Things I Love: Meiji Chocolates

Living in Australia would usually mean that some chocolates from around the world may not be locally available here.  Our friends from Manila gets shocked when we tell them that we don't really get to eat some chocolates that we used to have in the Philippines.  

One of the chocolate brands that the Husband and I love is Meiji from Japan.  There may be a store here in Australia that sell this brand that we don't know.  All we know is that we can't simply find Meiji Chocolates in supermarkets.

Sometimes a friend or a relative or ours would travel to Japan and bring back some Meiji goodies. One of my aunts gave us this Meiji chocolate blocks and it was smooth, delicious and addicting.  

When the Husband and I vacationed in Manila in April, we made sure to hoard several Meiji chocolate bars that we can find. 

Until now we are still enjoying the last few bars we have.  We are trying to control eating our Meiji chocolates at home to hopefully last us until someone comes to visit us from a country that sells Meiji.  

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Recipe: Kimchi Stew

Other than eating Kimchi as a condiment, there are many ways on how to cook Kimchi into becoming something else.

If you have Kimchi that you'd like to use, you can make it into Kimchi Stew.  I like this dish because it's very easy to cook and perfect for winter season.

What you need:

1/2 kilo Pork Belly

4 cups of chopped Kimchi (you can add more if you want)

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp hot pepper flakes

1 tbp hot pepper paste

1 medium-sized onion, chopped

4-6 stalks of green onion, chopped

Tofu
Radish (cut into strips)

Sesame Oil

Water

What you need to do:

1.  In a pot or earthen bowl, put your chopped Kimchi and some Kimchi Juice.

2.  Add in the pork belly, chopped onions., green onions, hot pepper paste and hot pepper flakes.  You can make the stew more spicy if you add more hot pepper paste and hot pepper flakes.

3.  Pour water until all ingredients are submerged.

4.  Close the lid of the pot and simmer for 20-25 minutes.  The first 10 minutes should be in high heat, then turn down to medium heat.

5.  Add the tofu and radish and let it sit for 10 minutes.

6.  Pour a few drops of Sesame Oil before serving.

This Kimchi Stew recipe is inspired by Maangchi's recipe.

In Seoul, Korea: The Kimchi Field Museum

I never knew that some of my online buddies/tweetmates like Kimchi until I started tweeting and sharing about my Kimchi-making adventures.  When I shared the the Kimchi recipe I got from a Korean blogger, a few more have expressed their love for Kimchi.  So for my Kimchi-loving blogmates/tweetmates, let me share with you my little adventure with the Husband at the Kimchi Field Museum in Seoul, Korea.

The museum's mission is to inform the world about one of Korean's important food staple: Kimchi.

Upon entrance to the museum, an electronic hand sanitizer is on standby for those wanting to clean their hands.  I suggest you have your hands cleaned as you'll later find yourself at the Tasting Room of the museum where you'll get to sample a few Kimchi condiments.

The first attraction of the Kimchi Museum is this makeshift yard of a Korean home where you'll see jars of different sizes.  These jars are instrumental in the fermentation of stored Kimchi and are usually placed outside Korean homes.

While we were there, a school field trip was being held. The kids were made to sit down and listen to a short lecture.  Unfortunately, the Husband and I cannot understand because they only spoke Korean.

We instead had to learn about Kimchi thru reading!  Thank goodness, all the readings had English translations.

The museum is divided into three sections.  The first section is about the history of Kimchi.  n this section, we learned that Kimchi didn't used to have chili that's why in earlier days, Kimchi looked like this...

I told the Husband. "This looked like our Nilaga."

Years after, the Koreans started adding hot chili peppers in Kimchi.  Koreans love spicy food and knowing that chili has health benefits, chili peppers became Kimchi's main ingredient.

We learned that there are about more than 150 kinds of Kimchi and that almost all vegetables can be made into Kimchi.

We also saw different kinds of jars at one part of the museum.

The second section of the Kimchi Museum shows the process of making Kimchi.  They presented this by showing small, lifelike dioramas.    

Near the dioramas section is a photo area where guests can have a photograph with a mannequin wearing a Hanbok (Korean's national dress).

