We're back!

We made it! And I have some (ok, maybe more than some) pictures to share:

Into the Wild

D and I are going to be spending Christmas day somewhere in the wild.

We're leaving tomorrow for our 5 night adventure -- 3 nights in a "bush cabin" (i'm assuming that means 4 walls and a roof, basically) and 2 nights camping.

Will we survive? I'll answer that question, if/when we come back.

How exciting.

Cabin at the Princess Rose Margaret Cave
















Mount Gambier
















Canunda National Park

Picnicking at Albert Lake

So we went one weekend to Albert Lake and had a picnic. The group was a bit random but connected in some way as well. It was still fun.

Getting into the hang of blogging

I think I'm getting back to the groove of things. Blogging-wise anyway.

I was browsing through my old posts and it's been good in motivating me to blog again. There's a lot of things there that I had forgotten about. I also noticed that I complain too much about not blogging enough. Silly me.

Anyway, one key event that happened within the blogless months is I GOT MY VICTORIAN DRIVING LICENSE! Woohoo! I passed in one go! Amazing.

In between the first two videos

This was one Saturday in October.

What do cricket, sushi and a convent have in common? As we found out, nothing, apparently.

This won't be sequential

This was when we went to The Grampians with the sister in November, towards the end of her visit.




There's heaps more that happened in between and I'll get to those soon.

I've found a solution

Photo/Video blogs!

Back in September when Chris and Char were here:

It's all so daunting

Not having posted for over 3 months, I wonder whether it's all too much to get updated. I've been putting off blogging since I really didn't know how to get back into the groove.

Do I just ignore the past blogless months and pretend they never happened?

Do I try and update the best I can?

Do I even want to continue on blogging?

I'll have a think about this.

My Neglected Forgotten Blog

For a long moment there, I forgot I had a blog. Almost 2 weeks since my last post but I have lots of excuses. Things have been busy -- busier than usual anyway.

Yes they are excuses but these are the Things That Have Kept Me From Blogging:

1. My sister arrived on the 18th! Woohoo! She's here for 3 months. We've been taking her around and getting her sorted.
2. We had a lunch-thing with a few of our friends on the Sunday she arrived. I was busy cooking, eating, mingling and cleaning up that day.
3. I was working. Mundane but true. Still trying to sort out the work situation as well.
4. We went up to Mount Dandenong and visited the William Ricketts Sanctuary (creepy but fascinating) and Sky High Mt. Dandenong (absolutely gorgeous -- highly recommended).
5. We went shopping at the Camberwell markets. We scored! Heaps of jumpers and sweaters for cheap! Got a good pair of jeans and a pair of slacks!
6. I took my Road Law Knowledge Test and Hazard Perception Test and I passed both! Woohoo! Now, all I need is to pass the practical driving test and I'll finally get a Victorian license. The test is still in October.
7. I've discovered Facebook and now I'm hooked. I'm way too addicted to Scrabulous at the moment.
8. Char is coming tonight! Woohoo!
9. I've also been busy enjoying the fine Melbourne weather. We've been having really good days recently -- 20ºC days are SO good. Sometimes, it even feels like Melbourne summer! Double woohoo!

See? I have been busy. But I'll try to be more regular again. And I have yet to post my pictures. I'll get it done. Soonish. Somehow.

A Geography Lesson

Some people (I'm not naming names) apparently don't have a clue where Byron Bay, Brisbane and the Gold Coast are. Since I'm silly and pedantic, here is a brief lesson:

This is our flight path from Melbourne to Coolangatta (sort of a border town between Queensland and New SouthWales):

This is a map showing Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Byron Bay (where we stayed the most during our holiday):

Hope this helps some people with their bearings.

P.S. I will post pictures soon. Maybe.

Back in cold, cold Melbourne

We were spoiled with 20º-25ºC sunny weather the entire time we were on break in Byron Bay and the Gold Coast.

Late last night, as the plane was preparing for landing in Melbourne, the pilot said that the weather was a "balmy 4ºC." How inspiring.

And today, on our first day back at work, we were driving in cold and miserable rain. Welcome to Melbourne!

___
P.S. We had a fantastic time away though. I loved Byron Bay and surrounds. Got to see where D grew up. It was great!

No Time

We went to the snow last weekend but I haven't got time to blog about it or post pictures. We're leaving for the Gold Coast and Byron Bay tomorrow!

Early tomorrow morning, we're flying into the GC airport (Coolangatta), driving to Byron Bay (1 hour) and staying there until Friday. Friday afternoon, we're driving back to the Gold Coast and staying until Sunday. We fly back to Melbourne v late Sunday night. It'll be hectic, fun and exciting!

Woohoo!

Woohoo!

After a million hiccups and several months wait, we finally got our brand spankin' new car!

We got a 2007 Toyota Yaris Sedan and it's very cute. I drove it from the dealer to our house this morning -- it was nerve wracking. I've never had a brand new car before.

This is the picture from the Toyota website.

Ours is dark grey though. I'll take pictures of the actual car this weekend...

Meanwhile, you can watch commercials here. Happy weekend!!

Thank God It's Friday

I hate cliches but TGIF is exactly what I feel right now. I've had a loooonnnggg week and it's nice to be snuggly in bed at this moment.

Work's still the same beast but I feel less frustrated. Only because I've decided to be more proactive with my career and have taken some steps to make sure that the company hears what I have to say. I feel quite proud of myself in that respect.


Last Friday (feels like ages ago), D and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie at the IMAX. Now, I've never watched anything in IMAX before and I didn't have any expectations. It was great! The screen was HUGE.

I don't know exactly what D and I were expecting but we kept waiting for the 3D to come on. Mid-way through the movie, we were looking at each other and wondering whether the 3D parts were ever going to come on. It finally did, once, at the end of the movie. It ran for 15 minutes and that was it. Now, don't get me wrong. It was great effects and it's definitely the way to see this particular movie but we both thought that there would be more 3D happening. Silly us.

The glasses are still dorky by the way.

The Great Wall in Melbourne

Last weekend, D and I went to see the Great Wall of China exhibit in the Melbourne Museum. We were supposed to go with Rob and Tuan but they were almost 2 hours late so we went ahead to explore the exhibit. (Why they were late depends on who's telling the story. Rob blames Tuan and Tuan blames Rob. You know the drill. I think it's because they're both sh*t with directions.)

It was very interesting but a bit limited. The space was small and there weren't enough artifacts. They had lots of videos though but I wouldn't have paid $16 for it willingly. And good thing we didn't.

Because, while D and I were wondering around the museum, we came upon this poster offering Museum Membership. We paid $60 for a year's membership for the 2 of us which allowed us to enter the Great Wall exhibit for just $5 each (instead of the overpriced $16).

