Marlborough Wine Country

The first thing I did the moment I hit South from the North Island was to visit the Marlborough Wine Country.







Located at the tip of of the South Island, the wine country was my biggest motivation to cross the ocean and head straight for my 3 days long wine trail in the most popular vineyard valley in New Zealand - Marlborough.




When you get off the ferry, you'll land youself straight in Picton town (after being dropped off by a free-service van from the port).




You'd arrive in front of an information centre where you could book your tour, accommodation and bus ticket to the next nearest town.

It's only half an to an hour bus ride away to the towns of Marlborough wine region.




So from here I bought my bus ticket to Blehneim, one of the two towns in the centre of the wine country.


Map of Marlborough wine trail. Blehneim town on the right shaded area.


The other town being Renwick (on the right).


It was near 9pm by the time I reached my guesthouse near the town of Renwick. The bus driver was nice enough to drop me just in front of my guesthouse, before driving the rest of the passenger down to Nelson, the next nearest town which was an hour away.







I turned in early, not before calling home to inform my love ones back home that I have arrived safely (though I doubt they know where exactly I was).

Like almost every single time I arrived at a brand new place in New Zealand, it was always too dark to know where I've landed myself till the very next day.

This time, I woke up realising that I was being surrounded by apple trees!







Care for some apples?




There were lemons too!




This was the pay phone that I tried to used last night but failed, so I borrow the owner's mobile phone after much begging and got home to call me back instead.





me in the garden


I woke up really early (around 7:30am?) so I could get a head start on my first day in the fantastic wine region, in case I couldn't cover the whole region in two days.

I decided to rent a bicycle to get around. Unfortunately for me, most car rental companies were out of cars in this region that day, it was easter holiday, so boo hoo me.




Oh well, good for work out, yes?




It's the law here that you HAVE to wear a helmet when you cycle.




Not that my skull needs any protecting, it's thick enough. :p

Thank god I didn't look too shabby in it, or I would die of fashion horror.




Plugging in my Ipod, I managed to start the sunny yet chilly day cycling on a ridiculously straight and LONG road.




It's actually really uplifting considering I was surrounded by mother nature's best.




Look at the mountains in the distant.




So beautiful.


only my shadow and me


Then I arrived at my first winery!!!



Cloudy Bay - a rather commercialized brand


My first wine grapes of the day.




My first wine tasting session.




My first winery tour.




And my first winery shopping spree! (of the day ok, not of my life :p)




And my FIRST grapes tractor!




I've never visited a vineyard during the period of harvesting or planting before.
It was always somewhere in between whenever I visited a vineyard.


Autumn


It was April this year when I visited Marlborough and since most grapes are normally harvested in February up to mid March, I was lucky enough to see a harvesting in action!




One did the plucking, the other did the collecting.




"Interesting. So that's how it works?" I thought.
(sorry but I was actually anticipating to see farmers going down the vineyard to do the hand picking)


I did a few more wineries following that and bought some wines which I stuffed them onto my bicycle pouch at the back.





my first wine purchased! ka-ching!



bicycle pouch, such convenient thing





Then it was noon and I was hungry. I hadn't had breakfast, so I made a bee-line to the boutique winery restaurant I set my mind off after scanning through my map.




Herzog, my favourite 5-star rated wine and dine boutique restaurant and boutique winery of my choice in the whole of New Zealand.







I cycled in and parked my bike at the side before retreating to a table out in their private garden behind the restaurant.




It's no cheap affair dining here, so be prepared to splurge a good 50-100 bucks (NZD) if you really want to enjoy a fanta-bulous meal.

Because their ridiculously small portioned and thinly sliced but superbly delicious appetizer of beef salami with rocket leaves cost a hefty NZD24.




O look, a wine cat.




Who says only a winery that has one or more wine dogs produces great wine. Wine cat works just as great.

Then halfway drinking and taking in my surrounding, I met this lovely Australian couple next to me, trying to chat me up.




I ended up moving to their tables moments later, and even shared a dessert with them.


The events that followed the next few hours was incredible, and almost unbelievable.
But believable at the same time as this was not my first time having spontaneous encounter that threw you off your shoes.

Because the next thing I knew, I was in this couple's car.




Holding my map.




And have them drove me to all the desired wineries I had wanted to visit on my bicycle that day.

o.O




It just mind-boggled me how nice people can be.

The moment they knew I was on bicycle, they just offered incessantly that I were to join them for the day on the wine tour.


sitting in their comfy backseat


It was obviously much easier, and a lot faster to be driving than to cycle. Following that afternoon, I've visited all the wineries I had set out to visit the night before.

In fact, I covered most of the places in such speed, I decided to leave Marlborough a day earlier to head further down South.

*do the happy dance*










It's amazing how an industry as old-fashioned as wine-making can catch up so fast to our modernly pace.



Now wineries have their own facebook page!!


I even managed to visit this Wairau River winery to have an afternoon snack of their infamous CHEESE SOUFFLE!!!










CHEESE SOUFFLE!!!!!!


nom nom nom


Photo of my foot on pebbles.


I think I was just about tipsy when this photo was taken


Thank GOD I wasn't cycling the whole day.

Because later that evening when there's no more open wineries to visit, after dropping me back at Herzog winery where I left my bicycle, I was whoozing all the way on my bike back to my guesthouse.

I cycled left, right, in circles, just not straight.
(And this was after sobering up a little.)

