Posts from — August 2008

We are fast approaching the months that end with the syllable ‘ber’. Next up is September, October, November and finally capped with December. The last month of the year has always been special to a lot of people because of the long Christmas celebrations. Christmas is the time we rejoice as we remember Jesus’ birth. On the other hand, dubbed frequently as the season for giving, Christmas is usually seen with great excitement especially for kids and the kids at heart because of the gift giving traditions.

More and more people are becoming more strategic in planning and preparing for this season. Black Friday, which is the day after Thanksgiving, has been marked as a day when people can get good savings. Great discounts are offered by several stores on this day. The challenge is how to get ahead of the pack trying to avail of these offers. Using black friday ads is an effective way to avail of these specials without having to soak in the crowd. For kiddy techies, the Circuit City shop should be popular in ticking off a lot of items in the wish list.

Amidst all the glamour and excitement, I still hope that people will celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

If we are to talk about wishes, I believe all of us would not run out of one. Maybe because wishing itself is free. Although we all know that to get a wish, in most cases, has its cost. Sometimes the cost may involve money, while sometimes, it is all about time, chance, or just a situation that we hope would happen. So if I would pick one wish right now, it’s probably a trip for my family back to Manila for Christmas. It has (big) costs. But that is my wish.

On the photo is a small domestic Qantas airplane. It isn’t big enough to take us to Manila. But it is enough to keep me wishing.

Tagalog Translation
Kung paguusapan natin ang mithi, naniniwala akong lahat tayo ay hindi mauubusan. Maaaring ito ay dahil libre ang magmithi. Ganunpaman, alam din nating lahat na sa kadalasan, may katumbas na kabayaran para makuha ang isang mithi. Minsan ang kabayaran ay tungkol sa pera, at minsan naman, ito ay nangangahulugan ng panahon, pagkakataon, o isang sitwasyon na sana nga ay mangyari. Kaya kung ako ay pipili ng isang mithi sa ngayon, marahil isang byahe para sa aking pamilya pabalik ng Manila para sa Pasko. Mayroon itong (malaking) katumbas na kabayaran. Pero yan ang aking mithi.

Nasa larawan ay isang maliit na ‘domestic’ na eroplano ng Qantas. Ang laki nito ay hindi sapat para madala ang aking pamilya papuntang Manila. Pero sapat na ito upang ipagpatuloy ang aking mithi.

Little CN (and her classmates) love the ‘Show and Tell’ time in pre-school. Each one in the class would like to have their turn all the time! In order to keep a good balance with other activities, the teacher set up a schedule when a child can do his/her bit. It’s CN’s turn today and she is really excited. She got a little help from her sister RD. She wanted to bring a lot of things for her ‘Show and Tell’. But eventually, she took her fluffy pink bag with Dora the Explorer stuff. I’ll post it here to let you know how it went.

I would like to take this time to thank all those who frequently drop by Reflexes. The comments that I have been receiving were definitely encouraging. And as I receive those valuable feedbacks, I keep on getting inspired to write and share more! I have to admit that part of the fun in blogging is to know that there are readers all over the globe. That means bloggers are able to engage in communicating with various people with the same interests regardless of where they are on planet earth. To bloggers and webmasters, it has always been a key aspect to understand to where or to who the site is reaching. That information allows for adjustments in content or other technical bits in order to enhance the communication between the parties involved. It all starts with the IP Address which is then translated into other information including the City, Region, and Country from where the site is accessed. IP2Location actually offers new DB15-DB18 packages allowing for additional information such as IDD code, area code, weather station name and weather station code. There are other webmaster tools at the free demo site (http://www.ip2location.com/demo.aspx)

A friend told me that best scone in Australia can be found in a restaurant at Blue Mountains. Well to get there it would cost me an hour and a half drive from our place just to buy those scones. Then I have tasted the home made scone in another friend’s house and I think it was good. So I have decided to make my own scone too. Considering the baking tips of my friends on how to make it, here is my first ever home made SCONE. And I am very satisfied with the end result. By the way, a scone is usually a round shape. Mine was shaped like a Teddy Bear because my little assistant insisted to use the bear cutter.

Ingredients: (Serves 4-6 people)

2 cups self raising flour
¼ cup caster sugar
30g butter (cut into small squares, room temperature)
1 egg
½ cup milk (room temperature)
Extra self raising flour

Instructions:
Put the self raising flour into a medium size bowl. Rub butter into flour. Add the caster sugar, egg and milk. Combine with your hands until mixture is soft and not sticky.

Put the dough onto a floured board. Knead the dough until smooth. You may use your hand palm or a rolling pin to shape the dough about 2 cm think. Use a scone cutter or any round cutter (or in my case a teddy bear shape cutter) to cut the dough. Use the leftover dough by shaping it again and cutting to make into scone.

Place the scone on a tray with sides almost touching each other (for softer sided scone) or 1 cm apart (for crispy sided scone). Place the tray in a preheated oven (200c) for 12-15 minutes or until scones are golden brown. Serve with Jams, and thick cream or fresh whipped cream or just a shake of icing sugar on top.

