Yearly Archives: 2014

WAF (Wife acceptance factor)

AS has been talking about buying an expensive surround sound system for a while now. We haven’t really gone to the store to get one yet but I know that we will have different opinions already. He will love something more expensive as by default it will be better but I can’t justify a very expensive sound system. I really don’t need a cinema experience at home. To be honest I will be very happy with whatever setup we currently have.

Anyway, we always have this kind of difference when it comes to technology. Even though I love technology, I can’t justify buying the most expensive ones. This morning AS sent me an email at work with a link to wiki of WAF (Wife acceptance factor).

I really didn’t know what it was but this is how wiki defines it:

Wife Acceptance Factor, Wife Approval Factor, or Wife Appeal Factor(WAF), are design elements that increase the likelihood a wife will approve the purchase of expensive consumer electronics products such as high-fidelity loudspeakers, home theater systems and personal computers. Stylish, compact, unobtrusive forms and appealing colors are commonly considered WAF. The term is a tongue-in-cheek play on electronics jargon such as “form factor” and “power factor” and derives from the gender stereotype that men are predisposed to appreciate gadgetry and performance criteria whereas women must be wooed by visual and aesthetic factors

If you want to know more here is the link.

I kind of understand how it came about as in most marriage, each other’s opinion matters but that doesn’t apply to men only, what about HAF (Husband acceptance factor).

So I emailed him back asking,” What about Husband acceptance factor?”

His answer was  “No such thing! 😀 Husbands have no choice in the matter 😛

In some way I was happy to see his reply but at the same time he and I both know that it is not true. Tell me if I am wrong but we girls are very thoughtful beings and ask the approval of husband/partners when buying dresses, bags, shoes, curtains, flowers, decorations and the list is very long. AS was surprised sometimes that I called him to check his opinion even when I am thinking to buy something at $5. I will definitely consider these actions as Husband Acceptance Factor.

Do you agree with my opinion? If there is a Wife Acceptance Factor on wiki, we need to have Husband Acceptance Factor as well because it does exist.

Please share you experience in Husband (partner)  Acceptance Factor.

Take care everyone,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

Water Park and Green Thunder on board Carnival Cruise

When I was doing the research for our holiday, everyone’s review talked about the new ride called Green Thunder on Carnival. Everyone was saying thing that the Green Thunder slide is the highlight of the water park so I had already decided that I have to try it. I was scared but at the same time, I knew it was going to be fun.

So on one of the sea days, I and AS got water ready and went to the water park at the top of the ship. I was intimidated and scared thinking of the floor dropping out from under me at the start of the ride but I decided to do it first to take the fear out of me.

AS stayed on the bottom so he could take some photos and I walked the long stairs to the top. There was a short queue and in no time it was my turn.

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I climbed into the green capsule, crossed my feet and arms as I prepared to plunder Carnival Spirit’s Green Thunder, the fastest and steepest water slide at sea.

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I was standing as high as any passenger can go on the ship. Then the countdown began and the floor just fell away; I felt like I was falling from the sky for a few second.

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Then when I looked around I could see the sea through the green tube and I was on the edge of the ship with nothing between me and the ocean except a centimetre’s worth of green tubing and some flowing water. According to the experts, I was travelling at 65km/h.

My scream hurtled with me down the green tube as did a I free fall. And in a few seconds, I was at the end of the slide. It was an adrenaline rush that pushed me to do more rides but I had to make sure AS had his turn as well. It is a surreal experience and very similar to the experience we had at water world and wet and wild before.

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He did the same process and this time I was capturing the moments for him. He was down in a few seconds as well and that was when we just got started.

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Unfortunately, Green Thunder stopped operation after a while as it was a bit windy so we went around the water park to find the other ride.

There is a smaller version of green thunder called Twister. It is not as steep and scary as Green Thunder but still fun so I decided to go on it as well.

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After the monster one, it was a piece of cake but I went on it a couple of times as well as it was so much fun.

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Then we walked around the kids area where there is a mini-slide and “splash zone” which comprises of a giant splash bucket that once full drenches everyone in its path below and some water fountains.

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We took a few photos before both of were chilled because of the strong wind.

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As much as it was fun to be on slides, once we were out of water, it was too cold. We didn’t want to catch a cold so decided to go back to our room for a hot shower.

