more photos

our first gifts: a tea set from my ofc mate George and a wrapped gift all the way from New Zealand from Lawrence (my EQ is so high, i havent opened this gift yet, hehe)

the ring, the invite and the guestbook

the rings and invites

Im back!!!

Seven months after my last post, im back in the cyberworld. I've been busy with studies (i've passed my CPA first module, yahoo!), wedding preps (only a few items left unticked in my To Do list), lipat-bahay and so much more.

Anyway, in three weeks time we'll be in Manila na. Im excited to be home after almost two years here and I cant wait to see my family and friends. Most of all, im excited as the BIG Day is coming soon!!!

Updates on my preps:

Rings - Got it from Matus Jewellry pero masyadong malaki ang size ng ring - my fault :(
Invites - sent out to Manila and overseas friends. Simple yet elegant ang comment. Yahoo! hirap kaya pag overseas ang communications mo sa printer, buti na lang Printlane was so easy to talk to, bilis pa gumawa!
Guestbook - ordered it from Blurb.com. Im so proud of this kasi ako gumawa nito.
Dress - sana nasimulan na ni Benjie, hehe.
Shoes - Got it from Nine West which was 70% off the original price. Baka mapalitan ko pa sya when I go to Manila kasi baka di mag match sa gown ko. We'll buy Agie's shoes in Manila at sana naka sale ang Florsheim, hehe.
Give aways - So glad Papemelroti has an online shop, di na ako nahirapan sa logistics and they delivered it on time too.

I've paid the Caterer, church, photo and video (down payment). Kulang ko na lang is my make up, florist, cake and program. Kaya n to pag uwi namin!!!

I only got two photos to show. Im so tamad these days, dont even know how to use my new-ish camera, haaay. Di bale, sisipagin din ako soon.

Fiddling with the manual functions of the cam using the ring, invite and an oil tanker.

Front and back cover of the guestbook i ordered online at Blurb.com. The photo didnt do justice to the actual photobook!!!

Agie's in Melbourne (for three weeks) and I will be spending my weekend with him, can't wait!!! :D

Bye for now, hopefully, I can upload more wedding stuff soon.

Wedding Prep Updates

So, Agie and I got engaged last December 07, but because we're both in Oz, and the wedding is in Bukidnon, all the preps will be done online. I rely mostly on my cousin, family and friends to help me in booking suppliers, designs, concepts, ideas, etc etc. I would have wanted to be hands on in everything but I just can't do it, with the CPA exam coming up, i need to study more and surf the net less. =)

As of today, we have booked our photo/video, church and reception and have sent our Save the Date cards (our labour of love). Yes, this is a DIY project. I surfed the net for some designs. As we are having the wedding in the province, we opted to send the Save the Date cards to those in Manila and overseas so they can prepare/ plan in advance and give us heads up if they will be attending the wedding or not. Since this involves travelling for most of our guests, we came up with the idea of sending Boarding Pass STD (weird, STD, hahaha).

I surf the net for the lay-out, bought printer and stationery, some paints (a last minute addition since after we have printed the envelope, we realized the front cover is too-wedding-y that we need to "ërase" it with a paint") and started the project.

I did the lay-out and the printing while Agie did most of the cutting. We both help in the painting. It looks so amateurish but we are proud of what we did. I hope those who received them (we printed only 20 and sent it in the mail while the rest will be receiving electronic versions of it) will appreciate it even if it was not professionally made.

different cover designs... ewan ko if you can still see what we 'erased'

Monastery and the Map to Malaybalay

Boarding Pass 1

Boarding Pass 2

Boarding Pass 3

I'm in the middle of doing the lay-out for our give-aways, sana ma send na ni Bryan ang pix na hinihingi ko. :-)

yun lang, back to reading my cpa materials. :-)

My life in GOOGLE

I got this from Ellyn. All you have to do is google the answers to the following questions and choose any images you like as your answer. Pretty cool ey?





1. Name of a pet.

2. My nickname.

3. A bad habit of mine.

4. Where I live.

5. Where I like to travel.

6. My last name:

7. Fave cartoon character.

8. My name

9. My middle name

10. Age on my next bday.



11. My first job.

12. Favorite color.

13. My birthplace.

14. My favorite food (which I miss dearly!!!)
15. Love of my life.

A little too late post

Its been a while since my last post. I'm a busybee these past few days. I have to juggle work, school (yes, i enrolled in the CPA program and need to read a lot of materials for my exam) and wedding preps.