Further into the museum, you'll find a room where Kimchi-making is being held.

Beside it is the Tasting Room where they offered four types of Kimchi condiments for guests to taste.

The Husband and I tried them and it was really spicy and delicious.  They have water for those who would like a drink after tasting their Kimchis.

The last section of the museum consists of the Data Room where people can read about Kimchi and it benefits and other traditional Korean food.

The Kimchi Museum is located at the second basement of COEX Mall in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.  Get on Line 2 of the subway then get off Samseong Station and walk toward Exit 5 or 6.  Open from Tuesdays to Sundays, 10:00am to 6:00pm.  Entrance fee is only 3,000 won per Adult.  Allot 20-30 minutes viewing time.

Affirmation: Wear Your Blessings Well

Affirmation:

I will wear my blessings well

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Wearing your blessings well doesn't mean you have to brag about what you have.  Sharing your achievements in life doesn't mean you lack humility or you are a show-off.  When done sincerely, basking in the blessings given to you is a way of honouring God's presence in your life and embracing the abundance God has blessed you with.  

I've been inspired by Joel Osteen's thoughts on Wear Your Blessings Well and I thought this is worth sharing.  

Deuteronomy 28:2 says, “All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God.” God is a rewarder of those that seek Him. When you keep God first place and do your best to honor Him, blessings always follow obedience. That means you will come into increase, promotion and good breaks you didn’t necessarily deserve. When blessings come, God desires that you wear His blessings well so you can be an example of His goodness and display His greatness to others. This means you are quick to give God the credit when credit is due. This means instead of feeling guilty for being blessed, you are thankful for His blessings and receive them with gratitude.

 Let God make an example of what it means to live a blessed, prosperous, abundant life through your life. We are His great representatives here on earth! Don’t hide what God has blessed you with from the world. Learn to let God’s goodness shine brightly in your life each and every day and wear His blessings well.

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Here's another worthy read: some key points from Joel Osteen's talk on Wear Your Blessings Well: 

When you’re blessed, the haters come out. When you step up to a new level, the backbiters show up. When you wear God’s blessings well, don’t be surprised if it draws jealousy out on people . But we got to get to a point where we say not arrogantly but in all HUMILITY, “I’m gonna wear God’s blessings well in spite of who doesn’t like it. I’m gonna take this promotion in spite of who gets jealous. I’m gonna wear this beautiful material blessings in spite of who gets envious. I’m gonna drive this brand new car in spite of who criticizes. I’m gonna move in to this nicer neighborhood in spite of who judges me.

Life is way too short to worry about what everybody things.  If friends get jealous and judge you and are critical, you need some new friends.  Because true friends celebrate you.  True friends encourage and cheer you on.  True friends are happy when you succeed.

People may criticize. They may judge you, they may find fault.. but they don’t know what it took to get to where you are. Some people come in at the end of the movie and they see you blessed, and prosperous and healthy, and sober and free and happy and they want to judge you and criticize. But the problem is, they missed the 1st part. They didn’t see the sacrifices you’ve made. They didn’t see the struggles that you endure. They didn’t see the battles that you’ve fought. The times you felt like giving up but you kept pressing forward. The nights that you stayed up and prayed and believed and gave and served. They didn’t see the price that was paid to get you to where you are. And that blessing may look free, but the truth is it cost you something.

Don’t let anyone make you feel guilty for the favor, the honor, the peace, the victory that God has given you. Somebody paid the price. Seeds were sown. That is God honouring your past, faith, your sacrifices, your faithfulness. Don’t hide your gifts and blessings God gave it to you. People are always gonna talk. That’s their problem not yours. If you will always wear your blessings well.. BEING QUICK TO ALWAYS GIVE GOD THE CREDIT, then there’s no limit to where God could take you. He’ll make you an example of what it means to LIVE A BLESSED, PROSPEROUS, ABUNDANT LIFE.

If you want to watch the video, please click this link.

