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North Island Road Trip - Day 2 2008-01-31 04:45:00 Auckland - Paeroa - Waihi - Katikati - Tauranga - Mt MaunganuiThe weather was sad, rained non-stop. On the way from Auckland to Tauranga, we stopped by a few towns. Now, I know where the LP (Lemon & Paeroa) drink was originally made. From Paeroa, of course! There are many antique stores in Paeroa. After that, we reached the scenic Karangahake Gorge. We didn’t manage to explore the walkway as initial plan due to the bad weather. Sigh. Argh, I wanted so much to discover the tunnel, swing bridges, old railway bridges, mining relics, falls… :’( There is just so much to see at this fascinating place! Ok, probably next time.Karangahake GorgeThen we passed by Waihi, a small town known for its gold and quartz mining history. The information center, which situated opposite Martha Hill mine, was splendid. Not only have helpful staffs, but also lots of gold and silver mining-related knowledge to gain. A place worth to visit. On top of that, it sparked up the dull weather. Read more:Road Trip
, Island
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North Island Road Trip - Day 1 2008-01-30 04:52:00 AucklandArrived Auckland Domestic Airport at 7am. We were early. Hence, we took a slow stroll to International Terminal. The walk between domestic and international terminal was only 10 minutes, extremely near! Not as far as 30 min, 1h or such as claimed by my friends previously. So, take my advice, if you’ve huge + heavy baggage, it’s easier to just push them from terminal to terminal, instead of carrying them one by one up and down the bus!After meeting our friend, Beatrice, in Manukau City, we drove around Auckland City. For those who don’t know, Auckland is the largest city in NZ. Auckland City is not much different from Kuala Lumpur, with high rise buildings, highway, busy traffic... except, Auckland is very much cleaner. Since Auckland is the dominant commercial center, some even mistaken her as the capital of NZ, instead of Wellington. Having a 4WD which is integrated with compass made our life easier. We simply matched the correct direction with the maps in our h Read more:Road Trip
, Island
, North
back from adventure 2008-01-28 03:18:00 Seems like I didn't update my blog for quite a while. You're right. I was out-of-town for some excitement, leaving all stresses and routines behind me. I know, it was such an aggressive move, especially with all those datelines to catch up. I just needed to get away, to get a break, to do something "extraordinary".. before I suffer permanent head damage. =pSo now, I'm back in Christchurch. I actually arrived yesterday evening, but I was too worn out to do anything else. All I can think of was only ZzZzz.Conquering 1669 kilometers in 7.5 days was not an easy task. The road in New Zealand ain't flat, nor not-that-winding. Lots of slopes, winding, narrow roads.. need lots of energy to focus leh. Besides, we drove off to some of the steep gravel road, went uphill to check out some lookout points and breathtaking sceneries. It was certainly an experience. A great one. Not only to discover some of the greatest place, but also to become a more skillful driver (Still, I prefer
感恩：陪伴我們走過一生的人 2008-01-19 03:22:00 a forwarded mail to share..父母爱·是多美的事。 那我们是否能让子女的爱也是这么动人呢？愿与大家共勉之
Hungry anyone? 2008-01-16 13:21:00 Craving for food?Sis has experimented plenty of cookies, cakes, food.. this summer.Find out more in her cooking heaven.Drooling?Gosh, just hope i don't put on weight! ;p Read more:Hungry
Satisfy or More 2008-01-16 04:31:00 ..tolerant and accepting toward others....understanding toward all that happens....content with what we have....grateful for everything..True, be content with what we have and be grateful for everything. I would say at the same time, too, dream big, take action, move forward to realize them. Only after you have repeatedly improve and try your best, yet thing doesn't turn out the way you hope to be, change your point of view. It's not the end of the world. Be content with the process, be grateful for the experiences. It's a matter of perspective. It's a matter of moderation. And most importantly, it's a matter of balancing yourself. :)
Remembering CNY 2008-01-12 20:01:00 With Chinese New Year around the corner, there are more CNY-related stories ~ food, delicacies, plants, fengshui.. as I read The Star Online. Atmosphere, yes, the lively festive atmosphere as we bid farewell to Boar and step into the year of Rat (even hamster sales increased! *lolz*). I can imagine the lanterns, red banners, decorations, songs, etc. that boost up the whole CNY spirit in the malls, streets, shops... Oh, I'm missing those.I have yet to experience CNY festive mood in Christchurch yet. Probably Auckland is better in this, since there are more Asian.Despite being a year and a half overseas, I will and I am still missing festive season back home. Normally, during these time around, we will be busy shopping for new clothes, cleaning and decorating the house, sending greeting to family and friends, preparing CNY delicacies, singing and practicing performances.. Memories are pouring in. And I miss those time.It is amazing to see that we still uplift the festive traditio Read more:Remembering
