On Being Alone

One of the advantages of being alone is that you can do whatever you want. You can sleep, eat, and wake up anytime. You have your own time to do whatever you want. Nobody stops or controls you. You don’t feel guilty to stay out late or obligated that you need to be home and do household chores. Yes, I am enjoying my being single for the past month, but don’t get me wrong, I still have many occasions when I long for the hugs and kisses of my two boys! My point is that we just need to make the most out of our current situation and currently, I am enjoying my freedom!

Last Friday, I had some drinks with my colleagues at the Opera Bar. I had a glass of beer, 3 different shots of I don't know what they were and a glass of gin tonic and finished my colleague's red bull. Whew! With an empty stomach, I was already feeling dizzy so I stopped drinking. An hour after we went to Quay Grand for dinner. I didn't dare to drink anymore, I was feeling sober. I left them quarter to 11, took the train and got home at midnight. I had a good time and it was fun especially when everything was free. My last gimmick before this was a year ago!

The next day, my friend invited me to an open-house inspection. A 3-bedroom, 3 toilet with 2 car space apartment unit was selling for $1.3 Mln. I can't even imagine myself having that amount in my lifetime. We drove around 3 different suburbs in the north shore and for the first time I saw the biggest houses in Sydney. I spent the rest of my afternoon watching DVDs then in the evening I cleaned our room and the bathroom. I can’t even remember what I had for dinner.

On Sunday, I woke up a bit early, well, quarter to 9. I started my day watching series 2 of House and in the afternoon went to the library to get the book I've reserved. I had no idea there was already a hail which looked like snow in some of the northern shore suburbs. I had grilled pork chops in rosemary for dinner which was good, watched tv again and slept at 11pm.

So nice to be lazy and lie on the bed, relax, sleep whenever I want. I'm taking advantage of this few weeks I have before Nat & Maku arrives in end of August. Being alone is not too bad at all like what I was dreading before they left. Of course, I miss my 2 boys. I still have my crazy moments when I look at Maku's pictures and pretend to talk to him and tell him he's being makulit and malikot and then in the end make gigil by pinching his cheeks! I'm just grateful that we have Skype and YM, and we get to do video calls every night for free. For the rest of my weekends on being single, I am planning to do some cleaning and shopping for the house. Hopefully, I don't get tamad!

Cirque Du Soleil's Dralion

Last Thursday I went to see Cirque du Soleil with 19 other officemates. A privately hired coach took us to Fox Studio.

The show started exactly at 8pm. The ticket costs $109 and we were seated somewhere on the right side of the stage. No cameras were allowed inside the tent so we were not able to take pictures. The show started with 3 clowns mimicking and grabbing an audience to the stage which was really hilarious. It was followed by a young girl doing acrobats,balancing herself on one hand for a long time. It was followed by fearless aerialists bouncing off trampolines which was my favorite part of the show. The show ran for almost 2 hours with a 15 minute break in between. The show was so spectacular, the costumes were exquisite, the sets were remarkable and the acrobatics were gravity-defying. I just wished that Nat was there with me.

Here are some pictures from Cirque du Soleil’s website.

This young acrobat amazed us as she stands on a cane on one hand for a long time, constantly changing positions.

Pas de deux is a langurous aerial dance. A couple, intertwined, flies over the stage in a long band of blue cloth where they performed various acrobatic stunts.

Young women perform a ballet on light bulbs.

Another highlight of the show, male performers dive and throw themselves through wooden hoops.

Men manneuvre long poles while performing acrobatic feats on the ground.

My favorite part of the show, aerilists jumping off trampolines using the backdrop as landing pad.

Dralion is the fusion of ancient Chinese circus tradition and the avant-garde approach of Cirque du Soleil. The show's name is drawn from its two main symbols: the dragon, representing the East, and the lion, representing the West. Dralion derives much of its inspiration from Eastern philosophy with its perpetual quest for harmony between humankind and nature.

My Visit to the Dentist

It is often stated that dentistry, on average, is the highest paid profession in Sydney. Well, it's definitely true. I had a root canal therapy on my molar a month ago and just finished my last session on Tuesday. One canal, 4 x-rays and a filling cost me $880 for that last session.

