Manila

Oh yeah - I forgot to mention that I also managed to squeeze in a trip to Manila (for WORK not play) this month!! It was my first time to the Philippines, however I am afraid I can't report more because I only saw the inside of the hotel, the client's meeting rooms, and the road to and from the airport:(

I did manage to take a grand total of 2 photos (on the way to the airport) of the Jimnies' - they are these crazy looking car/truck/bus looking things that they have all over Manila to transport people around the city. Very bizarre

Homeowners

In rather more positive news - we purchased our first property in August. As some of you know we bought off the plan in an apartment complex called Gala Apartments in Southbank about 1 year ago.

The apartments are now complete, we have settled, and in fact were lucky enough to have tenants move in the very next day!!

Here are some pics...

The Nightmare continues....

Well as you can see from my rather slack amount of recent postings - the OLQE has taken over mine (and Will's) life.

So far I have had classes on every night of the week (including most Fridays) from 7 - 10pm and Saturday afternoons 2 - 5pm.

I am tired, exhausted, stressed, frustrated and SCARED!!! Given that the pass rate for all 4 exams is only 10% I am not sure if there is any hope for me.

Anyway, each day brings a renewed sense of hope and there is a light at the end of the tunnel (i.e. mid November). The week after I finish the exams my adorable sis Ebony is coming to spend a month with me - she will have just finished year 12 and Will and I plan to show her (and her bud Cholena) a fabulous time. We can't wait!!!

Then, we will be heading home for Christmas for 2 WEEKS - the thought of this DOES bring a tear to my eye. I cannot contain my excitement!!! We have booked 5 nights on Hastings Street in Noosa where we will lounge around (hang on a minute its Noosa - shall I say swan around) with our best buds Jess, Shannon, Tim, Sophie, Nic, Verity and hopefully some other peoples who will come and visit us whilst we are home. Ah, I can picture it now - morning walks along the beach, swimming, sunbaking, sipping cocktails on the balcony overlooking Laguna bay, Massimo's, great food... (now I am balling)!!!

Until then though Im afraid, it will be head down bum up for me - for which I apologise in advance.

Take care, W & B

Chef Extraordinaire

Last night chef Willy (aka Hong Kong Willy) cooked up a storm. At times the heat in the kitchen was a little too much to bear but the end result was spectacular!!

The menu:

good tunes

good vino

hippy pants

Kung Pao Chicken

Dan Dan Mien

more good tunes

more good vino

couch potato

bed - zzzzz

It was a relaxing night very much needed after getting through the first 2 weeks of OLQE.

We are slowly working our way through our favourite Chinese cookbook and are really enjoying creating interesting and different dishes (albeit you will be relieved to know that chickens feet has not yet featured - and I think it will stay that way)!!!!

Will's belated birthday junk trip

As you may know, we had planned to celebrate Will's birthday this year onboard a junk. Due to the torrential downpour that occurred the week of his b'day we headed instead to The Pickled Pelican (subject of previous posting).

Last Sunday we held the re-scheduled belated birthday junk trip in honour of Will's b'day. We headed to Lamma Hilton (not to be confused with the Paris variety) for a sumptuous seafood feast before cruising around to a quiet bay for skiing, wakeboarding, biscuiting (you will get the idea from the pics).

Thankfully this time we had beautiful weather!!

It was sooo nice to get "out of HK" for the day, catch some rays, go for a refreshing swim, and sip some bevies with friends.

Happy Belated Birthday HK Willy!!

A bit of humour for Friday

I don't really know why I am broadcasting this rather unsavoury male chauvinist joke however I thought the male readers amongst you might enjoy:)

Shopping in New York City...

A store that sells new husbands has just opened in New York City, where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates: "You may visit this store ONLY ONCE! There are six floors and the value of the products increases as the shopper ascends the flights. The shopper may choose any item from a particular floor, or may choose to go up to the next floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building!"

So, a woman goes to the store to find a husband. On the first floor the sign reads: "These men Have Jobs". The second floor sign reads: "These men Have Jobs and Love Kids". The third floor sign reads: "These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, and are Extremely Good Looking." "Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going.

At the fourth floor the sign reads: "These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Good Looking and Help With Housework." "Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it!"

Still, she goes to the fifth floor and the sign reads: "These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Gorgeous, Help with Housework, and Have a Strong Romantic Streak." She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads: "You are visitor 31,456,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store."

To avoid gender bias charges, the store's owner opens a New Wives store just across the street. It too has six floors. The first floor has wives that love sex. The second floor has wives that love sex and have money. The third through sixth floors have never been visited.

Here's an interesting piece of trivia for you...

Did you know that today our four legged friends of the horse variety are celebrating their birthday? In the southern hemisphere, all thoroughbreds enjoy their birthday on August the 1st. Well there you go!!