Today I had to miss church (and a potluck lunch!) to attend a rehearsal at Mt Smart Stadium with Aonghas. Once again it's top secret!
It was so hot rehearsal had to be paused after someone fainted! They provided us with heaps of water though which was good. If only they gave us more than a muesli bar for a snack! Lunch wasn't too bad, consisting of a sandwich, muffin and orange, but because I missed breakfast I was still hungry after that!
The weirdest thing that happened to me today though was while I was lining up, a lady came up to me and asked
"Are you Samoan?"
I told her I wasn't, and she then apologised and said she thought I was her Samoan nephew and was coming over to say 'hi'! She realised though that he was a lot taller than me! Afterwards I told her I was half NZ half Chinese.
Later on, another guy asked me where I was from and so I told him. I asked him what he thought I was, and he told me he thought I was Arab or Middle-Eastern!
Sunday 28 August 2011
Saturday 27 August 2011
Careers and Birthdays
I took a day off work (music teaching) today as Aonghas and I had a compulsory music rehearsal I had to attend over at Mt Smart Stadium (it's a secret right now!) which meant neither of us could teach. Fortunately the sun was out...maybe it came out a bit too much as I had to cover myself in sunblock to avoid getting burnt!
The rehearsal finished by midday which allowed Aonghas and I to make a trip back to the city to check out the University of Auckland Courses and Careers Day. We parked all the way down Symonds Street, which meant it was quite a walk to the university.
When we got there, I was surprised that there wasn't much going on in the Information Commons! It turned out that most of the displays and stands were over at the business and engineering buildings.
The business school had all their stands/displays at the ground level and I came across my good friend Alice who I haven't talked to in quite a while! It turns out she switched to 2degrees! No wonder I hardly receive txts from her these days! She was supposed to be providing advice to prospective students but I sorta hogged her for a little while, just to catch up with her and get a bit of business advice!
We then went downstairs so I could visit the pharmacy stand and ask about post-grad, which I'm considering doing next year. I think most of the students there were first or second year students with one third year student who said she recognised me as the one who works at the university pharmacy! Busted!!
They weren't able to help me out so I went over to the School of Graduate Studies stand where some people gave me some advice. I also checked out the law school and education faculty stands as well. It looks like I could study primary/intermediate school teaching if I want to next year (if I get accepted of course).
We were running out of time and Aonghas wanted to check out the engineering school. I have to say I was quite impressed with some of the projects on display - there was a mechanical fish, a few robots, a popcorn machine and a candy floss machine apparently powered by solar energy! I managed to get some popcorn and candy floss to eat which was a bonus!
We caught up with Grace and came across Jenny who was manning the Biomedical Engineering stall! We then went by the Gamja stall and bought some Gamja so Aonghas could try it out. We then had a little stroll down Queen Street, trying to find Andrew and Ben, as it was Andrew's 18th birthday today! He told us he was having a haircut, but by the time we got to the barber's he was gone.
We heard he was playing pool with his brother and mum, so on our way there we went to Wendy's to busy some food and sat in Aotea Square to eat before I tried looking for a cake to buy for him.
We finally caught up to them at the pool place and gave Andrew the cake which I hope he enjoyed! We watched him play pool for a little while before it was time to go!
We caught up with Grace and came across Jenny who was manning the Biomedical Engineering stall! We then went by the Gamja stall and bought some Gamja so Aonghas could try it out. We then had a little stroll down Queen Street, trying to find Andrew and Ben, as it was Andrew's 18th birthday today! He told us he was having a haircut, but by the time we got to the barber's he was gone.
We heard he was playing pool with his brother and mum, so on our way there we went to Wendy's to busy some food and sat in Aotea Square to eat before I tried looking for a cake to buy for him.
We finally caught up to them at the pool place and gave Andrew the cake which I hope he enjoyed! We watched him play pool for a little while before it was time to go!
Thursday 18 August 2011
(Brief) Moment of Fame
I had a brief moment of fame today during my lunch break!
I was sitting outside in the Quad at uni today eating my lunch when this American guy walked by, saw me and asked if I worked at the chemist downstairs. When I told him that I did, he told me he recognised me as the guy who sold him his medicines!
That's the first time anyone has recognised me outside of the pharmacy! I have to say I was quite chuffed about that!
