IVF Talk

Today we went for a talk wiht IVF Australia. I think i'm preparing myself for the worst-case scenario that we may need to resort to IVF.

I went to GP last Saturday to ask for referral to Gynae/Obs near Bankstown (friend's recommendation) so we'll prob need to do consulation and run some tests before determining if we need to go IVF.

Despite my temptation to start early with baby-project due to my 'older' age, I'm thinking what the best arrangement is with regards to work and private healh insurance. Should I start looking for a permanent job to take advantage of the maternity leave? Should I just finish my contract in January and not work to concentrate on IVF? I would need to time the IVF too so that the day surgery would fall after December so I could claim the cost from private health insurance.

Back to the donation topic, I found another sponsorship organisation (ChildFund) that help Indonesian kids and also help the commnity around the child. If all goes well, I might just visit her if I happen to go back Indonesia (oh, I forgot Indonesia is big, I hope she's not far from Jakarta). I discussed about charity organisation with my 'antepe' friends and one of them suggested MIKA in Indonesia. Guiltily, I admitted that I want this part of donation to be tax-deductible.

Tax

I decided to do my tax returns in the hope that I'd get some tax returns. Now, I just have to wait for the credit to my bank account..

When claiming tax-deduction donation, I remembered Will's blog entry regarding church donation. Suddenly I had a 'creative' idea of giving some of the 10% tithing to tax-deductible organisation. So I went on to get the list of organisation and narrowed the list down to:
- Radio Heart FM
- Presbyterian Aged Care
- Anglican Board of Mission
- Uniting Church in Australia -Frontier Services

It is really hard to know if I have chosen correctly. Ideally, it would be good to visit the place or even get involved (volunteer) with the organisation before making the decision. Of coz, giving money out is much easier than really getting involved with the activities. Oh, my friend suggested World Visiton too, so I would look at it again. The first time round, I didn't 'adopt' any child in World Vision coz I wanted to choose an Indonesian girl and they don't have Indonesians in their list.

I am very interested to know more about Presbyterian Aged Care, though. I think it'd be fun to stay at retirement house with fellow old friends, playing card games, exercising together. Wouldn't it be nice if all my good friends go to the same retirement village? It would be like reunion or like church camp all over again. Hmm, maybe I should drop by the place to look at it. It seems they accept CDs for donations and I got heaps of them, though I'm not sure if the songs are from their era hehehe....

On a good note, my hubby got a job! Yippee.. Now I can quit my job!

An early day at last

After working for almost 2 months, today was the first day I managed to finish my work and leave early. All the month-end tasks and reports are done. Tomorrow my boss would review my work and he'd go on leave for a week. I think I would go home early next week too.

I have been buying one-way tickets to work and take taxi home. But just now, I bought myeself a weekly ticket. Having been taking taxi for the last 2 months, I find tkaing train back a little uncomfortable. So many people waiting for the train today, not helped with the extra pilgrims from World Youth Day. I managed to sneak into my train, but I know many peopel couldn't get into their trains earlier. I'm not sure if I want to leave earlier now...

This Saturday, hubby and I are thinking of visiting a GP for consultation before we decide on what to do next (IVF or other treatments). Hubby wants to start later but I fear my 'egg' will deteriorate if we don't start early. Furthermore, treatments may take long to see the results.

Good news to my neighbourhood, Ari, my Indonesian friend (Antepe group) moved to the estate. He rents out his apartment in Eastern Suburb and rent a house from his child's day-carer (who owns 3 houses in the same 'hood!). So that'll make 3 of 5 of Antepe live here and 4 of 5 live around Sydney West, with Hartono living in same estate and Wendy living in a nearby suburb. Only Agung lives in Sydney South.

He moved house last Sat and a few of his church's friends came to help. Hubby and I couldn't help as we had visitors (2) from Singapore and Adelaide. Hartono's baby's sick so he couldn't be there too, but his wife coooks for Ari dinner for Sat night. I picked up Siomay Bandung from Meryl (7-mth pregnant lady I mentioned on previous entry) and it was a lot, so I shared it with Ari and Hartono. It's so happened that Hartono's wife made Bahkut Teh (M'sian style) so she passed some to me too. Now that we live closer to each other, hopefully it'll be easier to meet over the weekend for gatherings. Hope Ari will throw housewarming party soon...

