So you should just check out my daughter's blog.
Our little girl has decided to do her own blogging now. She says it's mostly for her friends but I guess that's why one starts blogging.
I guess I'm sort of her "editor" so I've just created a blog under my user account but she's going to take care of all the content.
Her new blog is here: http://bbsblogblop.blogspot.com
Enjoy!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Everything's Big in Texas
Our time in Texas was a whirlwind of shopping and eating as you'd expect from a Vidal family vacation.
We got to explore San Antonio for a bit, remembering the Alamo ( and the San Marcos outlet shops! ) and all that. But, we spent our days in Mcallen bonding with the huge extended family we have over there. It just felt like our own version of Canday-ong Road just got transplanted in the heart of South Texas!
We discovered the joys of Taco Palenque, Klondike Bars and Church's Chicken; the retail madness that is Sam's Club, Walmart and Best Buy; and the endless choices in HEB. We spent a weekend getting sunburnt at Schlitterbahn and enjoying the quintessential American road trip to Corpus Christi and back.
What we thoroughly enjoyed the most though was the company of family. The connections and relationships that you miss in the intervening years.
Can't wait to see you guys again hpefully next year!
We got to explore San Antonio for a bit, remembering the Alamo ( and the San Marcos outlet shops! ) and all that. But, we spent our days in Mcallen bonding with the huge extended family we have over there. It just felt like our own version of Canday-ong Road just got transplanted in the heart of South Texas!
We discovered the joys of Taco Palenque, Klondike Bars and Church's Chicken; the retail madness that is Sam's Club, Walmart and Best Buy; and the endless choices in HEB. We spent a weekend getting sunburnt at Schlitterbahn and enjoying the quintessential American road trip to Corpus Christi and back.
What we thoroughly enjoyed the most though was the company of family. The connections and relationships that you miss in the intervening years.
Can't wait to see you guys again hpefully next year!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
US Trip 2010
We had the best time in the US. It was the first time for the kids to visit and our first as a family and we were just so excited to go.
We left a cold Adelaide first and arrived in Sydney airport. We only had a little over an hour get through Sydney airport domestic terminal, ride a bus to the international terminal, then through immigration and to the boarding gate. This was the connection I was anxious about and in the end we had probably 15 minutes to spare before they opened up the gate for boarding.
We got to ride on Qantas' Airbus A380, the largest plane in the world as they say. It was impressive on the outside and inside they did have new amenities we have not tried before like touch screen and widescreen consoles. All four of us got to sit together in the center aisle so no window seet but at least we sat together.
The A380 was nice and new, however, in terms of space, even though it may have looked large on the outside, the seat configuration still felt like every other international flight we've been on and no real improvement in terms of room. Bear in mind, we were only in economy and Qantas had a whole new section called premium economy which boasts a few more centimeters of space per seat I think.
The on-board entertainment was nice, with all content on-demand like games, TV shows and movies. There was even a view of the outside through a camera mounted on the plane's tail and you can view the outside as if you were riding on top of the plane!
Good as the system was, we also had a few issues with it. One of our consoles froze 3 hours into the flight as it was trying to load a game. Repeated attempts by the airline attendants to get the console reset came to no avail and we resigned ourselves to just having to share the 3 other consoles for the remainder of the 15 hour flight. We figured we would be sleeping most of the time anyway so hope not to be missing much. The staff were apologetic and they did try to make it up with a $100 gift voucher for duty free.
When it came to the meals it wasn't too bad in economy. What we didn't get though were child meals for the kids. We're not sure if it was our travel agent forgetting to book child meals or Qantas not getting our booking but it would have been nice to have the child meals set up. We've never had a problem on Singapore airlines and we sometimes the child meals are better than the adult meals!
Anyway after the meals and a sleep the Qantas crew were able to reset the consoles. They had to do a group reset across a few rows in order to fix the problem and they only got this done probably with 5 hours left on the flight. Still, that was good anyway so were all able to experience the entertainment on board anyway.