It also gives us unlimited free entry to the Melbourne Museum, Scienceworks, Immigration Museum and tours of the Royal Exhibition Building. It also allows us one visit per year to the Planetarium and the Lightning Room at Scienceworks. And we get discounted IMAX tickets! Plus discounts on exhibits.

Another bonus is that we haven't been to any of those places other than the Melbourne Museum. It's amazing!

This gives us motivation to go out on weekends and check those places out.

I like it.

This is me and D with the life-size statues:

I bought this little guy from the souvenir shop:

Yes I know it's touristy but I couldn't help myself. He even comes with his own faux silk box!

Manggang Hilaw at Bagoong

Yes, D and I managed to get our hands on green mangoes and Barrio Fiesta's Shrimp Paste here down under. Unbelievable but true.

The mangoes were not the same as the ones from back home but they were close enough. The bagoong in can (brought by my parents when they visited) tasted better than the bagoong in the bottle (from our Asian grocer).

Our tummies did get a wee bit upset from eating too much but it was well worth it.

Very yum. A good cure for homesickness.

I Feel Accomplished

The state of my clean laundry pile was atrocious. Today, I decided enough was enough and I was going to have to knuckle down and fold my clothes.

I really really hate folding my clothes. Now, I don't mind doing the laundry. In fact, I kinda like it. I will happily sort out the clothes (lights vs. darks), put them in the washing machine and hang them (or put them in the dryer) out to dry. But that's the limit of my laundry liking. I absolutely detest sorting my clothes, folding them or placing them on hangers. Don't ask me why. I just don't like it.

Well, 2 weeks of laundry and no folding had resulted to this mess:





















Yes, it was quite gross.

But I'm happy to report that after 20 minutes of hard labour, this corner of our room is now quite clean.






















I feel very proud of myself.

Transformers and Burger King

This is funny.

I want to watch Transformers!! We're going to do it tomorrow.

Corporate Espionage

Yesterday, the deal I've been working on, which has been very hush hush until then (as most M&A* deals should be), was on the front page of the Australian Financial Review. Months of secrecy down the drain with a single newspaper article.

Lots of people scrambling around (in 3 different countries) produced an official party line by 10 o'clock AEST in the morning. Very good scrambling around, if I might say.

We still don't know where the leak came from or what their intention was. I doubt we'll ever know for sure.

I barely talk about my work in this blog (other than a few breakdown updates) but this is very big news. At least for a day anyway. There's over 20 news articles about this the last time I searched Google news. For more info, here's one of them.

It really doesn't change what I'm doing or will be doing in the next few weeks. It could hurry along the process though. Which is a very good thing.

On a more personal note, I'm taking a mental health day today. I needed the rest. I've been rundown lately.

____
*M&A - Mergers and Acquisitions

On Hold

Blogging will be on hold probably until the weekend.

I'm really super very busy at work. Tomorrow, we're (fingers crossed) going to finish a major component of the project I've been working on for months and months. I hope everything goes well.

Wish me luck!

Weather Blues

And to think, this is actually an improvement already as we've been having 5C and 6C days recently.

Yesterday was really dreadful, pissing down all day, really cold and windy. Today's marginally better with the sun peeking out once in a while.

I've been doing better on the work situation. Well, not exactly better. More like, if I don't think about it, it doesn't bother me. But at least a meltdown has been avoided. At least for now.

Yesterday I had the best news ever! Tiger Airways is going to fly to/from Melbourne beginning December this year! Woohoo! They're advertising flights for Melbourne-Singapore for just A$499/return! I want to book now.

Free Hugs

I like hugs. Free hugs are even better.

Hmm, this is exactly what's needed to de-stress.

Go here for the story.

Apparently, 07/07/07 is Free Hugs Day.
(well as deemed by the forum on the free hugs website anyway)

Work Stress

Work has been progressively going from bad to worse.
I don't know what to do about my situation right now.
I'm slowly heading towards a breakdown or at the very least, a meltdown.
I need a break.
A year-long one.
Yeah, like that's going to happen.
I need to de-stress.

Four Eyed Monsters

I watched this indie film online last night with D. It was funny and very artsy. We both really liked it so I decided to post it here as well to help them promote the movie.

Join Spout Buy DVD Watch Video Podcast Get Code

They've uploaded the entire film on YouTube for a limited time and are asking viewers to help with their credit card debt (incurred during the filming and production of the movie) by joining spout (free sign-up and the site will give them $1 for every person who joins) or buying a DVD or high quality download.

Learn more about their story here.

Living in a Ghetto

This happened this morning:

Photo: Craig Abraham

From The Australian:

One dead, two wounded in Melbourne CBD shooting
Milanda Rout
June 18, 2007

A HUGE manhunt is under way for a gunman who killed one person and injured two others in the heart of Melbourne's CBD this morning.

Much of the centre of Melbourne is in lockdown as police search for the gunman who fled on foot east of the city after the shooting.

Eyewitnesses saw the man drag a woman out of a cab on the corner of Flinders Lane and William Stree in the city just after 8am. Two bystanders apparently came to help the woman, only for the aggressor to pull a handgun and shoot all three.

A police spokesman said a male had died in the shooting and a man and a woman had been taken to hospital. Ambulance officers have placed a sheet over a body at the scene of the shooting, near the corner of Flinders Lane and William Street.

Cherie Harding, a worker in the Rialto building opposite the shooting scene, said several of her colleagues heard up to four shots. Ms Harding said she saw ambulances at the scene and stretchers being used to transport patients. “There are a few people here who heard them (gunshots),” she said.

Police said they were now searching for the gunman in Melbourne's city district. Ambulance spokesman James Howe earlier told of paramedics trying to resuscitate a critically injured victim at the scene. He believed the gunshot wounds were in the victims' upper bodies.

Melbourne's city centre was in shutdown as police searched the area for the gunman, with offices sealed off and people kept away from nearby workplaces.

Witness Carly, who is in the Rialto building on Collins Street, said people in her building had been told not to move. “We've just been told that none of our people who are waiting downstairs to come upstairs can come up,” Carly told 3AW. “They've blocked off all the access to the floors in our building because they're still looking for the shooter. “We're not allowed to go anywhere and no-one is allowed to come up into the building.” Carly said she had heard six or seven shots about 8.15am, coming from the corner of Flinders Lane and William Street.

Police Inspector Glenn Weir asked people in the area not to panic. “There is an extensive search underway to try and find the offender at the moment,” Insp Weir said. “There are numerous police attending to the search within the vicinity of the incident and there is a large cordon and containment operation underway as we speak. “We are just asking the public not to panic and assist police if requested and if you have no business being in the vicinity of Flinders Lane and William Street please keep out of the area.”