Anyway he sat down next to me and we had a bit of a chat getting to know one another.
Finally my job is helping me get to know people!
I was sitting outside in the Quad at uni today eating my lunch when this American guy walked by, saw me and asked if I worked at the chemist downstairs. When I told him that I did, he told me he recognised me as the guy who sold him his medicines!
That's the first time anyone has recognised me outside of the pharmacy! I have to say I was quite chuffed about that!
Anyway he sat down next to me and we had a bit of a chat getting to know one another.
Finally my job is helping me get to know people!
Back to the Gym
I went back to the gym for the first time in a while tonight! It wasn't very busy tonight, probably since this week has been pretty cold. What made me really want to gym was the fact I ate McDonald's last weekend, and had Wendy's after attending the university teacher's college open day last night!
I used a few machines that hurt...I mean strained my arms and legs before went rowing on the machine for 10 minutes and cycling for 10 minutes!
By the end I was so sore in a thousand different places!
I caught up with Angie for the first time in a while afterwards and I shouted Dunkin' Donuts before we caught the bus home.
I think I just undid all my good work...
Wednesday 17 August 2011
Looking at the Options
Tonight after work I caught a bus to the University of Auckland Epsom Campus to check out the the Open Day at the campus as teaching is one option amongst others that I'm considering next year.
Because the bus came late, I only made it to the campus in time to sit in on a talk about secondary school teaching and studying towards a Graduate Diploma in Teaching. It sounded quite interesting, how you have to do two 6-7 week placements at two different high schools during the year. It would be kinda cool going back to my old school Rutherford College, or even being assigned another school!
At the end of the talk though, I told the speaker that I had a pharmacy degree and whether that would be OK. She told me though that they looked at pharmacy degrees as a problem as it wasn't completely aligned with a high school subject.
She reckoned that I'd have a better chance of being accepted if I spent a year doing a post-grad diploma in Science/Chemistry and then apply to do the teaching diploma in the following year, and because it's in chemistry I'd have a good shot at getting a scholarship which would cover costs for that year and enough spending money to cover the post-grad diploma costs.
I guess I can rule out studying teaching as an option for next year. I'll have to write a post about all my possible options a little later!
Because the bus came late, I only made it to the campus in time to sit in on a talk about secondary school teaching and studying towards a Graduate Diploma in Teaching. It sounded quite interesting, how you have to do two 6-7 week placements at two different high schools during the year. It would be kinda cool going back to my old school Rutherford College, or even being assigned another school!
At the end of the talk though, I told the speaker that I had a pharmacy degree and whether that would be OK. She told me though that they looked at pharmacy degrees as a problem as it wasn't completely aligned with a high school subject.
She reckoned that I'd have a better chance of being accepted if I spent a year doing a post-grad diploma in Science/Chemistry and then apply to do the teaching diploma in the following year, and because it's in chemistry I'd have a good shot at getting a scholarship which would cover costs for that year and enough spending money to cover the post-grad diploma costs.
I guess I can rule out studying teaching as an option for next year. I'll have to write a post about all my possible options a little later!
Tuesday 16 August 2011
Let it Snow!
It's been frfrfreeezing this week! Maybe it's Winter's last push before Spring comes in (next month right?).
I was seriously doubting Auckland's capability to snow till yesterday when I went out of the pharmacy for my lunch break and saw all these people standing outside taking photos of something! Being the curious person that I am, I went outside to investigate and found that it was snowing!
Now I'm not 100% sure it was snow...it could have been light hail or sleet or something else, but because we're in Auckland and it hasn't snowed since the 1930's or something like that and it's apparently a once-in-a-lifetime thing, I'll call it snow!
I was seriously doubting Auckland's capability to snow till yesterday when I went out of the pharmacy for my lunch break and saw all these people standing outside taking photos of something! Being the curious person that I am, I went outside to investigate and found that it was snowing!
Now I'm not 100% sure it was snow...it could have been light hail or sleet or something else, but because we're in Auckland and it hasn't snowed since the 1930's or something like that and it's apparently a once-in-a-lifetime thing, I'll call it snow!
Tonight was even more freezing as I walked to the bus. I just felt like wrapping my scarf over my face!
All the windows in the bus were all fogged up too!