We arrived in LAX morning local time and as expected the line through immigration and security checks was a monster! We got through fine anyway and collected our bags in no time at all. Now, we had 5 hours until our next connecting flight to San Antonio, Texas and we thought we had time to kill at LAX. I tried looking for our next flight and this was where we had a little "fun".
Our booking had Terminal 8 as our next connecting flight but turns out LAX appeared to only go up to Terminal 7. I tried to work out which airline we were supposed to go and figured out that what we thought was the connecting airline operated out of Terminal 1. After walking around a bit trying to figure out which shuttle to take, we finally made it to Terminal 1 only to be told that the actual airline that were connecting to did actually operate out of Terminal 7! It turns out that Terminal 8 was accessed through Terminal 7 so we had to ride another shuttle all the way back.
This makes me come out with my favourite quip: "We're not lost kids, I know where we're going, I just don't know how to get there!"
At any rate, we finally made it to the counter and after checking in and passing through another security check we made it to the gate with a couple of hours to spare. So it looked like that 5 hour layover was useful after all.
We waited for a bit, had a meal and finally got on the 3 hour plane ride to San Antonio. We arrived in San Antonio past 7PM in the evening with the whole Vidal clan waiting. Good thing they figured out where to wait because I totally forgot to give them our itinerary! All's well that ends well though as it was great for us to see all their smiling faces as we stepped into the arrivals area of the airport.
Despite San Antonio being a good 4 to 5 hour drive from where home is in Texas, they all drove up to meet us! My sister even caught a plane because she had stuff to finish up just so we can be together in San Antonio for the rest of that weekend! I am quite thankful for that.
So, finally after a few years, we were one complete family again!
We left a cold Adelaide first and arrived in Sydney airport. We only had a little over an hour get through Sydney airport domestic terminal, ride a bus to the international terminal, then through immigration and to the boarding gate. This was the connection I was anxious about and in the end we had probably 15 minutes to spare before they opened up the gate for boarding.
We got to ride on Qantas' Airbus A380, the largest plane in the world as they say. It was impressive on the outside and inside they did have new amenities we have not tried before like touch screen and widescreen consoles. All four of us got to sit together in the center aisle so no window seet but at least we sat together.
The A380 was nice and new, however, in terms of space, even though it may have looked large on the outside, the seat configuration still felt like every other international flight we've been on and no real improvement in terms of room. Bear in mind, we were only in economy and Qantas had a whole new section called premium economy which boasts a few more centimeters of space per seat I think.
The on-board entertainment was nice, with all content on-demand like games, TV shows and movies. There was even a view of the outside through a camera mounted on the plane's tail and you can view the outside as if you were riding on top of the plane!
Good as the system was, we also had a few issues with it. One of our consoles froze 3 hours into the flight as it was trying to load a game. Repeated attempts by the airline attendants to get the console reset came to no avail and we resigned ourselves to just having to share the 3 other consoles for the remainder of the 15 hour flight. We figured we would be sleeping most of the time anyway so hope not to be missing much. The staff were apologetic and they did try to make it up with a $100 gift voucher for duty free.
When it came to the meals it wasn't too bad in economy. What we didn't get though were child meals for the kids. We're not sure if it was our travel agent forgetting to book child meals or Qantas not getting our booking but it would have been nice to have the child meals set up. We've never had a problem on Singapore airlines and we sometimes the child meals are better than the adult meals!
Anyway after the meals and a sleep the Qantas crew were able to reset the consoles. They had to do a group reset across a few rows in order to fix the problem and they only got this done probably with 5 hours left on the flight. Still, that was good anyway so were all able to experience the entertainment on board anyway.
We arrived in LAX morning local time and as expected the line through immigration and security checks was a monster! We got through fine anyway and collected our bags in no time at all. Now, we had 5 hours until our next connecting flight to San Antonio, Texas and we thought we had time to kill at LAX. I tried looking for our next flight and this was where we had a little "fun".
