Shannen’s school visit and farewell

Shannen had her second school visit @ St. Joseph’s yesterday morning. Naku, she enjoyed it so much. Ayaw ng umalis. Meron kasi syang 2 kaibigan sa class nya – Annika and Justinne. Sa 5 May pa ang official start nya don (kids in NZ start primary school @ 5yrs old).

There are 13 kids in the class. Seven ang Filipino, one puti, one Indian at yung iba mukhang middle-eastern/European. Eventually there will be 16 kids in the class. So most likely madadagdagan pa yung number ng pinoys :)

Farewell Maru

Nung hapon, farewell party naman ni Shannen sa Maru Montessori (kahit ngayon pa ang last day nya). All the kids sat down to form a circle while Shannen settled on a special chair. Then they did this cute "leaving" ceremony. I was so impressed.

For the food, I bought a chocolate mud cake, baked mini muffins and made ham-cheese-pineapple kebab. Syempre may giveaways din. We gave the boys Ben10 and Spongebob stickers, while the girls got bead bracelets. Medyo nakakapagod yung preparations. But my little helpers Shannen and Vince made things easier and the event more special.

Nanakawan kami!!!

Saturday night, di makita ni Henry yung car tools nya na nakalagay sa shed (nasa likod ng bahay). Nung tinignan nyang maiigi yung laman ng shed, nawawala din yung 5 sets of fishing rod and 2 tackle boxes. Sa loob ng bahay wala naman kaming napansin na nawawala. Haayy... mabuti na lang.

That same moment, I rang 111 to report the incident to the police. Sunday early morning, they sent a forensic officer (parang CSI). Kukuha sana sya ng finger prints however di daw sya makakakuha ng significant samples dun sa site. She gave me a reference number for insurance claim but unfortunately wala kaming home contents insurance (today meron na!)

I still believe NZ is a safe place but you still have to secure your belongings. Another lesson learned.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!!!

Bakasyon kami dito ay from Good Friday to (Easter) Monday. Kahit na hindi kami nag-out-of-town like most kiwis would do, we had a lot of activities that kept us busy.

Good Friday. Vince and I went to St. Joseph Church to see the re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross. The kids from St. Joseph’s School did a very good job. Merong part na may unexpected scene-stealer. Yung isang guardia sibil nag-collapse sa stage. Akala namin part pa yung ng program. It was only after the teacher picked up the kid that we realised it was not in the script. Kawawa naman yung bata, facedown ang pagkakahulog.

Black Saturday. House-hunting. waaahhhh…. ang hirap maghanap ng bahay na mura, safe at maganda.

Easter Sunday. Nag-dinner kami sa bahay nila Peachie (busmate ko). A few months back nagkaron ng Meet Your Neighbors sa aming area. I believe there are about 12 pinoy families in Meadowood pero kami lang ni Peachie ang present. Baka shy yung iba (kami kasi hindi, he he he). So we thought of inviting some pinoys for dinner. I’m really pleased Peachie offered her place.

Easter Monday. I woke up early to do walking. Meadowood and Totara Vale ang nasa itinerary ko which is about 5.5kms. Nakaka-50minutes walking na ako ng may nakita akong aso sa isang reserve/park. Nagkatitigan kami. Iba yung tingin nya sa akin. Na-sense nya ata na super duwag ako. Umatras ako. I made another attempt to move forward after a minute. Pero masama talaga ang tingin nya sa akin. So tinawagan ko si Henry para sunduin ako. He he he….

10 April - HO's 34th and daugther Hannah's 2nd bday

Birthday and ice cream

Last week, I bought a special ice cream for a special occasion. It was my dad's birthday on 4 April. And to him, a birthday is never complete without an ice cream (pero kahit ice drop ok na sa kanya). The kids got excited when I took the container out of the freezer. Gusto nga nilang ubusin yon but I asked them to save some. Baka sakaling maisipan ni daddy na pasyalan kami, eh di may matitikman pa sya. I really miss him :(

Happy Birthday Dad!

April 1: $5,000 Govt Stimulus Package

While on my way to work yesterday, I heard in the radio that the government is giving away $5000 to people earning above $50K a year. This is part of the government's stimulus (to stimulate spending).

Aba, sobra akong na-excite. I was already spending the money in my mind. Io-overhaul ko yung living room namin plus I'll replace one of our beds. Bibili din ako ng bagong shoes and racket for badminton. Pagdating ko sa opis, tatawagan ko agad si Henry to share the good news. Ii-spread ko din yon amongst my workmates.

Kaso bago ako nakababa ng bus, it was revealed that that was an April Fools thing. What??? Hindi yon totoo??? I cant believe I fell for it. We've been busy the past few weeks trying to apply the real April 1 tax changes into our system. And that one was definitely not included. Ewan ko ba bakit ako naniwala. Oh well, at least it gave me a few minutes of shopping. kahit na sa panaginip lang.