Further Studies Thru Online Learning

My time and energy has been focused on work lately.  For the past year, my team and I have been working on a huge training program at work that combines classroom training and online courses that they have to go thru in order to complete the program.  We have launched our training program and we are so proud of what we have come up with.  I'm so inspired with what we have accomplished that I'm now starting to think of enrolling myself into online degree programs in Human Resources.  

When I lived and worked in Manila a few years back, my dream was to do some further studying in the area of Human Resource, but I didn't have the time then.  I got caught up in my career and eventually forgot about it.  Now that I'm living here in Sydney, the idea seems possible because of the gift of technology.  Well, it will make my life busier but still, the convenience and benefits of gaining online Degrees seem realistic for a wife and career woman like me.  What's best is that these days, there are institutions that help in financing one's studies like http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ so I'm feeling more confident about taking this step to learning more and growing in the field of Human Resource.

I'm going to think some more and if not this year, maybe next year, I will be able to start being a student again.  Wish me luck!

Some iPad Apps I Love

This entry has been sitting on my drafts section for 700 years--kidding.  Seriously, I've started writing this entry in March but haven't had the discipline to complete and publish.  I felt that there are so many iPad Apps that are good and I wanted to compile it all.  I realized I can't do that.  I can't write about all the iPad Apps I love in one go so I'll just blog about them as they come.  I've initially shared some iPhone Apps for Photography Enthusiasts before, below are some Apps I enjoy using my iPad 2.

Photo Booth.  Since the iPad 2 has its own dual camera, I'm enjoying taking photos with this app.  Although the iPad 2's camera is not high-res, this is still a fun app because it has 9 different settings you can choose from: Normal, X-ray, Light Tunnel, Stretch, Mirror, Twirl, Thermal Camera, Kaleidoscope and Squeeze.

Marble Mixer.  This is a game application that you can play by yourself or play with three other people.  There are three games you can choose from when you play this app.  I enjoy playing this app with family and friends.

Plants vs. Zombies.  I'm addicted to this game since I learned how to play it during the last weeks of our Manila vacation (I know I'm a late bloomer).  I enjoy playing this on the tablet because who wouldn't like playing this game on a bigger scale, right?  I play a game or two of Plants vs. Zombies every night before I read my book of the moment, one of my ways to relax at the end of a busy day.

Angry Birds.  Again, another game application which got me addicted to before.  I used to play this game via my iPod touch and I swear, during the time I was addicted to this game, I stay up till about two in the morning.  When I got my iPad 2, my love for Angry Birds was rekindled because again, it was in a bigger scale. 

Flipboard.  I like using this app for reading blogs because when using this app it seems as if I'm just reading a magazine.

Pulse. I use this application for reading news from all over the world.

Epicurious.  There are so many food/recipe apps and this is one of those I find very user-friendly when it comes to viewing recipes.  This app has a lot of recipes to choose from and it's presented in an organized way that's why it's so easy to use this app.

It has a search engine and shopping list feature.

And look!  It has Adobo recipes!

FaceTime.  This application has proven very useful to connect to people we love.  Since the iPad 2 has a two-way camera, we can talk to our loved ones face-to-face, provided that they have a FaceTime-enabled device.  All you need is a Wi-Fi connection in order to connect to people.  This is me talking to my friend and godson on a Saturday morning.

This is my Husband and our godson playing Peekaboo via FaceTime.

These are just some of the applications I frequently use.  There are lots more I like using and I will share them with you next time.

What are your favourite iPad applications?  Care to share?

AWCL turns Four Years!

Five years ago, I started blogging via my Multiply site and then a year after, a few months after I got married, I officially created "A Wife's Charmed Life" (AWCL).  Since then, it has been a great ride of sharing experiences, thoughts, gastronomical and travel adventures through writing and photographs, meeting friends and somehow creating a community of bloggers who share the same interests as mine. 

Last year, this blog has gifted me with the opportunity to be a part of a Filipino newspaper here in Sydney called "Ang Kalatas".  From my little world in the blogosphere, I also now share my life experiences through my column "Life Down Under".

It has been truly a wonderful journey of writing and sharing photographs that I'm still enjoying enormously and I will continue doing so no matter how busier my life gets. 

