Old and New

Missing our old suburb...

... but loving our new home here in Toongabbie.
It's still a work-in-progress but we're getting there... slowly.

2010 Bucket List

Last year, I had a long list of things that I want to accomplish, and I think managed to do 75% of them.

This year, I want to take things slow and will only have THREE items for my 2010 bucket, these are:

a) CPA - finish my last three subjects this year. I will not defer any subjects and will study more diligently - no more Facebook games for me.

b) Drive - Learn how to drive and be a P Plater! Driving means you're more mobile and you can go whereever you want to. We have been car-less for 3 years but managed to go to places using public transport, but its nice to do your errands when its not planned around the bus/train timetable.

c) Have a baby. This is something Agie and I have to work on but ultimately it will be in His time. Only God knows when He'll bless us with our own bundle of joy but I'm hoping, wishing, praying that it will be this year. :D


I only have three, but these are major ones! Doable? Yes, I think so, with God's guidance and blessing we can do this!!!


Study. Drive. Pray.

2009 --- what a great year for us!

Year 2009 was a great year for the Cellacay's. It has its highs and lows; met new friends and reconnected with old ones; received so many blessings and travelled a lot. Before I start my first blog for 2010, i want to list all the things that happened to us that we are so thankful for:

• new start - we came back refreshed from our wedding in Bukidnon and eager to start our new life together
• new lives - we became Godparents to Bono and Rafa. We also welcomed to the world Mikee and Zyka. These are the little angels that will take care of us in the future.
• new identity - we became Australian Citizens this year too! We may have embraced the Aussie culture but we'll always be Pinoy at heart!
• new destination - we travelled a lot this year: Hongkong and Macau for our honeymoon; Tahiti, New Zealand and Manila for Agie; Brisbane and Melbourne both for work and pleasure; and USA to celebrate our first year together.
• new home - finally, we were able to found a house that ticked all the boxes. this house will become our home, our love nest, a place we can call our own.
  

God has been (and will always be) so good to us. We can never thank Him enough for all these blessings.

We welcome 2010 with a big, open heart because we know great things are coming our way.

Lawn Bowling (The Gracy Way)

For our 2009 GWF Christmas Party, we went to Hunters Hill Club for a day of Lawn Bowling.
Not my kind of game (boring IMO) though and it was sooo hot during the day. I didnt enjoy the food and is ready to call it a day by 4pm. I didn't even go to the afterparty in Woolwich Hotel! But I did enjoy taking photos of my ofc mates with my newish Canon cam. :-)

anovah, may fimfle ako!!!

Gracy ready to bowl.

roll it from the side Gracy!

Yey! I think I got it close to the little white ball. :-)

My new Sunnies

Agie and I went to have oral prophylaxis in Ashfield today because our entitlements from our health insurance will expire by the end of the year. We also dropped by the Optometrist to get our glasses.

Getting a prescription shades is too expensive and I don't need another transition lenses right now. But I do want a nice sunglasses!!! I asked (very subtly, of course, hahaha) the Chinese guy there if I can get a regular shades instead of a prescription one. He was hesitant at first (bawal nga kasi!) but in the end, he relented.

So, I went home with a new Burberry Sunnies. :D

Happy Birthday Agie!!!

Today is your birthday, Happy Birthday Bebe!

This is the 5th year we celebrated your birthday together and I just want to have a quick look back what happened the last five years. :-)

4 Dec 2005 - Our first official date together. We went to Baywalk to have dinner and stayed there until 4 (or was it 5?) am. I was a bit angry with you during dinner because you're always checking your phone!!! I should be the center of your attention pero you're always answering your friends' text to you, hmmp, hahaha.

4 Dec 2006 - I can't remember what we did and what my gift for you was on this day. Where did we go? Powerplant or Gateway? Please refresh my memory coz I have a memory gap na, wehehehe.