Sunday 14 August 2011
Cheers for the Cheeseburgers!
You may recall a few months ago when McDonald's last offered $1 Cheeseburgers, we took advantage of this and went on a Cheeseburger-buying spree. Well, this time McDonald's has this promotion that runs till Wednesday where you have to check-in to McDonald's on Facebook and then show the person at the counter the 'online voucher'. You'll then be able to claim your $1 Cheeseburger.
My mum, Hamish and I went to McDonald's after church today with the Jireh and his family, and Tommy and his family. Since we were there, we thought we'd take advantage of this! It was quite a mission though with McDonald's free Wi-Fi not working on our iPod's! I had to resort to turning on my phone's mobile internet and then using my phone as a mobile hotspot to allow our iPod's to connect to the internet.
It was slow and painful, and my iPod was on the brink of dying but we made it! Jireh was the first to order, and when he showed the guy at the counter his iPod, the guy had no idea about the promotion and had to ask his manager. When his manager confirmed it, the guy asked Jireh how many Cheeseburgers he wanted! After Jireh was done, I asked for three Cheeseburgers and Hamish did too.
Later we picked Aonghas up from work and went back to McDonald's where he bought another five. We'll be having Cheeseburgers for the next few days!
My mum, Hamish and I went to McDonald's after church today with the Jireh and his family, and Tommy and his family. Since we were there, we thought we'd take advantage of this! It was quite a mission though with McDonald's free Wi-Fi not working on our iPod's! I had to resort to turning on my phone's mobile internet and then using my phone as a mobile hotspot to allow our iPod's to connect to the internet.
It was slow and painful, and my iPod was on the brink of dying but we made it! Jireh was the first to order, and when he showed the guy at the counter his iPod, the guy had no idea about the promotion and had to ask his manager. When his manager confirmed it, the guy asked Jireh how many Cheeseburgers he wanted! After Jireh was done, I asked for three Cheeseburgers and Hamish did too.
Later we picked Aonghas up from work and went back to McDonald's where he bought another five. We'll be having Cheeseburgers for the next few days!
You Never Know What's Around the Corner
I've just finished watching another Chinese drama, Corner with Love (and no, Rainie Yang isn't in it! Show Luo who was in Hi! My Sweetheart is in it though) and it's made me think about quite a few things that are quite relevant to me right now, such as if you never try, you'll never know what could have been. That's something I've been told many times! This drama has only further reinforced the message.
Now time to find my next drama to watch!...or maybe I should start studying...
Friday 12 August 2011
Baking Time
Tonight our youth group had another baking night for our activity night. Jireh and Grace organised everything, which is just as well since Grace is one of the baking enthusiasts in our youth group!
The original plan was to use this night as a test to see how well we could bake and whether our baking would be good enough to sell to church members so we could help fundraise for the church renovations.
We got there a little late as we had to pick up Cleo from the mall and also buy some self-raising flour (as we offered to bring that ingredient!). When we got there, everyone had already been split into groups, one group baking chocolate chip cookies, one group baking egg tarts, one baking red bean pastry puffs and one group baking rainbow cupcakes.
I was put into the red bean pastry puffs group, but Andrew, Amy and Antonia had pretty much finished by the time I joined. All I could help out with was poking holes into the pastry! We just passed the time making the most of the egg leftovers we had by putting it the microwave and making omelettes. I never knew it was that easy to make omelettes! I also discovered that Phillip is my jacket twin! We both have the exact same jackets and bought them from the same place!
The cookies were the first to go into the oven, and they looked good! There was one really huge cookie. If only all Subway cookies were that big! While they were in the oven, Amy, Antonia and I were trying to get make an omelette but the girls ended up burning it in the microwave! It tasted a little plasticky!
The egg tarts went in next and then it was the pastry puffs. The rainbow cupcakes went in last.
As they were in the oven, we decided to surprise Eva by singing her Happy Birthday and presenting her with a birthday cheesecake!
The rainbow cupcakes came out of the oven but they were burnt! It looks like whoever left them in must've got Celsius mixed up with Fahrenheit! Although we were initially disappointed and gutted, we soon discovered that the insides of the muffins still tasted good!
After a photo with all our food, it was time to eat! I only managed to try one of each (and maybe a second chocolate chip cookie) before it was enough for me. I didn't need dinner after that!
