IN Mother's Day

Spoil and indulge your mum this Mother’s Day with a selection of affordable and indulgent ideas and presents she’ll treasure.

When it comes to gift-giving, let’s face it, some people are just better than others. With Mother’s Day coming up we wanted to make sure you were armed with some great ideas to show your mum just how much you appreciate her.

So we asked someone who knows a lot about gifts. Rachel Gardiner from Perth’s Finest Occasions & Events knows when less is more or when nothing but a large splash will do.

“The list we’ve created is something which you can do on a budget or splurge with,” says Rachel. “There are gifts for kids, teens and dads to choose from. A present for Mother’s Day doesn’t have to be expensive and in most cases it really is the thought that counts. Give it a little bit of thought and gift mum something she would really like or enjoy, rather than what you would enjoy.

“A mum who is really time poor will appreciate some uninterrupted, relaxing time away from her responsibilities while a mum who has a knee problem won’t want to be gifted a bushwalk!”
25 excellent ideas for Mother's Day

Make your own card
Young children can make mum a personalised Mother’s Day card or a drawing she’ll love to keep. If you’re handy with crayons, big kids can do this too!

eCard
If you can’t celebrate or see your mum on the day, an eCard is a special emailed greeting card. It’ll let her know you’re thinking of her and haven’t forgotten this special day.

A bunch of flowers
Whether you pick a bunch of flowers from the garden or buy a bunch, flowers will always be a welcome gift.

Breakfast in bed
Surprise mum with breakfast in bed to show your appreciation.

Chocolate gift hamper
Indulge your mum’s love of chocolate with a gift hamper filled with gooey gourmet delights.

Gift card
Surprise mum with a gift card from a store she really loves.
Babysitting
An ideal gift for teenagers – offer to look after your baby sister or brother for a few hours and give mum a well-deserved break.

Bubble bath
Run a bubble bath and leave mum alone for a couple of hours to relax and pamper herself. No banging on the bathroom door!

Book
Choose a great book you know mum will love. Pick her favourite author or grab a copy of the latest best-seller. It will go perfectly with a long bath.

Picnic
Pack a delicious picnic basket and head to the river for a relaxed lunch or dinner.

Gold Class movie experience
Spoil your mum with a Gold Class movie experience. With a film, food, drinks and service, she’ll feel like a queen.

Slippers
As winter approaches, surprise mum with a soft pair of cosy slippers.

Dinner
Give mum the night off! Cook her a special dinner and choose all her favourite treats. If you’re not a master chef, surprise mum with a meal at her favourite restaurant or one she has wanted to try.

Day spa
Spoil mum with a trip to the day spa and indulge in any combination of a massage, facial, manicure or pedicure.

Jewellery
A stunning piece of jewellery will make mum smile. A pair of earrings or a stylish bracelet is a thoughtful gesture and show of love.

Jewellery box
A beautiful jewellery box to keep mum’s precious pieces and watches safe is a special gift.

Handbag
Select a handbag which is functional but also transports all her worldly possessions in style.

Perfume
Find a tantalizing new scent that captures the mystery and sophistication of your mum.

A CD & DVD
Find a CD or DVD she’d enjoy spending the afternoon with.

Digital photo frame
Every picture tells your story. Share your digital photos with family.

Gym membership
Gift fitness! A gym membership will speak to mum’s mind, body and soul.

iPad
For the electronically-savvy mum, choose an iPad. She can do everything from reading and watching movies to enjoying music, playing games and accessing endless web content.

Shopping spree
For the ultimate indulgence, take mum on a shopping spree and splurge in King’s Street.

Hot air ballooning
For the adventurous type, feel the magic of soaring high over the land at sunrise, suspended in a basket under a glorious hot air balloon.

Theatre tickets
Present your mum with tickets to the theatre where she can dress up and enjoy the very best in drama, opera, ballet, dance and music.

Realmark takes home two REI Awards

We are thrilled to announce that Realmark has been recognised at the highest level after taking out two categories at the national Real Estate Institute of Australia awards.

Realmark surpassed some of the fiercest competition in the real estate industry to win the National REI of Australia Award for Excellence in Communication for property marketing and best Commercial Agency of the Year.

Not only is this a fantastic reflection of the dedication and hard work by the entire Realmark team but shows our ability to get results through the highs and the lows which are typical to the property market.

Realmark was nominated as the WA finalist in four categories; Large Residential Agency of the Year, Commercial Agency of the Year, Communications Award and Innovation Award.

This success highlights the level of marketing and transactional expertise available to WA clients and also shows the beneficial outcomes of career opportunities at Realmark. The innovative approach Realmark takes to marketing and sales is rewarded by successful sales and happy clients.