Sorry, rejected! 2008-01-10 03:15:00 Guess what? I got a proposal from some insane fella this morning..HiMy name is XXXXX and my qualification is MBA (Master Business Administration). I live in Pakistan and working in an Insurance company as an Assistant Manager. I am young and have a strong physique. I have positive thinking. I will keep you happy in the life. I’m a decent and honest person. People can trust me and always come up to me when they have a problem because I enjoy giving them a laugh and sitting down with them. I wouldn't mind a little attention seeking. I’m happy with life and what I have and glad with everything I got.I love you and I want marry with you. I hope you will accept my proposal and keep contact with me. I request for developing the relationship with me. I hope you will find me good person.My picture is attached with the email. Your loverXXXXXMobile # 009230XXXXXXXXPakistanWtf. You're certainly out of your mind! I don't even know who you are and absolutely no, no, NO! The world has c
Have you registered to vote? 2008-01-09 03:21:00 General election is around the corner. If you're 21 years old and above, you can secure your right to vote and utilize your basic right as a citizen. Just go to any post office in Malaysia to register as an elector. Click here for further information.Damn. I missed my chance to vote last time around as I was "underage". Now I can't possibly fly all the way back to Malaysia just to register as an elector. If there's any candidate who want to sponsor my flight, I'll be more happy to do so.I think Malaysia should practice online registration soon, especially for Malaysian who are based overseas like me.
at the time being.. 2008-01-08 04:00:00 I wish I have the time to sit down, clear my mind, type and blog. But it hardly happens. Commitments.. obligations.. responsibilities.. pressures..:'(
Visiting Waimakariri 2008-01-06 01:52:00 Traveling on a warm and sunny Sunday is the best option. Exploring new places has always been the top of my list, especially when I'm not working. Temporarily putting academic stuff aside, to release the tense and out of the routine, I travel! Perhaps I should have a travel blog instead. haha!Today, sis and I explore Waimakariri district, which situated North of Christchurch. We went to Kaiapoi, Rangiora, Ohoka, Cust, Ashley Gorge, Glentui, and Loburn. The following map illustrated a general idea of the places that we have visited. ^_^Waimakariri districtKaiapoi is located close to the mouth of Waimakariri river, where flow into Pegasus Bay. There are a stretch of beautiful beaches. We only visited two of them. Kairaki Beach is situated at the end of Waimariri river and is a extremely popular fishing destination. Families, regardless of old and young were enjoying their Sunday fishing! I should probably fish some Salmon next time. hehe.. ;p Meanwhile, the sand is finer
Gardens visit 010108 2008-01-02 03:32:00 Since Christchurch is well-known as the garden city of NZ, there are certainly many beautiful gardens worth to visit
. On the first day of new year, sis and I spent the warm afternoon wandering around two of Christchurch's attractions -- Mona Vale, and Riccarton House & Bush.Mona Vale is one of Christchurch's gracious houses and public garden. The pretty English garden and landscaped lawn along the Avon river make the houses look so elegant. How nice if I have a house along the river too! I will kayak everyday, feed the ducks by the river bank, enjoy the serene environment... *day dreaming* There is a fernery and strange-looking aka artistic Gazebo at the edge of the lawn. Roses are blooming in the rose garden, red, pink, white, yellow, champagne... colorful! It was simply a delightful place to visit!There are 2 historic buildings featuring Christchurch's premier heritage in Riccarton House & Bush. The historic Victorian homestead is surrounded by garden, native bush Read more:Gardens
2008, here I come! 2008-01-01 02:15:00 Every year comes and goes, leaving footprints in our life. The ups and downs, tears and laughters, memories for us to cherish...Bidding farewell to 2007, welcoming 2008! Yes, 2007 has been an exciting one, regardless of world's social, politic, or economy. As humankind constantly try to improve our state of life and prosperity, we should also do our part to protect the wildlife and mother nature. Nowadays, wildlife often takes second place to human activity. Endangered species are in the state of extinction. Hence, actions are necessary to conserve the wildlife.New year eve was quite quiet in Christchurch, not as exciting as in Malaysia. Despite the lack of atmosphere, and busyness with study and work, I celebrated mine with a group of friends. It was good, a new beginning. ^^The beginning of 2008..As I looked back, reflecting and making resolutions, I believe 2008 is going to be another exciting year. No doubt, there are more challenges, uncertainties and adventures ahead. T
