Binging for the holidays

With the upcoming holidays to our motherland, I am thinking that I may need diet supplements here. We all know going home to visit family and friends boils down to one thing -- food binge! It is not uncommon to be dieting especially when the food you have known and loved is readily available. Who could resist that?! And it is expected that we should gain a few kilos here and there, but I reckon it is all worth it. You can always lose them when you come back to your so-called real world.

Thinking of Sydney

It seems like the family is going to Sydney for a nice spring get-away. I am excited! Come to think of it, the little girl's never been to Sydney for a vacation. It has always been a stopover for us flying to and from Manila, but we have never stayed for a day or two to go around that lovely city. Anyway, I hope there great deals that are similar to Branson vacation packages that we could take advantage of. It would be good to see Sydney once again.

Fingers crossed

With our upcoming outting to the coast, I cannot help but feel terribly excited. It's my first trip down there so I am pretty much looking forward to it more than anything else. And as it is our birthday month, I reckon it is such an awesome way to celebrate it with a little getaway such as this. I've got nothing to worry about long drives except for the availability of 24 hour towing, which we hope we will never ever need for this trip. I am praying that the weather cooperates as well so we won't have spend any moment indoors. *fingers crossed*

Wishful Thinking

I know we have just come back from our vacation. But have you ever had that feeling when you can't stop but think when you'll be able to get away for another holiday? This early, we already have plans of coming back to the motherland next year. And yes, I wish we are able to travel and explore more the capital cities here. Planning for a trip (which includes hunting for All Inclusive Hotels) is something that I certainly enjoy a lot. If only money is not an issue and we had unlimited recreational leaves, that will definitely be the day!

Time left

With all the celebrations done and over with, we are all faced now with getting back into our normal lives. I am sure nobody is looking forward to this, especially for those coming back from a ski vacation or a trip from the homeland. The latter applies to us, and as much as we hate to admit that we have only 5 days left of our stay here, we try not to think about it too much and just make the most of the time left. Believe me, it is not as easy it may seem.

Economy Woes

One thing I hate about long economy flights is how cramped you feel sitting down, while enduring a pretty long trip. It's hard enough that some people cannot sleep on the plane, let alone sit for long periods with the possibility of getting DVT. Why can't they just all make the seats like comfy modern sofas? I can't afford to fly business class so I guess I will never ever get to experience a comfortable plane ride... Unless I win the lotto or inherit a big amount of cash, that is. Oh well, one can only dream!

Thinking Best

You Think Best While You're Driving



In order to be able to think, you need to be able to have time to think. Problem is, there isn't a lot of time for that in your life. When you are driving, you are finally able to let your mind wander. And it wanders to some pretty interesting places. Depending on the conditions, driving can make you feel elated, relaxed, or even frustrated. All of these varying emotions spark a lot of revelations. While the thoughts you have while driving may have a lot of noise in them, there's definitely some insight to be found.

Where Do You Think Best?

I do enjoy driving, and yes it gives me time to think about a lot and just about anything, even the silliest, I tell you. Which now reminds me that I should arrange a live chat with my family back home. I just realised that our trip home is a little over a month away now. Time certainly flies!

TGTBT

It turns out our plane tickets aren't exactly the best buy we thought it originally was. I told J that it was a too-good-to-be-true deal and we should've seen it coming. We ended up booking new tickets as late as this month and incurring double the cost. *sigh* Oh well, lesson learned! We really have to be extremely careful next time, and not succumb to those too-good-to-be-true offers.

Travel updates

Well, our friend helped us score some real cheap tickets for our holiday in December. We got them for 50% of the original price so it certainly is a good deal, especially now that Erin is not considered an infant anymore and we have to pay almost full price for her fare.

That trip is all I'm looking forward to at the moment, as a break is much needed. We could have had one of those weekend getaways last Easter holiday but we didn't get to planning it out right, plus the little girl had the colds at that time. Hope this time there won't be any hitches especially with DD who is turning out to be the most impatient of all people I know. *fingers crossed*

Have Date, Will Fly Home

I talked to my mom last night and got confirmation that my brother R is getting married later this year. So, yes, we are going home again to be with family and celebrate this great occasion. Woohoo!

I wish I was back home to help in the preparations, and give the couple some tips on where to get the best buy for all of their wedding paraphernalia. It's always fun doing the preps. I can recall when we had ours almost four years ago how busy I was attending to all of the details. Yes, it was tiring but I enjoyed every minute of it. :)

Qantas is losing it

Gosh, it seems like Qantas has been having bad days more than I am. The recent mishap has gotten a lot of passengers hurt and that definitely does not help in reviving their image as one of the safest airline companies in the world.

