Beauty Stash: Zoya Nail Polish

Here's my favourite brand of nail polish...ZOYA, one that I discovered when a relative from America brought this little bottle and gave it to me. 

Why I love it:

1. Easy to apply--it glides and covers easily!

2. It stays on for 5-7 days even if I wash the dishes everyday.

3. It's lasts long and doesn't easily chip.

4. It's a non-toxic nail polish.

Zoya Nail Polish was created by Zoya Reysis who, as a pregnant aesthetician and salon owner in 1984, wanted to create a healthier option. While it is not water-based, it is free of toluene, formaldehyde, and DBP. It's the top-rated and longest wearing natural nail polish. It receives top ratings in fashion, health, and pregnancy magazines world wide. It is also used in the finest salons and spas world wide and is available in over 240 fashionable colors. (source)

I've never seen ZOYA available in stores here in Sydney. With salons, I wouldn't know too as I've always done my nails on my own. But I found out recently that there's an online store here in Australia that sells them.

The Art of Beauty Australia website currently has a clearance sale and I was able to buy three ZOYA bottles.

From L to R: 

Laney. Silver metallic duochrome. A frosty hint of green creates a unique "oil-slick" look.

Lana. A very different rich red metallic duochrome. A frosty hint of orange creates a unique "oil-slick" look. (By far, the most complimented nail colour I've worn)

Reece. Rose metallic duochrome. A frosty hint of gold creates a unique "oil-slick" rose-gold.

While I still use an array of nail polish, ZOYA is my favourite from all nail polishes I've used. 

Jamie's Italian (Sydney, Australia)

It's been a long wait to have the opportunity to dine at Jamie Oliver's restaurant in Sydney. Jamie's Italian has been open for quite a while and luckily my friend invited me to have dinner there two weeks ago. 

We arrived early so we got a good table. The place is darkly-lit in the evenings and even becomes darker as the night progresses. The ambiance is perfect for intimate dinners with loved ones. 

We started with the complimentary selection of Italian bread: house-made focaccia, sourdough, ciabatta, tortano and wafer thin carta di musica. The bread is drizzled with basil olive oil and it came with an EVOO and balsamic vinegar for extra dipping. I enjoyed this bit as I do like munching on good bread. 

For our antipasti, we chose to have the Stuffed Risotto Balls made of smoked mozarella and porcini arancini. Arancini is the Italian equivalent of fried rice. In Italian homes, they turn their leftover risotto into balls coated in flour (and sometimes in egg too) before going into the deep fryer. Our Risotto Balls came well-coated and hot, with smokes oozing out as we cut the ball in half.  The risotto is smooth and glides easily on the mouth. However, I find this dish a bit bland even if I dipped it on the fresh tomato sauce that came with it. 

The wait for our pasta dishes took a long time to arrive. So long that I wish I ordered wine so I can savour it while catching up with my friend.

For my pasta dish, I chose the normal serve of Spaghetti Vongole. I commend the al dente pasta and the fresh cockles of this dish. However, the flavours were a bit lacking that I had to put salt and pepper twice. The flavour of white wine and chili underwhelmed my tastebuds.  The Husband wasn't supposed to join us but since the pasta dish took awhile to arrive, he was able to catch up with us and eat half of my pasta.

The highlights of our meal were the desserts. I enjoyed their Poached Winter Fruits which came with Vanilla ice cream and honeycomb. So fresh! It was a mixture of sweet and tangy inside my mouth. I loved this!

Jamie Italian's Warm Brownie was another hit for us especially to my Husband. It's rich in chocolate flavour and the sweetness was just right. 

While I wasn't totally blown-away with our dining experience, it wasn't also a let down. I did enjoy dinner because I was with great company. The quality of food was good and staff were accommodating to us. There were just a few misses that had to be noted. Will we come back? Yes. I wouldn't mind trying out their other offerings in the future. But maybe not too soon.

