So I'm currently in a Starbucks cafe on Queens Street in Auckland after a day of travelling solo and wandering around. I must say travelling around alone can be quite daunting at the start. The thought of it was quite horrifying when I first started out last night because I didn't have very good impressions of Auckland. I went from Wellington to Auckland by railway train and had to meet a friend so I could bunk in his place for the night.

I'm gonna blog about everything at one shot since I left my place at Hamilton for Wellington with my friends, travelling on NZ's railway train and going around Auckland. Let's work backwards haha. So I'll start with what happened today and reverse it.

The moment I stepped out of the train was when I started to get slightly terrified with the thought of being alone in Auckland and having to meet my friend. I had this impression that Auckland was dark and dirty and frightening coz that was what I got the first time I was in Auckland. Anyway, it was 7pm and it was dark and cold. The train station was empty with seemingly dubious characters walking around. New Zealand shuts down after 5pm. I became paralysed after I found a place to sit and dump all my luggage. I didn't want to move. I wanted to just sit and not do anything else but wait. I had to wait for an hour before my friend could come meet me. After a while, I got bored and realised there really wasn't anything to fear. I went to look around and saw an isite counter, which is like an information centre and there were a few brochures to look at. I occupied myself with that. After learning a thing or 2 about what to see and do in Auckland, I started to ease in and became less uptight. I guess, when you have somewhat of a plan, you become less frightened.

My friend came, I unloaded all my luggage at his flat and we went to the Harbour and had a few beers by the river. Looks slightly like the Singapore River but way more empty.

Today, I left the flat at 1pm and went around Auckland city!

Walking around the city alone is not frightening at all. Once you've found a place to stay, that's when everything else becomes fine. I think accommodation is the most worrying thing about travelling? To me that is. Because my friend told me I might not be able to stay for the second night and that worried me quite a bit. I think that was why I was quite jittery about being in Auckland. In case you're wondering, yeah, I managed to convince him that I could stay the second night yay. Like, you can go explore anywhere but it's the "Where do I stay?" that's the hard part. Other than that, YOU"RE FREE TO do whatever you want and ROAM!!!

Auckland looks really vibrant in the day, so today was really easy breezy! I can read a map guys. I was tempted to whip out my iPhone for google maps one time, but I said no. Learn to read a map. I enjoyed doing things any old how. Spontaneity! SO important when you travel because when you see something along the way, you just gotta go for it. Not everything goes according to plan.

SO, I did something very unlike me. And that was, going to Auckland's Art Gallery! LOL WTF right. Act artsy only. I intended to go Albert Park but strayed towards the Art Gallery instead. Initially, I just wanted to kaypo, but ended up staying in there for a few hours haha.

Really interesting siah! To my surprise! I think I've grown to appreciate art lol. Oil paintings in the past, in particular. Just seeing the brush strokes and colours captivates me.

My favourite showcase



Maori portraits and New Zealand Art History.

SO interesting! For me, being in a country would necessarily mean having to know that country's history and it's amazing how these paintings can speak VOLUMES. I get excited seeing how the paintings were painted in the past in the 17th and 18th century. And I know, one sure way of telling whether I'm excited about something is through my A-HOLE. I want to SHIT every time I get excited about something. I know... something so classy and sophisticated like Art Galleries and here I am talking about defecating. How un-classy hahah. Anyway. It's amazing how the colours still last on these old paintings. And you feel transported in time just looking at the painting. It was like, the painting was actually THERE at that point of time and you're seeing it right before you NOW. If you get what I mean. I'm just amazed.


One of my favourite landscape paintings.



I can't appreciate sculptures though lol. And I don't like contemporary art. Sorry lah, I not hipster at all, I can't understand modern art for nuts man. But seriously, I don't understand art that is so damn bloody abstract. Like, you want me to see what siah?! I can't freakin understand it. Even with the description beside it, I really cannot siah. And I think it's kind of airy in the head and silly to want me to see something in a certain way but realise they might not mean it that way and blahblahblah. It's not art. And don't tell me it's up to interpretation coz really, anything can be art that way. Even my face can be art. And be sold for fortunes. Lol lol. SO NO! No modern art for me.

Another art gallery I liked was the Victorian paintings. They depict a lot of emotions and tell a story. Very interesting. The painters paint the characters in a soft ethereal way but what's captivating is the fact that it isn't as simple the painting looks and usually, there is a darker story behind the characters.

I'm looking forward to seeing more art at home, now that I've grown to like paintings from the past. Now I understand why Joshua studies Art History.

I left at 4pm because I wanted to head to K-Road, which I read about before I arrived. Has loads of vintage op shops! It took me awhile to find it.