Both AS and I really enjoyed our time in the water park and we will recommend everyone to enjoy that area at least once if anyone is going on the same cruise.

More about our trip soon.

Take care everyone,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

What next?

I and hubby were talking about life in general. I am glad that we were both in similar space in our life right now. We said we both are happy with our life and where we are in life right now. We both are doing what we planned with our life.

10 years ago both of us had one goal, which was to finish our study and get a job. Then we had aim and we both worked toward that and it was a great when we finally reached there. Then it was a phase where we looked for a partner and with god’s blessing found each other. At that phase as well we had an aim and goal and we were working towards it. We reached the goal, got married and now are living happily together.

Last few years have been great together trying to fulfill our dreams like traveling the world and buying our dream home. Traveling will never be done for us as I still want to see Africa, South America and heaps of countries that are still on our list but still we are happy the way we have traveled so much. The house is here to stay so no more thinking about it now. We are mortgage owners now and hope one day soon we will be home owners as well but we can’t do a lot about it right now.

That made us think – “What next?” Life has been kind of same with job and home lately. Every time we talk about this with anyone, the only answer seems to be a BABY. As we were talking we also realised that it does seem to be the logical answer to our question. To have little people in our life who will be a part of us.

As I have mentioned many times before I love babies and my cute nephew is 18 months now and is as cute as ever but still I have doubts about myself if I can handle a child.

my nephew

I know when I have a baby, the baby will be a part of us and naturally I will love him/ her will all my hearts. But when do you really decided if you are going to have a baby. Is it normal to have a phase in every couple’s life where having a baby seems like the natural next step in life. Is it normal to have so many questions regarding the baby before even planning it?

To all of you with a child, I would love to know what made you decide to have a baby when you had yours.

For me, it seems like a scary decision to bring another human being into this world when you are so confused about it. I know almost all my friends have a baby now and they seemed to love it. Everyone I see has this motherly gene in them and they seem so natural with kids. Will I be the same or will I struggle?

As you guys know, both our parents are very far from us in Kathmandu, Nepal. They both will do their best to be with us when we have baby but for some reason, if they are not here, will that be very hard to manage on our own? I have heard so many mums going into depression when they are left alone with the baby for long, how to avoid it?

I know for some people these questions might look silly but definitely I want answers to this question before AS and I sit down to talk about our baby plan. Any suggestions will be surely of great help.

Thanks everyone.

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

NEPALIAUSTRALIAN’s Blog Award 2013 WINNERS Announced

The moment you have all been waiting for is here. The votes are in and a huge thanks to all bloggers and voters who participated. I am thrilled by the way everyone came together to celebrate and support the talented individuals who spend so many hours behind the scenes creating the blogs we all love to read.

Without further delay, I am more than pleased to announce the winners of the NEPALIAUSTRALIAN’s Blog Award 2013. Good luck to everyone who has been nominated.

Drum roll………

Best Blog for 2013

nepaliaustralian_bestblog.JPGhttp://www.playamart.wordpress.com

Best Photo Blog 2013

nepaliaustralian_bestphototbloghttp://www.veggiezest.com

Best Food Blog 2013

nepaliaustralian_bestphotoblog.JPGhttp://www.foodpleasureandhealth.com

Best Travel Blog 2013

nepaliaustralian_bestravelblog.JPGhttp://www.alisonanddon.wordpress.com

Best Fashion Blog 2013

nepaliaustralian_bestfashionblog.JPG (2)http://www.astairwaytofashion.com

Best Personal Blog 2013

nepaliaustralian_bestpersonalblog.JPGhttp://www.madh-mama.blogspot.com

Best Blog Design 2013

nepaliaustralian_bestblogdesign.JPGhttp://www.designlifekids.com

Most Diverse Blog 2013

nepaliaustralian_mostdiverseblog.JPGhttp://www.siciliangodmother.wordpress.com

Best New Blog 2013

nepaliaustralian_bestnewblog.JPGhttp://www.ngimaphotos.wordpress.com

Best Blog Post of the Year 2013

nepaliaustralian_bestphototpost.JPGhttp://tashsn.wordpress.com/2013/10/30/what-is-real-happiness/

Most Educational Blog Post 2013

nepaliaustralian_mosteducationalposthttp://www.chaiacupoflife.com/home-remedy-for-cough

Most Witty Blog Post 2013

nepaliaustralian_mostwittyposthttp://theroofsofkathmandu.wordpress.com/2013/10/19/anything-is-possible-in-kathmandu/

Best Photo Blog Post 2013

nepaliaustralian_bestphotopost

http://sochbichaar.wordpress.com/2013/08/22/the-lost-community-bhishtis/

Best Fashion Blog Post 2013

nepaliaustralian_bestfashionposthttp://llly78.wordpress.com/2013/11/23/boldly-beautiful-2/

Big Congratulation to all the winners, do not forget to leave your acceptance speech 🙂 and thank you everyone.