Our booking had Terminal 8 as our next connecting flight but turns out LAX appeared to only go up to Terminal 7. I tried to work out which airline we were supposed to go and figured out that what we thought was the connecting airline operated out of Terminal 1. After walking around a bit trying to figure out which shuttle to take, we finally made it to Terminal 1 only to be told that the actual airline that were connecting to did actually operate out of Terminal 7! It turns out that Terminal 8 was accessed through Terminal 7 so we had to ride another shuttle all the way back.
This makes me come out with my favourite quip: "We're not lost kids, I know where we're going, I just don't know how to get there!"
At any rate, we finally made it to the counter and after checking in and passing through another security check we made it to the gate with a couple of hours to spare. So it looked like that 5 hour layover was useful after all.
We waited for a bit, had a meal and finally got on the 3 hour plane ride to San Antonio. We arrived in San Antonio past 7PM in the evening with the whole Vidal clan waiting. Good thing they figured out where to wait because I totally forgot to give them our itinerary! All's well that ends well though as it was great for us to see all their smiling faces as we stepped into the arrivals area of the airport.
Despite San Antonio being a good 4 to 5 hour drive from where home is in Texas, they all drove up to meet us! My sister even caught a plane because she had stuff to finish up just so we can be together in San Antonio for the rest of that weekend! I am quite thankful for that.
So, finally after a few years, we were one complete family again!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Restart
I know I have been neglecting this blog of ours for a long time now and I'm hoping this change of layout would be sort of a fresh start. Will see..
Anyway, speaking of restart, after 3 weeks of holiday time in America, we've just got back and slowly getting used to real life all over again. Right now I'm battling jet-lag going into the weekend but looking forward to getting back on track.
It was a great great time over there and we've missed the family so much. It was so good to have the siblings and parents around us again and hoping we get to see each other real soon.
In the meantime, I've still importing all the pictures into iPhoto and will be posting them real soon.
Anyway, speaking of restart, after 3 weeks of holiday time in America, we've just got back and slowly getting used to real life all over again. Right now I'm battling jet-lag going into the weekend but looking forward to getting back on track.
It was a great great time over there and we've missed the family so much. It was so good to have the siblings and parents around us again and hoping we get to see each other real soon.
In the meantime, I've still importing all the pictures into iPhoto and will be posting them real soon.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Playground Review: Lightsview Park
This is our daughter's attempt at a review of our local playgrounds. Enjoy!Bianca' s Playground Review
Where: Lightsview ,the one with the purple slide
Stability (1 to ten) = 3
Fun-o-Meter (1 to ten) = 7
Height = High
View = great
Age 6+
This playground has 2 spider webs. The first one has good shape and has a double slide. The second web is a great place to hang out with. The web seats is the best place to hang out with your friends, just remember that the webs are not recommended for people who don't have sneakers.
Friday, November 27, 2009
My Year With the Wii Fit
We bought the Wii and the Wii Fit game last year. I wasn't exactly expecting much, nor was I really thinking about drastic weight loss but I did actually thought I could see some improvement in my ongoing weight challenges. I guess I'm just one of those people who get easily sucked into new technology and what it could do. I was also attracted to the Wii's visual style and seeing stats up on the big screen.
Starting out, the first few months on the wii fit didn't really live to expectations. I tried my best to give at least 30 minutes a day on the machine but I could still see my weight just go up and down and fluctuate. It didn't help that it was leading into the Christmas season and we all know what a help to the diet that is.
Anyway, I soon realised that just having 30 minutes or more on the Wii fit a day wasn't cutting it. Of course, the Wii Fit software did have helpful reminders about overeating and snacking and the effect it could do to attempts at weight loss but those words on the screen didn't really drive in the concept so much as the numbers did. The first 3 months on the Wii Fit saw me actually gain a kilo or two despite the time I was spending on it. I could actually see it on the graphs on-screen.
This was then I decided to add a bit more to my routine. I dusted off the excercise bike and started biking again. First for 5 minutes, then gradually built it up to 10, then 15 then 20 minutes a day. I also kept up my time on the Wii Fit, doing at least 30 minutes on the cardio workouts.