There was also this new girl Kathy who had joined us who was visiting us from America who shared with us what America is really like. It was quite interesting! She also can play some traditional Chinese instrument. It's just a shame she's returning to America next Saturday!
I think after a little bit of tweaking we should be ready to sell our baking to the church members!
The original plan was to use this night as a test to see how well we could bake and whether our baking would be good enough to sell to church members so we could help fundraise for the church renovations.
We got there a little late as we had to pick up Cleo from the mall and also buy some self-raising flour (as we offered to bring that ingredient!). When we got there, everyone had already been split into groups, one group baking chocolate chip cookies, one group baking egg tarts, one baking red bean pastry puffs and one group baking rainbow cupcakes.
I was put into the red bean pastry puffs group, but Andrew, Amy and Antonia had pretty much finished by the time I joined. All I could help out with was poking holes into the pastry! We just passed the time making the most of the egg leftovers we had by putting it the microwave and making omelettes. I never knew it was that easy to make omelettes! I also discovered that Phillip is my jacket twin! We both have the exact same jackets and bought them from the same place!
The cookies were the first to go into the oven, and they looked good! There was one really huge cookie. If only all Subway cookies were that big! While they were in the oven, Amy, Antonia and I were trying to get make an omelette but the girls ended up burning it in the microwave! It tasted a little plasticky!
As they were in the oven, we decided to surprise Eva by singing her Happy Birthday and presenting her with a birthday cheesecake!
The rainbow cupcakes came out of the oven but they were burnt! It looks like whoever left them in must've got Celsius mixed up with Fahrenheit! Although we were initially disappointed and gutted, we soon discovered that the insides of the muffins still tasted good!
After a photo with all our food, it was time to eat! I only managed to try one of each (and maybe a second chocolate chip cookie) before it was enough for me. I didn't need dinner after that!
There was also this new girl Kathy who had joined us who was visiting us from America who shared with us what America is really like. It was quite interesting! She also can play some traditional Chinese instrument. It's just a shame she's returning to America next Saturday!
I think after a little bit of tweaking we should be ready to sell our baking to the church members!
Saturday 6 August 2011
Multiple Birthdays
Tonight we went to our cousins' place to celebrate several birthdays in the family. In August our cousins Martyn, Greg, Graeme and our Aunty Noeline all have their birthdays quite close together. We decided to celebrate them all together at one dinner. It was just our luck that the dinner happened to be on the night the All Blacks played against the Wallabies, as our cousins have Sky TV!
We were all there except Martyn, as he was in hospital after getting an abscess on his chin! That was quite a shock as he had been in hospital since Wednesday and it was the first time we had heard of it! He has been isolated though and will have to have surgery some time though, but it sounds like he's doing OK.
The dinner made us all full as usual, with food such as chop sooey, fried rice and various kinds of meat. We all caught up as we ate dinner.
The birthday cake came out not too long after, probably so we could get it out and have dessert before the game started! The cake was a nice pink one. It's not good for you but I enjoyed the cream! While I managed to pace myself with dinner, I had one big bowl of dessert and went for seconds but didn't last very long! I was struggling to finish, but determined to eat it all so I wouldn't waste their food!
The rugby game then started and we were all cheering on the All Blacks except our Uncle Peter who wanted the Wallabies to win! Fortunately the All Blacks won and we all went home happy!
We were all there except Martyn, as he was in hospital after getting an abscess on his chin! That was quite a shock as he had been in hospital since Wednesday and it was the first time we had heard of it! He has been isolated though and will have to have surgery some time though, but it sounds like he's doing OK.
The dinner made us all full as usual, with food such as chop sooey, fried rice and various kinds of meat. We all caught up as we ate dinner.
The birthday cake came out not too long after, probably so we could get it out and have dessert before the game started! The cake was a nice pink one. It's not good for you but I enjoyed the cream! While I managed to pace myself with dinner, I had one big bowl of dessert and went for seconds but didn't last very long! I was struggling to finish, but determined to eat it all so I wouldn't waste their food!
The rugby game then started and we were all cheering on the All Blacks except our Uncle Peter who wanted the Wallabies to win! Fortunately the All Blacks won and we all went home happy!