Is end of 07 = anxious? 2007-12-30 04:10:00 As illustrated, 2007 will be pushed away in another 25 hours. I'm getting more tense. Well, I've been reading the whole night. Frankly, I discovered more that has yet to be discovered. It's like I understand slightly more than I did, but at the same time, I found out more that I don't understand. Aahhh!! Tension!! T_TThere're so much circling my mind on the 30th, when I should do some reflection and planning. Perhaps I should meditate, blank my mind, and let myself free, at least for a while. Then move on with a more refresh mind and emotion. Yeah, I think I should. And stop procrastinate!Especially at time like this, I like quotes. They seems to lift up my spirit. =)"不管路有多遠、自己的能力有多少，都能隨分隨力盡量去達成目標，此即「毅力」。Regardless of how far the journey is or how capable we are, we do our best to reach our goal. This is perseverance at its best."正严法师静思语 Master Cheng YenYup, no matter how far the jour
Extending warm reception 2007-12-28 20:25:00 My current collections residing in Christchurch would like to say hello to...X'mas bear from BobX'mas penguin from IngHua (Sis in Sg)Woohoo ~ A happy family!^_^p/s: I should probably consider getting a bigger bed now. ;p
S.O.S. needed with spacing! 2007-12-26 21:59:00 Have you notice the difference between spacing in my post? *please scroll down* At the beginning, the line spacing is 1.5, but after I inserted first photo, it'll ends up to single spacing. I couldn't figure out where went wrong in the html code. Can any expert help me please? Thanks heaps! :)
Again, it's time of the year! 2007-12-25 01:35:00 December 24th, yes, it's Christmas Eve. That's when Christmas season liturgically begin on. I'm not a Christian. Somehow, being brought up in a multi-racial country, I basically celebrate every festival. This includes Christmas, the celebrated birthday of Jesus.Nowadays, Christmas has been very commercialize. Buying gifts, dining with loved one, partying... the list goes on and on. Think about it, Christmas is not a Christmas without Santa, Rudolph and Christmas tree. For me, Christmas marks the end of the year, 3 days after dongzhi (winter festival celebrated by Chinese), and a week before new year. Yes, END of the year.Yesterday, we had a picnic-style-steamboat for Christmas eve dinner. Why picnic-style? That was because the dining table was simply too small to fit 8 of us. We rather enjoyed ourselves sitting on the floor. Haha! We were overloaded with food. There were prawns, fishball, fishcakes, mushrooms, beef slices, fish, lettuce, spinach, bean curd, rice cake.. Read more:Again
The Power of Emotions 2007-12-23 02:49:00 I received some self-improvement tips from Amega Global Newsletter. They're uplifting and therefore I thought of sharing them here. (Photos from istockphoto)The Power of Emotions - The Ten Action SignalsIf you feel... The message is...1) UncomfortableChange your state, clarify what you want, and take action in that direction.2) FearfulGet prepared, get ready to do something.3) HurtAn expectation is not being met and you have a feeling of loss. Change your behavior or your way of communicating your needs.4) AngryAn important rule has been violated. Let the person know your standard may not be the same as theirs but you need their help.5) FrustratedYou need to change your approach to achieve your goal."Nothing in life has any meaning except the meaning you give it. If you don't like the way you're feeling, change the meaning"~ Anthony Robbins
Cheesecake 2007-12-22 04:03:00 Well, there isn't much to update this week. I've been working in the lab, reading journals, trying to understand more, thinking.. and stuff like that. The week has been a tense one. There are more stuff piling up, yet time is running out. TENSE. Ahhh, 2008 is coming soon!I would not like to rant about my study much. So, here's a special cheesecake that my sis made for Jon's 3rd birthday. Drooling? Hehe.. It's simply delicious! :)Cheesecake
Sunday in Banks Peninsula 2007-12-16 03:31:00 Since it's cherries picking season and sun shone brightly, sis and I took a journey to Banks Peninsula this morning. Cherry farm is situated in Kaituna Valley, halfway between Christchurch and Akaroa. Well, in NZ, we don't have a habit of bringing cash around, since we can settle with EFTPOS (debit card) most of the time. This time around, it led to trouble ~ no EFTPOS machine in the orchard. So, we headed to Akaroa first, before getting some cash and returned to the orchard.A rough idea of the whereaboutAfter Kaituna Valley, we passed by the village of Little River. We saw many cyclists along the way. There's a rail trail that runs on the old preserved railway embankment in Little River, for cyclists to pass through a spectacular landscape of rural areas, settlements and Lake Ellesmere. We should probably get a bike to cycle there some day. It's gonna be awesome! A whole new perspective and different experience!After Cooptown, we took the Tourist Drive route (another 1h d Read more:Sunday