I was lucky, there was scarcely any car on the road at that hour.

I remembered petting a horse on my way back.

I remembered going in zig-zag motion in one of the narrower secluded road.

I DIDN'T remember how I managed to carry three bottles of wines in my pouch, balancing in my state of unsteadiness, and cycled 3km back to my room.



check out my ipod hang in front of ze bike!



Kids. Never drink and cycle.


ps// I compiled a list of Top 5 Marlborough wineries. Check it out.

To Give

In that past three days, I've realised something I've always heard and known but never truly understood. Not completely.

But this for sure, sometimes it feels equally if not even more exhilarating to be giving than to be receiving.

The joy I gained from giving joy to the one I love has been something irreplaceable.

And no matter where I'll be in life, whether if this will go sour and sweeter, I'll take this as my learning footnote to living a happier journey.

Love. Just give love. Nothing else.

Crossing from North Island to South Island

Read Part 1 and Part 2 of Wellington here.

People visit the capital of New Zealand, Wellington, for two reason.

One is to claim that they've been to the capital of New Zealand.

Second is to cross over to and from the South Island(or North Island).




I found out there are only two common ways to cross between the two islands in NZ. First is, obviously, to fly. The other, more commonly used by locals and the adventure seeker, is to take a ferry.
(Third of course is to swim).




Few reasons. It's cheaper, well, kind of. If you don't manage to get promo fare of the flights, then it only makes sense to take ferry (I boarded the Bluebridge). Priced at NZD50 per way per person.

Or when you want to bring your car over to the South Island.


moving house applies too





Then there's the adventurous side of me where I just wanted to experience crossing the Cook Strait and to observe the Marlborough Sounds with my own eyes.





Marlborough Sounds are all the island and bay extensions from the tip of South Island



It finally got windy on the last day


I have to be honest here. When I decided I was to board a ferry to the South Island, I thought I was going to be stuck on a dodgy ferry with little comfort for few hours before finally arriving in civilization again.

Little did I expect that I was going to be welcomed with a full facilitated lounge!







Equipped with snack bars in every corner of the ship. Beers, chips, sandwich, hot food, you name it.




Cafes with dining tables.







Sit in movie theater.




Or get a beer and head up to the upper deck to enjoy some chilly wind.







From where I could see the harbour of Wellington which I was about to leave behind.




Soon, the ferry slowly roared its engine and left its port, leaving the town of Wellington in the dust.










While the view of mainland grew more and more distant.




Soon it would getting cold.




So I decided to head inside and grab a two seater sofa by myself in the lounge and slept. I had three hours ahead of me.








zzz...


When I woke up, we (the ferry) were engulfed amongst the Marlborough Sounds.





wide angle


It was quite beautiful really. But it was also too cold to be standing outside for too long.




Soon Picton harbour was coming into view.




Picton is a small port town in New Zealand that plays the important role of acting as the connecting hub from Picton (South) to Wellington (North) or vice versa.

There are, however, few activities worth exploring here. Tourists often travel south to the wine country for some wine trails trekking and tasting, or mountain bike around some of the gorgeous mountain treks in this region, or take a cruise out to the Marlborough Sounds to capture the beauty of Cook Strait.


parking


At a corner, yachts were abundance.




I wasn't going to be stop by Picton for long, but to know that I've finally arrived at the second island of New Zealand... enticed me!





Southern Island. Here I come.

Junior the Chihuahua

This is Junior, Amy's Chihuahua.




Tell me. Should I send this to IcanhasCheezburger?

My New Blackberry Skin

It's new.

It's pink.

And it's not the typical skin you think can be bought from a phone shop.

Check out my New BB Skin!!!







I got it skinned more than 10 days ago.
It's sooo pretty now I just fell in love with my new BB more!

At first I wanted to buy the skin for most BBs, kinda like a gel-stretchy like wrap-around the phone.

Because I didn't want to scratch my new phone and was so scared that any minute that I would drop it and break it into a million pieces (or at least land a scratch mark on it that it's irreversible).

But then someone suggested to me that I might as well really "skin" it rather than buying a cover for it.

So I did.







It only cost RM50.

Now I'm not afraid of scratching it anymore. ^^!!!


super *heart* my BB.

Beatrice Looi dress and Aldo killer heels

Just a quick update.

I'll be heading to Singapore with the rest of the bloggers to the Nuffnang Blog Awards tomorrow morning. So wish me luck. :)


I just picked up a dress from Beatrice Looi an hour ago from Bangsar Shopping Village.


taken from their website.


I know I know, kinda last minute thing.

But I got them to custom fit me so I was picking it up at a late hour, minutes before they close.

Phew.


On the other hand. Busted RM490 on a pair of ALDO super duper killer heels today.

It kinda looked like snake skin, but it's actually calf skin.


Won't show you any photo yet, it's a surprise for those of you who are going.

For those who are not attending, well, you'll just have to wait for my blog post. LOL



ANYWAY~

Wanted to insert a bit of facts about my Blackberry and its plan. Since couple of readers have been pestering me about getting a Blackberry ever since I got mine.




Muahahaha! *poison you* Blackberry is awesome.


If you want to know more registering your Blackberry with the Telco plan in Malaysia. Here are a few facts. You can either purchase a Blackberry package from Hotlink, Maxis (postpaid) or Xpax.

