Last Tuesday

So, almost a week ago, we celebrated our second anniversary. I was planning to give D a photo book of our 3 1/2 years together but I wasn't able to finish it on time (I'm still not done) so I had to rearrange my schedule last Tuesday to get him some Koko Black chocolates from the city. They're lovely lovely chocolates. Very yum.

As I've previously mentioned, D took me to Donovans. It was very very good. I would recommend them in a heartbeat.

Of course I forgot to take pictures of our entree and main courses so you'll just have to use your imagination.

We started with the complementary farmers bread with broad bean paste (infused with parmesan and basil) which was quite good.

We shared an entree - 4 tastes which was basically 4 mini meals. They were all v yummy, although I've now forgotten what they were. Anyway, I think this entree changes every so often, depending on the chef's choice.

I asked my friend J what to order as Donovans is her favourite place and she unequivocally said, chicken pie. Now, it seems odd to associate chicken pie with a posh restaurant, but you've never had chicken pie like they serve it at Donovans. D ordered that and he was v grateful to J for the advice.

I ordered the beef ribs, which turned out to be HUMONGOUS. Seriously. I couldn't finish it, even with D's help.

After all that, I was loathe to order dessert but D, being D, just had to order a rhubarb crumble, which he enjoyed very much.

The sweetest thing was, when the dessert came, they also gave us a complimentary dessert sampler with Happy Anniversary written on it (in chocolate, no less!). Totally unexpected but truly appreciated.

It was a good dinner to celebrate our anniversary. I loved it.

Happy Anniversary!

Today's our second wedding anniversary. Time sure does fly.

Last weekend, D had the best idea for our anniversary weekend (well, Saturday anyway) which was to go have brunch at the restaurant where we had our wedding reception then walk through the Treasury Gardens, where we had our wedding photos taken.

It was Grand Final day but we don't follow AFL at all so it had no bearing on our plans. We just had to make sure we weren't in the city too late that we caught the post-game crowd.

The weather cooperated, which was very generous for Melbourne in spring. I guess the AFL gods were feeling benevolent at the time.

Society has had a complete revamp since our wedding luncheon. It looks and feels very different and although it's more modern and contemporary now, I think it's lost some of its charm in the process.

The menu's changed and the prices have been jacked up but at least breakfast was still good value for money. Coffee wasn't bad either.

However, if I had walked into the restaurant as it is now, looking for a reception venue, I don't think Society would've been in my top 5. It's way too posh and just a tad charmless for me.

This is the section we had our reception then

This is what it looks like now

It's a bit hard to compare I know since I was too shy to walk through and take pictures of the section.

Even the signage and facade are different. And maybe I'm biased but I liked the old one better.

Old

New

One good thing about the renovation was the bathrooms. They're heaps better. The old ones were really dingy and just a tad gross.

No then pictures to compare (un)fortunately.

After brunch, we walked through Treasury Gardens which wasn't as colourful as it was during our wedding day. I think it's because this year, winter's hung on for longer than usual and so most of the flowers aren't in bloom yet.

Those pictures will have to come later (and might be a series in the postcards blog) as this entry is way too long now.

Tonight, D's taking me out to Donovans. We've been meaning to go (I mean, c'mon, the name alone would get us there) and were just waiting for a good enough reason (it's not exactly cheap). So, yey, I'm excited!

3 Years

D and I have passed the 3 year mark -- we've been together for 3 years now (if you don't count the days when we were "on break" and it was totally D's fault anyway, hehe).

When we first started going out, we took oodles and oodles of pictures. As time has progressed, it seems that our together photos have dwindled down a bit (it may not seem that way with the amount of pictures I've been putting up, but trust me, it has). Whether it's because there are less photo ops as we aren't adventuring as much as we used to or whether the desire for documentation has died down, I don't know. Nevertheless, I'm now back on my paparazzi horse and will endeavor to take as much photos as possible. I might even try Photoshop to make our pictures more interesting. That is, if I ever learn how to use it.

In light of this new purpose, here are some pictures I took yesterday while we were doing one of our favorite things to do on a Sunday afternoon. (As I don't have Photoshop yet or have the skills to use it, the editing was all done in iPhoto.)

Our favorite thing to do on a Sunday afternoon?
Lying in bed, doing absolutely nothing.

Other than snuggling, of course.

Perfection.

Terrorized at Dawn

I woke up this morning to the smell of burnt plastic. And my husband berating me for not caring enough that the house might burn down.

Let me explain.

Shortly after 5 o'clock this morning (an ungodly hour if there ever was one), my husband nudges me awake and asks me if I could smell plastic burning. I take a sniff and say yes. I promptly fall back asleep.

I wake up again (seemingly 5 seconds later) with him scrounging around my side of the bed and saying words which my sleep-deprived brain cannot decipher. He won't go away. He's asking me whether any of the multitude of cords I have on my side of the bed has shorted. I say, mhmghym, meaning, I don't think so.

I try to go back to sleep again. He is now insisting that I help him locate the source of the smell as he does not want to come home to a burnt house. I say, jtvnysprqnm, meaning, just unplug everything and leave me be. He goes away in a huff, muttering that I am not taking this house burning down situation seriously.

I fall back asleep and wake up to the sound of my alarm clock. There's still a faint smell of burnt plastic but it doesn't seem as alarming. I get a call from the husband, who's already on his way to work, saying he thinks it might not have been any electrical shortage but could've been our ducted heating dying. He is duly sorry for terrorizing me so early in the morning.

The good news is our house hasn't burnt down. Bad news is it looks like the smell was caused by the heater and it is now dead. I'll be a frozen popsicle by the morning.

Home Alone

D has left me.

