Fitness Dates

Everyone has his or her own list of criterias when searching for a special friend, a date or a potential life partner. Often it might be a little difficult to meet single like minded men and women who are into fitness and health.

If you are into taking good care of yourself and looking for someone who shares a similar interest, or simply a partner whom you could go jogging, do fitness sports or to the gym with, "fitness dating" might be just for you.

Fitnessdates.com offers the ability to search for that special date based on location, age and sex. There is also an option to block or report a member.

Most importantly, once you have signed up for free (yes, it is FREE!), you could start searching from thousands of fitness singles in the database. Happy looking!

New houses sold out in a snap

Just as I predicted! The neighbouring newest suburb The Ponds within 5 minutes drive from our home released 9 units of completed new homes in recent weeks and they were snapped up immediately!

The SMH reported that some people even camped there overnight just to be first in the queue.

I've always told hubby that if we had the financial means, we should really get an investment property near our area as it seems to be a much sought after place with all the new land releases and the fact that the biggest shopping complex in the southern hemisphere is being built in Rouse Hill must be pushing up the demand for housing nearby.

Unfortunately I do not think my FIL would be interested to live in Sydney, otherwise we would strongly encourage them to build a new home in one of these new neighbouring suburbs because I foresee in the very near future, it would be close to impossible to buy a new 4 bedroom single storey home here without forking out close to or at least half a million dollars and if double storey, forget about half a million, it'll be at least AU$650-700k (based on the offers my neighbours have been getting eventhough they didn't advertise to sell and the price of new houses recently sold for, in our estate).

And to think that the real estate frenzy has cooled? Certainly not so where we live! It is still too crazy! No wonder we get RE leaflets/calendars in the mailbox often, offering free valuation of homes (which we might just take up once our garden is completely done). One RE office even took the trouble to snap a photo of every house and stuck them to their calendar and popped them into the respective homes' mailboxes - hoping to entice us to sell up!

Web Design made easy

Every now and then I hear people telling me about their interest in setting up a webpage design business. The only setback is that they are not too confident with their HTML knowledge nor do they have time to provide continuous web design support to their clients.

That is not a problem anymore, I can now direct them to consider using Light content management system, an easy to use yet powerful tool for those who wish to provide high-end professional web services for their clients.

The most important thing is that it allows the flexibility to private label and resell as one’s own web design. Clients will never see the Light logo or name. You may upload your own logo on the software’s toolbar. Free demo sites could also be created individually for each client.

Not only that, your clients may load and manage their own content through easy to use tools. This saves you from having to offer support even for a simple task such as updating a page or replacing/add an image.

I think this is a good system especially for those who have interest in webpage design and wish to bring it to the next level by making it a business. Like everything else, why not try the free version first and see for yourself.

Big Toys Sale

Kmart, Target and BigW are having huge Toys sale this school holiday. Went and shopped around but didn't really see anything I would like to get for my girl. And since it is now school holidays, the malls are jam packed with people and kids! I dislike going to the mall when school's out (yes I am biased because I would not think this way if my kid is of school going age). The queues are long, difficult to find a parking spot and even the foodcourts are usually full! City life!

Garage Storage System

Some may remember how messy and disorganised our garage was and still is. I have often thought about setting a good garage storage system to best utilise the garage space. In my opinion, a good system would be to install metal pegboard on the garage walls. Our neighbours’ garages have similar garage storage system and we too are in desperate need of one.

We would like something that can hold a lot of weight, from power tools to, gardening tools, brooms, car tools and other heavy items. Metal pegboard seems to be the perfect solution.

I would probably go for the colourful powder coated metal pegboards. It is funky and colours will surely bring life into an otherwise dull and cold looking garage. Because it is hung on the walls, it looks neat and saves floor space.

Innocent children

What kind of a human being could do this to a 3 year old girl - lip and ear bitten off! Full article here.

Children are so innocent. They didn't ask to be born only to get abused in whatever form. I wish I could hug this girl and all little children who were and are being abused in the world.

I saw on Oprah months ago, about how innocent children were mistreated (I really mean mistreated in the worst unimaginable way!), tied to chairs and beds, neglected in a room, etc etc ... I could not even type them here. I would never ever spank, cane, slap, tie, push, etc a child! A search on Google will bring up many articles on this.

After that show I understood even more why many Americans love to adopt little girls from China. I am sure many want to "save" those innocent children whom otherwise will suffer so much. I am also happy to see that in Australia itself, there are many people (especially Ang Mohs) who adopted from China, Korea, etc too.

There was an adoption documentary that I watched maybe 2 years ago, about a young Australian couple being put on countless interviews and put on a two year waitlist to adopt a child. In the end they were finally given a baby boy from Korea.