For prepaid users, if you already have a Blackberry and you want to register with Hotlink, it's not possible to do so with Hotlink; however, it is totally feasible if you want to do that with Xpax, whether you purchase your BB from them or not.

I read that you may only subscribe to Hotlink weekly plan if your purchase Blackberry Gemini from them, which in turn is most likely out of stock. Is that true?


I already have a postpaid phone of my own, so I rather use prepaid with my current Blackberry. It's cheap to have RM1 unlimited data per day too. :)




PS// will show you my new Blackberry skin in my next post. :D :D ciao ciao

Windy Welly: Part 2

Apparently Windy Wellington (read Part 1) wasn't so windy when I arrived. The city was surprisingly calm and peaceful, despite all the crazy breeze tales I read and heard from websites and guidebooks.




The lodge I stayed in Wellington was rather quaint and quirky. Like this complaint buzzer.


haha!


Or this little birdy sitting on the window sill chillaxing (chilling + relaxing).




But the lodge itself was really cozy.





a sneak peak at another room while the cleaner left the room door ajar


And the best part was that it's facing the sea. :D







It would have been utterly romantic if I wasn't travelling alone.

That's the thing about staying alone in your own little luxury space when you travel solo.

There's no one to distract you when you miss your love one back home more so than before, wishing them here to be with you, sharing this with you. Sigh~


Another thing I learnt about New Zealand, apart from no ticket stub machines on trains, was that cars here were really cheap compared to back home.


Second hand Corrolla LX at NZD3k? Where to find this price in Malaysia?


So was car rentals.




If I weren't travelling solo, I would have hired a car and roam all around kiwi land with whoever's travelling with me. It's so bloody cheap. Compare to their counterparts Australia, price of car hire here was like heaven!


I also did find out that internet in New Zealand was F*CKING EXPENSIVE!!!




It's fine and dainty if you're just checking email in basic html or chatting on msn. But can you imagine how much it would cost to youtube?~ Holy shit, NZD5 gone in just a minute. *snap*


Anyway I was ready to go out for a walk into the city, though it was almost noon by the time I stepped out.




By the time I reached town, it was almost time for lunch, and I stopped by few shops to buy some stuffs for love ones back home (to be revealed soon) on my way.


Mirror image of me carrying my fruitful harvest


Seeing that it was afterall the capital of New Zealand, there were a few monumental government buildings to take note in Wellington, at least according to lonely planet guidebook on my hand that time.




Like this architecture that clearly resembled a beehive.




They call it the beehive building.


proof that I was here.


Following the walkthrough map on my guidebook, I managed to finish more than half of the walking route and to-dos listed on the book.

It's the best way to get to know Wellington.


an interesting phrase in front of a secondhand bookstore


The map brought me to fancy shopping malls with branded goods, and taught me how to appreciate the beautiful architecture along stretches of road.


luxury mall





Like this old bank that's converted to a mall of boutiques and cafes.





Starbucks in front


Underground you can still see the money vault that came with the bank last time.




Such nostalgia! I love buildings like this!

In some random shop along the street, I also spotted a Guess trolley luggage bag (which I've always wanted, not the design, but a Guess luggage in name) that's on sale.







Cheap!! I was so tempted to buy. But how was I going to carry everything, I already have two bag loads with me!


Took photo of a bronze man walking his dog in some alleyway.





okay, this photo did show that it's a bit windy. But it's not really.


Then, with dusk nearing and everything about to close. I traced back my footsteps to take the cable car up to the top where a botanical garden lied.





NZD5 for one adult ticket please


At first I thought the cable car was just a tourist trap, which I willingly took.

But turned out that it's not that simple.




In fact, up along the hill, there were many people who lived half hill and they took the cable car up and down to work everyday, like's it's the most normal thing in the world.

Now that's a bizarre transportation to go to work.


On top, the view of Wellington was breathtaking.













On one side, you could see the building in which the cable came in.




On the other side, you could see houses popping out from hill top and side all the way down to the town below.




There wasn't any golden moment that particular evening, I was standing there as the sky got darker and darker from pale blue to a navy shade.

So I decided to make a quick stroll in the Botanical Garden before heading back down.




This must be the highest botanical garden I've been to.




There were some scientific offices or old observational buildings inside, along with skateboarders and some Hong Kong tourists.

And also this cannon ball, which I had no idea why it was there. Must have some sentimental value to the town.







By now, I still hadn't had any food, so I took the cable car back down to town to look for some dinner, or brunner if you may (breakfast + lunch + dinner = brunner).

Then, out of no where, I stopped in front of this shop that literally brought me to laughter.




You gotta be kidding me?! Hahaha!!!

Check out Wellington style AUTHENTIC Kajang Satay.




Where 80 cents (in ringgit if you can find a cheap one, and dollars if you stumbled across a costly one in Malaysia) Roti TISU (in NZ say tissue la) cost 4.50 dollars here.










Okay, customers (presumably Malaysians) were giving me the I-think-she's-crazy stare already. Better get off.


Anyone up for a strip bar?





it made me questioned about the age of the bar seemingly the movie of that title wasn't that old


Maybe not tonight.
(or any night)


I came to Sweet Mother's Kitchen in hope to grab some grub for my hungry hungry stomach.




It said here on the guidebook that it's highly recommended by the editor, favoured by locals and tourists.

But alas, with such high recommendation, you would expect the place to be full.




:( :( :( *emo*


I went in to ask for a table for one, but to no avail either. I have to wait at least one hour on their waiting list in order to get anything.