The gunman is described as wearing black jeans and a denim jacket, with short light brown hair. Inspector Weir said it appeared the gunman knew the victims. “There is no suggestion this is a random act - it appears there was a relation with the gunman and the victims, so we are asking people not to panic,” he told ABC radio.

Malcolm Bates, a witness, said before the shooting broke out the gunman grabbed a woman by the neck as she sat in a taxi, and tried to get into the vehicle. “The lady got away and he turned and shot three people basically point blank,” Mr Bates said. “I was right across the road.” He told ABC radio the gunman then ran down Flinders Lane toward the city centre. He said the whole scenario took no longer than “the wink of an eye”.

Police wearing bullet-proof vests were scouring the area, and police helicopters hovered overhead. Insp Weir said the last confirmed sighting of the gunman was east of the shooting scene, on Flinders Lane.

The Victoria Police homicide squad this morning took over the investigation as the police Special Operations Group joined the search for the gunman. Police have blocked off a number of city streets until further notice and have also begun evacuating some buildings.

Police said a handgun had been found a short time ago at a Melbourne city construction site near where the three people were shot.

The gun was found at the construction site on the corner of Flinders and Queens streets they said, but had yet to confirm if it was the one used in the shooting spree.

Watch the video.

_________

UPDATE: 20 June

Accused Melbourne gunman surrenders to police

OUTLAW Hells Angel shooting suspect Christopher Wayne Hudson has handed himself into police north of Melbourne after two days on the run.

He walked into a police station at Wallan, about 50 kilometres north of Melbourne, and handed himself in and is now in custody.

A police spokeswoman confirmed Hudson’s surrender about 5.10pm (AEST).

Read more from The Australian.

First Proper Dinner

Two Sundays ago, D and I had our first proper sit-down dinner at our (not-so) new place. We invited D's brother, brother's girlfriend and D's pseudo brother R (pseudo because they're not related but D considers him his brother. R's been part of the family ever since they found him one day on the beach. Very long story.).

I cooked heaps (adobo, baked chicken wings, veggie stir fry and fried basa fillets) and D made a salad. Plus we bought a sour cherry pie from the bakery down the street. Lots of food for 5 people. It was yum though.

Anyway, it went quite well. We had a lot of laughs, lots of stories and lots of ribbing (brothers, after all).

Well, everything did go well until it was time to leave.

They had arrived around 7pm and we probably started eating at around 7.30. I was fully prepared for the dinner to go for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. So, imagine my surprise when, at 10 o'clock, the dinner did not show signs of winding down. Around 10.30, D started clearing the table and preparing the dishes to go into the dishwasher. By 11 o'clock, I kept glancing at the clock whilst D prepared their take home bag (we had heaps of leftover).

Finally, by 11.30, we had managed to get them going, put on their coats and out the door. Slight delay due to their car not having ANY OIL (another story. apparently brother does NOT know how to maintain cars.).

We got into bed slightly before 1am. On a Sunday night.

Now, don't get me wrong. We loved having them over. We discovered we actually like (and are good at) entertaining and having people over for dinner. Now, we just have to learn how to get them out the door earlier.

I'm Back (sort of)

So, after a month-long hiatus, I'm back to blogging.

Things have been hectic with the parents coming, watching heaps of Lost and Prison Break and just general not-doing-anything stuff.

To make up for the fact that I don't really have much to say today (too lazy to think of anything), I'm posting some pics from when the parents were here.

Sovereign Hill, Ballarat


Halls Gap, The Grampians


The Grampians


The Grampians


Great Ocean Road

Blog Drought

I still haven't set up my other blog.

My parents are here visiting so I don't have time to blog.

I'll be back to regular programming in a week.

Hmm...

As you can see, I've made a few changes.

I tried changing my URL address as well but it made all external links to my blog defunct. What should I do? The simplest way might be to migrate to a different hosting site...

I'll think more about it.

eBaying

I think I'm addicted to eBay. Seriously.

How does one know? I'm very worried. I think I spend too much time on that site. Not too much money yet though. Well, not alarmingly anyway.

But they're all bargains! I swear.

And I really REALLY needed each item I bought!

Well, not really. Aside from my fm transmitters (itrip knockoff but works way way better), I don't think I would have bought all the other stuff. Not paying retail anyway.

Some of the recent stuff I've bought:

NEW BLUETOOTH HEADSET H700 FOR MOTOROLA(BLACK)

Sony Ericsson Car Charger K750i K800i W800i W850i Z530i

SOLAR GARDEN LIGHTS X 4

200 Channel LCD FM Transmitter+Car Charger for iPod MP3

New Portable Digital USB Speaker for PC Laptop MP3

Yeah, I think I may have a problem.

Midnight Madness

We went to bed last night without any inkling that it was going to be one helluvanight.

Around 1.30am or so, we woke up to loud voices. It seemed that there were 2 guys outside, in the middle of the street, arguing very very loudly. I couldn't make out most of what they were saying but they sure were making a ruckus.

D climbed out of bed to have a look-see. I was too sleepy to be bothered, and hoped they would go away soon.

D came back with a status report: Apparently, they were both drunk (pissed, as they call it here in Oz) and Drunk 1 wanted the Drunk 2 to drive him somewhere. Drunk 2 was refusing.

After a few more shouting matches, we heard garbage bins being toppled over (it was trash day so we had to leave our bins on the curb). Another look-see confirmed that our bin was lucky enough to be part of this bin-tipping activity. All our garbage was now nicely strewn out on the street.

We'd hoped that this was the end of their public disturbance and they would crawl back under whatever rock they crawled out from. And for a moment, with their voices fading away, we thought it was.

We were wrong. We again heard their voices outside our window. And then, there was a crash. I had no idea what had happened, until I heard D calling the police, saying, "There are two drunken guys outside having an argument and they've just smashed a brick through my car window."

What the f@*k?? I peeked through our blinds and there it was: D's truck with a hole on its side. Poor truck--innocent bystander injured.

D went out to wait for the cops. It probably took them under ten minutes to come.

This is what I saw as I watched through the blinds of our bedroom window:

- Cops come, they talk to D.

- Cops leave.

- Cops come back within ten minutes. They talk to D again. D goes and looks inside the cop car. D and the cops talk some more.

- Another cop car comes. The cops have a meeting. The second car cop drives away.

- D starts cleaning up our garbage while the cops talk to the suspect in the cop car.

- A neighbour comes out to find out what's going on. More talking.

- Cop 1 writes something and hands it to D. D signs and the cop gives D a copy.

- Neighbour goes back in.

- Cop car 2 comes back and the cops have another meeting.

- The cops drive away.

Make sense? Well, apparently the cops caught one of the guys and D confirmed that the suspect was involved but wasn't the guy who smashed D's car. Suspect was refusing to give Drunk 1 up. He was also denying that he was part of the disturbance.