Although Agung lives quite far away, he works in the city and he and Hartono meet almost everyday for lunch and I join occassionally. Agung's bank has regular offer to buy Woolies or Coles gift card at 5% discount and Hartono and I ordered $300-$400 Woolies gift card from him for 1 month's expenses ( supermarket and petrol). Now we need to ask Ari if he wants to buy some too.

Free SMS, Antepe party and baby shower

I have a new habit now to check ozbargain.com.au and came upon this promotion of free 225 free local/international sms. Nothing to lose, right? I gave it a try and it worked. It's good timing too as I need to inform all my friends of my new home mobile numbers (my prepaid is expiring soon).

It's quite convenient too as I could sms my hubby using office internet, making it fast and less obvious. My mum must have thought I miss her so much hahaha.. I sent her her so many sms, begging her to come and visit me here .. and help sew the hem of my jeams hehee....

Last weekend was long weekend for us in Sydney. My friends has a gathering at my place. They are my friends back in Singapore and part of a group we called "Antepe" which stands for 'ane cinte KaPe' which means (in Betawi) ' i love Komisi Pemuda', as we used to be part of Young Adult Fellowship. Now, the group scattered all over the world, 1 in Cananda, 5 in Sydney, 1 in Perth, 6 in Singapore, 3 in Indonesia. The 4 couples who were here on Sat are couples with kids (1 kid each couple).We ordered KFC and I'm not sure why they don't have 'crispy' chicken though, so we ordered Original. My neighbours (we lived in the same 'estate) brought some bak-changs, egg tarts and coffee machine; the most wonderful neighbours! The wife made coffee for us all and she could play with all the kids, she's a wonder woman! She cooks for the family, continue with her work at home and could still teach her daughter. My friend is a lucky husband... and i pity my husband (i'm sure he's nodding his head reading this article).

On Sunday, we went to a friend's baby shower. She's another wonder woman. She's 5-6mths pregnant but for the baby shower, she baked a 'baby shower' cake and muffins, cooked steak sandwich and salad...... and she made games for us. One of the games are guessing the length of her stomach. We cut a length of thread that would be close to the lengh of her waistline/stomach. Another one is transfering cotton balls from a plate to another plate with eyes closed (the other spouse give verbal instruction). The last game was playing crosswords (yes, she created the crosswords herself) relating to baby and pregnancy.. in bahasa Indonesia. It was fun! She is going to bake a birthday cake for our friend's birthday tomorrow.

Now, what shall i get for my friend's (husband) birthday..... It's really hard to buy presents for a guy...

Contract Job, Nokia, Wii Fit, Botoli

After one and a half months of going for interviews and rejections, I finally got a job (thank you, God). It's a contract job, a slightly different role involving more accounting work. This would be a good chance for me to learn about accounting. Thanks to Mandy who put some good words (again) for me, it really helped.

So off I went shopping a day before I was supposed to start work, we went to DFO. After my 1st day at work, I realised that the clothes that I bought might be too 'colourful' for the office. People there generally wear darker clothes (maybe because it's winter?) and I have 2 red blouses and 1 black blouse with some shiny diamond-like around the waist. I guess I need to shop some more today.

On the same day, we went to Centro Bankstown to walk around and I got a post-paid phone contract at $29cap and chose N73 as the free phone. Finally I could return the borrowed phone back to my friend's brother, he must have wondered if he'd ever get his phone back hehehe...
But as I still have $62 credit in my pre-paid phone, I am still using the old phone to utilize all the credits before moving to the new number. What was shocking was that apparently I had a bad credit history with 3 as they claimed I didn't pay my last bill. I was trying hard to remember whom I give my 2 sim cards to (Vodafone and 3) before I left Sydney 5 years ago. I would probably need to pay the amount to clear my name but they didn't give any supporting for the amount they quoted me. I'd need to call 3 again one of these days.

