I would like to wish each and every one of you, especially the Alviar and de Leon family, a wonderful and joyous Christmas this year!
To my family, I miss you all. Even without me, you should still make the most of what you have. Enjoy your time with each other.
To all my friends, thanks for all your Holiday greetings. Its good to know we haven't lost touch. Please stay in touch always and keep me updated with life back home.
Look forward to the year 2006. It is the year of the dog. Taken from a website, in the year of the dog "We will become more idealistic in our views, shedding some materialism by doing charitable acts or otherwise championing some worthy projects. It is a year in which we will shift away from the pursuit of the almighty dollar and become a little more reflective. A perfect time to reassess our sense of values, polish up our virtues and go on crusades against tyranny and oppression."
Be good in 2006. Here's a quote I'd like to share with everyone:
It is not the number of breaths you take in a moment that matters. Its the moments that take your breath away that counts.
Happy New Year!!!
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Engagement Party
Dear Michelle & Andrew,
Congratulations again on your engagement. I hope you enjoyed your engagement party with your closest friends and family. You picked a great Indian restaurant (Indian Palace in Balmain) and sorry the food was kindda late. I told the waiter we were starting to get wasted upstairs (we had the whole upstairs, front balcony for the engagement party) so better serve the food soon.
The best gift Natasha and I could give you was letting you eat the tiramisu/chocolate cake when technically, you're on a chocolate diet! But tonight was an exception and the next day since we had some leftover cake. We'll give you that one. Hehehhehe.
Cheers to both of you and I wish you all the best going forward!
Congratulations again on your engagement. I hope you enjoyed your engagement party with your closest friends and family. You picked a great Indian restaurant (Indian Palace in Balmain) and sorry the food was kindda late. I told the waiter we were starting to get wasted upstairs (we had the whole upstairs, front balcony for the engagement party) so better serve the food soon.
The best gift Natasha and I could give you was letting you eat the tiramisu/chocolate cake when technically, you're on a chocolate diet! But tonight was an exception and the next day since we had some leftover cake. We'll give you that one. Hehehhehe.
Cheers to both of you and I wish you all the best going forward!
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Xmas Carols at the Domain
I was asked, "do you have something like this in the US?" Not that I know of. It was 'bring-your-picnic-basket to the park' Xmas Carols in the Domain. Obviously, its too cold to have a picnic at night during winter back home.
We packed our picnic basket and met up with Natasha's parents and friends at the park. For about a couple of hours, singers from Australian Idol (the American Idol version) ie. Shannon Nolls, TV personalities, The Wiggles, and featuring the "Hoff"...as in David Hasselhoff (yes, he did sell a lot of albums and is apparently BIG in Germany), sang christmas carols all night. I can't believe I'm seeing Michael Knight/Mr Baywatch singing Xmas Carols in Sydney. And they had fireworks, too!!! Hopefully, we can make this a tradition every year.
The following day, my company had their second Xmas get together. This was just for the Sydney office. We had dinner at our Exec Mgr's home in Artarmon (pronounced Artaaamon) across the bridge (in the north side). This is one of the rich areas of Sydney and his home must have been at least $1M...maybe even $1.5M or more. The lamb was great and many more courtesy of Terry. Below is one of the recipes I got from Terry...its easy to prepare and I really liked it. I'm gonna try making it one of these days. Try it!
Bean & Pea medley with mint & almond pesto (Serves 12)
Ingredients
450g soya beans (edamame)
Note you can get these from Japanese grocery shops (frozen)
800g green beans, trimmed
4 cups shelled peas (or 1kg frozen peas)
½ cup sliced almonds, toasted in the oven at 180C for 5 minutes until golden
Torn mint leaves to garnish
Method
Squeeze the soya bean pods to remove the bright green beans.
Cook the green beans in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 2 minutes.
Add the peas to the saucepan and cook for 2 minutes more, or until beans and peas are just tender, then add the podded soya beans and cook for 30 seconds more.
Drain well and toss in mint and almond pesto (recipe follows) while hot.
Scatter with toasted sliced almonds and torn mint leaves and serve immediately.
Mint & Almond Pesto
Ingredients
1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
1 cup tightly packed mint leaves
½ cup toasted blanched almonds
½ cup almond oil or extra virgin olive oil, plus extra if necessary
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Place the garlic and mint in the bowl of a food processor and process to chop.
Add almonds and process again until coarsely ground.
