woohoo.. day light savings ends 3am Sunday morning.. officially..

so i will have 1 extra hr to sleep in.. welll… u know what i mean

 

=]

gotta remember to take the dog to get a haircut…and a wash.. he smells BAD

i booked him in for 9,30am… so maybe not so much of a sleep in

It’s very “English” to have a cup of team. 

My fiance who’s “Anglo Saxon” and his ancestry comes from “England”…. always has a cup of tea.

It’s not uncommon to find him in the kitchen boiling water and getting a pot ready for us (or just for him)…breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper time.

 

I know it’s in his blood because my future mother in law will pack her teapot when travelling… because apparently tea only taste good if it’s brewed properly…

 

-_-

 

I like tea but not to that extent…

 

 

 

So when I was surfing the many websites for “bridal” shoes, I stumbled upon this from Wittner.

 

I LOVE the lacey floral design, that may or may not match my “traditional” Vietnamese Ao Dai as it will be RED and Gold…

 

Plus, without seeing the shoe in real life- I’m afraid that it might look hideous.

You know- like when you go to McDonald’s and order the Big Mac and yours doesn’t look like the one on the board. That’s what I’m afraid of.

 

The only way to know if it’s “the” shoe, is to try it on…even if I don’t wear it for the wedding, nothing would be stopping me from wearing it out casually with my jeans (provided that the heels look as good in real life as it does in the photo)

 

 

 

We have a stupid government in power, one that clearly has stuffed up the country’s coffers (taxpayer’s money that is) and it’s evident that they’re trying to find ways to fix the hole before they clearly will be voted out by September of this year.

 

The latest “supposed” changes (not a change until it’s passed through parliament clearly stabs the “rich” in the back. It sounds okay because it happens to target the rich… because they’re always easy targets.

To begin with:

-the reason why we have superannuation to begin with is for ONE reason- there’s not enough money for the government to pay pensions to the everyday citizens. Yup, that’s right. For all those oldies who have worked everyday since they were 18 and hit to retirement age, and have done the right thing by paying their taxes. There just won’t be enough because the government(s) overtime have overspent the tax that we have all paid.

-Superannuation is OUR money. ALL employers must contribute a minimum of 9% of our salary. It’s actually capped as well, so if you earnt like 5 million a year you’re not going to get the full 9% of that. You’re also capped in how much you can contribute (before tax and after tax)…. so really, if you manage to get a hefty amount of money over time- then that’s great

-Superannuation is somewhat a new concept, it hasn’t been widely available to every employee in every industry. So the basic mum’s and dad’s who are on their way to retirement don’t have thousands of dollars on retirement like someone who starts work today.

 

Apparently this tax change will affect approximately 16,000 people. Yes, that’s great because we have a population of 20 odd million or so people, so 16,000 people is like just under 1% of the population (if my maths serves me right)…so why do we care? or why should we care?

But we should, unlike those people who are about to retire or on their way to retirement where like I mentioned previously, they haven’t had super around forever.. but we have- as in someone like myself who’s been working since I was 14… and anyone that’s entered the workforce for the first time… ONE would hope that over the course of time with better salaries and promotion, we will earn more and have MORE paid into our supers… The more we earn, the more we’ll get (and yes it’s capped eventually) but as anyone understands their super (vaguely or not)… the funds we put in are invested so $2000 will in turn increase (when the markets are bad, the amounts usually are decreased because a lot of super money is invested in shares.. )…

so what I’m trying to get at, eventually we’ll turn 65 and decide to retire… and if you’re like me who’s been working from 14 (and always with pay increases)… by the time I get to 65, surely I will have LOTs of money in the account? Actually i plan to retire early but everybody else who’s plotting away working… surely we will have some large super balances because by the time we turn 65 (for me that’s another 37 years), the funds that are contributed would have hit the magic number of $2million of “generating” assets… then we’re screwed…

So that number of 16,000 people today seems like a drop in the ocean today… but what will it be in 37 years? Especially if this legislation is passed and probably won’t be changed because governments like MONEY…

