winter

hibernation over!

Oopsie! I unintentionally hibernated… again. 😉  I wrote my travel bag post around February 2016 and meant to tweak and post it before the beginning of March but it didn’t happen. Sigh… I know, I’m terrible. -_-

So… what kept me busy? Hmmm… Let’s see…

Hiking

  • Johnston Canyon Winter hiking + Height phobia = FUN? :8
 thecuriousme-mountain  thecuriousme-hiking

Philippine Election 2016

  • I campaigned for Duterte via Facebook. Yup! I’m one of his social media and prayer warriors… To be clear, I didn’t get paid for it. Yeah … yeah… I’m a die hard Duterte supporter (a.k.a. Dutertard)! Deal with it! :p

(I’m elated that in a short span of time, Duterte has already accomplished a much needed overhaul in the government… It’s a long way to go but I know he can deliver! Duterte surely deals with things like a BOSS!)

DU30

credit to the owner

Duterte-ruleoflaw

credit to the owner

Travelling

  • Went gallivanting around North and South Carolina together with the gigglers (a.k.a. Little Miss Wanderfuls). Why gigglers? Well…find out for yourselves…;)
 thecuriousme-NorthCarolina  thecuriousme-SouthCarolina

Want to know more of our adventures?  Check out this site -> www.littlemisswanderfuls.com

Game of Thrones

  • I watched all 10 episodes of Season 6…  I must say, it’s one of the best shows ever! Who are my top three favorite? Jon Snow, Arya Stark and Daenerys Targaryen. Oh! I also like Lyanna Mormont. She’s a badass! Need I say more? :p

GOT-JonSnow

Jon Snow (credit to the owner)

GOT-Arya

Arya Stark (credit to the owner)

GOT-Daenerys

Daenerys Targaryen (credit to the owner)

GOT-lyannamormont

Lyanna Mormont (credit to the owner)

Gardening

  • I’m not a green thumb but my husband is! (Yes, I do have a husband. lol)  I’ve been just messing around with the garden. Last year, I was in charge of planting and I might have been too generous with the carrot seeds . -_-

thecuriousme-garden--

our garden

thecuriousme-garden-

helping tend my mother in law’s garden while she’s away

thecuriousme.com

  • Planning to do a revamp and keep up with the times. My blog looks so 90’s. Ha! I’ve been researching for blog platforms…. It will take some time but I can make it happen. 😉
 thecuriousme

Baste

  • Sebastian Benedict is his full name. I’ve been checking his Facebook page almost every day! He’s so adorable! I also like SamSam, his little brother…. 🙂 It makes me smile whenever I see new posts about them. Keep spreading good vibes!

 

samsam-baste

credit to the owner

baste-samsam

Baste & SamSam (credit to the owner)

 

One day…. I’ll be able to post consistently…. One day. 😉 For now, I’ll continue sorting my photos and work on one blog post at a time. Gotta get this going! Aja!

… and I do hear you… I will do a blog post regarding the tidbits of my wedding 1.0 and wedding 2.0. 😀 You’ll be like.. “What? Two weddings?!?” Yes… two weddings.  Details soon kiddos. 😉

Appreciate your patience guys!  Until next time! 😀

snowboarding

Building a snowman, making a snow angel, tobogganing (a.k.a. sledding), skiing, skating (click here to read related blog entry regarding skating), and snowboarding are some of the activities that I’ve been looking forward to in this Winter Wonderland.

snowman

building a snowman

snowangel

making a snow angel

tobogganning

tobogganning a.k.a. sledding

Skier

skiing

During the trip to Table Mountain, I enlisted for a snowboarding lesson together with the other VendAsta peepz.  There were more or less a dozen of us in the group and from the looks of it, I was the only one who had difficulty in getting things done the right way.

Hmmm… Either I was a slow learner, or not flexible enough, or a scaredy cat… or all of the above! Sigh… It was sooo frustrating!  Jellybean blames the boots… they wouldn’t stay tight and I guess that makes it hard to control the board?

