More of Surrounding Adelaide

Glenelg - apparently a cool, hang out place near the beach. We went to the beach and made a sand castle. That's Noli and LJ looking like fetuses inside an ovary (probably not biologically correct) but we all thought it was funny!!!

Here's another picture of Glenelg - I think the picture on the left just ruins the whole thing. Haha!!!

Port Adelaide - nice Lighthouse! There are ferries on this port where it will take you to see dolphins. Sometimes, they would have movie nights with the lighthouse as its backdrop. Next to it is a huge warehouse which they've turned into a flea market. This is where I bought my first books of the Chronicles of Narnia. I have yet to complete my collection of all 7 books.

There's definitely more to see in Adelaide. I wish I had a few more days there.

Mt Lofty & Handorf

The view of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, from Mt Lofty.

Then we headed to Handorf, a little German town, just a few minutes away. The Germans first settled in South Australia and made this place their home with the traditional Budweiser horse carriages, a Brauhaus (brewery), shops selling cuckoo clocks, puppets, and of course, we had some schnitzels, and sauerkrauts, and beer (well, not me).

Its a cute little town that reminds of this Danish town in California called Solvang.

Granite Island, Victor Harbour

Boxing Day in Adelaide - Dec 26, 2009

Alviar cousins and I went to Victor Harbour where they have Granite Island...an island full of granite stone (you know, like the one you put on your kitchen countertop).

I would have to pick this picture of my nephew, Rafael, as the best one...standing on a big piece of granite stone. The inspiration - we were listening to Michael Jackson on the way to Victor Harbour.

Xmas in Adelaide - 2009

We spent Xmas in Adelaide, South Australia, with cousin Noli and family this 2009. We arrived on Xmas day when everything was closed. It was a ghost town, which was good! We drove around the city with no hassle.

Adelaide is where the free settlers immigrated to when they first came to Australia. It is the capital city of South Australia. It is also called the city of churches...it seemed like every block, they had a church...different denominations.

(picture was taken infront of St Francis Xavier Catholic Church)

Pulp Fiction

When was the last time you saw the movie 'Pulp Fiction' on the big screen?

We went to Centennial Park for the Moonlight Cinema to watch the movie on a big screen outdoors.  We had our picnic blankets, our food, and drinks.  We almost didn't make it.  The projector wasn't working when we got there and it started to drizzle.  Fortunately, they were able to fix the projector just before sundown and it was only a light drizzle.  The movie finished at midnight and that's when it started to rain hard.  So lucky!!!

Ben & Jerry's

Ben & Jerry's has invaded Australia. Their location in Sydney is at Manly beach.

We went there one day and all of a sudden, my friend screamed!!! My friends were so excited...and so was everyone else. There was a long queue outside. Gosh, its been years since I've had Ben&Jerry's. So I ordered my favorite, chunky monkey!!!

Unknown fact: did you know that Ben Stiller's dad is Jerry Stiller, George Costanzas dad in "Seinfeld"? Ben & Jerry!!!

Nov 18, 2009

I don't know the subject of my blog.

Anyway, I met up with a friend of mine visiting from the US.  We had lunch at St James Hotel, just near work.  While we were ordering, I asked this guy if they were wrestlers coz their manager looks familiar from the World Wrestling Federation (yea, I used to watch that).  He said, yes, and they were in Sydney for Hulkamania.  

So who was their manager?

Jimmy Hart - still wearing those dark sunglasses, as usual. 

Archery

Have you tried archery before? Something I've never done before.

So I went to the Olympic Park, got my gears (nothing really but an arm guard so the string doesn't scratch on your skin). I had a 1.5 hour lesson and an extra free lesson while waiting for my friend.

This sport gets tiring on your arms. Once you've positioned yourself, you should just hang on to the arrow for 4-5 seconds then let go. Otherwise, your arms get tired and they get wobbly. Another tip: if your arrows keep hitting high, move your bullseye on your bow higher. And vice versa (confusing). And keep your hands just below your chin while your tumb and pinkie are tucked in your palms.

I hit the yellow bullseye a few times! Yay!!! And some, completely went over the target far and beyond.

Happy Halloween!!!

How did she do that?!?!?

Business Class Upgrade

During my trip from Singapore to Sydney, I was upgraded to Business Class...woohooo!!! Needless to say, I flew Singapore Airlines, which is already one of the best.

Sooo nice! I can fold my legs up the seat and my meal, created by Gordon Ramsey (I'm sure it wasn't exactly him who cooked it but the dish was created by him). But I had an older man seated next to me and was snoring loud. Fortunately, I can pull this divider between our seats so I can't hear him. Sigh!

WICKED - the musical

When I was in the US, everyone was talking about this musical.  I didn't get a chance to catch it in San Francisco.  So when I heard it was coming to Sydney, I was the first ones to buy the tickets.

The girls enjoyed a nice Sunday afternoon at Capitol Theatre (a couple of us almost missed the show...the doors were about to literally close on them).  

For Halloween, I dressed up as Dorothy.  One was a witch and another was the scarecrow.  One of our friends was wearing a leopard sexy dress...she could have been the lion (lol) and if our friend, Tim, had arrived, he could have been the TIM man!

Anyway, go and watch the show if you get a chance.

Mass without a priest???

I went to mass this morning and I was waiting and waiting for the priest to arrive but he was nowhere. This is the first mass I've been to where they read the gospel and I've taken the communion without a priest presiding. They had a leader that presided the whole thing...they had to mention about the body of Christ we are about to receive being consecrated from a previous mass. Something different for me.

Road Trip

Last leg of our trip...about an 8 hour drive back to Sydney...so we stopped and went along the way. Before leaving, we walked along Coffs Harbour's promenade (we forgot to bring our camera...but there wasn't much to report on that anyway).

On our drive back to Sydney, we passed by Sawtell town centre for a bit of a walk then checked out the beach. That's me on the left!

We had lunch at Kempsey.

Then drove to Nelson's Bay to see their lighthouse. Its not the typical lighthouse that I've featured on my blog. Its more modern, doesn't even look like a lighthouse. But we passed by a squadron of pelicans and they were huge!!! They look like they could gobble up a little baby!

And the end. That's our little road trip along the coast of NSW. Check off my list!

Byron Bay

We did the walk through Cape Byron Lighthouse and didn't realize this area is the most easterly point of mainland Australia...so it says on this picture.

The highlight of this walk was seeing some whales over the ocean. At this time of the year, they are migrating to Queensland where its warmer when they give birth.

After walking around the beach, we headed over to the "balcony" - bar and restaurant to pass the time before driving down to Coffs Harbour. We sat by the corner on the 2nd floor so we can see the roundabout and people passing by. Its such a beach town compared to Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour. Between the three of these, I'd go back to Byron Bay.

Nimbin

Nimbin is already near the border of NSW and QLD. We drove up there to see what the hype is all about. Nimbin = Marijuana.

Before we entered the town, I saw a "Mardi Grass" sign event coming up. And just right after we got off the car, my friend was already asked if he'd like some weed. In less than 5 minutes, he's already been asked three times if he'd like to buy some weed.

We went to a coffee shop and I asked the barista what the deal is with marijuana. It is totally ILLEGAL but people come here thinking they can get them easily. Apparently not. There are cameras everywhere and if you're caught dealing or transacting, you're going straight to jail.

When we got to Byron Bay, I saw a tour bus from Nimbin called "grasshoppers". Funny!

Next stop: Lismore...but there's nothing worth to talk about there.

Big Banana - Coffs Harbour

The highlight at Coffs Harbour - the Big Banana! Because they have banana plantations everywhere. Its a Banana Republic.

This is the first big thing that was constructed in Australia. Soon, other cities followed by constructing their own big thing.

http://www.bigthings.com.au/

Smoky Cape Lighthouse

We continued our road trip up north to Southwest Rocks Lighthouse. Its a nice quiet place, far away from any town. If you want some quiet, alone time, check in at the bed and breakfast just below the lighthouse. Its got great views of the ocean. But you'll just have to hike up to get there.

After admiring the views from the top, we drove up a little further and saw these two bikers on the freeway. When we had lunch at a rest stop, their families were waiting for them there, too. These two french bikers (one bikes with only his arms) planned to bike all over Australia 100km every day for two months. Gosh! It will be hot for them soon. Their families are blogging about their whole trip. Check out their website: http://www.australia2009.net/

Two days later when we were heading back to Sydney, we saw the french bikers on the road again. Good on ya! Goodluck on your travels!!!

And by the way, today is September 9, 2009 (09/09/09).