Farewell Jess
We received some shocking news at our family dinner about the passing of someone we knew. Even though we didn't know Jess Hosking too well, we remembered her and her family, as her parents used to teach us swimming.
Jess was a year younger than Aonghas, and went on an OE to France. She somehow got sick though and passed away in her sleep.
While we weren't that close to Jessica, we knew of her and had met her once or twice, and her parents had taught us swimming when we were much younger.
It's really sad, especially when the life of someone as young as Jessica passes. I'm sure she made the most of what time she had on Earth though, and it's very obvious she left her mark!
Some excerpts from the media:
- NZ Herald
While we weren't that close to Jessica, we knew of her and had met her once or twice, and her parents had taught us swimming when we were much younger.
It's really sad, especially when the life of someone as young as Jessica passes. I'm sure she made the most of what time she had on Earth though, and it's very obvious she left her mark!
Some excerpts from the media:
Mrs Hosking said her daughter lived life to the fullest.
"She loved life, she enjoyed it. Anything can be achieved if you believe - that was her motto."
- NZ Herald
- Western Leader
Piha Surf Life Saving president Peter Brown says Jess never backed away from a challenge.
"No matter how big the surf was she was in there – even if I was worried.
"She was brave, tough and silly."
Jess was one of 16 lifeguards involved in the rescue of a man in heavy surf at Piha in 2008.
The man was brought to shore unconscious but survived. The life savers won the club's rescue of the month award.
Friday 5 August 2011
Let There be Internet!
I finally managed to get mobile internet going on my phone six months after buying it, and in the end it wasn't my phone or my problem at all, but Vodafone's!
I rang up technical support and got someone from New Zealand at the other end. I explained the situation to him and straight away he offered to email me the APN settings to follow. I immediately told him I had already tried that!
He then put me on hold for five minutes.
When he returned, he asked me to try connect on my phone and you won't believe how I felt when I saw it connected!
I tried to ask him what went wrong and he told me some settings weren't correct at their end! I had been thinking it was my problem all this time!
He asked me if there was anything he could help me with before hanging up on me abruptly! He wasn't exactly the friendliest person to talk to. I was hoping he would have felt sympathetic and give me some sort of compensation for not being able to connect for several months!
Thursday 4 August 2011
Farewelling a Workmate
As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, one of my workmates is leaving after over eight years working at the pharmacy I work at and today was her last day at work. While today was pretty much work as usual, we decided to farewell her over dinner last night at this small little Italian restaurant down Fort Street in the city.
I have to admit it was the first time I had done anything with my workmates outside of work, so it would be a little different and...weird? It was pretty good though, not having to worry about always being 'onto' it!
We all decided to order a couple of slices of pizza along with some pasta. The theme of the restaurant was Al Capone, so the items on the menu all had gangster names. I think the pizza I ordered was called Benny "Bullet"!
We talked for a while and ate some garlic bread that had been given to us. They ended up giving my preceptor the wrong pizza which had meat on it (my preceptor couldn't eat it), so I switched pizzas with my preceptor. It tasted good nonetheless! The restaurant gave us some slices of pizza on the house for the mix-up, which was nice of them! Since I was the only guy there, they expected me to eat the rest of the food that no one else wanted!
The pasta came a little later. The food along with plenty of glasses of water and a glass of pineapple juice made me full by the end of the night! One of the ladies couldn't finish her plate so she gave her leftovers to me!
It was approaching 8pm and so we decided to make our way home. It was a good night and I'll miss my workmate. Thanks for being so kind and supportive throughout this year!
Today as she left for the last time, she left me with these words
"Make sure you pass!"
I definitely will try to!
Tuesday 2 August 2011
Someone's Leaving
One of the ladies at work is leaving this week. She's been working at the pharmacy for many years now, so for all my workmates it'll be pretty sad. It'll be pretty sad for me too as she's really nice and friendly and I've gotten to know her these past few months I've been working.
Today she brought a really nice cake and some other food to share with all of us!
I was hoping the change of ownership earlier this year would be the only major change in personnel during my internship but it looks like there will be more change to come...
Today she brought a really nice cake and some other food to share with all of us!
I was hoping the change of ownership earlier this year would be the only major change in personnel during my internship but it looks like there will be more change to come...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)