So I gave my insurance card to the secretary, swiped the card and made claims electronically. When she came back she told me that I need to pay the whole amount because I have already reached the insurance’s maximum limit of A$1,700. I talked to the dentist and asked him if there is something else we can do and he was nice enough to tell me not to pay at the moment and come back today.


So I came back today to settle the bill. He asked me to call the insurance company to check again and they have confirmed that I have used up the dental benefit already. Syempre, kinabahan na ako! I don’t want to pay $880 – it was too much!!!! I was hoping for a good discount, and I was praying for at least a 50% discount. Since I’m a “suki” na there, he just told me to pay $195. Di ko tuloy alam kung matutuwa ako or feeling ko he's been overcharging me all the while. Pero I was still thankful that I just need to pay that amount. I came back to the office and compiled the receipts for the 4 sessions I had and just fixing my molar totaled to more than $2500 or Php 105,000.00.

I am just grateful that I have an insurance to pay for these ridiculous fees. Kaya lang I still need a crown which the dentist told me will cost about $1,200.00. Well, that can wait till next year!

More on World Youth Day

It was a busy week last week both with work and the activities for the world youth day. Well, I didn’t really actively participate in the events and it was a shame that I didn’t join the papal mass on Sunday. I reckon that being out there for more than 8 hours will be too tiring for me but I still feel guilty for not going. Anyway, here are some pictures taken last week.

One of the unique artworks by young Australian artists. There were 33 of them displayed at Hyde Park. Pilgrims waited their turn to pose next to the statues.

The first ever "mirror-ball Jesus" statue. The designer has put 400 hours into cutting the glass and putting them together.

The pilgrims carrying their flags. When you passed by the Aussie pilgrims, you'd hear them shout, "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie... Oi, Oi Oi!"

Pilgrims sang, clapped and moved in simple dance steps accompanied by bagpipes and tambourines

The Pope had a motorcade on Thursday. We were allowed by my boss to leave early so I headed to the Rocks to wait for the Pope. I waited for 2 hours and was a bit disappointed because the popemobile ran so fast that I only get to catch a glimpse of him.

Imagine the radiation from these microwaves, they were used to heat food for the pilgrims.

The concert at Barangaroo on Friday night.

We squeezed into the crowd so we can stay where the Filipino pilgrims were. It was so nice talking to them but it really made me feel old as they all called me "ate" and talked to me with "po" and "opo".

Cherrie, Cheryl and Cherry

It was so nice to see people from different countries, different nationalities get together with same beliefs. The atmosphere last week was so festive, noisy but definitely fun!

World Youth Day '08

World Youth Day '08 (WYD08) will be held in Sydney from 15 July to 20 July. Tens of thousands of young & old people from throughout the world partake in this big event and as early as last week people were already arriving to participate in the activities organized for them by the WYD organizers. The pilgrims were designated to different cluster regions and different activities were arranged for them to prepare and maximize the engagement of people for WYD.

Last Saturday, my friends and I drove 60 km to central coast to check out the Broken Bay Gala at Mingara. There were about 2,000 pilgrims from across the globe. People were singing, dancing, playing and chatting with other pilgrims from another country. There was a multi-cultural show prepared for them. The pilgrims braved the winter chill camping in large industrial sheds and despite the coldness they were still enjoying and having fun.

The WYD08 will start with an opening mass tomorrow at Barangaroo from 4:30pm-630pm. Catechesis (teaching) sessions at over 250 locations across Sydney will be held the following day. The Pope is having a Papal Motorcade through Sydney CBD streets which I’m hoping to get a glimpse of Him. On Friday, there will be again Catechesis sessions and Stations of the Cross to re-enact the last moment of Jesus’ life. As early as 5:30am on Saturday, there will be a pilgrimage walk across Sydney Harbour Bridge to Randwick Racecourse and an evening vigil with the Pope follows. WYD08 will end on Sunday with a final mass to be celebrated by the Pope at 10am.

It was a good sunny afternoon

Backpack for WYD08 pilgrims

Pilgrims and locals enjoying the sun

The Stations of the Cross on Friday will start at St. Mary's Cathedral and end at Domain. The church was newly renovated for this event.