Unluckily for him, Drunk 1 kept shouting out his name while they were arguing. "Ari, you're such a .... Ari this, Ari that." Well, guess what he said when asked what his name was? Ari.

The second cop car came to look for Drunk 1 but couldn't find him.

The paper that D had was a "Notice to the Victim."

Nothing more could be done, apparently. Well, nothing I saw anyway.

___

As we were going back to sleep, I told D, "This is like living in a ghetto! How very exciting."

And to think earlier that evening, I was bemoaning the fact that I felt so poor as I was folding my own laundry. I felt so destitute, not having a maid to do it for me.

In a span of one night, I went from being poor to living a ghetto. What a night.

We went back to sleep at around 3am.

And, just to add to the mayhem, we woke up at around 5am, when one of my picture frames (which I hung on the wall over our headboard) fell on D. How utterly bizarre. My poor husband thought somebody threw a brick through our bedroom window.

I'll say it again. What a night.

----
Here are some pictures I took in the morning. Yes, I know. They don't capture any of the night's excitement. Believe me, I was tempted to go out and take some pictures but I was too afraid.

It's been a while

I haven't blogged in more than a week.

I've been busy with work (ugh), reading lots (at least I've been updating my reading blog), getting ready for when the parents come to visit (in less than 2 weeks! woohoo!), ebaying (it's very addictive), practice driving and watching DVDs.

Besides, there has been nothing new to warrant an interesting post. Oh well.

I've been driving more lately. Mostly weekends and errands. D's going to the mechanic tomorrow to get my new old car serviced to make sure it's at least safe. I have a parking slot at work already. I've been taking the online practice knowledge test (yes, I still have to take a silly test even if I have been driving for over ten years) to make sure I can pass the actual test.

Been watching a few DVDs which have been interesting: Kolja (Czech, must see), Le Placard ("The Closet," funny but typical French comedy), L' Appartement ("The Apartment," French, original version of Wicker Park, recommended), and Pulse (Hollywood version of Japanese film, Kairo. Had my eyes closed for most of it, D really liked it as it was creepy. Very Japanese horror.).

Also watched a few which were trying, to say the least: An Inconvenient Truth (everybody raves about this. Literally made me fall asleep. Haven't gone through the whole movie yet. I don't like Al Gore.), Havoc (Stars a very different Anne Hathaway, looked promising but got boring. Haven't finished this either. Too annoying.) and Crank (What in the world has happened to Jason Statham? Silly, silly movie. Nothing redeeming about it at all.).

We also watched Spiderman 3. That warrants its own post...

Sunshine: A Review

Watched this movie about 2 weeks ago but I still feel that it warrants a blog. Since it is sci-fi, there are holes in the story but with films like this, you have to suspend disbelief while you are watching it or else your head explodes (or you don't enjoy the film at the very least).

I enjoyed it. Surprisingly, too. Other than certain parts of the ending (I won't go into detail due to spoilers) which I felt insulted the rest of the movie, it was an entertaining watch.

I have decided that I like Danny Boyle. 28 Days Later is one of the few zombie movies that I like (I know the sequel, 28 Weeks Later won't be as good but I'm still watching it). I even like The Beach, which was almost universally panned, just because of how it looked like. Now, I haven't watched Trainspotting (it's a subtitle movie for me and I have to be in the mood) other than a few glimpses here and there and I know it's the quintessential Boyle film. But the movies that I have watched, I enjoyed.

Cillian Murphy is brilliant, as always. Now, I don't really like like him but I think he's a very good actor. And that fire guy from Fantastic Four was surprisingly good as well.

This film sort of reminded me of the Alien series but without the Alien. I recommend watching it.

Adventures

We haven't had any exciting adventures in the recent past. Come to think of it, we haven't even had any not-so-exciting adventures to talk about either.

We do have the excuse of moving house but I think that excuse is well used up by now. I have to get started on a list again. Which reminds me, I should give an update on that list I had early this year to see how we did.

List posted initially in Jan 07 (updates in red):

1. Take Spanish classes with D (already enrolled. classes start Jan 18, Thursday evenings.) - Done! Not sure if we learned anything but we had fun taking the classes!
2. Watch the Australian Open (bought tickets for Jan 21, Sunday) - Went and truly enjoyed it. Hoping my dad comes back next year in time for us to go together.
3. Watch a film at the Moonlight Cinema (sometime in Feb, waiting for the screening of a movie we actually want to see) or the Rooftop Cinema (maybe next Friday to see Bright Young Things) - done and done. Saw Casino Royale at the Moonlight Cinema and Bright Young Things at the Rooftop one. Both were quite enjoyable.
4. Learn Yoga (I really need motivation for this) - i went to ONE class! i'm so bad. at least, D and I have enrolled in a gym. i'll check out the classes there.
5. Visit more museums or cultural centers (next stop is the Australian Center for Contemporary Art where Mike Nelson is exhibiting Lonely Planet at the moment) - went to the ACCA and got weirded out by Mike Nelson's art. i need to find another artsy alternative.
6. Explore Victoria through books (I'm actually doing this already through the reading program, Reading Victoria. Already gone through one, Stiff, and now reading through Picnic at Hanging Rock.) - read Stiff and didn't really like it. Picnic was a bit weird as well. Read another book which I liked - Nevil Shute's On the Beach.
7. Catch more concerts (D wants to see Tenacious D this month. I doubt we'll be organized enough to catch that one... Damien Rice is playing in Feb, Gomez in April) or go to music festivals (St Kilda Festival is on!) - haven't gone to any concerts but we did go to the St Kilda Festival. hmm, i think we should try to catch a concert soon.
8. Have picnics (if we end up going to the Moonlight Cinema, then that's 2 birds with one stone. If not, I want to go to Hanging Rock). - Cinema done, Hanging Rock still hanging. =)

Well, I don't think we did too badly with that list. Time for a new one!

Being Pinoy on Anzac Day

Today's a holiday here in Oz. It's Anzac Day.

What is ANZAC Day?

ANZAC Day - 25 April - is probably Australia's most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they soon took in that name endures to this day.

Read more here.
_________

It's weird living in a country and not knowing any of its history.

Even weirder is I find that I can't be bothered to go out of my way to know more about it.

Okay, maybe not that weird, since I have, at times, been seen as apathetic. I am from UP CBA after all.

But, no matter how f***ed up the Philippines gets and how I try to stay removed from the situation (I hardly even read any news from home. I've found that the news cycle and recycle anyway. We're having elections AGAIN. After the elections, I'm sure there'll be accusations of cheating. As what happened in the last election. And the election before that. Everything's the same.), I'm a born and bred Manileno (sorry, i can't find the "enye" in my comp). True blue Pinoy. My country is ingrained in me and always will be.

