goodbye victoria! welcome 2007!

Im here at Melbourne airport and waiting for virgin blue to announce its boarding. Its really frustrating that there are no hot spots here and even the public computer costs a bit expensive.. $2 for 20 minutes.. anyway, just want to say one point though, im really happy and i really enjoyed my victorian vacation. melbourne is really nice and theres so much to do..

when i get to sydney im going to post my other pictures. all in all i really think that this vacation is an experience worth cherishing. my fave part is when we went to philip island where we experienced the small penguins cross the beach shore and walk all the way to there little burrows.

cant wait to post the pictures. anyway, i wish all of you a happy new year and may it be fruitful and successful. of course theres heaps of things that happened in 2006 worth cherishing and worth forgetting. we learn from the past and we move on.. to everyone, cheers and lets celebrate 2007 with a smile.

Melbourne Pictures - III

More pictures...

Melbourne Pictures - II

More Melbourne pix...

Melbourne Pictures

0Here are some of my pictures taken around Melbourne City...

Boxing Day in Melbourne

When I first heard of this holiday, I really thought it was associated with the way Australian celebrates the sport and having the ultimate fight before the year ends. As we all know, Australians really love sports. Wikipedia's definition as follows:

Origins
There are disparate theories as to the origins of the term. The more common stories include:

+ It was the day when people would give a present or Christmas 'box' to those who have worked for them throughout the year. This is still done in Britain for postmen and paper-boys - though now the 'box' is usually given before Christmas, not after.
+ In feudal times, Christmas was a reason for a gathering of extended families. All the serfs would gather their families in the manor of their lord, which made it easier for the lord of the estate to hand out annual stipends to the serfs. After all the Christmas parties on 26 December, the lord of the estate would give practical goods such as cloth, grains, and tools to the serfs who lived on his land. Each family would get a box full of such goods the day after Christmas. Under this explanation, there was nothing voluntary about this transaction; the lord of the manor was obliged to supply these goods. Because of the boxes being given out, the day was called Boxing Day.
+ In Britain many years ago, it was common practice for the servants to carry boxes to their employers when they arrived for their day's work on the day after Christmas. Their employers would then put coins in the boxes as special end-of-year gifts. This can be compared with the modern day concept of Christmas bonuses. The servants carried boxes for the coins, hence the name Boxing Day.
+ In churches, it was traditional to open the church's donation box on Christmas Day, and the money in the donation box was to be distributed to the poorer or lower class citizens on the next day. In this case, the "box" in "Boxing Day" comes from that lockbox in which the donations were left.

Well as for this day since I do not have any presents to open, I celebrated it by shopping. Got myself FCUK and CK goodies and for that I am enormously happy. But I can't help but feel a bit homesick because I long for christmas boxes. And the joy of opening it. By the way, they do it differently here. They open presents on the 26th of December. Pretty long and I can't wait for that as my EQ is quite low and I don't have that patience anyway.

Cold Christmas in Melbourne

It's really unusual for the country to experience snow on this time of the year. Snow will fall in some parts of Australia including Victoria. But don't get me wrong, there's no snow in Melbourne but there is in some parts of State Victoria. It's really cold here in Melbourne which is the first time in a decade according to MX newspaper. Colder christmas than that of the christmas weather in the Philippines.

Christmas in Melbourne is so amazingly celebrated. People from all across the country come to Melbourne since there are so many activities in stored. What more can you do in Melbourne but to do your Chrismtas shopping since its there are a lot of discounted items here. I bought for myself FCUK and Polo shirts. Thanks to EY's David Jones' gift card. After shopping, we went to familiarise ourselves with the "most liveable city". As night time falls, we went our way to the place where the carols in candlelight is held but unfortunately the tickets are already sold out. We went to the city in front of the modern art building and watched the program dedicated to Vision Australia where we bought some candles for a cause. It's really great and awesome as there is a wide-range of activities instored for all ages.

My hands are freezing and as we are watching carols in candlelight in the city tv. After the first break, we went home to protect ourselves with the cold weather. It's really amasingly bizzare since the weather is so could that it should have been hot since its summer season in Australia but still it helped me feel the Christmas spirit. It was such a magnificent event after all..

Earning Christmas

Finally, I feel the Christmas spirit in Sydney. For coupla weeks, I've been stressed out and burnt from too much work. Actually, the client is not that difficult. But the team assigned to us is really hard to manage. All of us are new in the engagement and to add, we have two vackies and one trainee. Although I take it as a challenge I still can't imagine how I survived those two tumultuous weeks.

So this is how it feels like to earn Christmas. You gotta work really hard just to have this vacation. Don't get me wrong. But we can always have this Christmas vacation. But what I'm thinking is that you have to undergo all this hardship just to enjoy and experience the best season of the year.

I'm at the airport bound to Melbourne. I'm connected through wireless. Its really cool. Ill talk more about it when I arrive the Victoria state of Australia...

the story of the homeless man

This story is quite interesting since I really feel down at the moment. Awhile ago I really can feel summer's weird breeze. I forgot my sweater not expecting how cold it was. As I went to Bob's despedida lunch, I realised how terribly freezing it was and I am not wearing something to protect me against the cool wind. We went to various points in the city and for the first time I saw Sydney's most intriguing city, King's Cross. It looks different and weird since its looks like we are entering the twilight zone. Potts point is quite fantastic since it has this mini port which enabled us to energise as we took a rest.

As I was about to take the train when I noticed that my room keys was not in my pocket. Naturally I have to recall how the hell I forgot my keys since it happened coupla times to me before. I realise that I might have really forgotten it at home. It's quite late and I know that it's not the best time to call my landlord. For the third time, I have forgotten my keys that's why I said to my landlord that I'd lost it. But things got even worse since its past bedtime and it's not a really good idea to call him. He was mad and even frustrated about my irresponsibility and of course the timing of the call. He said that he is not at home. I felt bad and decided to end our conversation.

As of the moment I am homeless and feel so bad. Got a lot of work to do plus my laundry and busy christmas shopping to do tomorrow. Thanks to Renee for providing a sofa for the poor homeless man.

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[double post]

wish box

Im currently on the train and ive been meaning to blog today bcoz of series of events. Both foruntate and unfortunate ones. Curre ntlty im in a taxi cab. Why? Bcoz i passed by station i was supposed to be going. I shudda have taken the next train which for sure hav stopped to clyde. Anyway, its all been done.. Im happy today since i already received email from my family acknowledging receipt of things i sent them.

regarding the wish box, ive been constantly waiting and antcipating the arrival of my cargo via sea freight. I was frustrated when they scheduled it for dlelivery on my house on a weekday. I have to reset it but it will cost me. I have to make a plea to my boss to allow me to stay home but urgency of a mtg cant do it. So i decided to call my landlord and ask him to pick it up for me. He gladly accepted. But im surprised this morning since they were able to deliver it early and i was able to receive them. Cant wait to go back home and open my wish box...

First Wave of Depression

I had my first wave of depression awhile ago. I don't really know what triggered it but I was really projecting my mind on other things so that I will not feel that I truly miss home. Luckily, I had to clean my room and had to go to the city to celebrate mass.

While I was in the city eating my dinner alone, I saw a family eating their meal after having mass. I really miss home because I normally celebrate mass with my family and eat lunch together. And as I took the cityrail I saw bunch of kids with their family. They were having so much fun together. I remember my childhood and how fun it is to live life without any thing to worry about.

I bought a bunch of goodies to forget about this depression. I have for myself a yummy treat of hazelnut snaps and milk tray. Finally I can enjoy the taste of Oz's Cadbury... :)

friend in and friend out

Today i feel really tired from going around the city and acting as a tour guide for my friend who just arrived today in sydney. Im happy that another filipino has come to ey and that means more fun under the sun this summer. Gone to darling harbour and circular quay for the hundredth time but still doesnt fail to amase me.

Also during the day, i met my friend who will be going to manila next week. I hope she will have the best vacation. Anyway, I send her my stuff to be given to my family. It's not much but i hope they would gladly appreciate. Just to let them know if they're reading this. It really came from my heart.

another thing before i end this blog, just wanna say that it was my first filipino mass and i really loved it. Most especially the filipino xmas carols...

the end of movember

I finished my audit deliverables quite early. I'm booked with the client in Brisbane but since I've got nothing to do, I just try accomplishing the web based learning. Then suddenly, tasks are piling up and I need to go to wynyard and do some follow up tyasks and walkthrough.

I was in a hurry to go back to office when I remembered about the end of movember. The month dedicated to male illnesses. And as a tribute you have to grow a mustashe and wax it off after the month in commemoration of manhood amidst such diseases. Wynyard is just one station away from town hall and i arrived on time even to witness one of our partners waxing session. T'was so cool because the ladies in the room were really anxious on how he was feeling. It was an exciting and bizzare way to do the campaign...

Casino Royale Soundtrack RAR Password

I just downloaded the soundtrack of the new James Bond movie (Filename: Casino Royale (2006) - Soundtrack.rar ). I felt really bad because I don't have RAR extractor. And when I finally downloaded WinRar another problem sprouted. I don't know the freaking password. Good thing that I googled it and finally found the solution through this website. Thanks to nino63004, since the password is just the torrent link and it is www.torrent-galaxy.to and I'm happily listening to the coolest James Bond Soundtrack ever!! I've cracked the password!

Rondzter International

Haha... This may sound pathetic but my site's going international. LOL. It's just that I'm too amased why would anyone try to go to my crappy blogztah.

Trial...

I just wanna try if this would work. if you can read this blog, it means that I can already blog using my mobile phone.