Finally our family (oh excluding our dad!) went on a road trip of sorts! My brothers, my mum and I went down to Ngatea (south of Auckland) with a few church family friends to go blueberry picking today! Originally we had planned to go last Saturday, but it was Chinese New Year Festival so we decided to reschedule it to today.
We all met up outside McDonald's in Greenlane to figure out what route we'd take and who would be following who. It was agreed that the Minister's family would follow Nadine, and Jessica's mum's car would follow Aonghas and us.
The drive down to the blueberry farm took just over an hour. We just saw grass, hills and cows for most of the time so there wasn't much to look at. I tried entertaining myself with the music on my iPod and teaching Hamish how to use the SLR.
There were a few occasions when Aonghas's phone GPS went a little funny. There were a couple of times when the GPS said we were travelling in the water!
We eventually reached the blueberry farm. We grabbed some bags and buckets and went to start picking! We were looking for blueberries on the nearby trees when one of the farm staff told us we were picking from the wrong trees and that we had to go to the far side to find the blueberries!
There were rows and rows of small trees with blueberries on them. We were trying to pick the largest, least-wrinkliest and darkest blueberries! Hamish started to fill his bucket with blueberries our mum wasn't too happy with, so he was just told to find blueberries to eat! We could eat any blueberries we picked, but we had to pay for any blueberries we decided to leave with.
I was trying to pick the best blueberries, much better than Jireh and Tommy's 'high quality' blueberries! After a few hours though I got a bit tired of picking. Joylynn started chucking blueberries at me so I retaliated. It ended up becoming a full-on blueberry fight! Lucky we didn't get caught by anyone!
We eventually got tired of picking blueberries and tried jumping over this huge ditch while the parents carried on picking. We all seemed to successfully jump over the ditch but then Hamish had a go and...landed in it! Fortunately the muddy water was quite shallow so he didn't get too dirty!
We soon decided to head back to the office to pay for our blueberries. I think our mum ended up paying for $40 worth of blueberries! We hung around eating lunch by our cars before deciding to return to Auckland. Before we could go anywhere though we were held up by all these cows crossing the road! They seemed to know where they were going though which was quite impressive!
The drive back to Auckland was a little more tiring, and Aonghas was trying to stay awake and alert so I played some music on my iPod for him. The only thing was I was starting to fall asleep too!
We got back to the McDonald's Greenlane carpark where our parents discussed what we were going to do next. They all soon agreed to go have dinner together at a nearby restaurant called the Golden Horse. Some others from church such as Derek and his mum, Tim and Gabrielle were going to join us.
We sat upstairs, with the younger people sitting at one table while the older people/parents sat at the other table. I don't know who ordered the food as it was done while I was in the toilet, but there was quite a lot of food!
I was full by the end of it, and so we were all talking. I tried asking Tim to tell me the story about how he and Gabrielle's relationship started, and in the end everyone made him tell the story in front of them all! It was quite amusing but very sweet!
After Gabrielle and Tim shared their story about how their relationship started, the minister and his wife shared their story as well. It was really nice! Hopefully I'll have a story like that to tell one day!
By then it was getting quite late, so we all headed off home. It was just as well, as tomorrow is my first day at work!
Tomorrow is Auckland Anniversary, and so the Auckland Council put on a HUGE fireworks display over the harbour tonight to celebrate!
As usual, we left quite late so that there wasn't any parking around, and the fireworks started while we were still driving around the waterfront! That's when we just decided we'd just drive as close to the wharf as possible, park wherever we were and get out to watch the fireworks. It turns out that many others had the exact same idea! There were all these cars just parked in the middle of the wharf with their occupants getting out to watch the fireworks! Fortunately there was no police around!
From what we could see, the fireworks were quite big and lasted for a few minutes.
Once they were over though, there was a massive car-jam but somehow all the cars managed to leave in a somewhat organised manner!
Tonight was Chen's early 21st birthday party, since he will be starting uni early (being a medical student and all) and won't be able to celebrate next month when he really does turn 21. This was a really special 21st as we've known Chen since primary school which dates all the way back to 1998!
Chen had asked me to give a birthday speech for him so I stayed up late last night perfecting the speech, while Aonghas put together a a little video montage using a few videos he dug out from the Anderson archives.
I spent this morning before the party trying to make Diane's (his cousin) 21st birthday present that I owe her a year ago (we had an agreement that we'd make handmade presents for each other's 21st birthdays!) but didn't get it done in time, so I asked her if I could give it to her by the next time I meet up with her! Ouch! She was OK with that though so that was a relief!
When we got to Chen's house most people were already there eating. There was a slideshow playing on the TV (I think most of the photos were the ones we sent him!). We grabbed some food to eat and joined some of the guys we knew, like Zahir and Alex from high school and Diane. I knew a few of Chen's friends as I've met them before at Grafton, and some of them do pharmacy!
We just sat around eating and talking, waiting for a few more friends to show up before it was time for Chen's 21st birthday speeches!
I was the only person Chen really approached about giving a speech, so I gave a speech I had prepared for him, followed by Aonghas who played a video he had put together for him without his knowledge. I think that really surprised him!
After we finished, Chen opened the floor for others to say a few words about Chen, and it was remarkable just how many people had something nice to say about Chen! It definitely shows what a great friend he is. We heard all sorts of stories about him at uni and at high school.
His parents were the last to give him a speech and it was very heartfelt and touching!
Chen then gave a thank you speech which was well planned and thought out!
We all went to the kitchen and gathered around the table as we sang Happy Birthday to Chen before cutting the cake.
After we all had a slice of cake, it was time for Chen to unwrap his presents! He got a telescope from a group of his med friends, a shaver from his girlfriend Rose, and from the Anderson brothers he got a model of a heart! He got an iPhone 4 from Diane's family though so nothing can really top that off!
To finish off the night there was Xbox Kinect in one room and Wii in the other. I had a go at both, playing the Dance Revolution on Kinect and looking like a fool, and then losing at baseball on the Wii!
It was just on midnight and time to go. We had our last photos with Chen before it was time to go!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a truly great and wonderful friend Chen!
Last year for our 21st birthdays, my good friend Diane and I agreed that we'd make handmade birthday presents for each other. While she surprised me with a really awesome 21st plushie sorta thing, I hadn't made anything for her by the time her 21st birthday came around, which was actually a week before mine!
I told her I'd get it done and give it to her the next time we met up, but I've been having trouble coming up with something handmade that I could make because I'm pretty useless with my hands!
I finally came up with an idea and originally thought it would be easy enough to make, but I'm starting to realise that it might be a bit hard! I promised I'd give it to her by Chen's birthday tomorrow, so I don't have much time to get it done! I've been shopping with my mum for materials but it's quite difficult too!
We had our first music rehearsal for Tim and Gabrielle's wedding tonight. They're both our youth group leaders and we've known them for quite a while, so it's quite important for us. Some of the songs that our string quartet made of people from youth group have been asked to play include The Hallelujah Chorus, The Prayer and You Raise Me Up.
Originally Tim had asked us to play these two other songs, but we couldn't pull it off! I think we might have made him a little depressed when he heard us playing it! He ended up changing those two songs to two others we've played before - Humoresque and For Unto Us a Child is Born.
We better start practising more, as the wedding is only in a few more weeks and we don't want to let them down!
Today was Harris's birthday, so a few of us went to McDonald's in New Lynn to celebrate.
We were all enjoying our food and there was this service attendant who was quite humorous and friendly, and would often come over and talk to us. She asked Harris what his name was, and when she mistook his name as Harry, she started saying all this stuff about him being Harry Potter! We ended up giving her some cake later on though!
