Early in the Morning

It's 4am in the morning and I'm up, as Aonghas is off to Melbourne in a few hours and I have to go with my mum to drop him off at his friend's house!

He's going to Melbourne as part of his 4th year Engineering project group to compete in some robotics competition.

He's meant to be at his friend's by 4am but he only just started packing at...4am!

Anyway, we're off now! I'm going to be so dead at work later today...

Time to Fly!

I just got my Air New Zealand Airpoints card in the mail today! I think I might just have to do a bit more travelling to make the most of it..

The Big Exam

Today was probably the most important day of my short-lived pharmacy career so far - my pharmacy registration exam! I woke up in my really nice double bed to the sound of heavy rain outside, WHHYYYYYY!

First things first though. I had to get up, have my shower, then go downstairs and find out if I had to check out of my hotel room. Uh oh..check out time was 10am, in half an hour!

I quickly went back up, packed all my things and left my room. Byebye Room 6! Now I was homeless! The only place I could think of was McDonald's across the road.

I dragged my carry-bag across the road to McDonald's and ordered the Big Kiwi Breakfast, then sat down and slowly ate it while I did my last minute exam preparation.

I think I was there for at least two hours! By then I felt like I had probably outstayed my welcome, so I decided to make my way to the hotel where the exam was to be held.

There were interns doing last minute studying in the foyer already! It was not too long till we were all called to come into this room where we would be debriefed on what to expect in the exam.

I don't think I'm allowed to say much about the exam, except that I had to do six roleplays and one interview at the end. I'm pretty sure I screwed up at the beginning, but as I went along, I started to feel a lot better and more confident. By the end of it I just wanted to keep talking in my interview!

After the exam though all those thoughts started entering my mind, like what if I did this wrong, or what if that was wrong? It was torture!

I dragged all my possessions to the shopping centre nearby where I feasted on Burger King. My pharmacy friend contacted me and I met up with him and told him about the exam. 

After our little catch-up, I headed to the bus and made my way back to Wellington Airport.

By then, it was dark and almost all the shops at the airport were closed. There wasn't much to do there except go on my laptop and try use up all the data on my data stick. 

Finally it was time to board the flight! Once again I had a window seat. I didn't have to worry about studying this time, so instead I just listened to music. I didn't make the same mistake of choosing the chocolate bar. ACTUALLY, they ran out of chocolate bars! I went with the BBQ chips instead. I tried tea this time, but before I even had a chance to drink it, the pilot told us to prepare for landing! Apparently we were 15 minutes early! That's very uncommon!

Despite arriving in Auckland early though, I still had to wait for my parents to pick me up at the airport. Once again everything was closed at Auckland Domestic Airport. I was almost by myself except for the security guards wandering around. 

Eventually my parents came to pick me up.

Tomorrow will be another day at work! At least I'll be able to enjoy my nights without having to worry about study! I'll find out if I pass in three weeks' time...

(http://youtu.be/kJgFmbumrrU)

Locked in my Room

It's exam eve. Tomorrow is the big day and I've been spending most of the day in my hotel room doing last minute study..well most of the time anyway!

I had to arrive at the airport this morning to catch my flight at 8.30am. I did all my packing last night so it was all last minute stuff. I'm only gone for less than two days, so I managed to fit everything into a teeny carry-on bag!

My flight departed ten minutes late, but that was OK. I got a window seat next to a couple. It didn't actually seem too long, but then again I was trying to read my pharmacy stuff while on the flight!

Guess who I saw on my flight though? Labour leader David Shearer and Labour MP David Parker! I only saw them from a distance though.

When they announced that they were ready to hand out snacks, they gave us the option of a Whittakers Chocolate bar, BBQ chips, or an ANZAC biscuit...yeah not such a great selection! I thought the chocolate bar would be one of those longer ones, but it turned out to only be one of those really small ones! At least the coffee kept me going!

I was surprised at how good the weather was when we landed at Wellington though! The weather report said it was going to be raining heavily with thunderstorms! I had dressed accordingly with my thick jacket!

I grabbed my bag and jumped on the airport bus. The trip to Lower Hutt was almost an hour long. When I got off, this other girl got off at the same time and was asking the driver for directions to somewhere. Afterwards she turned to me and asked if I was an intern pharmacist as well, and that's when I realised she was also coming to Lower Hutt to sit her exam! She had booked a room at the hotel we would be sitting our exam at, while the hotel I would be staying at was just down the road.

