Just one of the mandatory jumpshot-in-nice-bg pictures. ;D
I took 1200+ pictures on this trip and I honestly don't know how I'm gonna blog everything out.

This trip to the South Island was amazing. Seriously. One of the best trips I've ever had in my life. I was trying something new everyday, learning stuff from my fellow western counterparts and simply enjoying life.

And of course, how can I leave out.. the awesome spectacular scenery? I've never seen so much beauty in my life. It was like... New Zealand was such a slut. Just slutting it out and shoving its beauty right into my face at every destination I visited. This trip was amazing... I can't stop saying it coz I really can't believe I just did this trip and done so many things I never expect myself to. Throughout this exchange, I've been repeating that.

Even the campervan life started to grow on me after the first week. I couldn't shower for days on end, but I got used to it. I know, how gross. But it was worth it.

By the end of 2 weeks, I was feeling sad that the adventure had to end. At the same time, I desperately wanted to get back home to Hamilton. Coz travelling is tiring. And I was getting sick of my angmoh friends LOL LOL!! They're really fun to be with, but I need my Asian space too. Thanks for understanding haha.

SO, I will promise to blog it all out when I can. Bit by bit coz 2 weeks of so many activities are hard to squeeze out in one shot. It's like shitting. You go slow. One shit at a time. Hahah, I'm just really disgusting, ignore me.

I made my bungy video though!!! Yeap. I did it. I really did it... It was an amazing exhilarating experience. It happened on my last day in South Island actually. So, here's the video!!




I blogged about my bungy experience on a collective wkw exchange students blog.
It's called http://travelevant.wordpress.com
Go read the blog! It showcases all my fellow wkw students' exchange experiences in different countries. So, you not only get to read stuff from oceania, but places like US, China, Sweden, Canada! Pretty awesome.

My post is here http://travelevant.wordpress.com/2013/04/28/bungy-jumping-in-queenstown-new-zealand/  
If you've time to read it and wanna read all about the bungy experience, go read! : ) I sound the same there hahah.

Otherwise, stick around, and I'll promise to blog about everything! Promise! Coz it's a pleasure for me as well to relive these experiences.

Wherever you are, I hope you're doing fine coz I hate just talking about myself/ I need to know how you guys are getting along too and awesomely!

He was absolutely gorgeous today.... I couldn't help but stare at him after class at 6.

I enjoyed seeing the contours of his body. Look at the clouds!! So perfectly shaped at the horizon.



But seriously.... Beautiful. And only I appreciated the sky among everyone else. I think it's an everyday thing for them. I hope to see more pretty sunsets like this during my stay here... :')


I only stopped for a while before moving on coz it was too cold to just stop and stare.

By the time I reached my cottage, another kind of sky greeted me...




So pretty....
Even the black looking clouds were drawing something on the sky like it was a piece of canvass and shaping up to look really gorgeous.


And this flower, albeit small, was able to stop me in my tracks to admire it.




I can just stare at the colour gradient of its petals forever...

The Power of Nature
Giving me subtle hints throughout my day : )


Anyway, I went to another Alpha session today. Have I told you what an Alpha session is? It's held at church and introduces to members who Jesus is and what Christianity is all about. You get to have discussions in small groups.

So today was the third session and there are a total of 7 sessions. One per week. I missed the second one coz it was easter and I can't go for the next 2 sessions coz of mid semester break.

But ANYWAY, other than the awesome free food (lol- btw it was curry OMG JUST WHEN I WAS CRAVING FOR IT. not spicy at all but hey, better than nth), the topic for today was on Faith. Apt. Very Apt. And I think faith is something that I've always found myself questioning. Like how do people believe in God when it's such an intangible kinda feeling. To believe in something you hardly are sure of.

Today, I managed to ask quite a number of questions. This time, unlike the other session, I was more aggressive and assertive, lol sorta. Probably coz it was on "Faith". There was a bit of tension in the group. But it was all good after that. Sometimes it feels like they're trying to get me to believe in what they believe but I'm thankful that they're willing to share their thoughts on their religion without feeling like I'm questioning it. Like I don't wanna be this asshole who thrashes their beliefs. I want them to know that I respect their beliefs, it's just that I've all these questions bubbling in my head all the time and I want to listen to what they make of them. How come they can feel so strongly for something or someone. I'm quite impressed with their answers to be honest. I can see that it is also a personal struggle for them in their relationship with God. There are always those doubts. But it's how positive they view this relationship and that's what I'm truly amazed about.

Ok, I'm gonna stop here I'm too tired. It's 12:40am only though but I'm gonna crash. Tuesdays are a bitch for me with 10am-6pm back to back classes phew.

I seriously think.

I might just freakin die from the freakin cold. I think every night's gonna be like this from now on.

This is how I look like right now.





Heat-tech, plus shirt plus hoodie with gloves and thick leg warmers. Nabeh. I'm still freezing siah. I don't even carry that much swag in real life as much as I want that picture to portray. I'm slowly dying with a cold heart. I believe it is 6 degrees outside wtf my ass is freezing.

And I think what's worse is.... my room doesn't have a damn heater. The cottage has a central heater though, that's shared among all of us. But I think what we all need is a heater in the room. Otherwise, we're gonna turn into ice cubes.

Wahlau this is when Singapore's heat is missed the most. Summer beats Winter any time.

Am trying to rush to complete my damn New Zealand History source analysis in a few hours. Really complacent and procrastinated. Didn't touch it at all. And it's due today. Sigh, I'm so tired but I gotta do this!!!

I assumed my iphone was the one which was right. In actual fact, it automatically changed to DST. My mac as well. So creepy huh? AND sneaky. Lucky I've my manual clock otherwise I wouldn't have known I travelled back in time lol. Can't imagine a fully digitised world from now on. Cannot fully rely on them man.

Oovooed with my wonderful moose!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They all look like moose in this photo right?! LOL.
Felt good talking to them omg I love yall what would I do without yall HAHAH. My god those facebook conversations are too. funny.

They're the first people I've ever video-conferenced with here in New Zealand. My family doesn't have a webcam so for all I know they might look different within 1 and a half months hahah.


Anyway, Balloons Over Waikato Night Glow from last night's pictures later when I get my hands on my housemate's photos, they look so good mannnn.


And we went to town to club after that. Went to a GAY BAR HAHAHAH. Well, it was a pretty small community but considerably sizable since Hamilton's a small town.


Love the gays there, they were so excited and cute. They were checking out all the guys in our group and grabbed their asses on the dance floor hahahahahah lovvit. Gotta check out the one in Singapore man lol lol.

We went to a total of 4 different clubs yesterday. ZERO ENTRY FEE SO ALL FREE SHIOKX> Only thing you've to pay's your drink. We had a complimentary drink at one club, so that was good. Haha. But must bring passport, else they won't let you in coz you're a foreigner.

Surprisingly fun, last night haha. Lost one of my vintage earrings tho. Sad D;

But anwyays, it was fun till I got upset with a friend. She went too far banging up a guy. And I became God at that moment. I judged her with the highest degree of judgment. Lol. Who am I to judge eh? But seriously, I was really disappointed with her. All that guy wanted was sex. I was talking to a friend of his when he came up and I got a chance to talk to him,

His friend: This dude hooked up with an Asian chick man
Me: So how did it go?
Dude: Ahhh it was okay. But she didn't wanna go home with me.
Me: *wtf look. So all you wanted was sex.
Dude: Yeah!

D for Douche. So my friend didn't even know who she was hooking up with. Now that's stupid. And dangerous. Sigh, just really really disappointed.

And there were other things I witnessed that night. Impressions of people change on nights like these. In bad ways AND GOOD AS WELL. Coz I was happy seeing how much fun my asian friends were having : )

People were having sex on the trampoline in a sleeping bag at a post-house party last night.

Today is a day when I feel like scouring for a rare Singaporean gem so I can speak in Singlish hahaha. I kinda miss that feeling.

And having chocolate cereal in ma room yumz. Look at my disgusting i-just-woke-up face.
Every morning I look forward to breakfast. It's insane hahah and probably later, I'll make myself a peanut butter sandwich with banana slices.




OMG IT'S AMAZING.
Even better if the bread's toasted coz peanut butter melts and.... WOah. You can't have it. But you can have bak kut teh. I'm craving for bak kut teh and curry now. I know, I never thought it'd be possible to crave for food back at home. Now I understand the feelssss.

I love ma crib so much. I think I'm gonna miss it when I go back.
I'm looking outside and it's all dark but the sky's brightening up soon. Oh and it's drizzling. The temperature is totally room temperature. I woke up today thinking I was back at home in Singapore.


ANYWAY,

I'm here to blog about my solo-trip out to town@@@
Walking alone is pretty awesome coz you get to go anywhere whenever you want, taking your own sweet time.
My first time to town was with my friends, so I decided to roam on my own coz it's pretty easy to get there.

The town here is sooo dead. Like, compared to Singapore's streets.. it's quite depressing and I feel so sad for the place? Yet, it's normal here. So they probably do not need my valued sympathies haha. Not to say Auckland's the same since Auckland's like the business city sorta. But in my tiny Hamilton town, it's really quiet here.

Nevertheless, I managed to buy 2 pieces of VINTAGE CLOTHING (omgomg), 7 postcards and a second-hand book.




This shall be my favourite bookshop from now on. I will be back.
And I love how they wrap everything in brown paper bags ;D

It's really quaint and I bought the book at $7.50. Yeap SGD and NZD is pretty much the same. Tried to bargain, but it doesn't work here lawl.





Do you see what I see?