Below are some of the snapshots of the trip:

Gearing up!

snowboarding 2013- gear up- 002

prepping…

snowboarding Lesson

gingerly trying the snowboard…

snowboarding 2013 - 003

Nathan pushing me with his snowboard…

snowboarding 2013 - bunny hill 007

up the bunny hill where the action begins..

Snowboarding down from the bunny hill

bear-snowboarding

VendAsta bear: “Watch and learn”

snowboarding

snowboarding the right way…

snowboarding 2013 012

slowly going down the bunny hill…

snowboarding 2013

finally… down the bunny hill…

One last pose and… done!

snowboarding 2013 016

at last! after one million years…

snowboarding 2013 011

done for the day

After a long and tiring day… I was experiencing all kinds of aches and pains. Snowboarding is fun if you are “light” I guess… I felt like I was too heavy to even stand up with the snowboard on my feet. Or is it maybe because I was so bundled up with all the layers that I have on? Hmmm…

Nevertheless… I’ll be back! Skiing will be the next goal! Hell yeah! Just like Nike’s famous tag line says, “Just do it!”.  😀

winter driving

Driving in the land of the living skies wherein snow is practically all over the place during winter is a total nightmare. The road turns into a big skating rink when the snow becomes icy… too slippery!
(Click here to have a bird’s eye view on what land of the living skies mean -> “warm”-weather).  😉

Below are my share of winter-related incidents within a year of driving:
*** underground parking
I was zooming out from a sketchy underground parking and dove straight to a parked car right across the garage door. (I felt like I was in a movie scene wherein the cars were flying everywhere -_-).

underground parking ramp

parked car – alley – garage door

Result: Insurance paid for the damage on my car and the other party’s front bumper and I got deduction on my driver’s safety rating. 😦  Of course, I still had to pay the deductible and a fine (yes… a penalty for using the insurance in less than two months of having it… O_O).

*** open parking
I bumped into a post while backing up in a crowded parking lot.

parking lot post

the bumper

Result: Damaged rear bumper. Aside from having no budget to get it fixed…it’s a reminder for me to drive safely and avoid post at all cost! :p  I don’t mind driving a cheap car with a damaged rear bumper (fancy car is way out of my league).

Hey! It survived winter, so no matter how crappy my car is…  it’s still sturdy.;)  Most importantly, I can drive my family around when they come for a visit. 😀 Also, it saves me from freezing to death during winter while waiting for a bus with half an hour to an hour interval!

*** intersection
I nearly crashed into three vehicles when I did a left turn in a three-lane intersection.

imagine a 3-lane intersection :p

intersection turns into like this (ice skating rink)!

I’m not sure how I managed to survive winter driving but prayers help a great deal.:) My mantra… pray before driving!

P.S.
Justin, I don’t have bullet holes (click here to read related entry -> bullet holes)  decal on my car. The damaged bumper serves as my “extravagant” decoration. 🙂

British Columbia

—————————————————————————————————-
Click below to read related articles:
Ontario

apple picking Ontario Toronto Where’s Charles Niagara Falls

Alberta

Banff & LakeLouise Calgary Zoo Pacific Place
Crosslink road trip finale

Saskatchewan

snow summer party winter party “warm” weather
the berry barn airshow 2011 folkfest single ladies
mineral spa danceland flea market big fat ass
luau? beach(?) tent camping
MoSo barcamp

—————————————————————————————————-

British Columbia (B.C.), Canada is definitely my next target after enjoying the tourist spots of Ontario, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. I was planning to travel last June 2012 but for some reason, it got pushed back from my bucket list.

Later on, my cousin, Jaime (a.k.a. Chancee), informed me that he’s flying to Winnipeg for a study tour and asked me if it’s possible for us to meet up. We both agreed to see each other in Vancouver and stay in one of our relatives place whom I haven’t met.

TheCuriousme & Chancee

Chancee

I was so pumped! I’ll be hitting four birds with one stone! Err… it would also be cute to say, with one airfare. Well, it’s surely worth it. I’ll be able to:
*** Chat with my cousin
*** Meet & bond with my new-found relatives
*** Take a well-deserved holiday
*** “Get to know” British Columbia

Indeed, God is good. Through His “magical hands”, the wonderful trip took place and it certainly paved the way to connect some of the missing links of my life.

