My Sunday

Last night Sacha and I had dinner at Rose's place in Strathfield where she coooked this Thai/Korean dish, noodles with peanut sauce and pork with lots of vegetables that I didn't eat. Met her friend Stephanie, who is in her thirties but young at heart and full of adventure. She has a lot to say always and has a bit of a take-over/overwhelmingly gregarious personality in the start (possibly because she's spanish) but you get used to it and is really fun.

After dinner we went to see Once You're Born You can No Longer Hide at the Italian film festival in Leichhardt. It was an excellent movie despite its length. It was about this rich italian kid - who was not stereotypical at all, but very very normal - who falls off a boat during a vacation, gets rescued by a refugee ship as it is moving from greece to italy and what happens to him and the people on board, particularly two people he meets on it and the relationships he develops with the characters. The actors and actresses were excellent in the movie and the characterisation was suberbly portrayed.

I've seen two movies at the festival, this one and Manual of Love which was a romantic comedy in the vein of Love Actually and wonderfully hilarious.

We met Rose's other friend Mos, who is Mexican and seems supremely gay but says he's not. He finished with a degree in psychology at sydney uni, taught ballroom dancing in LA and has just gotten back and is looking for a job. Rose met him over the internet and they've become quite good friends. Sacha brought Luke and her other friend Dominic, who is french-canadian but originally from Poland and is taking his masters or Phd in engineering. Both Mos and Dominic were very funny.

We capped the night off with a drink at the Royal and then everyone walked me home before leaving.

Today I have decided to do my morning thing, finish taking notes for something go down the road to get some meat, make myself shepard's pie for lunch and continue studying some more! Let's hope all goes as planned.

I am dreaming of buying a blender. I am trying not to have so much coffee and to be healthier so instead I have decided it would be good to just make smoothies with yoghurt! And so I need a blender. First need to figure out how much it will cost, and if its within budget as of now.

Off to start my day now!

After several wrong turns and distorted maps, we ended up at a Korean resto instead of going to Dee Why for pinoy food. We'll plan better next time.. but anyway the food was great! (even if it activated my ulcer...)  

Sacha and Me attempting to do Andee's patented trademark model-i-always-look-good-in-pictures-pose. Unfortunately we couldnt quite do it right. I look strained and Sacha looks sleepy and sultry. Oh well! 

Sam and Simon, attempting to imitate the famous model pose - chin down, head up, etc - which I think only works for girls! They think they look gay. I think they just look alike! Which proves they are brothers! 

Dinner at Seoul Ria, see the massive plates and the really full tummies. It was good value for money too! 

My close Encounter with the "Hoff". David Hasselhoff from Knight Rider, Baywatch (and if anyone remembers that little bit in EuroTip where he sings in German... Duuuuuuu!) came to the office bec we're going to be selling tickets to his show. He was very nice and friendly and game and is in on the jokes people make of him. Needless, to say it was a welcome break from the phones and we had fun! 

Just like a true pinay faced with an artista I am of course right at the front :)  

I have been tagged by duke and therefore:

20 random facts about me then tag the same amount of people
as minutes it takes you to write the facts

1. I like to cook but I only learned how to cook about 3 months ago
2. I love doggies but I don't own one
3. When asked what if I were an animal what would I be I answered a polar bear because it looks cute and cuddly but its secretly vicious.
4. I haven't smoked since July, but it doesn't mean I never will again
5. I can't take a shower without hot water
6. I will never stop loving chocolate
7. I take kickboxing
8. I love Bono of U2
9. I haven't really dated anyone since 2002 (this does not count speed dating)
10. I love travelling and my next target destinations are Peru and Chile (not counting New Zealand and Tassie!)
11. I have an ulcer + acid reflux and have to drink medicines every day so that my esophagus doesn't get hurt any further
12. I also have allergies, PCO, minor scoliosis and Im sure there is more but it escapes me right now
13. I am trying to live a healthy lifestyle but I love chocolate so much. Hehehhe
14. I am on the internet a loooooot
15. I love to blog, but I dont always have the time
16. My parents were never married but that never bothered me, even when it bothered everyone else!
17. I am an only child and to answer the question everyone asks, I was never lonely as a child because how can you miss something you never had (ie siblings)
18. My 2 top requirements for dating a man are he a) has to smell nice naturally (or at the very least smell normal!) and b) he has to be able to spell (at the very least his name and basic words)
19. I love to eat. and Sleep. and I miss coffee.
20. I am proud to be philo, despite having left.

