Tandaland

da na naaa naa, da na na na naaaaa!

Ahem.

Permits - done.
Construction Loan - finalised.
Land Settlement - completed.
Engineering Plans - signed.
Final Deposit - paid.
Start Date - UPDATE - SEE BELOW!

Well everything is now done. I just have to drop off the ammended plans signed and sealed. A couple of minor changes for permits, but otherwise all done and ready to go. As far as I can tell now, there is no reason for them not to start THIS WEEK. Assuming they have people ready and lined up to actually do the work that is

Getting close now!

UPDATE:

We now OFFICIALLY love Urbanedge

I just got back from dropping the rest of the paper work off, and it turns out that we already had a start date, and its already been and gone… we just didn’t know what we were looking for!!

We found out today that:
Site prep started on the 28th May
Power will be connected on the 6th of June
Pipes and stuff will be done on the 9th of June
Slab will start on the 11th June! NEXT WEDNESDAY!!!!

Well crack open the Champagne (or perhaps the cheaper Australian equivalent)! We’ve finally gotten approval for our finance, which means we’re now OFFICIALLY building a house! A big sigh of relief all round. I should feel more thrilled, but I think we are just relieved that we’ve gotten confirmation. I don’t think we ever really doubted it, but you can never be too sure!

So our tender doc hasn’t come back from the builder yet, which means we’ll have to wait a little longer before we start getting into the nitty gritty. But that is not such a bad thing I suppose. Speaking of building, one thing I did think of the other day which I must add to the tender is a double door or a 2 metre roller door from the garage to the backyard. The house comes with a single door already, but I just had visions of trying to get rocks and plants into the backyard without being able to fit a wheelbarrow out the back! EEK! So we must remember to add that to the tender request!

We’re finally on our way!

in the words of Pow… ZOMG!

I updated Wordpress today, and in the process DESTROYED everything including my gallery. Fortunately, I took backups, but then they wouldn’t reinstall properly. GAH! Got it sorted in the long run, but there may be some residual weirdness, for which I apologise!

Test image

DSC08626

My lightbox plugin is acting up… so the popups may be a little weird!

Well we’ve been married two months already! How time flies!

We’ve both been very busy since we got home. Lots happening at work, and Thuy is busy as well. We also just finalised our wedding album a couple of days ago. So we look forward to seeing that finished in about a months time! Very exciting!

Not much else to tell at the moment. We bought a PS3, and I now have a pile of games to review. 3 comparisons with the 360 and 4 full reviews! Lots of work to do!! I hopefully will get most of the comparisons finished over the weekend, and then can get stuck into the other reviews next week. I’ve been mostly playing Formula 1 for the PS3… very cool game. It’s not really any different from any other F1 game, but i just find the F1 style of racing a heap of fun.

What else has been happening… we bought a new bedroom suite when we got home from our honeymoon. So now our bedroom actually looks like a married couple’s bedroom We’ve bought a few other things around the house too, and hopefully we’ll be able to get the second room sorted out a bit more to get some space in there as well. At the moment the house is like 100% chock-a-block of stuff. I am going to try and move a heap of stuff down to the store room on the weekend. It’s a long trip is the only problem :S

Well that’s about it… i will try and post again before another 2 months is up!

Hey hey!

It has been a loooong time between proper updates (no internet access!) and it’s probably no use giving you the lowdown on the last few days/states…but if it’s not for your entertainment then for my memory…we’ve done and seen SO much that I’m worried my crappy memory is going to forget all about it!

Here’s the highlights package…and we were too lazy to categorise photos, so the last few lots have been lumped together…we’re sure you’ll work out where’s where

ORLANDO
- DisneyWorld truly is the happiest place on earth!
- We were given these cute lil “Just Married” badges and wore them everywhere and got congrats from heaps of people!
- Magic Kingdom is a gorgeous place and every night they put on the most awesome fireworks show. We had the pleasure of watching it twice and oohing and aaahing lots!
- I got to meet Chip and Dale, Pluto, Daffy and the man himself - Mickey Mouse!
- Animal Kingdom was fun and very edumacational. We went on a safari bus and saw some cool animals!
- I reckon MGM Studios is better than Universal! It’s just more polished and lets visitors experience more movie magic. Universal had some very cheesy Jaws and Earthquake rides!
- Universal Islands Of Adventure gave Al his rollercoaster fix! The Hulk was crazy, green and loopy and the 3D Spiderman ride was really awesome. We went on this other nutso Vikings rollercoaster where a “fire” team hits the loops the same time as an “ice” team and you end up, down and around really close to each other like you’re gonna crash!
- Islands also had a cool rapids ride. We didn’t go on cos everyone who did got soaked…and we soon discovered why! After they go down the big drop and hit the water like most of these types of rides, they have this pleasant journey to what they THINK is the exit…but in actual fact, spectators on the bridge above can put a quarter in a giant water squirter, take aim and hit them hard with MORE water! The squeals were hilarious! I think this is the most I’ve ever seen Al laugh
- Epcot was another edumacational spot, but the mini worlds and rides were cool.