WYD08 Souvenir Shop

Tents where some pilgrims spend the nights

Cost of Living in Sydney

Before I signed the contract with our company for my relocation to Australia, I deliberately studied the cost of living in Sydney so I can negotiate on my package. I joined a yahoo group called PBOZ which are Filipinos based in Australia and I’m glad that most of them were responsive and have somehow helped me in finalizing my package. Unfortunately, the contract signing was made 6 months before I moved to Sydney and the prices have gone up bizarrely.


But for those who are seriously considering working or living in Sydney, I have here an estimate on the cost of living and some websites you can refer to that may help you prepare on the expenses and the way of living here. I have to warn you, this is a long post but very informative.


Rent, depending on the suburb, may take up 20-30% of your salary. Refer to realestate.com and domain.com. Rents are quoted weekly and are paid fortnightly (every other week) or monthly (computed as weekly rate/7*365/12). At the moment, a rent for a 2-bedroom unit with 2 toilets and a carspace in our suburb which is an hour away from the city is averaging A$400/wk. There is a refundable bond that you need to pay before moving in and it costs about the same as the monthly rate.

Groceries for two may cost about A$150-$200 per month depending again on how much you like to eat. A kilo of t-bone steak is about $21, a kilo of pork is $16, a whole chicken is $5.5 per kilo, a kilo of prawn is $22. A bottled water ($2.8 for 1.5 liter) costs 10 cents more than a bottle of softdrinks and 10 cents cheaper than a kilo of chicken wings. If you have a baby or a toddler, you need to allot for nappies (cheapest is $14 for 24 pack junior size), formula ($14.95 Promil stage 3) and baby food. Two big supermarkets are Coles and Woolworths. I have noticed that prices also differ on the suburbs, like a kilo of chicken wings from the same store in the west costs $1.99 while in the north its $2.99.

Lunch food from cafeterias can cost about $6-12/meal and the serving is big so you can have the other half for dinner unless you’re a big eater. Lunch can be cheaper if you buy after 2pm, you can get a rice meal with 3 viands for only $3-4. Lunch at a restaurant may cost about $20-$30 and you pay more if you eat a fine dining restaurant. Most restaurants have websites so you can check out the location, menu and the prices, and sometimes it’s better to book before going just to make sure you don’t have to wait to be seated. A cheeseburger meal at McDonald’s costs $4.25 while a tall frappucino at starbucks costs $4.80. On a side note, to go or take out is take-away in Sydney and table napkins or tissue is called serviette.

Home Phone rates can vary depending on your plan and the service provider. We’re subscribed to Optus bundle “Optus One: Home Phone + Mobile”. For $69 a month, it includes line rental, up to 120 local calls, and $120 worth of mobile use. We don’t really get to use our landline but we think it’s necessary to have one. I am not a text or a call person either so I don’t used up the $120 worth of my mobile plan, even though I used it to call my folks in PI or my sister in LA. There are installation fees and reconnection fees but may be waived if they have ongoing promotions which happens once in while. If you subscribe to the mobile alone, the cheapest plan is at $19 with $49 worth of calls but if you want to control your mobile expenses, you may opt for prepaid lines. Optus, Telstra, Vodafone and Three are some of the biggest telecom providers.

To save on the internet connection fee, you may bundle it with your phone and/or mobile from the same service provider.

Electricity and Gas are billed separately and are paid quarterly. You may get a discount if you get them together from the same provider. We pay an average of $120 for each quarterly. Electricity is a bit cheaper by night so we usually do our laundry and ironing at night. The gas is used for the stove and the water heater. Providers are AGL, Energy Australia, TRUenergy and OriginEnergy.

Leaving your child in daycares may let you think twice because of the hefty fee. I initially checked day cares within the city and the lowest quote I got was at $90/day and the most expensive was at $110/day. So we settled to put Maku at the CFK Daycare centre which is only 4 blocks away from our apartment where it’s cheaper by $10. Since we are not citizens or permanent residents of Australia, we are not able to avail of the child care benefit where the government subsidizes a fraction of the fee but hopefully we can get a tax offset. Flying a relative from Manila to Sydney back and forth and staying for at least 3 months (or until visa expires) is much cheaper than paying for a daycare. Unfortunately, it is not very easy getting a visa.