SHIT.



what a way to ask you to drink


So with much reluctance, I left the restaurant and dined in a pub where the mascot was a pig.


wild boar, whatever



waiting for food.


Wasn't that bad really. But enough to cover my disappointment over not able to dine at Sweet Mother's Kicthen I couldn't measure.

It was pretty disappointing not able to dine at your chosen restaurant. :(

Though their portions were really big. They slapped half a whole avocado on top of my chicken. Yum.




I continue to explore a bit of the night scene in Wellington before heading back to my lodge on the train.


It's not New Zealand until you spotted some thrill rides in the middle of the city


I had to sleep early.

Because the next day, I was going on a ferry ride.




I was heading South. :D

Windy Welly: Part 1

That's the nickname for the windiest city in New Zealand - Wellington.




Following my flight from Auckland, I landed myself in the dark hours of Capital Wellington.




It was 9pm when I found my way out of the airport into the city through the public bus transfer where along with other travellers who were obviously familiar with Wellington, unlike myself.

But I tagged along, assuring the bus driver every few passing minutes that I needed to get off at the train station, wherever that was.

Because my lodge, which I cleverly booked over the internet, was located "slightly" out of town and would take 20 minutes of train ride + 20 min of walk time to reach.


on the empty night train


Now here I learnt about the first thing in New Zealand, was that the country is a bit "back-dated" (pardon).

I onced heard a joke where a pilot landing in Christchurch had kindly reminded its passengers to rewind their watch 20 years back. Haha.. kiwi humour, you gotta love them.

My experience here was almost relevant.

You see, in any country I've ever been, before boarding a train, you would need to buy ticket either over the counter or from a ticketing machine, yes?

Then you would get on the train and insert your ticket into a ticketing slot machine provided at the sides of all sliding doors on the train.

Well, I had the ticket, I got on the train, but I couldn't find no ticket machine to stub my ticket on.

I didn't want to end up being caught for illegal boarding, so I shyly, almost apologetically, approached a lady passenger sitting at the far edge of the carriage and asked her where I could get my ticket stamped on.

This was what she replied: "Oh, we're a bit slow here (smile). We don't have any machine, the conductor will come over shortly after the train departs to stub your ticket."

'Wow~ okay. Time to wind my clock backwards." I noted to myself.


Well, anyway, after much hoo-ha, phone calls and direction-ings,


it was a heck of a walk in the dark when you're exhausted


I managed to check into my room at Moana Lodge, a lovely seafront lodge wayyyy out of town, and slumped onto my sweet lovely queen size bed.




Now I know I always give people the perception that I like to travel cheaply (as in backpack style). Reason being I simply enjoy that. To prove to myself that despite being a city girl, I can rough it out when I want to. And apart from stretching my dollars, I was able to meet a lot of fun travellers along the way too.

But earlier this year, I decided to try something different. I opted for a travel style a grade higher.

That meant more luxurious transportations, better dressing style (rather than slacks and shirts), better accommodation and better food. I still love backpacking, but it's time to move into the next travel phase in life. Maybe it's the age, who knows. I wanted something different.

This time, I had a whole room to myself at this delicious lodge.





"Good Morning~!"



my messy bed


I awoke to the most splendid view at the back of the lodge.

My first day view of Wellington.

Touring around Auckland

After returning Auckland from my Northern road trip.


the nice sunny chilly morning in Auckland


I met up with Chelsia, the second reader from Auckland (I met her once last year in Gold Coast when she was travelling there).




She drove me over the bridge to downtown Auckland for a walk about before my flight later on that day.


taken from the car


I decided to dress up for the beautiful city with my newly bought French beret. Hehe.













As drove into town, we approached the famous sky tower of Auckland, which I didn't go because I didn't want to do the typical touristy thing like everybody else.




Instead, I was brought to lunch to have New Zealand steak.




A little birdy once told me that New Zealand steak has to be most orgasmic thing one can savour in New Zealand. Choose any restaurant and one won't be displeased.




Well, I have to say...

It displeased me big time.

I was actually really disappointed to find that, not only the meat wasn't tender enough, it was meant to be the good part of a cow (couldn't remember which part, but was recommended by the waitress). Somemore the meat wasn't properly cooked and turned out to be so chewy, it was difficult to swallow.

I mean, it wasn't really really bad. It's just below the standard I was expecting.




I could have gotten much better steak in Malaysia. Guess it's not just EVERY restaurant in kiwi land serves good steak huh?

Bad birdy!


After lunch, with the few hours I have left in Auckland, I headed out to the street.





city girl crossing the street.








Stopped by the train station to take some photos.


oi sir, you're in my picture








The Auckland Bitromart Railway Station was (is) a very beautiful architecture and that anyone who came to Auckland has to take a photo of it, or with it.

Or so claimed by Chelsia.




Hey, don't argue with a resident of Auckland, if she said so, then it must be so, right?




We continued our walk till we came to the harbour where you would find hordes of yachts parked at the bay.




Auckland claimed itself to be the city of sails, that almost everyone who's able to afford has a yacht.

And true enough, as long there's sea, I saw yachts, not one, nor two.

But hundreds of them.

And they would go sailing during the weekend or whenever they have time, because they LOVE sailing.

I didn't manage to capture any photo of the famous yachts-and-sky-tower (because I was in the car when we crossed the bridge). But here's a photo I got the internet.




