Tennis Finals

If you have been watching the final game for the women single, I bet you would be disappointed. I was very disappointed. Amelie Mauresmo won over Justine Henin-Hardenne. I have nothing against Mauresmo but I just like Justine a lot. She had been playing really great for the fortnight but unexpectedly she quits in the finals. She said she's sick. She was not injured... and that gave the people speculation. She lost the first set and it was already 5-1, Mauresmo on the advantage when Justine quit. She called on the trainor and making some motions on her head and stomach, then, back on the court, and after two serves, she's off the court. Ohh well, I believe her that she's sick. She's a great player and she wouldn't give up the finals if she's feeling alright. This is also a great break for Mauresmo coz this is her first grand slam championship. She's also a great player.

On the other hand, I am really excited for the finals tomorrow on men's single. Federrer will be playing against Marcos. Hummmm.... I dont know to whom will I favor. I told Pong that I like Marcos because he's still young, just 20, and he said, I will make a better Aussie because if there's no Aussie playing, they go for the underdog. I just like him. He has a great personality.... seems like an extrovert. He's branded as the new adopted son of Australia. He said, he's not really after of winning the finals, just being into it, is really great. One of the commentators said, he has a star quality.


Ohhh well, there will be another sports event that will keep us busy in the next days. The Commowealth Games 2006. I am looking forward to it! We need more munchies and cola to keep us upbeat on the games. Hehehe!

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Foresaking work....

I have been working since I graduated from college or shall I say after the review for the board exams (which I didn't pass). It has been a busy, strenous, happy and full of learning 6 years of working. It was full of merry and sad memories. Memories that are inked vividly in my mind than those when I was little. It was during those times that I met lots of friends whom I say are dear to me. They were the moments where I have gained maturity (just a bit, I think), I have appreciated more about life, made me more independent, and have made me who I am now.

Last Monday, I have sent my resignation effective January 24. Such a short notice huh! Well, resigning was not a sound decision as I still dont have another job waiting for me when I return to the Philippines after this three months visit to my husband. But I was just approve of a month vacation leave. I still want to spend another two months with my husband coz, as of this writing, we still dont know when is the next time that we will be together again. (I hope when it comes, it will be for good). It will be too much to ask for another two months vacation from the company so, we opt for me to resign. I tell you, it was not easy to decide that fast. I am having second thoughts.. probably because I dont want to be a bum when I get back to my country. Ohhh well, it turned-out that the decision was not really that bad. I was advised by my boss to change the effectivity of my resignation 30 days after I have done my turn-over of functions to who ever will replace me. That means, I will still be employed when I get back there for at least a month. That gives me time to decide on what I really want to do after the job. Do I want to stay in Manila, look for another job there? Do I want to have a quite life (like here in Australia) by staying in the province with my parents? I probably can find a job there but the pay would be a bit modest... ohhh, I am not really looking for a high-paying job, coz I know, it is coupled with much responsibility that sometimes you would think, you are underpaid. As of now, I still dont know what awaits me back in the Philippines, but that's not yet important. What matters most is, I am here with my Pong (my new name for hubby) enjoying a peaceful and love-filled life.

Well, being a bum is not that bad. It makes me more time for myself and loved ones. You were able to do things that you cant when you're working even those menial ones. A good friend told me, (she's currently unemployed also), she was able to sort her 6 years worth of pictures while she's not working and had read lots of books.

I am not a bum right now... I am still employed... a noble profession I may say, a house-wife. I dont know if I am doing it right as there's not much to do. Hehehe!

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On Tennis... Australian Open

Tonight, Martina Hingis will be playing... I cant remember versus whom! But I think, its with another Russian. Hubby has been waiting for her match. I asked why he likes her. For one, he said, she's not blonde.

---oOo---

Last night, Daniela Hantuchova lost the game against Maria Sharapova. Humpppp! Well, I have to admit that Maria is really awesome in the court though, this is her come back from a couple of years' off-court because of her injury. All the while, she was training with her coach for the serving style and all [sorry, not familiar with the tennis terms]. BUT! I just dont like her ranting in the court. And that made hubby flipped through the TV channel when we're watching. Arrggghhhh!

---oOo---

I've seen Roger Federer played the other day. He's just great! No wonder BBT's affection was caught by him. Btw, just heard of his name from her when she told me that he's second love was no longer Eric Bana, which we share, but the No. 1 tennis player. He won the game against Max Mirnyi. He's too young [24 yo] to be the number 1 player in tennis but who said age matter? Well, I think the younger you are, the more energetic you become.

federer serving.... look at the crowd.. rod laver arena was always full-packed though i am just watching through our tube =)

one of my shots of him... i like his lemon green accessories =)

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Boating onboard Brual... Again!

