my mother the explorer

Two things that my mom did for the first time when she came over for a visit last December:

Opened a Facebook account and went Spelunking. (cave exploring)

Her being on Faecbook is a huge surprise. She is the most security paranoid person around --subjecting all friend requests to a background check services.

But lo and behold she now has close to 200 friends.

And Spelunking! I don't think she's ever been near a cave before. But Im glad to have exposed her to the outdoors. She swears she loses weight everytime she spends time with me. And I choose to see that as a compliment .

isnt she my mini me?

Anyway, here's a video clip of her short adventure



which I of course, posted on her Facebook wall.

Getaways

It's been so long since our last mini getaway trip to the Blue Mountains

We stayed at the most tranquil place that's perfect for forgetting about the busting city / work life. (even for just a few days)

this was the breakfast area, where if you draw the honeycomb shades to the side, you get a glimpse of lush greens .

and if you wander a bit further, you get a breath taking view of this

I love long holidays, but sometimes short getaways will do. I've got 2 getaways coming in the next two weeks..heading to the Goldcoast this weekend (well, both work and leisure!) and then on to the Hunter Valley the weekend after for my birthday. Bring it on! :)

bad face day

there's a ton of remedies for bad hair day. You can tie your hair in a messy bun, or just a plain old ponytail, put on a beanie, whatever attention grabbing hair accessory. and if all else fails you can head to the nearest shop that sells motorcycle helmets.

but what about bad face day?

I still get the occassional breakouts (yes at my age of almost 31) and I hate it. When youre a teenager, youre excused. When youre an adult--it just looks pathetic.

Sometimes, no amount of concealing or makeup can hide that glaring angry zit. So what do you do?

That's right. Hide behind funky sunnies! I love this shop in Ottawa Canada. Very hippy happy high :)

Dragon Dragon!

It was recently THAT time of the year again...

Time for....Dragonboat Competitions!

we trained hard for a month. and this year, we placed 3rd on our industry category. Not bad at all! Considering other teams train all year round. It was over all a much better event this year, the weather alone was 100% better than last year. True it was scorching hot, but I prefer that over freezing winds and rain, which we had to endure last year.

Dragonboat as a sport takes a lot of time and commitment so I think I can only do it once a year. I mostly love the team effort , especially the build up towards a competition.
As a workout though, I prefer cardio. If I'm going to get worn out,  I may as well sweat buckets and lose calories. Dragonboat is the perfect accompaniment if you do regular cardio. It tones your upperbody like crazy! Strengthens the core too.

Anyway, we may not have had individual trophies , but we have one for the whole team. It's not the trophy itself but the memory of winning and placing.

NEW YORK

Noo Yawk!!

It's not one of my favourite cities in the world but I loved the time we spent there.

I can't pinpoint exactly what it is but I think I feel suffocated with too much people, the rush, the intimidating steel buildings,  the very fast paced way of living.

I tried to get as much photos to capture the essence of the city but it just won't do. So as usual I made a short clip out of my visit.

Don't get me wrong I will always go back when I have the opportunity but it won't be on my bucket list of "must re-visit" places.

This really surprised me, I'm definitely more of a city person. But I guess I need a lot of space.

Harry Potter 1-7. Check!

This has been my official read for the whole month of December-January!

I ordered it from Amazon around September last year and only got to start reading in in December. I finished the entire series in January.

Now I understand the craze, sensation, fever, and everything else that drove millions of people fanatic about Harry Potter.

It's such a brilliant series. The entire storytelling, the details, the characters, the storyline. Its just pure genius. I of course loved them much more than the movies even if I watched the movies before reading.

Have to say I was definitely late in the game with this one. I purposely didnt want to get into the fever when everyone was going gaga over the books. Because well, Im not one for going with "what's in" but honestly, there is perfect and valid reason why the Harry Potter series is a must read.

This whole set will definitely be re-read over the  years, and is treasured much more than a collection of titanium accessories.

Strawberries and Nutella

Strawberries and chocolate has got to be one of the best combinations made. But strawberries and Nutella?--they are made for loving!

While the concept of it sounds disgusting and too rich, this Nutella & Strawberry PIZZA was just too hard to resist:

If I had it my way though..I would LOAD it with more strawberries. Forget about the dollops of cream. I would just sprinkle about 5 times more chopped strawberries in there.

My sister with her slices.
Definitely one for sharing. I just bought a huge jar of Nutella and fresh strawberries at home. Perfect easy dessert!

Finger lickin good...Definitely better than
Mens diamond cross