On Thursday, I insisted to buy Wii, much to my hubby's frustration, at KMart. My hubby tried to convince me that there's a cheaper one at Toys 'r Us so we went to Paramatta to check it out. And yes, it was cheaper (thanks, hubby) and now we're having fun with Wii console + sports + fit. The only problem is that hubby doesn't get the chance to watch TV much that he's thinking of getting another TV in the living room just for Wii. Surely that is not necessary? But I could see a problem once my PIL are here coz they watch a lot of TV. Oh well, we'll see....

One of my friends who lived within the area invited us for dinner. His wife is from Malaysia and so is my hubby, and I think we're the only 2 in the group who married Malaysians. Anyway, we jokingly noted how the Malaysians are hardworking, both of them (hubby and my friend's wife) cook, clean and manage the house very well. Now, how about their Indonesian spouses? My friend claimed that it's OK with him as he's the husband... hmm, I have nothing to say.

The following day, they brought us to their favourite restaurant in Burwood. The name of the place is Botoli and we have to remember the place as the food was nice (steamed fish, long bean with minced meat sauce, grilled chicken with lime, toufu with tang-fun). Too bad we didn't take any pictures at all. They also recommended an Indonesian food in Maroubra "Mie Kocok" and to order 'Panorama' noodles. Ok, another place to try.

On that night, hubby and I were supposed to join Martha and friends to have dinner at Ratu Sari in Kingsford as I have 25% discount from Entertainment Book. Too bad it was cancelled as Martha and David had a church gathering.

In June, we're joining Jason to go for Good Food and Wine exhibition in Darling Harbour. Not sure what it is all about but as long as it is about Food, we're sold. There is an extra charge if we want to watch Gordon Ramsay but I can't even cook so not interested. But, I think Mom (I call my MIL "Mom" and my mother "Mama") might be interested if she is here around the period. Maybe I should tell her about it to entice her to come here sooner, though I don't think she needs anymore encouragement actually.

Saving money on your shopping

Taken from TodayTonight website and I'm putting it in my blog for future references. Right now, I can't cook but usually I make suggestions of 'healthy' food that we need to buy for our kitchens. So far, we've bought frozen stir-fry vegetables, canned vegetable soups, Original orange juice. Hubby would choose fresh fruits, meat pies, bread, cornflakes and pasta. We've given up on frozen pizza, prefering to order Domino's. We have tried Aldi, although we ended up buying cheap and good junk food :P But looking at the list below, prob we could try spray-on olive oil...

From time to time, we've all been shocked by what we pay at the grocery checkout. Figures suggest 20 per cent of all household expenditure goes on putting food on the table and fill the pantry.

So how can you reduce that amount?

One magazine claims it can do it by $50 a time.
They have come up with 33 money saving tips which are listed below, this information comes from the May 2008 edition of the 'Healthy Food Guide'.

