Joy Ride

This morning, we were in the mood (or pressed!) for New Year's meal shopping. We've always been invited by a friend to go to a Filipino store in Dee Why (~25km from our place) but we were always tied with something else, so for a change & out of curiousity, we thought of getting our Asian needs for NY in that store. We didn't know where it was but with the address and the Sydney map in tow, we thought of giving it a go.

However, even before we found it, we discovered the Dee Why beach instead! If you know us real well, you would have guessed that we dropped everything and went straight to the beach! We forgot about the shopping we had to do, searched for parking and stopped for the view and savoured the good food. There was a fair bit of people picnic-ing, sunbathing and swimming, too bad we weren't ready with our bathies.

We spent at least 2 hours in the place when we realized we were there for a reason. We tried searching for the shop but didn't find it. We were too shy to ask our friends so we continued on the joy ride, drove further the coast line of the Northern beaches and enjoyed the water views (and wondered how much we need to earn to get a house with this view).

We ended up getting our Asian needs in a nearby Asian store (~1km). Well, it was a productive day after all.

Christmas 2006 down under ...

Merry Christmas everyone! Sorry for the late greetings, we were having too much fun and forgot to update the blog. We hope you had a blessed Christmas & may 2007 bring us more hope, blessings & happiness with our loved ones!


Just a quick recap of our 2006:

Our Australia adventure continued this year with me signing up with a telecommunications company for contracting work which kept me pretty occupied for the first 3 months. On our fourth month & while we were in Adelaide for the Holy Week, we received the sad news that Mum was deteriorating. I rushed back home on Easter Monday then God claimed her back dawn of Easter Tuesday. She was 54 who gave a brave fight against the Big C for 2 years.

Manny is still with KC & commenced on a HK & China SAP implementation project in June requiring him to travel to these countries two weeks every month. It was fun the first couple of months but was sad for me & exhausting for him after that. The project lasts till Q2'07 so there may still be a bit of travel in the coming months.

Despite the busy sched we were able to squeeze in a quick holiday to the tropical towns of Cairns & Port Douglas where we had a bit of extreme sports: hot air ballooning & Great Barrier Reef snorkeling & diving which was superb! I continued working for the same company for 6 more months but I decided to bid goodbye to the job in the end of Nov.

We flew down to Adelaide in the beginning of Dec for my cousin - Natasha & Dylan's wedding (wine-overflowing!). The next day, Manny flew to HK for business, swung by Manila one weekend & met his then brother-in-law to be. Ate Hershey got married the Monday after. He was back just in time for Christmas which we spent mostly with our relatives in the land down under (see photo).

We hope you have a safe new year celebration and we'll definitely post some more pics if we get to catch the Sydney fireworks on New Year's eve.

God bless & Take care!

Cuz's Wedding

Last Saturday, my cousin - Natasha was wed to her friend & partner, Dylan at the Barossa Valley, South Australia. It was scorching hot that day - peaking up to 42deg but there was no stopping the couple and the wedding turned out quite beautiful! Here are some snaps:



To my cuz and cuz-in-law: Congratulations and all the best wishes! May you fill your marriage with fun, laughter and cheer and remember to pray & thank God along the way!

My Christmas 2006 Wish List

I believe I've been nice the past year so I reckon it's fair enough to post my Christmas Wish List for this year. So to all my generous Santas, here you go:

$30 & below

1) a very nice ice cream scoop
2) a new pair of dressy white havaianas (my black havaianas is 1 year old!)
3) pinoy DVDs
4) home or showbiz magazine subscriptions
5) car accessories
6) a nice Nude lipstick
7) an eski
8) a traveller's road guide/map of Australia
9) scented candles for home

over and above the budget!
1) a beauty & leisure package
2) a new iPod
3) a Digital SLR camera
4) a new Powerbook - that can play abs-cbn now (hehe?)
5) a personal coffee table book with our travel pictures collection
6) an outdoor barbecue & barbie tools
7) golf set
8) subsidized tennis lessons
9) gym membership

And the list goes on ... how about you, have you got your wish list yet?

Wet & Wild at the City

Below are some snaps from my nurse cousin, who is visiting from England, A's idea of Sydney adventure.



The harbour jet experience was so fun! We went on a 50-minute jet ride with more than 10 270-deg spins from 75km/hr jet speed. I think these photos don't justify the enjoyment we felt, specially since we looked horrible. Lesson learned, to be prepared for this ride of your life, make sure you tie your hair, wear a tight cap, wear your sunnies and put some sunscreen!

I felt like I was in a resort island when we boarded this jet, complete with holiday music, and yet I realized when we were passing by one of the bays, which we frequent during lunch-break-walks from the office, that this was actually in the city! Who can have the luxury of having fun like this while in your home city? Not everyone I bet.