 

The other thing is-

RICH people, actually educated people will realize there is NO point in “putting” money into superannuation and find out their investments are going to be taxed. They will certainly find ANOTHER better avenue to invest that money elsewhere. So perhaps in the end, it becomes a false economy…

but because someone like me, has found it ludicrous… I sure won’t be putting any EXTRA money into my super.. what for? one day the government’s going to tax me anyway…

 

I haven’t gotten around to figuring what shoes I’d be wearing for our wedding nor have I decided on anything for the bridesmaid.

someone pointed out that its best that the shoes are purchased before I get the dresses made. So that the bridesmaid can wear the shoes when they try on the dresses to get the “correct” length.

 

it’s a shame that comfort and style do not go hand in hand with each other when it comes to strappy heels because i really want my bridesmaids to be comfortable.

 

*argh*

this is going to be an ardous task

 

it’s sad to think that cancer has just become “normal” for our family. When it came into our lives, we were shocked and saddened. But now almost 3 months on, we’ve come to live with it. We don’t accept it at all but we’ve had to deal as best we can. 

I didn’t think we’d get this far but we have.

cancer has left a massive scar in our lives, it’s like an awful scab that doesn’t seem to heal.

 

 

Cannot wait until Daylight Savings is over.

It’s not that I don’t like extra sun, where nights end right after 8pm. But when we’re heading towards the “other” end of  Daylights Savings, it’s dark out.

For example- In the middle of summer when I leave for work at 7am- the morning sky is out. I think the sun rises around 6am(or earlier)…

now when I go to work- it looks like it’s 9pm at night.

 

When we wind back our clocks (we wind it back right? I always get confused which way it’s supposed to go)- 7am will be 6am…and when I’m on my way to work, I won’t feel half as jibbed that feels like I should still be in bed

someone once told me or maybe i read it somewhere…

even when you’re sad, depressed, lonely, unhappy (anything negative), just smile.

That smile may not cheer you up but it will cheer others up and naturally people will smile back at you.

Eventually, enough people will smile back at you that things  that makes it seem okay, for whatever reason will feel like they’re perking up for you and get you into the positive mindframe that you need to be in which will help you move on. Plus it makes even angry people friendlier towards you. (Two negative people causes disaster)

 

And it’s that mindset that keeps me sane and trying to be as positive as possible.

 

i found this on a website- rings true:

 

True friends are like diamonds:
Precious and rare
False friends are like  autumn leaves
Found everywhere…

I hope you had a wonderful Easter break.

I know I enjoyed mine.

 

My fiance had booked us in to the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne for 3 nights. We had considered to travel up to Merrimbula- like we did 2 years ago however as my mum’s now ill, it’s too far to drive back in case of an emergency.

Now, the Grand Hyatt is supposed to be one of Melbourne’s top end Hotel chains. There’s actually 2 Hyatt’s in the city, one being the Grand Hyatt and the other being the Park Hyatt. I’m not sure what the REAL difference is between the two (other than location) as I haven’t stayed at the other one yet.

The Grand Hyatt- located near the corner of Flinders Lane and Russell street is closest to a lot of financial service type businesses such as KPMG, Ernst & Young and all the firms in 101 Collins. There is somewhat a very “businessey-feel” about the Grand Hyatt but with the added bonus of gym, tennis courts, basketball court, somewhere to swing your golf club, sauna, steam room and a pool.

The front desk is located on the “second floor”. It’s a tad confusing because the main entrance on Russell street doesn’t take you to the front desk, you actually have to either go up the escalators or take a lift- however there is a “desk” there but I think it’s more for the bell boys to get your luggage or to take your car. So I’m not sure how OTHER guests who have never been at this hotel work out where to go because there aren’t that many “clear” signs- mindreaders or psychics I’m guessing. The hotel lobby area is in a vast area and nice high ceilings, the reception/front desk which is on your left hand side as you go up the escalators. On your right is Collins Kitchen where they hold breakfast, High Tea (which is pretty yummy) and dinner.