The struggle did not end there. Because the couple are Ang Mohs, one of their friends questioned their decision to adopt an Asian child and probably could not accept their choice. You know what? The young Ang Moh said sorry to his friend that if his friend could not accept their Asian child, his friend has to leave (bye bye to friendship loh). This couple is well mannered, educated and I could see how loving they are. Truly the baby boy is very blessed to have them as parents, who will not only give him shelter, food, eduction and love but protection too. The whole adoption process wasn't cheap for them, they spent about AU$17k.

Now and then I have thought about adoption too but there is no way we could afford one and to be on a wait list, it would be a lot of struggle for us. BUT if we were millionaires, I would seriously consider adopting a child from a less fortunate environment because I want so much to show the child what a beautiful life is, that there is hope, love, peace, joy and freedom. I must say, I am blessed that my hubby shares the same views as me. I am also pretty sure that if we weren't blessed with our little girl, we would be looking into adoption too.

Even now, if back home in Malaysia, if anyone I know, desperately could not raise their child or know of anyone in such a condition and wishing to give up their child, I would really consider it - bring the child here and raise as our own in Australia. But I read the law on adoption in Malaysia. It seems that I would not be allowed to bring the child home with me to Australia unless I stayed in Malaysia with the child for a minimum of 2 years?!

Well, if I were a millionaire, adoption would be my priority.

Life Insurance Quotes Comparison

I remember the days when we had to shop around for the best life insurance quotes for ourselves. It was really tough and mind boggling having to look at what various insurance companies have to offer. So many products, so many different pricing.

Don’t be like us, you can save yourself a lot of trouble and get the best life insurance rates possible by using the services of a one-stop life insurance shopping portal like Insurance.com. You can instantly compare insurance quotes from top insurance companies at the click of a mouse. If you are uncomfortable buying life insurance online, there is also a phone number to Insurance.com’s call center, staffed by qualified insurance professionals who would be more than happy to walk you through the ordering process.

Either way, it saves you money by giving you the best life insurance rates. Like Insurance.com says, “May the best quote win”!

iPhone

Everybody knows that iPhone has hit the market ... well err, except in Australia where it will only be released for sale next year. Boohoo, we always seem to get things last over here! Just look at this guy, so happy was he, it's almost like he was doing a commercial.

I have an old Nokia monophone (goodness, who on earth still uses monophones?? ME!!). Well I am glad I waited and didn't bother to buy one of the tiny, sleek, beautiful phones (very tempted though!) because buahahahahaha, maybe I will get myself an iPhone before hubs does?

Get rid of termites

Termites infestation is a major problem in most households. My brother’s house got infested with termites on the walls where the kitchen cabinets were installed. Yes it was gross alright! The whole kitchen cabinets had to be removed to rid the termites.

I fear termites too. We are currently using the liquid treatment but I don’t think it is very environmentally friendly. If you are like us, not wanting to use potentially environmentally damaging liquid treatment, you might wish to look into using termite bait around your house instead. Baits use very small doses of chemicals and are ONLY toxic to certain kinds of insects and the results of fully eliminating the colony is far better than liquid treatment.

If you own a home, you should not take termites infestation lightly. It really could do much damage to your home. Better be prepared than sorry. If you would like to equip yourself with more knowledge about termites and how to get rid of them, Termites Guide has all the answers.

Rate rises in 2008?

Oh no, that's not what I would like to hear. Mortgage is speculated to rise in 2008 - full details here. That is bad news for all homeowners slaving away to meet repayments. Really I think standard of living in Sydney is okay-ish, for example, buying fresh foods from the supermarket, buying new cars, etc is relatively cheap (well if you don't convert to weaker currencies to compare with that is, I am speaking in terms of earn AUD and spend AUD) but of course except buying houses and eating out (these are the killers!).

Okay back to the point, I would not be surprised if we would be forced to sell our home someday due to sky rocketing mortgage repayments! I hope not!!

Good pet advice

We all love our pets and most of us would do anything to keep them flea free! My younger brother has 4 beautiful dogs at my family’s home. Sometimes they do tend to get fleas easily. I am sure he would find these great tips on how to deal with dog fleas, very useful.

Not only that, did you know that a flea bite on human could be very aggravating? It causes itch and raised bumps. Fleas can jump about two feet high. I think that's amazing for such a tiny creature!

There is honestly so much more that I was not fully aware of, about fleas. Fleascontrol.com sure offers a lot of very good information about fleas and the measures we could take to prevent them. It also has FAQ's for a number of pet health related questions for dogs and cats.

It is a good site to bookmark and pass along!