If I have been seen as apathetic, I've also been accused, at times, of being patriotic. Me? How strange. I never thought of myself as patriotic. Never that. I've had a number of heated arguments with my dad about my apparent lack of love for country.

But, if, insisting I'm Pinoy when people try to label me as half-Aussie (just because I can assimilate doesn't make me one of them) or not rushing towards a new citizenship just because it's available and will make traveling much easier or extolling the wonders of the Philippines (the beaches! the rum shakes! the massages on the sand!) to anyone who would listen, if all that make me a patriot, then I guess I am one. But see, I still don't see myself as a patriot. (I don't know if I would be willing to die for my country. We don't have that great a relationship.) I just see myself as Pinoy.

Driving is Stressful

Let me clarify that. Driving with D in the passenger seat is stressful.

I've started driving again.

I drove last Saturday by myself since we had to pick up D's old car from the boys' house. (I'll be using this car until I buy my own) I convoyed with D and even if it wasn't the best of conditions (rainy and getting dark) I thought I did pretty well. I didn't stall or put the car into the wrong gear. I didn't even accidentally drive on the wrong side of the road! I felt confident again about my driving.

Well, that confidence lasted until I drove with D the next day.

The distance from the boys' house to ours is about 30 mins away. In Melbourne terms, that's pretty far. The gym to our house takes 10 minutes. In that 10 minutes, I mis-geared twice and was tense the whole way. You do the math.

Anyway, I drove again today. I think I'm getting the hang of it but...

I can't believe I'm saying this but I miss driving in Manila.

Sorry

I have lots of things to blog about (a strange Oz tradition, Sunshine, the movie, Driving Again, Getting Fit, City Library, Work Meltdown, etc) but I just can't be bothered blogging as yet.

I'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Domestic Drama

We had some domestic drama this morning.

D had the day off today but he was headed to the mechanic to get his car checked out. He was also going up to the boys' house as his niece was in town. I, on the other hand, had work.

I fully expected him to drop me off at work. I was in the process of dragging my sleepy ass out of bed when he, jokingly i presumed, says, "So, you're taking the tram to work today?"

I, of course, replied, "No, you're taking me to work, right? RIGHT?"

He continues on, "Well, we have to leave soon then as I want to get to the mechanic early to get the car fixed then go up and see S."

I got the point.

Apparently, he didn't think so, as during the course of me getting ready, we had the same conversation TWO more times.

The last conversation was the last straw and I just stared him down. He had the gall to again say his line of "We have to go soon then..." when he was still in bed, not dressed, to me, fully dressed and 2 minutes from ready.

I walked out. After I got my bag and things ready. Oh, also after I made my morning coffee mug. And since I was already making my coffee, I made his as well. Yes, even in the midst of drama, I need my coffee.

So, while he was in the bathroom brushing his teeth, I stormed out. He called out and ordered (ordered!) me to come back. I merely continued walking.

Now, the tram stop is about 7 minutes walk from our house. During the whole walk, I was fuming. I was also waiting for him to follow after me. I was already crossing to the stop, accepting the fact I would have to REALLY take the tram to work, when I hear honking. I turn, and lo and behold, D and his car were right behind me.

I held on to my pride for about 10 seconds before I gave in and got in. And before you judge me as easy, I really did not want to cause a scene. AND I was silent for the first 5 minutes of the trip.

I can be so dramatic sometimes.

New blog title

I don't think I can call myself a near-new bride anymore. We're already nearing the 7 month mark and so I've been thinking of renaming this blog to something else.

Suggestions?

Junk Food = Pick Me Up?

I gave in to temptation and went to McDonalds (Maccas, as it is called here. Don't quote me on the spelling.) for some takeaway junk food. My reasons? It's Monday, it's dreary and I feel unmotivated to work.

As I was walking back to work, holding my McDonald's brown bag, I had this absurd guilty feeling. Guilty because I was giving in to temptation to load my body down with calories. Guilty as most of my officemates were health freaks and did not look too kindly on junk food for lunch.

I suddenly missed Manila. The anonymity I have as hordes of office workers flock to McDonalds (McDo, as it is called there) for their lunch everyday. McDo, where I can get a meal of chicken with rice and gravy (and this got me thinking off to another tangent and made me miss Jollibee as well). The myriad of malls and food stalls where you can get anything your tummy so desires. Good, old, chaotic Manila.

I walked back to my office with a heavy heart.

Postscript: I didn't even enjoy my meal of McChicken, fries and diet Coke. The burger was sloppily made and had too much mayo. The fries weren't crispy. And Coke is Coke. Argh.

I think I'm liking Feist

Listen to her here.

Borderline Personality

I always knew i had a tendency to be borderline. This confirms it.

You Are 43% Borderline

You have some symptoms of borderline personality disorder.If you feel like you're more than a little dramatic, you may want to investigate further.

Do You Have a Borderline Personality?

D's Travel Horoscope

Does this mean we have to travel separately??

Travel Horoscope for Aquarius

When you travel, you want to go someplace very few people have been. You want a vacation that's a very unique experience - and off the beaten path. You should travel to: New Zealand (especially the South Island) Russia Alaska Iceland Space

What's Your Travel Horoscope?

My Travel Horoscope

thanks to paula's blog, i too know now where i should go. =)

i've never been to any of these places!! i've been lax.

Travel Horoscope for Scorpio

When you travel, you want to be inspired and awed. You want a vacation that's challenging, exotic, and a once in a lifetime experience. You should travel to: Nepal South Africa China Antarctica Galapagos Islands

What's Your Travel Horoscope?

hmmm, i wonder what D's will say? what if he gets a completely different set of results? does that mean we have to travel separately?? wait, i have to check...

Moving Day

Got our connection sor-ed. Woohoo!

I've uploaded our Moving Day video. Watch it.

300: A Review

I loved this film. I didn't expect much from it, especially after Chrismiss blasted it. I just hoped it would be as pretty as it looked on the trailer.

I really liked it. It was bloody, gory and fun! Yes, the storyline was more fluff than anything else but what can you expect from a comic book? (Yes I know it's technically a graphic novel. Semantics.) I liked the cinematography and the CGI-ness of it. I read a review somewhere blasting the movie for being too faithful to Frank Miller's version. Um, yeah, that's what an adaptation is, right?

The half-naked men prancing about did help with the eye candy but, surprisingly, I got bored with them after a while. They sort of just blended with the scenery.

Another highlight was the Queen. She rocked! Especially the near-end bit. Won't spoil it for those who haven't watched it but that scene is worth looking out for.

However, I did get disappointed when I did more research on the history of the 300 Spartans (nothing to do with the movie at all). Turns out there were more than 300 that fought in the Battle of Thermopylae. Another 4,000 more that is. It would have been more impressive if there were really only 300.