We didn’t get a cable subscription because it’s expensive and the daily shows on TV are good enough. We still get to watch House, Grey’s Anatomy, CSI, and some movie shows on Friday and Saturday night. Nat & I were joking because we have this 42” LCD (and recently I got the 26" LCD for our room) and yet there are only 3 good channels. A basic package for cable costs about $37.95/month and includes only 30 “not so good” channels. So you still need to add movie channels which cost an additional $15.95/month and if you have a kid, you need to add channels like Disney playhouse, etc which will cost an additional $16.95/month. You may check Foxtel's website for more information.

Car is not a necessity unless you live in a place that is not accessible by public transportation. Cars are highly-priced in Sydney. The price of a brand new car in US is almost equivalent to a 2nd hand car in Sydney. Since we are not sure of our tenure in Sydney, we opted for a 2nd hand car. Just recently, we have to renew our registration with RTA which is our LTO in PI. It's so convenient that you can just actually do everything online. Since our car is more than 5 years, we needed to bring the car for inspection to a registered e-Safety station and the report is sent to RTA electronically. Everything else is done electronically such as the payment of the greenslip (Compulsory Third Party) and the renewal of the REGO. What's even better is that both RTA and the insurer send you a mail to remind you of the renewal and all you have to do is pay online or over the phone. Last week, I also have to renew our car insurance with NRMA and whew! it was so expensive. On a monthly basis, I need to allocate about $300 for our car maintenance.

The prices of petrol in Sydney is currently averaging at 162.7. With the high cost of petrol plus the very expensive parking fee, it is very practical to commute on your way to the office unless your office is near and has a free parking lot and you don't have to pay for toll fees. Toll fees already cost $3 for one-way and parking fee can go for more than $50 for whole day parking.

Public Transportations are quite reliable as there are trains, buses, ferries and taxis. Everyday, I take the train to the city but I wish the train can be faster similar to HK’s MTR or even our very own LRT/MRT, I’m sure if that happens, it will cut my trip by 10-15 minutes. Usually, there are rail track works overnight or on weekends but there are buses that replace trains so it shouldn’t hinder your trip if you’re taking the train. From our place to the city, I allocate A$36/wk. For more details on the fare and the timetable, you may check 131500’s website. Taxis are very expensive, for a 9km trip from the airport to the city, it would cost about $60. You can also book taxis online or by calling them so you can request for a car seat, or a vehicle that is wheel chair accessible, etc.

If Thursdays are shopping night in Sydney where shops are open until 9pm, Tuesdays are movie day. Malls and other establishments are open until 5pm on weekdays (except on Thurs) and up to 4pm on weekends so you should do your shopping or errands during lunch time or on weekends. Sydney is not a shopping haven. Everything is expensive here (except for some electronics) even the stuff from the weekend market. Before Christmas, I got some ordinary long sleeves which were already on 30% sale for $85 each. With that price, I could have gotten a very, very nice top from Tyler for less! There are limited US brands, mostly are Australian brands that I haven’t heard of. Billabong and Roxy prices are similar to our prices in Manila. I also bought a swimwear from Seafolly and it cost me $120. I don’t shop here except for some winter clothes, I just save the money and spend it one time when I fly to Manila or US. Movie costs $15 but if you go on a Tuesday, you’ll only pay $9 unless you book online and pay additional booking fee of $1. Two big cinemas are Greater Union and Hoyts.

Even with a medicare card, it is still advisable to get a private insurance. Luckily, our company’s paying for our insurance and I get to save at least $120 per month. As we are not citizens or permanent residents of Australia, we don’t have a medicare card so we end up paying first then reimburse later on from the insurance company.

Airfare from Sydney to wherever is very expensive. On our flight to Manila in March, we paid $1300 each and that wasn’t even the peak rate. We we’re planning to come home in December so we can celebrate Christmas with our families but when we checked the rates, it was at least $2300 per head and with Maku already 2 years old by then, we will have to shelter out at least $6300 for our airfare!

Flashback

My sister in law sent me pictures of Maku and boy is he big already! One would really think he’s 3 years old. Time really flies so fast and in a few months he’s gonna be 2! While I was browsing thru the pictures, my mind flashed back to the day, well, actually the day before I gave birth to him.