Jamie's Italian
107 Pitt Street, Sydney
Phone: 02 8240 9000
Booking a table is highly recommended

KOFOO Korean Food (Sydney, Australia)

The Husband treated me to Korean dinner on my first week back at work. We passed by this Korean restaurant named KOFOO in Sussex Street before we went on vaycay and as always, we got interested. 

It was a Thursday night but the place was not busy. We found it to be one of the biggest Korean restaurants in Sydney so even if there were a few customers, it didn't look cramped. 

Upon seating, we learned that KOFOO is a franchise brand from Korea, where they have more than 200 branches. They take pride in offering 120 dishes, made fresh daily. 

The place is hip and young but still observed how the usual Korean cuisine is enjoyed--with Banchan dishes!

I ordered the Spicy Pork Belly (Jeyuk Deopbap) which consisted of rice with pork belly marinated in spicy sauce and a siding of vegetables. This dish was very spicy. Not for the faint-hearted. The meat was soft and the flavour lingers even if you have drank lots of water. 

 The Husband had the Bulgogi Bento which came with rice, egg, potato wedges and stir-fried kimchi. We enjoyed this more than my dish. The Bulgogi was sweet and tender. 

KOFOO is a place where people can enjoy well-prepared food at reasonable prices. Other than their food, the rustic and yet warm ambience gives us that modern Korean feel which we find comforting.

KOFOO Korean Food
347-353 Sussex Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: 02 9261 2465

We Got The Cinema Theatre All To Ourselves

This is just something for the books and an experience that the Husband and I won't ever forget.

We were supposed to go up the mountains last Friday but changed our plans due to the awful weather (unpredictable rains!) so we decided to book tickets to the latest Star Trek movie. It was a Friday afternoon and we saw a few people lined up at the counters. When we got inside the theatre, it was us and only us. Wow!

At first I found it quite scary to be just us alone in the huge theatre. I think the big space and darkness overwhelmed me. But once I got over it, it was sooooo much fun watching a movie like Star Trek with just us inside the theatre. I got to laugh and scream as loud as I can. We had no inhibitions as to how we'd react. Plus, the Husband and I didn't have to whisper our side comments during certain scenes. It felt like we're just sitting in our lounge room only we had a bigger screen!

Good thing the Husband brought his little flash with him that he was able to take a photo of me inside the theatre. I told him this happy circumstance might never happen again so we should have a photo. 

And by the way, Star Trek Into Darkness was an entertaining film. It was definitely worth watching on the big screen.

The Blessing of Spending Time With Friends

The best way to go back to "our normal" is to spend time with friends again. And that's what we started doing two weeks ago. One week of recuperation from flu and one week of getting on top of work at the office, I'm back at socializing again.

I feel very grateful that since we came back from holiday, we've gotten "Welcome back!", "I miss you!" and "Let's catch up!" messages from our dear Sydney friends. It sure is nice to come home to a place where friends welcome you back with open arms. So after working out our schedules, it's about time we start seeing our friends here--because we miss them too! 

Annie and her delicious macaroons. We haven't seen each other for a long time so I'm very glad we had the chance to re-connect. We met up for tea after work and caught up on what's keeping us busy. A sweet bonus was being gifted with two boxes of delicious macaroons. She baked them herself and it tastes as good as the ones we buy from Manila (pang Goldilocks levels!)

My Sweet Memory (Cafe) moments with Jackie. She's my ever-dependable coffee-date-in-the-city-after-work kind of girlfriend. Every chance we get, we try to squeeze in an hour just to sit down and catch up. That's why the moment I was physically well, we blocked our scheds for a quick coffee klatch. Update galore kami ng aming Manila vaycay (she also vaycayed in Manila recently).

Tintin, Jamie and Me. Since Tintin moved to Sydney, we've been foodie mates ever since. Two weeks ago, we had a date with Jamie Oliver--well, not the person, just his food. We had a lovely pasta dinner and a fresh fruit dessert on a rainy Thursday night. It was nice to know that Tin is enjoying her new-found life in Sydney. It's refreshing to see Sydney thru her eyes.

