Karaoke Time!

This afternoon I caught the train with Andrew into the city to join a few others for some karaoke! It's been a while since I last caught a train and probably one of the first times I've used the new AT Hop Card!

The platform was actually a bit busy because school had finished, but fortunately there were seats for Andrew and me!

We got to the karaoke bar early and so we went in and got started before Tsun Hei and Stephanie arrived, and later Laura and John.

We all took turns singing songs. Most of them were Chinese songs.

There were actually some nice Chinese songs! I had to Sound Hound them so I could try find them when I got home.

I did try sing some Chinese songs, but I had to search up the pinyin for them!

John and I were the only two who couldn't read the Chinese, so we managed to get a few English songs in there too!

Let's Get Quizzical!!

Our friend Chen is quite into trivia and during his travels has attended some pub quizzes. He invited us to come along to one tonight with a few of his med school friends.

I've only ever attended one pub quiz before, and it was quite interesting.

For those of you who don't know what a pub quiz is, you form a team, and there is a quiz master who asks the questions. There are several rounds, with each consisting of general knowledge questions of a certain topic.

We got to 'The Dominion' first (a pub down...Dominion Road!), where we ordered some food and waited for Chen's friends.



With half the team consisting of med students, a pharmacist and a commerce student, it was decided the team name was Gram Positive (science people will know what that is!)



There were eight rounds in the pub quiz, with topics on music, movies, arts and literature, geography, pot luck, believe it or not, scandals and Great Scott! (about anything related to Scott!). Each round was worth ten points, and we could choose two rounds in which our points would be worth double.



There were some interesting questions, and we didn't do badly for our first time. We came around 14th or 15th...out of about 20 teams. We were up against teams with older people, as well as a few teams with many more people.

 

We'll have to see if this becomes a regular occurrence!

Happy (Early) Birthday Steven!

Tonight after uni my brothers joined some of the older guys from our church youth group for dinner at Hak Ka Hut Restaurant in Albany to celebrate Stephen's upcoming birthday!

We had a table at the back of the restaurant. Stephen's mum and sister were the only girls at the table. They did all the ordering, but that was fine because the food was quite nice!

We had some beans, fried to-fu, beef, fish...I'll let the photos do the talking!

Once we had finished eating, it was time to bring out the cake!

After all of us took heaps of photos of the cake, it was time to sing Happy Birthday to Stephen, and eat the cake! Let me tell you, it tasted good!

Stephen, Wei and Cham soon had to leave for a movie while the rest of us headed home. I have a presentation to prepare for tomorrow morning which I haven't...started....

Happy birthday once again, Stephen and thanks for inviting us to dinner!

Birthday Bowling

I've finally turned 24!

I've grown to dislike birthdays, as it just serves as a reminder that I'm only getting old. Besides, nothing fun usually happens on birthdays anyway! This year though I had quite a good birthday.

It started off with two of my best high school friends, Hyun and Joon having a video chat with me just before and carrying on past midnight. It was about 5am over there in New York, so they were up just to chat to me. It was really cool, as I haven't talked to them in a long time, and I haven't actually video chatted to them since they left NZ over six years ago!

What was just as cool was that they told me they had received the Christmas presents I had posted them several weeks ago - All Blacks ties (as a reminder of NZ)! I was starting to worry a little bit as no one had received anything I had posted overseas to them!

I was also given a birthday card by Eva on Sunday that I had been saving till my birthday to open, so I decided to open and read it just after midnight (apparently I was meant to read it the day before though!). It was really nice of her! She had made it herself, and inside she wrote quite a long and heartfelt message! Thank you so much Eva!

It was finally time to open the present Grace had given me on Saturday too. It turned out to be a shoulder bag! That was something I've been meaning to buy myself for a while, since the one I currently have is starting to fall apart after two years of use! Thank you so much Grace!

It really put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. Later that afternoon I went with my brothers and Grace to the city to go bowling at the new Metro Lanes (in the Metro building), using some one-day vouchers. The place just opened recently, so it was worth a try!

It was quite different to the older bowling alleys we're used to. The lanes are split, with a few here and there. I guess that's due to a lack of space.