Road Trip - Port Macquarie

Five hour road trip along the east coast to Port Macquarie. The highlight of this trip was not much of Port Macquarie (I didn't think there was much to see there) but the motel we stayed at Crescent Head (30 minutes north of Port Macquarie).

I did think the walk path along the water was nice. Next time you come to Port Macquarie, bring some paint and you can paint your own memories on one of those rocks.

Surfaris is a motel for surf campers. We met lots of people from all over the world coming to this place to learn how to surf. And the night we stayed there, we had a 2hr jazz concert. We even got to participate when they handed out different instruments for us to strum along. Audience participation.

Inglourious Basterds

I went to the premiere of the movie, "Inglourious Basterds". Unfortunately, Brad Pitt wasn't there. But I did get to see the director, Quentin Tarantino, Diane Kruger, and Christoph Waltz.

Quentin's movies are famous for its violence. I liked the "Death Proof" one (girl power!). I think his movies are cool that I've made a list of all his movies and decided to buy all of them:

1. Reservoir Dogs
2. Pulp Fiction
3. Jackie Brown
4. Kill Bill
5. Death Proof
6. Inglourious Basterds
7. Four Rooms
8. True Romance
   

Paper Planes

At the preschool the other day, some of the kids were making paper airplanes. I tried to do one but I totally forgot from when I was a kid. I had to ask one of the boys to show me how. Anyway, I tried making one today at home and it took me about 10 minutes to figure out how I used to make one.

Do you remember how to make a paper plane?

"Celestine and the Penguins"

I've been volunteering at a preschool since July now and today, the teacher read a book to the kids called, "Celestine and the Penguins". The only other book that I know of that is my namesake is the "Celestine Prophecy"...and I read that one coz I was curious what it was about.

Baklava Heaven

I have a weakness for baklava. I found heaven at this place in Granville, just by the train station:

Abla's Pastries
48-52 Railway Pde
Granville, NSW
Tel#02-9637-8092

If you happen to pass by there, PLEASE buy me some baklava!!!

Knitting

I've always wanted to learn how to knit. So when Customs House in Circular Quay availed free lessons, I immediately signed up for me and my cousin, Michelle. Two heads are better than one in case one of us forgets.

My first project is a scarf. Gosh does it take a long time to do this project. Winter will be over before I finish it. But its fun, very addictive. I want to do a blanket next time.

After taking the class, I've been noticing people on the bus with their knitting kits. Its kindda like when you bought your car, you start noticing people driving the same car as yours. Isn't it?

Michelle, my other friend (Sovanni) and I will make knitting a cool thing to do!

The Sydney Spanish Language Group

I signed up for meetup.com where you can add yourself in to an interest group (biking, foreign language group, guitar, etc). I joined the Spanish Language Group to continue practicing conversational spanish and to meet new people. I've actually become one of the assistants for this group, mainly to provide beginners English to the native-spanish speaking people. Its a good trade off.

I've signed up for the American Expat group in Sydney, watched a game of american football, and met a new friend from Dallas. Its a good network!

So check out www.meetup.com in your area. I've checked it back in the bay area while I was there. There's lots of groups to join in.

Guitar Lessons

My friend encouraged me to start learning to play the guitar. With the spare time I have these days, I cut my nails on the left hand and started to play. It takes time and patience and sore finger tips to learn. But I am glad I am doing it. My cousin also showed me some easy chords to play and make a tune out of it. I can impress some people with a sample tune but that's about it. Just don't ask me to play the whole song. He he!!!

"Bruno" Premiere

"Borat" is so 2006!


The last leg of the "Bruno" premiere was in Sydney and I got to see Bruno make another stunt act: coming out of a pink hummer limousine, disturbing the premiere (his own, in fact), and getting arrested by the police. Its what he does all the time!


I got so close up to him I got to touch his hand! Freaky! That man's got some nice and smooth facial skin and very toned, long legs!

My Adidas

I bought my first Adidas today!

I've been looking for the classic Samoa shoes (see right picture) for months now, going into stores, calling stores, internet search. I even called Adidas and they may have put me through to the warehouse and said, nope! We don't make them anymore. Huhu!!

But I finally found something similar to its style. Its called Beckenbauer All Round (see left picture). It looks nice. Yay!

P.S. In the Philippines, we call chicken feet (food-wise) Adidas!

