Harry Potter: The Exhibition

Since November 2011, the Harry Potter Exhibition housed at the Powerhouse Museum has given Sydney the excitement and wonder of seeing hundreds of iconic props and costumes that appeared the Harry Potter film series.  It is a treat for movie enthusiasts to see each character’s wands and outfits worn in the movie, the flying car, the Horcruxes, the Twizard Cup, pieces from the Wizard’s Chess, the Invisibility Cloak and the full version of Buckbeak.  You can also experience playing a miniature Quidditch, lifting the screaming Mandrakes and sitting on Hagrid’s massive chair inside his hut.   

Being fans of the movie franchise, the Husband and I can’t let the exhibition pass without seeing it.  We waited for a long time for the exhibition to arrive in Sydney and finally we saw it last month.  

I felt nostalgic as we were about to enter the exhibition that I can’t help but say, “Imagine, we grew up with these films.”  It was a bit similar to that feeling of nostalgia when we saw the last Harry Potter film, however, this time I had feelings of thrill as well because the exhibition really made us feel like we were part of the movies’ journey throughout the years.  The experience made us love the Harry Potter films even more as each item helped us remember the most memorable scenes from the franchise. 

Just a few tips for you:

• Buy tickets online and avoid the queue and disappointments on when tickets are sold out for the day.   
• Arrive at the museum at least 15 minutes prior to the time printed on your ticket. Late arrivals will be guaranteed prompt admission and will have to wait until the next session.
• A few things not allowed inside the exhibition: food, drinks, taking photographs and videos and touching the artefacts.
• Once you’re inside the exhibition, you can spend as much time as you want.  So just relax and take time looking thru each artefact.  Enjoy!
• Want to bring home some Harry Potter souvenirs?  The museum’s shop has several Harry Potter merchandise to choose from.  You can pay by cash or credit (with a surcharge of 2.5%).

One of the things we bought and enjoyed from the exhibition were these HP Chocolate Frogs.  Other than the chocolate being yummy, we enjoyed getting souvenir cards enclosed with it.  

You won't know what card you've got unless you opened the pack.  Grateful we got the Potter Family and Albus Dumbledore cards.

 

If you are a Harry Potter fan, I recommend that you experience the magic of Harry Potter one last time.  The exhibition will be shown at the Powerhouse Museum (500 Harris Street Ultimo, Sydney) until 9 April 2012, tickets available at ticketek.com.au 

Things I Love: The Scarf Hanger

It's Autumn in Sydney!  It's getting cooler as the days go by so last weekend, I allotted some time and brought out some of our Autumn outfits and scarves.

Over the years, we've accumulated scarves and now it's hard to ignore the fact that we needed to store them properly.  It was good timing that we visited Howards Storage World three weeks and found a SCARF HANGER.  

It can hold up to 10 scarves and I swear, it did save space inside our closet.  And it's easier to find the scarf that we'd like to use for the day.

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Five Years and Two Months

There is no Math or Science, no exact formula to make it work...most times it just takes a good balance, letting ourselves go with the flow without compromising the values important to us.


Sometimes there are no reasons...just a lot of understanding, giving and taking.


There are shared moments...of milestones and defeats, of dreams and what-ifs, of tears and most importantly, an abundance of laughter. We never let a day pass without making each other laugh and making each other happy is a always priority.


There are moments when we let each other be...it could be anger, disappointment, frustration or a day when things aren’t going right—whatever the reason, we listen and hope that a hug will make things better (and it does!).


There are adventures...the travels that make us learn more about the world and of each other, the challenges that help us become better people.


There are times for daydreaming...of things we want to do, places we want to go, of seeing ourselves grow old together and still holding hands.


There is so much respect…for each other’s opinions, for when we both need a bit of space, for our individual growth. We always want to bring out the best in each other.


There’s a lot of trust involved…in God, in each other, in people we hold dear.