Mobile phones 2007-12-13 04:06:00 I've been looking through mobile phones recently. You see, my Motorola E398 seems cannot be fixed anymore ever since it dropped into Padas river during whitewater rafting a few months back. Sad. Very sad. It was my graduation gift that I treasure very much. It has everything that I need and functions perfectly. I especially like its 3D surround when I played the music.Currently, I'm using sis's T630i. I should get a mobile that plays mp3, or buy a mp3 player soon. I desperately need to get myself entertain while doing lab work! Music keeps me energetic, gives me strength and ease my boredom. However, buying a mp3 player doesn't seems worthwhile since it is lack of functionality. Besides, the price doesn't vary much compare to buy a mobile phone.At the moment, I'm looking at these two. Still wondering which one to choose. I just can't make up my mind.Sony Ericsson W580iSony Ericsson W950iI like the design of W580i and it costs about RM1500, if comes with 1GB memory st Read more:Mobile
Santa Parade 2007-12-12 02:03:00 I joined the fun of Smith City SantaParade
on 2 Dec. There were so many children around! Christmas atmosphere is finally in the town! Ho... ho... ho...!!!Santa Parade
Having a sis around 2007-12-07 02:35:00 This is going to be a different summer. Well, sis is staying with me in Christchurch, since she's not going back to Malaysia. For your information, my sister is studying in University of Otago, which is about 361km away. She stays back in NZ despite her 3 months summer holidays, to work, travel and gain more experiences.Having
a sis around is indeed awesome. There's someone to cook, clean up and looking after... (i seems like a big bully.. haha! ;p) since I'm constantly occupied with uni work. Since she enjoys baking, cooking and other girly stuff (which I don't), I don't have to worry bout this. Besides, we share our way of healthy cooking -- less oil, less salt, less sugar. Brilliant!On top of that, there's a companion who share similar interest to travel, adventure, watch movies, shopping, tease each other... the list goes on. There's nothing better than this. =)Back to do some work now, then fetch sis from work.
First hair cutting 2007-12-03 03:55:00 Cut sis's hair after dinner. That was my first hair cutting experience in my entire life! You see, all this while, nobody wanna let me experimenting. So, I can only observe when hairdresser cut my hair (to "steal" their skills). But no hands on. This time around, sis willingly become my guinea pig. haha.. Save NZ$22 ler.. ;pForgot to take before and after photo just now. I know I should! So now, no photo to show off here. Anyway, my skill ain't bad after all. Sis was satisfied with the layer cut. Anyone wanna give a go? Warning: at your own risk! Read more:First
Change. New. 2008-03-09 01:28:00 Vote wisely. The future lies in your hand.Indeed. The result of general election was released early dawn (NZ time), as following:-(Source from The Star)In general, BN won federal government as it won more than half of the parliamentary seats. However, the oppositions took 5 states away ~ Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor, and Kelantan. It was certainly the greatest defeat in BN's history!I'm not going to make any political comment in my blog, nor which political party or who do I support and so or so. The only hope I have is, the leaders carry out their promises to develop the country for the better. Read more:Change
Politics. Vote. Election. 2008-03-07 04:45:00 It's going to be a big day out tomorrow, since Malaysia General Election
will be held on 8th March 2008. On the very same day, it's International Women's Day, a global celebration for economic, political and social achievements of women.Although I'm not a fan of politic, but I just couldn't help reading about it in The Star online. After all, election campaigns and voting is the hottest topic right now. Almost the entire paper is about the hooohaaa of election!!!The last general election was in 2004 and I was not "old enough" to vote. For your information, in Malaysia, you need to be 21 years old in order to be eligible to vote. This time around, I can't be much help either as I'm far far away in the land of Aotearoa.No matter what, I hope that the candidates being elected are the bes
Staying sane at all time 2008-03-06 00:51:00 I'm tired. I really am. My daily routine goes something like this...day time~ go to uni, work non-stop in the lab or school, hardly have any time for lunch, continue work, come home late evening (sometimes at night)...at night~ study, get more works done, prepare for tomorrow...Despite of the busyness, exhaustion.. I'm happy. Probably not in a way that I'm satisfied with my progress (I'm a perfectionist, remember?), but slowly, I'm progressing bit by bit. Something is always better than none.Sometimes, I can be so certain with what I'm doing. Another moment, I tend to become so uncertain, so unsure. Fear, frustration and disappointment will tag along. Then, I will have to remind myself that uncertainty is inevitable, it's just a part of life. It's just a test that we have to endure,
3 years of expression 2008-03-03 02:28:00 Now, I understand the meaning behind my senior's joke, on 3 years of Ph.D.It goes like this...1st year:^_^2nd year:=_=3rd year:+.+"and currently, I'm...x_x Read more:expression
Feb 29! 2008-02-29 03:31:00 Today, Feb 29, can be considered as quite a special one. It only occurs once in every 4 years, also known as leap year. I'm somewhat glad that I was not born on this day. Otherwise I can only celebrate 25% of my actual birthday in my whole life! ;p
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