So, what happened during the trip? Hmmm… I’ll let you know in a bit. :p

winter party!

If there’s a summer party  (click here to read the summer party article), there’s a winter (Christmas) party!!! Woot! 😀

VendAstians’  donned their western attire and headed straight to Champetre County to celebrate  Christmas!  Several activities were planned by the social committee to keep the grown ups busy. It was definitely a fun filled evening!

BK’s speech

dinner

turkey cards

raffle draw prizes

casino

with Phoenix & Tiffany

Hush hush…. an after party was held in one of the Executives house!  Rock and roll!!!

Can’t wait for the next party! Wohooo!

“warm” weather

It looks like the clouds are tired of floating in the sky… decided to go down… and evolve into fluffy snow. Oh la la!

Come to think of it, I’ve been blabbering how I love the snow when I first arrive in the Toon City (click here to read the snow article). And now… I still love the snow… however, the bulky winter wear is driving me nuts! Waaaah!

The weather is bloody chilly (-38 degrees celsius.. so far)! Brrrr! At this time, I want to recall how a warm weather feels. Ha!  Check out below the river cruise  sunny moments and let’s all relive the summer season  😀 :

the route

Now, back to reality. -_-  Enjoy the chilly weather and share some warm winter smile everyone!  Wohooo!

6+6

My driving class culminated last week and I’m greatly relieved that it’s off my bucket list. Finally, I was able to put into practice the basics, tips and tricks of driving that I’ve learned from the handbook and from the in-class. I’m praying that I can practice everyday before winter.

newbie driver

Here’s a brief  outline of my driving blunders:
1st Hour

  • Mood:  nervous breakdown!
  • When I was required to slow down, I stepped on the gas pedal instead of the break.
  •  Turtle like speed.

2nd Hour

  • Mood: antsy
  • Incorrect steering! Should do hand over hand.
  • The steering wheel was “out of control” whenever I do the right and left turn so I always end up in the wrong lane. Hazardous!
  •  The driving instructor was going nuts because of my repeated lapses.

3rd Hour

  • Mood: slightly jittery
  •  Going to the rightmost lane when doing a left turn as if I will do a right turn. Ha!
  •  Doing a left turn too late or too quick.
  •  Flipping the left and right turn signal like Christmas lights.
  •  Turtle like speed.
  •  Driving for 30 minutes without a seat belt! Darn!
  •  Breaking while turning on a curve. Bad habit!

4th Hour

  • No longer tense.
  • Mood: bothered
  • Not doing the shoulder check during a right turn and changing lanes
  •  Slowing down on a stop sign.
  • Doing a full stop on a yield sign.(It should be the other way around.)
  •  Speeding in a residential area.
  • Turtle like speed in a main street. (It should be the other way around.)

5th Hour

  • No longer tense.
  • Mood: enthusiastic
  • Breaking while turning on a curve
  •  Forgot to put on a seat belt again
  • Finally hearing a  “Good Job!” remark  from the driving instructor whenever:

**** I’ve managed to do a correct left and right turn
**** Stopping and slowing down on the correct signs

6th Hour

  • No longer tense.
  • Mood: tickled pink
  • I remembered to put on my seatbelt. 😀
  • Doing the correct left and right turn more often
  • Still overwhelmed when driving in a busy street. It scares the hell out of me whenever I see cars all around me. LOL
  • Can now speed up to 50-60 km. A great jump from 20 ey? 😀

What’s next after the 6 hours in class and 6 hours actual driving course?  Practice to the maximum level! I need to take a road test in a few months time to “upgrade” my driver’s license.

Below are the things for me to improve before the road test:

  • Be alert on spotting traffic signs
  • Follow religiously the rules of road
  • Consistent correct steering
  • Proper left and right turn
  • Practice mirror and shoulder check
  • Driving in downtown
  • Driving in the freeway
  • Maneuvering in circle drive
  • Rough road driving
  • Reversing
  • All types of parking techniques
  • Most importantly, grace under pressure must prevail. 😉

Whew! I have a long way to go! I wish I can have SUV as my first car. However, it will still be a dream… for now.. Ha! Aja!