Our '1st' Xmas Tree's Up!

Pretty pleased with myself :) Not great, but it'll do :) So as I've said in a previous entry - we got out tree and Xmas lights FREE from the Dunedin Freecycle network :) We ended up buying the Christmas ornaments ourselves though, as the lady didn't end up calling us - which can only mean she didn't have any extra ornaments to spare :( Boo hoo.

So we bought our Christmas ornaments from Warehouse. Only after attending Albertus's boss's Christmas piss-up later in the day that we discovered he had an extra Christmas tree and possibly some extra Christmas ornaments to spare. Ahhh... oh well, doesn't matter. Albertus and I have started a legacy by buying our own Christmas ornaments - let's see where they go next year! :)

This is how it looks like all lit up at night.

I used to bundle bags of chocs for friends in the last few years as Christmas tokens - this year, thought I'd do something different. Baked tons of choc macadamia cookies and packed them in these bags myself. *pleased*

Dunedin's 2009 Santa Parade

Got to do something fun today. After mass, we visited a friend at the hospital (poor guy's gone through 2 knee surgeries in a week!) and had the chance to watch the Santa Parade along George Street! Ming you, I suspect many prayers must have been said last night, as it was generally a cloudy/drizzly day - but the sun broke out just in time for (and for most of the whole duration of) the parade! :)

The Difference Between Men and Women

These are the classic forwarded emails you would receive once in a while. You know, the usual Men vs Women humour. So, I thought I'd 'immortalize' them on this blog, as I really do enjoy these funnies.

Yup, just feed your man a beer, a steak or some chips. Then watch him drool. Hurr...

I can testify to this. Seriously.

Christmas on a Budget

...on a tight, tight budget, I might add. Nevertheless, we're pleased to be spending Christmas together this year - it'll be our 3rd Christmas together as a couple (after having missed spending Christmas last year together).

We were on the hunt for a Christmas tree this year and checked out prices at KMart - spotted a few + Christmas decorations that would have cost us $35 or so. The spendthrift in me immediately asked "Is it worth it?". You know - to be spending that much on an item that you have on display for only a month in a year, while it spends the remaining 11 months collecting dust in a box stowed away in the garage?

Albertus said "Nevermind lah...just buy only! We've put aside money for that mah..." But I was adamant. I went on the local (Dunedin) freecycle network and politely requested for a Christmas tree with this message:-

"If anyone has excess/unwanted small or medium-sized (fake) Christmas tree and/or accompanying decorations lying around (which are still in good condition) - we don't mind taking it off your hands :) I can promise that it'll go to a good, appreciative and lovable home. Many thanks in advance!"

Believe it or not - I immediately had 2 replies!!!! :) To cut a long story short - we now have a 5ft Christmas tree that's in very good condition (used only once!) and some pretttyyyy Christmas lights to go with it too! We're now just waiting for some Christmas decorations - the lady who gave us the Christmas tree told us that she may have some decorations to spare! YEAY!!!!!!!!! Now we can't wait to put it up when Advent starts. Stay tuned for some pictures once we have it up.

Woopeedoo...!! I *heart* Freecycle.

Steak....hurrr.....

This is how half a kilo of beef looks like...thick huge slab of meat :) And for $15 only.....hurrr.... *drools*

Since it was Labour Day weekend (yeah, Labour Day falls in October in NZ), we all decided to take advantage of Dunedin's Craft Bar's Labour Day steak meal special. We were later told that every Monday's $15 steak anyway...but be reminded that today's steak meal has NO SURCHARGE. Yup, you heard me right....NO SURCHARGE. It's a common practice that some restaurants/cafes charge a 10% increase on F&B prices on public holidays... simply because the workers have to paid higher for working on public holidays (yup..it's the LAW y'all. Rah rah minimum wage labour and all day...)

My officemate Gunn enjoying her meat with a glass of shiraz.

Mmm....Phil and his medium-rare steak.

I'm not really a huge steak lover, but Albertus is. So you can imagine his delight when we went for lunch at Craft Bar today. Oh, needless to say, he licked his plate clean. In fact, come to think of it, he prolly had ~800gm of steak for lunch today (as I couldn't finish mine)....

Ahh....betcha he'll be shitting bricks tonight. LOL.

Update (27/10/09): Hey - we're glad to be part of the revolution. This "no surcharge" event practised by the pub was covered on TV3 here. Awesome, eh?