Tulips For the House

The kids know I love tulips.

When MyGirl was choosing paint by number projects to work on for her school break activity, she included one that had tulips.  

She finished it last 25 Aug. She framed it and we hung it up.

Now we have another good background for pictures.

This was taken to mark Stay@Homecoming 2021.

You Better Watch Out

In our household, I’m the only one that really needs a watch.  MacGyver has an incredible sense of time (and has never really worn a watch) and the kids seem to have an invisible umbilical cord connected to their phone (so they don’t see the need for a watch).  I have passed on Slash-M’s Swiss Army watch to RD and my trusty Timex to MyGirl so they have something to use when they need watches.  GI was never really keen on wearing watches apparently because he felt they were not left-hand friendly.

Anyway, in December last year, MyGirl sent over a picture of herself taken during the awards night at the High School.  (Congratulations, MyGirl for getting the highest ATAR in your school.  All your hard work paid off.)  I noticed she was wearing a different watch.  She told us later that Nayr had given her the watch for Christmas.  Oooohh!

As Christmas approached, RD indicated that he felt he needed a dress watch.  He had gone to Melbourne earlier that month to attend a conference and had the opportunity to become one of the panel chairs. This required him to moderate the discussion and keep the time because the conference was running on a coordinated schedule.  He used his phone but felt it would be better if he had a watch.  Well, ask and ye shall receive.  He told us that MJ had gotten him a watch as a joint Christmas and birthday gift for him and he would get it the next time they see each other.  Oooohh!

GI, who was once a staunch "I don't like Apple products, I prefer using an Android" had recently shifted to iPhone.  He surprised us even more by arriving before Christmas wearing a new Apple watch.  He said that he finally found a watch that he could wear comfortably on his right hand.  And everyone knows that an Apple Watch deserves an Oooohh!

On Christmas Eve, MacGyver received a FitBit as his Kris Kringle gift.  It's a cool gadget.  Aside from telling the time and tracking the health stats, it gives him alerts and notifications.  In fact, he can even read the whole message on his wrist on the FitBit if he wanted.   Oooohh!

Well, that wrapped up the Christmas season and the new watches... or so I thought.  When RD showed me the watch he got on his birthday, he announced, "It's a hybrid watch."

 

What is a hybrid watch?

RD was happy to show off his new watch.

From the outside, it looks like an ordinary watch that simply gives you the time, possibly the date.  However, upon further inspection, there is more than meets the eye. To begin with, the time is synced to the time in your phone.  It can maintain two time zones, in fact.  RD's watch has three programmable buttons.  The buttons can be customised to work as a remote shutter for one's phone camera, for music control, to track one's progress and more.   What a cool watch!

The concept intrigued me.  I had to find out more about this thing.  I went online and discovered that there are a lot of these types of watches out there.

Yes, I knew there were different kinds of FitBits and smart watches. I see many people wearing different gadgets on their wrists that subliminally announce they are actively monitoring their health.  However, I don't really like the black screen, so this concept of a hybrid watch definitely appealed to me.  I like seeing the hands of time moving around.  (I'm old school that way.)

Anyway, I also discovered that these watches come with a serious price tag.  I was not going to get one just for the sake of getting a new watch.  However, out of the blue, or more likely as a result of these AI programs running in the background of one's searches, a hybrid watch for women displayed on my search window showing a price tag that was more than 50% off the original purchase price due to the additional 40% discount for the Christmas season.   (Now we're talking.  A hybrid watch at that price is something I would consider.)

I don't really like buying things online without physically seeing the product.  (Yes, another old school habit of mine.)  I wanted to see how the watch would look like on my wrist, particularly because the model on sale had a very thin wristband.  

My google search indicated that David Jones was selling the watch I wanted for $250.  (Uh, no, I would not want to spend that much for a new watch, but David Jones did not have to know that.)  I decided I'd go to David Jones during my lunch break. 

In my almost 10 years of working in Sydney, it was the first time I entered the David Jones at the city.   (They didn't have to know that either.)  Well, it is entirely possible that it was obvious I did not know where I was going because I entered the David Jones dedicated for men.  The one for women was in the building on the next block.  (Oops!)

I found the watch section and located the Fossil display.  Unfortunately, the did not have the model I was interested in. The staff suggested I try the Fossil store at QVB.  Fortunately QVB is right across my office building so I dropped by before heading back to work.

The Fossil shop was quite a small store.  They had a rack with a few hybrid watches for women but not the style I wanted.  I tried one on although I knew I would not buy it.  (RRP $299, but it was on sale for $199.  It was cheaper than the David Jones online price for the watch I wanted but still over my budget.)  

