Tantantinintinin

Bye Bye Tesla

2026-10-10T21:49:39.560+11:00

Sad. Today we say goodbye to our beloved Red Tesla Model Y, our trusted and reliable ride for the past 2 years and 8 months. It's been with us through many journeys, fifty-six thousands kilometers worth in fact, from Sydney to Gold Coast and Brisbane, down to Melbourne, and further west to Adelaide. We've been through so many places. We have spent many nights as a family sitting in the car while it charges, and have spend countless nights sleeping in the car during church guarding.

But alas, all good things must come to pass.

For even greater things, that is! On Oct 20 we're welcoming our new Telsa Model Y L! Woo hoo!

My Fair Lady the Musical and 24th Anniversary

2026-09-20T23:16:00.000+10:00

Tonight we celebrated our 24th year of love, life, and family. With the kids in tow, we spent the afternoon at the Sydney Opera House watching the classic My Fair Ladyf the musical. After that, we headed to Sea Rock Grill at the Circular Quay for a ribs, wings, and burger dinner. Then we capped the night with desserts at Yocchi.

This is the 24 years of togetherness, going through all the trials, struggles, joys, and blessings as one. Love you, Lani!

Carnival Adventure Cruise to Sea

2026-09-01T21:25:00.000+10:00

Fiddler on the Roof, the Musical

2026-08-19T17:00:21.369+10:00

Caught a mobile rush sale at TodayTix, so we secured $50 tickets to watch Fiddler on the Roof at the Theatre Royal Sydney tonight.

This is probably one of the best shows we've seen. In terms of story, singing, performances, stage, and just the genuineness of it all. It's one of thise that didn't need a grand stage to actually stand out.

Jesus Christ Superstar

2026-08-05T23:05:00.000+10:00

Riverside Theatre was a two-week run of Jesus Christ Superstar. And since we missed the big production last year, we thought we'd give this a go.

The show was interesting thing. A bohemian take on the events of the days prior to Jesus' death.

The actors were note the best. It was obvious that it was a small production. But at the price we paid ($45per) it was worth it

Next to Normal, the Musical

2026-07-12T23:14:00.000+10:00

The kids have been anted to watch this for a while. Good thing this small production had a short run in a school Lindfield.

The show, though small, was actually good. The performances were fantastic and the actors were amazing. To bad it was not marketed enough because more than half the seats were empty.

The Lion King 2026

2026-06-24T23:51:00.000+10:00

It was 2014 when we watched our first musical here in Australia - The Lion King. We saw it here at the Capitol Theatre and we only had Ethan with us then. Erin was only 11 months old, too young watch.

Now, 12 years after, we get to see this wonder grand production again.

The show is still filled with great props, grand stage, and eye-popping production. Ethan said he now understands why we say Lion King was the best production we've seen. The giraffe walking on stage, the humongous elephant strolling the isles, the huge ensemble of casts they had in the show. It was a treat to the eyes.

But I also now realise that it is a children's show. The plot, the acts, and scenes, they are all for young kids.

We had ate Abigail join us tonight. We bought the tickets back in January expecting that Teng will be here in Sydney by this time. And we all had forgotten it till 1.5 hours before the show when we were already having pre-show dinner at Market City when I realised I have 5 tickets with me. So we quickly contacted people looking for someone available and nearby who can join us. Abby was just on the train home at Stratfield, and was about to join us 30mins before the show's start .

Tootsie - The Musical

2026-05-26T23:59:19.215+10:00

That was hilarious. Probably the most hilarious low-budget musical we've seen. And low-budget is a compliment. Despite the small theatre (300 seats only), and limited stage (ie, not even a curtain), the production was great! Great actors, good singers, well-rehearsed and full of energy dancing, and perfectly-timed comedy.

This is one I would recommend to anyone. Looking forward to another show TEATRO at the Italian Forum, Leichthart.

Come Alive, The Musical Circus

2026-05-19T23:29:46.461+10:00

While Lani is away in the Philippines attending the wedding of Bro Marson (she's a ninang), she thoughtfully decided to buy us tickets to the premiere show of Come Alive, a musical circus inspired by The Greatest Showman. And she got the tickets at a good price ($55each) through the Rush deals at TodayTix.

The kids and I left home at 5pm to drive to Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park, where the show is held. After claiming the tickets from box office, we had dinner at a nearby Vietnamese restaurant before heading to the big circus event.

The venue was small. There are four sections of audience surrounding a circular center stage, much like most circus. They had actors performing songs and a bit of acting to the basic story - a girl getting enticed to become the next greatest showman.

The show wasnt bad, but wasnt the best either. The singers were sometimes off - especially the male lead at low/hush registers. But they were good when they are singing high notes. The circus acts where a little in between, the main characters were great, but the support roles were amateurish. The putting them together - it gives truth to the saying "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts"

The finale was a bit of a disappointment to me, though. While the last some was great - full of energy, alive, loud, and engaging - at the very end of it they did a dramatic countdown for the last circus stunt, which ended up being underwhelming and bland. But anyway, we enjoyed the show and it was worth the price Mum paid.

Happy 13th birthday, Erin

2026-05-06T21:39:00.002+10:00

She's now officially a teenager. Love you bebe!

PET/CT Scans again

2026-04-30T13:01:00.003+10:00

Another round of routine checks to make sure I'm still cancer free.

Did it again at PRP Bella Vista, served by the very nice nurse Dave.

Anastasia the Musical and Lani's 52nd birthday

2026-04-29T23:46:00.001+10:00

This was booked a while back, together with Phanthom and My Fair Lady (later in the year). Got the tickets for cheap as it was a season package at opera.org.au.

The best thing about this is that today also happens to be Lani's birthday.

The show was at Sydney Lyric Theatre. We went to a quit dinner at the foodcourt, before heading to the theatre to watch.

The show was fantastic. Great singers, wonderful stage production (lots of moving parts, which I like), and the dancers were great. I like the pop singing style of the male lead. And the female lead's voice gives me goosebumps. I particularly enjoyed the train to paris scene.

Phantom of the Opera

2026-04-22T23:57:00.025+10:00

Such a majestic venue!

Tonight we watched Handa Opera's presentation of the classic Phantom of the Opera. And they did it with style. It was done in open air at the edge of the Botanic Garden with the Opera House and Harbour Bridge in the backdrop. They had a huge staircase and cranes to lift the giant chadelier.

We've had this booked for a while now, August last year if I remember right. And we had the Luzon family watching with us.

The show was magnificent. Performances were superb, stage production top notch. And the music... the music... it was the music of the night! (LOL)

The venue was great. They had setup seats on the side of the hill and there were 5 restaurants surrounding the seating area. The only problem was it was far from parking. You either had to take a shuttle or walk 20mins. Oh well, the show was worth it.

Our stars

2026-04-16T10:02:00.008+10:00

During our Adelaide trip, we had gone to MOD Interaction Museum, a modern tech exhibit with lots of games and stuff. One of the exhibit there asks the user 10 questions regarding how they would act or react in certain situations, and after the quiz, would give an analysis on what type of star that person is.

Here's ours:

Jonathan

Lani

Ethan

Erin

Adelaide 2026

2026-04-11T21:21:00.003+10:00

This has been a holiday long overdue. Work had been too stressful the past 8 months that we haven't had an actual break since August. And a lot has happened since that we felt, we really need a breather. Finally, that break has come.

This week, we went on a (very) long drive to Adelaide. Since we wanted a roadtrip anyway, why not visit family (the Garcias, Lani's neice) who had moved there early this year.

Here's how our trip went:

Sat, 4 April

Left home 11am after helping in the Holy Supper Worship Service of Kellyville
After about 2.5hrs our first stop at Ampol Pheasants Nest for quick EV and tummy charging
Ethan then took the wheel, driving 1.5hrs from Gundagai to Coolac for our next charging stop
After 20min rest and charge, Ethan drove another 2 hours to Albury tesla charger where we had early dinner at the nearby Commercial Club Albury - wonderful food and ambience. We ate while listening to live music.
I then drove the last 2 hours to our final stop for the day - Courtyard Motor Inn Shepparton.

