Merry Christmas

First of all, I’d like to wish everyone who stumbles upon this blog post a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Hope you all had a fantastic time catching up with family, friends, and maybe some much needed sleep!!

24th-25th December 2010

Christmas this year has been pretty awesome. Mum and Dad were in New Zealand for the first time in about 4-5 years, so being able to celebrate with them was great!! We even put up the old Christmas tree too!! Been ages since we did that. Got each other presents, wrapped them up and put them under the tree haha. Had a nice dinner at home on Christmas Eve with Dad, Mum, Dill and Steph (Jenny worked so had to come late hehe), then exchanged gifts.

From Bobo, I received my newest toy, the Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM prime lens!! The thing is fast, quiet, accurate, and best of all, the depth of field you can achieve with them is UNCANNY!! Thanks so much babe!!

From Dill and Steph, I got Mario Party 8 for the Wii. Tried it last night with Dill, Steph and Jenny, and I must say, the game is quite fun!! Thanks, guys!!

And finally from Mum and Dad, both Dill and I got a new Nintendo Wii from them. Not just any Wii though, it’s the limited edition 25th Anniversary Super Mario Wii in (Ferrari) Red!! Thanks, Mum!! Thanks, Dad!!

Jenny and I were out shopping with Mum and Dad at Sylvia Park a couple of weeks back, when we stumbled upon a set of 8 pots and pans made of stone and made in Germany. We could tell this was what the folks have been looking for, and the price was pretty good too, so we got them that for Christmas

All in all, this was a very enjoyable Christmas for me. Haven’t really gotten into the Christmas spirit like this year in many years now, so it was a nice change!!

26th December 2010

Boxing Day. It was also Dad’s birthday, so we (me, Dill, Steph, Jenny, Mum) all took him to the Manurewa Botanical Gardens for photos and lunch at Miko Cafe (situated inside the Gardens). The day was fantastic. Perfect weather (started raining hardout on the 27th, so we considered ourselves extremely fortunate haha), and perfect company. Couple that with my new 35mm L prime lens + my trusty Canon EOS 40D, and you have a perfect day ahead of you! Lunch was great. However it was a pity to find out they no longer serve the fish and chips as a regular menu item anymore…

In the evening, we took him to karaoke at Mini Karaoke in the city We all knew how much he loves singing, so we decided to treat him to that!! Jenny’s treat. Thanks again, boo! Afterwards, it was back to our place for some Wii Sports!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!! We all hope you had a fantastic day!! We thoroughly enjoyed spending the day with you!!

2010 Cy Young Winners

Ok, I totally agree that Roy Halladay is the rightful winner of the MLB’s most coveted pitching award this year. He’s the most consistent AND most dominant pitcher in both leagues. I’d say only the likes of Cliff Lee and Tim Lincecum can possibly give him a run for his money.

So I’m cool with Doc winning in the National League, BUT what I don’t get is HOW ON EARTH DID FELIX HERNANDEZ WIN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE CY YOUNG AWARD??!!

Sure, he pitched the most innings, and had the lowest ERA, but his overall record was a very, very ordinary 13-12. Yeah, yeah, he didn’t have the run support other candidates like CC Sabathia did, but COME ON… I’d have much rather let either one of the Red Sox candidates (Clay Buchholz or Jon Lester) win it!! Even they had more respectable numbers. And I don’t particularly like the Red Sox!! :\

MLB Championship Series

American League Championship Series:
** New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers **

What I want to see: The Yankees to win the Series, setting up a World Series re-match with the Phillies

Prediction: Tough one. As much as I like the Yankees, NY’s pitching seems to be a little shaky… CC Sabathia should have lost Game 1 against the Twins, but the Yankee bats picked up his slack. CC will need to step up even more and eat up innings as usual, Andy Pettitte will need to step up even more and prove to the world that he is still indeed the Postseason King, Phil Hughes must continue to shine like he did against the Twins, and A.J. Burnett needs to start pitching again.

