Once or twice, we have forgotten to greet each other but more often, we’d realize what day it is and we’d immediately greet each other to acknowledge our day.
It has come to the point that we stopped counting time as we take each day for what it bring us, from the blessings we continue to receive and the challenges we face. We are grateful for each moment together. We’re blessed to have achieved a balance of love, friendship and respect in everyday whether it be in the little or big moments.
I was on postpaid plan for two years and my contract ended May of this year. It so happened that two weeks prior to vacationing in Manila (March), my simple Motorola mobile phone broke. Since we were already in Manila, the Husband encouraged me to buy a smart phone. With hesitation, I gave in and bought myself a Samsung Galaxy Mini, my first ever smart phone. I enjoyed using it so when I came back to Sydney, I opted to go back on a prepaid account.
I knew there was a new iPhone coming out but I forgot exactly when it will be available in Australia. I’ve been pretty busy with work, writing and being with family and friends that there were days I’m not even sure what date it is. When the Husband dragged me into our mobile provider’s store two Fridays ago, he said he will just register my postpaid account.
I was nonchalant when I sat myself in the client’s area and let the Husband do the talking with the staff of the store. I was truly oblivious on what’s happening. Then the Husband came up to me and said, “You are getting your iPhone 4s today.”
“Are you serious????”. The only three words I managed to say in my wide-eyed shock.
“Yes! Can’t you believe it? They have available iPhone 4s’ today.”
“iPhone 4s? Is that today?”
“Yes…you didn’t know?”
“I forgot.”
“Well then…surprise!!! You are getting a new phone in about 20 minutes!”
I signed the registration form and in 20 minutes, the staff was able to set up my account and before I knew it, I was being handed my new phone.
There’s more to this story than just an acquisition of a material blessing. It could’ve been any thing really.
This story is about my Husband thinking of a way to amuse me, surprise me and indulge me. This is about my Husband making a day extra-ordinary and extra magical for me.
If I enjoyed using my Samsung Mini Galaxy (I still use it for my Philippine number), I’m enjoying my iPhone 4s more.
I’m not a techie person. When it comes to phones, I just look for anything that will cater to my needs. For years, I only need a phone which I can use for calling and texting, that’s why I’ve hold off from buying a smart phone. This year, I finally gave in to owning a smart phone because I need a phone for calling, texting, having access to the internet and for taking photos. Owning an iPhone 4s is a bonus for me because it’s just easy to use and I finally get to in synch it with my iPad 2.
With the iOS 5 update that happened recently to Apple’s mobile devices, I am able to appreciate owning an iPhone more. Nowadays, I get to send messages to my Husband and friends from all over the world via iMessage. While some people may take the iMessage for granted, I appreciate it because I now receive messages from friends overseas. For example, my friends from the Philippines never text me because sending me a text message will cost them PhP15.00. With iMessage, it’s free.
I’m still discovering what the iPhone can do for me but right now, I’m having fun playing with Siri, which Apple describes as, “The intelligent assistant that helps you get things done. All you have to do is ask.”.
Here’s a sample of one of my conversations with Siri below. Some conversations are really funny but functionality-wise, Siri has googled stuff for me, told me what the weather will be like on a certain day, change details of a specific contact for me and even called and text my contacts for me. Later this week, I’ll share with you some screenshots of my exchanges with Siri.
The Husband and I compared the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s when it comes to speed and the iPhone 4s is faster. We opened the website at the same time and the iPhone 4s was able to load the site a few minutes quicker than the iPhone 4. Even when we took photos, the iPhone 4s is faster and has better resolution. Here are some sample photos below.
I tried taking food photos at home and the details are sharper even if I took this photo in low light.
Here is another photo taken in low light.
You know I have a soft spot for sunset shots so when I saw this beautiful sunset in our balcony, I thought of using the iPhone 4s. The end result was not bad at all.
The photo below is one of the lighted “balloon” at Hyde Park. I zoomed in then took a photo and the image was still sharp.
This one below I believe is another great capture of the iPhone 4s.
All the sample photos were only resized and cropped but never enhanced to show the capabilities of the iPhone 4s’ camera.
Interesting Read: How Does the iPhone 4s Camera stack up against other Cameras?
As a wife and home manager, I take care of the family’s social schedule and some weekends, it is a challenge to work out what we have to do, where we have to go and how we will squeeze time for relaxation. Weekends are never enough especially when you still have to do household chores you never get to do during the week like cleaning, washing laundry and ironing clothes. That’s why long weekends (in this case, a 3-day weekend due to a public holiday) are always a welcomed blessing.
Today is New South Wales’ celebration of Labour Day and we had a chance to do more with our weekend. Planning a 3-day weekend is so much easier compared to a 2-day weekend.