Fun Thursday with Friends (a.k.a. Gala Galore). Last week, I took half a day off work just to spend time with girlfriends who were also on a day-off that day. Ganyan ang true friends--nagda-day-off para maglakwatsa LOL. We started off with lunch at Chef's Gallery, went around the shops at Westfield, had tea at Laduree, dinner at Lamesa and ended the night at Badde Manors. It was so much fun! We spent the whole time just talking about girly stuff, wifey and mommy stuff, relationships, etc. Lahat na! 

As we get older, moments with friends are a luxury. I'm glad I have girlfriends who message me from time to time just to know how I am. I'm grateful we have friends who also believe in the importance of nurturing friendships by spending time with us.

Not only do I feel normal now after two weeks of seeing friends but my "homesick-from-travel" heart feels healed. Now I can't wait to see all our other friends soon.

My New Favourite From Royce: White Chocolate Covered Potato Chips

I'm not sure if I've mentioned before but my greatest food weakness is potato chips. I really can't live without them for a long time. Whenever a workmate of mine comes to my desk and offers me their chips, I'd go weak and have a chip or two. I stay away from chips during weekdays but on weekends, I let myself have a pack or two (just so I won't binge later on). My other weakness is white chocolate which I love enough to even write a blog post about it.

Last year, my Mom brought us a box of Royce' Milk Chocolate Potato Chip and we loved it! It was sooooo good. It was the perfect snack for me and the Husband because I love potato chips and he loves chocolates. 

When we vaycayed in Manila last month, we dropped by the Royce stall (like we did in 2011) and bought items to bring home with us. This time, I bought the White Chocolate Potato Chips.  

The quality of these chips amazed us. We transported this in Manila and once we arrived in Sydney, we stored it inside the fridge right away but the chips are still crisp. 

Potato Chips + White Chocolate = a sweet and salty harmony inside a box. I'm one happy foodie because of these.

Royce also has these chips covered in dark chocolate and my Husband loves them.

Pretty Paper And Things From Manila and Seoul

Would you believe I haven't transferred our Manila and Seoul photos to my computer? It's taking me a while to get around to doing our post-travel tasks. Work is taking a lot of my time lately that some days I go home a little exhausted. Last week though I started seeing friends after work. What a joy it was to see friends again. It helps a lot in going back to "our normal".

Yesterday, I spent an hour sorting out some of the stationery and knick knacks we got from our trip. These were all shared in my instagram (@ibyang) but I would also like to share it because it might be useful reference for some who will visit Manila and Seoul too.

As my love for stationery had been awakened, I kept an eye on stationery during our travel. Other than rekindling my childhood love for stationery, I'm now more appreciative of design and artwork. Maybe the Husband's "artist fairy dust" is working on me. 

Here are the ones from Manila:

Stationery from Papemelroti. Yes, buhay pa ang Papemelroti! :) They still produce the brown stationery they are known for but this time I found some Manila artwork on their paperie. I especially chose papers with Jeepney artwork. I also got a small Manila poster with "salawikain" written on it. I plan to frame this poster to put on display at home.

Stationery from Fully Booked. White pad paper with Kalesa and Sorbetes art. They're colourful and reminiscent of life in Manila.  The little sticky notes with flowers are Japanese-inspired art designed in America. 

Coffee-themed calendar planners from our dear friend Agnes. The moment we saw these, we were so amused because it is so Us! :) Grateful for friends who know we love our coffee.

Starbucks Planners gifted by friends Majo and Monet. Husband and I don't use these kind of planners anymore but we appreciate these ones still because we can add them to our stationery collection and use them for our creative projects. We especially love the book magnets that came with them.

Important men in Philippine history immortalized in stamps. These are used stamps but curated for selling to stamp collectors like me. I plan to frame these in order to preserve them. We found them during our visit to the Ayala Museum.

