37 DEGREES AND WHAT AM I DOING ???

Finally we are getting the heat of the sun! It is high 37 degrees today and yesterday was also withering hot !!! Would be nice to be sitting at the beach, instead of working inside the airconditioned office ... and blogging ??? :)

Surfers' Paradise ... taken last time we were there!

Surfing would be nice, if I know how!

But, I would rather go to that man-made river in Brisbane .... along their famous Southbank and just keep my feet wet and cold while reading a book .... peacefully!

I love this river ... even if it is fake!

SOWING THE SEEDS OF LOVE ...

When you grow old - hmmm older - and life's monotony starts to creep into your being, that's when you become OLD.

Last night, I wanted to watch something old and still excites me - so I went through our DVD collection.

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Recent Brad Pitt's movie - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and the Twilight - made me picked "Interview with the Vampire" - for so the elements of aging, youth, and life itself are somehow examined in different ways.

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Being young is a state of mind. I know of some adults in their sixties and seventies who maintained their young minds.

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Oh, they may appear to be in their wobbly and wrinkly skin but their eyes glint with life and young spirit.

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Still wondering.

Active.

Inquisitive.

Hopeful.

Wishful.

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And their adventurous (maybe childish) way of looking at the world (still wonderful, mysterious and beautiful) - - - is their everflowing fountain of youth!

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In the Interview, the vampires' bodies are eternally youthful, never growing old. But their minds and their souls become ancients, weary and old as centuries of living and roaming around the world bring its toll. They would always look young and fabulous but in their tormented minds, they project and smell of decay and death. They actually loathe living (as they are already dead!). In the particular case of Louis (Brad Pitt) and Claudia (Kirsten Dunst), they only found regret and unhappiness in being forever damned young.

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To become a vampire is thus, not to live forever young ... !!! Thanks, but no thanks .. Edward!

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Which brings me to that awfully bashful song Sowing the Seeds of Love ... don't know why!

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And in my muddy frame of mind Betty of Ugly appeared in her braces and said "One can be young at any age!".

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"How?", I asked.

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She said "Maybe by having that youthful mind of a child???, and eating lots of Tortillas..."

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Maybe keeping that mind filled with wonders and expectations ... not always happy but forever curious and adventurous!

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That zest and love for life ... etc. etc ...

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Ohhh to be forever young ! Maybe we ask Mel Gibson ...

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I LUV BRISBANE "PUTAtsing SHOOTs"

THE PA-STAR .

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POSE OF BRISBANE

(O davah ... my getup is the color pallette of Brisbane's Christmas Tree, if you notice!)

Effortlezz !!!

"Bat ayaw ma - move ng lecheng tohhhh... kainezzzz!" PA-SEXY EFFORT POSE

THE OBLIGATORY LIYAD POSE

"O yan ... ang hirap kaya ng poses na techhh !!!!!!! "

THE HAROT GARUTAY POSE

(i definitely need a lot of photo-shopping done here!)

Napagod tuloy ang bruha .... "Wanna eat na Papa sa KFC, i'm sooo freakin tired na!" THE FEED-ME-NOW PLEASE POSE !!! .

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Anyhooo, back to nature - - the flowers ....

Brisbane is sooooo tropical, there are kalachuchi flowers (frangipani) of different colors everywhere.

My fave-vorith is this yellow one and the pink below - -- >

I wanna pick some and put in my hair like those Maoris :)

And there are also gumamelas (hibiscus) .... I remember, we used this as a science project in the Philippines in the national science fair ... we produced Gumamela Jam out of these colorful flowers !!!

And also suntanness ... I don't know what is their English name !!!

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But what really amazed me are these big reptiles going around the park ...

My Papa told me they are the Dragon Lizards daw... not the blue tonque lizards (found in the desserts) that inspired that Priscilla costume ...

Kaya tuloy ... I wanna copy the POSE OF THE DRAGON LIZARD - - -> Here ohhhh - >

It's really difficult to become a mowdel ... you have to do these hard to get poses !!!

Anyway .... i don't know what happened to my face here but I am again so excited to see these tropical flowers growing everywhere (tuloy i had that lock-jaw girl smile) - I wish din tuloy that I live in Brisbane na and have a big garden full of these plants and flowers :)

With my brimming smile Miss Philippines Pose But I am really afraid of these lizards .... though they really look so adorable to some people :)

They look at you and it seems they would suddenly jump ba naman !!! Kaya tuloy I have to climb these balite trees in the parks ... they are sooo huge FREAKED LIZARD POSE !!!!

I just really missed my Raffy and Skippy !!!

Soooo Goooo Shopping Pose!

It'z sooo hard kaya to make fun of yourself, noh???

"I LUV BRISBANE" - THE STREET SCENES

Unlike frozen Melbourne - - the sunny coasts of Brisbane and other cities (Surfers, Sunshine Coasts) enjoy that little bit of tropical weather just like the Philippines. Not surprising that there are so many Asians and tourists in this city. And I feel like there is so much going on ... but when the heat goes a little bit unbearable, just like one of the days when it reached to 33 degrees ... people are found in the middle of the city where it is much cooler and inside the airconditioned malls (David Jones and Myers).

This is the center of the city - where people just walk around and do their window shopping !!!

Some hot couple just loitering the streets ...

The Boxing sale still going on ... 50% off most of the items! I luve people's tanned complexion ... they are really turning very dark in here !

Probably a Thai girl with her flowy street version of a long gown and that flaming pink Supre Bag ... (a favorite girly fad cheap shop)

Guys strutting their stuff !

It is really very layback and people are enjoying their walks ...

Shorts, shorts and more shorts ... and the eternal flip-flops!

I just love the relaxed mood of it all ! I could see myself blending very well in the crowd!

Papa waiting for the cat (boat) to land on the other side of the river ...

Ohh... Papa wait for moi :)

Night market at the Southbank. Pretty nice but really boring market ... australian made products like soap, candles, and some Asian inspired stuff like baskets, bags, etc.

More ...

NEW YEAR'S EVE BY THE BEACH ...

Hi, just got back from a ten day holidays to Queensland (Brisbane, Goldcoast and Sunshine Coast), a two hour plane ride from Melbourne.

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This is our favorite destination for a quick trip in Oz and to get away from the freezing Melbourne despite the fact that it is already summer.

We really enjoyed it - - - although I missed Raffy and Skippy terribly that I wanted to end the trip after five days!

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There are so many things I learned during this trip.

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One big thing is that people in Brisbane are generally "homophobic" at their best, as I get all these attention (critical stare, funny look .. etc) when I walk on the streets or shopping malls (imagine me on my girly sleeveless shirt, highpumped Havaianas and Guess tote bag!).

And gay life is non-existent (due to the homophobic atmosphere) - as in, gays have silently mixed into the mainstream ... i.e. gay pubs are really mixed young straight crowd and a bit snub!

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Was I on the right place?

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But I love love love the tropical sunny weather - - - and the beaches!

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And celebrating new year with a community of strangers from all over the world - young and old - was something out of the ordinary!

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Well, happy new year :)