Celebrating Christmas on board Carnival Spirit

Our cruise on Carnival was advertised as a Christmas cruise so obviously I was expecting the Christmas to be special on board.

As soon as we walked onto the ship, I could see that they had beautiful Christmas decorations everywhere. It actually felt like Christmas all the time we were on board.

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Definitely, Christmas day was very special. We had sea day on the 25th of December so everyone was on the ship. They had announced the previous day that they were going to have special Christmas lunch so we were looking forward to that.

On Christmas morning, after a quick workout at the gym, we went to the buffet area for breakfast. Most of the staff and some of the cruisers were already wearing Christmas hats, ties, headbands and earrings. The environment was very festive and there were tables full of families enjoying the Christmas breakfast.

IMG_1043-tile-vertAll the dining areas had watermelons craved with figurines like, Merry Christmas, Santa’s face, flowers and other the Christmas decoration. Also there was an area where they built a gingerbread house, some snowmen and it looked really pretty.

IMG_1024 (2)We had our usual breakfast and as it was nice and fresh. When we were done with breakfast, we saw that a few staffs were craving something on a big block of ice.

We went back to our room and on the way back we saw many rooms door decorated with Christmas decoration. Actually, they were giving prizes for best-decorated doors.  Once in the room, we had a shower and went back to the buffet area again and was surprised to see this beautiful ice carving of Santa with his reindeers and it looked absolutely amazing.

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The staffs on board worked really hard to make sure the ship had full Christmas vibe. The captain of the ship was walking around wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and we managed to take some photos with him too.

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After admiring all the decoration on that floor, we went around to find more activates. Everywhere we saw people in Santa hats and red outfits. I felt like I was in a mall somewhere, not on a ship.

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There were photographers capturing family photos with Santa and Christmas tree and there were families enjoying their time together. For me and AS, we didn’t want photos with Santa so we kept on roaming around until we found the hall where bean bag throwing competition was about to start. It was going to be Men Vs Women.

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I wanted to take part so went and had my name written down. After a few minutes, game started. 4 males vs 4 females.  They gave us 4 bean bags about 10 inches square and it had to go inside a board with a small hole around 15 feet away.

It was a fun game. The first few times, all my bags were either on the floor or on the board but once I got the hang of it, I scored a few points. It was entertaining for everyone watching as well but unfortunately, the male group won the game.

By that time, it was time for us to go to the restaurant (Empire dining room) for our Christmas lunch.

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When we arrived at our table, there were already Christmas crackers on the tables and the staffs were in a festive mood wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas. Rest of the couples from our table arrived and we started the lunch.

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They told us that they used to have Christmas dinner before but for the first time, they were organising Christmas lunch because that is an Australian tradition and they wanted us to enjoy an Aussie Christmas. It was really thoughtful of the management and staff because it was extra hard work for them to organise the special lunch.

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The menu was even more aussiefied with crusted lamb roast, prawns and pavlova on the menu. We loved the food and it was fun popping Christmas crackers and wearing the hat. I have to admit, they made us all feel special on the special day.

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After lunch, both of us were so stuffed that we went to the upper deck and just relaxed on the lounge. We enjoyed the beautiful sunset on the horizon before going to the room to get ready for dinner.

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Like every day, the Empire dining room served one of the best dinners and we were happy with the service and food.

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After dinner, special Christmas show was organised in the main hall (Pharaoh’s Palace) so we went there.

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The Christmas show was fun with Christmas carols from the singers and some kids, followed by Christmas song, Christmas story and many more entertainment and of course Santa Clause.

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Overall, AS and I had a splendid Christmas on board Carnival Spirit.

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On the way to our room we had a quick stop at the casino and had some fun :).

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We were both tired after a while and were off too bed.

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Hope all of you a great one too.

Take care everyone,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO