Johannesburg International Motor Show 2011

The 2011 Johannesburg International Motor Show recently came to town. It was held at the Johannesburg Expo Centre in Nasrec, the south of Johannesburg and took place from the 6th to the 16th of October 2011.

Hubby and I went on the last day of the exhibition to have a look.

A lot of the dealerships (i.e. Honda, BMW, Mercedes Benz, etc.) were at the exhibition to showcase the best and the finest in their collections. There were also some old cars on show but the concentration of the exhibition is mostly on the newer and more technologised offerings.

The nice thing of course is that hubby and I got to ride in the cars of our dreams and the others that were not even in our dreams yet, hahaha......

From watching one too many times of The Italian Job, I've settled quite nicely into the Mini Cooper S. I've always thought that this was gonna be my car, even if it was just for the few minutes. Yeah, yeah...you can call me Mrs Bean, LOL. Although this car looks nothing like Mr Bean's.

Unpreparedness Come Undone

I have not been my usual active blogger self lately, you might have noticed. I have decided to slow down with the memes and posts, and might slow down even more in the coming month. You see, in less than a month, I will be sitting on my fourth CIMA exams.

I am slightly unprepared still but hopefully by that time, I will have gained the necessary and required knowledge to pass the subject I am taking this semester.

I seem to have a slight bad luck when it comes to year-end exams as I failed the last one I did last year. Mind you though, it was my first year back at studying and I was busy with my holiday plans, so that could have something to do with that.

I hope this year I break the bad luck spell.

Play Play Payback (Perspective Effect)

I loved this photo too much that I thought it warrants its own post on my blog.

On a recent break to Lesotho Sun, I had my daughters frolick around the hotel surroundings and started playing photographer. What transpired are in the pic. And this is my fave!

Little sis uses perspective effect to show some pretend payback to big sis :-)

VTT: The Kingdom Of Lesotho

Date: 8 October 2011

Location: Lesotho Sun, Maseru, Lesotho

Recently, the family was invited to visit some relatives in Lesotho. My sister-in-law and her family has been living in Maseru, Lesotho for many years now and her son, our nephew, 7th birthday was coming up. We were quite excited to go as we have been waiting for a much-needed break from city life.

The Kingdom of Lesotho is an independent country completely surrounded by South Africa. Basically, the only way in and out will be through the borders of South Africa, or by air flight that routes via O.R. Tambo International in Johannesburg. Lesotho is a small enough country that holds cultural fascination and excellent mountainous scenery.

Maseru, where my sister-in-law lives, is the largest city and the capital in Lesotho. It took us roughly around 4-5 hours from Johannesburg to arrive at Maseru Bridge to enter Lesotho. My relative had booked us into the Lesotho Sun, a first class hotel facilities located on a hillside overlooking the city.

As we did not have much time devoted to sightseeing, we were mostly content walking around the hotel vicinity. The hotel had a nice enough environment and of course, housed a casino, conference centre, restaurant, bar, cinema, etc.

By way of entertainment, there is really not much in Lesotho. But the scenery is unmistakably serene and peaceful. And Lesotho is exactly just that - a quiet getaway from city life.

The Maseru view from our hotel room at Lesotho Sun.

First Leg In The CIMA Diploma

I was so excited to have received words that my CIMA diploma had finally arrived in South Africa.

After passing the infamous subject, Enterprise Operations (which I failed once before), I had officially finished the Operational Level of CIMA.

For motivation, CIMA issues diplomas for each level that you finish. I have 2 more levels to do before the final TOPCIMA - Managerial and Strategic.

Originally I got exemptions for the Certificate level of CIMA because I already had a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting Science before deciding to go for CIMA. It was a recognition of prior learning route for me.

I am slightly spurred on to get on with my managerial level, which I still have 2 subjects left.

Wish me luck. And before I know it, I'll be ACMA soon.

Weighin In: Update

After my hard work and hunger restraints (and occasional but much reduced cheats) brought on by my visit to the dietitian, I am proud to say that I am half a kilo away from my comfortable weight.

I must admit, it has been slow. I just can't seem to break through my comfortable weight. I need to lose another 4 kilos after that but I seem to be stuck here in this weight for now for the last few weeks.

Regardless, I am still quite happy I got to this stage. I am way better than where I was. At the first half of the year, I did not even know how the heck I was gonna start.

There is still 2 months left in the year and I hope to get to the comfortable weight by then. Even better when I get pass it.

An Extended Family Appreciation

After a recent visit with an in-law, it actually dawned on me that by way of extended families, I am luckier than most people. I've always been slightly conscious that I could be treated like an outsider by hubby's side of the family.

You see, hubby comes from a very big family. The 10th of 11 children, the youngest son...the age gaps between the siblings span almost 2 decades. I was younger than hubby and so to me, these older brothers and sisters were really generations ahead of me. Even my hubby's youngest sister is older than me. It has always daunted me that I might not have enough social skills (being an only child) to interact with so many other family members well.

But throughout our years of marriage, I have never felt anything else than accepted by his immediate family. Granted that it probably also helps lessen any friction because we don't see each other often enough by living so far away from each other. Still, I am blessed. I integrated into their lives without (too much) scarring and bickering and hurt feelings. Most of what I have with them are good memories and wonderful interactions.

And I am truly thankful for that.

Fake Me Some Lashes

My vanity is acting up.

If there is one thing that I simply cannot refuse (within reasons, of course), it would be that I'd have longer or fuller eyelashes!

So on a recent occasion I saw an ad on the newspaper to put on some lash extensions for a real good price. Phoned the supplier and got a booking. And 20 minutes later, voila! I had eyelashes that were to die for.

The lash extensions were the shortest of the range, they were a strip with four lashes each and the consultant had to group the strips together to get the effect of being natural lashes. They were glued just above my own lashes and not against the skin to avoid irritation. The extensions last anything from 1 day to 6 weeks. If some lashes do fall out, I am able to get a refill for a small fee so that the hair wouldn't look uneven. The lashes are not able to withstand anything oil-based so I just have to be careful with my beauty products and check if any of them are oil-based before applying.

So finally when I got home, my youngest wonders why my eye "hairs" were so dark and my eyes appeared so big???

Fake lashes, mission accomplished!

CPR Skills For Moms

As a mother, I've always felt that I needed to acquire this skill to well-equip me in case of emergencies. So recently, I did not pass up the chance to attend a CPR course with some friends, who like me, were mothers with big and small children.

The course lasted for 2 hours and we were taught by a proper first aid instructor. We learnt how to handle situations involving adults, infants and babies. CPR is a very important skill for moms to have so that we understand how to react and what to do in certain cases. We were taught how to treat fractures, bleeding, cuts, choking, etcetera.

I must admit that the whole CPR activity can become a bit tiring, what with all the repeats that you'd have to do between pumping the chest and blowing into the mouth until the ambulance or further help arrives. But I suppose, in the end, it can really be rewarding and worthwhile to know that you have the ability to save a life.

We used plastic dolls as our pretend patients. On one occasion even, while practising on the baby dolls, I actually started feeling like I was in an antenatal class instead of a first aid training course. Haha.

The best part of the training though was that it happened in the comforts of one's home and I got to do the whole thing with friends. It was value for money and truly a great learning experience.

For more information, visit Supermoms First Aid and CPR for Moms.

Meet The Other Desperate Housewife

I am ready to grab my tissues out. It is officially announced that season 10, the season that they are busy with right now, will be the last season of Desperate Housewives.

I can’t believe that I got so embroiled with the lives of the residents of Wisteria Lane. I will not shy away from admitting that for several years, I’ve dedicated at least one night a week to visit the famous neighbourhood, listen to their stories, watched their lives evolved and best of all, kept all their secrets. I've even done a whole photo shoot with an apple in hand, albeit it was a green apple. Nevertheless, it shows my dedication to the show. True enough housewife, am I?

I will surely be sad to see all my "neighbours" go. Many thanks to my eldest who taught me how to use Picnik to edit the photo. She's made it quite enticing to be Desperate Housewives' material.

What I Know For Sure: Better Than Bitter

Gawd! What a startling discovery I made recently when an old colleague contacted me. My reaction to her request can only be described, as Oprah would put it, an “A-ha!” moment for me.

Old colleagues became wary of me after I left the old workplace two years ago, thinking me the disgruntled employee who will avenge whatever. And I suppose, to some extent, I did not blame them for thinking such. Nor did I try and convince them otherwise. I was on the vestige of positivity. People and circumstances had let me down; In fact, I still remember the hurt and frustration each time I think about that time.

So it was quite astonishing to be contacted for some assistance with regards anything about my old job. My colleague wanted to find out if I knew the mechanics of a certain apparatus that I used to have in my office.

I debated whether to assist or not. Somehow, the tempting thought did cross my mind that I could just keep quiet about it. After all, it’s their problem, not mine. After all they’ve put me through, a little inconvenience like this could really make the “bitter” me really happy (evil laugh filtering through the air BWAHAHAHAHA)!

But I chose to help. However much I can. And I did just that.

In the end, what I know for sure was that….I was better than the embittered person these people painted me out to be. Way, way better.

Lately I mostly hear myself saying that I have moved on and I am soooo over my old job. But this time, my heart truly believes it.

My Sunflower Kid

Just like the sunflower gracefully tilts its head towards the direction of the sun, I turn to my child, who provides me with the warmth and joy of motherhood in one quirky smile.

Now how can your heart not melt with looks like that?

VTT Postcard: Nostalgic Anthem

It's almost a year since my Contiki trip and my heart is still yearning and wanting more.

Recently, I stumbled across the song that became our group's anthem throughout the trip. It was a song chosen by our tour manager. I've never heard of the song before but it definitely grew on me. The song was the "wake up, start and go" song as we left each city for the day. It was OUR song on the 12-day journey through Europe.

So here I am, being reminiscent and sharing our song - Razorlight's Before I Fall To Pieces: