Monday, November 21, 2011

Back to reality

Our long vacation in Manila is over and now we're back to Melbourne's chilly weather. Not complaining though especially since our house doesn't have a/c. The other day temperature was like 33 degrees at nagamit tuloy ang nag-iisang electric fan namin. Now its back to I think 15-18 degrees so carry na ulit:)

So what have I been up to since we've arrived? Packing up all those goodies from the Philippines. As usual I overpacked again, siguro nasa 8kgs ulit excess ko good thing the ground crew of Cathay was generous with us. To think my in laws let me use a part of their baggage allowance already. Ang saya kasi magshopping sa SM:) Anyways, hubby was delighted with all his pasalubongs so happy happy! He was so excited when he saw his piattos and nagaraya, oh the simple joys of life.

Well last week, finally got to see Sydney! I loved it. We only stayed 2 days so we basically just went around the city but I had fun. Went to Circular Quay where we saw the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Went also to Darling Harbour and Sydney Fish Market. Then also the the shops along Pitt Street. Going around was so convenient. Domestic Airport to our hotel took about 15 minutes via the city train, talk about efficient. There was even a bus that will take you around the city for free:) Hopefully we can go back again and see naman Bondi beach.

Sydney Opera House. Mr. Sun was out on our first day so views were really nice:)

Harbour Bridge

View of the CBD

Westfield Sydney

At Sydney Fish Market. I love seafood, wish we have this is Melbourne

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Goodmorning sa inyo!

Our little girl loves to sing and dance. Even while she's playing with her toys, I often hear her singing songs she invented. Last night, she started singing this Nescafe commercial she saw on t.v., complete with facial expression and hand gestures:) But with her it comes more like " goodmorning saynyo " . So cute!  I just love being a mum:)

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Forever 21

Since it will be almost summer when I go back to Oz, I've been wanting to buy a pair of denim shorts to bring back. Good thing we went to Megamall yesterday so I was able to browse around Forever 21. Here's my loot:)

Denim shorts Php 915 (approx  AUD$20)

Black belt Php 365 ( approx AUD$ 8)
I'm starting to like this store. It's fun to browse through racks and racks of clothes and trying some out (even if you don't really intend to buy anything hehe) My brother says the Makati branch is even larger! Hopefully I can visit Makati one of these days:)

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Bonchon Chicken Take 2!

So because I wasn't able to take pictures the first time, we just had to come back and eat some spicy wings again. This time I made sure I had my camera with me :)

3 pc spicy wings with rice

Yummy iced tea 
 
Kimchi coleslaw - helps to ease the spiciness of the wings:)
I love bonchon chicken!  I like how the chicken stays tender and really crispy even if  its  coated with sauce

Then for dessert: Green tea fro-yo with mango and almonds at nearby Red Mango 

Ang sarap kumain!


Thursday, September 1, 2011

SM and food

Was at SM Megamall yesterday and I came home with aching legs lol. And I kept on saying, "ang daming tao" because everywhere you go (and Megamall is huge right?), it was jampacked. But I'm not one to complain. There's so much to see there, lots of shops, lots of good bargains inside the SM Department Store and lots of restos to choose from:)
For lunch, my mom and I ate at Pepper Lunch. I had the Beef Pepper Rice and my mom had the Terriyaki Beef Pepper Rice with egg. Hay naku I forgot my cam, sayang nga. For late snack naman, we ate at Bonchon Chicken. We ordered the rice meal with the wings and the one with the chicken drumstick. We chose the spicy variant and it was indeed spicy crunchy good! We also liked the kimchi coleslaw. And their version of iced tea is yum as well:) Should go back next time so I could take proper pictures...

Source: Pepperlunch.com.ph




Monday, August 15, 2011

Pamper me! Manila

I just had a hair spa, foot spa with pedicure (i have pretty toes once again, yey) and had mais con yelo for snack.  Awesomeness:)

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Movie Date Night

Nixie just recently had her first big screen experience with Kung Fu Panda 2 which she really enjoyed. Good thing they are still screening it here in Oz otherwise we would have missed such a funny film. I think there will be a part 3, what you think?:)
Anyways, we watched a movie again last night. We watched Captain America. It wasn't really a kiddie movie so I was a bit concerned Nix might get bored but I need not worry. Well as soon as we sat down it didn't take long for her to "chat" with our seatmate, even spelling her name aloud lol. She was behaved throughout the movie, she watched and didn't fall asleep at all. I think this means more movie dates in the future for us. (Though its really pricy ha, 18 aud/ person!)

Enjoying our pre-movie pancakes:)


Thursday, August 11, 2011

Theme song

Hubby and I don't have a theme song and I don't think much about it. But after hearing " Telling the World" from the movie Rio (which is SO fun to watch), I suddenly want it to be his theme song for me our theme song:)



Monday, August 8, 2011

Happy balloons

Our princess was getting restless this afternoon and as I was lazily slouched in the couch (i love the way it rhymes:), I grabbed the thing that was in arms reach and had a very brilliant idea hahaha

Nixie's works of art: happy balloons!