My hotel room was located above a bar. After finally finding someone who could help me, I was shown to my room and I have to say it wasn't too bad! I got my own table (good for studying!), double bed, TV, shower, toilet and hand basin! The only problem was that water would leak from the pipe below the hand basin. Fortunately this somehow stopped later on in the night!

I spent the next few hours trying to study. I admit I started to doze off closer towards the evening. That's when I realised it was time to go across the road to Westfield Queensgate to buy myself an ENERGY drink!

Luckily for me everything was literally across the road from my hotel - Queensgate on one side, McDonald's on the other, and the exam location just down the road!

I had a quick wander around the shopping mall so I wouldn't feel too guilty for wasting precious cramming time. I carefully selected my drug of choice - Demon (forgive me Lord)! I bought some McDonald's and headed back to my hotel room for more study.

Lun Shen, my pharmacy friend contacted me, asking if I'd like to hang out with him and another one of our pharmacy friends who lives down in Wellington now for dinner. We went to this Thai restaurant and I had some curry chicken on rice as we talked about the exciting changes going on in the pharmacy sector.

It was getting late and so we parted ways. I went back to my hotel room to do some study, and that is where I am now! I probably get some sleep soon too. Even though my exam is at midday tomorrow, I probably should wake up early enough to do some last minute studying.

I also don't know if I'm meant to check out of this hotel room sometime in the morning too...

I can now Leave the Country!

My passport finally arrived in the mail today! It's all new and flash!

It's all colourful and prettiful inside, and you can't see the stubble on my face in my ID photo!

Hello Hong Kong!

I've just booked my flight to Hong Kong! I'll be flying Jestar (fingers crossed it won't be as bad as everyone says they are...at least for my flight anyway!) there and back, stopping over in Singapore for the night on the way there and for a few hours on the way back.

I was fortunate enough to get a week off work to go in the middle of February to go to Hong Kong, so that I can get my permanent identity card renewed.

Once I got the week off though, I then discovered how expensive airfares were! Return flights cost around $2000!

Fortunately I spotted the Jetstar flight for about $1500. I was a little weary though, with Jetstar's reputation and everything. I rang them a few times to ask them several questions, making sure I knew what they would charge for and what they didn't.

The flight doesn't include inflight entertainment or food. It'd cost me extra to choose my seat, and to board the plane earlier than everyone else. It's going to be a very boring, long flight! I'll have to buy some extra batteries for my phone!

My family will be flying on Air New Zealand, and because they aren't working and have more flexibility, they may stay a little bit longer. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up with a few people while in Singapore for the night though!

Better Start Saving

With quite a few of my high school friends leaving overseas for jobs or just for holiday, it's made me think about possibly going overseas next year before I find a proper job.

With nothing else to do besides researching laptops, I tried looking at return airfares to Hong Kong (my number one destination!) and I couldn't believe how expensive it is! Airfares for flights between January to May range from $1900-$2200. Assuming I will be working for another 26 more weeks this year, that means I will have to save about $100 a week just to be able to afford the plane tickets, and there is still no guarantee the prices will stay the same by then next year!

What is even worse is that return airfares to New York would cost around $3100! Boy it really is expensive to fly overseas!

Picking Blueberries

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!

Getting the Travel Bug

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is on right now, and there was a really nice shot of the New York skyline. The Amazing Race has also been playing during the middle of the day everyday. These two shows have really started making me wish I could get out of Auckland and explore the world a bit more!

Admittedly, this year I have traveled out of Auckland more than I ever have in the past ten years, having to first fly down to Christchurch for my hospital placement, and then to Wellington for a job interview. Those were great experiences.

So here are the places I'd most like to visit!

Hong Kong - My mum's hometown (and I'd like to think my second hometown despite the fact I haven't been there in over fifteen years!)

China (and Taiwan) - I'd love to visit China and check out both the ancient and modern buildings! I've always thought about the possibility of living in China for maybe a year or so to try improve my Chinese, even though it'd be quite a big step involving leaving family and friends behind in New Zealand!

South Korea - Some of my best friends are from Korea, and so are Girls Generation! OK maybe not the latter, but it would be cool to see what the home country of my best friends is like. There are also plenty of opportunities to teach English there too, so that would be a good experience.