With the motor running, drizzle the almond or olive oil through the feed tube and process until incorporated – adding more oil if necessary to bring the mixture to a smooth and flowing paste.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
We packed our picnic basket and met up with Natasha's parents and friends at the park. For about a couple of hours, singers from Australian Idol (the American Idol version) ie. Shannon Nolls, TV personalities, The Wiggles, and featuring the "Hoff"...as in David Hasselhoff (yes, he did sell a lot of albums and is apparently BIG in Germany), sang christmas carols all night. I can't believe I'm seeing Michael Knight/Mr Baywatch singing Xmas Carols in Sydney. And they had fireworks, too!!! Hopefully, we can make this a tradition every year.
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The following day, my company had their second Xmas get together. This was just for the Sydney office. We had dinner at our Exec Mgr's home in Artarmon (pronounced Artaaamon) across the bridge (in the north side). This is one of the rich areas of Sydney and his home must have been at least $1M...maybe even $1.5M or more. The lamb was great and many more courtesy of Terry. Below is one of the recipes I got from Terry...its easy to prepare and I really liked it. I'm gonna try making it one of these days. Try it!
Bean & Pea medley with mint & almond pesto (Serves 12)
Ingredients
450g soya beans (edamame)
Note you can get these from Japanese grocery shops (frozen)
800g green beans, trimmed
4 cups shelled peas (or 1kg frozen peas)
½ cup sliced almonds, toasted in the oven at 180C for 5 minutes until golden
Torn mint leaves to garnish
Method
Squeeze the soya bean pods to remove the bright green beans.
Cook the green beans in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 2 minutes.
Add the peas to the saucepan and cook for 2 minutes more, or until beans and peas are just tender, then add the podded soya beans and cook for 30 seconds more.
Drain well and toss in mint and almond pesto (recipe follows) while hot.
Scatter with toasted sliced almonds and torn mint leaves and serve immediately.
Mint & Almond Pesto
Ingredients
1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
1 cup tightly packed mint leaves
½ cup toasted blanched almonds
½ cup almond oil or extra virgin olive oil, plus extra if necessary
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Place the garlic and mint in the bowl of a food processor and process to chop.
Add almonds and process again until coarsely ground.
With the motor running, drizzle the almond or olive oil through the feed tube and process until incorporated – adding more oil if necessary to bring the mixture to a smooth and flowing paste.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Company Xmas Party - Verisign
The day before our company Xmas party, the finance dept (including me) stayed up until 12:30am reconciling and closing for the Nov month end. My first month end closing (if you're an acct, you would understand what month end closing is all about). Since we stayed up all night working, we get to have a choice of dinner. And of course, you know how I love sushi so much, we ordered japanese food from downstairs (Masuyas at O'Connell St). The restaurant downstairs is supposed to be good. But I was disappointed. Asian food here is not as good as back home. The unagi I ordered was just ok. Ray's sushi in Hayward is still better.
Anyway, the following day was our Xmas party. But before we could go, we had to finalize everything for month end closing. I get to the office and the controller tells me that the master file we saved last night was corrupted. This is the MASTER file with all the reconciliations, data, everything (my boss calls it his "whole life"). Its a big OH NO!!! And not right before our Xmas party...our boat leaves at exactly 1pm from the harbor. But thank goodness, after talking to the IT people, we were able to retrieve 99% of the file about an hour before the boat leaves. Thank you!!! Oh, and by the way, it just so happens that the day of our Xmas party has been the hottest day of the summer (39 degrees celsius - that's about 102 F degrees...yikes!!!). See our boat below.
After 4.5hrs on the boat eating, drinking, and others swimming, we docked in Darling Harbour and headed to Bungalow 8 for a couple more hours of drinking. It was still scorching hot everyone was sweating like a pig. Finally, we headed to a Spanish restaurant (Capitan Torres) at the Spanish Quarters for dinner...with AC. Whew! We needed that. Here's the roasted pig we ate to finish off the night:
Anyway, the following day was our Xmas party. But before we could go, we had to finalize everything for month end closing. I get to the office and the controller tells me that the master file we saved last night was corrupted. This is the MASTER file with all the reconciliations, data, everything (my boss calls it his "whole life"). Its a big OH NO!!! And not right before our Xmas party...our boat leaves at exactly 1pm from the harbor. But thank goodness, after talking to the IT people, we were able to retrieve 99% of the file about an hour before the boat leaves. Thank you!!! Oh, and by the way, it just so happens that the day of our Xmas party has been the hottest day of the summer (39 degrees celsius - that's about 102 F degrees...yikes!!!). See our boat below.
After 4.5hrs on the boat eating, drinking, and others swimming, we docked in Darling Harbour and headed to Bungalow 8 for a couple more hours of drinking. It was still scorching hot everyone was sweating like a pig. Finally, we headed to a Spanish restaurant (Capitan Torres) at the Spanish Quarters for dinner...with AC. Whew! We needed that. Here's the roasted pig we ate to finish off the night:
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Driver's License
Make way for Celestine!!! She is now allowed to drive on the other side of the road without even having to take any written or actual driving test (isn't that scary). But they really made me work hard for it. The first time I went, I didn't have a proof of address. The second time I went, the issue date on my California DL was only 11 months old. In order to get the full driver's license without having to take any exams, I would have to prove I've been driving for at least 3yrs. So I got my mom to send me my old DL's (keep your old ones just in case). Thanks, mama!