Is that plenty or what?

Auckland people must be rich, and really free.


Anyway, near this harbour, there's one particular yacht that wasn't at sea.

It's called the KZ1.




Or called the Big Boat Challenger.

According to the board underneath it, and I quote: "KZ1 was one of the biggest sloop-rigged yachts ever built. She took just 24 weeks to build (back in 1988)."




Just to see how big the yacht is, there's me standing in the distance underneath Big Boat.




Man, I looked small.

Let me stand in front a bit.




"There, not so small now are you. Hmph!"


Another activity you could do, apart from sailing and bungee jumping off sky tower, is whale watching.




Hey, with all the time and yachts around, there's possibly the best activity to pick.

But alas, my flight awaited. And so I picked up my bag from my host's house, left the key inside and locked myself out.

Chelsia sent me to the airport and consecutively left Auckland, not so much with a heavy heart, but with the anticipation of my next destination scheduled, I boarded New Zealand Air with my French beret and...




Headed toward the capital of New Zealand.

Guess where? :D

First Day with my New Curve

The next day I woke up in a happy mood.

Dressed up and checked out of the hotel.







Does the outfit look familiar?
I laid it out on my bed on the day of the event (which was a day before this photo was taken) as shown in photo on my blog.




Hehe.

Went for lunch and got two lollies from the information of Sunway. So nice.




Then proceeded to Blue Cube to register for my Xpax sim card that came with the box.




Waiting for the nice guy did the registration.


Camwhore while I wait.


To be honest, this is a totally meaningless post.
I just want to camwhore. Hehe...

Have a good weekend.
(Back to New Zealand posts tomorrow)

Xpax Party and My New Curve

(Taking a break from the New Zealand trip, here's a little update on my life now)

Last Saturday I attended the Xpax party in Sunway.





Hardsell photo. :p


Was pretty excited because I got myself a brand new phone!!




Wanted my baby to get another one so we can own the same phone. So I stole another bb phone.




Nah just kidding. I still have one Blackberry. It's my New Curve~~
To be exact, it's Curve 8520. They were offering RM888 package that night. Pretty cheap in my opinion.



serenading under the Xpax balloon wtf


Some funny shots at the party.




Oh look, I'm inside the Blackberry Curve.


I'm Ju On, coming out from the Blackberry near you.


I got back to my hotel, unpacked everything,




and charged my virgin phone.




*evil grin to phone*
"Ho ho ho... tonight I'm going to pop your cherry, you naughty Curve"

The Big New Zealand Trip

So this was my brilliant plan.

To land my bottom in the main hub of New Zealand - Auckland, and somehow someway find my way all around the country in two weeks time, travelling from North Island to the South.




But only taking one domestic flight from Auckland to the Capital city - Wellington.

Before finally flying out from Christchurch two weeks later.


Not difficult to sort it out eh?

So basically I just have to figure out my transport from Wellington to Christchurch.




Afterall, it's just an ocean apart and some 337km of land journey away. o.O
*will talk about that later*


Back to Auckland. My stay in Auckland started with a bang.


that's flame coming out from her mouth


Nothing beats a good old hit-the-pub-and-get-drunk first evening.
(actually it was the 2nd evening considering I landed at night)

I met up with my Auckland reader Amy (as read here) who introduced me to her boyfriend and they brought me to a local pub for some authentic Flaming Lamborghini.


Actually it was the table next to us who ordered it.


Now that's what I called a F.Lambo!!
(Makes our Malaysian style looks pretty fag.)

Basically the human induced flame will melt the straws and let the colorful liquors drop into more liqours. But the stunt was awesome!

I opted for something more feminine.




A special concoction donno-what-its-name made up by the bartender.




All tipsy and ready to go!
Let's get this kiwi entry started!


My host was a friend-once-removed who picked me up from the airport and comfortably tucked into their house on my first night.

(And later transported me to a friend-twice-removed house the second and third night, wtf)

The second morning, Amy and bf took me on a roadtrip to the north (it's actually a personal affair trip but I itchy butt tagged along).




All the way up to Kaitaia (or near there).

With this little fellow.




Name's Junior and he's the horniest little thing ever.
(Will mention about that in a bit)


I brought my little friend along too.




Meet Cookie. Again. (Little fellow has traveled with me to quite a number of countries now)




We took the backseat while the driver drove on toward Kaitaia. Which would take HOURS, considering the nauseatingly windy road.




And all this for what?
You'll never guess.

To meet Junior's wife.


actually that would be Junior's little playmate
and actually the playmate is the little puppy to the left, not the mother jumping at the leg


She's the cutest little thing ever.










Gave me the impulse to get a chihuahua of my own really.

Then for the first time in Junior's life, despite the youth of the female puppy, he got an erection. CONSISTENTLY!

Haha!!!

He can't stop wanting to hump her at every possible chance the whole journey back. LOL
To the point that Amy has to sit at the back just to hold Junior back while the other sat in front, or vice versa.

Poor little girl, probably has been raped a million times by now.




On the way back, we drove pass Kerikeri, which was really near to Bay of Islands.


Stopped by for a lunch break


Now Bay of Islands was made popular by this author named Zane Grey who took a turning at the Edge of the World, aka Cape Brett, and discovered the beauty of Bay of Islands almost 90 years ago. You can read about the story here.