It was September 2, 2006 and I had my weekly check up with my OB in the morning. It was my 38th week and my 3rd official day of maternity leave. My OB did something called “stripping” to induce labor. After the visit with Dra. Henson, we headed to the weekend market in Alabang. I still remember buying a small bowl of lugaw (congee) for P50 which the vendor said that it was already discounted since it was originally P65. We went home, had lechon for lunch, took a nap then went to Little Quiapo in BF for some halo-halo. After that, Nat & I walked around the village and I felt some contractions already (though I didn’t know I was contracting that time), making me stop from walking for a few seconds and on our way back home the contractions felt stronger and more frequent but bearable. I took a shower afterwards and everything was still fine. Dinner came, I only had 2-3 bites of pepperoni pizza and the contraction pain started to increase. I went up the room and there was blood already but didn’t panic because my OB said that I might bleed because of the stripping. Nat was panicking already, insisting that we should call our OB and head to the hospital. I told him to relax and wait for a little while because it might just be a false alarm but the pain went on until I cannot bear it anymore to the point that I can’t stand anymore.

The ride to the hospital was terrible. The contractions were longer, stronger and more intense and I was repetitively saying “ayoko na, ang sakit!!!! ayoko na!!!”. I was wheeled straight to Genesis birthing area and was hooked to the fetal monitor to check on the baby and when the nurse checked my cervix I was already 5cm dilated. That was around 9-10 p.m. My contractions were now a few minutes apart. I threw up twice and Nat would watch the machine that monitors that contractions and he would warn me na malapit na and he would hold my hand.


I was brought to the birthing room afterwards, and the anesthesiologist came and gave me an epidural. I felt a lot better afterwards but a bit groggy and I was telling Nat to take pictures while we are still waiting for my OB. When my OB came, we did some pushing and breathing exercises so I can be more or less ready. Then when it was time, my OB ruptured my water bag and asked me to start pushing. I remembered pushing for only a few times, less than 10 I think, I didn’t feel Maku coming out. It was 1:34 am on September 3, 2006 that Markus Nathan C. Soriano was born. He was so tiny, so beautiful. The doctor put him on my chest before bringing him to the huggery and I kissed him on his head and then I fell asleep.


After almost 2 years, my baby always calls on “daddy, daddy”! When he cries or wants kalong, he would go to daddy. Wawa naman si mommy.....


Here are some pictures of Maku in Manila. Enjoy.

Feeding Mr. Froggie.... Say ahhhhh....

At Ate Lana's birthday party. Fun Ranch, Westgate, Alabang

I love Friday's strawberry lemonade

Reading the newspaper before going to school

Got a new LCD TV, yahoo!

Last week, I was having the idea (Mike termed it as an “urge”) of flying to Manila for 2 weeks in end July. I was planning to stop over Singapore for 3-4 days before I fly to Manila. I mentioned this to my boss and asked him if it will be possible to work for a day in Singapore and another 1.5 weeks in Manila since I don't have enough holidays to use for this year. Unfortunately, the big boss did not approve even though they won't spend a dime for my trip. They said that we can't mix pleasure with work!

Since my idea of traveling was now impossible, I shifted my spending energy on buying an LCD which Nat has been convincing me to buy for the longest time. I went to the mall after work and asked the salesman at Bing Lee for the last price of the 26” Samsung LCD since it wasn't on sale and he came back with a $250 discount. So I immediately called Nat and asked him what he thinks and he was obviously happy. So with a good price and Nat’s approval (he specifically wants an LCD with a built-in HTV tuner), I decided to buy it. I also tried my luck for a free mixer from the salesman but he said that he’d already given me a good discount.

Carrying the tv from the cart to the car on an inclined parking proved to be quite difficult.

It's not usual in Sydney for salesman to help you carry heavy stuff like appliances to you car. I didn't expect that the box will be that heavy so as I was carrying the box, I dropped one side of the box and to avoid losing my grip to the other side of the box, I let go of the cart which rolled down and came to a halt when it hit the car parked beside us. Good thing there wasn't a dent or a scratch.

So I drove back home and used a trolley to bring it up.

The stand has to be installed. It took me half an hour to just tighten the screw.

and here's our new LCD....

Now, we can enjoy watching at the comfort of our room!