My trip to Fossil store was not wasted though because I asked this important question as I tried on the watch, "Will this watch work without connecting it my phone?"  (The lady must have thought I was nuts asking for a smart watch but not wanting to connect it to my phone.  Little did she know my iPhone had been giving me notifications for the past month saying that I had no more memory in my phone, that I had already deleted some seldom used applications, and at one point it did not even allow me to take a picture anymore.)   She smiled and politely replied, "No, you need to connect this to your phone because the watch gets its time from the phone."

Well, that was certainly a deal breaker.  I would have to get my phone cleaned up to make space first before even considering making a smart watch purchase.  Fortunately, Apple support for me comes in the form of MyGirl.  I had been telling her for weeks that I needed her help to get my phone cleaned up.  My attempts to back my phone up were unsuccessful.  Since I am currently using her old iPhone, she knew what needed to be done.   She managed to back up my photos and reclaimed much needed storage space after she deleted a whole batch of them.

Now that I had the phone storage issue sorted out, I could resume my hybrid watch expedition. 

I was wishy-washy about getting a new watch.  Do I need a new watch?  Do I want a new watch?  Did I want the Fossil watch I saw on sale?  Did I want to get another kind of watch?

Well, there is nothing like "Sale ends Monday!" to make one decide if they want to buy something or not.  After checking the website for more than a week, when I logged in on Saturday evening, there was a countdown beside the watch I wanted.  Right there and then, I approached MacGyver and showed him the website. 

"Can you please get his watch for me?  The discount ends in 35 hours."

And just like that, I had a new watch.

The watch arrived on Tuesday night.  RD promptly downloaded the Fossil App and customized my watch.  RD currently has his watch buttons set this way -- music volume control up and down with the top and bottom buttons respectively, and music pause-play for the middle button.  (Go figure.)   He took one look at me and made the decision to customize my watch buttons -- top button monitors my steps and the bottom button will find my phone.  (Yes, my son knows me so well.)  

Having worn my watch for several days, I'm pretty happy I took the plunge.  I am now able to track my steps without having to bring my phone with me wherever I go.  I have discovered that if I sleep early, I am able to get 70% deep sleep.  And now, with the final customization of the watch buttons, I am able to track my water intake. 

So special thanks to MacGyver for getting me the watch, MyGirl for clearing up my phone's storage space, RD for setting up the phone and the app, but most especially to MJ for introducing us to the existence of such a wonderful invention.

Back In The Day

MacGyver and I are one of four sets of couples from our batch that ended up marrying each other.

In this photo from high school, MacGyver is behind me in a red shirt.

One of the other couples that ended up together are right beside me.

Model Father

MacGyver is good at posing for photos.

These were taken on the 15th as we were strolling.

Gotta Catch 'Em All

We were leaving Bunnings Warehouse last Saturday 

when MyGirl asked if we could stop for a while so she could catch a Pokemon.

I asked her to take a screenshot with MacGyver in it.

Kamehameha!

I spotted a tourist with this bag the other day at the city.

I didn't think Dragon Ball was still popular with the youth of today.

It certainly was popular with my boys

(especially the big one).

Coffee, Tea, or Me?

We went to Victoria's Basement the other weekend 

and MacGyver saw the Monopoly mugs on sale.

The JUST VISITING mug was so appropriate for him.

We decided to get it.

Now we have our own his and hers work mugs for our coffee dates.

Guess How Much I Love You

Guess How Much I Love You is a book that we read to GI many, many, many times.  His copy was a small  board book.  We would flip through the pages at night before going to bed.  GI had heard the story so many times he had memorised the whole book.

GI will always be my Funny Nut Brown Hare,

but my heart belongs to someone else.

HAPPY

VALENTINE'S 

DAY!

Chilling with the Queen

The kids chilling with the Queen.

Chilling with each other by day.

(Keeping each other warm by night.)

(Who invented the term 'chilling' anyway?)

Addictive Math Game

Who would have thought that 2+2 could be so addictive?

2048 -- I am sure you have heard of this game before.  The game is simple enough, within a 4x4 grid, put 2 and 2 together to make 4, put 4 and 4 together to make 8, put 8 and 8 together to make 16, and so on and so forth until you manage to get 1024 and 1024 to make 2048.

Easier said than done.