It looked as though Aonghas was going to run away with the highest score, with Grace coming a close second. That was impressive too, considering how Grace has played very little bowling! I was languishing in third, but after getting a spare in the last bowl, I was given an extra bowl and was unlucky to come second just by ONE pin!

The game only lasted about 40 minutes which was not too bad!

We were originally going to check out that Japanese pop art exhibition but after finally getting mobile internet to work, we realised the gallery is closed on Mondays! I guess it was straight onto lunch then!

We were about to go to Burger King, but at the last minute decided to go to Wendy's instead. That continues a tradition we have of going to Wendy's on birthdays.

We all ordered one of those $5 combos, and got a free frosty shake through the Wendy's app! (If you have an iPhone or Android, download the app and use it!).

With a drink, ice-cream AND a frosty, we were all quite full after that! 

It was time to walk back to the car though, as we only had paid for parking for two hours. Along the way we discovered a nice little Christian bookstore, and some really good lady just drumming on the footpath!

I actually enjoyed my birthday this time! Thanks Aonghas for paying too! :P

What I have come to realise is that rather than dread becoming another year older, I should be thankful I've been able to live another year, and I am truly grateful for that!

I've come to realise that I have many awesome and loving friends. I am truly grateful to have them in my lives, and I hope I've done my best to be there for them and be the best friend I can be!

I also love my family and would have no other family, despite our numerous flaws and quirks!

So once again, thanks everyone for the birthday wishes!

More specifically, thanks Grace, Joe, Wei, Kaytee, Bettina, James, Phillip, Andrew, Eva, Andy, Cham, Suzy, Sue, Julie H, Julie K, Jacky, Uncle John, Ian, Stella, Mimi, Amelia, Jane, Jennifer W, Diane, Megan, Aunty Grace, Elizabeth, Antonio, Nami, Evelyn, Ashleigh, Kacey, Jonathan S, Korina, Ivy, Ray, Arina, Nadine, Anateira, Anthony, Irene, Tina, Joon, Hyun, Janice, Angel, Neha, Szelin, Dillon, Kunsala, Julie, Emily, Michael T, Mary, Lindsey, James Z, Sonja, Xin-Yan, Mitali, Alex W, Evan, Sera, Ben, Joshua, Calvin, Daniel W, George, Monica, Mandy V, Bobby, Zippo, Sheena, Miji, Ada, Aula, Tyler, Cleo, Peter, Scholastica, Ben V, Fiona, Shirley K, Toni, Tim, Alex, Chen, Steven P, Kimberley, Emily, Caylee, Harris, Martyn, Eujin, Hannah, Shameela, Banthoon, Jon, Kylie-Marie, Peter H, Belinda, Natalie, Winston, Dianne, Andrew B, Ting Ting, Sheridan, Cathie, Joy, Yerin, Zahir, Sebastian, Lunshen, Johnny, Aone, Megan J, Carmen, Anisha, Yan Yan, Graeme, Konny, Ellyce, Karen, Vanessa, Joylynn, Angie, Jenny, Rebecca, Amy and Cookie Bear for your birthday wishes!

(Let me know if I've missed you!)

(http://youtu.be/t-PFZ6_UZDo)

Food Time

Congratulations to Grace, one of my friends who just discovered she has been accepted into University of Auckland! She passed NCEA Level 3, and will be studying Bachelor of Science (Food Science and Nutrition), with the aim of becoming a dietitian.

That is so exciting! Hopefully all of you have gotten the results you desired!

A Dinner Catch-Up

Tonight Chen, Gwen and I caught up over dinner. It's the first time I've caught up with them in quite a while! 

We started off at this Japanese restaurant, which was quite nice. We just updated each other on what we were up to, as well as reminisce over past memories.

Soon it seemed as though the restaurant was about to close! We didn't feel full though, so we ended up finding ourselves at another restaurant, Carls Jr for our second dinner!

It was a good catch-up!

Group Run!

After music teaching today, Winston and his mum were going to have lunch at McDonald's, and asked if we would like to come along.

I don't know how many times I've had fast food this week now! I really should ban myself from fast food for a while.

I was telling Grace about how Aonghas and I went for a run the day before, and we came up with an idea to go for a run later tonight. I volunteered my brothers, despite them not being home (but they need the exercise anyway!). I then asked around to see if anyone else would be keen.

Eventually, we got a group together and all met up outside Trusts Stadium later that evening! A few of the guys had just had dinner, so they were going to take it easy.

We decided to jog along the track which runs alongside the river, goes up to the motorway, up to Central Park Drive and then back to Trusts Stadium.

Aonghas and I used this app, Endomondo to track our run and compare it to the day before. Surprisingly, tonight's run felt a lot easier! Admittedly, we all took a little break at the halfway mark, but by the end of the run I still had a little bit left in the tank to crank up the speed!

The run was a lot shorter than we had anticipated, as we finished in about 20ish minutes, so we got Wei to teach us some tai chi! That is some hard work!

It was starting to get dark, so we decided to cross the road to church for a drink. Some of our mums were there for a group meeting anyway.

We ended up sitting around talking before they had to close the church!

We might end up making this a more regular thing. Round the Bays, here we come!

(http://youtu.be/X95CEwlRJaM)

Late Night Bite

So it's a Monday night. I don't have to go to work tomorrow, so I'm just staying up late for no reason.

I've been chatting to a friend who says my brothers and I all look alike, and that we look Maori o.O

~~

Had fun skyping Amy tonight...

~~

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCbAPvEAzdY)

An old childhood favourite...

You're Not Forgotten!

In the past few days, I've been realising I haven't been the best at keeping in touch with people! I always tell people I won't forget them, and truth is that I don't forget people easily. I remember most people I deal with! 

I see things about some of my friends appear on my Facebook Newsfeed from time to time - friends I haven't talked to in a while! I'm tempted to, but because quite some time has passed since I last talked to them, I feel a little awkward/random doing so! 

I feel really bad though, because I am quite aware of what it's like to have people start to drift away from you by not talking to you as much anymore, and pretty much leaving you feeling like they've forgotten you, and maybe that's what I've been doing unintentionally too!

Therefore, I've decided to make a better effort at keeping in touch with friends from now on!

October Baby

Tonight a group of us from church met up to watch October Baby:

"A college freshman's world is rocked when she learns she is the adopted survivor of an attempted abortion."

This was the only screening in Auckland, and I think it was organised by Mana, a Christian book store. There were limited tickets and we got the last eight! Apparently there were only seven left, but the man at the store kindly gave up his ticket!

Winston and I quickly bought some popcorn at Countdown while waiting for the others. Wei hadn't arrived, so I gave him a call. He was still at home and thought the movie was next week!

While we were at Countdown looking for There were those Coke bottles with the custom names on them. There was a whole shelf of bottles with 'Raj' on it, with a few with 'Feng' and 'Sione'! Very multicultural!

When we got into the theatre, it was quite full, and we had to sit in third row from the front! It wasn't too bad though. I just slouched in my seat so I wouldn't get a sore neck! I admit it was a little hard to eat! Winston and I ended up being some of the messiest people in the theatre!

There were a few laugh-out-loud scenes, with some guy laughing randomly at some things!

At the end of the movie there was a round of applause before everyone started leaving. It did leave me rethinking my ambivalence towards the whole issue. I've never really thought much about the issue, but I think it's really time I formed a viewpoint on issues such as this!

We went across the carpark to Burger King afterwards for dinner. Wei and I split a dinner meal, which meant I got two burgers! I sure was full afterwards! I think I'll need to do extra exercise this week to burn all that fat off!

Flat Tyre

We had just finished youth group, and all got in our car. As we were travelling down the road, something didn't feel right. Aonghas pulled over at the Trusts Stadium (which is pretty much across the road from our church) and we discovered we had a punctured tyre!

None of us knew how to change a tyre, and everyone had left church by now! It was also past 11pm at night, so most people would be asleep too! It was all up to us!

 Aonghas went on the net and with the help of Andrew jacked up the car, found the spare one and replaced it. 

