Year: 2023
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Spring came
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in LiveWhen we had just bought the house, the tree in the courtyard barely had any leaves. Little green sprouts peaked along the branches but they were mostly still bare, as it was still winter. The sliding door looking out the courtyard had the biggest windows and I could always see this tree every time I…
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Spanish bread
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in EatMy parents used to buy spanish bread regularly for us when we were kids. It really is just called “Spanish bread” at home, and everyone knows what it is. We were a colony of Spain for hundreds of years so it made sense in my head. 🥹 In my 5 years in Melbourne, I’ve found…
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Five years of firsts
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in LiveThe roller blinds were pulled down but sunlight was spilling through the edges of the window. It was warm under the duvet and when I pulled my hand out to check the surface of our quilt, it wasn’t damp. It was a huge upgrade from the humid mornings at our old rental and a deep,…
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How to buy a house in Melbourne
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in LiveTuesday was settlement day and I can now say that Dylan and I are officially homeowners! Woohoo! It probably felt so fast to our friends but the past two days were actually quite nerve-wrecking. The day before settlement, we received the summary of expected fees from our conveyancer and the bank had told them this:…
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Home is where the house is
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in PonderEvery dream has an inspiration, and mine was simply ambition and anger: a fiery desire to stay anywhere but the Philippines and an overwhelming sense of loss and frustration over what the Philippines had become. This was fueled by an inter-generational thread of betrayal by the home country. One of things my mum had said…
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Between signing and settling
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in LiveThis morning I woke up to an email from our broker, saying the bank lender had a question about our loan application: “He has asked to get more clarity around one of your accounts showing Nami and Kino University Funds, can you please provide clarity what is this for and if this is going to…
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Older and under
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in LiveI thought the pivotal moment that would make me feel “old” was when my back started hurting doing normal everyday things like moving houses and carrying boxes. I realise now that I was wrong. There’s this rite of passage called “buying a house” which currently feels like the defining moment of adulthood. There are many…
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Fish on
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in Live“Fish onnnnnnn!” Dylan cheers from the backseat of the Nissan Pathfinder. In front of us are our kind-of new friends and we’re on the way to Rye to try some surf fishing. Well, the boys will, anyway. I packed Toni Lodge’s latest book, “I Don’t Need Therapy (and other lies I have told myself)” to…
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Weekend waves
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in LiveI’ve been in Australia a few years now, but it was only last weekend, our first overnight trip to Geelong, that I was able to enjoy riding waves. Just bodysurfing, but I have never done that before and didn’t know I could enjoy it that much! Moments like these remind me why I tell myself,…