I am taking a Qantas flight tomorrow and though I am not normally queasy about flying, the accident sure has made me doubtful about tomorrow's flight. Let's pray all goes well, and I don't figure into being a victim of one of their plane's malfunctions. Touch wood!

Well Wishes

One of my co-therapists from my old place of work is leaving for the States near end of this year. She and her husband will be based in the Big Apple, where another one of our colleagues is currently living. At least, they won't be lonely and there'll be someone there who can help them out during the first few months they are there. All they need is a good mover NYC so that they can settle in well in their apartment and start living the dream they've always had. I just wish them the best of luck, as I know how dfficult it can be starting out on your own in a foreign and distant land.

Day Trip

We visited the beautiful city of Tagaytay yesterday, upon the request of my MIL. It was good that the heavens heard our prayers of no rain, as we were able to enjoy the views and take loads of pictures. In fact, I should've brought along a hat, as the sun was a bit glaring and my sunnies just weren't enough to combat the glare. Also, surprisingly, it was not as cool as I was expecting it to be. Actually, the weather up there was just about the same as it is here in the metro. Things change, eh? Blame it on global warming, I guess.

Dream On

A week from now, we will be in the beautiful island of Cebu. It's my family's province and J's never been there yet, which is why we decided to visit it this time on our long holiday home. I haven't been to Cebu in a while. The last time I was there was three years ago to attend a good friend's wedding. And I'll bet there's plenty of new places to visit this time around.

As you can see, we are trying to make the most of our holiday. Ever since we bought the house last month, our finances from now on will be limited and all expenses must be prioritised. We can probably take our next holiday once I am able to go back to the workforce. Until then, we will just have to dream on about Hilton Head rentals and other wonderful places worth visiting in the future.

On Vacation Mode

Speaking of vacations, it would be a wonderful change of scenery to travel to a different continent other than the one you are currently in. Well, we've got friends over in the states and hopping from city to city would indeed be something fun. Orlando vacations is definitely on the itinerary as we also have relatives based there and we've heard so much about the place. That's something definitely worth looking forward to.

Travel Challenge

As you can see, I've been a pretty bad blogger lately. Updating this blog has been the least of my priorities right now as we have just travelled 11 hours. The trip was long, tiring and just a drag. The little girl was becoming a challenge as it was hard to keep her entertained and satisfied throughout our travel. All I wanted was for just our plane to land so we can finally rest from all the stress. It's a good thing that we are staying for two or three months so it's going to be a while before we subject ourselves again to this kind of situation.

10 on Tuesday: 10 Places I’d Love to Travel To (That I Haven’t Gone to Yet)

It's Tuesday and here's my list (in no particular order)! :)

1. Italy
2. France
3. Thailand
4. Malaysia
5. Gold Coast, Australia
6. Boracay, Philippines
7. Palawan, Philippines
8. Batanes, Philippines
9. Perth, Australia
10. USA

Join Ten on Tuesdays! :)

Travel Tip

The big trip on the end of this month would have cost us a lot of dollars. But you have got to thank the heavens for whoever invented the frequent flyer points system. J earned enough points to get a round-trip ticket for free so all we had to pay was the taxes for the little girl and him and my ticket as the little one is not yet required to pay for her fare. So if you are planning a trip anytime soon, it's best to weigh your options so you'll be able to get the best travel deals out there in the market. It pays also do some research.

Home At Last

It is great to be back home. While Melbourne was exciting and all, I still can't help but feel relieved we are back home. Living in a hotel for a week is cool because you don't really need to do any cleaning up as the housekeeping staff will do it for you. But having a toddler and keeping her quiet and happy was a challenge. For some reason, our little girl has learned the art of screaming. She screams her lungs out whenever she wants something, does not get what she wants, or is just frustrated. We had to find out how to keep her from resorting to screaming because our neighbors might complain about us. Well, we still are trying to find ways to keep her from screaming, but at least we are in our territory and need not worry if our neighbors will be annoyed with us as they live some distance away.

On Travelling

Oh, I can't wait to get away on our holidays in May. The excitement is definitely building up not only for me but for J as well.

I actually love travelling but it has to be one that is done on a leisurely pace so that I can go around more and explore new things. J and I also love to stay at hotels like hotels Las Vegas, because we feel so pampered whenever we stay at one.

*sigh* If only we had lots of money, we would definitely travel the world to our hearts' delight!