1. PLAN A WEEKLY MENU

2. SHOP WITH A LIST

3. USE SUPERMARKET FLYERS - Grab the discounts and save

4. SHOP AT ALDI - save 10%

5. STOCK YOUR PANTRY - keep a list of essential items (buy these on special)

6. CHOOSE AFFORDABLE RECIPES

7. SNACK SMART - buy treats in packets and create portions for school or work.

8. USE SPRAY ON OIL instead of bottle

9. DRINK HEALTHILY - alternate juice or soft drink with water.

10. GO ALCOHOL FREE - if you skip 2 glasses of wine each week you could save.

11. THINK BULK ON REGULAR PURCHASES - it's cheaper in bulk!

12. KEEP YOUR FRIDGE WORKING FOR YOU - store fruit and veges in bags in crisper and use old first!

13. USE YOUR FREEZER - put extra wine, lemon juice, stock, tomato pastes, in unused icecube containers or packs

14. MAKE THE MOST OF LEFTOVERS - use in stirfries the next night eg

15. FREEZE FRESH HERBS - tear off and freeze in icecubes with water. Not good for salads but great for cooking.

16. IMPROVE STORAGE TECHNIQUES - choose right size, too big lets in air, separate into plastic bags, upturn jars.

17. DATE IT - keep on top what's best, and mark date of produce to save throwing out good or missing food before use-by

18. REVIEW YOUR MENU - replace a meat meal per weak with an egg-based or pulse-based meal - frittatas, salads etc

19. INEXPENSIVE INGREDIENTS - use rice, pasta, potatoes, breads, noodles, seasonal produce and less protein(meat)

20. REVIEW YOUR RECIPES - use cheaper cuts of meat and use seasonal veges in each meal. eg diff chicken cuts

21. ADD LEGUMES - make soups or casseroles go further by adding a tin of chickpeas, kidney beans etc.

22. EXTEND MINCE - add cooked red lentils to meat dishes eg Bolognese = healthier and cheaper!

23. STAY IN SEASON - eg. out of season beans $7 compared to in-season beans $3

24. LEFTOVERS SOUP - at the end of each shopping week, chop up leftover veges and make soup, puree and freeze

25. EXTEND YOURSELF - add extras to leftovers and change the meal - potatoes, mixed veges or tin of beans

26. PASTRY PARCELS - you can make food into pies, or as a topping to food or dessert: tinned apples and cinnamon

27. SAVOURY PANCAKES - turn leftovers into savoury pancake filling! chicken casserole, pasta sauces, veges!

28. CRUMBLE IT - too much fruit? cut up, drizzle with honey and bake in a dish, cover oats/nuts - instant crumble YUM!

29. SHOP ONCE - stops you from impulse buying and saves extra cost later at the corner shop

30. SHOP ONLINE - again it takes away the impulse buying - once you reach your budget you can add or delete. Simple!

31. HAND-PICK YOUR PRODUCE - pick individual items as made-up trays can have nasty surprises. select ripeness too

32. BUY FRESH FOODS WEEKLY AND AVOID WASTE - you'll soon work out how much you eat per week. No waste.

33. USE DISCOUNT CARDS - sign up to store loyalty programs - eg Franklins and Bakers Delight.

BUDGET SAVERS WE LOVE (ACCORDING TO HEALTHY FOOD GUIDE)

Frozen Veges - as good for you as fresh and last longer

Tinned Apples - make a cheap desert with filo pastry

Green vege bags - keep veges fresher longer

Minced Garlic - cheap and simple way to have this healthy ingredient

Red Lentils - Add to soups and casseroles to stretch food longer

Multi Pack Plastic Containers - cook in bulk and save time and money

Grated Parmesan - you can freeze this and pull out when you need it - never goes mouldy

Freezer Bags - buy meat on special and freeze to use when you're ready

Cans of Beans - and fibre, stretch a meal

Bag of Rice - buy in bulk and save. Cook and freeze portions

Filo Pastry - turn leftovers into another meal by wrapping them

Olive Oil Spray - versatile and inexpensive and you'll use less oil

Tinned Tomatoes - bulk up a casserole or soup AND get another serve of veges

Pasta - cheap to buy, goes with almost any leftover and is filling.

Putting on weight, Internet

As feared, I put on 1 kg since I arrived in Sydney a month ago. Not surprised considering we keep eating out, ordering too much, cooking too much and experimenting with all the new foods we find in supermarkets.

This morning, I managed to start walking and jogging with hubby in the park nearby and hopefully we could keep it up. I realised that the sun is out earlier here so by 7am, it's quite bright. So I think we could change our sleeping time, sleep earlier and wake up earlier.

On the employment part, I didn't get the role I was hoping for. A bit disappointed but now I'm really hoping my husband will get a job first. I'm beginning to enjoy this 'housewife' role and don't mind doing it full-time :) I've been hoping to get pregnant soon so i'd have a strong reason, or excuse, to stay at home. Having said that, the prospect of earning more money is too tempting, especially if we want to buy a house in the future.

On the positive side, we'd finally get our own internet connection, using TPG. According to my husband, it's still the cheapest so far and some of our friends are already using it. We couldn't get ADSL2+ for our place so settle for ADSL1, but it's definitely better that the mobile internet from 3 that we borrowed from Martha (thanks, Martha). I guess it's about time we returned it to her, in case she needs it.