After a bit of wandering around using a map,






YESSAR!!!!

True enough, there were LOADS and LOADS of vintage shops but I didn't connect with much of the clothes available. Either too expensive or just... I didn't fall in love. Besides, I wanted to save money for Aussie trip (which is... TOMORROW OMGOMGOMG)

Wandered in and out of quirky shops and soon it was dark. Well, I started out late so it's reasonable.

Auckland looks good in the day btw and I'm so happy that the sun was shining bright today!




Like Europe and the UK eh?



That's the city hall and Auckland University.

One more thing about Auckland is that....

It has SO MANY. SO MANY. ASIANS!!!

Like wtf it's Asian town man. Every corner I turned, I'd see an Asian face just staring right at me.

At this moment in Starbucks where I am right now typing this blog entry, there are ZERO KIWIS. ALL ASIANS. It's quite scary actually. Even for me. Because even though there are tons of Asians, I don't feel much familiarity at all? I dunno why.

Ah well.

Anyway, here's me on my way to Auckland when I took the train from Wellington!




Tee hee. So excited siol. I left my friends in tears though before I came here. Sigh, it was a sad departure. I will miss them and never forget them ever.

Here was my train!



Platform 9! Haha. Like Harry Potter's 9 and three-quarters.

It's called KiwiRail and I took the longest rail ride that extended from the South to the North of New Zealand's North Island. So taking this train ride would in essence, allow me to travel and view most of the North Island at one go. Didn't come cheap though, but I really REALLY wanted to experience a train ride before I leave NZ, so $158 didn't go to waste : )

It's a modern railway train though with a cafe and high-tech automatic doors, so I still look forward to taking other forms of railway trains like steam trains and such. I enjoy long rides. In total, it took about 12 hours for me to arrive at my destination. Left at 7:55am, arrived at 7pm. For others, it can be excruciatingly long. For me, I enjoyed every moment that I had onboard the train. I didn't want it to end. There's something about long rides that I enjoy. Just looking out that window and being taken for a ride is something I enjoy very much. Random thoughts come and go. And I become hypnotised as I drift in and out of sleep. Ahh... train rides for me any time man. As long as they're not crowded like the MRT LOL. No crowded trains for me thank you.





Whee! One of the stop overs where I could hop off and take a picture haha.




I reunited with my favourite mountain. The one I climbed in March ;D
Now covered in snow. Brought back wonderful memories.


There's this open-air carriage at the back that brought passengers as close as possible to the scenery, which was nice. Very windy and cold, but still worth it to be close to nature.

I saw snow,




(My first few sightings of snow in NZ)

And I saw green. Not greenery but literally GREEN.



: ) New Zealand's just full of green hills and pastures.

Not forgetting,

Meh mehs and cows lol.
Too many sheep, NZ has. Like rocks and stones when viewed from afar lol.

I was expecting to see more scenery during the train ride though. Maybe I slept through too much of them haha.

Instead of the landscapes, I was most impressed by the sunset that greeted me as I arrived Hamilton. Kinda strange, after having left Hamilton only a few days ago and there I was again.


Memories all here.

Maybe the sunset's tryna tell me that although Hamilton's not the most exciting city in NZ, and that there are other awesome landscapes in other cities, the simplest of sunsets still manage to captivate me the most, just as how the fondest of memories I've had belong in Hamilton and nowhere else.


The vastness of the sky and the never-ending clouds.....





I was in awe. Best thing was, I could slowly take all of what was before me as darkness soon fell and enveloped the skies. Everything dimmed slowly as the train rode on. I don't get to view the sky as broad and long as when I'm in a car. The windows in the train are massive.



Cotton candy :')
I couldn't resist snapping a shot of them. I didn't want to forget seeing these paintings on the canvas of the sky..

I forgot to mention that I swap seats on my own accord coz the window was obstructed by the middle parting thingy if you get what I mean. I'm one of those annoying passengers hehehehehehee.


Now.... WELLINGTON!!!!!

Guess what, my friends and I came at the WRONGEST of WRONG times. We came when Wellington experienced the WORST storm EVER. It's the worst storm I've ever experienced in my LIFE. Freakin windy and it was rainy omg... so cold. On Thursday night. The rest of the days that we there were rainy and quite depressing.

Nevertheless, I had an enjoyable time and Wellington's the most charming and vibrant of cities in NZ, despite the shit weather. It's what I call a city. With the awesome vintage (and expensive) and quaint shops, never-ending eateries, restaurants and cafes, it was oozing with flavour and culture. I wonder how it's like when it's in Summer and has perfect weather wow.

It was an eating trip hahah guilt trip. And museum viewing trip.



