The Aussie Lifestyle

I made my first step to adapting the Aussie way of life when i bought a BBQ Grill in January. I've been wanting to purchase one since i got here because i like grilled food. And now that I have my own Weber grill i can make steak while drinking beer anytime of the day ü

Weber Grill in our balcony

How I ended up buying

It all started when we were looking for an apartment, every time we'd look at a place with a balcony i tend to imagine having a grill and relaxing on a comfortable chair eating grilled steak with a beer on my other hand. An so, when we found our place i told my flatmates, "Ok, i'll buy a grill since i don't have any stuff to share" this because they will be providing the furniture and appliances for the house. 

Our house warming party was getting near and we planned to have a bbq and drinks. We were supposed to use the grill at the Waterfront but it was broken and won't be fixed for another week or so. It was really time to buy so we went bbq hunting. We saw different types with different brands and sizes but i have always known the Weber brand to be the best in bbq grills so i said to myself, if I'm buying a grill might as well buy the best one coz it will be mine for years and i will be using it a lot anyways. 

So i ended up buying the grill in time for our house warming. It was perfect, everyone enjoyed the party especially the food. People stayed from 3pm till 2am the next day. 

Right now in this house, I only own two things, my bed and my grill hahaha ü!

Car Wash

Yesterday on the way home from work I decided to stop by the self service car wash. I haven't cleaned my car since I got back from Manila in January because where I'm staying now we aren't allowed to wash our cars. Its been 2 months that my car has been collecting mud and dirt and its bad, really bad because, ever since I have never left my car dirty for more than 5 days.

I love cleaning my car. I like driving it clean. My brother would always ask me why i should clean the car when it is still very clean. But, for the first time I heard from my brother saying "Uy, and dumi ng kotse mo" thats when i realized wow! My car really needs attention.

Anyways, yesterday was the first time I was going to try the self service car wash here. It was pretty cool, you have to put in coins and 2 dollars give you 2 mins and 30 seconds of action. Lets say the brush with foam shampoo, so thats what i did first. And then for another 2 dollars 2 mins and 30 seconds  of pressure wash. So i think 6 dollars worth of washing should be enough. Although my car needed more, it was i bit difficult to remove some of the stains in the car.

Well this is never gonna happen again, i will start cleaning my car every weekend. When I saw  how dirty my car was yesterday,  I realized how the heck did I use it when its that filthy. But everything is back my car is white and shiny again it looks "pogi" and belive it or not it feels lighter to drive now ü

The Basin

The Camping team. Me, Miguel, Cat, Carlo, Camille, Bryan and Mon

It was a steady and relaxed day last Saturday, perfect time to go camping. We started early woke up at 530am, good thing we prepared everything the night before. We met at Mon and Bry's place at around 7am and left shortly after that. Our first stop was at a petrol station to get some breakfast, I was so hungry so i didn't mind eating the meat pie that does not taste good at all.

Back to the road trip, our destination is Palm Beach an hour away, then from there we ride a ferry that goes to The Basin. I've never been to there before I've only seen pictures on the internet and its really exciting because I haven't gone camping in a long time. The last time was when I was in L.A. with my cousins in 1999 where we went camping at Yosemite. 

I like camping coz i like the drinking outdoors, i like grilled food and i enjoy bonfires. When everyone is relaxed and just there talking you always end up with funny conversations, something that would keep everyone laughing for minutes. We had one during our camping when our friend Monica started to imagine that from the forest, the HUKBALAHAP's would come out and get us all. It was funny because i've never heard about the HUKS since HS it was really out of the blue.  And so stories went on and on and we'd create funny scenarios about the HUKS.

Ok enough about the HUKS, let me tell you about the place. The place is beside the ocean, there's a big camping ground in the middle where you can put up your tents, have your own bonfire and cook whatever you like. Behind the place is a beautiful lagoon where it was really nice to swim. Water wasn't so cold to we stayed quite long in that area. We arrived in the area just before lunch, so we picked our spot, built our tents and head on to lunch. We had pasta made by Camille, our other chef.  At night time we grilled some steaks and chicken wings and afterwards roasted some marshmallows and drank all night.

The next morning was great too. We cooked breakfast of sausages, bacon and scrambled eggs with tomatoes. Good way to start the day because we did a lot of things that day. We played soccer and frisbee at the open area. Everyone was pretty exhausted after the soccer game so we decided to go for a swim and relax in the lagoon again. After that we were hungry again so we grilled  all the chicken wings and steak thats left.

To end the day, on our way home, we dropped by La Mesa to have dinner. La Mesa is a popular Filipino restaurant in Dee Why. I think its the most authentic Pinoy restaurant around Sydney I've been to. They are known for the crispy pata, which I think is the best in town. I always manage to eat there when I'm in that area.