The real estate industry is one of constant change. The way in which real estate agents adapt to this change is fundamental to the ongoing success. The selling strategies Realmark employs and the proactive approach in communicating clearly with clients is having a positive effect on the property market. It has recently been a time of uncertainty in the property market, however Realmark has continued to proactively look for new ways to enhance our service and increase our sales.

And it has paid off. Realmark is bucking the trend and where sales are down across the state, Realmark is seeing a positive shift across the board in both lettings and sales results.

So what is it that sets us apart from our competitors? Firstly, Realmark does not believe in treating every client the same. We understand that each client has different needs but all clients have one common goal – to be treated fairly and achieve a good outcome. We believe that to achieve this for our clients; we need to be completely transparent in our communication with them. We tell them what they need to know, not what they want to hear. And in the end, our clients are happy because they can take that information and make the best informed decision to their best advantage.

These awards encourage us to strive even further and set the bar higher for real estate and the culture of the property industry.

We are looking forward to what the rest of 2011 brings.

License Launch

Realmark has welcomed high profile real estate advisor Mark Sinclair to the team as an independent consultant with our new business solutions license launch.

This is yet another great way in which Realmark is proactively searching for ways to offer our clients a better service and we can’t wait to see the results of these exciting and innovative new business solutions.

Realmark Agent Elected

Congratulations to Realmark’s Nicola Morris who has been elected for the REIWA Property Chapter Committee for the third year running. Nicola will be a great asset on the committee and we look forward to hearing what she takes on board.

This is a great achievement and we are proud to have someone of Nicola’s calibre on our team here at Realmark.

REALMARK VOTED BEST MARKETERS, BEST COMMERCIAL AGENCY

The Realmark team has beaten some of the best in the business and brought home not one but two REIA Awards.

This is the highest possible level to be recognised at and we are thrilled to receive the award for Communications Excellence for best real estate marketing, and beat some of Australia’s largest commercial agencies in the category of Commercial Agency Excellence.

These awards highlight what we already knew here at Realmark – that we have the expertise and dedication to set the bar high and achieve great things in the real estate industry.

John.

IN Saltimbanco

by Ara Jansen

With a timeless story to tell and majestic acrobatics to amaze all ages, Cirque du Soleil returns to Perth with an arena season of Saltimbanco.

Cirque du Soleil’s Zbigniew “Zibi” Bachor says no matter how long he has been with Saltimbanco, he never tires of the show’s colour, performances which celebrate the joy of life and the flying acts using every possible bit of space.

Born in Poland the 46-year-old performs with the Chinese Poles and Russian Swing act of Cirque du Soleil’s Saltimbanco. He’s been doing it for more than 14 years and is the oldest acrobat in the house troupe and probably one of the toughest.

Zibi has travelled the planet with Saltimbanco under the Big Top. Now with the arena show set-up, he returns to Perth this month for the first time in more than 10 years.

Saltimbanco, translated loosely from Italian, means to “jump on a bench”. It’s one of Cirque du Soleil’s signature shows exploring the idea that diversity offers hope in an urban metropolis with costumes to delight and amazing acrobatics.

As a result of performing the same jumps each show, retaining the same character and being very meticulous, Zibi is now also the Russian Swing coach for this Saltimbanco troupe. He says a combination of age, experience and training have made him tough.

“There are many more things too,” Zibi says. “Taking care of yourself is very important, not only physically but also mentally. Nutrition is also key; too many people neglect this aspect. I think what is tough about me is that I prepare the same way for every single show.”

The performer says he continues to bring fire and enthusiasm to his role because each show is different and performing in different countries keeps things fresh. “We have some room for improvisation in our show and we always have to adapt to our audience.”

Even after playing the same character in Saltimbanco for years Zibi knows it is possible to keep getting better. After every show the artists watch their performances to see ways in which they can improve. “Every single Cirque show is recorded and we also constantly receive notes about our performance from the artistic director on tour.

“You cannot be bored performing for Cirque du Soleil. If you are, you shouldn’t be there and it wouldn’t be a good sign. I don’t act like it was my first show every night because I have much more experience and I have learned a lot through the years. While it’s the same sort of routine, I’m still learning every week performing in the show.”

The father of two, who used to have his family on tour, sees himself as a mentor and motivator to those who want to last in the industry. He answers a lot of questions from younger artists, though he laughingly says they are not only about the show!

While he’s in town, Zibi says he’ll be enjoying Perth’s restaurants again and hopes to find sushi as memorable as he ate on his last visit.
Saltimbanco is at Challenge Stadium from April 21 to May 8.