We just love to leave things messy nowadays:)

With her own funny happy face look
Good thing I've kept all those balloons left from her birthday 2 months ago! She had fun drawing happy faces on them and it kept her occupied for at least umm, 15 minutes:)

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Wishlist: New camera

My hubby and I have been wanting to buy a new camera since last year. Though it has served us well, I think we've already outgrown our Canon point and shoot. I remember we bought it a month before Nix was born because we wanted to make sure we have something to capture all those special moments as she's growing up. I don't know if its just me being frugal, or it was because we really didn't have much extra moolah then, but at 12,000 php (about 300 aud), we found it pretty expensive. And really by today's standards it is expensive knowing some digital cams now retail for less than 100aud.
Hubby initially wanted to get a DSLR but I've encouraged him more towards the idea of getting a good point and shoot. I just think a lighter camera would fit our lifestyle better.
So we've been looking at Panasonic's Lumix LX 5
Source: gizmodo.com.au

But I also saw some other nice looking Panasonic cameras and I'd like to look at some Canon models as well so  I still have to do some research.
I did see a pink samsung point and shoot last week that retailed for 70aud and I was so tempted to get it cause its PINK! But I thought might as well save that money towards getting a better model. But really now, how cuter can you get?
This one will fit it right perfectly in this
Oh, don't get me started, bags deserve a wishlist post of its own:) 
Buti na lang libre mangarap:)

Friday, July 29, 2011

Up late again

I know its not healthy but I've been sleeping really late, or should I say really early in the morning already. Its just that it is during this time that I feel so most productive. Or maybe I'm just a really bad procrastinator that I leave all that I should be doing earlier in the day to this very very late (or early) part of the day. Gulo ko ba? Pasensya na, madaling araw na eh. Haha.
Anyway, to prove that I'm productive, I've even changed my blog template. I kind of like it since it feels its neater. Problem lang is I can't seem to edit my blog title, I wanted the font size to be bigger but I can't seem to do it. Well I got the template for free lang so can't complain but hopefully I can still tweak the font size.
What kept me up really late this time was I was so busy going through different mommy blogs on homeschooling and teaching toddlers/preschoolers. I'm so inspired and encouraged going through their posts and I realized that though I'm not really the homeschooling type (though I wish I am) I will (well hubby and I) will always be N's best teachers:) With that I will bid you good nite (or good morning):)


My messy desk and some ideas I picked up from blog hopping:)

Monday, July 25, 2011

Eat list: Manila

After reading Daphne OP's recent post , all I can think about is food. I can't help it, so might as well write something about it since it is 3 a.m. and am too lazy to cook something to satisfy the cravings. Well, family and friends aside, the thing I miss most about Manila is the FOOD! I'm not a foodie but this I know, I love my rice and ulam. For me everything with rice is yum. Fluffy, white, piping hot rice. Confession: I do eat spaghetti with rice, well when at home anyway:)
Anyway, I think I will just make a food list of all I miss and would like too eat again when go home sweet home. So here's my Manila wish/eat list:

Sisig - Last time we went home we didn't get the chance to eat at Gerry's Grill which I read served very good sisig.
Source: clickthecity.com

Jollibee's chicken joy - I know Nix will love this as well: crispy chicken skin and gravy



Baked oysters - Buttery, cheesy, fatty oysters! Want to go to Seaside Macapagal right now:)

photo courtesy of hubby

Fried Tilapia - I mostly shop in the big chain groceries here because its more convenient so I really miss out on fresh seafood. I especially miss eating the humble tilapia, fried crispy skin and soft flesh...goes well with fish sauce and calamansi.
Source: panlasangpinoy.com
Inihaw na Bangus - Especially the fatty belly part. Yun na!

Source: http://jinvive.deviantart.com

McDonald's Coke float - I still remember when this first came out, I was hooked. Glad it became a staple in the menu, too bad they don't have it here. And who could beat that price? The last time I remember it was just P25. Winner!



There it is, my wishlist. I won't make it any longer, masyado na akong frustrated haha

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I still haven't baked the cheesecake I have been craving for which I wrote about here. But we tried the cheesecake at the nearby Secret Recipe and it was really good so maybe I could put off baking one a little bit more. Ang lazy ba? Minsan kasi nakakatamad mag wash up ng ginamit na stuff. Ikaw na nga nagbake, ikaw pa maghuhugas. Haha:)

Anyway, Nix has been telling me she wanted to bake so I looked for an easy recipe: readily available ingredients and if pwede a one bowl recipe so less to clean up:) I googled and decided on Chocolate chip cookies. It was our first time baking cookies and we had a good time. And thankfully, it turned out pretty good. Crispy on the edges and but still a bit chewy in the middle. Happy!

cookie dough:)

excited for the cookies to be ready

she was so proud of herself, mummy's little helper

freshly baked

ready to eat!


