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!

A Day in (Roto)Vegas

Happy Waitangi Day everyone!

It's Aonghas's last free week before he has to start work, so since my dad had today off, we thought we might go on our second family outing of the year. It took us half the day to decide, but finally by midday we decided we'd drive down to Rotorua for the day - a roughly three hour drive! Thanks Aonghas for driving us!

 I had a long sleep before we had our first stop...at Ngaruawahia! 

We parked in exactly the same car park as last time when we went down south to pick blueberries. We had a quick toilet break before we got going again!

We passed a few icons, such as the Huntly Power Station and, well a lot of grace, trees and farm animals, before we eventually passed Cambridge and Hamilton.

We soon reached our destination, Rotorua!

We came across a park with some hot pools.

 We could tell by the fences surrounding some rocks and trees.

We parked and got out to have a look. You could definitely see the steam, smell the sulphur and hear the bubbling!

There were no shooting geysers though. We saw this small pool with steam rising from it. We could hear this noise that was getting louder. We originally thought maybe it was a geyser about to shoot up, but then realised it was just a helicopter taking off from the neighbouring hospital!

Our dad said there might be some more exciting geysers at nearby Whakarewarewa, so we headed towards there, driving through the city centre.

We saw the nearby Lake Rotorua though, and decided to stop there for a toilet break and to take in the sights!



The lake was really nice. There were sleeping black ducks, little paddle boats, the old Lakeside Queen was parked at a wharf, and a plane boat (or do you call it a boat plane?) was taking off nearby!

There were also quite a few Korean tourists around the place taking photos!

We were on a tight time frame with only a couple hours left to go.

We drove to Whakarewarewa, which was completely empty! There was a nearby Maori village, with some kids jumping off a bridge into a river.

We didn't know if we were allowed to cross that bridge into the river though, so we went over to the Information Centre. They told us it was closed and to try down the road around the back at Te Puia.

We jumped into the car, drove down the road and found Te Puia. It was open, but admission was about $47 per adult! Too expensive!

We tried to have a look through the fence, before taking a glimpse of the helicopter at the neighbouring helipad, then got back in the car and drove a little further down the road to see if there was anything left.

There was another entrance, which let us cross a bridge. We got a good view of the surrounding forest and one possible geyser. The bridge just took us to that other entrance though, so we walked back.

It was almost 6pm, and time to head back home!

We did take stop by Tirau to take some photos of the giant corrugated iron statues and buildings in the shape of various animals though!

 They really must love corrugated iron at that town!

On our way back, we stopped at Burger King in Hamilton, where we had dinner. Aonghas ordered five value meal deals upsized. They gave them to Aonghas, but didn't upsize them. Fortunately Aonghas noticed, so he took the food back and they reluctantly upsized the fries and gave larger cups. I had already filled my small cup up, and so they told Aonghas just to refill that cup, but Aonghas told them that we were driving back to Auckland, so they again reluctantly gave us a larger cup! The ice-cream sundaes were some of the smallest we've seen as well, with the cups barely half full! Lucky we probably won't be going to that Burger King again!

We made it back home in time for Hell's Kitchen, so it was a perfectly timed, one day trip!

A Late Night Sing

Tonight after church a group of us went to the Baptist Tabernacle in the city to check out their evening service. I think the last time I was at that church was probably the church conference last year!

Originally I thought the service would be in the main hall, but it turned out to be in the upstairs dining hall! We all sat around tables instead of in rows of chairs, which was a new experience! There were Bibles at each of the tables as well.

There was a worship band on the small raised stage, who led us with a few songs, before one of the pastors gave his sermon.

After the service, we all decided to have a vote on what to have for dinner before some would be going home, and a few of us to karaoke! Some of the adults initially suggested Taiwanese food, but after all the money we spent last night on dinner and ice-skating, they were out-voted by us young people who all voted for Wendy's!

  

It worked out well in the end though, as there wasn't much time before we were meant to be at the karaoke place. Most of us ordered the value meal which came with a burger, fries, drink and a sundae. We also got a free milk shake via the Wendy's app! It was quite filling. I almost couldn't finish it all!

