I have blogged about making an itinerary for our Easter holiday a couple of times now. Last night my dear husband (DH) kindly asked me if we could scrap all the plans I made and have no plans at all. Just go with the flow. He said he just wants to relax and to not have to follow a schedule. He knows me too well. I've already planned a million and one things to do and see. I know we won't be able to do and see everything given the time constraints that we have but I am a tiny bit obsessive-compulsive. I want order, schedules, rules. My DH is the exact opposite.
This time I'm going to let him have his way. See how it goes. In the meantime, I have to finish packing. Happy Easter everyone!
I started collecting Pandora Jewellery March of last year when my husband gave me a silver bracelet and four lovely charms for my birthday.
silver bracelet and my first two charms, the present/gift and the seashell with 14ct gold starfish
We bought these when we were on a holiday at the Gold Coast. The hotel where we stayed at was located conveniently above the shopping mall. When I realized that my bracelets needed two fixed beads for balance I convinced my husband (convinced being the operative word) to go back to the jewellery store and buy them. Thus, on the same day I got four beads! What a way to start my collection. :)
plain and bead bars silver clip and sunburst clip with 14ct gold centre
From then, according to my husband, my collection grew at an alarming rate. It was so addicting buying charms. At first I was only allowed to buy charms for special occasions. So I think I may have 'invented' some occasions to justify my purchases. Haha. Before 2009 ended my bracelet was full.
Kidding aside, each bead has its own special meaning for me. Some of them represent the places we've been to, while others represent me and the people who are important to me. Just to let you know though, the money bag charm was my husband's idea. He says it's in anticipation of him winning the lottery! :)
I have yet to ask for a birthday present from my husband even though my birthday was weeks ago. I'm thinking of starting my second bracelet. But first I have to ask myself if I can exercise self-control in buying charms this time. The charms and bracelet are not that expensive since most of them are silver, with the exception of some having 14ct gold and semi-precious stones. But they're not exactly cheap either, especially now that our circumstances have changed. I think I'll follow my own advice and think about it some more. My husband can breathe a sigh of relief (for now). :)
My husband has this habit of doing cartwheels in almost every place we go to. He most especially likes doing cartwheels on beaches. I can't remember exactly how it startedbut now it is kinda like his 'signature move'.
Here are some of his pictures:
Bantayan Island
Cebu, Philippines
March 2008
Virgin Island
Cebu, Philippines
March 2008
Surfers Paradise
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
March 2009
Birubi Beach
Anna Bay, New South Wales, Australia
April 2009
Bondi Beach
New South Wales, Australia
November 2009
Note: Those people on the left of the picture were just conducting life-saving courses. No dramas there in case you're wondering. :)
Bagasbas Beach
Daet, Camarines Norte, Philippines
December 2009
These are just some of my husband's cartwheeling pictures. I know I have taken heaps of other pictures but I can't seem to find them at the moment. What's your 'signature move'? :)
I'm checking the weather forecast for Coffs Harbour starting this Friday until Monday next week for our holiday. I'm finalizing our Things to Do list so I have to take the weather into consideration. The forecast is not looking good. Seems like we will be having a very gloomy weekend at Coffs Harbour:
Friday - Possible shower, 90% chance of rain
Saturday - Rain, 80% chance of rain
Sunday - Rain, 80% chance of rain
Monday - Possible shower, 80% chance of rain
I'm beginning to think my husband and I are jinxed when it comes to beach holidays. I remember we went to the Gold Coast March of last year to celebrate my birthday. We were so excited to be in the world famous beach Surfers Paradise. We went to the beach immediately after checking into our hotel. Yes, we were that excited! Surprise, suprise, this sign greeted us:
Good thing we hadn't changed into our bathing suits yet. We got the chance to swim the following morning, but only for a couple of hours because the weather turned bad again.
Looks like we'll have the same fate in Coffs Harbour. Too bad! I wanted to try sea kayaking on Saturday. I've always wanted to do it and I thought Coffs would be the perfect place. Oh well, maybe some other time. I'm still hoping that the weather will change and be kind to us, though. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
I love salted eggs, especially served with diced fresh tomatoes. When we lived in Sydney we used to buy salted eggs from Filo stores. Case in point, we went to Sydney for a visit the weekend before last and we bought four salted eggs. We already ate two so there are only two left now.
Now that we’re here in Tamworth, there’s nowhere we can buy these eggs from. We can’t always go to Sydney to buy them because Sydney is more than five hours away. I decided to try and make my own salted eggs. First step was to search Google for recipes. I came across heaps of recipes but I decided to follow the DOST Teknotulong's recipe for salted eggs I found in Manang's blog. As this is my first attempt in making salted eggs, I decided to just make 4 instead of the 12 eggs stated in the recipe. So for 4 eggs I used 4 cups of water and 1 cup of salt. I wasn’t able to find rock salt in the local grocery here so I used iodised cooking sea salt instead. I hope it’s still as effective as rock salt.
That goldish thing you're seeing inside the jar is a tiny plastic cup I filled with the brine solution and used as weight to keep the eggs from floating as well as to make sure they’re all fully submerged in the brine solution.
The recipe says try cooking one egg after 12 days but I’ll probably leave the eggs in the brine solution longer than that. I’m not in a hurry anyway. I’ll let you know how the eggs taste in 3-4 weeks.
P.S. Manang's blog is so informative. She has heaps of other recipes I can't wait to try. I'm so glad I came across her blog.
It's confirmed! We're going to Coffs Harbour for Easter Holiday. I'm so excited.
