Day 6 - Chillin' out

On Sunday, we rested.

Ellise was nice enough to take May and I to her church, Harbourside Church near the harbour bridge (hence the name). They have the greatest music team ever! haha. The worship leader played hammond, the bassist was a girl who wore guy's attire and completely rocked the church. Preacher was so cool too! Envy envy!

The four of us girls got together again during the afternoon and strolled around Albert Park and the city central, taking lots of pictures, of course.

That night, Lulu took us to Auckland's (supposedly) most popular place to have bubble tea (pearl milk tea). Part of the reason was because one guy who works there is so cute that Jay Chou (if I'm not mistaken) went there and said that he can be famous because of his good looks. Sure enough, there were girls dressing like ah-lians all over the cafe, waiting to talk to that "cute" guy. Blah. However, the bubble tea was HEAVENLY.

Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra: From Russia with Love.

The picture we took with Mahatma Ghandhi ;P

Luvin the colours.

One of the many ornaments at Albert Park.

Bubble tea!

Different now

Woke up this morning, and instantly I knew that things would be different.

Part of the reason was because I was awaken by the buzzing of an incredibly huge honey bee flying around just few centimetres above my head. Eekness. Thanks goodness it was smart enough this time to fly out through the window instead of bumping its way against the window pane.

Then there was LIGHT!*For the first time this week!*

Is that a good sign or what?

Today, finally, my phone connection is restored. Yay to internet connection in my own room!

Today, finally, I got a job! Woohoo. It's definitely not a glorious job, but I did my very best convincing the employer to employ me (hence the exegerrated cover letter), and it paid off! If you're interested, it's a position of a motel cleaner, pay is $10.25 before tax. Oh well, it's the experience that counts.

Icy summer

For the 2nd time this month, I was forced asked to move again. This time, to the main hall of Studholme College. Apparently we had to let the big shots aka families coming for their kids' graduation ceremonies stay in the posh flats. Meh. So here I am, in the smallest room possible, with a hideous view of trees covering Jane Malthus (my ex-flat), the kitchen sucks, and did I mention the (lack of) water pressure made it a nuisance to shower?

What's more, our lovely *chokes* office administrator is a bit slow in getting the phone lines reconnected. Which means no phone and internet connection in our rooms. Which means I have to use the computer room for its facilities *thank goodness for broadband*.

And the complaining continues...

I am still jobless.

Yes, my friends. I guess I was too confident about getting a job here in this ghost town during summer. Still, I'm searching high and low for the perfect job to make my cv look good, and also to stop my parents' nagging of wanting me to return home sooner.

Speaking of summer, this week has been everything but summer. Constant rain, temperature below 10 degrees, hail *eeks! no snow though*, and icebergs sightings. Imagine this: icebergs as big as 2km floating all the way from the south pole to good ole Dunedin during summer. The clever people are making business by offering helicopter rides to the icebergs for NZ$250 per person. A couple is even serious about getting married on one of those icebergs.


Next thing you know, pigs can fly.

Day 5 - Swanson Visit

The Day when it rained cats and dogs.

On Saturday, we decided to go visit Sarah at her farmhouse at Swanson, a suburb about 1 hour away from the city. It took us a 45 min train ride, 15 mins of bus ride, 15 mins of wondering what the hell are we doing stranded at a train station somewhere between Britomart and New Lynn, 15 mins bus ride back to where we should be headed to, and 10 car ride courtesy of Sarah's dad to their house.

After that was 2 hours of oooh-ing and ahhh-ing at her 3 dogs. The first who had most attention that day- Molly as she was due to give birth that day. The black labradoodle (cross between a labrador and a poodle) sure enjoyed the attention we gave her. Then there was Rouge and Jack who had to be kept outside the house.

The bad weather meant that we could only stay indoors. Later, we went shopping at the huge Northgate mall and I finally had a try of Auckland's famous donuts- Dunkin Donuts! They sell more than 10 types of donuts, each with different toppings and fillings, including chocolate mint, lemon and custard, normal glazed, chocolate glazed and so much more. A must try if you're visiting Auckland.

Molly, a soon-to-be mother for the 3rd time.

Sarah + Molly; spending quality time.

Night scenery; the skytower.

Day 4 - Devonport/Northshore

North bound.

The weather started playing tricks and took away the sunshine. But we stayed on with our plan, which is going to Northshore. We took a 15 min ferry ride to Devonport, then another 20 min bus ride to the heart of Northshore. Though Northshore is part of Auckland, it's considered as a separate city itself- a city filled with rich people with expensive cars (6 out of 10 cars on the road are BMWs).

Devonport was beauutiful. It looked like a mini version of Miami, provided that it was hot and sunny. Palm trees swaying in the breeze, scenic walks around the peninsula etc made it a perfect tourist attraction. We walked around a bit, and climbed another mountain- Mount Victoria to get a nice view. *I have no idea why we're so keen on climbing nountains*.

After that, we headed on to Northshore. Lunch sucked. Actually, it was the worst lunch I've ever had. And the worst way to spend NZ$12.00. We ordered some kind of seafood korean noodles at "Korean Restaurant" (yeaps, very creative ay), but what came out looked good but tasted horrible. It had no taste at all, and the seafood meant 1 mussel with tiny dried shrimps sold at Kuching Sunday Market. After a whole lot of complaining, we got 50 cent Burger King sundae ice-creams which tasted so much better. Moral of the story, only dine in restaurants prior to friends' recommendation.

Pretty disappointed at what Northshore had to offer. We expected more, I guess. However, it was still a good experience especially when you're travelling to an unknown place.

At the wharf before ferry ride.

The musical fence at Devonport.

Windsurfing at Northshore.

Crappiest meal. Beware!!!

Cute mushroom stools on Mount Victoria.