my favourite things: beginnings and transitions. I love it most for the abundance of Cherry Blossoms blooming. To see its beauty is such a fleeting moment but it teaches us all to be grateful for the now. 

The Husband never gives me flowers. Instead, he brings to me to places where I can see my favourite Cherry Blossoms. I'm in love with them. I squeal in delight when I see them. I get "kilig" when I seem them on TV. So the Husband took time off work and brought me to Auburn Botanical Gardens for the Cherry Blossoms Festival. It runs for two weeks every year, usually between the 2nd to 4th week of August. That's not yet officially Spring time but it is when the Cherry Blossoms come out. 

The Contrast of Winter and Spring. 

It was our second time to come to the Cherry Blossoms Festival. Last year, we had a Sunday picnic under the Cherry Blossom trees. This year, we opted to visit on a Friday, a weekday so that there would be less people. There were a number of people that came and went in the morning but the volume wasn't as many during weekend. It was definitely easier for us to take photos.

We saw a group doing a photoshoot. The ladies looked lovely in their Kimonos.

Other than Cherry Blossom flowers, the garden had other lovely flowers. When I sorted our photos, I noticed that I seemed to have taken lots of pink flowers. 

We didn't stay long but we're happy to have experienced seeing Cherry Blossoms once again. We had fun appreciating nature, see flowers in bloom and feel the falling Cherry Blossoms on our shoulders.

Related Posts:

Sundate Picnic: Cherry Blossoms Festival at Auburn Botanic Gardens

Style Musings: Cherry Blossom Charm From Pandora

August on Ibyangram

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.

We had a great start to August as the Husband and I came out of our semi-hibernation. The weather temperature had gradually gone up and we had been blessed with nothing but good weather almost everyday. I have resumed my weekly de-cluttering sessions in different areas of our home. We're working our way towards having the guest room as neat as possible in time for my Mother's vacation in October. Although work has become more busy for both of us, I have squeezed in time and spent a day with girlfriends. Below are a few more things that made up my August.

Ramen Lunch at Ippudo Sydney

Fri-date lunch was at Ippudo. It's been seven months since we've had our ramen fill at Ippudo so we decided to have lunch here after our Cherry Blossoms exploration in Auburn. It was already late, about 2pm, when we arrived so the lunch peak hour was over.  We each ordered a bowl of ramen and their famous pork buns. 

Ippudo Pork Bun ($4 each). Braised pork belly in Ippudo sauce with lettuce and wrapped in steamed bun. The steamed bun is soft and pork belly is flavourful. 

Shiromaru Motoaji Ramen. It's a classic Hakata-style ramen that comes in their original Ippudo tonkotsy broth served with thin noodles, pork loin, cabbage, black mushroom and shallots. This was the ramen that chose that day. It was so deliciously comforting. The porkloin is so soft. 

Miso Tonkotsu Ramen. This was their winter special ramen. It is made of a special blend of miso and Ippudo's signature broth, pork loin, egg, corn and veggies. It has a lovely flavour that brings warmth. The perfect ramen for Winter. The Husband's very happy that he got to try this before the season was over. 

It came with a siding of open Sushi and shredded Ginger. The staff told us that if we want to bring more flavour to Miso Tonkotsu Ramen, we can add more ginger to the broth. The Sushi was for dipping into the ramen. Cool, huh? 

A delicious brunch and a hearty lunch that filled us the whole day made our Fri-date perfect!

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