Last note: I thought Xerxes was just a tad bit silly. Seriously, he looked more like a drag queen than a deluded demi-god.

I highly recommend watching this film on the big screen. Unless you have a really flash home entertainment system, the small screen would not do it justice.

We've moved!

I've been trying to upload the video I made of our moving day since yesterday but there's something wrong with our broadband connection. I am now sponging off someone else's account and it's not a very fast one.

I'll post the video once we get our connection sor-ed.

I'm Bored at Work

After weeks of hard working, I feel burnt out. We're working on this big new project but it's not in full swing yet. I feel out of sorts.

Instead of working, I've decided to update my 1001 books blog as a tribute to Jax [i've only just read your comments. shows how much i've been keeping that blog updated, hehe.]

We're moving!

Sometimes even I think I'm too silly.

I took videos and photos of our new place using my cam phone and played with iMovie on my mac. This is the result.

My current obsession

These are sooo yum. Seriously.

Honeycomb Minis

Notes on a Scandal

I managed to drag D to watch Notes on a Scandal, starring Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett, last Friday. It was surprisingly good. Judi Dench is amazing. Real creepy, hehe.

The story was well-written, the pacing was just right and the acting was spot-on.

Even D liked it, high praise for something he considered a chick flick.

If you haven't seen it, go watch it. If it's already shown and you missed it, rent the DVD.

What's this about?

School head hijacks 32 children

It's completely silly. I've forgotten how silly Manila is. I miss it.

Aerial view

Since I love Google Earth and I'm silly, here's our new house:

Bugger all

With the state of my recent and future workloads, I've decided to quit my MAHH updates and just make a long story short.

After looking at more crap houses that Wednesday after MAHH Part 4, D and I decided to stick with House #16. We did get approved for House #17, but since the agent was an unhelpful abrupt b*tch, we told her to forget about it.

We start our lease with the new house on the 1st of April but we can get the keys already by the 30th of March. We still have the old unit until 16 April though so at least it gives us some time to get our stuff together and move. And do lots of cleaning.

We're moving during the long Easter weekend (starts 6 April) which is good as it gives us 4 days to get settled. We've decided to do it ourselves (with the help of the boys--D's brother + friends) since it's not too far away and it'll save us around $300.

These are the only pictures available (from the real estate ad)

I'll take more pictures this weekend. I'm excited.

This is horrible.

It happened not too far from where I work.

Three killed in Melbourne tunnel inferno.

MAHH Part 4

I'll blog about the Mornington trip another time. Wanted to finish all the house hunt blogs in one go.

Tuesday, 13 March

We didn't do any house hunting that day but I did fax our applications through (after encountering some technical difficulties, that is. i'm not very fax proficient, apparently). Managed to fax through all 3 applications by lunch time. (Shut up! It did take me the whole morning but I was in a 2 hour meeting as well!)

Around 2pm, I got a call from the property manager of House #16 and she said our application was approved!! It was good news! Absolutely. The only downside was I COULD NOT REMEMBER THE INSIDE OF THE HOUSE AT ALL. We had seen so many houses that Saturday in a very short span of time and the places all got jumbled in my head. The long relaxing weekend did not help things either.

I emailed D but he couldn't remember the place either! No, we're not silly. Not really.

D also said that the agent for House #11 called and asked that we redo our applications and lie about how long we've been in our current employment. He said we should put down 2 years (I've been with NatFoods for 6 months and D with Telstra for about 18 months). Apparently, the owner had issues with employment being too spotty. Which is weird, since both D and I had been with our previous jobs for 3 years. We both decided to pass on the house as we didn't really want to lie.

I told D to call House #16's property manager on Wed and ask whether we could see the place again. D, being D, was able to sweet talk her into showing us the place that afternoon. (This was after we went to look at the house by ourselves on Tue afternoon, knocking on the door to see if the tenants were home [they weren't], and still not remembering the place clearly)

Wednesday

With schedules being tight, I had to take the tram from my office to House #16 to meet D and the property manager there. (Had to bail out on a meeting and do manic work again to be able to get off early. This house hunt was beginning to take its toll.)

The house still looked good but was smaller than we envisioned. It didn't have a dishwasher in the kitchen but we might be able to fit in one in the laundry room. The lounge area was too small to fit in both our sofa and the dining table. The kitchen wasn't big enough to fit in our table (it's huge! 8 seater! don't know why D bought one that big). The 2 rooms were HUGE though. The study was a bit small but it had a backyard and a storage shed. Parking enough for more than 2 cars. The manager said lawn mowing was included in the rent.

We weren't completely sold on the house so we told her we'll call her the next day as we wanted to keep our options open.

We had some more hunting to do.

MAHH Part 3 (Delayed posting)

(I've been so busy at work and haven't had a chance to catch up on my blogging.)

We didn't do any house hunting on Friday so we could work the full day. However, we packed our Saturday morning with inspections.

Saturday

We planned to see 10 houses that day but ended up seeing just 8. Still not bad work for 2 1/2 hours.

House #15 was in Albert Park (nearer to my work and the city but far from D's office). It was a quaint 2BR townhouse. So quaint that there wasn't space for a dining area. Too bad since the kitchen and the bathroom were recently renovated. Too small.

We passed on seeing two 2BR apartments in Toorak and Elsternwick as they were only 2BRs and we were behind schedule as House #15 was too far from the other inspections.

House #16 was in Caulfield South and was showing at the same time as House #17 (Glen Huntly). They were both 2BR houses + study. We were in both places for less than 5 minutes but we did put check marks on the list for both of them. Both were also reasonably near public transpo.

House #18 was a 3BR apartment but for some reason we didn't like it. I can't remember too clearly now.

House #19 was a 2BR + study but the layout didn't seem to work. D didn't like it.

House #20 was a HUGE 3BR house in Bentleigh. It was nowhere near PT and was just way too big. Bit far from everything too.

House #21 was a rundown 3BR house. It was scary. The floor of the main bedroom was wobbly and askew. Pass.

The last place to see for the day was House #22, a 2BR + study apartment in St Kilda East. The study was tiny but it had a dishwasher and was near the city and near PT.

Out of the 8 houses, we decided to apply for House #s 16, 17 and 22.

After the last inspection, we headed directly to Mornington Peninsula where we were going to spend the long weekend. After a brief stop at Dan Murphy's, of course, for some drinkies.

MAHH Part 2

A lot has happened since my last post. Had a couple more MAHHs and then went to Mornington Peninsula for the long weekend. I'll try to write about it all tonight.

Thursday

Thursday turned out to be more of a bust than anything. D & I left our respective works early, just like we did last Wednesday. We had 6 to 7 houses on our list that day.