Intrigued by how beautiful this place would be, I made Amy and bf made a detour to travel back to Auckland via the seaside route, and dropping by the corner of the mainland where the bay laid, just to take in a breather.










Obviously I was too far from the true wonders of the bay and the group of islands lying far off from the mainland.

But standing where I was, I could almost imagine how amazing this place could be.




Surrounded by clusters of small emerges from the sea.




Not wanting to drag the long haul roadtrip for too long, we departed for Auckland almost too shortly. Arriving back in town just in time for dinner.

Next day, I met up with friend-thrice-removed Annie together with my second night host (also friend-twice-removed Ms Sook Ping) (This is getting confusing) for a shopping spree in Auckland!!!




Oh but look, what's this?




A Shih Tzu!! Inside a trolley bag! Going shopping!!




Guys, this was (is) the 6000 Autralian dollars dog that migrated/flew from Malaysia and now was (is) the legal citizen of New Zealand, complete with chip inside him - Teebo.




You lucky pampered little thang.

As for shopping, I bought quite a few things and a few gifts for love ones back home, and also this.




A beret!




Now I was all french.




Just in case you critical asses out there who want to judge, I DO realise there's a proper way to wear your beret.

Which is to cup it over your head down to the upper front part of your forehead, and tilt it to one side. Like this.




But fashion has evolved since, you can practically wear it in any sense you want. As long as it looks good.



So stop judging you anal pricks.

And I looked gooood.







Best AUD 21 buy.


Oh and Annie? You should consider getting a beret too for Teebo. :D




Finally, we ended the day by retreating back to Annie's place with Sook Ping and all the other friends-thrice-removed.




While lounging around, the ladies whipped up a delicious home-cook meal paired with Feijoa fruit juice!




I was beginning to like the life of a kiwi.

Feijoa Fruit

Now I'm really at a lost as to how I should start describing my trip down in New Zealand.

I knew for a fact when I decided to travel down to Australia to graduate earlier this year, it was my intention to make the trip mostly about New Zealand, seeing I've seen most part of Australia on my last leg of Eastern Australian backpack journey.

So what I did was that after attending my convoy, I took a flight down to visit Tasmania (the last part of Southern Eastern Australia I have yet to step foot on then) for a week or so.




And proceeded to spend the rest of my travel expedition in kiwi land.




Spending time in New Zealand was really fun. I met up with lots of new friends, random strangers, hitch hike across the Southern Island and bunked with readers.

It's going to be quite an adventure to tell.

Not knowing how to begin, I'll start by introducing a fruit I've never heard before I arrived in New Zealand.




This is Feijoa fruit. The day I arrived, my host kindly cut up the fruit for me to try. While informing me that only New Zealand produced this fruit.




Not surprising, I thought, after all, New Zealand did rather look like it's situated in its own planet, away from every one else.

But after googling it, I realise that, and this is going to be a surprise to MOST Kiwis or New Zealand residents, Feijoa does not come from New Zealand, and it is not ONLY grown in New Zealand.

*shocking* now take a deep breath kiwis.


Read here. The fruit in fact originated from South America and have been spotted in some parts of America.

While it's not surprising to find them in Austalia and other small parts of Asia (due to their geographical distance). Though they do have a lot of these in New Zealand.




The fruit is also known as Pineapple Guava or Guavasteen. Taste like one too. Only sweeter, softer and easier to eat. Much easier to eat. There's no seed at all.

This is how you eat a Feijoa Fruit.

1. First you cut the fruit in half from side section like so.




2. Then you take a teaspoon and scoop the inside out.




Do it like how you would do it to empty half a half-boiled egg from its shell.

Twist it and scoop the flesh around its skin.




3. Then you eat.





Ermm.. Yummy.

Given the chance again, I could actually sit in front of the TV and eat this whole day long.

Blackberry Party Tonight

I've brought out the dress, too lazy to have my hair done. So I'm going all innocent straight.




It's time to partay~

They're giving an amazing package tonight too.

BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone at RM888 (RRP: RM1188)
FREE 1 month BlackBerry prepaid access
FREE limited edition designer skin (exclusively designed by Lapsap, TAG, Black Fryday, Yayawoo & Bangkit)
FREE leather holster or car charger
Free drinks vouchers


Be there or be square. All the popular bloggers will be there. So be sure to spot a particular beautiful somewhere.

Random Photos

This is me in front of my laptop now.

No make up, headphones on, PJs on.

Sweet.... The night is mine.







Stay in bed kids.

Love Vouchers

One of the first few places I visited in Auckland were the sex shops there.




It's amazing how many varieties they have down there compared to Malaysia or even Singapore. The list can go on and on.

Even the Woman Controller was spotted in one of these shops in Auckland, New Zealand.

I managed to snap a few photos of some of the creative erotic/love items there.


Finally, something for the ladies.


But didn't manage to snap any of the actual toys, you know, vibrators and stuff.

Because I was too busy playing with them. (Ok, that came out wrong)

I mean I was too busy playing with them with the salesman. (Ok.... that sounded even worse. I'm digging my own hole here, oh F*ck, I didn't mean that either)

Anyway~~~~

Let's look at some of the items I snapped.

This is what I call educational food.




Kama Sutra pasta. Learn while you eat.




Something every lady wants.




Pink furry handcuff. (Reminds me of Pinky. :p)

It was all giggly and stuff when something really creative caught my eye.

Something your love one, or someone u're dating and has a huge crush on you, will definitely ermm...... enjoy.