I am tagging all the people I know who use blogger (most people I know are on LJ!)
1. Pia
2. Grae
3. Baby Gurl
4. Sacha
5. Selle
6. RugJug
7. Purple
8. Ivy

My latest creation, Roast Pork with Rosemary. I impressed myself by using cooking twine, hahahha :) It felt all chef-y to use it even if it was all just really string! It is basically pork with "pockets" of spinach, rosemary, onion and garlic inside, i added parmesan cheese to some of them just to try. The sauce is just chicken stock, leftover juices from the meat (not much!) and leftover stuffing. 

The Little Robot of King Street. We saw it sitting next ot a shop, someone may have been filming it. Sacha overheard the guy saying, "please look at it." Im not sure if it was intended to make a statement or just be artistic. Anyway, it was cute so I took a picture! 

Back to the 80s & Smoothies

Last night Sacha, Andrea, Martina and I saw an Italian Movie at the film festival called "Manual of Love". It was a bit like Love Actually, with 4 different stories. Afterwards, Sacha, Andrea & Luke headed off to a party and I took Martina to Bar Italia since it was her first time in Leichhardt. After she left, i called them to get the address for the party.

The party was OpShop Formal themed. An Op Shop is a second hand shop where people just dump all their clothes/shoes for sale and the money is given to charity. Since people dump the stuff they don't like, you can imagine what kind of things are there. As I didnt have time to get an outfit - Sacha was decked out in a nice dress and Andrea was dressed normally, while Luke had an OpShop outfit that looked normal - I put on this pink long sleeved shirt my mom sent that I will never wear, I think, with pleats going down the front and jeans. When I got there there were "costumes" in the bathroom and the girls were in full 80s glory (see below!). We decided to walk back to the house - it was a block away - to get the camera and Im glad I did.

The hosts were really decked out, with puffy sleeves and flowers in their hair ala pretty in pink. The music was all abba and something straight out of the chorus girl soundtracks. Given that most of these people (kids) were in their early twenties and possibly did not remember as much of the 80s I was surprised to find everyone of them singing and dancing along to footloose, eye of the tiger, abba and other classics. (sabagay dito nga nangaling ang abba teens...) The only things seriously missing were the ballads like glory of love, take my breath away and what the heck, ocean deep. (The classics played in my school bus...) We went home around one.

The next day I got up at ten. Kartini, Sacha's housemate had planned a "Smoothie & Scone" brunch where we were all supposed to bring fruits to be made into juice/smoothies, etc. Andrea and I went down to Norton st deli and grabbed some strawberries, bananas and 2 for $4 mangoes (okay cheaper than the last time!) plus some amazing garlic aioli dip and bagel chips.

We got to their house and they had already started (it was lunch time by then). The bus we took was full since it was the Leichhardt to Coogee one and since it was such a brilliantly beautiful day, everyone was headed to the beach! Kartini had already started making juices and they were also serving champagne with hibiscus. Half the homemade scones had already been eaten so I was only able to have one regular scone and half a chocolate one (mmmmm!). Thank God for garlic aoili and bagel chips. I managed to have about two and a half smoothies, all from the strawberry blend except for the last one, which was mango and raspberry, made by Lisa and was the best of the lot. They made a lot of them with melon, which I tasted but since I dont like melons, I passed on that one. There was also one with coconut which I skipped for my stomach's safety.