Twitter

My former boss got me to sign up for Twitter. At first, I laughed. I hear about twitters telling their followers what they ate for breakfast or what they are checking online at that exact second. These people have too much time on their hands.

But I signed up anyway and started tweeting just before I left for the US. And yes, I did have a lot of time to spare. When I arrived back here in Sydney, I started following Twitters such as CNN, NBA, Time, EOnline, Aplusk (Ashton Kutcher), etc. Its actually a good way to get the news you want at the exact moment it happens.

You should sign up for it!

(oh yea, if you want to be my follower, my username is celestine28...not that I have anything interesting to say).

Room for Rent - Orange County ($590)

Our house (a room) at Orange County is available for rent. If you know anyone who is interested, please let me know.



Townhouse in a quiet and exclusive gated community (3 BR, 2.5 Bath, 3 car garage)

• close to Chapman University, new Sports Center complex and park, easy access to Freeway (5, 22, 55, 91), St Joseph Medical Center, Santiago Canyon College
• swimming pool, indoor garage parking + outdoor guest parking, club house
• utilities include water, garbage, washer, dryer (excluding internet/tv cable, electric, and gas)
• cross street: Prospect St (near Chapman Ave)
• 10 minutes away from Disneyland

Thanks all!

Hooters

I was in Dallas this week visiting a friend who has three kids (1, 3, and 5yr old). We passed by "Hooters" and told her that I've never been to one and was curious how it is inside...my thought was a typical hang out place for guys checking out girls with big boobs.

Apparently not. It seems to have been a family-oriented restaurant. They even have kids meal and pass out crayons with coloring activities.

I was even curious what their job applications ask for (not that I would apply). Size and all. But didn't get a chance to. If anyone knows, blog me about it.

No Helmets Required?

I took a picture of this motorcyclist on a freeway in Dallas. Apparently, it is not required to wear helmets in Texas.

Isn't that kindda like the #1 rule when riding a bike?

Jamie Foxx???

Doesn't Jamie Foxx look like Michael Batts, the comedian?

My 15 minutes of fame???

A friend of mine messaged me on facebook and asked me if I was on the TV show, "Ready, Steady, Cook" - it was a cooking show that I was a studio audience in filmed about a year ago. Indeed, that was me with Jen and Alfred (accordingly, I was reconnected to Alfred again and found out he is back in Sydney! Yay!)

A few days later, I found out from Michael, our seminarian friend, that he saw me, Mei and Paul on "Good News Week", another TV show that we attended.

I hope this is not our 15 minutes of fame (just as Andy Warhol said, everyone gets their 15 minutes of fame). That would have been a waste!

The band, Sugar Ray, named one of their albums "14:59". The album's title was a jab at critics who considered the band a one-hit wonder and were merely enjoying their "fifteen minutes of fame".

Easter Weekend

Easter week is one of the Holiest weeks in the Catholic Church (Greek Orthodox, this year, celebrated it one week later based on their calendar). To some, it might look like I went church hopping this weekend. But it wasn't all religious obligations this weekend for me.

Thursday - we went for Holy Thursday mass at St Columba church, our local parish. Friends came over to have the passover/sacrificial lamb for dinner.

Friday - I joined my coworker for the 10am Station of the Cross at St Margaret Mary in Merrylands, checked out St Dominic's church at Flemington, and went to the 3pm Passion of Christ at St Patrick's in Parramatta. Three new churches for me = three wishes!!! When I got home, a couple of our friends came over to hang out with us during this fasting, no meat day. When midnight came, we drove to McDonald's and watched Seinfeld episodes til 1:30am.

Saturday - We did a bit of walking towards St Joan of Arc church in Haberfield (but was closed). We then went to the Easter vigil at the newly renovated St Peter Julian's church in Chinatown.

Sunday - my friends and I went to a service at the Opera House and later went to St Patrick's church in the city for the Easter Sunday mass. A BBQ was followed at our house...another party! Mei and I was bored after the BBQ and watched the movie "Summer Hours" at the local movie cinema. We were still not satisfied so we invited a friend to come over and chat til midnight.

Monday - was a bit of a rest day. We made some pizza at home (from scratch) and had people over again for a mini party!

Geez - what a weekend!

2010 World Cup Prequalifier

April Fools!