So I finally went the third time. And they still gave me a hard time. My signature on my passport did not match my other signatures. To make the long story short, the clerk asked her manager, came back, and told me that next time, I should sign everything the same (coz my name is so long and I have different versions of it...Maria, Celestine, Maria Celestine, etc.). Take note of this. Then finally, I got my picture taken. Within an hour including all my waiting time, I got my Australian Driver's license. WOOOHOOOO!!!! (not that I have a car to drive anyway...but just in case).
Watch out for Celestine on the road !
So I finally went the third time. And they still gave me a hard time. My signature on my passport did not match my other signatures. To make the long story short, the clerk asked her manager, came back, and told me that next time, I should sign everything the same (coz my name is so long and I have different versions of it...Maria, Celestine, Maria Celestine, etc.). Take note of this. Then finally, I got my picture taken. Within an hour including all my waiting time, I got my Australian Driver's license. WOOOHOOOO!!!! (not that I have a car to drive anyway...but just in case).
Watch out for Celestine on the road !
3rd friend in Sydney
I was so happy when I got an email from Tina Lou letting me know she's back in Sydney for work with Oracle. My 3rd friend from back home within two months. Now I'm beginning to think, I'm gonna have a dry spell for soo many months that nobody will be visiting me anytime soon. I'm gonna enjoy it while it lasts. So I freed up my weekend to spend time with her.
After a long working day on Friday (its my first month end closing with my company), I met up with Tina on Saturday at her Intercontinental hotel (on Bridge and Phillip St near Circular Quay...for my future reference when Tina comes back...if you decide to stay at the Intercon again and hopefully, upgrade to the Executive Suite so we can get the free VIP dinner on top of the hotel... OR, Hilton Hotel is pretty good, too). From her hotel, overlooking the Domain/Botanical Gardens, we walked through the gardens towards the farm cove.
From there, we took the bus to QVB (Queen Victoria Bldg), did some shopping (Tina did...I did window shopping - remind me to check out that blouse you liked at 'Jigsaw'. Clothes are soo expensive over here and sizes are bigger...really makes you feel fat), came out of the building and started our long, I mean loooooooooooong walks. We started looking for this restaurant, couldn't find it, walked a few more blocks (basically going around in a circle), then decided we're done walking and taking a taxi cab instead to Darling Harbour for lunch. Ahhh, relaxing lunch! From there, we took another cab to King's Cross, the red light district of Sydney. It wasn't a happening place...since it was daylight but I'm sure there's lots going on once the sun sets. So we walked some more, and more, until we reached Pott's Point where we had a nice coffee break. The waiter said there were some really nice cafes, bars, and restaurants in King's Cross. That was what we were looking for in the beginning but didn't see any...I guess it was off the main road. So we gave it another try. And that means, more walking back to King's Cross. Ay yay yay!!! Here's a couple of pictures on King's Cross:
So we finally got out of King's Cross and went to the Circular Quay to meet Tina's friend, Jonathan. But first, we went to the Contemporary Art Museum (for free, of course). It was almost closing time so we were able to see some of the exhibits. We did get on the top floor where they were setting up a dinner party and got a good view of the opera house and the harbour bridge. I don't think I can ever get tired of the view.
We met up with Jonathan and we had a couple of drinks at "The Cruise" by the cruise ship docking area. See harbour bridge picture above where you will see the tables with white shades (bottom right corner). We then had dinner at "The Italian Village" nearby then went for some more drinks at "The Bridge" bar (see opera house picture above...it is the bridge between the two buildings next to the opera house) - don't worry. I didn't get drunk...I know my limits. After viewing the Harbour Bridge at night from "The Bridge" bar, we went to the "Summit" / Orbit by Australia Square. This is the revolving restaurant in Sydney which takes about an hour to rotate all around. I just had coffee this time. Really great views from this restaurant/bar. I'll take any of you there next time. Just a note. They won't serve just coffee (since its a bar) unless at least 50% of the drinks ordered are alcohol. We were like, "whatever!". Next time Tina comes back, we'll go have drinks at the Shangri-La hotel. She's been wanting to go there all day but Jonathan was just not in the proper dress code.
And that was the end of our night...lots of walking though.