 An "I Love Manila" fridge magnet. This was the last thing I bought before I got on our plane to Sydney. We were already boarding when I realised we haven't bought a Manila fridge magnet so I went back out to the shops in NAIA 1 and bought this.

Here are the ones from Seoul:
Seoul is stationery haven! We found a lot of stores that sell gorgeous stationery and pretty little things.

Hanbok Card. One of the fanciest stationery I've owned. The design of the hanbok was embossed on the paper. 

 Paper and envelopes with dainty designs. It has my favourite art: dots, flowers and stripes.

 Note pads and Sticky Notes. The note pads came had Korean icons (palace, king, queen, N Seoul Tower) while the sticky notes had dainty-looking designs.

Stamp Stickers. I only bought a few. Two of them had Korean icons while the third one had Alice in Wonderland art.

Souvenirs from where we've been: a post card from N Seoul Tower, phone accessory from Hello Kitty Cafe (which we will convert into a fridge magnet), notebook from the Teddy Bear Museum and a pen from Mango Six Cafe (which will also be converted into a fridge magnet).

King and Queen Bookmark. Aren't they the cutest? It also has an "I Love Korea" embossed on them. 

It was a fun hour sorting all thru the knick knacks we brought home. I can't wait to use these pretty paper in creating our travel scrapbook. Ahhh but first, we need to sort out our photos. When will that be? I can't say but I hope soon.

Have a great week ahead!

Uniqlo's HEATTECH Shirts

After travelling to Asia in a span of two years, most of my winter clothing these days seem to come from three brands: Uniqlo, Muji and H&M.  In 2011, I did massive shopping at H&M and Muji but this year, Uniqlo was where I found a lot of clothing pieces I liked as they have good quality material at reasonable prices. I'm especially thankful to discover their HEATTECH clothing which generates heat and provides insulation too. Their HEATTECH range includes shirts, leggings, socks, cardigans, beannies and scarves.

I chose the long sleeve shirts for my first HEATTECH purchases. These are base layer shirts perfect for layering during cold season. The clothing material is soft, comforting and fits nicely on the body. 

I used them when we travelled in Seoul where we experienced 4-11 degree Celsius temperatures. Where I would normally have four layers of clothing, I survived the cold with just three layers and even had to ditch the scarf at times.

The next time I come across Uniqlo's HEATTECH range, I will try their other pieces such as the cardigans and scarves.

By the way, Uniqlo will soon open their first branch in Australia by end of this year. I'm happy that we will finally have one here down under, however, it will be in Melbourne which is a state away from where I am (and no we're not flying to Melbourne just so we can shop for Uniqlo stuff). But we'll never know, right? We might have one here in Sydney too in the future.

Discovered Inspirations: 10 Ways To Be Happy

A few tips to make our life happier. Thank God it's Thursday!

Image Source

Click SayingImages.com for inspiring quotes.

Back To Our Life In Sydney

We arrived in Sydney on the last week of April after three weeks of vacation in Manila and Seoul. As always, it was a vacation worth remembering, filled with love and warmth from family and friends, going back to our roots, reliving the things we love doing in our motherland and of course, discovery and exploration of new places and gastronomical indulgences. It was wonderful. It was beautiful. We left Manila with an ache for the people we will miss. We left Seoul with a longing to come back there again one day.

On the Autumn morning we arrived back home, Sydney welcomed us with the lovely Sun shyly peeking from the horizon with orange, pink and blue hues shining brightly around it. 

We have a lot to be grateful for from our vacation. In the coming days, I hope to sit down and gather my thoughts about it. On our first week back, I've been busy getting well from a cough I got on my last few days in Manila, sorting out our things and getting back to normal. This week, I started work on Monday and still chasing away a few more of my post holiday blues. 

While it feels like such a looooong workweek for me, I'm glad to be back at work as it has helped stabilized my equilibrium. I'm slowly finding my centre once again. I think there is no easy way of getting over a wonderful holiday. You just have to accept the ache that goes with it once it's over, move on with life and look forward to the next one.

Have a lovely weekend ahead!