This was when I started on fixing my meals and portion control. I've come to realise that excercise and diet had to work together. Who knew!
So, I started having more oatmeal for breakfast and salads for lunch and eating the right amount of food. It took me a while to get used to the concept that one doesn't have to be really full for every meal.
I got into walking during my lunch breaks at work, at least 20 minutes a day in the beginning and slowly building it up to 30 to 40 minutes a day. I still kept up with using the Wii Fit and checking my weight daily.
It was fine for me to see how the changes I made translate into the graphs. I could see how a big meal would show a weight gain and how much work I had to do to get it down again. It was almost a simple equation: eat less, move more.
Before I knew it, I lost a kilo here and there. In two months, I lost 10 kilos just by building up my routine.
I started seeing the fat turn into flab so I started doing sit ups and push ups hoping to tone up the skin around my waist and arms.
The next few months showed my weight loss rate decrease as my body adjusted to the changes. I kept at my routine for the most part although I have to admit I soon was using the Wii Fit as just a way to keep track of my weight through the charts and graphs. I stopped doing the 30 minutes a day on the Wii Fit and concentrated instead on the biking and walking.
I now have lost 20 kilos since I started. I lost over 10 inches from my waist line as well.
The funny thing is I don't feel especially healthier but I guess the gradual changes haven't made me notice. I still can't run for more than two minutes without gasping for breath so I'm starting to work on my fitness in that way.
I have controlled my blood sugar and cholesterol as my last tests shown I'm in the normal range for the first time in a long time.
We recently came across old videos of me from almost 7 years ago and the kids could hardly belive their eyes, me neither! I also had this picture of me and the girl from last year and how I look today. I can see the difference now and I hope I am able to maintain this for as long as I can. I don't want to be one of those cautionary tales of drastic weight loss and gain!
Last year...
Today...
Starting out, the first few months on the wii fit didn't really live to expectations. I tried my best to give at least 30 minutes a day on the machine but I could still see my weight just go up and down and fluctuate. It didn't help that it was leading into the Christmas season and we all know what a help to the diet that is.
Anyway, I soon realised that just having 30 minutes or more on the Wii fit a day wasn't cutting it. Of course, the Wii Fit software did have helpful reminders about overeating and snacking and the effect it could do to attempts at weight loss but those words on the screen didn't really drive in the concept so much as the numbers did. The first 3 months on the Wii Fit saw me actually gain a kilo or two despite the time I was spending on it. I could actually see it on the graphs on-screen.
This was then I decided to add a bit more to my routine. I dusted off the excercise bike and started biking again. First for 5 minutes, then gradually built it up to 10, then 15 then 20 minutes a day. I also kept up my time on the Wii Fit, doing at least 30 minutes on the cardio workouts.
This was when I started on fixing my meals and portion control. I've come to realise that excercise and diet had to work together. Who knew!
So, I started having more oatmeal for breakfast and salads for lunch and eating the right amount of food. It took me a while to get used to the concept that one doesn't have to be really full for every meal.
I got into walking during my lunch breaks at work, at least 20 minutes a day in the beginning and slowly building it up to 30 to 40 minutes a day. I still kept up with using the Wii Fit and checking my weight daily.
It was fine for me to see how the changes I made translate into the graphs. I could see how a big meal would show a weight gain and how much work I had to do to get it down again. It was almost a simple equation: eat less, move more.
Before I knew it, I lost a kilo here and there. In two months, I lost 10 kilos just by building up my routine.
I started seeing the fat turn into flab so I started doing sit ups and push ups hoping to tone up the skin around my waist and arms.
The next few months showed my weight loss rate decrease as my body adjusted to the changes. I kept at my routine for the most part although I have to admit I soon was using the Wii Fit as just a way to keep track of my weight through the charts and graphs. I stopped doing the 30 minutes a day on the Wii Fit and concentrated instead on the biking and walking.
I now have lost 20 kilos since I started. I lost over 10 inches from my waist line as well.
