Home Sweet Home

Hubby and I are now back from our 3-week holiday. It was a tiring holiday - hopping from one place to another, but it was definitely worth it. All I can say right now is that I already miss Manila and our family and friends there. We had a wonderful time catching up with them, but it seems like it wasn't long enough. Take me back to my holiday please!

I guess the good thing is I don't start work until Tuesday, so I have a couple more days to settle in and condition my mind, that it is time to work again and save up for our next holiday! :D

Revisiting Sydney

Spring has arrived, yay!

There are lots of things I'm looking forward to this spring - warmer weather (seems like we've had cold weather all year), beautiful flowers, birds chirping. But one extra special thing I'm really looking forward to - our visit to Sydney!

I haven't been to Sydney since November 2007, which was with my family and my hubby (fiance back then). This is the first time that hubby and I will visit Sydney on our own (well, almost. My cousin and her bf are also visiting Sydney same time as us). This is our birthday celebration for hubby. :)

We're so excited, we have already booked accommodation, dinners and a performance for our stay.

We'll be staying at the Old Sydney Holiday Inn. Basically, we were sold by the amazing roof top view of the harbour bridge, the harbour, and the Sydney Opera House. It is located at The Rocks, which is an ideal location - close to shops, restaurants and the famous landmarks.

One of my pressies to hubby is the performance we will be seeing - "The Taming of the Shrew" by Shakespeare at the Playhouse, Sydney Opera House. When I purchased the tickets online for the performance, I also purchased the Gold Show Plus Package, which gives us the below:


A 2-course pre-theatre meal (per person) at one of their Gold Partner Restaurants:
Aria
Bilson's Number One
Cafe Sydney
Kable’s (Four Seasons)
Wildfire

2 x interval drinks (per person) at their Theatre Bars,

and our choice of:

1 x voucher for The Essential Tour (per person) OR
1 x Parking voucher (per transaction)

We chose to have supper at the Aria Restaurant (because Matt Moran is our favourite chef on Masterchef Australia), and selected The Essential Tour of the Sydney Opera House. Hubby has already gone for a tour of the Opera House but I haven't. I really want to take the tour, and hubby doesn't mind going again.

We have also booked at a couple of restaurants which my Colleague highly recommened - The Guillaume at Bennelong, and at the Cafe Sydney. I really can't wait to dine at these places because not only am I excited about tasting their meals, but seeing the magnificent view! All restaurants have the views of the harbour and the Opera House.

Another thing we are thinking of visiting is the Taronga Zoo. Although hubby has already been there, he doesn't mind visiting again. Maybe combine the Zoo with a cruise back and forth? We'll see as the date comes closer.

Hopefully we are able to meet with relatives and friends during our short stay in Sydney. It will make our visit even more special. :)

I'll end this post with some images of the locations we are visiting. Thanks for putting up with my excitement. :P

Old Sydney Holiday Inn

Cafe Sydney

The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare play)













Aria Restaurant

Guillaume at Bennelong

Arrival of Cossies

It has been sooo hectic this week that I haven't even been able to blog about the happenings in my life. Boo. I miss blogging. Anyway, I gotta blog quick coz I have heaps of things to do.

My cossies and my thongs from Surf Stitch arrived before lunch on Monday. Yay!

Here they are.

Billabong flip flops.

















Tigerlily swimwear.











I'm super happy about the fast delivery. Makes online shopping from Surf Stitch even more tempting. Hahaha. :P

Stress + Sadness = Shopaholic

I had a very stressful day at work today (I almost went home before noon), and when I'm stressed (and sad at the same time), the shopaholic in me gains more power.

I actually didn't do too bad this evening (I consulted with Hubby first as well as Becks), I only made one purchase online. Plus it gave me free postage because the item was over $99 and also gave me a free pair of thongs since my purchase was over $80. Yipee, great deal! :)

Of course, you will see the post when the goods arrive. I just looove the feeling of getting a pressie in the mail.

Excited! :D

(Becks, I ditched the bag. I felt bad coz Art kept on reminding me to spend wisely. Sad, but happy I saved a bit.)

Theii Shops Again

I went to the shopping centre today, with the thought of having only two free Sundays left before I leave for the Philippines. I planned on completing my purchases (pasalubongs) if not this week then next. So I did end up buying stuff. Unfortunately (is it really?), I only ended up buying things for myself. Well, they will be used on my trip! One I can even use on a daily basis, and one other for all future travels hubby and I may have.

Here they are.

Swimwear, to cover the cossies (and my belly) while not in the water. Perfect for our upcoming trip to Boracay.

Elmo sleepwear (I love this kind of sleepwear, so comfy).

Cookie monster sleepwear.

BNT wash bag for my delicate garments, especially while traveling where wash bags are not available.

Pink tea length dress (my dress for hubby's cousin's wedding next month).

Here is my most favourite purchase of the day.

Rip Curl cosmetic bag, which I won't be using for cosmetics, but for toiletries when hubby and I travel.

Here is the view when the cosmetic bag is open. I already have some cosmetic (toiletry) bags, but they aren't waterproof. This one that I just bought is fully waterproof which I totally love.

I DID try finding a Ben 10 toy for my 2 (going on 3) godson, but only found toys which were too mature for his age. Maybe I will have better luck next week (pay a visit to Toys R Us).

Well, that's all for today from this shopaholic. :P

Delivery for Me (and Hubby)

On Monday I went online at Surf Stitch and did just a little bit of shopping. I had shopped on this site before and the delivery was smooth so I thought I'd give it another shot. In the first place, this is a site recommended by Billabong Australia, so I trusted it first hand.

My first purchase on the site was a purple bikini (which I failed to blog when it arrived in the mail a few weeks ago so I will post the image now).

Anyway, back to today. Since I made my order on Monday I had been waiting for the package to come. And today, it arrived. Yipee!

Here they are, Billabong beach towels for hubby and myself.

We have been traveling quite a number of times and I thought it would be nice to have our own set of towels to bring with us instead of borrowing some from the hotels/resorts.

Of course, the first beach this set of towels will touch - Boracay! :)

And another plus, if you spend over $80 in one transaction at Surf Stitch, you get a mystery pair of thongs for free! You simply had to select if the pair is for a male or a female as well as choose the size. (I also got free shipping because the transaction was over $90)

Here is the free mystery pair of thongs.

Luckily, we got a good pair of thongs. Haha. Those thongs will be for hubby. :)

Can't wait to use the towels.

Happy happy shopper I am! :P

Boracay, here we come!

Our trip to Boracay has been booked! Yipeeeeee! :D

We will be staying at one of the nicest places on the island - Fridays. At first we were a little hesitant, as staying at Fridays is rather costly. But our relatives kept telling us that staying at Fridays is sooo worth it, no matter how expensive. So we were persuaded, and have secured ourselves a room. :)

I AM SO EXCITED!!! (The only thing I'm afraid of is the 20-minute boat ride. I am such a wuss.)

Hubby and I have never been to Boracay, so this will definitely be a memorable trip for both of us. My cousin Faye and her boyfriend Luke will also be joining us.

Any tips for our trip to Boracay dear sisses? Things to do, food and drinks to try? :)

To Do in the Philippines

Since 2009 kicked in, I've been thinking of things to do during my upcoming trip to the Philippines. I thought I should jot them down in case I forget some of them. :)


- Boracay
- Firing Range
- Golf
- Tanay
- Ice Monster
- Hooters :p
- Live bands / gigs
- Dusit
- CDO
- Baguio
- Tagaytay


That's it so far. I'll keep updating this when I think of more. :)