My 2nd Xmas in Oz!

We had a Xmas eve party at the house this year for our orphaned friends (including me and LJ) for those who didn't have families around. See our pictures below. Can you count how many Santa Clause hat were worn that night?















So how many did you count? Well, there was actually just one Santa Clause hat that night.

Xmas Day - 2006: I spent some time volunteering with St Vincent de Paul for the biggest Xmas party I've ever attended. St Vinnies must have entertained more than 500 elderly and homeless people that day. You won't believe how many volunteers wanted to sign up for this day - St Vinnies had to turn them down. I think I'll do this again next year. Anyone up for it next year?

After the volunteer, I went to the Rocks to have a Xmas lunch with the Caoile and Byrne family, with LJ. The whole family was there except for Cameron. Thanks again, Tita! The food was great. Must have gained a couple of kilos just this weekend.

Wishing you all the best this Xmas holidays! HOHOHO!!!

Manny Pacquiao - Boxing

Day after I arrived from Tasmania, I went to Rooty Hill (western suburb where lots of Filipinos live in Sydney) with cousin LJ to watch boxing: Philippines' own Manny Pacquiao vs some Mexican (no need to mention).

My trip (through public transport) must have taken about 1.5hrs. LJ was already waiting for me at the station on a hot Sunday afternoon. When we got to the RSL, I easily got in. Unfortunately for LJ who lost his wallet just a few weeks ago, he couldn't provide any form of ID to get in (FYI for everyone going to an RSL club). So we came out of the RSL club thinking, what are we gonna do. We went all the way here to watch one of the biggest boxing events in the Philippines (on big screen TV), its hot outside, there's no where else to go coz I'm sure the filipino shops are closed so they could also watch the match. A few suggestions: we borrow some other filipino guy's ID and try to get in, wait until the security guard change shifts and see if the new person would let us in, find another bar where we could watch, or just go home. We waited a little bit and tried a second time with another security guard.

I go in first and LJ follows me. The guard sees LJ and asks him who he was with. He says, "I'm with her." The guard asks, "are you brothers and sisters?" I said, "Yes, we are!" LJ says, "NO!" Ok, LJ and I need to get our stories straight. Anyway, we explained to the guard that we were here to watch the boxing match. Easily enough, the guy lets us in but we had to walk outside of the casino area to get to the big screen TV. Fair enough. When we got there, LJ was mad after seeing lots of underage kids inside while he was given such a hard time at the front door.

Well, the match ended very well for the Philippines. Pacquiao won by KO in 3 rounds. Apparently during the 2nd match a few months back against the same Mexican boxer, Philippines had a zero crime rate - even the thieves and criminals took a break to watch the game.

Pacquiao for President!!!

Xmas Party - Towards 007

We were sent down to Melbourne this year for our Xmas party. The theme was James Bond - Towards 007 (as in '2007' - get it?!?). You can dress up as Bond (definitely a few James Bonds at the party), a villain, or a Bond girl. I thought of being Dr Christmas Jones with a Santa outfit but it was toooo much effort.

I flew down on Saturday morning on the week that Melbourne was having their bushfires. Unfortunately for me, bushfires = plane delays...at least 1hr for me. It was so smokey in Melbourne even after driving 45min away from the airport to our hotel.

By the way, this was the last weekend before my last day of work at VeriSign. I guess I was lucky I got to fly down to Melbourne and join the festivities. I got to say "Hi" and "Bye" to some people I've worked with and never met in person before. We got to stay at "The Mansion" in Werribee (http://www.mansionhotel.com.au/) and got a nice little Xmas gift. Thanks, VeriSign!

The morning started out with a seminar, lunch, and laser tag outside during a hot summer day (remember, bushfires!!!). The ladies said, "No, Thanks! We're going to the winery next door." And so we did for some wine tasting. Too tired after and we pretty much went back to our own rooms til the Xmas party.

Here are some pictures from the party. Can you guess who the characters are:












The day after, I met up with Paul, my friend, in Melbourne who took me around the shopping area in downtown (Melbourne is known for its fashion and shopping). Before I left for the airport, we visited St Francis Church (the oldest church in Victoria) before flying back to Sydney. See you back in Sydney, Paul!

Tasmania - 2nd half of the tour!

5th Day: We dropped off five people and picked up 11 more for the second part of the tour (east coast part). And boy did we pick up a bunch of noisy, fresh out of college girls. From the moment they stepped on the tour bus, two other people usually sitting at the back moved all the way infront to get away from these noisy girls.

We picked up the rest of the group at Launceston, stopping over at Cataract Gorge.





We passed by tree sculptures carved with chainsaws dedicated to four sons who died in the war.




St Columba Falls

And ended the night with a penguin tour by Bicheno beach (freezing!!!)

6th Day: The toughest climb I've ever done. Mt Amos in approximately 1hr. But definitely worth it!!!








7th Day: Port Arthur - penitentiary (getting lazy writing here). Check out wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Arthur%2C_Tasmania for more details.

Convicts were sent to the penitentiary for stealing a chicken or just a handkerchief. They handed tough punishments to the prisoners but at the same time, giving them education and training to learn skills valuable in the outside world.

Port Arthur has been coined the term, "Beauty and the Beast" as you'll see in the pictures. With great views comes the dark secrets that happened inside. Just about 10yrs ago, some pyscho fired shots to visiting tourists killing about 35 people and injuring more for reasons people still don't understand.












After Port Arthur, we did a short trip to a wildlife park featuring tasmanian devils, natives of Tasmania (see previous blog entry).

We ended the Tasmania tour back in Hobart where the group met up for some beer at Irish Murphy's and another bar at Salamanca place where we almost got kicked out. They told security not to let us in next time...sounds ok with us...its not like we'll be back any time soon! Bye Tasmania!

Missing umbrella?!?!?!?

I went to a friend's party last weekend. By the time I was ready to go home, someone had taken my umbrella and left their broken one behind.

Little did they know, my umbrella was broken, too!

Haha!