DALLAS
- Was great to see my Uncle Ken again and be in the land of big roads, big trucks and big malls! Went to the JFK museum (the President was shot in downtown Dallas), checked out their gorgeous botanical gardens and…um….yeah, I may have done a little shopping
- Unc Ken took us to an NBA game - Mavs v Hawks and the atmosphere was awesome! Dallas completely spanked Atlanta. It was way cool

YOSEMITE
- It’s coooooooold out there so I’m holed up in the room now watching SVU as I type this Yosemite is absolutely breathtaking - everywhere you turn there’s an amazing view of snow covered mountains. Al can’t put his camera away! It’s hard to explain in words or pictures, but if you’re going to the USA any time soon, make sure a trip to Yosemite is on the list - you won’t regret it!

Well that’s all you’ll hear from us about the big trip

Look forward to seeing you all soon! (Well, except for all the work people cos that means we’ll be at work )

thuy & al

Hi everyone!

Just a quick hello to let everyone know that we are still alive and well. We’ve just done a BIG day of shopping in Dallas. We’ve had to buy another suitcase because Thuy has gone MENTAL and bought so much stuff! Sheesh!!! She’ll have a heart attack when she gets the credit card bill, but for the moment she is having fun picking up what appear to be bargains… until you add 8% tax and then convert it to AU$….just don’t tell her!

We are off to the Basketball tonight to see Dallas play someone who isn’t Dallas…..shrug!

Tomorrow morning we head of to San Francisco where we spend the day looking around (ie. shopping) before heading off to Yosemite the next day. We spend one night up there, then back to San Fran to stay another night and fly home friday night.

When we get to SF we should be able to get the Macbook online and upload some photos from Disneyworld. It was a stack of fun… we both really enjoyed it. Just had to pretend to be a kid for a few days!

Hope everyone is well! See you all next week… EEK!!

AJD

Hi All!
Well, today was another day full of loads of walking! Mostly just sightseeing today…far less shopping! We walked from here (madison sq gardens) up to 5th Avenue, then followed it up north to Central Park. We stopped off to have a look at Manhatten Plaza, The New York Public Library, Grand Central Station, The Chrysler Building, Bloomingdales, FAO Schwarz Toy Store and the Plaza Hotel (now not a Hotel it seems!). We then had a leisurely stroll through snow covered Central Park on our back to 8th Avenue. Stopping off at a few shops on the way, we headed back to the Hotel and had some takeaway Chinese for dinner.

After we stuffed ourselves full of Pepper Beef, Wanton Soup (no not me!) and Spring rolls we headed off across the road to Madison Gardens to watch the Harlem Globetrotters play their version of basketball. We have a heap of photos and bootlegged video (shhhhh!) to show, but it will have to wait for another day I’m afraid! They were very entertaining, and it was good fun, but it really just makes you want to see the real thing! But anyway… it’s all that was on while we were here!

Tomorrow we start on the first day of our bus tour to downtown New York. So hopefully that means a little less walking! You’d think I would’ve lost weight with all this walking, but I think the American diet is counteracting any potential benefits of the extra excercise!

AJD

It’s pretty noisy here and the room makes all sorts of dripping, clunking, clanking noises along side the street traffic, taxis, snow clearing mobiles and stuff….but I plan on knocking myself out with some mega drugs to get some sleep tonight!

Really looking forward to getting out there and freezing my butt off as we take in some sights…will have to wake up Mr Sleepy Head first though!

Anyone want to bet on who gets frostbite or slips on their ass first?

Till the next installment…

thuy
x

Well, we made it to New York…eventually!

Were sitting at McCarran Airport hearing about all these plane delays. Some poor buggers next to us were supposed to leave for Houston at 11.45am but then the plane was caught in bad weather in Ohio and wasn’t due to arrive for another 4 hours! I was dreading the thought of having to hang around the airport for so long, but luckily for us, we left pretty much on time. Was feeling pretty queasy during the flight, but just slept on Al’s shoulder and tried not to think about it!

As we got off the plane, we got a first taste of how cold it would be. Even walking thorough the tunnels was bloody cold and there were even little clumps of snow/ice in there too! Took forever to get our bags (poor little luggage carts must’ve had a hard time getting around in the snow!) but eventually we got em and decided to take the Air Train which takes you to the train station to get to Penn Station in New York - a pretty short walk from our hotel on 30th and 8th. It sounded like a plan but nooooooo……the AIr Train was cancelled for the rest of the night (discovered after we bought tix of course!) and so we were herded out into the street to catch shuttle busses to the station. Staff weren’t very friendly or helpful. They just assume that everyone knows where to go! We had to rely on the locals to get us there in one piece (very Amazing Race) and eventually made it to Penn Station around 10.45…three hours after we landed!

It was quite bizarre dragging a suitcase on the sidewalk in the snow as you’re trying to keep your face warm and not fall on your ass. I don’t know what superhuman strength helped me get to the hotel (well I do…his name is Alan!) but I was relieved to get there and relieved that they let us up so late!

thuy
x

I knew there were a lot of famous people loitering around LA, but how’s this for a strange mix!

Whilst waiting for our plane to fly to Vegas, Richard Simmons wandered past with a small troop of hangers-on. I don’t quite know why i know who he is… but this is him.

Then getting off the plane as we were getting on…. Michael Clarke Duncan (from the Green Mile, Sin City, Talladega Nights etc)!

But thats not all! No… the highlight by far would have to be getting on the plane just behind this guy

EDIT: We’re a bit behind with the blog at the moment… We’re now in New York, but will post up info about the rest of the Vegas trip tomorrow.