Love Vouchers for Him and for Her.

What you, as the giver, do, is that you flip open the voucher book and pick a selection,




sign your name, write down the receiver's name and date of issue. And the receiver will entitle to whatever offer that voucher prescript. In this case, a massage.

I mean, it can be a candlelight dinner on rain check on whatever date she/her prefers.




Or it can be something really sweet like breakfast in bed.




Something I'm sure every girl or guy would want.

Imagine waking up one morning and decidedly you want to be pampered and submit the voucher to your love one to receive a homemade breakfast in bed. Awe~~


(Warning: content can be explicit from here henceforth, please exit the window if you are below 16)


Then things get a bit saucy after that. If you're up for it.

Try an erotic massage voucher.




Or something more intimate, way.... more intimate.




And if you're really feeling up for it, go all sacrificial for an all out session.




It's time to whip out the Kama Sutra Pasta.


And finally, if you claim yourself adventurous enough, I dare you to give this voucher to your sex addict boyfriend/girlfriend.




Go on, I dare you.

(print the picture out and send it to your love one)

The Sims 2 & Blackberry Party

Just thought I update this quickly before I head off to bed.

It's been an easy week and I've been hooked onto The Sims 2 for three consecutive days now.




Was actually looking for some easy games for my mom to play but in the end I found The Sims collection through my brother's pc games stash. All hail bro and his collection.

Now I'm so deadly hooked onto building a family and raising a toddler, buying a new house, I completely forgotten how to actually stand up and walk outside the house.

Anyway, games aside. I really need to sort out what to wear for this Saturday's Blackberry Party in Replubic, Sunway Pyramid.




It says the theme is party chic.

Erm.. do I actually have anything that's like that? *rummage through wardrobe*


Oh, if you want to get an invite ,you can pre-register yourself at this site to grab two invites to the party. Starts at 8pm.

It's totally worth going if you're intending to check out the latest blackberry curve.

Wait? Do I have plus one? Damn, I think I better pre-register myself first.

Things you wish you have

(in your household).




Woman controller.

Equipped with buttons.

NICE...




Sex - Forget - Sex - Forget - Cook - Sex - Leave


Now if they can create a male controller.

Pink Audi R8

We know when you combine the color pink and super cars, you're asking for a massive pool of massacre on the road.

And while we female species love to put a dash of the sweetness to everything masculine, you know, to soften the edge.

I draw the line at painting a RM1.8 mil car completely candy like.


photo taken from autoblog


I know it's totally Legally Blonde to drive an expensive pink car, e.g. this pink cadillac here.


photo taken from Autojunk


But come one! An R8?!!


Nothing against the choice of shade, when done nicely, pink can pull off on a Supercar (not the other way around).

Take a look at this Pink Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera.


photo taken from Topspeed.


But even that has totally killed all the aggressiveness in the car of what it was meant to be.

It looks more like a poodle now.


Still contemplating on my judgment?

It's personal preference of course.

But while you're deciding, here's a Gold R8 side by side with Candy Sweetness.

Peace Yo!

Short note: Really, I don't even know why I'm even bothered with haters.

You tell them the fella didn't pay cause you saw it with your own eyes and even verified it with the restaurant itself, they still keep telling you that you're wrong and that indeed the fella did pay.



Remember the very popular youtube video back in 2006 "Yellow Fever"? (if not go google/youtube it)


Apparently the same group of people have created a new video (formed a production company too since) called the "Peace Sign" and it's totally hilarious!!




Hahaha! You gotta love the Asian minds.

Fire Evacuation - Asian Style

And so with the last tour I left Tasmania, in fact I left Australia overall and flew further down South and found myself in New Zealand- the youngest country on earth.




Now on the first day, I met up with Amy, a reader from Auckland.




She brought me to Sylvia Park, the biggest family mall in Auckland at the moment, for a walk about and to catch some lunch.


Choice outfit of the day. It was rather chilly.


We settled for The Coffee Club (a franchise from Australia) at the mall and simultaneously ordered our food. We were soooo hungry!




Then just as we submitted our orders, waited for 15 minutes. And large delicious plates of food were served in front of us.

As just as plates touched the table, and us barely have time to even lift our forks, a loud siren went off, booming through the mall and into our restaurant too.

It was the fire alarm.

"You GOTTA be kidding me?!" I thought.

At first everyone was stunned. No one moved and no one knew exactly what to do.

Then the manager of the restaurant walked out, looked around, and as if suddenly decided to finally act out his authority, he made the final decision while everyone was lost.

He informed all his staff and then announced that we have to leave the building.

It was all so calm. Everyone got up and walked out slowly, following the large crowd that were flowing toward the back-entrance of the mall.




While following the crowd like a good little foreign citizen, I glanced back and this was what I saw.




Did you see what I saw?

The three girls on the picture were customers earlier at the restaurant sitting next to our table.

And in their hands..




were food!!

Their food came just minutes before ours! And when the alarm went off, they took the chance to hand picked all their food from their plates and walked out of the restaurant following everyone like it's the most normal thing to do.

And I can bet my good penny that they won't be returning to the restaurant any time soon.

Least to pay for their food?!


You know, this is the reason why so many people in the world scrutinize us Asians. We do things like this!! (Or some of our other counterparts of equal skin color)

Many Asians take the goodwill or the better welfare of people and society for our (their?) own benefit, or in this case, taking advantage of situation during the extreme moments.

