Posts from — May 2009

The X-Men Origins: Wolverine hit the silver screens this month. My 4-year old daughter is surprisingly one of those who caught with the X-Men fever. She likes Wolverine so much that she started planning on buying a costume for her dad.

Anyway, by popular demand, the family recently had a movie marathon. Obviously, it is the X-Men movie series. Although not exactly a ‘family’ type movie, it is quite entertaining. The only thing to watch out when watching it with kids are the violent action scenes (for which the movie gets the rating of ‘M’). And of course, it is fiction.

I didn’t think Wolverine would catch the attention of my little one. But I am now thinking that I may be mistaken. One family friend greeted her this morning: ‘Hi Dora!’ (well, she is… or was a great Dora fan). Little CN promptly responded: ‘I’m not Dora, I’m Wolverine!’

It is almost the middle of the year. The last time I tried to look around for a family holiday, almost all of the good end-of-year deals are gone. By now we have already embraced the fact that the best way to get a great deal is to show the money early on. Whether you’re after Vegas hotels or simple out of town trips, the same rule applies. But once you’ve made that dream booking, you can just go ahead and dream for the next few months until that holiday comes around.

Almost everything is going digital. And with digital comes the need for power. In a lot of cases, this would translate to the need for batteries. For families with small children, there is no doubt that keeping some alkaline batteries ready would prove to be a wise choice.

A lot of household goods now have their ‘digital counterpart’. So other than a digital clock, there should be some other digital goods like thermometers, kitchen timers, weighing scales, and of course, toys. Again, it is best to keep a pack of batteries ready to go. For example, a weak battery can easily give you a 5 kg weight loss when you step on a digital bathroom weighing scale. Too bad when you replace the batteries, you’ll gain the kilos back just as quick. Well, one can always go back to hunt for phenphedrine review or other solutions. The other way to go is to hop into your digital exercise machine to make sure the numbers you see the next time you weight won’t be a false alarm.

Today is an important day in Australia as the government announces its 2009 Federal Budget. It becomes very important as it will be key in facing not only today’s financial crisis but also in ensuring the country’s development in the future. One of the things which caught attention days before the budget announcement is the decrease in private health insurance rebate. Medicare supplement insurance is one thing which most parents/families are probably wanting to keep despite the difficult times. It’s almost a no-brainer to tell if it’s in or out.

One lazy evening, my daughters and I played a simple game of naming sporting events beginning with letters from A through to Z. As you may have guessed, the kids were just so creative with their answers. It was even fun when little CN would put up her hand to give her smart answers. I recall one particular discussion on E - equestrian. It sure does seem to be a peculiar sport. For example, the clothing such as breeches are really different compared to jerseys and shorts which are common in several sports. Compared to others which requires only a pair of legs to compete, this one requires some pricey ‘equipment’.

I was once engaged in a conversation talking about how typical it may be for some parents to engage their child into a wide variety of extra curricular activities. Some children would have to keep up a weekly schedule which include perhaps ballet lessons, piano lessons, art classes, swimming lessons, and so on. Perhaps if money is not an issue, a lot would definitely be tempted into pushing kids into everything that can fit in outside school hours! I know it may sound funny. But reality is, a lot of parents would try all means to give all of the keys to unlock their child’s potentials.

We still have this huge container of negatives of our priceless family photos. I am trying to find a feasible way to convert these treasures into digital assets. I said ‘feasible’ since the cost of really good film scanners are really way up there. There are cheaper ones out there but as what some would typically say, it’s just too good to be true. Anyway, nowadays, perhaps a great majority of cameras are using sd memory cards and the like. And once the card is full, one can just create multiple copies for storage/backup. Well, I’ve already said it a lot of times in this post: these memories are treasures. And they’re definitely worth keeping!

We went to the Kangaroo Valley NSW late last year and found ourselves an oldie but goodie: the Hampden Suspension Bridge. It is definitely a beautiful sight worth a stop for the snaps. It remains to be an eye-catcher in its old age (built in 1897). After the eye-treat, we travelled about a kilometer or so to have a taste of what is advertised to be ‘the world’s best pie’. Catchy isn’t it? Our verdict? Go to the bridge.

Nagpunta kami sa Kangaroo Valley NSW noong nakaraang taon at nakita namin ang isang ‘oldie but goodie’: ang Hampden Suspension Bridge. Talagang napakaganda nito kaya naman sulit para huminto at kumuha ngl itrato. Nananatili itong ‘agaw-tingin’ kahit na ito ay may edad na (itinayo noong 1897). Pagkatapos ng ‘eye-treat’, kami ay nagtungo mga isang kilometro ang layo upang tikman ang pagkaing tinaguriang ‘world’s best pie’. Talaga namang nakakaenganyo, di ba? Ang aming hatol? Pumunta kayo sa tulay.