Sun, 5 Apr

Woke up early to charge the car. About 2km away from the motel
We then left the motel at 10am for our 2hr journey to Kerang. Ethan drove for 2hr and 15mins.
Lunch at Cafe Royal Kerang (food wasn't good), then 2-hour drive to Ouyen for charging.
We wanted to drive straight to Tailem Bend (3 hours away), but Tesla is worried we won't have enough charge to reach the place, so we stopped midway at Pinnaroo. Took the chance to stroll around the nearby park and playground.
I then drove the remaining 2 hours to arrive 6:30pm at Tailem Bend Supercharger. Funnily, we ran into the Ardona family who were on the way back to Melbourne after visiting Adelaide.
After buying take home dinner, we headed 1.5hours west to Magill, to the home of the Garcia family, our host for the night.
Spend the rest of the evening building toys for the Garcia kids.

Mon, 6 Apr

Lazy morning with the Garcia family
I took the chance to clean all the insect debris from the car.
After lunch, we headed to the city for our 3-night stay at Hotel Grand Chancellor, Adelaide. The hotel was lovely, just a block away from Rundle Mall, and right in the middle of everything. They also had a destination charger, which unfortunately doesnt work.
After check-in, we met with Aeson who's been living in Adelaide for about a year and half now. Walked the length of Hindley St through to Rundle Mall, then a bit of North Terrace to the state library.
Ended up at one of the malls in Rundle to eat at C9 Chocolate.
After a bit of rest, we went out to meet the Garcias for dinner at 18th Street Hot Pot, followed by a visit to our room.
Lani and I then capped the night by walking around Hindley St to reach our 12.5k steps for the day.

Tue, 7 Apr

8am breakfast at the hotel mezzanine - part of our room rate. It was a decent spread. Eggs, hotdogs, mushroom and tomato, beans, bacons, pancakes, hashbrowns, pastries, fruits, and drinks.
Then headed out at 10am to do our museum visits

State Library of SA (claims most beautiful library in Australia) and Royal Geographical Society of SA Museum
South Australian Museum, featuring an Egypt exhibits
Art Gallery of SA, which had really really weird artworks
MOD Interactive Museum
Migration Museum

In between, we also went for a long walk to

Chinatown for lunch at the Federation Plaza, and
Victoria Square, which oddly is an oval park

For dinner, we just bought takeout from Hungry Jacks near the hotel
Lani and I went out later to charge the car at a nearby supercharger to prepare for tomorrow's trip

Wed, 8 Apr

Woke up 8am for hotel breakfast. Same food as yesterday.
Left hotel at 9:40am to reach Beerenberg at 10:30am.
Met with the Garcias there for Strawberry picking, then brunch at their cafe to try the famous scones. They have Spicy Halloumi Sticks on the menu which was fantastic!
Then we headed a kilometer down to walk the streets of Hahndorf - the authentic German village. It was wonderful but crowded. We had gelatos and walked a bit. Sadly it rained heavily, so we had to cut the visit short.
Next we went to Mount Lofty. But again, the rain and fog made visibility almost zero, so we ended up not going to the lookout. We decided to go elsewhere.
We headed to nearby Carrick Hill House Museum. It was an awe to behold. The size of the property alone, and then collection of art works and household items inside the house was fascinating to see.
After that, we headed to Chinatown for early dinner. A lot of the shops were already closed, so we ended up eating at Pho Nguyen. Ethan and Erin loved the BBQ Pork w/ Vermicelli that I ordered.
We then met with Leila Labandillo (our ex officemate from Phils, and Lani's ex-roomy from her early working years). Lani and Lei headed back to the hotel to catch up
Erin and I went to Urban Climb coz she wanted to try bouldering (wall climbing without ropes). As expected, she enjoyed it a lot and wanted to return the next day.
Ethan went around Hindley and Rundle Mall.

