We are spending the weekend here in Sydney. Yay! We left Tamworth at 7 this morning, arrived at around half past 12. Our first stop was the Filo store in Marrickville to replenish our 'supplies'. Then off we went to the storage. Next destination was Newtown where we ate lunch and I had my eyebrows waxed. Then we checked into our 'home' for the weekend, Formule 1 @ Enfield. We immediately proceeded to DFO in Homebush, where we only had a little over an hour to shop before the stores closed. Bitinsobra! Hopefully we could go back on Monday if we still have time.
I'm looking forward to BE's 81st anniversary celebration tomorrow. We are having a picnic lunch and I'm sure we'll share not just food but heaps of stories as well. :)
Back here at the hotel room, we're catching up on our favourite TV series, Entourage and White Collar. I love how fast the connection of my wireless internet is here in Sydney. We don't get a good signal in Tamworth so sometimes it takes ages to download one episode, it makes me wanna cry! So I'm taking advantage right now.
It's our third time to go back here since my husband was assigned in Tamworth. Hopefully the next time we do it'll be for good.
We had a dilemma cooking fried chicken a couple of weeks ago. We were pan frying the chicken but no matter how long we cook them the meat closest to the bone still came out raw. We came to the conclusion that we needed a deep fryer to do the job for us. The deep fryers that we've looked at were either too big or too expensive. We weren’t prepared to buy an expensive one and we're only cooking for ourselves thus the need for a mini deep fryer. I recently purchased one online for about $34 (including shipping & handling). It is so tiny, just one litre capacity. Its size is just perfect for us.
We used it cook a new batch of fried chicken last night. Success! The chicken pieces are now sarap to the bones (borrowed from Max's!). It is now our 'gadget of the moment'! :)
I've decided to list the places (outside of the Philippines) that we've been to since I discovered the 'love' for traveling. I know it's only a handful and as some acquaintance aptly put it we 'haven't done much traveling' at all. So many places to see, not enough time and money. If only we have an unlimited supply of money I'd travel the world several times over. In the mean time, I'd have to be content with these places.
• Singapore (September 2006 and January 2010)
• Malaysia - Johor Bahru (September 2006)
• We have been residents of Australia since June 2008 and so far these are some of the cities/places we've been to: Sydney, Canberra, Blue Mountains, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Melbourne, Tamworth, Coffs Harbour, Hunter Valley
• Hong Kong (December 2009-January 2010)
• Macau (January 2010)
We're going back to Manila on November 2010 and we're staying until January 2011. We might do sidetrips to Hong Kong (again) and/or Bangkok. *fingers crossed*
After we get our citizenship in 2012 we're planning to go to Europe and America. Most likely we'll do the European holiday first, just because! :)
Yay! It's only 100 days before our Philippine holiday.
I've been keeping myself busy by doing the prerequisite research before each holiday. As of writing this post, we have already booked our accommodation and island hopping tours for Coron. The only detail left for me to sort is food/meals whilst not on the said tours. You see, the tours that we availed of include food. Based on what I've read about Coron, we wouldn't have problems in terms of food because restaurants and cafeterias are abundant. We just have to choose which ones would suit our budget.
This is my first time to plan a holiday for a group of 11 people. That's a fairly big group for me. I only ever planned for holidays for two people -- my husband and I, so it was always straight forward. So when faced with the task of organizing our Coron holiday I was worried at first, especially since I'm not in Manila. But thanks to my sister Aina and the trusted websites I frequent before each holiday (GIRLTalk and Pinoy Exchange), all is now well and truly good.
I'm still on the lookout for cheap flights to Hong Kong and Bangkok. My husband wants to bring his god-daughter Dana to HK Disneyland. The problem is she doesn't have a passport yet. We've been bugging her mum since last year to get her one. Dana was supposed to be with us when we went to HK last December but because of the passport issue she was left behind. I'm afraid history will repeat itself this year. I hope not. Also, I was hoping I could cross Bangkok off my travel list but the matter is still under 'negotiation' with my husband.