4 Dec 2007 - you're first birthday here in Oz. We had a little celebration at your place in Ellis St. Mike cooked pansit and I had pizza delivered. We didn't have any photos taken on that day, too bad. :(

4 Dec 2008 - Its our flight back to the Philippines. Before we flew, I cooked pansit for you and bought you the Twilight Series. There's also a yummy cake from the Korean shop in Macquarie. After we 'celebrated' your birthday at home, we went to sleep and got ready for our flight back home. At the airport, I tried to ask for an upgrade from Cathay Pacific because its your birthday and the guy gave us the Exit Row seat with a very big leg room, yey!

4 Dec 2009 - There will be no celebration for you today because you're working late. :( But I don't want you to miss you birthday so I woke up early and cooked pansit! (kaso lang you were so nosy, waiting for me to come back from taking a bath, then realizing there's no one in the bathroom, you wen to the kitchen and caught me preparing the pnasit, haha). I also bought a little cake from the Korean shop so you can blow your candles while eating your birthday breakfast. :-) I wanted to buy your Macbook yesterday from Myer because it was on sale but there's a 10day wait period, so instead of a Macbook, I bought you a book ---- Dan Brown's Lost Symbol. I just realized that books are my staple gift to you on your birthday. hehehe. I thought of something else but I couldn't find it so book na lang. :D

On this special day, my wishes for my bebe are:
: good health - no more tummy aches and liver problems and bad cholesterol.
: great career - no more late nights in audit
: excellent family life - baby to come next year. :-)

God has been so good to us in 2009 and I know 2010 will be better. Continue to believe in Him bebe and He'll give you what you desire as long as it is in accordance with His plan.

I love you so so much my bebe and I'm hoping to add as many years in this timeline as possible.

Have a great day in the office today bebe and we'll have a post-birthday celebration for you tomorrow.

Hugs and kisses,
Wifey Gracy. xoxoxo

I got a D!!!

For my third CPA subject, I got another Distinction, yahoo!!! For the second subject, i deferred it to next term thus the grade of Did Not Seat (DNS). Three down, three more to go!

Happy day today. =)

Finance End of Year Party

For the past two years, GWF always have an uber-cool end of year Finance Party. Last year's Amazing Race saw us running, eating, sweating and having so much fun (with our competitive spirits really coming out) around Sydney CBD. The Pink Team (that's us) won last year's event.

Go Pink Team!

This year, the committee had a different take on FUN. We went to Double Bay Marina Yacht Club for a day of cooking demo and skills testing. Yep! a chef was there to show us how to prepare an entree, main and three desserts!

Everyone enjoyed the cooking (and the eating afterwards). Too bad we didn't win the best presentation. :( I loved the Ocean Trout with Salsa Verde that I cooked it the next day at home (but i forgot to take a photo of my masterpiece, sayang!).

Finance Team and the food we cooked.

My Lunch Mates =)

I made this Tiramisu! I was the Dessert Girl for our Team.

Chocolate Liqueur with Caramelized Walnuts

What could be next? :=)

My New Toy

Eversince I've booked our US holidays, I've been meaning to buy myself a point and shoot camera because my SLR is just too bulky to bring around. Agie agreed to me buying it because I told him that I will use my Amex points to pay off the camera.

I'm really partial to Canon (mainly because that's the brand of my SLR which I still dont know how to use, haha) so I just shopped around for a good deal. I went to Dick Smith in Chatswood in early November but the sales assistant told me to come back in 3 weeks time because prices will be slashed by then to get rid of their stocks as they are moving to a new location. This will also work in my favor because I can claim the GST paid if I show it to Customs when I travel to the US in December. The only requirement for GST refund is that receipt amount should be at least $300 and the purchase date is no later than 30 days before travel date.