Sunday, the three of us met up again at Paddy's in Chinatown. Jonathan and Tina showed me this good Taiwanese restaurant...it was good! Tina was actually more of a tour guide to me than I was to her. She's been here three times for work and she's checked out a lot of places.
After lunch, we took the ferry to Manly beach where we spent the afternoon checking out the people and just soaking in the water. We ended our Sunday with dinner at a japanese restaurant on Liverpool St and after drinks at the new Hilton Hotel (really nice hotel). By the way, I've observed that asian food here is not as good as asian food in the bay area. I've tried a good (by their standards) japanese restaurant near my work (Masuya) and even their sushi is not as good as back home.
'Til next time. Hope to see you back here in Sydney, Tina! I enjoyed hanging out with you.
After a long working day on Friday (its my first month end closing with my company), I met up with Tina on Saturday at her Intercontinental hotel (on Bridge and Phillip St near Circular Quay...for my future reference when Tina comes back...if you decide to stay at the Intercon again and hopefully, upgrade to the Executive Suite so we can get the free VIP dinner on top of the hotel... OR, Hilton Hotel is pretty good, too). From her hotel, overlooking the Domain/Botanical Gardens, we walked through the gardens towards the farm cove.
 |  |
From there, we took the bus to QVB (Queen Victoria Bldg), did some shopping (Tina did...I did window shopping - remind me to check out that blouse you liked at 'Jigsaw'. Clothes are soo expensive over here and sizes are bigger...really makes you feel fat), came out of the building and started our long, I mean loooooooooooong walks. We started looking for this restaurant, couldn't find it, walked a few more blocks (basically going around in a circle), then decided we're done walking and taking a taxi cab instead to Darling Harbour for lunch. Ahhh, relaxing lunch! From there, we took another cab to King's Cross, the red light district of Sydney. It wasn't a happening place...since it was daylight but I'm sure there's lots going on once the sun sets. So we walked some more, and more, until we reached Pott's Point where we had a nice coffee break. The waiter said there were some really nice cafes, bars, and restaurants in King's Cross. That was what we were looking for in the beginning but didn't see any...I guess it was off the main road. So we gave it another try. And that means, more walking back to King's Cross. Ay yay yay!!! Here's a couple of pictures on King's Cross:
 |  |
So we finally got out of King's Cross and went to the Circular Quay to meet Tina's friend, Jonathan. But first, we went to the Contemporary Art Museum (for free, of course). It was almost closing time so we were able to see some of the exhibits. We did get on the top floor where they were setting up a dinner party and got a good view of the opera house and the harbour bridge. I don't think I can ever get tired of the view.
 |  |
We met up with Jonathan and we had a couple of drinks at "The Cruise" by the cruise ship docking area. See harbour bridge picture above where you will see the tables with white shades (bottom right corner). We then had dinner at "The Italian Village" nearby then went for some more drinks at "The Bridge" bar (see opera house picture above...it is the bridge between the two buildings next to the opera house) - don't worry. I didn't get drunk...I know my limits. After viewing the Harbour Bridge at night from "The Bridge" bar, we went to the "Summit" / Orbit by Australia Square. This is the revolving restaurant in Sydney which takes about an hour to rotate all around. I just had coffee this time. Really great views from this restaurant/bar. I'll take any of you there next time. Just a note. They won't serve just coffee (since its a bar) unless at least 50% of the drinks ordered are alcohol. We were like, "whatever!". Next time Tina comes back, we'll go have drinks at the Shangri-La hotel. She's been wanting to go there all day but Jonathan was just not in the proper dress code.
And that was the end of our night...lots of walking though.
Sunday, the three of us met up again at Paddy's in Chinatown. Jonathan and Tina showed me this good Taiwanese restaurant...it was good! Tina was actually more of a tour guide to me than I was to her. She's been here three times for work and she's checked out a lot of places.
After lunch, we took the ferry to Manly beach where we spent the afternoon checking out the people and just soaking in the water. We ended our Sunday with dinner at a japanese restaurant on Liverpool St and after drinks at the new Hilton Hotel (really nice hotel). By the way, I've observed that asian food here is not as good as asian food in the bay area. I've tried a good (by their standards) japanese restaurant near my work (Masuya) and even their sushi is not as good as back home.
'Til next time. Hope to see you back here in Sydney, Tina! I enjoyed hanging out with you.
Thursday, December 01, 2005
My cousin is getting married
A wedding in Sydney, Australia. Congratulations to my cousin Michelle and Andrew. I can't wait for the DDAY! I'm really honored to be your maid of honor and I promise to help you at each step of the way. As long as I don't have to make a speech. Hehehhee. You said its really not a tradition in Australia for the maid of honor to make speeches. Very good! I'll stick to that tradition.
Always a bridesmaid, never the bride!
Always a bridesmaid, never the bride!
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