Sometimes, we’d go out of town during long weekends but this time, decided to stay in Sydney so we can do more with our free time and have a balance between socialization, play, rest and chores.
Time to Dress Up and Party. We kicked off Saturday with a lunch party with friends at Hard Rock Sydney. Dressing up does wonders to a tired psyche while being surrounded by laughter of good friends brings instant sunshine to anyone’s life.
Time for Us = Saturday Date Night. We’d usually have our coffee dates on Fridays but since it’s a long weekend and we were already out on Saturday, we hung out at Strathfield (one of Sydney Metro’s Korea Towns) on a quest to try out a new cafe (for coffee) and Korean restaurant (for dinner).
We found a stationery cafe called “My Sweet Memory” that serves delicious coffee and sells amazing and cute stationery.
Dinner was at Ce Ci Korean Restaurant where we had a Deep-fried Chicken in Spicy Sauce and Spicy Beef & Tofu Hot Pot.
Time for a Good Read, Health and Beauty. Our weekends will never be complete without a good rest and time for ourselves. I won’t function well the whole week without an afternoon nap either on Saturday or Sunday. I usually exercise inside the home but today, the sun shone so I was able to run outdoors for a bit. What I love most about long weekends? I get to have more “Me” time!
Time for a Naughty Treat. Another little reward to myself in the form of my favourite doughnut for breakfast. Knowing the I have more time for exercise, I let myself have a doughnut this morning.
Long weekends or not, I don’t think time will ever be enough to do everything we want to do. But with the help of a balanced schedule, a wife like me can make the most of what a family can do with a 3-day weekend.
Have a great week ahead!
This is also my entry to Toni‘s It’s A Wife’s Life Blog Carnival 
So we decided to have a “staycation” (meaning: vacation at home or in the city you live in) in Sydney for two days and give ourselves a break from doing household chores and pretend to be tourists in our city.
Dropped by World Square and checked out the shops there. We saw our favourite Meiji Chocolates at Miracle Asian Supermarket.
From our suking DVD store, we had dinner at Yummy Chinese BBQ Restaurant then went back to Chinatown and visited the biggest Morning Glory store I’ve ever seen.
Some of the stuff I got from Morning Glory: Banana Case, telephone-inspired hair ties and a pair of Elmo earphones.
Saturday, the Husband’s birthday, I took him to the Adriano Zumbo Lab at Rozelle. The Husband has a very sweet tooth and he loves to bake so I thought that going to Zumbo’s Lab would be a great treat for him.
I will write a separate post about our adventure at Zumbo’s Lab, in the mean time, feast your eyes on the hundreds of Macarons that we saw at the lab.
Followed by a good stroll outside Westfield. Went in and out of shops, played at the Apple Store, took photos of street art and incidentally came across Mario and Luigi.
A quick coffee break at Becasse Bakery (went back to Westfield Dining Precinct) before we attended mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral.
Dettol Liquid Hand Wash, 3 x 750ml – $12.99
Palmolive Hand Wash, 2 x 750ml – $7.29
Palmolive Shower Gel, 750ml pump + 750ml refill – $9.28
Neutrogena T/Gel Therapeutic Shampoo, 2 x 200ml – $18.99
Herbal Essences Shampoo, 2 x 735m – $17.59
Kirkland Hydrating Shampoo, 2 x 1.3L – $8.99
Kirkland Hydrating Conditioner, 2 x 1.18L – $8.99
Tresseme Shampoo & Conditioner, 2 x 1.3 L – $13.99
Palmolive Bar Soap, 20 bars – $8.99
Dove Moisturising Bar Soap, 14 bars – $18.39
Ivory Bar Soap, 16 bars – $5.99
Johnson’s Baby Bedtime Value Pack, 1.3L – $11.59
Johnson’s Baby Top to Toe Bath Pack, 1.2L – $14.99
Johnson’s Baby Powder, 4 x 600mg – $13.99
Johnson’s Baby Wipes Scented, 960 pcs – $34.98
Huggies Nappies Infant, 192 pcs – $72.99
Huggies Nappies Newborn, 224 pcs – $57.59
Huggies Nappies Crawler, 184 pcs – $51.79
Centrum Select 50+ Multivitamins, 200 pcs – $26.99
Webber Naturals Fish Oils 180/120, 400 pcs – $14.99
Kirkland Omega 3 Fish Oil, 180 pcs – $31.99
Herron Blue Ibuprofen, 24 pcs – $2.69
Kikkoman Soy Sauce, 2L – $9.99
Lee Kum Kee Soy Sauce, 1.75L – $4.79