Fast forward to the third week.
I went to Dick Smith yesterday, excited to buy the camera (the ticket price in November was $357, down from $396) and hoping for a good discount. When I went to the camera sections, the stand is absolutely empty!!! I asked the sales assistant where all the Powershot went and he said they have already moved it to their new store which is opening in 3 weeks time! Hmm, not good. I went to their smaller store in Westfield and found the same camera now priced at $377.
:(

It's just too expensive for me, considering I need to buy a camera pouch and a spare SD card so I went to JB Hifi to see if they have better prices than Dick Smith. I saw the camera I was after and it was marked down to $345! Not bad considering I was ready to spend $350 for it. Then i looked for a pouch and found one for $25. I told the sales assistant if she can give me a deal if I buy the camera and the pouch together. She did some calculations and told me she can give the camera for $321 but no discount on the pouch. I didn't think twice and bought the camera then and there. The camera would've cost $396 but with the discount and the GST refund (around $32), it now only cost me $289 and if I'll deduct the cost of the Travel Photography book that comes with the camera, the final price would go down to $255. Not bad hey? My AMEX points can very much cover my camera puchase. hehehe.

I had a post-birthday dinner with Perla today and of course we tested my new Powershot 120IS. Aren't we gorgeous???

I can't wait to document our US trip. :-)

Late Train, again!

I do not like the new timetables! My train has been cancelled today again! I have to wait for 30 mins for the next (running late) train. I wish we could all go back to the old timetable --- when the Epping to Chatswood link was not yet integrated to the Sydney network. Because it operated on its own, any delays happening in the network will not affect the on time running of the train and thus making it more reliable. And its not as crowded as it is now and the trains were new and very well maintained.

With the new timetable, my travel time became longer, trains were replaced with the old ones and if we do get the newer ones, it's become filthy!!!

Can we all go back to the old ways please??? A 3 minute improvement in the journey time of some lines is not significant at all!

Boo City Rail. :(

The Blue Wall

And the renovations started!

I am not too sure if I can pull off a feature wall considering I already got a chocoloate-brown lounge. But what the heck, I can always repaint the wall to another color if this one will not match. :-)

the transformation from this...

to this!

color: Bristol Paint's Faraway Sky.

We ended up hiring someone to do the painting of the entire house as we realized we don't have time to do it ourselves.

Next on the list is the carpet installation which I have booked for Saturyday, 21st of Nov. But I think I have a big problem --- I just read the Terms of Conditions that we need to inform the Body Corporate 21 days in advance if we plan to do floor covering renovation. Oh no!!! I need to call them tom and advise them of my plan (and to make drama drama daw nga I didnt know about the 21 days advance info). If they will not allow the installation, I have no choice but to postpone it. :(

Hopefully, everything will go smoothly so we can move on the 6th of Dec, otherwise, gahol na sa oras and might move na lang next year.

Fingers crossed that they will allow an earlier installation though...

The new Aussies

we are one but we are many

and from all the lands on earth we come,

we share a dream, and sing with one voice.

I am, you are, we are Australian.

After a long wait, Agie and I finally took our Citizenship pledge and got our Citizenship certificates on November 12 at Ryde Civic Centre. It amazed me to know that there were 25 countries represented in the ceremony, just another proof that everyone wants to live in Australia! :D The councilor who read the names apologized in advance for any pronunciation errors, and quiet a few were really tongue-twister type of names. hehe.


Temperature was a very hot 30 degrees in the afternoon! We don't want to be late so we booked a cab to fetch us at 6:10 but it did not come!!! and suddenly, there was a heavy downpour. We decided to commute to the venue (train and bus) and in 30 minutes, we were filling out our Electoral Forms at the Civic Centre. At around 8:45, the ceremony was over and we went for a celebratory dinner in an Italian Resto. Pasta was blah, but they had a very nice pizza.

Thanks to Cesar for coming with us and for being our official photographer. Di bale, pag ikaw na ang mag-o-Oath, sa masarap na restaurant na tayo kakain, hehehe. Too bad we didn't get have any photos together, anuvah!

Commuter Tale # 2

City rail announcer during this morning's travel at Epping underground station:

"Do not run into an incoming train, you might trip over and break your neck. And that can ruin your weekend!"