And of course, there’s friendship and love…our great foundations in being TWOgether. Everyday and always. <3

Emperor's Cream Puffs (Chinatown, Sydney)

A walk towards one end of Dixon Street in Chinatown will usually result to the wonderful aroma of sweet custard drifting in the air.  Have a look at the side of the street and you'll probably see people queue up at a small window.  The sign "Emperor's Cream Puff" looks discreet that the only indication that it exist would be the many people waiting to get a hold of these cute and delicious custard-filled puffs.

For 30cents each or AUD$1.00 for four pieces, it is a good deal.

Production of the cream puffs are non-stop.  As long as there are people lining up and ordering, their machine continuously creates one after another.  The cream puffs are given to the customers fresh and hot.

The bite-sized, fluffy cream puffs are filled with smooth egg custard.  I find this quite addicting because it's soft and so easy to eat.

 

If you're in Chinatown, this is one of the food shops worth lining up for.


Emperor's Cream Puff
beside Emperor's Garden Restaurant
96-10 Hay Street
Haymarket, Sydney 2000

Recipe: Beef Bulgogi

While it is easy to find Bulgogi marinades in supermarkets these days, I learned how to make my own Bulgogi marinade last year.  The bottled marinades may be flavourful but in reality, homemade Bulgogi doesn't need to have a strong BBQ-y taste.  Instead, it should have a harmony of balanced flavours that doesn't overwhelm.

For the recipe below, you will need half a kilo of Beef.  Tenderloin, Sirloin or Rib-Eye would be good options.

What You Need for the Marinade Sauce:
4 tbsp of soy sauce
4 tbsp of water 
3 tbsp of sugar 
2 tbsp of honey
2 tbsp of sesame oil
1 tsp pepper
4 cloves of garlic, minced


What You Need to Finish Off the Dish:
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
2 stalks of green onion/shallots, chopped (alternative: white onions)
Salt and Pepper, to add flavour


Optional: 
Mushrooms, sliced
Carrots, sliced


What To Do:

1. Slice half a kilo of beef into thin strips.
2. In a bowl, throw in the ingredients of your Marinade Sauce, then mix it with the sliced beef until well coated.
3. Marinate for at least 2 hours and keep it in the refrigerator. I leave it overnight for maximum flavour. 

You can cook your Bulgogi-marinated beef in two ways:
(1) Grill the beef.  After grilling, transfer to a plate or cast iron plate.  Sprinkle it with shallots and sesame seeds. (see my previous post: Weekend BBQ Party with Friends)


(2) Stir-fry the beef in sesame oil, garlic and onion.  Saute for a while then throw in mushrooms, carrots and green onions.  Add salt and pepper if needed. Once the beef and vegetables are cooked, transfer to a plate or bowl and sprinkle with sesame seeds (see photo below).

Note: Measurements of ingredients are based on estimates so these only serve as guides.  If you want stronger flavours, you may choose to add more. The key is to taste as you go along.

Happy cooking!

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Weekend BBQ Party with Friends

We had summer weather last weekend so what better way to celebrate the sun and blue skies by having a BBQ party with friends.  Planned an almost-all-day get together so we can all properly catch up--no special occassion, we simply just want to spend time together.  


While dining out is equally precious, there's something more special and relaxing when get-togethers are done at home where there's no time limit and things become spontaneous.  The adults can be noisy and kids can be rowdy and we can all eat like there's no tomorrow.  The party lasted for seven (7) hours and it was one of the funnest times we've had in a long while.  


The BBQ started at 2:30PM.  Some brought cooked food and some brought stuff to be cooked on the barbie.

The Husbands hovered around the big BBQ Grill and got those pork belly cooked.

 

On the other hand, I hung out by the smaller BBQ Grill and got busy with my Bulgogi-marinated Beef.  (I'll share the recipe later this week).

My Bulgogi only took a few minutes to grill.  Once one side of the thinly-sliced beef is cooked, I flipped it over and sliced it into strips.  

It should look like this once it's done (see photo below). I served it with Kimchi.

Other than the dish I prepared, we had the grilled Pork Belly (dipped in spicy Vinegar), Pancit, Steamed Milkfish and Corned Beef Pandesal (the Pandesal was freshly-baked by one of our friends).  The food lasted us till dinnertime and it was all delicious.