Harris's mum who is really good at baking cakes baked Harris a birthday cake and brought it along, so we all sang Happy Birthday to him and ate some cake.
I had to go to the toilet and noticed that the cubicle beside the one I went into was locked, but there was a
'Caution Wet Floor'
sign on the ground inside! I could hear some noise inside so I was sure someone was in there. One of the boys went in after I came out and he came out saying there was some man sleeping in that cubicle! Another of the boys went in after, then came out and confirmed it! We later saw the guy walk out of the toilet and McDonald's! I wonder if he was homeless.
We decided to wander around Lynn Mall for a while, and I bought my first pair of proper jeans from Hallensteins! I'll have to wear them sometime!
I think I've finally decided what my study goals will be alongside doing my pharmacy internship and becoming a registered pharmacist!
For a while I've been set on trying to either do some online distance learning course or taking evening classes to get a Graduate Diploma/Certificate in something like Arts (Chinese), or maybe something relating to the health field. However, it would require me to take university papers which cost almost $1000 each, and I would have to study part time which means I wouldn't complete it within a year. Because I plan on doing post-grad studies next year anyway, I don't want to waste my money on a half-completed qualification! It also costs so much that if I end up not being able to study properly for these papers because of work or the assignments/tests I have to focus on for pharmacy and end up giving up on those papers, I'll have wasted a whole lot of money!
Therefore, I've decided instead to aim for two exams that are a lot cheaper to sit and I can study for on my own...more or less:
- HSK Test: This is a test on a non-native Chinese speaker's ability to read, write, listen and speak Mandarin Chinese. I've been meaning to learn Chinese for a while, so this will give me motivation to keep on going and recover all of the Chinese I've lost over the past four years since high school. I should really get my Chinese blog going again!
- Trinity Grade 6-7 Music Theory Exam: I bought several music theory books late last year, so I might as well make use of them and fulfill my dream of passing grade 8 music theory!
At least by working towards these two tests/exams, I will also be trying to fulfill my New Years' Resolutions:
12. Sit a music theory/Chinese exam
20. This should've come earlier but study Chinese and return to at least NCEA Level 3 Chinese level..and be more Chinese (throw that in as well)
Once I finish my internship, I may even consider going to China for a few weeks or maybe a semester to study...if it's feasible. If not, I'll just do post-graduate study while working part-time! I think I'm starting to get somewhere with my life planning! Any further advice or suggestions welcome!
14. Decide what I want to do with my life after I (hopefully) complete my pharmacy internship
Today was the annual Chinese New Year Festival organised by the Auckland Chinese Community Centre at the ASB Showgrounds, one of the events that make me feel so much more Chinese than usual.
The weather wasn't the greatest and was a little gloomy when we got there. Fortunately it held up for most of the day before the rain arrived at the end of the day.
When we got there, we couldn't see anyone in the parking lot where the food stalls usually are, and started to wonder if we showed up on the wrong day! It turned out that they had relocated all the food stalls around the corner! There was also a crowd of people gathered around some Chinese yo-yo performances and dragon dance.
We watched for a while before going inside to check out the stalls. I don't think there were as many as last year but there were still plenty to see and heaps of people!
I actually got to catch up with a few pharmacy friends who I hadn't seen since Completion Ceremony in November last year, like Ai Ping, Nick and Stephanie!
I also caught up with Anzie, a friend I met in the Kiwi Asian Club! She was promoting her performing arts organisation, which also saw her dressed up in a penguin suit!
I did see others from church as well, and also my old high school Chinese teacher Miss Ho, who is now part of the ACCC. It was good catching up with her, and from what she said it sounds like a few of my classmates have continued studying Chinese at uni!
We spent most of the day wandering around checking out the stalls. There were quite a few businesses advertising their products and services, as well as stalls selling food and other things like giant teddy bears. It's funny how everyone would say to me
"Buy one for yourself and one for your girlfriend!"