In a few more months, my mobile phone plan contract will be ending. That will put me back in the market hunt pretty soon. I do not consider myself a heavy phone user. But if I have to name the features which is a ‘must have’ in a phone, it would have to be a nice camera (for taking photos of my family on the go) and bluetooth (for downloading the photos I’ve taken). I’ll probably go for carriers or shops having unlocked cell phones as it is does come handy when travelling.

As you might already know, our 3-year old CN went on a hyper-drive on computer usage. Whenever she sees anyone in front of a computer, she would immediately prompt as that she, too, wants to use the machine. It is a good thing that we have an old notebook computer which she can use. Though she would sometimes become impatient waiting for the computer or program to start up or respond. No doubt that that machine needs some computer memory reinforcement.

Even though my two daughters are still quite young, I have to make sure that they are trained early in terms of personal grooming. Though, at their current age/stage, they still need a bit of prodding. But I am not at all alarmed as I know that in just a few years time, they would be the ones who would ask me for help on practically anything on that topic. That would probably include clothing combinations, shoes/footwear, makeup, and even blemish acne cream.

Do you know all the events played in the Olympics? Well, I have to admit that I don’t know which sport is in and which is not. So each time my daughter asks about something, I had to do a bit of research. It is then that I realized that the popular sport of golf is not included. Apparently, the main reason is because the sport already enjoys several global competitions compared to all other events. Golf popularity is true not only for professionals but for amateurs alike. The availability of excellent equipment such as Cobra golf enhances the experience and undoubtedly contributes to the high status and regard for this sport.

A sunrise or sunset scene never fails to be a head turner. The seagull in this photo, despite having this kind of view nearly every day of the year, still takes a good look while strolling at the beach. I am always amazed whenever I see such a scene. Maybe it’s because we only get a chance to enjoy it for a few moments. Or maybe it’s because it’s just something that makes up our day… our week… our weekend!

Scarborough Beach, Western Australia

Have you caught on the Beijing 2008 Olympics fever yet? I am not exactly a sporty type but I, together with my family, find it entertaining to watch athletes from all over the globe compete in various sports. I personally enjoy watching gymnastics. The athletes are typically young and of high spirits. While it is nice to watch the joy of those who have succeeded, I also feel the pain experienced by those who have not performed at best. There are even some who have not even had the chance to flex their muscles and show what they’ve got because of a lingering injury. An injury can definitely break a competitor’s career and spectator’s heart.

Even in an ordinary person’s own daily ‘bouts’, an injury can also cause a lot of frustration. The carpal tunnel syndrome is a common injury where a nerve in the wrist is compressed. A read through medical articles about this condition gives the impression that it is indeed a painful experience. It is good that there are products that provide carpal tunnel relief. The patented SmartGlove gives support to help prevent and relieve pain in the wrist due to this condition. Actually, I think it does appear to be a good tool for the sporting event called ‘blogging’.

Home rental prices in Sydney are already high. Recently, they’re soaring. That prompted us to look around for alternative rental apartment/house. But as several families/tenants are faced with the same dilemma, a wave called ‘rental crisis’ has loomed. The search doesn’t appear to be easy. Yes we’re eager to move… but we understand and trust that the Lord will provide something good for us… in His time.

I’m sure we all have experienced having a missed call in our mobiles or home phones. If the phone number is in our contacts list, then it is fine as we know exactly who called. However, I feel uncomfortable whenever they get a missed call without knowing who it is who called. It presents a puzzle. Aside, from trying to find out who the caller was, I am also faced with the question as to whether the call is important or whether it’s just somebody who pressed the wrong numbers. I think such situations can be better handled if there is a way to know who called based on the phone number. The service is called reverse phone lookup. It has good potentials as knowing who the caller was enables people to act accordingly. The data comes from public sources so it does not infringe privacy. It is also confidential as no one will be notified for searching details on a phone number. So next time you get a missed call, you’ll know how to handle things.

We had dinner at a friend’s house today. And guess what we had for dinner? Lebanese Charcoal Chicken! It’s our first time to taste chicken cooked in this manner. They got it from El Jannah in Granville NSW. It seems to be a very popular store and that’s because of a very good reason. It is not just the typical grilled chicken as this one is really full of flavor. The aioli (garlic sauce) was a perfect match, too. Of course, the food was made even better with the nice catch-up with friends.

Kids are normally asked about what they would like to be when they grow up. I have not started asking this to my kids. But someday, I will likely do so. Probably a popular answer would be to become a doctor. I wonder why that is a frequent answer. Could it be because of the prestige that comes with such profession? Or is it more of the potentials to be a channel of healing sickness? I would like to believe it is the latter. Perhaps all people would be happy to contribute to medicine in one way or another. Who has not read of stories of people sick with debilitating diseases such as diabetes or heart disease and not felt that these people will find healing. Science has progressed quite a bit in the recent years and found ways for people (yes, ordinary people) to contribute to overcome these sickness. For example, there are recent findings about potentially life-saving stem cells found in menstrual blood. C’elle stem cells were found to be able to contribute to treatment of some of the major diseases. You can learn more About the Science by visiting the site. C’elle Client Testimonial will also help readers understand why more people are availing of special promotions and potentially reap the benefits.