Very well said City Rail! First time I heard people laughing while waiting for the train.

Best.Announcement.Ever.

its all about love

my horoscope from yesterday's mx:




im optimistic.
work, money, health.
come my way.
you're all very much welcome. :D

Holiday Booked!

Yahoo, after one week of checking flights, and VLs applied, I have now booked our US holidays. Even if December's fare is sooo expensive, I still went and booked it because I knew that we won't be able to go overseas for a long time (with mortgage and all, we need to be very prudent with our spending)!

I can spend Christmas with my Aunt and see my nephew, yahoo!!!
I can attend Bambi's wedding on the 27th, yahoo!!!
Its our wedding anniversary on the 27th too, more yahoo!!!

Sabi nga ni Cherry: 'aanhin ang pera if sa banko lang nakikita'? hahahaha... so maski konti lang ang pera, bakasyon pa din. Its our reward for working hard this year. :D

Maloloka kaya ako sa shopping dun? hahaha.

The Road to Valeria

It was late 2008 when a friend offered us a townhouse in Quakers Hill. It was a 2 bedroom, 25 yo townhouse which is near a freeway and a 7 minute walk to the station. Back then, we were busy with our wedding preparation so we said we'll consider looking for a house next year.

Fast forward to 2009.

Domain.com.au and realestate.com.au became my favorite internet sites. I told hubby that we should buy at least a 3 bedroom townhouse (just because I want a small piece of land) and location should be accesible to public transport (becasue we don't drive yet).

Then we started looking.

Meadowbank, West Ryde and surrounds - very very expensive!
Liberty Grove - expensive and a good 15 mins walk to either Concord West or Rhodes station
Eastwood, Denistone and North Strathfield - prices are beyond our reach, no townhouses only old units. After a few weeks of looking, we decided to expand the area and also started looking for 2 bedroom units (as 3 bedroom units/ townhouse are very rare in the areas I was initially eyeing.)

Pennant Hills, Thornleigh - Units are very close to Pennant Hills road. Being a very busy road, it gets noisy and dusty inside the units.
Carlingford - viewed a new property development. Price for a 2-bedder was still cheap at $390K, only downside is, we waited for almost an hour to go back to Epping so hubby said we are not going back to Carlingford.
Hornsby - Those near the station is expensive and strata is almost $1000/ quarter. Went down further to College Crescent and the units are a bit small and a 10 min walk everyday, uphill is not really very enticing.
Waitara - very close to the station, prices are within reach but the hallway leading to some units makes me claustrophobic. Also, strata/water/council rates is around $1200/ quarter so we gave it a miss.

After a few months of looking around the North area, it hit us - we cannot afford living in the North! Some units were within our range but something is always not right about it - the cupboards, the noise, the strata, the location, etc. etc. etc. With this, I slowly accepted the fact that I will be looking for a house in the West and eventually live there.

Homebush West - affordable units, mostly two bedrooms. Made an offer on one units we both liked. Offer not accepted. Negotiated, again not accepted. Viewed the unit a second time before making another offer then found out that the current tenant is keeping a dog and its poo is all around the balcony, ieewww. Did not make another offer.
Quakers Hill - affordable but too far away. Saw a very nice townhouse - 3 bedroom and around 10min walk to station for $400K. Made an offer (which is very low). Offer was not accepted. hahaha
Kellyville Ridge - New Australand development. Walked 20 mins from the bus stop to the site. Very far! Bus fare is expensive (not to mention the long train ride to Blacktown). Sales Agent looks like he doesn't want to sell us the Terrace Home (after telling him that our budget is $500K max, still not good enough for him, hmmp). Houses were very nice. Community looks nice but its just sooooooo far away.
Wentworthville - The Townhouse we viewed is a bit old with only one toilet and needs major renovation. Saw a 2-year old villa with no strata but its a fair bit of walk from the station.