After that lovely smoothie brunch Sacha and I took a walk down King Street to grab some real food and I ended up getting a nice dress at this store called "Just Feathers" so I know have a summery dress thing. Tried to find shoes as well but couldnt find anything comfortable (need black flats). Had "lunch" at a noodle shop - fried rice with chicken and salted fish, which reminded me of our thai lunches on the phuket beach, though it was not as good as they were, obviously.

Went to chuch after that, there seemed to have been a youth congregation meeting as there were all these groups (as evidenced by their t-shirts) including those that were wearing Australia 2008 World Youth Day pics. It was a pretty long mass but I was glad to be there anyway. Went home and will be going to bed shortly as have work tomorrow. Hopefully this week will be a light one, although it will be followed by three weeks of stuvac + exams so I hope to take advantage of this week by doing some prep and relaxing a bit.

Here's to a hopeful week!

Sacha & Kartini in the kitchen with all the ingredients 

Kartini in action with the juicer! 

The Smoothie ingredients 

Me and my Strawberry Banana whatever whatever ten million fruits smoothie. You can tell I loved it a lot. 

Sacha and Lisa and their symbolic fruits. 

The girls chillin' on the balcony after a whole afternoon of smoothies... 

Sacha the Glamour Queen at the OpShop Formal party that we went to last night. The theme turned out to be 80s... 

Here is Andrea complete with the heart in the background... 

This is an advertisement for a toilet, courtesy of Luke. (I think you had to have been there) 

And I was Cyndi Lauper. 

Bits and Pieces

Skipped kbox last week due to the water heater adventure and this week got a really bad ass partner. The thing about the advanced class is hindi na puwede yung palanta-lanta like i have this tendency to forget shit when I dont practice or concentrate hard enough but my partner is pretty good, considering she's been doing it for less then i have (ok but not by much, only about a month and a half) and she kicks ass... Also since we were an uneven number today, we also partnered with this other girl who has been taking kbox for _three_ years, has perfect form and kicks bloody hard. Damn, I felt like my arms were gonna fall off.

Finished my paper Monday night after going out to dinner with Tito Nonoy (Family friend) and Sam, who is from his office and well, i would think Tito N is his boss, and was sent here to work by their company. The company pays his suweldo in pesos (it gets paid in pinas) but he gets an allowance and the company pays his rent, car, gas, everything. All he pays for his food and the occasional phone bill. His company is australia wide and there are quite a number of former ateneans in it - one of whom got his PR already from working here for 2 years.

And I suppose that's what you get for finishing in ME.

Sam has been here since April but has never made it past paramatta (Respeto! Westie!). He works in Blacktown (Pinoy Mecca) and is a couple of years younger. I have promised to take him under my wing, introduce him to Jojo, Sacha, Andee and the rest and make sure that he makes it to the beach!!! Hello! No Bondi, No Coogee, No Manly. NOTHING. Doubt that he's ever been to the city! Respeto.

Went to see my professor after submitting the paper and found that Im actually doing better than I thought in that class. In the afternoon we had this bizarre case in HRM that discussed computing the cost of replacing someone in the company with only two figures (past and current salary) to work with. Also saw Martina and we are planning to see 40 year old virgin sometime soon.

Had dinner with Sacha Wednesday. Meant to have her cook (so it would be cheaper and i cooked last week!) but as we went out to buy meat we ended up getting take away at an African restaurant where they had amazing food and the most wonderful, fragrant rice with African spices. Must eat there again, its called Kilimanjaro. I had the Yassa which is chicken cooked with tomato and african spices and was in this sauce that was soooo good.

Kartini, Sacha's housemate who is Indian-Indonesian and has the IS accent is planning to move by the start of next year and wants Sacha to go with her. She would like a house with a garden somewhere in the inner west area near a train. I brought up the prospect of all of us living together - since I have to move by the end of the year - and it seems like it has potential. I could always get an interim house by december (or sleep on their couch!) if I have to. The only thing is they want to be near a train/newtown so living in my area of the inner west is not one of their options. We shall see. Also have a prospective house to check out in Balmain. Im still essentially a Leichhardt girl though...