House #8 turned out to be a non entity. It was keys in office so we went to the agent's office (which was not too far from my work) to get them. The house was located a few suburbs away but since there was another place that had keys in office near House #8's agent's office, we decided to kill two birds in one stone.

We got the agent but the keys were NOT in office. Apparently, a tradesman had come earlier that day to pick up the keys as he was going to do some work on it. He was going to hold the keys for a week. TCH.

We decided to scrap House #9 as we weren't all that keen to see it and we were only picking up the keys as it was on the way.

House #10 was keys in office as well, but guess what? Keys were NOT in office. The owner took back the keys as they were planning to do some repairs on the house. Story of the day.

House #11 was, luckily, keys IN office and from the same agent as House #10. D really liked this place. It was huge, older style, heaps of storage, and seemed to work. No dishwasher but we thought we could put one in the separate laundry room.

We immediately filled out the application forms. We had just left the agent's office and on our way to submit our application for House #5 when D got a call from the agent. He wanted to show us another property in the area.

So we met him at House #12. He proceeded to give us the hard sell for the apartment. It was only a 2 bedroom so we thought it a bit small for our needs.

He also gave us a background on House #11. It was going to direct to landlord, meaning we would have to deal with the landlord on rent, maintainance and other issues. Apparently, no tenant has lasted the full 12 month term on this property. Something to do with the landlord. Which was not good news at all. Also, he said that other applicants had offered more for the place and he suggested we match their offer. As the place was already at the maximum of our budget, we told him we'd keep our application to the asking price. But we knew we wouldn't have much of a chance with that. We didn't want to be paying more for a place with a landlord that could prove problematic.

On the way to the next place, we dropped off our application for House #5.

House #13 was a bit too small for us.

House #14 was a pretty spacious 2 bedroom apartment but it was still just a 2 bedroom.

Throughout the day, I was bleeding quite profusely. More than usual. Way more than usual. I actually felt dizzy by the end of the MAHH.

We still had to go to our last spanish class so off we went after having a bit of a rest at home.

Mad Adventures in House Hounting (MAHH) Part 1

Yesterday marked the beginning of our house hunt (I don't count that one apartment we saw last Friday as it was such an unliveable dump). We saw 7, count them 7, houses yesterday.

D and I have arranged early time offs from our respective works for yesterday and today. This means longer hours on the other days. And lots of scrambling around for me to get things done quickly. I got dumped with work late last Tuesday that was due by this Friday. Since I am amazing and barely breathed yesterday, I have managed to finish what I had to do by this morning (hence, the time to blog).

Wednesday MAHH

We were on our way by 2.30pm.

The first house on the list was keys in office (this means the house is empty and you can get the keys from the real estate agent so you can view the property. this is ok if the house and agent are fairly near each other. it becomes problematic when they're suburbs apart.). When we got to the agent's office, we were informed that we had just missed the keys by minutes. The helpful receptionist said we should try and see if we could catch up with the other house hunter so we could view the property together.

D drove like crazy (nothing unusual, really) and we got to the house in good time. But, no house hunter with keys. It also turned out that there were 2 properties for let, side by side. But still, no keys.

D, being Curious George, discovered the back door for the other one (House #1) was open. Woohoo! Got to go inside to have a look. It was recently refurbished but it was minimal work done. It still needed a lot of work. It had heaps of space but the bathroom was atrocious. Had a huge backyard though.

House #2 was locked but Curious George managed to sneak in through a window. The house looked very similar to House #1 but this one had an even bigger backyard. It was like a forest!

Verdict: the houses had potential but since we were renting, we can't do much with it. D and I agreed that it would be something we'd buy and then renovate but not something we'd necessarily want to rent.

House #3 was keys in office as well but when we got to the agent's office, the receptionist said it had already been let.

House #4 was an open inspection at 4-4.15pm. When we got the place, there were about 15 to 20 people already waiting. And more people still coming. The agent lady came and opened the unit. It had only 2 bedrooms and was very small. So that was a NO.

Houses #5 and #6 were both showing at the same time (5.00-5.15pm). We had already prioritized these 2 out of the 5 houses showing at the same time. Since we had some time, we decided to scout both places first and see if we could look at both together. D didn't like my idea of us seeing one house each and looking at them together seemed doable as they were only a few blocks apart.

House #5 was my favorite. It had heaps of space in the back, a spa, a back deck with BBQ facilities and a dishwasher. It was right next to a train station (the noise will take some time getting used to) and off the main road. But, there were 20 or more people during the inspection who are our likely competition. We'll submit an application and hope for the best.

House #6 was fairly small and only had 2 bedrooms. No dishwasher as well. The person I called on the phone screwed up. I was asking about the property next door and she gave the inspection time for this smaller one. Oh well.

House #7 was a 2 bedroom unit in Caulfield North. It was a decent size, had a dishwasher and a private balcony. We're looking for more space though.

House #8 looked gorgeous in the pictures but turned out to be disappointing in reality. Too small.

We ended the hunt at 6.15pm. We were SO tired.

But we still studied for Spanish class and then discussed today's game plan. We're hoping to see 5-6 houses today.

House Hunting

Our lease in our apartment is ending by the end of the month. Since our real estate agent is unbelievably horrid (an ex-tenant even put up a blog about them. i'll link to that site once we've vacated and gotten our bond back. better be safe than sorry.) and we need a bigger space, we're going house/apartment hunting.

My only non-negotiable is that it has a dishwasher (or can fit in a dishwasher). D needs either an extra room, a study or a garage which he can soundproof so he can practice his music and jam with other people, if necessary.

Wish us luck!

After the weekend

Surprisingly, I survived the weekend. And none the worse for wear. I lazed around the flat on Saturday, did a lot of laundry, folded my clothes which were everywhere and tidied up a bit. Watched Numbers on DVD, played with mac and read a bit (Kate Atkinson's One Good Turn). It was very lonely but I didn't mind too much.

On Sunday, I decided to go out and get some fresh air. I walked to Elsternwick (next suburb over) and back. Went to some $2 shops as I was looking for a tray table but didn't find one. Since it was Sunday, a lot of the shops were closed. It took me over 2 hours to walk there, around and back. As souvenirs, I got blisters on the back of my feet coz i stupidly wore closed shoes (hate them with a passion). But at least I got some exercise.

The rest of Sunday was pretty much like Saturday until D came home in the evening. All's good now, he's back home.

Home Alone

So, it's my first night without D here at home. I think I'm doing remarkably well.

1. I have done nothing productive since I got home.

2. I've given myself a slight tummyache by not eating dinner (too lazy to cook), and instead ate corn cakes, doritos and canned langka (jackfruit). I decided to cure myself by eating 2-minute noodles and a glass of iced tea. Yum, but I don't think my tummy feels any better.