For dessert, we had Chocolate Crinkles (baked also by one of our friends) and Caramel Cake.

No matter what happens, we never forget to take photos, especially the Wifeys...thank God our Husbands always obliged.

Even the kids, had a special "photoshoot" session.  It took a lot of "sit still" and "look at the camera, please?" to get them all together in one photograph, but we sure had a lot of laughter doing this.

Other than spending time as a family, the Wifeys and Husbands get to bond separately.  The Husbands have their time to talk about their stuff and (sometimes) watch a DVD while the Wifeys happily chats away with stuff they care about too.  

And always, we never seem to ran out of things to talk or laugh about.  Our friendship is amazing and truly blessed.  Our party ended with smiles that will last us until the next get-together.

IKEA Brekky & Shopping

I missed having cheap meals at IKEA so when we found a chance to have a short stopover at their Rhodes branch last Saturday, we woke up early and decided to have breakfast there. 

We arrived a few minutes after 9:30AM and the IKEA food hall were becoming busier as early birds like us wanted to have breakfast first before shopping.

The Husband and I each had a plate of their Swedish Meatball Breakfast (AUD$4.95) which had 2 round hash browns, bacon, meatballs, a sausage and egg.  This is the perfect cheap breakfast.  I think this is the cheapest breakfast one can find in Sydney Metro.  

And of course, a glass of long black coffee for me.  It was my first time to try their coffee and it was so-so.  I found it smooth and not as strong and rich as other coffee.

I find it appalling when people leave their plates and leftovers on the table.  IKEA has a designated area where you can place your trays after eating and they have big signs for people to see.  People here are supposed to look after themselves--and this is not just an IKEA thing.  Just a tip if you're travelling in Australia: never assume that someone will clean up after you eat.  Have a look around if there are people cleaning tables and if you don't see one, that's a sign that you should clean up after eating.

Anyway, we enjoyed our IKEA brekky and yes, we were very full from all the meat we had that morning.  With the little time we had (we had a lunch party to attend), we made an almost swift pass inside the store.  There was no urgency to buy anything but we looked at some stuff closely such as bookshelves, bed sheets and kitchen equipments.  


We're about 25 minutes away from an IKEA store so we always have this blue IKEA bag inside the car so we're always ready to shop!

My favourite space in store would have to be the kitchen area, particularly the storage solutions sections.  We don't buy everything but I like looking at their products because it gives me ideas on proper storage in the home.  

We bought a few items: A red container storage box for our vanity area, a small cutlery organizer (for my chopsticks and Korean cutlery), spice jars, clothes pin dryer, a small lamp (for our photography) and scented candles (which I always buy whenever I'm there).

I also bought a new cream-coloured throw.  We already have one but in preparation for winter, we needed a thicker throw.  We were very happy to find this dotted black and white pillow cases on sale for only AUD$2.00 each.  I've been on the lookout for pillow cases that can match a set of bed sheets I found in Myer years ago (they were on sale too!).  The bed sheets and quilt cover are in shades of grey and midnight blue.  When we got home, I put them side by side and it matched!

The one thing that amused us was finding a glass tea kettle.  We recently bought a glass kettle (will share later) and when we saw this, we just can't let it go.  It matched our glass kettle and double wall glasses too.

A 30-minute brekky and an hour of shopping at IKEA surely made the start of Saturday a happy one.  


IKEA Homebush Bay Drive
Entry via Rhodes Shopping Centre
1 Oulton Avenue
off Homebush Bay Drive
RHODES NSW 2138
Store:
Mon - Fri 10am - 9pm
Sat - Sun 9am - 7pm
Restaurant:
Mon - Fri 9:30am - 8:30pm
Sat - Sun 8:30am - 6:30pm

Now Open: IKEA Tempe
634-726 Princes Highway
Tempe NSW 2044 
Store:
Monday to Friday:
10am - 9pm
Saturday & Sunday: 9am - 7pm
Restaurant:
Monday to Friday:
9:30am - 8:30pm
Saturday & Sunday: 8:30am - 6:30pm