For the weekend that is.

He's flown to Canberra to watch Crusty Demons with the boys. Don't ask me what it is. I don't know. It has something to do with bikes and other boy stuff.

All I know is I'm home alone with my eyes googly from playing too much Scrabulous on facebook. Waayyy too much.

I really should go to sleep but I don't think I can yet. On nights when D's away, I find it incredibly hard to psyche myself to go sleep. What I do is tire myself out by doing silly nothings so that I have no choice but to go to bed.

I don't think I'm at that point yet. So more Scrabulous and maybe some reading of Stephen King's Different Seasons (LOVE this anthology).

Meanwhile, I need to come up with a better plan for tomorrow night...

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.

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.

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...

Thanks Jenita!

Jen gave us a CD of pictures she took during our wedding. Thanks to the wonders of Picasa, I was able to edit/enhance some choice pics. They're really fun as they focus more on our (quirky) guests.

You can view the album here.

More Wedding Pictures c/o Jen

Birthday silliness

Since I didn't know what to get D for his birthday, I decided to give him 6 choices, out of which he had to choose 2.

They were:

• Bookcase for his Vinyl Record Collection
• Swim with Dolphins & Seals
• Light Aircraft Hands on Training Flight
• Gold Class Movie Date
• Cruise and Penguin Watching for Two
• Karting Racing Session for Two

Guess what he chose? Yup, the practical one, the bookcase (not that I minded that choice as I was rooting for that too). And he refused to choose another gift. Said the bookcase was enough. Probably found the other choices lame. Oh well, I tried. Personally, I would have loved flying a plane but to each his own. But he did mention he would rather jump out of a plane than fly one so I have to go find a skydiving adventure next.

He also said he didn't like being fussed on. And just wanted to keep his birthday simple and ordinary. This is totally contrary to how I like to celebrate birthdays but it is his birthday.

But I already arranged for a Bowling Night with his family tonight. I thought it would be a more interesting activity than a regular dinner. He said it was okay though. Hope so.

This is a paradigm shift for me. I love giving gifts and making a fuss on people I care about, especially during special occasions. I like using creativity to surpise people with non-regular gifts.

But, he likes things different. And what I'm figuring it out as I go along is that I need to give him what he wants and not what I think he'd want. Hmm... Marriage is hard work.

Happy birthday D!

early Christmas gifts

Apple delivered the ipod earlier than expected so D got his present early. It was really just an add-on present which I bought on a whim to supplement the Deep Purple albums. So I was expecting them to deliver it next week, after Christmas.

Well, I ordered the refurbished ipod online from the Apple store on Wednesday night. They sent me confirmation almost immediately with a tracking link. Next day the link said it was already shipped and due for delivery on Friday. Well, I certainly did not expect them to ship so quick (especially since it was free delivery and holiday season) and I had put our home as the delivery address. So, when they delivered on Friday, no one was here to receive it. I had thought to rectify the situation by emailing Apple on Thursday to tell them that no one would be at home on Friday. They said they can delay delivery until next Tuesday, which was cool. Well, according to the tracking link, they still delivered on Friday which was unsuccessful. They called me Friday night to schedule the next delivery which the girl said would be Thursday next week at the earliest. I said ok. (I was way confused by this time so I agreed). Guess what? They delivered the ipod this morning. Oh well. D got his add-on present early.

Since I can't keep gifts to myself for too long, I had to tell D that the ipod wasn't his proper present. Needless to say, he managed to convince me (admittedly, it did not take much) to give him his other gifts. Which I did. I got him Deep Purple vinyl records: Come Taste the Band, In Rock and Live Made in Japan. He absolutely loved them. Teehee. I love giving gifts.


Anyway, I previously posted that I was going to give him the nike+ipod attachment. Well, I've found out that it only works with the nano and I had inadvertently bought him a mini (i knew there was a reason it was way cheap). I didn't even know there was a difference (i am sooo tech savvy, aren't i?) Tch. So, there goes that idea.
____

On another note, today's the first day of my 4-day weekend. I'm spending it alone (D had to go visit his dad 'cause it's his birthday. thankfully i got out of it.) sorting through my clothes and organizing them and doing the same thing with my ipod. And if I have time, I'll go sort and organize our pictures too. Hopefully, by the end of this day, I'll be sorted and Ms. Organized.

I better get a move on then.

First Month!

Just realized that we've been married for a month. Hmmm...

Anyway, wasn't really going to write about that but just wanted to put that in.

It's Daylight Savings Time over here so we've had to put our clocks an hour forward. Which sucks coz it means I have to get up an hour earlier. But it's good though since we still have sunlight past 7 o'clock in the evening.

Don't really know how that'll be beneficial to me since I don't do anything after work anyway. Tch.

I practice drove last Saturday down Beach Road all the way to DFO (Direct Factory Outlet). Very stressful, I might say. I hate being stressed and antsy about driving when I've been driving for over ten years and it should come easy as pie already. Oh well, more practice driving to go... (although practicing before we leave for our holiday might not be the best idea as I will be driving on the right side of the road when we get back to Manila).

This post has gone away from me and has just turned into a jumble of randomness. Better leave it for now...

well, we've done it

30.09.06 Old Treasury Building, Melbourne

we got married! as of today, i've been a wife for 9 days.

people keep asking me if it feels different. i keep saying it doesn't. and it really doesn't. maybe it's because my family's been staying with us since the wedding (chrismiss left for manila yesterday and theagan will be here until saturday). then again, as d said during the reception, we already felt married even before the wedding.

so, no crazy married adventures as of yet. we've been busy touring my family around and haven't had enough alone time.

but i'll keep you posted...