World Cup Soccer will be held in South Africa in 2010. On April 1st, my friends and I went to watch the Socceroos beet Uzbekistan at the ANZ arena in Homebush. Its a prequalifier match in the Asian area (I think). Looking forward to more matches and following the games til next year.

House Auction

I was walking around the neighborhood one day and I saw a house auction just around the corner from where I lived. I've never been to one so I thought I'd stick around, read the procedures and watch the auction happen.

They do a lot of house auctions in Australia...you know, where you raise your hand, bid against other buyers and the seller yells out "SOLD" and does the hammer thing. Over here, you have to apply for a bidder's registration number. You cannot pretend to be a buyer when in fact, you are working for the owner. When caught, you can get penalized $50k and the real estate agent and owner might get fined, too!

So we were all called out to the front of the house. The bidding starts and nobody was budging. Ten minutes later, nothing still. I thought it would be more exciting than that. Unfortunately, nobody bid on the house (maybe too embarrassed to suggest a price that's too low???). They had to close the bidding and put the house back in the market.

Coldplay

That was one electrifying concert I've been for so long. Although I only like or knew a couple of their songs from their new album, "Viva la Vida", I had to check off "Coldplay" on my list of things to do before I die.

This was their last concert in Sydney. They've had great reviews since coming down under. And boy was it great! They played their best songs ever including: Clocks, Yellow, Speed of Sound, Hardest Part, In My Place, The Scientiest, and many, many more from their new album.

...and Chris Martin is such a piano man!

Amway

If you've heard of Amway, you know what this is all about.

My cousin, LJ, and I met this lady who told us about an investment, a passive income investment, not relating to stocks and real estate. With the financial crisis, what other investment is safe these days? LJ and I were both skeptical (being typical accountants) but gave the lady the benefit of a doubt. We thought this was going to be one of those pyramid schemes.

At first, the lady was very persistent that we attend this meeting. She wanted to meet the following day, if not the next day, and so forth. So we gave her a chance and LJ and I would go together just in case one of us can't say 'No' and get sucked into this. After two months, LJ and I attended the meeting.

It sounded too good to be true. Its Amway. The idea is, be a member of Amway (or get into their "pipeline" - as they call it), get discounts on their products, you get into a pool of members, meet a sales quota and then get a check for a certain % of points, try to get people to be a member and get a % of their sales. Once you've built your network, the more $ you get from their sales. Its a typical pyramid scheme, but apparently, a legal one. Its SCAMway!

Amway has been described as a cult. Members pressuring you to buy products of great quality. Having to go to meetings and selling motivational materials, telling people how they didn't have to work anymore for the rest of their lives, pressuring new recruits to sign up, etc, etc. According to some people, they've lost friends who pressured them into buying the products, this cult taking over their whole lives with all the meetings and recruiting they had to do, totally annoying other people. In the end, the reality is, a very minuscule % of the people actually receive the big checks.

I'm glad LJ and I had an open mind going to this meeting and being skeptical...and smart. It sounded too good to be true and if you're dumb enough to get sucked into it, well, that's just too bad. My advice is, don't even get into it. If you want to check it out, just be open minded and be smart about it.

Australian Tennis Open 2009

My first tennis grand slam. And so we did our pilgrimage. Three days of tennis matches in the cold, hot, unpredictable weather of Melbourne.

First match: Serena Williams def Shuai Peng...and the list of matches we watched at Rod Laver Arena are as follows:

• Victoria Azarenka def Amelie Mauresmo
• Jo-Wilfred Tsonga def Dudi Sela
• Elena Dementieva def Samantha Stosur
• Rafael Nadal def Tommy Haas
• Dinara Safina def Alize Cornet
• Roger Federer def Tomas Berdych
• Jelena Dokic def Alisa Kleybanova
• Novak Djokovic def Marcos Baghdatis
• Serena Williams def Victoria Azarenka
• Rafael Nadal def Fernando Gonzalez
• Jo-Wilfred Tsonga def James Blake

This year, I wanted to see #1 Nadal, #2 Federer, and #3 Djokovic. On the women's side, Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic. I got to see the men but not the women.

In the end, we watched the Mens Finals at Circular Quay (back in Sydney) to see Rafael Nadal win his first Australian Tennis Open.

I am happy coz I got the champion and the #1 player to sign my tennis ball.

O-le! Ole, ole ole! O-le, O-le!!!