Sunday, July 17, 2011

My CHATIME experience

Ever since I heard about CHATIME from Jenni Epperson's blog, I've been wanting to try it. You see I'm more of a tea person so I was really excited to read about it and added it to the list of things to try when we go home to Manila. So imagine what a pleasant surprise it was to see a newly opened CHATIME along Swanston Street here in Melbourne! Finally got to try it yesterday. I got the Brown Rice Green Tea with normal sugar. My verdict: Okay lang, wala kasing ice yung order ko, di nilagyan. Buti nalang weather was cold so carry lang:) Hay, I didn't understand what the girl was saying kasi haha...when she was asking if I wanted normal sugar and ice akala ko "no sugar".  Anyways she gave me normal sugar with no ice. Ang gulo haha

Excited me:)

Puro Asians naka line:)
  
Waiting for my order

with Nix who was more interested looking at the kalesa  than the cam:)
Next time I'm gonna try something different, maybe something with red bean in it. Hmmm, any suggestions?:)

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

For beautiful white teeth!

Sorry haven't posted anything recently ( hmm, does anybody care? haha ) We had my very good friend M visit us the past couple of days and of course if not going out, we're busy making chika. She also introduced me to games on the Iphone and I got hooked on Sally's spa and Sally's salon. And since I don't have my own Iphone I have to wait for hubby to get home from work so I could borrow his. Good thing I have high EQ, or so I'd like to think haha
Anyway, the reason for this post is that I just found it really amusing how Nix is sooo excited about her new toothpaste:) Our last tube of Sansfluo is gone so we went to the pharmacy this afternoon to look for a new toothpaste for her. We went to the baby section, no toothpaste. So I told her we have to look for the toothpaste section. And she did:) Unfortunately there was no fluoride free variant available so we had to settle for this:


Nix was so cute taking the box to the cashier by herself and she looked so serious about being able to "pay" for it by herself. And since this one has fluoride in it, hence the need to really spit it out, I told her she can't "eat" the toothpaste anymore and she has to spit it out. No questions asked, no complaints, she willingly obliged and did it! :)  She was so excited brushing her teeth this evening. Our little bulilit girl is growing up fast:)

Thursday, June 30, 2011

TOYSALE!!!!

Kmart and BigW annual toysales started today. As early as last week Nix and I have been browsing through the catalogs looking for nice toys, pero mas excited pa ata ako:) Anyway I already had the toys I wanted to buy in mind even before we got to the store, some will be reserved for Christmas na. Pero naman, pagdating namin dun, ubos na yung dolls na gusto "ko". Ganun kasi sila dito, napansin ko sa toysale lang dadating lahat ng new stocks of toys and after that halos puro old stock of toys na ang nasa shelves or pa-isa isang labas ng new toys. So most really go out and buy toys during the toysales. As in you'll see shopping carts stacked with toys, ganun sila. So since wala na yung doll na gusto ko we just put it on Christmas layby and could collect the doll starting December. But we were able to buy her a scooter and her Ninang Mae got her a Barbie pool. Dapat buy pa ko ng helmet pero baka sa weekend na lang. Here's the dolls I wanted because she loves both Tangled and A Little Mermaid::
Singing in the bath Ariel


I love buying her dolls at this point because she really plays with them and "talks" to her dolls, sinasakay pa nya sa stroller and sa ride on toy nya:)



Monday, June 27, 2011

Please help save the Philippine Dragon Boat Team

Politika nga naman sa Pinas...Please read this post by Ibyang of A Wife's Charmed Life

Please help save the Philippine Dragon Boat Team

You've got mail

Actually its not really mail but my order from Amazon arrived! A few posts back, I wrote about ordering Hooked on Phonics learning system from Amazon because I wanted to start teaching Nix how to read. I'm so happy it arrived ahead of the expected delivery time frame they gave me. Nix and I were so excited opening the box and getting our hands on our loots:)

Excited with her new book:)

Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Pre-K and Super Workbook




Level 1 kit includes:
DVD, storybooks, workbook, reward stickers, flashcard, quick start guide

According to the guide we should start learning with the workbook (the one in Level 1 is all about the alphabet and learning about alphabet sounds), then proceed to practice skills using flashcards and then reinforcing everything by reading a book together or watching the DVD provided. I'm really excited about this although were going to do this slowly but surely, no pressure. I just want something that would keep her busy and at the same time something she'll learn from. I want to make most of this age wherein she's so curious and like a sponge, absorbs most so so easily.

I will post more about our progress in future. Have a good week ahead everyone!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Yum! - Yoplait's Le Rice

My friend Hazel mentioned that Yoplait's Le Rice tastes really good so the next time we went to the grocery got some to try. And indeed it tasted yum! I got the vanilla flavor and basically its like this milky custard with rice in it, like sweet rice porridge. I like eating it cold out of the fridge and it can quickly satisfy any hunger pangs I have:) Its also 97% fat free and low GI so all the more good.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

On sale: Cotton On

I'm really starting to like Cotton On already. Before I always just passed by it whenever we go to the mall since I figured its much cheaper to buy in Kmart or Target for clothing basics but I think I was wrong :) Especially now that they are on sale!!!! Like for today I got 3 tops for just $20.

blue and white stripe shirt

longsleeve top in dusty olive

long sleeve top in white


green hoodie and yellow tank top for Nix:)

Not in the picture is the blue and white stripey shirt I also got for Nix. Excited sya e, she's wearing it already:)