They checked us in pretty quickly, I was kinda disappointed that we didn’t get any “upgrades”, I’ve stayed at so many hotel in the past 6 months and every single one of them have upgraded the room except for the Grand Hyatt- granted they may have been 100% booked…. but still.

 

Here’s what I liked about the hotel:

- access to the gym (only my partner used it)

-I loved the fact that everytime I picked up the phone for room service or whatever- someone would answer with – “Hello Mr/Mrs Tallents, what can I do for you today”

-loved the fact that bathroom articles were where they should be i.e shampoo/conditioner in the shower (not laid out on tray near the sink with everything else)

-comfortable KS bed

-unbelievably nice (but expensive) room service food

-loved the female only sauna/steam room

-the change rooms at the gym are state of the art and very pretty!!! I wish more gyms were setup as nice as this!

-their buffet breakfast is probably one of the best I’ve had (even what they send up to room service is very good) except it costs $40 per person

 

Here’s what I didn’t like about the hotel:

- although there were many staff members who were polite, there was a “cold” feel about their customer service approach. I think the hotel staff need to smile a LOT more.

-the noise that came from their air conditioning unit drove me mad at the best of times. You would think they would have a quieter system in place

-the noise that came from the plumbing after having a hot shower. It’s the same noise you get at home when the water system is struggling to warm up the water. It was HORRID noise to deal with

- the fact that their gym closed at 8pm weekends…. and opened 8am. Ummmm- considering this is an “international” hotel with “international” guests, this may NOT work out for jet lagged clients who might not be able to sleep and want to work out, or for those who want to work out between the “non operational” times. Which is kinda annoying

-the swimming pool is not a lap pool. Which always puzzles me, what exactly are you supposed to do in a pool thats 1/3 of the size of a standard pool? Unless you have kids or a child, there isn’t much point or fun as an adult.

-the bellboys not attending to us when they should have. one night we arrived by taxi to the hotel, they ONLY came after we opened the doors. I know I don’t need them to open the door for me, but heck- that’s part of the service we’re paying for right?

-the hotel had 6 lifts, 6 of the slowest lifts I have ever known. In fact, I think ONLY 2 were operating the entire time we were there (from Saturday through to Tuesday). It was frustrating catching those lifts to our level each time.

-I was really disappointed with their Foxtel selection- they had a LOT of news channel (Sky News, Bloomberg,CNN, BBC), the standard footy channels (fox 1, fox 2, fox 3 and fox footy), 1 kids channel- Nickolodean, and one drama channel – SOHO. Unless you happen to be a news/sports freak, you would be bored watching tv. To make it worse, the standard free TV was missing GEM and 7mate. So it felt almost limiting watching tv and definitely not worth pigging out in your hotel bed eating room service and watching tv (which is what I like to do). Seriously, they need to add MORE channels like FOX8, Lifestyle channels and OTHER drama channels because sports and news can get PRETTY boring.

-I might love their buffet breakfast (and open kitchen) but I disliked the wait at the “egg station”- yup that’s what I’m calling it- where the chefs cook your eggs as per your request- right there and then. The problem is, you end up standing around waiting for your order with a whole bunch of people which gets very crowded. For a top end hotel chain, there must be a BETTER way to do this? For example: just for breakfast, label the table numbers and when the waiters take the guests to the table, to let them know that they are sitting on table number X, and should they wish to order any eggs to state this number. When the guests makes the order they can quote their table number and someone else bring it to their table. OR the waiter can just get the order and bring it to the table for the guests….

Overall, it wasn’t a BAD hotel stay, I think a bit overpriced for what we were getting- seriously $40 breakfasts? a bit much considering we could have paid $40 for 2 people elsewhere. But worthwhile if you can get this hotel on the cheap.

So now that the Grand Hyatt has been ticked off my list, I’m hoping we get to stay at the Sofitel and the Westin next.