I'm grateful
...for every story you share back with me
...for every comment, question and email you sent my way
...for the "likes" in FB and retweets in twitter
...for the links back to my blog entries
...for every appreciation you've let me known
...for recommendations, tips and leads so I can share it via my blog
...for spending time in my little home in the blogosphere.

If you have passed by AWCL, thank you very much!  And if my story and photographs have made you smiled, made you feel good or let you learned anything, the honour and pleasure has always been mine.

Cheers to more years of writing and sharing!

Costco Opening in Sydney on 21st July

Costco has finally announced their opening dates in Sydney and Canberra!  Their Sydney branch will open on the 21st of July while their Canberra branch will open on the 22nd.

Have you registered to become a member yet?

If you want to register as a Gold Member, go to this link.   For Business Membership, you may click this one.

Once registered, print out your membership confirmation and bring to the temporary office on your first visit.  Costco will give you an eco bag as a special gift for signing up before opening day.

Happy shopping!

Recipe: Easy-to-Prepare Kimchi

I've been learning how to cook Korean cuisine for the past weeks because other than wanting to learn cooking different cuisines, my Husband and I really enjoy eating Korean food.  Last weekend, I was able to cook three Korean dishes.  I felt very good being able to practice what I've read about Korean cuisine and very happy because my Husband loved them. 

While there are Asian grocery stores in our area and they usually sell Korean marinades and packed Kimchi, I love that I'm able to make my own Korean marinades and Kimchi.  And as much as possible, I avoid buying bottled marinades because they are sometimes high in salt, sugar or preservatives.

There are different ways of making Kimchi.  I got the inspiration of this recipe from a Korean Blogger named Maangchi where she shared a few Kimchi recipes in her site.

The traditional Kimchi is made with Napa Cabbage, but this recipe uses the common cabbage we see in the markets.  One of the things I learned when we visited the Kimchi Museum in Seoul, Korea was that any vegetable is a probable candidate to be "kimchi-ed". 

I chose this recipe of Maangchi because this is the easiest and less complicated.  I made a few changes on the measurements of the ingredients because I based it on my family's taste and tolerance for spice.  I suggest that if you make your own Kimchi at home, season as you mix so the taste will also be based on your preference.  You can just use my measurements as a guide.  The Kimchi I made was just medium spicy; not too hot. 

What you need:

1/2 head of medium sized Cabbage (cut into strips)

1/4 cup Hot Pepper Flake

3-5 tbsps Fish Sauce (depends on your taste)

1 tbsp Sugar

1/4 cup minced Garlic

4 stalks Green Onion (cut into strips)

1 medium-sized julienned Carrot

1 cup cold water

1/4 cup Salt

What you need to do:

1.  Cut your cabbage into strips and place into a large bowl. 

2.  Add 1 cup of cold water and 1/4 cup salt.  With use of your hands, mix it well to properly salt the cabbage.
3.  Set aside for 10 minutes.

4.  Make the Kimchi Paste by mixing the following ingredients:
1/4 cup hot pepper flakes (you can lessen or add depending on how spicy you want it to be)
1 tbsp sugar

3-5 tbsps Fish Sauce (saltiness should be based on your taste)

1/4 cup minced Garlic

4 stalks Green Onion (cut into strips)

1 medium-sized julienned Carrot

5.  Wash and rinse the salted cabbage in cold water for about 2-3 times then drain.
6.  Mix the Kimchi Paste into the cabbage thoroughly.  Better to use your hands in mixing.

7.  Put the Kimchi into a container or jar.
8.  Press the top of the Kimchi down with your hands to protect your Kimchi from being exposed to too much air.  Seal container tightly.

You can eat this Kimchi right away and call it fresh Kimchi.  If you want to ferment the Kimchi, keep it at room temperature for a few days.  I fermented my Kimchi for 3 days and then stored it inside the refrigerator.

If after a few days of fermentation and you find white stuff (mold) on top of the Kimchi, remove the top layer and the rest of Kimchi will still be good for the months and months.

Jal Meokkesseumnida!!!! (Bon appetit! in Korean)