Australia - Very close to NZ, just a jump across the Tasman. It'd be interesting to see what things are like across the ditch. I'd also like to visit Brisbane, where some of our family friends live so they can take us around. We were considering visiting Brisbane this month to return the favour since they came to visit earlier in the year, but then we realised it'd be quite costly, so the plan was shelved :(

And last but not least...the US of A! When you see it so much on TV, you can't help but wonder what it's like in real life! Aonghas was really lucky to be given the opportunity to visit America a couple years ago. He really enjoyed it! It'd be pretty cool to do Camp America over there too! I'd have to wait till after I complete my internship first though!

Almost a Non-Farewell

This morning my brothers and I went to the airport to farewell James, one of the guys in our youth group who was moving to Australia to live FOREVER.

Because our cousin Janice had her 21st birthday and it finished late, we didn't really bother sleeping. OK well I got a little bit of a nap on the couch before I had to wake up at about 2am to have a shower. I rang Jireh, one of the other guys from church who would be going with Tim and Gabrielle our youth group leaders, as well as Andrew and Ben. He sounded like a zombie over the phone, but that's understandable, considering he had stayed up all night playing FIFA!

We left at quarter to three in the morning. I drove the car, to give Aonghas a chance to work on a video about the children's summer programme he had to present at the church service in the morning. It was raining though, so he was too concerned about my driving to be able to spend time working on the video!

We got to the airport slightly before 4am to find the group waiting outside the Air New Zealand check-in counters. James and his family hadn't arrived yet! They had already been at the airport for a while before we arrived, so we waited until I got a reply to a text message I sent James' dad, something along the lines of:

"We're still at home packing, about to leave"


They were required to check in right now, so we were a little worried! We decided to go upstairs and explore the airport to pass the time away. We checked out a few souvenir shops and then rested on this mini 'mock' stadium grandstand (advertising the Rugby World Cup 2011). We sat there for almost an hour, just watching people pass by, talking and also playing games.

It was now almost 5am and James still hadn't arrived. Jireh and I decided to go back downstairs to see if we could find James and his family. We couldn't spot them, and were about to give up, when we came across him on our way to the toilet! We texted the others and they soon came down to meet him.

They went to the check-in counters to check in with all their luggage. They had heaps of luggage with them seeing as they're leaving the country for good. That's probably why it took almost an hour for them to check in! We were just standing around watching them, worrying and hoping they would be done soon! They were required to get to the departure gate by 6.05am!

With about ten minutes till the gate closed, James and his family had finally finished checking in. They gave us some muesli bars that they weren't able to take with them (over the weight limit I think!), and then we headed upstairs to the departure gate! By now the sun had started to rise!

James said his goodbyes to us, we had a group photo, and then they left.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc_W6iXqQfg)

By now we were really tired. We went back to Henderson where we had breakfast at McDonald's. We all had Massive McMuffin Combo's. The Massive McMuffin was surprisingly massive (usually the pictures are quite misleading!). We were zombies by now, dying for some sleep!

As soon as we got home, Aonghas and Hamish just fell asleep on the couches while I wasn't feeling the best and tried to find somewhere to get some rest as well! It felt as if the day was over, when in fact it was just the start of what would be a very long day!

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi6VJiocf5k)

Rejections Rejections Rejections

Last night one of the pharmacists from Hutt Valley Hospital Pharmacy tried calling me but I missed the call, so I rang them back today when I got back from the city (I've finally rid myself of that hospital pharmacy placement workbook...for now!) and they told me I was unsuccessful in getting the intern position at their hospital next year.

I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand it would have been nice for someone to have finally picked me over others for a job, and it would be a whole new experience for me to move out of Auckland, live on my own and meet heaps of new people. On the other hand though, I'm relieved I won't have to move away from Auckland.

Where does it leave me now though? Still struggling to find somewhere to do my internship next year! I have one interview at a community pharmacy lined up for Monday. Hopefully it won't go too badly, as I'm fast running out of places to apply at!

I started thinking about what I'd do if I can't get an internship next year (I have two years to do my internship after I graduate, so I guess the worst case scenario would be that I would have to do it in 2012!), and I was thinking maybe I could go back to uni to study post-grad (if they let me!), travel overseas to visit my friends in America or just get a full-time job for a year! Who knows. Right now I guess I just have to keep looking. Oh, and pass this semester!

Through the Ice and Snow

It was my last day in Christchurch today, and my Great Aunty Margaret and Great Uncle Rob decided they'd take me to the Antarctic Centre as a treat. I think they also wanted to spend some time with me before I left too so they kindly paid for me which was really nice!