The Te Papa

IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!! The best museum ever. It showcased everything that NZ had to offer, from its biological wildlife, history and art. Obviously, I enjoyed its history gallery the most. Haha. I spent most of my time reading almost everything. So interesting. From gay rights, to the land marches and wars. Altho I didn't enjoy NZ History class, I'm thankful I got a background on NZ history so the Te Papa was even more enjoyable for me. And it's not just a history lover who'd enjoy the museum. This museum was special because it's SO interactive and I'm sure every adult would enjoy being there. So informative and fun. Even children enjoy being there.

What's best? Entry, F for Free.

Couldn't believe it because I constantly wondered how they got the budget to do up everything so well in the museum and still earn nothing from it. Jong Seon and I said that every country should have a museum like the Te Papa. Seriously, world-class.

Didn't take any pictures in the museum because I don't see the point of taking any. Wouldn't mean anything when you see it in pictures. Watch and learn.


The crazy wind.
 


Wellington!
My crazy friends haha.

Yeap, as you can see, the skies are just grey and disgusting.





We took their Cablecar as well. As you can tell, their "cablecar" isn't exactly the sort of cable car that we're used to seeing haha. This one travels on land like a train. Cool

Walked around the Botanic Gardens for awhile before heading back down again.
Should come in Summer/Spring again. Bet there are much more to see then. Coz now everything's just dark and gloomy.

So that was our first day.

Second day,
RAIN. So all we could do was shop and eat. I really wanted to go up Mount Victoria. But oh well, guess that can wait some other time.


I LOVE their restaurants.
Somehow, you gotta be there to know how the ambience is like. Pictures don't say much.





My Korean girls and Vee, my Vietnamese friend. She's so crazy and straightforward. Love her.
That was breakfast at Sweet Mother lol lovin the restaurant's name, early in the morning.

We then headed off to shop.
Didn't find anything coz everything was SO EXPENSIVE. Oh my lord. But still, the shops were nice to walk around in!

Somehow, we managed to shop so long that the day was over and we had dinner at a cafe before heading for our final round of desserts!



Cheesecake with chocolate


Moist chocolate cake with raspberry syrup.

MOST expensive desserts we've ever had but recommended and popular among people here.
About $17.50 each, so we shared 2 among the 4 of us. We finished them up in no time. So yumz.

After that, we had our long and final conversation in our hostel... coz I was to leave them after that for Auckland and them, to Lake Taupo.

I was so touched that they were willing to wake up early just to bid goodbye to me. They even woke up at 5.45am just to cook Korean ramen for me and have our last breakfast together :'D. I was really touched coz it sort of symbolised how they wanted to see me off without an empty stomach. We Asians   are bound by food : ) And we hugged and cried as I left in taxi towards the railway station.

I truly will miss them very much. But I look forward to seeing them in Singapore and their home countries some time. For now, I wish us good luck to all the adventures that we're about to have! It shan't be a sad thing.

Now, as I'm typing this, I left Starbucks to get back to the flat. It's 2:27am now and I'm leaving my friend's flat at 3.15 to catch my bus LOL! SO I'M NOT GONNA SLEEP AT ALL. Coz my flight's at 6.30am. Gotta be there at 5am.

So thankful to have my friend here in Auckland coz he allowed me to leave my shitload of things here and lent me his small luggage so I won't have to drag it around Aussie. I'm coming back to Auckland before heading back to SG anyway. So... I'M SO TOUCHED :'D

Seeing the girls in Melbourne so soon. AHHH EVERYTHING IS GOING SO FAST.

Can't wait to blog all our pictures after our almost 3-week long adventure in Aussie! This blog won't be updated in the meantime but hang in there and I will see all of you guys soon : ) Prolly back in Singapore by then OMG!

BEST OF LUCK TO US!!!!!

Can't wait to see Alicia, Vivien and Jiaqi soon AHHHH!!!!!


We're OFF TO ADVENTURE! 

I'm on the bus to Wellington now and typing from my phone. Am finally gone from Hamilton. For good. I left with tears in my eyes as I walked off, luggage and backpack in tow, leaving my friends behind. It was rainy all morning and someone said I picked the wrong day to leave. Then, the sky turned bright and it became sunny. Just the way I'd imagine myself to leave Waikato university and my time on exchange. A bright sunny day. I'll miss everyone and everything. Had a sheesha session with ma homey gurls last night before Serena came over to my cottage to play the guitar and sang at my cottage. Just for me :') I'll miss that girl. I really will.

Thanks, Hamilton. It's been simply, amazing.

Now, onwards TO ADVENTURE!!!!!!!!

Spent my past few days with these few awesome people. So I didn't have time to blog whoops!
It's been a rush to say goodbye to everyone and meeting them and taking final photos.

Today's my second last day in Hamilton, before I head off to Wellington. SO, I've been packing EVERYTHING. Halfway there. But my luggage is pretty damn full. Dunno how I'm gonna squeeze everything ohmylord. It's kinda sad... coz everything's kinda empty and just gone now. :'( Hope I'll be able to pack everything in time though and get things done coz I've been meeting people and bidding everyone farewell. Wow. This is it. 4 months. All over so quick.

I did a Cottage Tour Video HAHA coz I wanna remember how my cottage looks like and everything. I'm gonna miss my room..

Before I leave, I'll show you guys what I've been up to the last few days!!! All my meetings left with a "Keep in touch". Yeah I will alright.




Justin!!! My Chinese flatmate teehee.
And the cutest one ever. That was when I said goodbye to him, coz I had to go somewhere and couldn't be in time to see him off. Snapped this before I left. To remember everyone's faces you see.


Then I met the Webber Family



They're a queer looking bunch I would say.... HAHA.

Invited me to their home for lunch on Friday. And I spent one of the most kiwi afternoons with them. Lunch, frisbee on the field and tea time.











They're just the loveliest bunch. My favourite kiwi family.
Definitely gave me a taste of what life as a kiwi would be. I am a little envious of how laidback they are. I can't imagine doing all this back in Singapore. Nope. I'd be studying my ass off at age 15/18.


On Saturday, I was invited to go for Fieldays. The event I mentioned about in my last blog post!




IT'S MEGA!!!!!!!!!!
Do you see that white space on the left of the photo? Those are ALL cars. ALL. Freakin packed to the brim, volunteers were really organised in the parking area. I just dunno how people who wanted to get out early got out. Coz we were one of the last few people who left the event.

It's one of the hugest event here in Hamilton, all on how New Zealand and its agriculture sector works. So I got to learn so much about how their milk's produced, wine, beer, cheese, honey sampling, a tractor-pull competition. There was a sheep dog show but we missed it. Nevertheless, I was so glad Ryan and Denise invited me to join them for this event! It's amazing really. Best place to go to to experience and learn all about New Zealand at once.




Tractor-pull competition. Which tractor can pull the heaviest and the furthest. Interesting.


My favourite couple!!!
They're so awesome I'm not kidding haha. It's like home away from home when I'm with them :'D
Denise is expecting and I wish them all the best with their new born baby girl : ) Due in September. Won't get to see her but I'll track the pictures down through facebook yeahhh.

They paid for my ticket to Fieldays as a farewell gift... so nice right?! Singaporeans still the best lah. HAHAHA. Oh and they're NTU alumni. Cool eh?


It's a log wood chain saw competition. Who saws the fastest. No joke. The one on the right won.


Mobile ATM.
Definitely something I haven't seen before lol. So you just hand over your card and the people hand you cash. Sweet.

They then fetched me to The Night Market to meet up with friends after that.





The second and last time I'll ever be there :'(
Sadly.
That potato swirl tastes DAMN AWESOME BTW ARGH!!!!!!!
I thgt they'd be like chips but no, they're like fries but the flat version lol.



Churros. Now I show you.



The Gazebo at night.
Ain't it pretty!??!?! And yes, that's Ralph lol. All of us were dancing there again.






Ahh... Just like a fairytale :')

Then on Sunday, Jenny invited me to Church at Gateway.
It was to be my last time seeing them and they came to my room before we bed farewell.





They're the loveliest. : )

And finally, yesterday on Monday, after my final exam paper, which went alright if you were wondering. (oh and i chionged it on THAT morning siao right i'd nv do this in singapore never. and i still felt alright doing that)

I met Ryan and Denise again and went to another couple's house for dinner. It was sorta my farewell dinner. They're so nice right???? :'D The man is Singaporean who married a lady from China and he's been there for 12 years in NZ already wow. Wife just gave birth and has the sweetest baby and mother and daughter are just so adorable together. So, one just gave birth and the other's expecting. Wow, great pressure on me haha kidding. You can see them in the green polaroid I took with them in the first picture of this post!

It was a lovely cosy evening and I'm really thankful to have met these Singaporeans abroad. Hard to meet any in NZ. So I am glad : )

So that was it. My time in New Zealand is about to come to an end and I've said my goodbyes to all these people all at one shot, in consecutive days. I'm back to packing my luggage. My big ass luggage. Time to throw things out as well.

Ok, I will definitely give you guys a few more updates before I leave for Wellington!!! Off for chocolate dessert at Iguana now!