'Tis the Season to be Jolly

This year's Christmas would be our third away from home and if everything goes right, it may also be our last  in NZ. With less than 12 months to go, I'm starting to feel a wee bit sentimental about leaving Christchurch and to tell you the truth, I don't really understand why. Maybe it's the season...Maybe it's me being melancholic...Or maybe it's a symptom of PMS. Oh. Whatever...

With the realization that it could be my very last Christmas here, I've decided to make it my best ever. Now one of the things in my Must-Do list is to go to the Santa Claus Parade and take photos. The parade is held every year to celebrate the official opening of Christmas and it is anticipated by absolutely everyone, young and old. It's really a wonderful event cos  there's something for everybody like street entertainment,  good bargains, chocolate wheels, lucky draws, food stalls, kids' rides, helicopter rides and free lollies. I've been to one in 2008 but at that time I was pregnant, bloated and temperamental. In short, I didn't have a good time. This year was different cos I am none of those.

So yesterday, we went to the Santa Parade in Kaiapoi and as I've imagined, the kids loved it. We had ice cream and lollies and chips and oh! I got this cool make-up bag for $2.00.

It comes with blingy stickers

you get to decorate the bag with the blings :)

Bargains were everywhere and lots of stalls were having pre-Christmas sales. So yeah, it was a very successful outing for me. For once my kids were happy to leave me in peace and not drive me nuts. Too bad I couldn't leave them there.

Now I'll leave you with pictures so you'll get a better glimpse of the whole event. Enjoy :)

A building damaged by the big quake



Alden dropped his icre cream on the ground so he had to take daddy's..
See the cone lying on the road?



Prince William on the unicycle??

Silly Molly

Caged sheep and kids

The town's fire brigade

One of Alden's favourites

A vintage truck

A shop promoting its mobility scooters

A big version of Trevor from Thomas the Tank Engine

Vintage cars

And finally Santa Claus :)

The Melbourne Story: Part 1

* This entry was written on Tuesday but I couldn't get it published until today.

I am in Melbourne for the conference thingy, and the weather is absolutely spectacular. Unlike Christchurch, the temperature here is perfect and I find it  so refreshing to be able to go out in flip flops. I  rarely do that in CC cos it is always COLD COLD COLD and even if it's summer, the weather changes unexpectedly on any given day. 

Anyway, we are staying at the Katz Apartment in central city and today is our second day here. The place is situated in 160 Little Lonsdale Street and it is just a short walk away from Melbourne central.

Now let me show you the studio apartment unit we initially chose for our stay.

The bed and basically the whole room



A small lounge



with an attached kitchen

A clean toilet

With a washing machine/ dryer too!

I was pleased with the unit because everything was up to my expectations. All I really wanted was a clean room with a microwave to heat Alden's milk, and what I saw was beyond that, so I was happy. It didn't take long for me to settle in and within minutes I was already feeling at-home. 

Half an hour after that, Alva pooed and this changed everything.

Before I get into the WHY, I'd like to tell you all about the WHAT by beating around the bush okay?

Now what happened was while hubby and I were busy admiring the kitchen facilities, Alva managed to  wriggle out of her diapers and decided to poo right there in the lounge. When Alden saw this, he thought "Hey, I wonder what happens if I step on this gooey stuff lying on the floor". He did exactly that and  after discovering the texture of the brown substance, he came running to me and said "Mummy, see! see! What's that?" pointing to his foot. Since I didn't know the origin of the poo, I assumed it was his and  I scolded him silly for doing something so gross. And then I made him promise not to do it again.

After that, I got him to the bathroom and started taking his clothes off. Just when I was about to turn on the tap, I heard hubby's cry of disgust "Alalala!!! Bukan si Alden punya O-O tu!!!". I ran over to the small lounge to find out what he meant. There on the floor lay Alva's poos, all greenish and brown, resembling the shape of a tiny banana. Vava chuckled, held her bottom and said "Oh-O". Just then, Alden got out from the shower saying "Eeewww...Yuck!" before dashing for the kitchen. I thought my head was going to explode cos now both babies were running around in poos.