I didn't have too much stuff to pack as I was pretty much living out of a suitcase during the whole week. While we were waiting around before leaving, Great Uncle Rob was just telling me about their canary and other things.

We finally got going and even though the Antarctic Centre was near the airport on the other side of the city, as Great Uncle Rob told me, nothing's far away in Christchurch!

The Antarctic Centre was pretty interesting. There were displays on the wall and models of the Antarctic land.  Once we paid and went in, we had to rush past a few displays as we were told the penguin feeding was about to begin. I wasn't able to see much since everyone had gathered in front of the window, but I did manage to get a glimpse of some penguins!

After it was over, my great aunt and uncle and I went downstairs to see the penguin tank from below water level, and we could see some penguins swimming!

We went back to the beginning to check out some of the displays we had missed. There was a room where people could go in and experience an Antarctic storm. I didn't think my great aunt and uncle would be up for it, but surprisingly they were! We all went in and took a few photos before the wind started to pick and up freeze us!

Once that was over, we carried on, checking out some stuffed animals, watching a movie on a giant screen about Antarctica, and ending in the gift shop. While my great aunt and uncle went to the toilet, I managed to get a photo with the wolf and penguin mascots of the Antarctic Centre! They also asked if I wanted to buy the photo of me with my great aunt and uncle that got taken at the beginning. I ended up buying it!

We were meant to meet Great Aunty Margaret and Great Uncle Rob's daughter Alison and her family for lunch at 12, so we left a bit early to get there on time. They didn't live too far away though, so that was good!

We arrived at their house early though, but luckily they got home from church not too soon after. After I introduced myself to Aunty Alison and her husband, daughter and her daughter's boyfriend, we all had lunch. I have to say it was quite European! I haven't experienced something like that in a while! We held hands as Aunty Alison prayed before we ate. We then got a choice between tomato and chicken soup, and had some bread and muffins that we could eat. It was quite nice to experience something different!

My flight was leaving at 2.50pm, so I had to get to the airport by 2.20pm. Originally my Aunty Sally was going to take me there, but there was a change of plans and instead Aunty Alison would be taking me instead.

When we got to the airport I checked to make sure I had a seat on the plane, which I did. I didn't get much time before I had to board the flight! I gave a hug to my aunty and said goodbye to my aunty and uncle before I had to go off and catch my flight.

Once again I had to leave good weather for terrible weather. We had to keep our seatbelts on throughout the whole flight because of turbulence. I got a bit freaked out by some mechanical sounds during the flight, but by the end of the flight I realised it was just from the plane wing flaps moving up and down!

I was relieved to be on the ground when we landed, and had to wait a little while at the airport before my parents came to pick me up. They had been over at The Warehouse shopping while waiting for me to arrive.

And that marked the end of my one week experience in Christchurch. It was good to get out of Auckland for once and check out the hospitals down there, meet my relatives for the first time, and check out the sights with an old friend. However I think it was just the right time for me to come home!

Exploring Christchurch

I was excited about today, as my old high school friend and fellow head student Heather was going to take me around Christchurch, something I've really been wanting to do all week but never had a chance to do!

In the morning before she came, one of my Great Aunty Margaret and Uncle Rob's daughters came over and I got to meet her. She showed me some photos on the electronic photo frame of her with her parents on holiday.

Heather finally came over by about 11am and we jumped in her car and she drove us over to the Porthills. We stopped at a few places to check out some sights. There were some very good views, such as one of Lyttelton Harbour, and one of the city where you could see all the houses and buildings. It was pretty cool as you could see the clouds hanging low above the buildings and the mountains in the distance!

As we were driving along the hills and checking out the sights, Heather would tell me all about the geology of the land which was pretty cool! She's studying geology so she knows what she's talking about! 

It was slightly past midday, and so it was time for lunch! We went down to this posh beachside area where we parked and bought some fish and chips from the nearby takeaways. Something that I found interesting was when a loud siren sounded (it was the fire alarm apparently), some people ran down the street. I'm guessing they were volunteer firefighters!

Once we got our food, we went to the beachside where we just sat and ate for a while before walking along the beach. Since the sun was out and the weather was great, there were quite a few people at the beach and I even saw Aunty Jill's friend there too!

After the beach, Heather drove us into the city and found some free carparking. We got out and walked to Cathedral Square before deciding to head to the old University of Canterbury building where Sir Lord Rutherford's hut was housed. As former students of Rutherford College, it's sort of a ritual you've got to go through! 