We soon had to cross the road to the karaoke bar which is located in what used to be a giant gaming arcade. It looks quite nice now! It's sorta underground too. We were booked in to Room One.

There were about fifteen of us. Most of them were fluent in Chinese, so naturally they chose Mandarin and Cantonese songs. I didn't understand most of them, so I just cheered and tried singing as much as I could. Hamish, Grace and I (the English group) tried to fit in a few English songs as much as we could, even though the Chinese songs outnumbered most of them!

We did get to sing a few English songs throughout the night! There were a couple we didn't realise would have swear words in them! Uh oh! I also tried singing a couple Chinese songs, like Kiss Goodbye by Wang Lee Hom and Ai Mei by Rainie Yang!

We had the room for four hours, and each of us were allowed to order anything up to a total of $20, so I tried the red bean crush and some deep-fried fish. I'm not too sure if it was worth it for the price, but I guess at least it's something!

Aonghas soon joined us after he finished work over at uni.

Our room was booked till midnight, so by midnight we had to leave. Fortunately it's a holiday tomorrow!

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!)

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Out of Auckland for a Day

It was a bit of a spur-of-the-moment decision late yesterday afternoon that our family would travel down to Hamilton for the day and go pick blueberry picking along the way. Our dad has a few days off work, and we finally have a reliable car, so we thought we'd make the most of it!

We didn't leave home till 10am though. So far we've been in the car for over an hour and have just passed through Huntly and Ngaruawahia.

It's so quiet and small, a far cry from the hustle and bustle of Auckland! There was a McDonalds and even a KFC at Huntly though, which impressed me!

We took a short toilet break at Ngaruawahia before continuing on down to Hamilton. Another roughly 60kms to go, and the weather is perfect at the moment!

We finally got to Hamilton just after midday, but had to travel a bit further to go to the blueberry farm. This was a different one to the farm we went to last year. We decided to check this one out, as we could visit Hamilton on the way back.

I have to admit, the blueberries were much bigger and plentiful at this farm!

We spent almost two hours picking and eating blueberries. There were quite a few others doing the same, mostly Asians!

By 2.30pm, we thought it's probably about time we leave. We each took our bucket of blueberries to the tent by the parked cars to get weighed. In total, we had around 9.5kg worth of blueberries. In order to have them at a cheaper rate, we had to purchase at least 10kg. Out we went, back into the farm to pick another 500g worth of blueberries! It probably took us half an hour to do so!

We had to drive back to the main building to pay for the blueberries. We were originally going to get an ice-cream cone as well, but it was going to take 15 minutes and we were already running out of time since we had to get back to Auckland for a singing rehearsal at church by 7pm tonight! 

Instead, we just left and headed for the Hamilton Gardens to check out the Japanese gardens that our dad was keen to see.

I have to admit I was impressed with the Hamilton Gardens! Admittedly, we only had enough time to check out one section of the gardens, but what we did get to see was impressive!

Naturally, we went to the section with gardens from different regions of the world, such as the Japanese, Chinese, Indian, English, American and Italian gardens.

It's been a long time since I last came here, probably when I was a little child! 

I could only remember a Japanese garden existing, but I have to say it was outshone by some of the other gardens, namely the Indian and Italian gardens which were quite impressive courtyards! 

The American garden wasn't much.

It was a modernist garden, so it mainly consisted of a pool with three beach chairs and a painting of Marilyn Monroe beside it.

We were soon running out of time and had to rush through the Italian garden before leaving for Auckland.

It was a good day out, even though it wasn't long enough! There was a minor concern on the way back when Aonghas thought he smelt smoke and heard some rattling noises come from the car, resulting in him pulling over alongside the motorway to double check. He couldn't find anything though, so he continued on. 

A trip to Hamilton. What a good start to 2013. Hopefully there'll be quite a few more trips out of Auckland this year!

(http://youtu.be/-t7MLJRcmyU)

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