Yankees in 6 or 7 games. HOPEFULLY…

National League Championship Series:
** Philadelphia Phillies vs. San Francisco Giants **

What I want to see: As above. The Phillies are my favourite National League team, so I definitely want to see them win this one. A Yankees vs. Phillies re-match would be epic!!

Prediction: The Phillies’ “Monster Three” (haha that reminds me of Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro and Sanji from “One Piece” LOL) of Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt are more imposing than the three the Giants (Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez) are pitting them against. “The Freak” will probably be the most difficult to crack for the Phillies bats; Cain and Sanchez shouldn’t be as troublesome. The Phils had a “cold bat” slump in the regular season, so let’s hope that doesn’t happen in this series!!

Phillies in 5 or 6 games. Fingers crossed!!

First Update of 2010

I just realised (AGAIN) that I am VERY, VERY SLACK when it comes to my blog. It’s not that I don’t have enough free time, I just keep forgetting the fact I have a blog! Or when I do remember, I tend to run out of ideas on what to blog about very quickly lol.

Well, I figured that my first impression(s) of the first month of 2010 would be a good starting point, seeing as there’s only 5 days left in January 2010. Sheesh, time flies!!

So, what are my impressions? Think I’ll list them:

- Mum and dad are still away in Taiwan. Dill and I have kinda gotten used to it (they’ve been going back pretty much every summer for a few years now), but you do sorta miss the company (esp. the cooking! )
- I’ve spent A LOT of money over the past few months LOL. A brief list of what I have bought (in no particular order); Sony PlayStation 3 slim 120GB (split 50/50 with Dill), the complete “Band Hero” set (again, split 50/50), quite a few games for the PS3 and for my new rig (see previous post), pre-ordered “Assassin’s Creed II” White Collector’s Edition, tinted Emmy’s windows (35%; the darkest street legal tint in NZ, aka “Midnight Express” from Tint-a-Car), removed Emmy’s catalytic converter (died about 1-2 months ago; nice, affordable mod. Makes her growl a little louder ), lowered Emmy on some nice, blue H&R Sport springs (model number 29749-2, in case anyone’s wondering), got a gym membership at the Olympic Pools gym ($945 might sound a tad on the expensive side, but compared to other gyms like Les Mills, it actually comes out to be cheaper, because I get full access to the gym, all the different fitness classes they offer, the swimming pools, spa, sauna, steam, etc. all in one package), got a new Nike gym duffel bag, and a pair of trainers (my And1′s died a while back), the Nike Free 5.0 v4′s (first impressions = ULTRA LIGHT AND COMFORTABLE!). There’s bound to be a few more things I’ve bought; I just can’t remember them off the top of my head HAHA!
- Started my internship last Monday (18th Jan), and although it’s been pretty dead/quiet at work, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. Learned quite a bit about claiming prescriptions and sorting out errors in the claiming, intervening script errors, etc. Love it!
- For the first time in my life, I can proudly say that I am no longer a student. Finished off my BPharm degree in November last year, and so the only thing standing between my pharmacist license is this intern year (however, I’ll be working full-time, so technically I’m not a student anymore hehehe)
- Similarly to the previous point, this Jan also marks the first time in a long time Jen and I have had a stress-free Jan
- Went to the gym with Jen this evening for the first time in a couple of years! Knackered, but it feels good to get some decent exercise! Gotta keep this up! Aiming to go at least 2-3 times a week

So all in all, the first month has been pretty enjoyable. Got a bit of R&R for the first half of the month, and then started my internship. Even so, I’ve got a pretty cruisy week. Internship 4 days a week (4x 9 hour days) + my usual shifts at Superclinic and St Lukes on Saturday. I get Sunday and Monday off, so it’s pretty awesome.

If I get some time over the weekend, I’ll probably give Emmy a wash and try snap a few photos of her little “makeover” (lowered and tinted heehee). In the meantime, I will try remind myself to blog more often hahaha…

Photos to come! If I remember!