After counting 1 to 10, I managed to not strangle my kids and got them ready for a shower. I turned on the tap and waited for the hot water. Ten minutes went by but still there was no hot water and they were getting restless, Alden especially. I got sick of waiting so I asked hubby to talk to the reception. He went down to complain and minutes later came up looking mischeveously happy.

It turned out that we had been upgraded to a two-bedroom apartment cos they couldn't fix the water heater. Because of that and the fact that there was no other available rooms, the upgrade was given FOC.

So. We moved up leaving the small studio and got to the new unit. It was way cooler than the one we had earlier cos everything was bigger and nicer. Alden and Alva immediately went to the master bedroom and started jumping on the bed. I went along and started scanning the room. There was a glass door that seemed to lead to a balcony outside so I walked over to check whether it was locked. To my utter shock it wasn't. What was more shocking was the fact that there was no balcony or ledge outside. The door actually led to a 20 metre drop! It was literally a death trap cos the moment you step out, you'll be flying from the 7th floor. This really freaked me out cos the kids were there and if I hadn't checked, a tragedy could have happened.

I got the kids out and went to the reception immediately. Needless to say, I made a huge fuss about it and told the reception guy how dangerous it was for my kids to be in that room. I wouldn't stop until he apologized and when he finally did, I calmed down. To make up for everything, he offered the biggest room they had and told me we could move in asap.

That cheered me up.

We packed our stuff and went to the new suite. It was Room number 409 and this is how it looks like.

The lounge suite...

An extra bedroom for the kids. The one we booked doesn't even have a room...



The master bedroom

The bathroom

The kitchen was equipped with more advanced facilities and a dishwasher too!



Alden playing with the switch



Mommy and Vava posing for the camera

Everybody's happy :)

And that's how we ended up getting the superior two-bedroom apartment. Will talk more about the trip in my next post! 

Back to Fighting the Flab

Yesterday morning while we were having the group activity for the research showcase thing, Kata asked me why I haven't been to the gym. I told her I was too busy with my thesis, kids and house chores that there was no time to do anything else. You know, the usual blah blah blah I tell people. As soon as I said that, I felt soooo....I don't know...slugish? Unproductive? Lazy? I felt like I have given up on exercising and let myself go.

I do not want to be slugish and unproductive and lazy anymore.

So. I have decided that no matter how busy I am, I shall attend at least one session per week. I made up my mind and told Kata "I think I'm going to join you as soon as I come back from Melbourne". She squealed with delight and said "Yay! Come on Tuesday's. It's the best!"

So Tuesday it is. There's a new class called Zumba which I'm quite excited about. I've heard a lot of good reviews about it. If I have the energy and will-power, I might even go thrice a week. But we'll see how it goes. 

I can't wait to see J Lo's Butt and Anorexic Girl though. Hope they're still around :)

Rojak Week

We have successfully moved to a new suburb in Christchurch, which is only 1km away from where we used to live. Our new shack is smaller and a wee bit older in comparison but we get to save a lot on rental. This is one of the few reasons why we decided to move.

The old place was perfect but we needed to downsize to make up for the kids’ school expenses. The sudden increase in child care fees last October really hit us like a tornado. Alva’s fee alone has increased from $20.00 a day (1/2 day) to $24.00. I am only sending her for the morning session cos a whole-day fee would cost a whopping $38.00. Since she is booked from Monday to Thursday, the total amount per week is quite massive. How much do we pay in a week? Too much.

That’s our rationale for moving.

Anyway, move we did and there is no looking back now. Having said that, I think I am going to miss this cute, elderly man called Reg. He is our former neighbor, whose house is one of the neatest in the neighborhood. He did all our gardening while we were away in KK and he even helped us with the weeding. He is simply one of the most wonderful human beings on earth. I’m planning to get him a nice  Christmas gift but I haven’t got a clue what to buy. Any idea what I should get for a 70-year-old man? Please do not say Viagra.