The funny thing is I don't feel especially healthier but I guess the gradual changes haven't made me notice. I still can't run for more than two minutes without gasping for breath so I'm starting to work on my fitness in that way.
I have controlled my blood sugar and cholesterol as my last tests shown I'm in the normal range for the first time in a long time.
We recently came across old videos of me from almost 7 years ago and the kids could hardly belive their eyes, me neither! I also had this picture of me and the girl from last year and how I look today. I can see the difference now and I hope I am able to maintain this for as long as I can. I don't want to be one of those cautionary tales of drastic weight loss and gain!
Last year...
Today...
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Blogging Hiatus
I have totally been neglecting our blog in favour of Facebook status updates. I don't know whether to be sad about it. Oh well, I guess it was inevitable but I still do want to maintain this blog of ours to keep writing in the long form.
At any rate, I do know I have to revisit this blog sometime soon. I just need to to inspire my writing side.
At any rate, I do know I have to revisit this blog sometime soon. I just need to to inspire my writing side.
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Photo Shoot
We went clothes shopping some time back and the kids got new outfits. We did an impromptu fashion shoot one day when we were about to go out. The kids were game enough to pose even if just for a short while.
Friday, July 17, 2009
A Trip to the City
It's the school holidays, has been for a couple of weeks and the wife and I decided it was a good idea to have one of our girls and boys days. The idea was that I take the boy out while the wife took the little girl and explore the city.
Things didn't go exactly to plan as we had to leave late in the day. Didn't matter though because it was always a treat to have the kids in the city.
We started with lunch at a sushi train restaurant. Before this time, the boy didn't really like sushi but he's actually developed a liking to California rolls. The girl, however, is quite adventurous and will try almost anything.
I remember one time I had her try a little bit of wasabi and to her credit she actually tasted it. She thought it was avocado and was about to take a huge helping of it at one point before I stopped her!
After lunch we had dessert at this fancy cupcake place which wasn't too bad but I felt charged too much for the food, fancy as the cupcakes may seem.
After the cakes and coffee we went our separate ways as the girls went to the hairdresser's while the boy and I went and got our own haircuts. We then explored Rundle Mall for while before we met up with the girls again at the museum. We spent some time there before we did a bit of shopping and rode the free bus to the Adelaide Central Markets for some more late food shopping.
We ended the day by having dinner at our favourite Chinese restaurant on Gouger Street. A sort of belated/advanced birthday thing for the parents.
A good day, especially when we were able to get home in time to watch our current favourite TV show, Master Chef!
Things didn't go exactly to plan as we had to leave late in the day. Didn't matter though because it was always a treat to have the kids in the city.
We started with lunch at a sushi train restaurant. Before this time, the boy didn't really like sushi but he's actually developed a liking to California rolls. The girl, however, is quite adventurous and will try almost anything.
I remember one time I had her try a little bit of wasabi and to her credit she actually tasted it. She thought it was avocado and was about to take a huge helping of it at one point before I stopped her!
After lunch we had dessert at this fancy cupcake place which wasn't too bad but I felt charged too much for the food, fancy as the cupcakes may seem.
After the cakes and coffee we went our separate ways as the girls went to the hairdresser's while the boy and I went and got our own haircuts. We then explored Rundle Mall for while before we met up with the girls again at the museum. We spent some time there before we did a bit of shopping and rode the free bus to the Adelaide Central Markets for some more late food shopping.
We ended the day by having dinner at our favourite Chinese restaurant on Gouger Street. A sort of belated/advanced birthday thing for the parents.
A good day, especially when we were able to get home in time to watch our current favourite TV show, Master Chef!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Celebration Dance!
The kids had to prepare a presentation for their "graduation" ceremonies in last summer's McDonald's Kiddie Crew. This is something they came up with themselves.
Paella For Lunch
Paella For Lunch
Originally uploaded by chazzvid
Last weekend was a long weekend here in Oz. So, I had time to prepare my wife's favourite: paella.
It's not quite the complicated dish it ends up to be. As long as all the ingredients are ready in the beginning then it really just comes together in a big wonderful mess.