I'm glad they thought highly enough of me to think I've got one! They probably just wanted to try sell two!
There were some people playing Chinese chess...
The Sky City stand had some computers for people to sign up to their e-newsletter and then gave people a chance to pick a ball out of a bag. If they picked the right ball they got a chance to spin the wheel and win a prize. Hamish and I didn't have such luck, but Aonghas did and got to spin the wheel! He won a $10 voucher at first, but fortunately they ran out of those and so he got to spin again and this time won a $20 voucher to a restaurant at Sky City. I don't know whether he'll be using that though, considering each dish is almost $20!
We also had a go at spinning a lucky wheel at the National Bank stand, but my dad, brothers and I only got a fortune cookie each for our troubles. We all got the same message as well!
There was also a stage with performances, and usually when we get bored we'd just sit around and watch the performances, but this year we didn't really bother. Our dad who got bored of wandering around and shopping sat there and watched some of the performances while we continued to wander around though.
Towards the end of the day we decided to check out the food stalls outside just before it started raining. For some reason they decided to shift the food stalls to a much more narrow area, and so it was quite crowded! Therefore we decided to let our mum go wandering around checking out the food stalls as she knows what's good value for money, and she can also fit into small spaces!
Food was quite expensive but we still managed to afford a few dumplings to eat!
By 4pm the guy started warning stall owners to clear up and for the public to leave as the festival wrapped up. We didn't buy as much this year, but it was still good fun!
I finally turned 22 today! Boy time just doesn't stop does it? I just keep getting older and older! I remember having some 22 year old friends a few years ago and thinking they were old, well now I'm at that stage! I usually dread birthdays because you're reminded of how old you are. You also get all this attention and I'm not entirely comfortable with that, despite it being nice to know people still know you exist!
Now originally my mum had planned to take our family down to Hamilton with a few other family friends from church to go blueberry picking today and then come home just in time for Aonghas to go to work at night. I only found out the night before when I got home from dinner with my friends, that it had been changed to Saturday, when we had originally planned to go to the Chinese New Year Festival at the ASB Showgrounds! It eventually got postponed since they didn't have enough transport.
As for what to do on my birthday, we couldn't think of anything. I suppose if we didn't do anything, at least I got to have dinner with my high school friends last night! We were thinking of having lunch but didn't know where to go. Jireh's family were heading out to Albany to drop Jireh off at a friend's place, so we decided maybe we'd have lunch at Wendy's and then check out the Westfield Albany Shopping Centre since we've only been there once before. Finally a plan!
Before we could do that though we had to deliver newspapers. I helped Aonghas with his run, and while we were delivering newspapers one of the ladies who is quite friendly to Aonghas came out to collect her paper. Aonghas told her it was my birthday and she went inside to get some chocolate for me! That was really nice of her!
Jireh's family were already waiting for us at Wendy's and Jireh gave me a birthday cake which was a surprise! It's become a bit of an Oddfellows tradition to give a birthday cake to the birthday person, but nonetheless I still wasn't expecting it. Thanks a lot Jireh!
We all ordered our food and my brothers, Jireh, Joylynn and I sat together to eat while the parents ate together.
Jireh soon had to go, and so he left early while his dad stayed behind and talked with my dad for a while before we all left for Albany.
When we got to Albany, we joined up with Joylynn and her mum before losing our dad as he went the wrong way to the toilet! We wandered around searching for him while checking out the stores. We came across a lady from church who said she had seen our dad come out of the book store! We eventually spotted him talking to a lady at some Chinese performing arts stall!
Once we were reunited, we had a wander around. Our mums went to check out some stores while us guys and Joylynn checked out other stores like JB Hi Fi. We had a go at the Xbox Kinect which was quite amusing! I think it was the first time everyone else had tried it, while I had tried it at my friend's 21st late last year.
We rejoined a little later and checked out a few more shops before I came across my old primary school friend Hussein! I thought I saw him travelling in the opposite direction before but didn't think much of it, but it did turn out to be him!