But then so do a lot of other people from other races. We tend to stereotypes. Can't blame us for doing so.


And if you think that's bad. Wait till you see this middle age lady.




Oh yes. You're looking alright.

She was sitting in the restaurant earlier, and even more champion, instead of taking advantage of free food, she took our her entire plate. So to make she didn't leave any salad or fries behind.

You would think she could be any more subtle. But NOOOO~~~~




She was carrying the plate around, eating happily, in public's view!




And then she proceeded to sit down next to what was presumed to be her husband.




Yep. If you want to steal food and eat, eat in comfort.

Find a nice little sidewalk and sit there under the chilly autumn morning to eat your sandwich.




Then you would probably think: "Oh, the husband would be so embarrassed and maybe ushered her to stop this kind of shameful act. And either to, advice her on the spot and pretend that he didn't know her OR ask her to finish the food as quick as possible and leave."



WRONG AGAIN!





The husband ate with her.


Awe... so romantic. Sharing the same plate outdoor. NOT!


Me pouting with the shameless couple in the background.


Now if you think that's reasonable till now. After all, the food was going to go to waste anyway. The restaurant will throw those food out one way or the other when everyone left. So why waste good food?

Right?



You'll be amazed.

After scraping all their food clean, the woman stood up, with some salad left on the plate.

Walked to the other end of the sidewalk.

Where a bin stood.

Tilted her plate and let the salad fell into the bin.

And walked in the other direction, AWAY!!!!

WITH THE PLATE!!!


While everyone was walking back toward into the building.




Seemed like it was a false alarm, either that the chaos has been settled.


So I did the only thing a blogger would do at this occasion.

During such a fiasco with such an incident.


I squatted down.

Smile.

And point.




Say cheese!


shhh... don't tell her. She still doesn't know.

Project Alpha Nicolekiss (Ep. 5, 6, 7)

You've seen the first four episodes of my Project Alpha show. Here are the rest of the episodes.

Enjoy.


Episode 5.




Episode 6.




And the Final Episode 7.




Believe it or not. I haven't watched these myself. I watched the first four already.

But I just couldn't bear looking myself on screen. It felt so weird!!!

Let me know what you think. And I will share my opinion/review when I actually plucked up enough guts to watch this through.

Anyway, it's now onto Redmummy this week. So remember to catch the red hot mother of two strutting it on screen.


Btw, I know I'm getting so long-winded. But don't forget to vote for me for Best Travel Blog in the Blog Award!!

Cadbury Factory Australia

It would have to be CRAZY for me NOT to visit a chocolate factory.




So even knowing that the Cadbury factory in Tasmania, Australia didn't allow visitors to tour their factory anymore, which was an utter bummer, I was still keen to visit the visitor center.

As most would say, for the sake of it.







So one morning, Jerine took me on a bus to visit the Cadbury Factory located slightly out of town (it'll take around an hour to reach by bus).




If you're not a fan of chocolate, to be honest, there really was NO POINT to visit this visitor centre.

Few reasons.

1. It cost AUD7.50 to enter.

2. You don't get to see the factory in production.

3. The only thing you'd receive from the fee you paid was the chocolate Easter egg from the entrance lady.




4. You'll spend more money buying their merchandises which you wouldn't need.





Anyone want chocolate candles?


5. You'll spend even more money on chocolate goodies from the Cadbury line from their store there, of which price will not differ from supermarket's.




Though if you're lucky, you might want to consider hitting the store during sales.




And it's always fun and exciting to be surrounded by all varieties of chocolates.








Ohh! Last box! Faster grab it!


But then again, if you're not a fan of chocolate, then I guess it wouldn't be half an exciting for you then.

Really, I'd strongly suggest skip the whole damn thing if, and only if, you don't get orgasmic-ally excited seeing chocolates.


The only interesting part of the whole place, I guess, was the lab guy who would show you the different types of chocolates of Cadbury's.




How they pair the ingredients




and you get to sample each, just to know how raw cocoa syrup taste like,


very smooth, but very very bitter.


or what makes a white chocolate.


cocoa butter, the key ingredient in making white chocolate.


Do you know there's no cocoa content in White Chocolate. Funny how they would even call it a chocolate.




Well, at least I sampled some things.




Yum. I got to sample free milk chocolate flakes.




And took photo with the Cadbury car.




Which happened to be there for ages now.


There's a tv attached to it


The only other highlight of the visit was to watch a 10 min documentary of how Cadbury came about.




It would have been education and enlightening, but Jerine was rushing to go back so we have to cut the trip short. Besides, we didn't want to miss our last bus home.

So we looked around at some of the items displayed in the center before making our way back.

Like the Cadbury family.




in space.




which they flew in their Cadbury rocket ship.




It was cute.
If only I could just grab them and eat them.







Wait, were they even real chocolates?

Mount Wellington Wallpapers

Here are the list of wallpapers taken on Mount Wellington I promised. Not a lot. But the best from the bunch.

Enjoy.


View of Greater Hobart.



Click here for 1600x1200 size.

Click here for 1280x800 size.




Click here for wide angle 2560x1600 size.


Greater Hobart with Greenery



Click here for 1600x1200 size.

Click here for 1280x800 size.




Click here for wide angle 2560x1600 size.


Mount Wellington and rocks.



Click here for 1600x1200 size.

Click here for 1280x800 size.




Click here for wide angle 2560x1600 size.