Yesterday, we took-off Brual again to the bay. It wasn’t a hot day, in fact; it was raining for the last four days until yesterday. But being a perfectionist, Hubby checked the weather forecast for the next day on line to be sure that we wont hit by storm while in the water. [The good thing here is the website is being updated twice a day for the forecast]. It was forecasted that the high tide is about past 2:00PM but when we arrived there almost 1:00PM, the water was starting to go up. It was a good timing as we will not be having a hard time steering the boat around the river trying to avoid the shallow water.

a storm brewing just right after we started the motor of the boat


What we did were just really boating and cruising to the bay and up the river. The sun was not really visible because of the storm brewing up in three directions. We stayed in the boat mostly relaxing, dozing, eating… just have a great time being with each other alone with nature. C said, it was better than staying at the house watching tennis or cricket or surfing the net. What do you reckon?

looks like an angel to me. are you really asleep or just feigning?


stuffing my face with munchies. what else is better to do than eat?

Out there, you can feel the cool wind and drizzles blowing to your face, hear the pleasant sound of the waves lapping to the shore, hear the whistles of different kinds of birds, gaze up to the uncovered vast sky and commune with nature.

the first rainbow i've seen here. can you see the storm demon?

Ohhhh, when the water was starting to go down, we anchored at a sandy part on the other bank of the river…. Its not a beach though as there are lots of mangroves. We go down the boat, have a short walk.. and all the while, I was enjoying, the sand flies started to annoy me. Grrrrrrr! They’re worst than mosquitos. And they’re following me where ever I went even inside the cabin of the boat. So with me complaining about them, C decided to sail to the bay again and back to the river.


I had my first steering lesson yesterday also. C would like me to steer the wheel while we are in between the water channels but I was a bit scared that I might turn to the wrong direction and stuck the boat to mud flats. It was more like driving a car, you just control the steering wheel and make sure that the bow of the boat is heading to the direction that you wanted to. My experience was a bit hard though because we’re cruising up the river so you need to stay at the center of the water ….. a bit more hard when we’re passing by the marina where there are several boats anchored at the middle and both sides of the river. It would be less difficult if we’re at the bay where there’s no water channel and you’re just free flowing. Hehehe! I think, I will be a lousy driver or skipper. Why? For one, I am too short to see the bow from the steering wheel. I had to tip toe. Good thing if the steering wheel is not behind the cabin of the boat and is at the front of it. Hehehe. Second, my faulty eyesight. Grrrrr….. It’s not funny when you’re short-sighted. Ohhhh well, it will always be enjoyable being the passenger than a driver or skipper. Hehehe! On the other hand, not really. C is naughty and at times gives me a dizzy experience whether on the road or in the water. Maybe, they were his revenge to me for doing nothing. =)


And nothing can beat the sunset that we’ve watched. It was not covered with clouds so we had the view of the golden glow. Too bad though that I have not captured the actual sunset in our camera as we were already busy pulling the boat to the ramp. Nevertheless, the view was awesome. Indeed God gave us lots of wonderful things to please our eyes and heart.

cant tell if dusk or dawn? its another not so sunset... but an amazing view

a not so sunset with the waves from the bay coming into the river

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Have a blessed weekend!

i have not done my laundry this week as the washer is making some funny noise when you use it... hummm, maybe the result of me washing the woolen blanket making the load unbalance last week. now, if i have to necessarily wash something, i have to handwash them.. waaaaaaa! the technician will arrive next week maybe, and only then i can use the washer, that is, if they can fix it.

oOo

for a couple of nights now, we have been glued to the tube watching tennis for the australian open and later for a movie. chris dont like women players who rant in the court like martina hingis or maria sharapova.. well, they're great players. another russian won last night against serena williams. she's daniela hantuchova. she's a tall and skinny lady but i like her play. she doesn't rants though.

watching tennis or cricket is not enjoyable without munchies. we were munching on chokies often just like last night. it was after dinner though but hubby has really a good appetite for chocolates. he doesn't say no. hehehe!

oOo

it has been raining for three days now. its not really that heavy, just a bit now, a bit later and another bit after an hour. but that doesnt make staying outdoor enjoyable. well, i am not complaining.. i am even happy as its not really that hot now.

oOo

have a nice and enjoyable week-end everyone!

God bless!

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all about food

I am just here in OZ for more than 3 weeks and I already miss some Pinoy foods like dinuguan sa goldilocks, kbl of ilonggo grill, laswa ni nanay, bagoong, and many more.

i have just eaten rice here 6 times, i think and three of them were white rice, courtesy of mum. hehehe. well, my asawa has been hearing me that i miss my white rice so, last sunday i ate microwaved fried white rice. then mum asked us what did we have for dinner and so hubby told her and my litany of how i missed white rice, blah blah blah.. she said she has some white rice grains and then the day after she cooked steamed white rice until yesterday. dad said to me that i should learn to eat brown rice because its good for me. yeah, i know that, but i just miss things that i am use to eat. hehehe.

also, last sunday we bought green mango in the flea market. the stall owner may have been surprised for a customer who chose the greenest one. hehehe. i have just eaten half of it, the other half is still in the fridge. i may eat it after i have found bagoong here. hehehe. well, we look in woolworth's last sunday but they have none, maybe in a filipino store but we haven't been to any yet. chris pointed to me the anchovies spread, he said its close to shrimp paste. if only i could dip my mango to it. :D

what's funny is, i was looking for a rice meal in kfc. i have been searching in the menus for 10 minutes. hummm, im patient when it comes to food. but i failed.. hehehe. i end up ordering the flames burger, the best burger in the world, according to hubby! it's a lot bigger than the quarter pounder of mcdo. well, i end up eating not a quarter of it and i can't appreciate the taste.

ohhh, i have tasted the raw macadamia nuts. it taste like coconut. well, the way of eating is more like a coconut. it has an outer husk, then you have to break the shell and the only difference is, it doesn't have milk. my asawa picked a quarter of a bucket of them and we haven't cracked them all yet. still got enough to pound my finger with a mallet. hehehe!

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Boating onboard Brual

Chris has been preparing the boat Brual for a mini-cruise, and so yesterday, we went boating in the Caboolture River and Moreton Bay.

We initially went to the bay but the water was going out for the low tide, it was a bit rough and I felt giddy. So went up to the river passing two marinas and anchored for a short while on the part where there's an island. Chris don't know which side to go to. The water might be shallow and there are fallen trees from the bank.

We had a relaxing day, close to nature. We took with us a fishing rod but we eventually lost it along the river. Might be because Chris was being naughty and speed the boat too fast and sometimes make it bounce like in a rough road.

We waited up until the low tide and anchored at the mouth of the river to dip into the water. The sand was a bit brown. The beach was not really sandy as there are areas that are mudflats. And Dad forewarned us that there are actually bullsharks in the river so we didn't really swim. We just stayed in the water for quite a while then, boarded the boat - eating and just enjoy the peaceful moments.

We took some photos from there and they turn out funny! =)

Chris is lost. The boat is gone!

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I am lost also! But hey! There are two sets of thongs! Hehehe! More Photos here!

We talked of watching the sunset from there but Mum called-up to warn us that the boat has no spot light so we decided to come back to the place close to the boat ramp. We can watch the sunset from there, but it's ashame because the sun was covered with clouds.

We head home tired but fulfilled! I bet we'll do this again soon!

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Funny dream and more...

Ohhhh, I have a very funny wild dream that I really dreamt of doing in real life.

I was aboard a plane, dunno where to. There was an announcement that the crew needed five volunteers for the practice/sample that will jump off the plane with a parachute. With all the courage, I volunteered. The plane that I was aboard to needs to land and we have to get on to another plane. And so it land in the highway. The highway was the one in going to the house from the market back in the province. Weird hey!

And so the five volunteers boarded another plane. Some were my classmates from college and some were my officemates in ATSC. Hehe! It wasn't detailed why are we all together in one plane though. While aboard, I was so worried that I can't have the parachute land because I am very light given my weight. Well, the crew that was assisting us assured me that I will do it alright. I was also a bit scared because I might land in the water and drown myself. Pretty logical premunitions.

But! With all the fears that I have, I put on my gear and the parachute then, jumped off the plane. Viola! I perfectly did it right! I landed on the same highway where the first plane did and not in the water. Mind you, both sides of the highway were deep canals full of water.

And then, I woke up beside Hubby! Its almost 9AM. Hahaha!

But I was so happy. I did a good accomplishment even in my dreams. I wanted to do challenging and adventurous things in real life like in my dream, bunjee jumping in a very high cliff, etc.

My dream made me feel I was doing the real thing. Feel good!

---ooOoo----

These past days, I have watched several old movies like Cleopatra, Anastasia, Forest Gump, Dante's Peak, A Thousand Acres, and more. Its our way of whiling the time away at night and Hubby and mine's another cuddling session.

All the movies were good.

---ooOoo----

The other day, while lying on the newly mowed grass at the back of the house, I told Hubby that I wish I am Forest Gump. He said, "A gazillionare?". I said "Nope". "A person who always gives his best in all the things that he does. " Forest Gump excels in every endeavor that he has. Everything that he did is fun for him.

I know that I am a mediocre person. I know I can give more but I always ends up doing what's just right or expected of me. What caused this? I lack patience. I am always in a hurry to finish anything or to end anything because I am bored or because there's something more interesting to do than what I am currently doing. I also lack focus. I do things categorically. I label them as work and hobbies/fun. This is not all the time though. Sometimes, I got to mix work and fun also.

But I want to do it Forest Gump way. Everything should be work, hobby and fun to do that I need to give my best. I need to be that way! (Needs conviction!)

