30th August - Let's Maungawhau.....

Maungawhau/Mount Eden is the highest of the volcanoes in Auckland City, 196 metres high. Being centrally located, it is both a prominent feature of the Auckland scene and a suitable vantage point from which to view the city and the other cones.
The Maori name for the mountain, "Maungawhau", means "Mountain of the Whau tree". Whau (entelea arborescens) is a small tree which occurs in coastal forests. Mount Eden Domain is protected from damage, as an archaeological site, by the Historic Places Act 1980. One significant feature is the large, well preserved crater, some 50 metres deep, contained within the summit cone.

A Journey with Purpose!

The purpose of life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your hapiness. Some may feel that it's their career or even their wildest dreams and ambitious, in which most of the time i did! However for me it's none other than your family. We all born with a purpose in life, some might still puzzled with it for their whole life. That's because some of us typically begins at the wrong starting point.

We always ask ourselve these questions:
1) What do you wanna be?
2) What shoulds i do with my life?
3) What are my dreams for my future?

All these were self centered question, focusing ourself. But at the end of the day, it's everyones wish to have a happy family and everyone together in unity. Some people might be filty rich but having lots of problems with the family members. To some people is poor but their are much happier with their family, and the hapiness here refers to something that money cant buy!

Weekend get away! Auckland Zoo....
24th August everyone of us got excited preparing ourself for another journey. In my heart i was singing, "Let's go to the.... ZOO". Just about 15 minutes journey, we reached to the entrance of Auckland Zoo. We spent around 2 hours exploring the area. It's not huge as compare to the one in Malaysia, however its has spacious, natural compounds. Primate exhibit is well done, and the African animal's enclosure, Pridelands, is excellent, as is the meerkat domain, which can be explored through tunnels. The most amaze was the nocturnal house with the ative birds i.e. Kiwi, but they are hard to see.
For more info checkout at www.aucklandzoo.co.nz/fotz

Tamaki Makau Rau.... Auckland - The City of 100 lovers!

Imagine an urban environment where everyone lives within half an hour of beautiful beaches, hiking trails and a dozen enchanted holiday islands. Add a sunny climate, a background rhythm of Polynesian culture and a passion for outstanding food, wine and shopping – you’re beginning to get the picture of Auckland.

Auckland's Hauraki Gulf is home to a multitude of islands, each with its own distinctive character, including the larger Waiheke Island and Great Barrier Island. Auckland's blend of landscape, Polynesian culture, glistening harbours and modern city environment creates an unbelievable lifestyle ranked amongst the best in the world. Discover why Auckland is one of the best places in the world to live - and visit.

Having meal together (All home cook food!)

Cook together, Eat together!

We sometime gather around during weekend, outing and prepare dinner at home. Above are some of the assumptious meal we prepare with my housemates since the day i came to NZ.

Need the recipe for the Auckland Jumbo Burger??? Get it from Clement! As for the Famous Ban Mien in town, it's a secret recipe from Soo Chin.....

Most of the meals looks GOOD? Frankly speaking, its really taste good too! This is why it's so great about this apartment, everything fully furnished together with kitchen utensils, it's just lovely and it's facing the seaview, from the balcony (as you may seen below).

A New Chapter of Life

13th Aug 2006 - The day has comes!
Can you imagine how excited I am??? Sitting in the flight number Q511! And yes, the flight to New Zealand… The flight was long though, but the excitement keeps me stay awake throughout the journey! I then transit from Brisbane, Australia to NZ. Auckland here I come! Around 2.30pm, we touch down the airport of Auckland, immediately when i checked-out from the airport, I can merely feel the chilling breeze of NZ greeting & welcome my arrival. I then head to get a Airport Taxi, to ferry myself and not to be missed my backpack and luggage down to the city. I put up a night at Ponsonby Backpackers Lodge, it’s cozy, a slightly tatty colonial-style backpackers with a beautiful garden. The time when i reach NZ it's 14th (Monday afternoon) At night I was so drowsy, uneasy and a combination of different feelings that I ever could describe. Is that what they called Jet-lag??? My gosh…. I got Jet Lag? I was so tired, but can sleep at all. May be because it’s still noon time in Malaysia (the time different is 4hours). The night is so cold, so much colder that I could imagine! I just on the heater, and sleep soundlessly till the next morning.

15th Aug 2006 - A day to explore around the city of Auckland. We’ve got a list things to do i.e. opening a bank account, applying for IRD, shopping for some groceries and looking for accommodation. Our friend SooJen which the one who brought us around. We went to several places, which we had short-listed, however none of it meet our expectation. Either it’s too far, dirty, transportation problem etc. Soon the night catch up and it’s time for dinner, we went to a food court full of Asian cuisine. Didn’t we missed Malaysian food? Not really or perhaps not yet! Food here are pretty expensive, an average of NZ$ 7.00 equivalent of RM 16.00 per meal).

Tips for ordering : When you wanna order something, it's good that you have friend with you... pactically every meal comes to us in enormous portion, most of the time not being able to finish and have to force it down or just pack-away.

16th Aug 2006 - Looking for a home sweet home..... Aptitude - Kingston Street, there’s where our appointment was, to view another house (apartment). It’s not that big though but just nice for three person to stay. The moment I step forward to the balcony, I straight away agreed that this will be the place we gonna put up for the next six month. The balcony was just facing sea view and yatch harbor, the other side of the corridor were just facing the busy town area directly near the Sky City Tower. This place is so convenient, so much so that I can just walk to work, down the road to the city center and public transport everywhere the corner of the street. Immediately after we got out documentation done for the rental, we rush up to shop for more groceries. I just got myself a comforter and some basic food stuffs.

Things to achieves in Life...

As per daily rountine in KL, we normally woke up as early as the sunrised and caught ourself in a heavy traffic conjestion on our way to the heart of the city with our office attire. When you take a look you might see some people yawning, some were listening to their favourite radio station and noding their head according to the rythmn of the song bt some were unpatiently waited for their bumper to bumper crawl along the traffic. At the end of the day what we rally achieve out of it??? Some people have a very good objective in life, however to many people they may not. A simple question might always mingle our mind, which is "What we really wanna achieves in life?" Is't Money? Success? Happiness? Social Life? or work just to pass time and earn a living?

The day that i most waiting for has come! 11th Aug 2006, I left KL around 8.15am embarking my journey of mercy a country of rare seismic beauty: to a somewhere that i'm not belong to, to somewhere that i can achieve my dream, to somewhere that everyone wish to be... for me it's New Zealand!

11th & 12th Aug 06 - Instant Asia.
I landed my first destination in the Garden City. Like any other tourist, I eagerly explore the new land that i've touched my foot on. At this country you can see a good combination of races & culture in a modern world, which its commonly known as Instant Asia - Singapore. Immediately after i have checked in my thing to the Backpackers took a bus to Orchard Road - a shopper's paradise that bursting with the latest lifestlye and fashion trend from all over the world. Though the Singapore Sales period has over, most of the departmental stores were still on sales.

For evening leisure, i head to Chinatown (it's similar to Petaling Street in KL) rich in heritage & colourful history of its red light district. I ended up the day by having my dinner at Lau Pa Sat, a foodcourt center with hundreds over food stalls. Here you can find Asian, Western & Northern food all under one roof. The night still young as i proceed my itienerary to Little India, you can ever smell the arouma of the spices as soon as the MRT stopped at the station.
The following day i woke up very early as i'm planning to visit the Haw Par Villa - Dragon World (Formerly known as Tiger Balm Garden). If you wish to see what chinese methodology / believes in live after death, this is the place that you should not miss.