It was soon time for us to go as Aonghas had to get to work by 6pm. It was just as well we left when we did, as the motorway was moving at a snail's pace! Aonghas got to work on time which was good.
We got dropped off at home while our mum went to buy takeaways for dinner, and while she was gone I got a surprise from Chen when he came by to give me a birthday card and a $20 iTunes voucher as a birthday present! That was the only birthday present I had received today, except for my cellphone case and screen protector Aonghas bought for me (and decided not to ask me to pay him back, thanks Aonghas!).
I was also given a birthday card from Joylynn last Sunday at church which she had made for me. That was really kind of her! Thanks heaps, Joylynn. I really appreciate it!
I also got a surprise in the mail when I found a birthday card Eva had also made for me! It came complete with a sticker of The Simpsons on the back, and a drawing of Charmander (my favourite Pokemon!) on it! That was really nice too, thanks so much Eva!
In addition to the cards I received and the cake, I got a couple of nice birthday emails from Hyun who updated me on his and his brother's life over in USA, and Grace who sent me a picture of her with her bo lor bao and the one I gave her for her birthday last year (I think mine looks yummier right? haha just kidding!). Thanks guys!
What also made my birthday warm and fuzzy were the birthday wishes people sent me via text and Facebook (thanks Facebook for reminding people! haha) I even got a text from my cousins Janice and Korina who were still holidaying over in Fiji!
So just to thank everyone individually, thanks Uncle Peter, Andromeda, Mimi, Diane, Dillon, Joseph, Derik, Carmen, Teresa J, Leo, James Z, Troy, Samantha, Rhea, Kevin, Sean, Alfred, Uncle John, Casslyn, Dora, Daniel, Jennifer, Ai Ping, Andrew W, Anisha, Suzy, Sofie, Jess, Clint, Alton, Johnny, Aunty Grace, Ellyce, Amanda, Mary, Amanda-Jane, Jonathan S, Julie H, Matt C, Sasha F, Joylynn, Paul, Chen C, Irene, Samira, Simon T, Eddie, Daisy, Allan, Himesh, Jacqueline, Gavin, Micheal ZYD, Harris, Nadine B, Ali Y, Storme, Michael Y, Yeeping, Stephanie P, Eva, Henry, Kasanita, Antonia, Kathryn, Szelin, Shameela, Monisha, Josefia, Stephanie T, Amelia, Amy C, Sabrina, Jenny, Timothy Y, Annette, Phillip W, Harley, Grace W, Danielle J, Maxine, Kaylee, Sonja, David C, Julia, Ziheng, Mubashra, Jacky, Angel, On, Joon, Harjinder, Derek, Wasif, Katherine, Vanessa T, Jireh, Megan J, Karen, Joanne T, Neha, Sharon W, Hyun, Kathleen, Elena, Ayesha, Kelvin, Min-Ran, Phillip M, Ruby, Grainam, Seb, Sachiko, Mandy W, Chloe L, Ray, Jamie, Yerin, Scholastica, Peter C, Britney, Joanne L, Bliss, Aneesya, Lina, Amy L, Tristan, Natalie, Julie K, Matthew G, Winston, Hannah, Xin-Ran, Katrina, Fraser, Grammy, Lance, Nikaela, Edwin, Emily, Tim S, Navya, Natasha P, Martyn, Anuprita, Alyssa, Tim, Kimberley, George, Hana, Lucy L, Teresa W, Gwen, Janice, Korina, Kunsala, Zippo, Melissa C, Angie, Ruth, Joylynn, Sachin, Lunshen, Leonie, Nadine, Alex S, Jane, James K, Cleo, Rebecca, Cookie Bear, Sarena, Shrikkanth, Nick, Larry, Shen, Lindsey, Zahir, Chen and Anzie for the birthday wishes! (hopefully I didn't forget anyone!)