I can hardly wait to go home and be with my family. *excited*
When we arrived here in Tamworth last February it was Autumn. My husband was told that we would only be here for three months, maximum four. So we expected to be back in Sydney by June, which was the start of Winter. It never happened. We're still here and Winter is almost over. I'm not complaining (okay, I am, a little). I'm thankful that my husband has work and that his salary can support both of us without me having to work. It's just that when people say something, you expect them to deliver. Anyway, as I was saying Spring is approaching fast. And it's my favourite season! No more bulky clothes, no more freezing toes. Yay! :)
Whenever we do our shopping we make it a point to bring our own reusable bags and would ask for our groceries/purchases to be put in them. This way we wouldn't have heaps of plastic bags after, which is our own little way of helping the environment.
The reusable bags that we have are plain black. Boring. In my search for cute and colorful reusable shopping bags, I came across Envirosax. I was instantly smitten! I was tempted to order heaps in one go but decided against it. I ordered three bags first, to 'test the waters' so to speak. I got Candy Bag 3, Candy Bag 5 and Botanica Bag 3.
They are lovely. I used my Botanica Bag 3 when we shopped last weekend. It did not disappoint. It is sturdy and it folds up real small so I can always put it in my bag. I'm planning to buy heaps more and give them as gifts. I'm excited to give them to my family members in Manila and introduce them to using reusable shopping bags. :)
Hey everyone! I’m sorry I haven’t been able to update this blog for ages. It’s now August which means there’s only month left of Winter before Spring comes. Spring is probably my favourite season because it’s neither too cold nor too warm. Just the right balance, I think.
Anyway, here are some updates since I last blogged:
~ My husband and I went back to Sydney on 12-14 June. We took some supplies from the storage, as well as some winter clothes. While in Sydney we also met up with my husband’s fraternity brothers. It’s always good seeing these people. They’re like our ‘family’ here. As usual, we stayed with the Balintec’s, who are always so gracious and hospitable hosts.
~ My husband heard word from his boss that we ‘might be going back to Sydney’ by September or October. Judging by how things are going, I’m banking on October. That is, ‘if we get lucky’. But I’ve learned my lesson; I’m not keeping my hopes high. Que sera sera.
~ WE ARE GOING HOME TO MANILA IN NOVEMBER! Yes, you read it right. Some people might think it’s too soon because we were just there last December until January of this year. I say I don’t care. I’d rather spend Christmas and New Year with my family. There was a good enough fare from Qantas so we grabbed it. Our tickets have already been paid so it’s confirmed. We’re leaving from Sydney on 27 November and returning on 3 January 2011. That’s more than 5 weeks of holiday! I’m so excited and I can hardly wait.
~ We chose to leave Australia on the 27th of November because my whole family is scheduled to go to Coron, Palawan on 28 November-1 December. I’m just hoping that we wouldn’t be too tired to enjoy the trip because we’ll be arriving in Manila on the evening of the 27th then an early flight to Coron the next day. At the moment 11 people have confirmed flights but I wouldn’t be surprised if the number goes up. It will be the first time we’re all going to be in the same flight. How fun! It will also be Dana’s first flight EVER so we’re pretty excited to be with her. See how she reacts.
Ever since our flights to Manila and Coron have been confirmed I’ve started a list of things that we needed to buy. On the top of my list was an underwater camera. I figured we would do heaps of water activities in Coron as it’s a group of islands so I better invest in a waterproof camera. I’ve been eyeing the Canon Powershot D10 since it came out last year. At that time we found it too expensive plus our digital camera was still fairly new so I just admired it from afar. After attending mass yesterday I asked my husband if we could go to Harvey Norman and just look around. I think it was a blessing that we went there because we saw the D10 on sale! Original price was $599.95 but it was on sale at $297. That’s a little more than 50% off. It’s was already a great deal right? But it got better. We asked for the best price and the attendant said if we pay in cash he can give the camera to us for $250. Yay! But we didn’t have any cash so we hurriedly went back to the town centre, withdrew money and went back to Harvey Norman. Whew! We are now proud owners of a Canon D10. We also bought a 4gb memory for half price, it was $39.95 but we got it for $20. Thank you Harvey Norman for the great deals. =)
My husband wants to go back to Hong Kong with Dana after Christmas. I’m checking out flights and hotels to see if it would be possible. Otherwise, I’d rather go to Bangkok because we’ve never been there. But nothing’s definite yet except for the Coron trip. I’m trying not to make our upcoming Philippine holiday as hectic as our last. Fingers crossed!
~ We’re going to see Inception tomorrow, see what all the fuss is about. =)
These are all the updates that I have for now. Cheers!