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Welcome from in-laws!

Last Thursday, Mum and Dad received a parcel from Sue, Chris's elder sister from Adelaide. Along with it were small parcels for me. Those were stuffs that you can identify with Australia and three pairs of fashion earrings as a welcome and Christmas presents for me . It was so sweet of her. I have talked to her over the phone the day that I arrived here. (btw, she's into crafts like fashion jewelry, dream catcher, etc.)

I was really overwhelmed and dumb-founded. Im lost of words so, here endeth. =)

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Mini things and thoughts

I just finish watering the plants again. I just did it once today and yesterday. It rained the other night and last night, that's why. The rain abate the hot weather at night. Hope it will rain again tonight. Hehehe.

We just came back from the Bunnings Warehouse before I watered the plants. Basically, we just bought some materials needed in the nursery, folding chairs and market umbrellas for the flea market on Sunday. Ohhh, we also bought a portable aircon.

I was watching the Maverick movie when Chris told me to get up and wear my thongs. Little did I know that we're going to the shop. Hummm, so off I went fresh from the bed. Hehehe. The same things happened yesterday also when we went to Woolworths to buy some Milo and smoke for Hubby. I am used to going somewhere without changing my clothes here. I have never did that in the Philippines. Ohhh well, there's always first time and as time goes by, I'll get use to it also.

The sun sets here past 7PM so we started the night late often. We watched the movie Die Hard last night. It was a good movie though.

Tomorrow, I will be doing our mountain pile of laundry. I haven't washed any since New Year. I just want to do the laundry once a week. Maybe, I can do some cleaning also, though, I have just done it yesterday.

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Just gas-bagging =)

I had just finished watering the retail plants infront of the office. I usually water them almost everyday twice a day. I think, it has been my routine.

Now, I am on my weird outfit; giggle hat, white gloves (just like michael jackson), socks, skirt and spaghetti strapped blouse. Hehehe. Its just stinky hot here. Been 40 degrees for the last days.

My brother-in-law G was laughing at my question to him just awhile ago. "Have you found Chris?" I said. He answered "I was not looking for him". Hahaha! I could have asked him, "Have you seen Chris?" Ohhhh, just one of my carabao English. =)

By the way, my white gloves were given by Mum last night. She's really good to me. She also gave me two bottles of nibblies last night for when I get hungry at the middle of the day, she said. All of my in-laws are good to me. I readily feel that I am part of the family the first time that I met them.

Ohhh, just really gas-bagging. I have to look for Chris and give his hat. The sun is blazingly hot on the skin. Got to go!

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Welcome to Year 2006!

Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year celebration. Us? We had a blast.

Had a swim on the Scarborough beach/mud flats, as Hubby called it, in the afternoon of the 31st, had barbecue (mainly sausages and chicken kebabs) and fruit and veggies salad with it, and a karaoke party (videoke in the Philippines) up until 2AM of January 1st.

Hubby had enjoyed the party too much. He'd been drinking vodka, by the way I had 1 1/2 shots also, he'd been singing his lungs out, we've been dancing and acting the fool. Hehehe. While, I was just sitting enjoying the party and watching everybody dance, laugh and sing. I had my share of dancing also. =) We met N & G's neighbors and friends in the party.

We took a couple of strolls along the beachfront promenade at about 12:30 and 1:45 AM. The wind was soo cool and refreshing. A pleasant change of the stifling heat during the previous week.

We finally got to bed by 2:30AM but I couldn't sleep, mainly because, Hubby is occupying the entire bed. Hehehe. He's soooo "makulit".

I got up by 4AM and Hubby followed through and invited me to watch the sunrise on the beach. We took a couple of photos and stayed there for about an hour. Met some strangers very early who requested me to take some photos of them. =) There were some people who spent their New Year there and there were some who went for a stroll and exercise early that morning. The upper portion of the beach by the way, is a park.

We then, went back here and had a few hours sleep. Hubby woke me up with a breakfast in bed. So sweet of him. He did the cooking all through the day. I did nothing the whole day, except sleeping. Hahaha!

---oOo---

I just finished watching the Readers Digest documentary of The Time of Jesus. It is divided in three times. First, The beginning of the Story, then, Among the People and lastly, The Final Days.

It is mainly detailing the life of Jesus as written in the 4 Gospels of Matthew, Luke, Mark and John after the death of Jesus, and based on the archeological artifacts seen in the places where Jesus was born, where He grew, where He spent most of His Life and where He died.

It was mentioned there that perhaps Jesus was not born on winter times (Christmas) as it is very laborous for Mary to travel during winter in the wilderness. It will take 4 days to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem in the normal weather.

Anyway, we celebrate Christmas to commemorate the birth of Our Saviour. What is important is He was born here on Earth to redeem us. And that, we are very thankful of Him and God and of Mary and Joseph.

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