Te Arai Reserve

Winter's out, spring's here, summer's coming.  It's time to hike again!

The weather hasn't been so perfect like this for ages!  First hike is Te Arai Reserve in the north, 1.5 hours away from home.  Love the rough road going to the park.  Nothing our tiny car can't handle.

Lunch was served at the back of the car - grilled liempo and fried rice, flushed down with cold coke, chocolate donuts for dessert.  Could pass for a perfect date.  I'm cheap like that :)

Te Arai boasts of walking tracks, horse tracks, beach area for swimming/surfing, grazed areas, sand dunes. 

I especially loved the white beach with long and wide coastline, the lagoon, a thousand splendid shells, tree-lined paths, and more lush views.

And the bluffs... how could I ever forget the bluffs?  It deserves a separate post.  The bluffs deserve a separate post... Yes, they do.  Did I say I need a separate post dedicated for the bluffs?

Teh (and Paul)

Hot milk tea on a sunny yet still cold spring morning!  I do mine with extremely hot water, english breakfast tea, heaps of creamer (coffee mate is love!), and brown sugar.  

I love how it doesn't make my heart palpitate like coffee does.  I love how the mild tea flavor combines with cream - tastes like magic!  These raves are all coming from someone who can't drink coffee :p

Flashback to 2008 in Zurich... Paul the African (?) BA asked me to join him for tea.  We went to the cafe, he ordered for tea, and put in in tons of milk in his cup.  You can't even find a trace of tea in there!  He probably saw me looking at his cup.  He said, "Hey, this is the way I like my tea, ok?  I like it milky!"  Hahaha sure, Paul!  Whatever works for you!

Speaking of Paul, I also fondly remember some comedic stories with him!  Like that time when we were tasked, more like punished, to test results for a project.  The results were in spreadsheets that span about 3 meters when printed - this is just for one test case.  There are about a hundred (?) tests!  He managed to escape all that by saying, "I ain't doin' that! I have bad eyes!" (he's squint-eyed).  Smooth!    

And that time when we went to Mc Do for lunch.  We had to ride the bus but we both forgot our transport passes in our desks.  Too late to go back, we rode the bus anyway, and hoped that no random inspector will hop in.  It's just one stop anyway!  Yes, irresponsible (and may I just add, young?).  No excuses!  I sat down in the bus.  He looked  at me in disbelief, scared too like we were fugitives, "what are you doin' sittin' down there?  You don' even have a pass! Stand up here!"  Hahaha kapal nga naman ng mukha ni ateng!  Uupo pa!

Memories!  

Amag Away

Winter is over (vs GOT's 'winter is coming' nyek!).

This usually means it's time to clean all the molds that accumulated on the window sills.  Molds are really annoying. They come at a time when all you really are in the mood for is hybernating.  Who wants to move around and clean during winter?  Well, not me :)

Last Saturday, the weather forecast said 'crappy day' so I said something bright to Mike - that it's about time we remove the molds.  To which he said, "'di ba tayo magkakasakit pag nagliparan yun at nasinghot natin?" 

Aba, that was a brighter remark and good attempt to escape cleaning.  Then I hit back, "'di ba tayo magkakasakit lalo pag di natin nilinis?" 

Hahaha!  The supernova award goes to... the molds!  For making us shake our bonbons and clean.

And boy, did we clean the moldy windows!  But wait, there's more!  We also cleaned the sofa and the carpets!

Pag sinumpong nga naman oo!  It does wonders!