Brighton

This weekend, I decided to explore places outside of London. I’ve been here several times already and I’ve always stayed in central London because there is so much to see and do here. But this time, I decided to visit the coast of England, to see the sea and the cliffs. I headed to Brighton, an hour south of London by train.

It wasn’t raining but it was a gray, windy day. The sound of the waves and the wind was almost deafening. Brighton is a touristy seaside town with an amusement park on a pier, ocean-front hotels and restaurants, a maze of shops and pubs, and a royal pavilion. It is so quaint but over-the-top at the same time. I walked along the beach, enjoying the wind and the sound of waves. I walked along the Brighton Pier and saw the white cliffs in the distance. I toured the Royal Pavilion which was the built by King George IV. I browsed the shops in the Lanes and enjoyed some Cornish pasty. All in all, a very good day.

March 29 is also my wedding anniversary. 5 years! Unfortunately, Ed and I are not celebrating the day together this year since I’m here and he’s in Vancouver. But that’s okay, we’ll celebrate when I get back home next week. I know that Brighton would have been more fun if Ed were with me.





More pics here.

Grown up furniture

When Ed and I moved into our townhouse in 2005, we decide to graduate from Ikea furniture. Grown up furniture is how I refer to non-Ikea furniture. Grown-up furniture means they are made from solid wood, are meant to survive more than one move, and last for years and years. They also mean more money. So slowly, we’ve been furnishing our home with grown-up furniture.

Our latest grown-up furniture is a bedroom set. For both Ed and me, this is the first time that we have a bed frame for our mattress. In addition to the bed frame, we bought two night tables and a six-drawer dresser. It’s made by a Quebec company, Baronet, and is made of solid maple. The collection is called Java 25.

This was an impulsive purchase. We knew we needed a bedroom set. We just didn’t really have a set plan to purchase one right away. But Ed wanted to go shopping one recent Sunday afternoon and before we knew it, we were putting down a deposit. And yesterday, our grown-up bedroom set settled nicely into our masters bedroom.

Funny thing I noticed this morning - when I sit on the bed with my feet hanging, my feet are about a foot from the floor!

Ouch

I attended a CrossFit class last night. My last CrossFit workout, prior to last night, was on Jan 17. That was five and a half weeks ago! Needless to say, I am quite sore today. I was scared to start working out again because I knew it was going to hurt. But I’m so glad to get that first workout over and done with.

Next up, getting back on the water. I haven’t paddled since Jan 20. I know it’s going to hurt, too! Maybe I can procastinate a little longer. I’m such a chicken... ☺

Back in Vancouver

I got back from Manila a few days ago. I'm still struggling with the change in time zone, five days after arriving. Hopefully, I'll be sleeping normally in a few days. My trip was not really a vacation but I did manage to find time to relax. The best part of the trip was really being able to spend time with my sister, Leslie. I got to see my friends from school and help the Philippine economy by shopping a little bit. I even was able to spend a day at the beach.

My dad, who is the reason I made the trip in the first place, is settling in nicely at the care home he moved into. He has caregivers looking after him 24/7 and he seems to be getting along with them. Finding good quality care for my dad is a big relief for our family.

Pics from my trip are at my Flickr site.

Driving stress, etc.

I've had my dad's car for a week now. It's great not having to rely on other people to drive for me or to take public transportation. The downside is I have to tackle the traffic and the non-existence of road rules. There are no lanes. If there is an open space, a vehicle goes for it. Vehicles doing a left turn do not wait for the oncoming traffic to clear up (b/c they would wait forever). Instead, they inch their vehicles forward to get in the way of the oncoming vehicles. But while the inching forward is happening, the oncoming traffic swerves to the right in order to avoid the left-turning cars. This happens until the left-turning vehicles have created enough of an obstacle that the oncoming traffic has no choice but to stop. Also, since the cars just go wherever there's enough of an open space, the cars end up being inches away from each other. I swear, my heart is going 200 bpm while I'm driving here.

Going to the mall is the official leisure activity of people in Manila. They don't really shop but they sit and enjoy the air-conditioning. But some people do shop and I must say that I've been frequenting SM Mall since last week. Decent shoes for $20. How can I say no???

Corruption is still everywhere and it doesn't seem to be getting any better with time. My dad has property in a rural area called Lucena. Since we have to settle up the property taxes, we're going to have to go there to pay. I was advised to not talk to the tax people myself since I sound foreign. Apparently, the tax people will make up problems to make it hard to retrieve information or process the payment, whatever, so that I will be forced to bribe them to get the "problem" to go away. So I have to find a local to speak to the tax people. Good thing my mom has relatives in that town. But what a pain!

And that's what I've discovered. Getting things done here can be a slow, inefficient, and painful process. Even getting from one place to another can be very slow and nerve-wracking.

Makes me appreciate Canada even more.