Im getting married!!! Yes, Agie did finally popped the question last Dec 28 and I, without hesitation, said Yes. La na nako sya gipalisod-lisod kaybasin mag change ang mind, hahaha. He was a bit nervous when he asked me to open the gift he had for me (on the pretense that I gave him lots of pressies for his bday and xmas that he felt he need to give me more!).

Ang sweet ni Agers. And he bought me a ring that he placed in the tea set I was eyeing at Victoria Basement. Since he bought the ring in an Aussie Jewelry shop, the size fits Aussie women too. And that being said, the ring is too large for my dainty finger. We had to have the ring resized. And since andun na kami, I asked Agie if we can exchange the ring na rin coz what he bought was more of an anniversary/wedding ring rather than an engagement ring. He reasoned he likes it more than a solitaire, hehe. Sabi ko na lang, similar ring na lang for our wedding ring and solitaire for my engagement ring, buti pumayag. :D

dinner at Sydney revolving resto where he popped the question

according to my ofc mates, the ring is so me! small and simple. i want kc something na pede gamitin everyday

We didnt tell anyone yet that we got engaged on that day until masabi namin sa parents namin. When my turn to tell my Mom, she was a little bit shocked pero my Dad was happy coz he thought di na ako mag aasawa,hehehe. After nag sink in na magpapakasal na ako, they are excited na to do the preps.

I wanted a simple wedding pero pinagtatawanan ako ni Agie coz ang dami ko na daw ka artehang nalalaman na hindi na daw simple ang gusto ko,hahahaha. Yan ang nagagawa ng too much surfing at reading emails from w@wie.

Mahirap ang preparation kasi overseas kami dalawa and once lang kami uuwi, 3 weeks before our wedding date. But, with the help of friends and family, we can pull this off.

Yun lang. im at loss for words... sa susunod dami pa ako i-k-kwento. sana di ma preempt ang invites ko,hehehe.

yun lang.

love you Agie and cheers to our new life together! :D

...now back to reading Module 4 of CPA 108, haaay buhay estudyante nga naman.

Christmas in Oz

My first Christmas in Oz was celebrated in style (Filipino Style that is).

At around 8pm, Cherry and I invited a few friends over for a Noche Buena at our new place in Chatswood. Everyone brought their own food--- Noemi, Jun and Gabbie brought yummy grilled chicken, Mike and Lanie brought grilled Tilapia (yum, yum, yum), Agie made sinuglaw (sinugba and kinilaw with pinakurat), Sally brought wine from Hunter Valley, I cooked kare kare and Cherry bought kutsinta from the Filipino store. Pinoy foods we were really craving...




At 12 midnight, we went to hear the misa de gallo and i was quiet surprised to see the church full-packed. I thought Aussies were not into traditional christmas celebration but i was wrong. i saw people of all ages and nationalities (well, i saw some Chinese, Koreans and a few Africans that flocked the Church). I guess being a Catholic school, the tradition of having a midnight mass is being taught too.

On Christmas Day, Agie and I went to the City and had our picture taken at some Christamassy sights ----

Sydney Town Hall adorned with lights

Different lighting of Sydney Town Hall
Hyde Park

We also went to Queen Victoria Building where a christmas tree was adorned with Swarovski crystals was on display; and Martin Place where the Christmas Tree was placed.

The day after, Dec 26, was a holiday in Australia. It was Boxing Day (just look it up, was supposed to be the day that people give gifts or something). And during boxing day, there's a huge sale going on in the City. Myers (a very big Department store) opened its doors at 6am, while the rival David Jones (these are high end shops like Shangrila, Rustans) opened theirs at 6:50 am... Normal shopping day in Australia is like shopping on a weekday in Rockwell, not too many people, no queue in the dressing room nor in the cashier. But come Boxing Day, its like Divisoria!!! Where did these people came from??? There was a queue just going inside the store and people are just everywhere. I had the below shot taken when I was on the elevator at Myers.

It was unbelievable!!! Just so we wont feel that we wasted our time, we just bought a nice China made bowl at 30% discount and some lotion that was sold at half the price. Even on sale, some itmes are still expensive compared to Manila prices. That being said, i cant wait to go home and shop!!!