We passed the art gallery which had a water fountain alongside one wall. According to Heather, you run your hand in the water along the wall in order to get good luck, so I had a go at that!

At the old University of Canterbury buildings there was a market going on which had all sorts of stalls selling food and a variety of other things. There was also this courtyard which archways which looked like something out of the Harry Potter movie! 

We went inside Sir Lord Rutherford's den which was quite interesting. There were all sorts of old machines in there, and there was even an old wooden lecture theatre!

The time was getting late and the fun had to end soon enough, so she took me home, where I found Uncle Rob outside putting something back up in the garage. I spent the evening loading videos on my laptop and watching TV with my great aunt and uncle!

Travelling in the Wrong Direction

This morning was the first time I’d be catching a bus into hospital. I got up early, had a shower and ate breakfast with Great Aunty Margaret before walking down the driveway and a few hundred metres to the bus stop. It was freezing cold and you could see the frost on the grass! One bus came by and I was about to catch its attention before I realised it was the wrong one and stood back. Not too long after the ‘20’ bus came and I got on.

The bus went through the Bus Exchange before stopping just opposite the Christchurch Public Hospital where I’d be at on the last day.

This time I arrived at the hospital before Joanne! When she finally arrived, we went with all the pharmacy technicians to this room filled with preserved body parts to hear one of the University of Otago professors tell us a bit of pathology. It was quite interesting! We were standing for a long time though!

After the meeting, I was taken by one of the pharmacists up to the neonatal unit where I got to see these really tiny babies in incubators and cribs! There were different parts of the unit. We started off walking through the intensive care unit where there was a little baby with cystic fibrosis which was kinda sad. As we kept walking through the unit we saw healthier babies which made things a lot more positive!

After checking out that unit, I was then passed on to this other pharmacist, who was the top intern in New Zealand last year! She took me up to the gastro ward, which just happened to be where the norovirus outbreak had occurred! Fortunately only some of the rooms in the ward were isolated and it was starting to clear up. I was quite tired by now after staying up late last night trying to finish off my work. I didn’t want the pharmacist to see that I was dozing off though!

Finally it was time for lunch. I couldn’t find Joanne so I went to a nearby café in the hospital, and ended up spending WAY too much on my lunch!

When I got back, I was then taken to another ward with another pharmacist. This pharmacist was cool, she taught me quite a bit and she even got me to fill in a yellow medicines card for a patient (it helps them remember what to take) and even explain it to the patient. She told me I did well, which was cool to hear because I don’t get too many compliments in pharmacy!

We arrived back in the pharmacy department slightly late. We were meant to be checking out the dispensary but they were too busy for us, so we just stayed in the office and discussed the remainder of our questions in our workbook before it was finally home time! We finished half an hour late but that was OK.

Joanne and I just walked down to the central city where we had a walk past a few restaurants she was thinking of going to for dinner with her friends, before we had a walk through Cathedral Square again, and this time went inside the Cathedral to have a look. All the chairs had been stacked in preparation for some kids’ event, so there was quite a bit of space!

Eventually we had to part ways, and I finally ended up checking out the Korean shop with all that Asian stuff in it! I was tempted to buy something but in the end I decided to save money. I did buy a thank-you card for my great uncle and aunt though.

I was sitting at one of the benches just staring at the intersection ahead of me, when these boys came over and asked me if I had any change so they could catch the bus. I told them I didn’t but that I would have a look. I tried to hide my notes though! I didn’t want them taking them! Instead I just gave them a few coins and they were on their way.

I finally decided it was time to go back home, so I went to the Bus Exchange and caught the ‘20’ bus that my great aunt had told me to catch. I got on and probably didn’t pay attention to where the bus was taking me…very soon I noticed the University of Canterbury sign and started thinking to myself that I didn’t pass the university in the morning!

I soon started wonder where I was! I got out the map and turned to the guy sitting nearby, and pointed to where my relatives lived, asking him if we were getting close to that spot. Instead, he pointed to the other end of the map! The bus I had caught was travelling in the opposite direction! What was worse was my phone had died, so I couldn’t text my great aunt to let her know what was going on! I got off at the very next stop, crossed the road and started walking until I found the next bus stop. It was just my luck that the next bus would be arriving in a minute! I jumped on and this time got home!

When I arrived home, I could see my great aunt in the window on the phone, saying something about being worried about me. I went inside and apologised profusely! Fortunately they were very understanding! At least I got to check out some of the sights of Christchurch…even though it was in the dark!