Thu, 9 Apr

7am start because Erin wanted to go back to Urban Climb (they open at 6am).
After about an hour of tiring herself down, we headed back to the hotel for breakfast before checking out.
We then drove to Mawson Lakes to pickup a purchase, then headed to Costco for a bit of grocery. Rain was falling hard
Then it was an hour drive south to Victor Harbor to meet the Garcias.
There we enjoyed a ride on the horse-drawn rail carriage, a walk around Granite Island, and food at one of the local cafes.
On the way back, we passed by the vineyards- first Coriole, then D'Arenberg Cube. The latter had an exhibit of Salvador Dali's sculptures and Roald Dahl's Dr Seuss artworks
At 5pm, we made our way back to the Garcia's home for our night's stay.

Fri, 10 Apr

Woke up at 8am for breakfast and prep, then said our goodbyes to the Garcias.
First stop was charging at Tesla Norwood Mall.
We decided to take the Mildura -> Hay route, which Tesla doesnt like because there arent many superchargers along the way. So we had to manually put RAA and NRMA chargers in the map
The next stop was supposedly at RAA Waikerie, but for some reason Tesla led us to the supercharger up north at Clare Valley. We were already close to an hour out of way before I realised. So after charging there, we headed westward to get back to our journey home. We added about and hour and half to our trip.
Next was a quick stop at RAA Morgan
Then RAA Renmark
Then Guzman Y Gomez lunch while charging at Tesla Mildura
1.5 hour to NRMA Balranald
Then the last hour to arrive 9:15pm at our stop for the night - Commercial Motor Inn, Hay

Sat, 11 April

7am start to our day. Breakfast at the hotel, then back on the road for the 2nd half of our 1400km journey home
Ethan drove the first 2-hour leg between Hay and Narrandera
Then I drove 2 hours to Coolac supercharger
Another 2 hours to Goulburn supercharger and had KFC lunch there.
Then the last 2.5 hours to home

It was a fun road trip. The Tesla certainly made it more relaxing and definitely cheaper than when we had the Captiva.

Kuya's Charity Shave

2026-03-27T16:09:00.001+11:00

Ethan's school is running a charity event and Ethan volunteered as one of the student who will be "shaved" in exchange for donations.

While some students agreed to go bald, Ethan chose to have a short haircut.

It didn't turn out too bad.

Ed Sheeran Concert

2026-02-15T23:54:00.001+11:00

Just watched Ed Sheeran's Loop concert here in Sydney with the Maduli couple. It was held at the Accor Stadium in Sydney Olympic Park, and man, there were so much people. Seventy-thousand attendees and they closed the entire olympic park for it.

The concert was a blast. Ed Sheeran truly is a generational talent.

A Luna Park Day

2026-01-26T23:31:00.001+11:00

It's Australia Day and what better way to spend it rhan to visit Australia's (or Sydney's) most iconic amusement park - the Luna Park.

Today's a non-working holiday and the last week of the kid's school break, so we thought why not go out and hve bit of family time.

Keeping Cancer at bay in 2026

2026-01-22T02:11:00.023+11:00

Finished my first CT and PET scans of the year last week, and saw my Oncologist today to discuss the results. Thanks be to God, there's no more sign of cancer in the tests. Blood test were also good.

We're do these test every 3 months this year, then drop it down to 6-monthly next year.

Toukley Holiday 2025

2025-12-26T23:36:00.000+11:00

We've been so busy since August that the weeks and months passed by so quickly. And with another big project happening at work at the moment, we're not likely to have a proper holiday this yearend. So when the Carungays called and invited us to join them for a short 2-day stay at the Central Coast, we couldn't say no.