Forty minutes later...

The culprit turned out to be a screw!

(http://youtu.be/goixqA5FhXQ)

Late Night Food

I actually had something to look forward to after work tonight - the Pakuranga Night Markets! Leonie, our friend, had never been there before, so we offered to take her, her brother Winston and her mum after I finished work.

Work was quite quiet, but at least the pharmacist I was working with was quite nice and taught me a thing or two!

Work finally finished, and they were all waiting for me in the car outside!

When we got there, it was already quite packed! The markets are held at the Westfield Pakuranga carpark. There were heaps of food stalls and other stalls selling all sorts of goods. We spent most of the time looking at the food as we were all starving! Leonie was the first to buy something, getting a Chinese pancake. Winston went for the Japanese pancake, and then it took us a long, long time to decide what we wanted! I ended up deciding to take the plunge and bought a Chinese pie!

Our parents came back later on and had bought some dumplings and some dim sum.

There was a Christian stall that was wanting people to fill out a survey in order to get a chocolate bar. My mum and brothers completed it and got their chocolate bar.

It was then that we realised we were running out of time as some stalls were starting to pack up! We had a look around at what was being sold. Most of them were selling cellphone accessories and clothes.

There was one last thing we just had to try - Churro's! I've tried them before, but I don't think anyone else had! We went over to the Churro stall only to discover that the girl who was there was one of Aonghas's primary school friends! That was pretty cool!

Winston got a jumbo one!

It was time to go and we were full!

Not Cool!

Put in a Pot

Tim invited me to dinner tonight after work which was exciting as I haven't done anything with myself after work ever since sitting my exam and having all this free time! Finally I had something to look forward to!

Tim picked me up after work and we were joined by Andrew, who had just finished his last exam today. We went to Sichuan Restaurant in Newmarket where we had steamboat (that's what I think it's called? Apparently others reckon it's actually called fish-pot or hot-pot?).

My greatest fear with steamboat is not cooking food properly and getting sick a few hours later! However, with Tim and Andrew being pros at this I didn't have anything to fear!

There was both raw and cooked food all on plates/trays along a table and you could just help yourself to whatever you wanted. We grabbed a bit of meat, some little octopuses, tofu, fish balls and crab meat. Some of the cooked food included egg tarts, noodles, rice and other deep-fried food!

There was a boiling pot on a stove in the middle of our table where we put in our raw food to cook. It was split into two halves - one spicy side and one normal side. I put my food in the normal side of course!

We spent the night eating and talking about all sorts of things, like my love life (it seems to be a favourite topic for some!)

By the end of the night I was quite full! We left to go pick up Tim's wife Gabrielle, having to circle around the block a few times before we found her.

I really enjoyed the night out! With no exams to study for...for now, I have a lot more free time, so I'll have to do this a bit more often!

(http://youtu.be/ggEvPsh9j30)

Farewell Phillip!

We were caught out a little last week when we were told by Phillip that he would be moving to Perth to live tomorrow! He was only going to be up in Auckland for a couple of days before then, so there was not much time to catch up with him one more time before he left. Because Aonghas would be working in the night, and I would be working during the day, the only time we could all meet up together was for breakfast this morning.

We picked him up early in the morning. We drove our new car, and so when we stopped beside him on the side of the road, he just stood there looking for us as he didn't recognise our car!

We got stuck in a long traffic jam along Lincoln Road, but somehow managed to make it onto the motorway in about ten minutes!

When we got to the city we walked down Queen Street looking for somewhere to have breakfast, but most places seemed to be closed at 7am in the morning except for the fast food joints! We eventually settled for Burger King.

I had this omelette burger combo that came with hash brown bites and a coffee which seemed to fill me up and made me quite wide awake for the morning at work which is a first!

I soon had to go to work, so I had to farewell Phillip with a few hugs and photos. :(

Fortunately work wasn't too bad and my preceptor made us cupcakes, and I was told I get Tuesday off work next week which means FIVE day weekend! Woohoo!

Take care Phillip, you've now given me a reason to visit Perth! Hopefully we'll continue to stay in touch!