Leggo’s Tomato Paste, 12 x 290g – $12.89
John West Red Salmon, 4 x 210g – $19.79
John West Tuna in Olive Oil, 12 x 185g – $23.99
India Gate Premium Basmati, 20kg – $44.99
Grape Brand Thai White Rice, 10kg – $9.49
Golden World Jasmine Rice, 25kg – $35.99
Sun Rice Premium White Long Grain Rice, 5 kg – $7.49
Palm Corned Beef, 4 x 326g – $12.99
Spam Regular, 3 x 340g – $10.79
Kirkland Sea Salt Grinder, 368g – $4.39
Kirkland Pure Sea Salt, 850g – $3.79
Saxa Cooking Salt, 2 kg, $1.59
Sunshine Lemon Juice, 2 x 1L – $4.59
Mission Jumbo Taco Shells, 2 x 190g – $3.79
Mission Burrito Dinner Kit, 2 x 560g – $9.69
Red Island Canola Oil, 5L – $12.99
Kirkland Olive Oil, 5L – $19.99
Kirkland Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1L – $11.99
Bake One Cupcake Mix, 2.5kg – $9.99
Gem of the West Plain Flour, 12.5kg – $8.49
Gem of the West Self Raising Flour, 8 x 1kg – $7.39
Sunshine White Sugar, 25kg – $23.49
Splenda Sachets, 8 x 50pk – $19.99
Sanitarium So Good Soy Milk, 12 x 2L – 23.69
Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa Mix, 60 x 28g – $7.99
Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows, 1.1kg – $4.79
Kirkland Japanese Green Tea, 100 bags – $15.69
Twinnings Infusions Variety Pack, 120pcs – $12.89
Tetley Leaf Tea, 4 pack x 400g – $7.49
Nescafe Blend 43, 500g – $15.99
Kirkland Guatemalan Whole Bean Coffee, 1.36kg – $21.69
Kirkland by Starbucks Whole Bean Roasted Espresso, 907g – $13.99
Kirkland Rwandan Whole Bean Coffee, 1.36kg – $15.99
Kirkland Monterey Jack Cheese, 907g – $6.29
Primo Cocktail Frankfurts, 1kg – $4.89
Primo Chorizo, 1kg – $12.59
Western Star Butter, 1.5kg – $9.99
Lurpak Unsalted Block, 3 pack – $10.29
Bertolli Olivio Spread, 1kg – $6.79
Lays Potato Chips BBQ, 425g – $5.98
Lays Potato Chips Classic, 425g – $6.49
Kirkland Lightly Salted Chips, 907g – $8.49
Kellogg’s Sultana Bran, 1.36kg – $9.79
Kellogg’s Cornflakes, 1.45kg – $9.99
Kellogg’s Just Right, 1.45kg – $10.99
Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain, 940g – $6.99
Skippy Peanut Butter, 1.36kg – $5.69
Isigny Brie, 1kg – $30.49
Dutch Edam Balls – $12.49/kg
Jindi Camembert – $24.99/kg
Happy Cow Cheese Slices, 800g – $6.89
White King Toilet Gel Lemon, 2 x 700ml – $5.98
Kirkland Free & Clear Liquid Laundry, 5.5L – $19.99
Softly Laundry Liquid Woolens & Delicates, 5L – $14.99
Kirkland Ultra Fabric Softener, 5.53L – $15.99
Downy April Fresh Fabric Softener, 3L – $16.58
Cuddly Fabric Softener, 5L – $11.99
Palmolive Regular Dishwashing Liquid, 5L – $18.99
Finish Lemon Powder, 3kg – $13.59
Panasonic Viera, 50″ Plasma, 1080P Full HD TV – $949.99
Samsung Series 5/D550 51″ Plasma 1080P Full HD TV – $1,149.88
Samsung Series D7000 WIFI 55″ LED 200HZ 1080P Full HD 3D TV – $2,999.99
Again, these are only some of the prices I was able to collate on 12 August. Prices may change everyday or every week.
The big question really is, “Is it worth paying for the annual membership of AUD$60.00?”, which my Husband and I also asked before we applied for membership. We still went on with the membership because we thought experiencing Costco will best answer that question. So for the whole year, we’ll keep our receipts and keep tabs of all the savings we got from all the sales and at the end of the annual membership, we’ll see if our AUD$60.00 was really worth it.
If we found out that the annual membership is not worth it, we won’t avail of the Costco membership for the next year.
Reasons Why the Costco Membership May Be Good For You
(1) You have a big family
(2) You have a business
(3) You regularly have parties at home/organise parties
(4) You send care packages to your families abroad
(5) You love big savings on grocery items
(6) You have ample storage space at home
With that said, we also have to understand that Costco is not the be-all and end-all in grocery shopping. There are some items that they don’t have (yet). Some items are cheaper in Coles and Woolworths. We may find cheaper appliances at JB Hi-Fi, Bing Lee or Harvey Norman. I still believe that grocery shopping in local supermarkets is enough to cater to a household’s basic needs. Costco may be a good option to many families in Australia but it is definitely not the only option to all families living here.