Ahahah, saw this the first time I came to town. This time round, I wanted to check if it was authentic Singapore stuff in that restuarant. Got merlion pillars to welcome customers all siah~ But I didn't have enough time so I'll leave inspection and interrogation for another day.

OHHH and Vintage Clothes? OMG I've found the perfect place in Hamilton to find vintage. And that is The Salvation Army store. People donate their second-hand stuff and WOMG there are SO MUCH TREASURES THERE WTFFFF. Clothes, shoes, bags, antiques. Plus they are ALL DIRT CHEAP. I got a blazer at 2 dollars my first time going there. This time, I got a shirt for 4 bucks and a high waist pants for 6. Cheap shit bitches. Cheaper than those flea stores in Singapore. All these angmohs got some good quality old stuff to donate. Made in New Zealand somemore. Leave me breathless..... And I'm going back there REPEATEDLY to get my hands on these treasures before I go back home. I reckon my luggage's gonna be really heavy and full. I might even need to buy another one.

And there's this online trade website called trademe.co.nz, that every kiwi goes to to get second hand stuff. FOR EVERYTHING. Like my friends intend to buy a CAR from the website. Pretty trustworthy I think, coz NZers recommend it. Btw cars are hella cheap here. We're intending to get one at 2000++? That's dirt cheap eh? But for me, I've to chip in about 500 bucks for the car. And about 400 will be returned to me before I get back to Singapore. Ugh, that's quite a lot to me personally. Need to save.


FOR DINNER,



MCDONALDS!!!!

They call it maccas here have I mentioned? Pronounced mac-kers. (and we call it 'macs' if you realise).
ONLY in New Zealand's macs do they sell Lamb Burgers so I HADDD TO TRY IT.






Yeaaap that's how it looks
Except for the smell of mutton, it's pretty regular I would say. Like any normal meat patty.
I will eat some more before I leave New Zealand heh.

By the way, their shopping malls here close freakin early? Like I bought my burger at 5pm and stores around me were closing at 5.30pm so I ate really quickly coz it felt like the whole shopping mall was gonna burn down and me get trapped alone. Didn't wanna get locked up so I gobbled my fries and burger towards the end.

I really do miss the crowds in Singapore. I think any city-life will be missing something when there aren't people around.

But ah well, nice leisurely solo trip. Shall eat at a cafe the next time. And walk back instead of taking a bus.


The 7 postcards I bought.
Can't wait to post them woohoo.


Anyway, I answered a question wrongly in class yesterday and I felt like I let Asians down. ASIANS AS AN ETHNIC GROUP. Over-confident in class so I wasn't listening to the lecturer and he asked me a question and I STUNNED> Still can't get over it/ I brought dishonour to my clan. Hahahaaha.

Life is pretty mundane right now. The stupid essays really caged me and I was writing them over the past few days over easter. Whatta lewser. In total, I wrote 5000 words. 1000 for 2 essays and 3000 for another. Siao leh. I think I prefer taking tests coz essays are bloody time consuming. Rollz eyez. I don't even have to write that much in Singapore.

BUT, I can't wait for this Saturday. THERE'S A HOT AIR BALLOON FESTIVAL IN HAMILTON that began yesterday and lasts till Sunday. It's gonna be held in my Uni on Saturday. SO EXCITED. Something to look forward to. And it's quite a big thing in New Zealand coz before coming here, I read that it's one of the main attractions to look out for in New Zealand. HELD HERE IN HAMILTON.
Well, I guess that's one thing to be proud of tahhaha.

Shall take pictures for y'all.

In the meanwhile... MY OLYMPUS CAMERA IS FIXED!!! And I just paid for reparations yesterday. It came up to $247 wahlaueyeyeyyy. For lens change, workmanship, shipping and GST. I was super confident I didn't have to change the lens so it'll be about 100 dollars I thought. BUT NOooOOo. Sigh. Shall treat my camera like a gem now. Was even considering buying a new second hand one from trademe. But nah, I shall be loyal to my camera. Besides, the second hand ones are old modelled cameras. Not worth it.

Can't wait to get it back. Was worried I had to leave for the South Island trip without a camera. That would suck.

HOKAY. That's pretty much an update on my life. Time flies really quickly...... yet there's still so much to see in New Zealand.

AND I feel like I need to make more Kiwi friends. A Singaporean friend told me it's hard to make friends with the people from the country you're on exchange at because they won't make the effort to befriend exchange students. Which is quite true... coz back in Singapore, we don't really talk much to exchange students. Just hang out amongst ourselves. Now I know the feels.

I've been knowing too much feels here hahah. But yeah... I'm not gonna give up. So far, it's been international friends and other people on exchange. I really gotta go all out, it's only mid-way. I will try. Even if I've to go to church HAHA.

To be honest, I seek comfort and familiarity in my fellow Asians. Coz there's less cultural differences. But, angmohs know how to have fun. More adventurous, more exciting. So, I think I'm having the best of both worlds here hahah.


OK, SEE YOU WHEN I SEE YOU.