I had heard the kids talking about this game several months ago however there was no compelling urge for me to download the game and try it.  It was not until GI came home last week and said that he was seated beside someone on the bus who was playing this game and he told her (he actually TOLD her) (yes, she was a total stranger), "I think you are playing it the wrong way."

I don't know if he gave her any constructive suggestions on how to get 2048 but his story made me want to find out how easy or difficult the game was.  I knew it was doable because the kids have managed to get 2048 at one point in time or another.

So I downloaded the game last week and tried my luck.  I showed MacGyver the game and he was hooked.   He spent several days and nights playing the game, trying to get the magic number.  

I think because the concept is so simple, one feels the solution should also be simple.  Well, let me tell you now ... it is not.  

Let me tell you something else.  The game is addictive and time consuming.  Don't even get started.

I have a friend that has reached 4096 with a score of 48,960.  Eldest Sis's kids have downloaded the expanded version of the game.   Jersey Girl's high score is 56,896.  I can only assume that 2048 is just too easy for them.  
 

For me and MacGyver, it was a real challenge to get 2048 but we finally did it.

MacGyver got 2048 last Saturday

 and I managed to put 1024 and 1024 together tonight.

Now we can get on with our lives.  

(Unless the objective is to get 2048 in all the devices where we've downloaded the game.)

More Musicians in the Family

We watched the kids perform last night.  Oh!! I was so proud of them!   (Thank goodness for those musical genes from MacGyver.)

I have never tuned it to the orchestra more than when watching last night's performance.  I heard RD play the accordion part during "Be Our Guest" and I managed to hear MyGirl playing all throughout the musical.   Both were very impressive!   (I admit I couldn't tell when RD was playing the synth and  I also couldn't discern the trumpet which their first cousin was playing.)

We took some pictures during the intermission.

Here is my bass guitarist with her dad...

... and my accordion/synth player laughing at a joke his brother was telling him. 

He Saw It Too

I was in a rush when I wrote my previous post but I had wanted to write that I wish I had the time that morning to find the spot where I could see the whole rainbow and take a picture of it.

Lo and behold, I find this in MacGyver's FB page this morning.  

I thought he'd sighted another rainbow but apparently these were of the same rainbow I'd seen yesterday.  He'd taken these shots after he'd dropped RD off at school. He had parked the car after dropping RD off and took these shots from across the kids' school. 

We had left the house right after each other.  MacGyver and RD turned right to head for school while I turned left towards the bus stop.  At the time, the rainbow was very clear across the sky that it was nearly impossible to miss.

I love it that MacGyver had the exact same idea of taking a picture of the rainbow. (It makes me feel that we are in sync.) 

I love it that it was practically a whole rainbow we had seen that morning. (I don't recall seeing too many complete rainbows in my life.)

I love it that we had left the house at the right time with enough time to enjoy the beauty of the rainbow. (If we'd left the house ten or fifteen minutes later, we probably would have missed the rainbow altogether.)

Yes, the simple joys in life.

The More (Coffee) The Merrier (Christmas Planner)

I'm really not a coffee addict.  However, I do drink more coffee these days than I used to when we were back in the home country.  MacGyver and I actually have several containers of instant coffee in the house now.  We would have Nescafe like normal people do, Decaf for the times when we feel like having coffee but know we need to sleep, and the occasional date coffee such as Moccona or Nescafe Gold for the times when we want to share something special.   (We are simple folk.)

I often tell MacGyver that I prefer it when he prepares my coffee.  No, I am not being lazy about boiling water and preparing coffee.  It's just that I feel my coffee doesn't taste as nice when I make it myself. (I think he sprinkles an extra bit of love in there, making my coffee taste better than when I make my own.)

Anyway, I realised that I only really started drinking coffee in 2008 as documented in my blog post Coffee, Coffee, and that since writing Not Just Any Cup of Coffee , I have increased my coffee chain statistics as follows :

Previously ONE, currently two, or possibly even three.  I joined Sunshine and her husband at the Starbucks along Timog Avenue when we went home for Father and Mother's 50th anniversary in 2011.  We had a nice long talk. That one I know for sure.  Then back in 2010, I vaguely recall walking into a Starbucks with some of my officemates. One of them wanted to try the green tea latte.  They were a bunch of coffeeholics so I must have joined them for a cup of coffee that day. Let's call it THREE then.  I actually passed up a possible fourth when we had a mini-reunion last September. I was with two classmates from High School.  We had lunch then we walked around the city.  Before heading home, one of them offered to treat us to Starbucks.  However, since none of us were really THAT into coffee, we opted for bubble tea instead.  (It just shows where Starbucks is in our list of places to frequent.)

I have added Gloria Jean's to my coffee chains sampled. In fact, I believe I have had TWO cups of coffee from here.  The first time was with my sister-in-law when we bumped into each other at the mall and a second time with a friend who works in the same floor as I do and lives nearby.  I often see her at the church in our parish and we went for coffee one Saturday after mass. I had almost gotten a third one when the trader from Tokyo came to visit Sydney.  He wanted to meet us bearing cups of coffee but he had only ordered four.  He regularly deals with three of us and did not realise there were two other members in the team.  One of my colleagues was absent that day and since I knew the trader needed his coffee fix more than I did, I let him have the fourth cup.  

Anyway, since Christmas is fast approaching, the Starbucks Planner is a hot topic once again.  I remember former officemates in Manila going out for coffee and rejoicing when they had earned enough points to redeem a planner.   I suppose some people just really drink a LOT of coffee or some people just really WANT to get a planner.

I found these myManila infographics interesting.   They illustrate the cheapest way to get the planner/s based on the mechanics of the planner promo and the cheapest drinks on the menu. 

In summary : 

2012 -- PHP140 Short Peppermint Mocha; PHP95 Short Brewed Coffee

(Option 1) PHP 2,020 - 9 Christmas Drinks + 8 Core Beverages

(Option 2) PHP 2,185 - 23 Core Beverages

2013 -- PHP140 Short Toffee Nut Latte; PHP 85 Short Brewed Coffee

PHP 1,940 - 9 Christmas Drinks + 8 Core Beverages

2014 - PHP140 Short Gingerbread Latte; PHP 85 - Short Brewed Coffee

PHP 2,025 -  9 Christmas Drinks + 9 Core Beverages

What do we conclude?

1. Short brewed coffee was more expensive in 2012. ( I wonder if the cup was bigger then.)  
2. The selection of cheapest Christmas Drinks have changed over the years.  I don't know enough to make any comments on the popularity,  taste, size, or even the cost of these drinks.
3. Based on the additional information provided in the 2014 version, there is an increased consciousness over the calories that come with the planner.   
4. Regardless of cost, kind, or number of cups, if people want to get a planner, they will.

Failures are Brave Efforts

The fear of failure can be debilitating.  It is not a nice feeling.  Take it from me.  I know. 

I think it is fair to say that nobody likes to be a failure but it is inevitable for everybody to experience failure at one point in time or another.

  

When we fail, we are always reminded to learn from our mistakes.   

The Ode to Failure adds these other things ...  

Accept limitationsLet go of need to be perfectOffer self-kindness

\ 

The video came to me at the right time.  Among other things, I've been afraid to take my test. I have been carrying around a learner's permit since 2010 and although it expires January 2015, unless I get my full licence, I would always need MacGyver in the car with me if I wanted to drive. (And he is the sort that gets dizzy when he's not driving.)  When I filed for my two-week mandatory leave, I asked MacGyver to help me schedule a driving test.  My test was scheduled for 10AM today.  I woke up at 4:30 and 5:30 this morning.  I was obviously worried.  Yes, the fear of failure creeping in again!  

As I waited for my testing schedule, I decided that this video would get posted regardless of the outcome of my driving test.  I didn't want to post it earlier this week because it might jinx my driving test.   But after MacGyver and I had a serious talk yesterday (about me and my issues), I was reassured that regardless of my success or failure, he would be there for me.   It helps to know that.  It really does.

I am posting this so I can view this video when I need to remind myself that it is all right to fail.  Failures are brave efforts.

Through the Eyes of an Electrical Engineer

The below was written by MacGyver.  He posted this on his FB page last month and I am posting it here with his permission.  

(You can tell he is a deep thinker and a serious writer.)

Through the Eyes of an Electrical Engineer

25 June 2013

We're a family of engineers so I guess it's not surprising this point of view would come out from me. Na-aliw lang ako when i thought it through.

From wiki - "Ohm's law states that the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the potential difference across the two points." or in equation form:

I = V/R

where I is the current

  V is the potential difference

  R is the resistance of the conductor

A parallel in life would be something similar if:

  I is the flow of love (instead of current)

  V is the potential of the consciousness and

  R is the resistance which limits the flow

Call it mushy, corny, hard-sell but it's true.

One's potential is limited by various factors like pride, fear, greed and the likes which are all forms of resistance that would characterize a person.

The universe, I believe was designed, created and driven by love (check Catechism).

If we resistors, we will have to reduce the resistance by overcoming pride, fear, greed...if we are to increase our potential.

Kids are like capacitors. They receive (and store) so much love and eventually discharge later in life :)

Highly enlightened people are like light bulbs - low resistance with intensity being proportional to the flow :)

Electrons (negatively charged) flow opposite the current - ha!

God as the source of infinite love I guess comes with omnipotence (infinite current equates to infinite voltage potential but impossible to define if resistance is zero, logical?)

I believe our existence on earth is meant to lower our resistance and increase our potential (easier said than done).

Someone came and said "I am the way, the truth, and the life.".

Stop and Smell the ...

STOP

I am still amazed at how disciplined people are crossing the street here.

I am doubly amazed at the existence of stop lights for bicycles.

I stood across the street to get this picture

because I chickened out standing on the bus lane

to get a close up shot.

AND SMELL THE 

MacGyver and I saw several of these trees on our trail walk.

I had NO idea what kind of tree it was.

As we passed by a corner house with one of these trees, a lady came out the door.

I walked up and asked her what the tree was called.

Thanks to her, I now know what the flower is called.

MAGNOLIAS

Movie Date

For MacGyver's birthday, we decided to have a 'date'. A date for us could be going off together on a walk, having a meal or dessert, or watching a movie together. Essentially, anything even remotely romantic done without any of the kids can be considered as a date.

Although the concept sounds simple, whenever we mention that we are going on a date, the kids groan and complain as if we were going on a month-long cruise and leaving them behind.

Since MacGyver was nursing a cold, we decided going for a walk after dinner was out of the question. We had a fairly hearty meal so extra dessert was not too promising either. We decided we'd watch a movie.

Now when I say 'watch a movie', I don't mean we would go to a mall and enter a cinema with a big screen. There is no buttered popcorn and soda in the picture. When we say, we are going on a date and we're watching a movie, it would mean a choice of watching a movie on RD's desktop downstairs or on MacGyver's laptop upstairs in our bedroom. Now if we wanted to eat chips while watching the movie, there would be no choice but to watch downstairs. However, if we were to open a bag of chips (assuming we had any) there would be violent objections from the kids because of course they would want to partake of the junkie (GI in particular if the chips were salt and vinegar flavour). So based on the above logic, it is not a wonder that we ended up watching the movie upstairs.

We didn't have too many choices yesterday so we settled for Shawshank Redemption, which apparently MacGyver hadn't seen yet. GI calls this movie an epic movie. (Sometimes GI's appreciation for good movies surprises me. )

Though it WAS a long movie, it was worth watching again.

In 1966, Andy Dufresne escaped from Shawshank prison. All they found of him was a muddy set of prison clothes, a bar of soap, and an old rock hammer, damn near worn down to the nub. I used to think it would take six-hundred years to tunnel under the wall with it. Old Andy did it in less than twenty. Oh, Andy loved Geology, I guess it appealed to his meticulous nature. An ice age here, million years of mountain building there. Geology is the study of pressure and time. That's all it takes really, pressure, and time. That, and a big god-damned poster. Like I said, in prison a man will do anything to keep his mind occupied. It turns out Andy's favourite hobby was totin' his wall through the exercise yard, a handful at a time. I guess after Tommy was killed, he decided he had been here just about long enough. Andy did like he was told, buffed those shoes to a high mirror shine. The guard simply didn't notice, neither did I... I mean, seriously, how often do you really look at a man's shoes? Andy crawled to freedom through five-hundred yards of shit smelling foulness I can't even imagine, or maybe I just don't want too. Five-Hundred yards... that's the length of five football fields, just shy of half a mile.

Andy Dufresne - who crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side.

Optical Illusions

We went to Castle Mall at night some time back. The corridors were empty and most of the shops were all closed. We were headed for Coles to get some bread and milk, I think.

MacGyver and the two kids walked ahead. I pulled out my phone to take a picture of them walking on my favourite section where the tiles have this optical illusion design on the floor.

Along Coolong

MacGyver passed his driving test yesterday so when the kids wanted to go to the park, he proudly announced that he could drive us there.

We went to the nearby Coolong Reserve. The place has netball courts, a very large grassed area, some picnic tables, a place for barbecues, concrete pathways, children's play areas which include swings, slides, monkey bars and a big climbing web.

This is one of my favorite views of the WEB at the park.

Can you see the diamond patterns?

We usually climb the web when we go to the park.

Here is MyGirl within the diamond patterns ...

... and RD within the hexagons.

That was yesterday.

We went back to the park today and I was able to get a picture of MyGirl within the square patterns.

Our main purpose for today's park visit was to log some biking minutes for RD. Prior to today, RD had a total of zero minutes on the bike here in Australia and possibly less than an hour of biking over all. And I desperately wanted him to learn how to ride a bike.

We were fortunate enough to get a good bike from his first cousin's first cousin and borrow a helmet from one of his cousins. The hitch to biking in Coolong is that we would have to walk to the park because the bike doesn't fit in the trunk.

So walk to the park we did.

When we got there, MacGyver patiently coached RD on how to ride a bike, how to press on the hand brakes, how to break his fall, etc. They went along the concrete walkways taking advantage of the available downhill paths. MyGirl rolled around on her scooter for a while before deciding to climb the spider web. While we were on the web, we watched RD from afar as he balanced himself and manoeuvred his bike.

I was amazed at his progress. He was actually riding a bike.

No major falls, no minor scratches, no tears. (No aching back for MacGyver.)

(RD and MacGyver are the tiny images in the background of this picture, right above the horizontal bar. This was RD's second run on the bike along the path.)

I was so happy for him.

As you can see, he was happy too.

Time to head back home.

I would say this will be one of the more memorable trips to Coolong, especially for RD.

Duchess of Hazard

The children will probably not appreciate the play of words since they have no idea who the cousins Luke and Bo Duke were nor who Catherine Bach might be. At best, they will see the similarity in colour of the General Lee and the "new" '97 Camry parked in our garage.

(Note the spelling of 'color' has been amended to remind me that I have to be conscious of the subtle differences in how words are spelled Down Under.)

The title is meant to imply that the message post refers to a lady, rather than two roughnecks; and the deliberate deletion of the extra "z" moves one from a County called Hazzard to simply hazard country.

Watch out, people, I'm back on the road!

Not by choice, mind you, but by necessity.

Here in New South Wales, the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) take their work very seriously. It is not easy to get a driver's licence nowadays. There is a Driver Knowledge Test (DKT) one has to pass, then the actual driving test is the next hurdle. If you are at least 16 years of age, you are eligible to take the DKT. If you pass this test, as a 16-year old, you would have to go through three licencing stages before obtaining a full licence.

- Learner licence

- Provisional licence, stage 1

- Provisional licence, stage 2

New drivers would have to have at least 36 months of experience and have passed four tests before finally graduating to a full licence.

For the interim stages leading to a full licence, drivers are given L plates and P plates to post clearly on the front and back of the exterior of the vehicle. Whenever a Learner or a P-plater is driving the car, it is mandatory that the corresponding plates are displayed on the vehicle. There are speed limits corresponding to these plates as indicated on the plates. Learners can drive up to a maximum speed of 80 kph, P1-platers -- 90kph, while P2-platers can go up to 100 kph.

Needless to say, it is illegal to drive without a valid driver's licence. What is also illegal is to drive a vehicle with the wrong plate displayed.

If you happen to be 25 years and above (which I admit I am), there is no minimum time for the learner licence but there is a minimum requirement of 120 hours of driving time including 20 hours of night driving.

Learners are not allowed to drive unless accompanied by a person with a full licence. P1 and P2 drivers can drive on their own as long as they stay within their allowed speed limits. In addition, if you pass your driving test in an automatic vehicle, as a P1 driver, you are not allowed to drive a manual vehicle unless accompanied and supervised by a full licence holder.

So what licence am I holding to enable me to drive here in Australia?

I am still holding on to my Philippine driver's licence which expires on my birthday next year but is only valid for me to use up to the 3rd of January next year. I fall under the category of having a current overseas licence and being a permanent resident visa. Thus I am allowed to drive or ride in NSW on my current overseas licence for a maximum of three months after arriving in Australia.

I was perfectly happy to be riding instead of driving. I knew that sooner or later I would have to drive, but I was hoping it would be later rather than sooner.

However, destiny had other plans for me.

MacGyver took the driver's test today. He got a pretty good score over all since he can really drive well here even if the steering wheel is on what is normally the passenger's side of the car and the car goes on the left side of the road. Unfortunately, he failed to stop in front of the construction guy holding the STOP sign thus resulting in an automatic fail in his driving test.

As a result, his Philippine licence has been 'revoked' since it has been determined that he is "not fit to drive." He has to pass the driver's test before he can drive in Australia without "supervision."

We all know that when God closes the door, He opens a window. The open window is the fact that now I am forced to drive.

I'm fine. The question is will the rest of Castle Hill feel the same?