So that's how I celebrated Christmas this year. Next year would be different, really different! And I cant wait for 2008 to come!!!

Happy New Year!

(nakakatamad mag post at magkwento)

Thanks 2007

2007 has been a good year for me --- no, make it a GREAT year for me. I have so much to be thankful for, so many bessings that came my way. :-)

Jan - migrated to Sydney. Had a safe flight. Was able to navigate the City without getting lost. Got a job.
Feb - moved to a new apt with cherry.
March - started with my work at GWF --- lovin it!!!
April - Easter Show, so many gift bags, yipee. :-)
May - My Birthday and my Bebe is finally here with me. Offered a permanent position at GWF.
June - Got my grade in Tax --- Distinction.
July - Snowy Mountains (dream come true na makahawak ng snow? hehe)
August - generally a good month, no major drama (short of saying I cant remember what I did this month, hehehe).
Sep - went Canberra with Lanie, Mike and Agie
Oct - Got my CPAA positive assessment for Tax, Law and Finance.
Nov - Transferred to Central Accounting. ;-)
Dec - moved to a new unit. Celebrated Xmas with friends.

I'm wishing that 2008 will still be a good year for me. :-)


Tom, we'll be having Xmas dinner with Lanie, Mike, Noemi, Jun, Gabbie and Sally. This is our noche-buena Aussie version. We'll go to mass at 12 midnight too!!!

taken last Friday, 19 Oct 07

this was at Circular Quay. Si Agie parang wala sa sarili habang todo pose ako, hehehe.

ang taba taba ko na!!! look at my bulging tummy, hahahaha. dapat di na ako kain ng rice pero ang tanong, kaya ko kaya? ;-)

Pinoy Food

I went to the Filipino shop (aptly called Manila Sari Sari Store) in Chatswood last week to see if they have red chippy. I have been craving this ultimate comfort-food (for me that is) for some time now and it's always out of stock. Well, it must have been my lucky day coz not only did I get to buy my red chippy, I also got ----



Pinakurat!!! - who would have thought this vinegar would make its way here in Oz. Highway robbery nga lang ang price at $6.00 pero care ko, binili ko na dahil masarap etong sawasawan.

Manggang hilaw! yum! this was not from the Filo store but rather sa suking vegetable stall namin sa Chatswood. This is proudly Australian produce (ayaw nila mag export) and was labelled "cooking mango". Cooking daw? hehehe. Kinain ko na at naglalaway na ako.

And of course, the reason why I went to the store --- my red chippy (and vinegar on the side). Ang sarap... kaya di ko pa masyado na mi-miss ang Pinas kasi dami Filipino food dito.

At ang iba ko pang nabili sa store: Mama Sita Kare Kare mix (yep, nag kare kare kami last Saturday), Menudo mix, Knorr Toyomansi, Ding dong atbp...

I love food and I love to eat (kaya tumataba na din ako, haaay). :-)

Spring has Sprung (but Summer is already making its presence felt)

Flowers are everywhere (in Canberra, at least). Our eyes feasted on Tulips of different colors when we visited Floriade 2007. See more at http://www.gracymae.multiply.com/.

On another note, Summer is making its presence felt here in Sydney. Bush fires are everywhere, temperature of 32 degrees was recorded today, a very rare occurrence in spring (Climate change na ba eto???) and FLIES (as in langaw) are everywhere na din! Gosh, pano na lang kaya sa Perth? hehe.

May exam ako next next week, ayaw ko na mag aral, gusto ko nalang mag internet lagi. :-)

Tree along Epping Road

In my daily travel from Chatswood to North Ryde aboard the 545 bus, I always look forward to the tree along Epping Road. It is devoid of leaves (maybe because its winter, pero spring has sprung na and the other trees are starting to show life pero ang isang to mukhang late bloomer) --- i just find it oh so beautiful, specially when the sky is blue. Every time the bus stops in front of the tree, I often wish I brought my cam with me so I can take a really good picture of it.

Today, when the traffic stalled our bus on the same spot, I got my mobile phone and took some snapshots of the tree and the blue sky. Not so good but good enough for a mobile phone pix though. Panira lang yung wires sa taas. Oh well, just want to share what I saw today. :-)

Im back

After more than three months of hibernation, I am back in the world of blogging.

I have so much to blog about but don't have the patience to, hehehe. Agers is now finally here and I am spending almost all of my free time with him, just hanging around and exploring all of Sydney.

Would have wanted to do a more meaningful blog entry but too lazy to do it... Soon, when I am done with my studies (yes, I enrolled again and hopefully, will pass this one too with flying colors).

Here's my pix with Agers during the visit of USS Kitty Hawk in Sydney Harbour.

So, what's keeping me busy these days?

* school (i am attending an online course, cheaper and saves me time to and from school)

* puzzle ( i finished a 72 x 48.5 cm, 1000 pcs puzzle all by myself (Agers was there to help me mount it though). Will post the finish product son. I have 4 more puzzles to complete, hehehe.

* learning how to use my new camera (haven't been using it and sayang naman ang binayad ko dun).

* Anticipating Canberra trip with Lanie, Mike and Agie - can't wait for some good photos. :-)

* Cooking filo food - Internet is my best friend! Nakagawa ako ng beef tapa na super sarap. Can't wait to do it again!

Yun lang.

Sana makapag update ako dito palagi. I miss blogging pala, hehe.

officially a credit officer

I am now officially a member of George Weston Groups.

I was offered the chance to be part of the group two weeks ago and I have made my decision then and there to accept the offer, but of course with the right compensation package.

My Agent is very interested in knowing if I got the offer and if I accepted it. He practically called me everyday since Wednesday to check if I got my offer, so when I finally got it, I called him. My guess is he is not too happy about it since he'll lose his commission from my hourly rate for the next six months, my forecasted length of temporary assignment, hahahaha. But of course, he will receive a one-time fee from George Weston for placing me there. Being an Agent is quiet a lucrative job, huh.

So, what does it mean to be a permanent employee?:
1. I have leave credits --- 10 days SL, 20 days VL (hmmm, I need to schedule my vacations)
2. I am now paid during holidays, yehey!!!
3. I can participate in performance bonus ;-)
4. I can go to the office anytime from 8am to 6pm, but only required to stay for 7.5 hours.
5. I have free bread every single day!!!

So, my official start date is 14th of May 2007, which, incidentally, is my birthday. And, on my first day, I will take my first day of leave,hahahahahaha. I told my Manager that I need to take the day off and she is okay with me "borrowing"from leave credits,hehehe. Kapal..hehehe.


And since my bday is nearing, I got myself a birthday present:

Fuji FinePix S6500fd

My next target: to be a good photographer. Time to use the photography book again, that is if the Post Office will finally deliver my package to me. :-)

Easter Show

A tiring, expensive but fun day --- sadly I only have a few pix to share. :(

Are we all set?

Am I enjoying this?

My eyes are close!!!

what a lovely day.

wasn't able to ride the ferris wheel...

Blog break

I have so many things to blog about:

1. Good Friday @ St. Mary's Cathedral
2. Easter Show@ Sydney Olympic Park
3. Night out with friends
4. Walking in Bondi with Chad Peralta's mom
5. Staying at Chad Peralta's house --- Ellyn, chaddik na ba ako?hahaha

plus a lot more...
dami ko pa pix di na u-upload, here or sa Multiply site ko.
Kaso, i have an exam coming up this Thursday and im way way behind from my readings. Had to say no to our dinner tonight with some College friends, a bbq for lunch for Jake's bday and a planned gimik on Anzac day. Haaay... bakit pa ba ako nag aral?hahaha. If not for the uber-expensive na tuition, di ko na sana itutuloy eto pero well, i dont have a choice... sige na nga aral na.

Sorry

I am such an insensitive person.
I, through my actions, unknowingly hurt the person that is so dear to me.
What I did was wrong and I hope that you have forgiven me now.
It cannot be undone but I will try to make up for it.

Sorry
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
sana may hug pa din ako pagdating mo dito...

What a day

Today was a scheduled shopping day for me, Lynn, Vien and Vans. We have been wanting to visit a factory outlet in Parramatta that sells winter clothes at a much cheaper price, almost 50% off the rack price.

Joyride
Parammatta is a suburb West of Sydney, and going there, I can either take the bus, train or ferry. I was looking forward to the ferry ride but the trip that will go direct to Parramatta from the City leaves after 12 noon, and I will be too late for my 1pm appointment with my friends. I ended up taking the bus --- it took me all of one hour and twenty minutes from Chatswood to Parramatta but I enjoyed the view. I got to see Macquarie University, the beautiful houses along the streets, great scenery, weird and funny people and so much more. It was my first time to travel that route and I would love to do it again. Too bad I didn’t have the camera with me.

Bargain
The Factory Outlet Building we went to was noticeably empty --- not a good sign. Most of the shops are close while those who have goods to sell are not really selling them at dirt-cheap prices. To top it all, Paddington Coat Factory is nowhere to be found!!! It was really a sad day for us coz we were so looking forward to our Winter shopping but we went home empty handed…almost.

There was an athletic store that had a vast inventory of shoes and other athletic gadgets that we chanced upon. I went directly to the pile of “1 for $3 or 2 for $5” shoes. I saw a size 5 Sketcher shoes in the pile but when I saw the price, it was marked down to $15 from the original $50 price. Since I am unsure of the exact price (if it was $15 or $3), I asked the cashier and he informed me it was for $3. Without hesitation, I gave him three dollars pronto to pay off the shoes. After punching the sale, he then told me that it was really a $15 shoes but he gave it to me for $3 --- “thank you Mr. Cashier!”, you made my day!

my $3 Sketchers

Near Accident
We concluded our shopping at around 5pm coz all stores are now closing (this is the downside here in Oz, shops close early… weekdays, shops close at 6pm, except for Thursday, which is a shopping night, where operating hours are until 9pm. Saturdays they trade until 5 pm, while Sunday is the worst when shopping is over by 4pm --- made me miss Manila where Midnight Madness happens every so often).

Going home, I took the train since it would be faster (took me about an hour) and safer as well.

When I alighted at Artarmon, I noticed that the train is a little far from the pathway, creating a gap. As I was walking towards the exit, a man suddenly shouted “No! No!” and another one started running towards the middle shouting “Stop! Stop!” --- signaling the conductor not to close the doors, lest the train will start moving. Another person run towards the driver and said stop. In all the commotion, I thought that someone must have fainted or tripped while alighting the train but it was worse than that --- a little girl, around 4 or 5 years old, actually fell down the train tracks. Good thing her father was quick enough to shout that people reacted and helped in notifying the train persons. The father scooped the girl from the tracks and she was just crying her heart out, her father just hugged her and everyone helped them to safety. I couldn’t imagine what could have happened to the girl if the train moved so quickly or if no one helped or if the father’s reflexes were not that good. I shudder at the thought… I felt really sad and teary eyed thinking of the worst case scenarios… The train, which normally departs a minute after arrival, departed after around 5 minutes. I just hope the little girl is now okay.

Earth Hour

Today, at 7:30 pm, we participated in 60 minutes of total darkness -- well not really total darkness coz my computer was turned on. :-)

At 7:30 pm on 31 March 2007, we are inviting Sydney to turn off its lights for just one hour - Earth Hour -to show that it's possible to take action on global warming.

WWF-Australia and The Sydney Morning Herald are asking all of Sydney - its companies, government departments, individuals and families - to turn off their lights for just one hour. It's a simple action if everyone takes aprt, sending a powerful message that we care about the future of the planet. Click http://earthhour.smh.com.au to read the rest of the story.

We took part in it and hope our little contribution will go a long way.

What a nice activity to wrap up my day. :-)

Travel Expo

Vans, Lianne and I went to the Sydney Convention Center earlier today for the Sydney Travel Expo. There was a $12 entrance fee but we went in anyway just to check out the exhibitors and the exciting places they offer.

At the entrance, we were given bags where we can chuck in the brochures we were going to get inside, and boy it was so many (the brochures) that I ended up buying a bag at a steal price of $12.

I got almost all brochures being offered (and the bag that came along with it) and was really excited to see the vacation getaways in Queensland, Canberra and other Australian states which I would like to visit with Wombat soon. :-)

I went home with a bag full of brochures and plenty of shopping bags (not the green ones anymore, yey!!!).

By the way, had a caricature of myself made at the “Incredible India”. But I was not too happy with the result, doesn’t look like me and I look old!!!


My Baguio caricature was way better, but then again, I would have wanted a not so obvious double-chin, hehe.

Overall, it was a fun bonding day with friends. Next week it would be Paddington shopping with the Ashfield girls, can't wait for it. :-)