I usually make a ( sort of ) traditional paella, with pork, chicken. This time around I decided to make it a more seafood one, with fish and mussels.
Again, there are tons of paella recipes but this one I sort of just winged it and it turned out great.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Photos from Philippines Holidays
I know it's been a while but I've finally been able to upload some of the photos taken during our last holiday from the Philippines. I don't know why it's taken me a while but I guess I was just too lazy to blog and post these past few weeks. Sigh... I guess I just need to get back into that writing groove.
At any rate, there are more photos at our Flickr site.
Monday, May 04, 2009
And We Are Back...
After a quick 3 week vacation in the Philippines. We didn't really plan on going back home but because it was my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary, it didn't take much to convince us to plan a trip back.
Good thing that it was also the kids' Easter holiday break and we were able to make the schedules work, although the kids had to skip a week of school. We did our usual route via Singapore and stayed overnight before the last leg into Manila. In Singapore we were able to catch a bit of sightseeing at the Jurong Bird Park before our next plane ride.
We arrived in Manila on Saturday and the next day being Easter Sunday we went straight into an Easter Egg hunt and the little celebration for my in-laws's anniversary.
The next few weeks was a blur, sort of. It was all about the kids really. In between mall hopping, shopping and eating, the kids had art lessons, ice skating lessons and were also enrolled in the McDonald's Kiddie Crew summer program. We had time to at least get to Tagaytay, UP Diliman and visit my wife's family roots in Bulacan. Oh, and of course, lots of swimming for the kids.
I'll try to sort out the photos next post, promise. :)
Good thing that it was also the kids' Easter holiday break and we were able to make the schedules work, although the kids had to skip a week of school. We did our usual route via Singapore and stayed overnight before the last leg into Manila. In Singapore we were able to catch a bit of sightseeing at the Jurong Bird Park before our next plane ride.
We arrived in Manila on Saturday and the next day being Easter Sunday we went straight into an Easter Egg hunt and the little celebration for my in-laws's anniversary.
The next few weeks was a blur, sort of. It was all about the kids really. In between mall hopping, shopping and eating, the kids had art lessons, ice skating lessons and were also enrolled in the McDonald's Kiddie Crew summer program. We had time to at least get to Tagaytay, UP Diliman and visit my wife's family roots in Bulacan. Oh, and of course, lots of swimming for the kids.
I'll try to sort out the photos next post, promise. :)
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sports Day 2009
The kids' school had their annual Sports Day last week and as usual it was a good deal of fun. It was the boy's second Sports Day and the girl's third. It used to be that they played the same events during but this time the girl moved on up to the senior primary events such as tug-o-war and the high and long jumps. The wife and I had to divide our times between the two kids now that they had separate games to play.
It was a good thing that the weather cleared up and it turned out to be a great afternoon for the Sports Day.
Here's the boy in action!
And the girl!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Belated Birthday Celebration
The boy's birthday was last week but we had already decided to celebrate this weekend. Our good friends, who just moved into their new house, kindly offered their home to have the little get-together. Birthday celebrations for us tend to be small affairs unlike the huge parties we would have when we were growing up in Dumaguete. It's far different these days but no less enjoyable.
I made palabok and pork barbecue for dinner and the wife baked a cake and made leche flan for dessert which is already a full party in our books. We had a couple of families over, our closest friends here in Adelaide and we had a fun time catching up over dinner and the kids played on the Wii until almost midnight.
I already made the barbecue a couple of times before. As for the pansit palabok, I just used the palabok mixes that you get in the Asian/Pinoy store. The sauce itself is easy to make what really makes the palabokis the toppings. Just add prawns, fried tofu, crushed pork crackling ( chicharon ), sliced spring onions and some squid balls and you get yourselff a little taste of home.
Don't ask me how the cake and leche flan are made, it's my wife who does the sweets in our family! :)
Monday, March 16, 2009
6 Years Old Today
You'd think he would be excited to wake up this morning. But, we still ended waking him up and bribing him with his birthday presents so he could get out of bed!