We have settled in quite nicely at the new place and although I don't really fancy our new surroundings, I like the big sunny garden at the back. There is a small shed to put our stuff and a long washing line to dry our clothes. Yay! The previous flat only had a metre-long clothing line with four pathetic cords. Truly a work of an idiot. I'll try posting some photos of the new house later on.

I'm in such a swell mood today that I feel like telling you everything :)
 

First up. I presented my first ever poster presentation this morning! No. I'm not talking about those pin-up posters we put on our bedroom wall and dream about at night. It's more like a research poster with a visual representation of what I am doing in my study. It was really Yoda's idea for me to present and although I hated the idea, I said YES anyway. I'm glad I did cos the crowd was very informal and the whole setting was very low-keyed. What I'm most happy about is when two seasoned lecturers gave me some useful insights on my study. Something about how L1 interference in second language writing differs across culture and background. Bla bla bla. I know it's boring so I'll move on.

 

Oh! Have I told you that I'm flying to Melbourne this Sunday? Yep. I'm presenting my poster at the AARE 2010 International Conference and I'm so anxious about the whole thing. Hubby and the kids are coming too  so we'll probably go sightseeing in the city while we're there. That part is exciting. The other part? Not so exciting. I'm looking forward to meeting new people and listening to other people's work but naturally I'm a bit nervous about my presentation. Whatever la. The next time I talk about this, everything will be in the past tense :)

 

I guess that is all I got to say for this entry. It's 6.30 pm now. If I hurry, I can still get one lottery ticket at Countdown. Which reminds me. You know, a few weeks ago, I asked for a $6 LUCKY PICK from the cashier at the Lotto counter. Didn't think that I was using the wrong term until she said "You mean a $6 LUCKY DICK?" And I said sternly "NO. A lucky pick". And then barulah we both realised what she has said. Hehehe. I laughed and laughed. Her expression was priceless!

 

The correct term was LUCKY DIP.

 

Wish me luck! 

It's In the Bag!

* A tag from Chegu Carol "What's in your bag?"

A diamond is said to be a woman's best friend. But that's not entirely true. A woman's true best friend is her handbag; the one that sticks with her through the good and the bad. The one that keeps all her dark secrets.

At the moment, this is my bestfriend.

It is big and I get to store lots of stuff in it.
 

There's ample room for more stuff

What's inside? The usual. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Let me list them down.

1. A black purse.
2. A little brown bag for my external hard disk.
3. A make-up bag for my make up.
4. A smaller make-up bag for pendrives.
5. A little hanky.
6. A pen.
7. Alden's toys.
8. Alva's head band.
9. A scrunchy.
10. Car key, house keys and office keys.
11. A rosary.
12. Papers/ Receipts/ Reload card
13. A hair roller..which should be kept in the make up bag.
14. Wet tissue.
15. Cell phone

Inside the make-up bag

A list of 20 items:
1. Pressed-powder
2. Blusher
3. Blusher brush
4. Lip gloss
5. Lip balm
6. Lip mask
7. Two lipsticks
8. Eye shadow
9. A scrunchy
10. Shower scrub?!
11. Eyebrow pencil
12. Eyeliner
13. Mascara
14. Lipliner
15. Nail clipper
16. Panty liner
17. A bra strap
18. A comb
19. Velcro hair roller
20. Palmer's cocoa butter

The stapler is out of context but I don't know where else to put it. And that shower scrub just happens to be in there.

Inside the smaller make-up bag

All my handy drives and a scapular

My friends think it's kinda weird when I just whip out a hair roller from my handbag sometimes. But I can't help it. I have a sideswept bang which doesn't always go sideways. So having a hair roller in my bag is very handy. After all, don't we all have hair rollers in our bag? No? Whatever. As I was saying, when my bang decides to go the other way, all I need to do is take out one roller, put it in my hair and wait for 15 minutes. While waiting, I can multitask: answer calls, read, go to the loo and even blog. It works everytime! :)

before



after



Having all my essentials in one big bag gives me a great sense of security cos I know that whenever something goes wrong, I might find the solution inside. A handbag is after all, a woman's  greatest ally. Wouldn't you agree?