3. I've also been slowly killing off my brain cells by gorging myself on gossip sites (perezhilton and superficial). I now have a slight headache because of this.

D better come home soon...

This weekend

D's going away for the weekend. Without me. He's going to hang out with the boys. =( He did ask me (repeatedly) if I wanted to come but I didn't think my presence would be much appreciated by the boys.

I'll be all alone. For the first time since we got married. I think it's the first time we've been apart longer than a day since I moved here. That'll be interesting...

The Good Shepherd

This is the longest movie on earth. At least, it felt that way when we were watching it. 2 freakin' hours and 40 minutes. That's how long it was. And you could feel every second tick away.

It was slow, draggy and just plain boring. No suspense, no action scenes, no car chases. Everything, and everyone, is very somber and serious.

Directed by Robert de Niro. Impressive casting: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Billy Crudup, John Turturro and more. Neither de Niro or the cast made the movie come to life.

Not the best movie to watch on a Sunday afternoon. Not the best movie to watch, period.

Bored

I haven't been posting as much lately. I was really (and i mean really) busy this past Monday and Tuesday. I had to take home some reading on Monday night and was working until 11.30! And the next morning, I was at work before 8am. Yes, v busy.

So, after all that stress, I decided to take it easy yesterday. So I got caught up on my emails, internet browsing and other pertinent things I neglected to do. I refused to start another project as I was getting burnt out. It was a good easy day.

Today, I'm working on a new project but it's not too urgent. Which is good. I'm bored though.

I've also been surfing online for places to rent. Our lease terminates by end of this month and since we absolutely hate our real estate agent, we're vacating the premises as soon as we can. Which means some frantic house/apartment hunting for the next few weeks...

Woohoo!

Got my replacement ipod through the post today. All good.

Update on my sick ipod

Apple sent me an email saying that my ipod replacement is on its way. Woohoo!! Should come in the mail by early next week.

I've gotten questions on whether the ipod really does display that sad ipod icon. Yes, it sure does.

I'm poor

I've just realised that I left my wallet at home. =(

Today, when K and I are supposed to go DFO shopping. Do you think it's a sign?

What to do?

My new toy is cool

My phone's charged and ready. I've been listening to the built-in radio and it's a godsend. Especially as my ipod is still sick. And my officemate has a very loud voice. And she's not afraid to use it. I've been missing my ipod sorely, especially when she's around.

I've just realized that all my contacts are saved in my old phone. Not the sim. I have no idea how to get the details from there. Boohoo.

But other than that, i'm liking my new phone. I haven't explored it too much but I think it'll work well with my needs (which isn't much). I hope battery life isn't too short and I have to get used to flipping it open (not as easy as with my old samsung) and the menu/keypad (which i don't think will be hard to learn).

Woohoo!

I have a new toy!

I got me a new phone. Sony Ericsson z550i. It was the freak wave that finally pushed me to do it.

I've had my old phone (Samsung fliptop) for almost 2 years now and I've been meaning to replace it. But I kept putting it off as I couldn't be bothered looking for a new one.

Well, as my phone is disabled (the keypad doesn't work), I needed a new one, pronto.

Which is this new baby. I like it. And it didn't cost me much, which is very important.

My only requirements were: fliptop (which it is), decent camera (1.3mp, at least it's better than a VGA) and bluetooth (check). It even added some other features that I think is cool: mp3 player and FM radio. Woohoo!

It's charging at the moment so I can't play with it yet...

(Near) Phillip Island, Fishing and Freak Waves

Last weekend, D and I went away with Karima & Tyler.

We kept telling people we were going to Phillip Island but in reality, we stayed in a town near the island but not actually on it. In fact, we never even managed to get to the island itself. Haha. We had brunch in one town which was actually the link from mainland to the island but we didn't actually cross the bridge.

The circled bit is Kilcunda. We came from near Brighton, near top left corner.

About 120kms from the city. 2 hours with heavy traffic.

Oh well. Semantics. It was fun anyway.

We left Friday afternoon and encountered some bad rush hour traffic. We finally got to Kilcunda Caravan Park at a little past 8, just in time to catch the sunset. It was very nice. The place was quite nice too, for a caravan park. And for just $55/night per cabin, it was good value for money. It had a great view of the ocean.

Almost immediately, we started on the beer but we only had a total of 15 bottles. We then made our way into the vodka. All this, without having dinner. You can imagine how that turned out (T dropped his wallet on the beach and didn't even know it). Very relaxing night though. Just chilling and chatting. We didn't get to bed until past 2 o'clock.

The next day, D being all excited about the fishing, woke up fairly early. Too early for me anyway. We cooked eggs and bacon for breakfast but since we forgot to bring bread, we had to eat them with just tomatoes and baked beans. Lesson 1: Eggs do not taste good without bread or rice.

We were about to get started on the day when T accidentally got the key stuck in K's car. The keys were just dangling on the door lock but we couldn't get it out. D & T tried their manly best but we ended up having to call RACV. Lesson 2: You can't unlock K's car from the driver's side.

Once the key was unstuck and the doors open, we made our way to this bigger town, San Remo, to get some brunch, food supplies and T's fishing gear. The food was average, we bought way too much food and beer, and T got a good deal on a rod and reel.

We went back to the caravan, dropped off the supplies and packed our stuff for our day of fishing. Finally, we were on our way. This was already way past 11 o'clock.

We had to check out a couple of spots before we found one suitable for fishing. It was a hot, long walk from the car to the "spot." The sun was unbearably hot so we decided to walk nearer the water along the beach.

So, we were trudging along, carrying our cooler, bags, fishing gear and everything else you could think of, when, out of nowhere, this freak wave comes crashing over us. It almost carried K away and completely drenched all of us. Needless to say, our belongings got wet. All the towels became soggy and heavy. D's phone, which was in his pocket, was wet and dead. I thought my phone was fine as it didn't look like it got drenched, just splashed. I was wrong as the keypad didn't work by the time we got back to the cabin. My ipod got sick too but I don't think it got wet as it was very well protected (padded hard case, screen protector). But it got sick nonetheless. Lesson 3: Do not bring electronics to the beach. Lesson 4: When walking on a Melbourne beach, make sure you're at a safe distance.

We decided to walk at a safer distance from the shore. We finally got to the spot and we were drenched, salty and sandy.

This is turning out to be a longer blog than I thought. I'll continue it later...

My ipod's sick

I'm sad. My ipod's sick. It's displaying the sad ipod icon.

I have to send it to Apple for them to fix. I hope it wasn't the freak wave (more on that later) that hurt it and that the Apple people fix it under the warranty.

Probably a couple of weeks of no music. How quiet.

At least I'd already backed up my music onto my mac. Not having my music library would've been worse.

I hope ipod gets better soon.