It's about 4-hour drive from Tamworth to Coffs Harbour. I already made the hotel reservation. Now I have to research about Things to Do and See in the area. I like doing researches about different places. I can't exactly describe how I feel. Sometimes I think I'm more excited doing the research than being on the actual trip/holiday itself. It sounds crazy, I know. I have exactly one week to make an itinerary. Wish me luck! =)
If I were to believe that the eyes are the windows to the soul then my soul would probably look blurry. =)
I have been wearing eyeglasses or spectacles for about 15 years now. When I was at Uni, I started wearing contact lenses. I have very poor eyesight grade. My right eye is probably at -6.5 while my left eye is relatively lower, at -4. I can't see anything clearly without my specs or contact lenses. I think I know when my eyesight started to deteriorate. In high school I became a voracious reader. I would read 4 to 5 pocketbooks/books a day, one after the other in one sitting. Mind you, I didn't buy all those books. I had a classmate with a vast collection of pocketbooks and books so I just borrowed from her. At that time, I was always in a hurry to finish reading the books I borrowed so I could return them the following day and borrow a new set. I sometimes read through the night and into the morning of the following day. That's how crazy I was. Worst, I read lying down, which I must admit I still do up to now. Bad habit! Now I know why my mum kept scolding me whenever she caught me reading lying down. She kept saying it's bad for my eyes but I obviously didn't listen to her. Mums really know best.
I turned 30 a couple of weeks ago (I know, I'm old!). Prior to that I began contemplating having laser eye surgery or refractive surgical procedure done. I'm tired of wearing specs and contact lenses. My husband is very supportive and he says if I feel like it then I should go for it. I feel so lucky for having an enabler husband. Haha. He has one condition though, I have to promise to take better care of my eyes after the procedure. Fair enough. I'm still a bit apprehensive. I have heaps of questions and I plan to do more research before I decide to have it done, either here in Australia or in the Phils.
I'm no guru but I just want to share some of the things I do in order to save.
Write down all expenses, however small the amount is. Remember, those small amounts add up, too.
I have been writing my expenses down for as long as I can remember. My friends think it's weird but I swear it helps. By doing so, I am able to track my spending habits. It gives me a 'picture' of where all the money goes which in turn helps make my budgeting easier.
Learn to differentiate between NEED and WANT.
I only recently learned to do this. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I used to work and I used to have my own money to spend whenever I fancied. Now that I don't work anymore, having an enabler husband doesn't help, either. Don't get me wrong. I love that he lets me splurge sometimes but I'm in charge of our finances so I should be the responsible one. Nowadays whenever I fancy something, I don't buy on impulse. I sleep on it. I ask myself three, four, five times if I really need it. I sometimes even wait for an item that I need to go on sale before buying it. It's not easy but I'm getting there.
Make a list of things to buy before going into the shops.
I've noticed that if I don't have a list with me whenever we do our grocery shopping I tend to just grab anything from the shelves even if we don't need them. My husband goes mad. He says we always go over budget when we go shopping 'unprepared' and he's right.
Bring packed lunch to work.
My husband brings packed lunch to work. I did the same thing when I was still working. It's definitely cheaper than buying take-away.
I'll add to this list from time to time. In the meantime, I hope you find these saving tips helpful.
I’ve been bitten! By the travel bug, that is. If only I have an unlimited supply of money I’d go and travel the world. Who wouldn’t want to, right? Since that’s clearly not the case, let me just list (in no particular order) SOME of the places I’ve been dreaming of exploring.
1. Greece – I’d love to go to Athens. Oh, and Santorini. Enough said.
2. France – I want to go to Paris and eat crepes and go up the Eiffel Tower!
3. Thailand – I want to roam in the streets of Bangkok. People say that when you go to Bangkok it’s like you never left Manila at all. Even so, I’d like to experience it myself. I want to go to Phuket, as well.
4. Japan – I want to people-watch in Tokyo.
5. South Korea – I don’t exactly know why but it has something to do with Boys Over Flowers, the Koreanovela. Haha!
6. USA – I want to visit relatives in California then walk The Strip in Vegas, spend Christmas and New Year in New York. My husband wants to go to Boston and watch a Celtics match. Hopefully we can do so before Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen retires! I want to go Disney World in Orlando and the list goes on and on!
These are just some of the places I can think of right now.
Realistically, Bangkok seems to be our next destination. I still have to convince my husband though. I’m thinking maybe September or October this year. Fingers crossed. If not, I can probably squeeze Bangkok in our Manila holiday come April-May 2011. I can’t wait! I’m already doing the requisite research. My husband couldn’t be bothered with the details because he says he’s already paying for the trip. You know what? He has a point. =)
I found this ‘formula’ for savings from one of the sites I frequent.
INCOME – SAVINGS = EXPENSES
The formula tells us that as soon as we get our salaries we have to take out savings immediately (essentially paying ourselves FIRST) then make do with whatever’s left for expenses, instead of the other way around. The key to this formula working is having fixed savings goal/s.
I’ve been using this formula for about eight months now. It wasn’t easy at first and it’s still not easy now, but I’m getting used to it. I had to unlearn the notion that I have to take care of all the expenses and pay all the bills first then whatever’s left would be THE savings.
I know it’s easier said than done but why not have a go at it. Let me know if it works for you.
I'm writing this post all the way from Tamworth, NSW. We relocated here from Sydney because of my husband’s job and we’re currently discovering the differences of city and country living. We've been here for a little over a month now and we're still adjusting , but I am optimistic. You can say that I’m trying to look at the glass ‘half-full’ instead of ‘half-empty’. I figured might as well enjoy the ride, treat the experience as an adventure and try to learn from it.
I will not be working while we are here so I decided to go back to writing. I had a personal blog ages ago but have not updated it for about 4 or 5 years now. I got the inspiration to write again from a friend. I’m hoping to be able to share my experiences with you while I rediscover the joys of writing. Cheers!