Cousin Andrew (pinoy version) has sprained ankle again due to basketball. Also dating an Indonesian Chinese girl who he seems to really be into because "eto na, serious na talaga" and despite the language differences they have a lot to talk about, according to him.

Cooked veal steaks today in breadcrumbs. they turned out okay. have also still got leftover african food which i will be eating tomorrow.

Also discovered that I dont really even have to go to the embassy to apply for my passport renewal. I just need xerox copies and a check payable to the philippine consulate plus my thumbmarks! (Hello, lagyan ba ng pentle pen ang kamay?!?)

Have also got to go to the ATO to get my taxes sorted out, will most likely do this tomorrow between tute and work.

Sleep time now.

Tuuuuubiiiiig!!!

I spent this weekend staffing an anime festival, as you can see from below. For more pictures check out the links at this forum.

Saturday night I was so dead tired from the festival I kept falling asleep while Sacha and her friend Andrea (the girl who rented her room before her and is now sleeping on their couch) came to visit. Andrea might take Handle's room now that Duncan is gone. Moses and Toby's parents went to Canberra/up the coast for an overnight trip so I fed the doggies. Moses tried to sleep with me so I let him get up on my quilt as he kept my feet warm. He got up in the middle of the night so I let him out. In the morning there was lotsa dirt on my quilt cover but it was due for a washing anyway. This is given that i can find the time to wash.

This morning there was no hot water. I managed to cook my tocino, do the dishes and hug the doggies a bit before discovering, my God walang mainit na tubig (just like a commercial...) So ever the innovative pinay I put the hot pot on, cleaned out my little pail (that's technically a mop pail) that i use to make babad my clothes in and put the hot water in it. With some added cold water, I managed to take a shower and not wash my hair. Messaged my housemates and Miki replied with "I discovered that this morning", which means that she was probably actually under the shower - I always blend the water first, thanks to winter - when she found out. Micheal called later on to ask if I would be home tomorrow so the guy could come to check out the heater. I said I wouldnt be free till Wednesday and so it looks like we won't have hot water till then.

Which is why I called Sacha and asked if I could come shower before class tomorrow morning because to quote my housemates "Its fucking cold.". And I would like to wash my hair without using the hotpot... :P

Me in the Pocky hat made by one of the attendees. That's the cloakroom behind me where people check in stuff like bags and weapons, as in like the giant stuff that's carried around by the FF people.  

This is a fuzzy picture of one of the Cosplay manager dressed as Totoro, one of my favorite characters from the Hiyao Miyazaki film, "My Neighbor Totoro". It took him 3 months to sew the costume and he once took it to Melbourne for a convention and had to pay extra to fit it in a special taxi because it was too big!!!  

I have no idea who this creature is. People put a lot of effort in their costumes. One of the best ones I saw was the Final Fantasy tribute which had 6 FF couples (as in Cloud, etc) waltzing in full costume. One girl worked on her costume - a puffy dangerous liason like ballgown since January. They won best act, which they really deserved. 

This is the panty monster from all the hentai movies. (What's hentai? Ahhh. look it up.) He used tubes and yes, that is lingerie attached as wings.  

One of the events at the animania festival is called Cosplay, where people get dressed up in costumes of their favorite characters. This one is a friendly moose. People actually make their own costumes, it was amazing. 

This weekend I staffed the animania show. This is me wearing my borrowed fuschia cat ears. I regret forgetting to take a camera (twice) although considering the lighting I think my camera did ok 

Last night, the Wests Tigers won the National Rugby League Championships. By default due to my suburb they have become my team despite the fact that I do not follow the sport but sort of my default know how it goes due to us selling tickets to the games for work. Although its cool that they won, I still firmly maintain that despite the fact that there are many suburbs in the wests (thus the plural) there is something grammatically incorrect about Wests Tigers.