Hubs & movies

Whoa, my hubby was ecstatic after returning home past midnight from watching Transformers the movie. It was released in Australia yesterday and because Transformers has such a huge following, the cinemas were jam packed. He wishes to watch it again and I have no problems with that because I know how much he enjoys movies. He used to watch Star Wars, Spiderman and other movies several times at the cinemas (of course I didn't accompany him for most of the repeats, haha). Anyway, he said he wouldn't watch it again and would prefer to spend that money to buy the DVD next time. Alamak! And there I thought he was gonna be a good boy and really save money, ceh!

I let him indulge in movies and collecting movie DVDs because I think it is a healthy hobby as long as it does not break the pockets. It is much better than some men going to the pub often or to the casino, or smoke, etc.

I must say that ever since we got this home and our little girl, he does not simply buy DVDs for the sake of collecting anymore (only the ones that he really likes). I didn't have to control him :)

FriendFinder.com Free membership

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Digicam going kaput

The stocktake sale will end soon! We haven't bought a single thing on our electrical item "to buy" list. One of the things we have held back from buying is a Sony 30GB HDD Camcorder costing about AU$850-900. After having a mortgage, we need to think a thousand times before splurging on such an amount, hehe.

I remember splurging AU$1,300 in year 2002, on our current out of date, going kaput anytime soon, Fuji Finepix Digicam! These days you can get a super duper powerful digicam with that price or a reasonably good one at a quarter of that price even! Oh well, the things you buy and do when you were carefree, hehe!

We're considering a Sony T100 digicam that costs about AU$600+ at most places. We're still holding back because this month alone we are already spending close to AU$2k on the lawn and soil not including the pots and plants we'll be buying. Just hope that our current digicam won't die on us so soon!

Microsoft MGX Conf in Orlando

Many people would be flocking to the annual Microsoft MGX Conference held in Orlando and it could be difficult to book a place when the date draws nearer. Don’t delay, you could get a cheap, nice and comfy room at the International Plaza Resort and Spa in Orlando, Florida.

Book now to take advantage of its Microsoft MGX Special Rate of only $119 a night. The best thing is that this luxury hotel is located within walking distance to the steps of the convention center where the convention is being held.

And of course, most importantly, there is free wireless acess throughout the property and complimentary transportation to all major themeparks. It is also only a walk away from restaurants and other famous tourist attractions such as SeaWorld, Walt Disney World and Universal Studios Orlando and many more.

Have a look at what the hotel is like by visiting its website.

Census Result

The latest census results are out! I always like reading the census findings. It is interesting to note that while incomes have increased by $100, a smaller proportion of people own their homes outright.

The current Australian population is 20.7 million (less than Malaysia I think). The median age is 37, up from 35 :( This means we're an ageing population with lower fertility rates and higher life expectancy.

Full details of the census results could be viewed here

Excellent Furniture Website

Buying furniture has become second nature to us right after we moved into our newly built home last year. When we were shopping for Furniture from Home makes it easy to navigate, displays all photos beautifully including clear description of each item and most importantly, includes pricing. It also provides the ability to shop by “room”, “style” or “color” with its advanced search option. You could even Request for a Catalogue to be mailed to you. Not only that, if you purchase anything from them, you could even track your shipment online on its website. Now that is something I have not seen in any of the other furniture companies I had purchased from. I give Furniture from Home website a thumbs up.

It saves a whole lot of time having all the details and information you need within the click of a mouse especially if you are a busy person working from home and need to shop for some Home Office Furniture.

I love L sectional sofa furniture set as it saves a lot of space and tend to make the place look neater too. Other classy yet comfy sectionals available at Furniture from Home are worth considering.

Credit: Beautiful sectional sofa image Copyright (c) Furniture from Home

Hole in the wall

What a day it was! A big hole the size of an A4 paper on the wall of our 1+ year old home! OUCH! No doubt my heart ached! How did the hole come about? Courtesy of hubby. It was an accident of course. He was holding onto Bee and swaying around till he stepped onto a cord on the floor, stumbled, and his right shoulder hit the wall hard, BANG!

I guess this calls for a real DIY job. We covered the whole with an A4 size cardboard and held it in place with duck tape for now. Just don't have the time to take care of it at the moment as we are racing time to get the lawn in because the weather has been unpredictable with rain pouring most of the time, making the ground very soggy.

Save with coupons

Discounts and coupons are everyone’s favourites. Who couldn’t do with a little bit of savings? Be sure to look for discount codes before going on an online shopping spree! KeepCash is a terrific site to get discount codes for the newest bargains on the web from many merchants and its site is updated daily with the latest coupons and product deals.

Most of us would order flowers at some time, why not save by using discount codes for your flower orders at Flower.com? It would be quite a bit of savings if you are a person who loves to send flowers the whole year round. Guys, please take note, this would be beneficial to your pockets!

There are over 1,000 merchants to shop at such as digital products, jewelry and many more!