Toongabbie - Cesar mentioned that his friend is moving out because the owner wants to sell the 3 bedroom townhouse. He told us that the only problem is the lounge --- its too small. So we went to the open house, viewed the property: 3 bedroom, 2 toilets and bath, 1 guest toilet, underground car park, one guest carprk. Less than 5 minutes from station. And yes, the lounge and dining is very small. But we liked the property, and we liked Toongabbie. We don't need a big lounge and dining for now because there's only two of us!

The town house was to be Auctioned. We made an offer and told the Agent that we are not willing to go to auction. After a few negotiations, and another inspection, we signed the contract and paid 0.25% deposit... that was 12 September 2009.

And the timeline for Valeria St started:
12/09/09 - signed the contract, paid 0.25% dep
15/09/09 - solicitor received the contract. cooling off period is until 22/9/09
21/09/09 - bank valued the property 22/09/09 - requested for an extension of the cooling off period
23/09/09 - strata and land inspections 23/09/09 - bank valuation came back - $356K same as our offer! 25/09/09 - received unconditional approval from the bank
29/09/09 - paid the 10% deposit
29/09/09 - contracts exchanged 30/09/09 - loan agreements, FHOG and Stamp Duty exemption signed 16/10/09 - First Home Owners Grant Approved, money will be available at settlement date
26/10/09 - settlement date

I'll be picking up the keys from the real estate agent tomorrow. =)

Oh how time flies. Seems like it was just yesterday when we did all the house hunting and now, we actually are new home owners. A few things to do to the townhouse but it will be our new abode in the weeks to come.

Thank you Cesar the tip.

Thank you Lord for the guidance and for giving us what is best for us. As always, I cannot thank You enough.

Final Inspection

Just came back from our final inspection of the townhouse. Nothing new to see really. I just measured the smallish lounge and I resigned to the fact that my current lounge and tv will not be in synch, meaning the chaise will be facing the stairs (not the tv). I am not giving up my lounge so I have to make some adjustments on how to decorate our new home. By the way, settlement will be on Monday afternoon, after that I can now get the keys from the real estate agent (and I will have a mortgage na din, hahaha).

Below are the photos of the lounge (see how small it is?), kitchen and stairs. When we move in, I will post photos of the 'after renovation'. We need to be creative on how to make the lounge appear big!!! I guess a mirror is a must and minimalist would be the theme of our new nest.

The carpet needs to go, but I am thinking if floorboard and tiles go together, if not, then we'll have to do with a new carpet. Cant wait!!!

random things

Tomorrow afternoon is my cpa exam, finally! This is my third and 3 more to go before I can be a full-fledged CPA.

Today (or tonight), Agers will be home after 18 days in NZ. He'll spend the weekend here and will fly back on Monday for another 2 weeks. I wish I can go with him but because my passport will expire in January (and getting a new one is too complicated for now), I cannot. Hopefully, we'll be back there together not for work but for a REAL holiday.

My solicitor gave me a call that settlement will be on Monday and I can get the keys after! Oh my, I can't believe we are almost there. I've also scheduled the final inspection on Saturday. :-)

On Sunday, it'll be Elijah's christening and Agers is the Ninong this time. Can't wait to catch up with my North Shore mates....

December is almost here and I can't wait what's instore for me in the last two months of the year. 2009 so far has been so good to me, i'm very thankful!...

(Agers is here na, hahahaha, will try to update this later)....

Coming Soon

my not-so-fun sunday

i went to mass at 10am today, then to Village Grocers to buy vegies for lunch.
i cooked choysum with bits of chicken and finished the entire dish alone! :-)

Seeing the dirty, sticky kitchen, I decided to do some cleaning. Its so nice to see the grease and grime of the stove top all wiped clean.

Our room is also a mess, with falling hair all over, so I did a quick vacuum. Its not yet that tidy but its getting there. :-)

After three hours, I check my phone and there it was --- hubby sent a message that he was online and waiting for me! So i missed our quality internet time together but not to worry coz he's coming home soon. I can't wait for Thursday. :-)