The kids still had school so instead of celebrating today, we will have to do it on the weekend. He brought some lollies to give out to his class today and we just had home made spaghetti for dinner. He just loves the noodles!
Friday, March 13, 2009
Where Are The Blog Posts?
I have been totally remiss in my blogging duties lately. What with work and other real life duties conspiring to sap me of my writing strength. I have been "posting" mostly on Facebook for the better part of the last month and have yet to find time to actually sit down and write longer posts on this blog.
At any rate, just a quick summary of what's going on so far:
I've been on a health kick. I know, I know. I've said that before but this time I'm actually seeing some results. I shouldn't say anything lest I jinx it so suffice to say that diet and exercise actually works.
The past week had the wife and I finish painting the interior walls to our kitchen and dining room. It was a quick weekend job and it being the long weekend last week, it was as good a time as any to finally finish it. After moving the fridge and other furniture around it didn't take too long to clean and paint the walls and now we've got a nice beach type feel going on with the browns and blues coming together.
Of course, you have to imagine the above scenes without the mess.
As for the kids, the boy just got an award today during their weekly school assembly for "Showing friendliness to others, supporting his peers and giving his best work in class". He's been enjoying his new class immensely and seems to be thriving very well there with quite a few praises for his reading and mathematics skills.
At any rate, just a quick summary of what's going on so far:
I've been on a health kick. I know, I know. I've said that before but this time I'm actually seeing some results. I shouldn't say anything lest I jinx it so suffice to say that diet and exercise actually works.
The past week had the wife and I finish painting the interior walls to our kitchen and dining room. It was a quick weekend job and it being the long weekend last week, it was as good a time as any to finally finish it. After moving the fridge and other furniture around it didn't take too long to clean and paint the walls and now we've got a nice beach type feel going on with the browns and blues coming together.
Of course, you have to imagine the above scenes without the mess.
As for the kids, the boy just got an award today during their weekly school assembly for "Showing friendliness to others, supporting his peers and giving his best work in class". He's been enjoying his new class immensely and seems to be thriving very well there with quite a few praises for his reading and mathematics skills.
With that, I don't think I have much more to report on but I hope I don't wait for one more month before I post again.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Sunday Night Dinner: Beef Salpicao
I've been wanting to try this dish for a long time and finally found a recipe from MarketManila.
I cubed about 500g of porterhouse steaks and marinated it for a few minutes in Worcestershire sauce and Maggi seasoning.
Next I chopped up a whole head of garlic. I then melted about 2 tbsps. of butter in about the same amount of extra virgin olive oil. When the oil and butter were hot, I dropped the garlic in and fried it for about a minute or two.
Next I put the beef and had it fry for a few minutes, in which time I seasoned with some salt and pepper, paprika and more of the Worcestershire and Maggi Seasoning.
I tried not to keep the meat at medium to medium rare as having it well done would toughen it too much.
The result: absolutely yummy!
( Next time I'd try to slice the beef into smaller pieces tough as I still had to cut it up even more for the kids. )
Monday, February 09, 2009
Australia's Worst Bushfires Ever
Ever since coming to Australia, I've since become very familiar with the term "bushfire". For us in the near suburbs of the big cities, bushfires are what happens to country towns.
But now, as the extent if Australia's largest and worse ever bushfires is being known, with over 130 people already deceased, bushfires is no longer what happens to other towns, it is what happens to all Australians.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone whose lost homes or loved ones to this horrific disaster.
Satellite Image of Australian Bushfires from NASA
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Kid Funnies Part 29
Gee, I haven't been doing these in a while.
Anyway, we went to the beach a couple of weeks ago and I just had to share these photos. The kids were piling rocks and they struck some funny yoga poses. They were hilarious!
Of course, we had to do the obligatory jump shot.
Anyway, we went to the beach a couple of weeks ago and I just had to share these photos. The kids were piling rocks and they struck some funny yoga poses. They were hilarious!
Of course, we had to do the obligatory jump shot.
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