Dec 21, Sunday

After Thanksgiving and th Choir lunch (celebrating Ethan's birthday), we headed north for our one-night stay at Toukley Motor Inn. It was 5mins away from where Carungay and Lugue families are staying in the neighboring Norah Heads. After dropping off our luggage, we headed to our friends' Airbnb for a day/night of good food, plenty of laughs, karaoke, and some time in the pool and beach.

Dec 22, Monday

We checked out from the motor inn then headed to the nearby Beachcomber Hotel from breakfast. We've stayed in this hotel before so it was great to visit it again. We went for the buffet breakfast which, while on the expensive side, was actually great. Then, we stopped by Vinny's for some shopping before joining the Carungays again for the rest of the day.

The Carungays had an extra room and invited us to stay the night and we were happy to do so. However, Ethan and I had to drive to Sydney for the night so he can attend choir practice. We left at 4pm and managed to get back to Budgewoi by 10:30pm.

Dec 23, Tuesday

After breakfast, we parted ways from the Carungays. We passed by Westfield Wyong for lunch and a bit of walk before driving back home.

After a bit of rest, we headed our for dinner with the Luzon and Maduli families.

Pretty Woman, The Musical

2025-12-26T18:11:00.001+11:00

Watched this today with Lani and the kids at Theatre Royal Sydney. I managed to snag $79 boxing day tickets at Row E, which was very close to the stage. We could see the faces and facial expressions of the performers.

The show was good. Wonderful performances, decent stage set up, and the story was true to the original movie. It wasn't as grand as other shows we've watched, but it was worth the price.

Happy 17th Birthday Ethan

2025-12-21T22:59:00.000+11:00

Ethan's birthday happened to fall on Thanksgiving Day, so we were all busy and didn't have time for a proper celebration. So it was wonderful that the choir have organised lunch after the event, which ended up being Ethan's sort-of celebration.

After performing our duties, we all went to Merrylands RSL for a sumptuous meal.

Afterwhich, our family headed to Central Coast for our short holiday catchup with the Carungay and Lugue clan. And that'll be another story...

Dux and honour rolls

2025-12-12T22:18:00.001+11:00

Well done, kids!

Ethan received his 5th Dux in aa many years of high school, along with a few 1st in course awards. It's a testament that hard work pays off, seeing him spend so much of his time studying and working on assessments throughout the year.

Erin on the other hand surprised us with her inclusion in honour roll as well a commendation in Music. She's been quite chill in her studies, but we knew she's just as much an achiever as her brother.

Proud of you, both!

Erin's baptism

2025-11-21T23:29:00.001+11:00

Erin is now a full-pledged member of the Iglesia Ni Cristo, having received her baptism today.

Welxome to the fold, bebe!

Singapore and Manila 2025 (Lani and Rowena)

2025-11-19T23:42:00.003+11:00

We have 2 family weddings this month, but they are both in the Philippines. Since it's not school holidays, and there's a lot going on at work, we decided that only Lani would go back to PH to attend. Our friend Rowena heard about it and decided she wanted to go, which we were happy about coz then Lani didn't have to go alone. And since they were flying out, they decided to do a few days of stopover in Singapore because Rowena hasn't been yet. And so they're adventure goes...

They flew out on the morning of 29th October, Wednesday, and landing in Singapore just after 5pm. They were met by our friends Haydee Salva, Aileen Rabano, and Flo Fuentes. After checking in, they went out for a walk and dinner at the Raffles/Fullerton area:

The following morning, they toured around Singapore - Garden at the Bay and Chinatown.

Next morning, they went west to see River Safari, then did a bit of shopping in Chinatown, and a stroll around Suntec City and Marina Bay Sands. Then dinner with friends in Geylang.

Then they went for last minute shopping before heading to the Airport for their 1 Nov flight to Manila.

They arrived afternoon in Manila and were picked up by Lani's family.

On 3 Nov, they travelled to Cavite to attend Tonton's wedding.

Then on 4 Nov, they attended Mico's wedding in Quezon City.

After that, it was all food, shopping, fun and laughter as they spent the next 2 weeks enjoying Manila.

And on 19 Nov, we welcomed Lani back in Sydney