Funeral

Funerals are (arguably anyway) more for the living than the dead and that's why I'm still flying back afterall. In fact, the flight's in 3 hours' time. Will be back on Thur.

ps: I'm sorry I haven't been to thank some of you individually for your kind words but really appreciate them. :)

Ah Kong

Didn't get the chance. Even my brother who caught the next flight home missed it too. He was still in the air when the sms came through around 5pm this afternoon. I was in a bike shop with some friends and I thought I'd cry but there was more relief than sorrow.


No more pain, ah kong. No more pain.

One Last Time.

"...being dead is indistinguishable from being unborn, or from dreamless sleep; and can therefore hold no terrors. What seems frightening is the prospect of dying. But dying is an act of living; it is something only the living do, and like most other such acts - eating, walking, feeling happy or ill - it might be pleasant or otherwise. But being dead is not something we experience. We experience death only in losing others, and the experience is one of grief. Accordingly, our own deaths are no part of our personal experience: each of us experiences only life. In this sense, from the subjective perspective we are immortal."


Borrowed words from AC Grayling.


The notion that dying is more frightening than death itself which, is presumed to be something quite mechanical, has perhaps inexplicably, provided a warped sense of comfort to the knowledge that the grandfather is almost over dying.


And with news of screaming pains and acute breathlessness stricken by metastasized lung cancer, it's hard not to believe that death could be liberating.


But for some selfish reason, and despite the reserved relationship, I'm hoping he'll stick around a little longer and let me see him one last time.

Back from the Kennel

So I survived the kennel but I can't seem to dredge up any memories of what happened in there. Whether I was cold or hungry or lonely, these feelings, if any, had somewhat eluded me. According to my therapist, I am repressed. I think she meant I am impressed. Anyway, she said there is a coping mechanism in my brain that shuts out any painful memories so as to spare me further mental trauma. Well, she could be right because everytime I try to recall my days in there, my head hurts and I have to stop thinking about it. I guess some things are not meant to be remembered.


Despite the memory loss, things have been great since I came home. There's been plenty of walks. Just yesterday, mommy and Jean jie jie brought me to the park and we spent almost 2hrs there frolicking under the sun. So that was good. And then there's the food. Although I have no idea what I ate in the kennel (remember I can't remember?), the meals at home have been fantabulous (except for the parsley which they have to sprinkle onto my food bowl everytime). Daddy claims that the plant helps to eliminate bad breath but what's wrong with my breath? I find it rather agreeable to my nose. Sometimes, the old man can be quite hard to understand. He doesn't even like parsley himself (I saw his face cringe when he tasted the awful stuff) and he expects me to eat it every single meal? But he's the boss and as much as I try to spit the dreadful thing out each time, I always end up swallowing most of it anyway because they are almost always finely chopped and buried amidst the meats. And I tell ya, the variety of meat I'm served these days is just incredible. There's lamb, chicken, pork, beef, turkey (yum), fish ... ooo ... I'm salivating now ... *slurps* Gee, the keyboard's all wet. I'd better go clean up the mess before mommy barks down my throat. Have I told you she has a bit of borderline OCD? Oops. Gtg. Ciao!

PR and NZ

It's official. We are "visa-ed" to stay in oz indefinitely. Heh. And guess what, I'm going back to school next week ! Kinda nervous but let's give it another go. This time, I'm taking it slow. Only one subject. Then maybe two the following semester. All at local rates. :)


Anyhoo, I'm "supposed" to give the full account of our NZ trip but having just recovered from the damning fever and still battling with the annoying sore throat, I shall let the pictures speak more. I'll try to post them in sequence but if they are not, you'll have to bear with me.

Day 1:

The first thing we did was to pick up the car. Actually, this pic was taken on the 3rd or 4th night but according to the order of events, this was what we did the minute we touched down in Auckland. Ok, next pic ...

Of course, the next logical thing would be to check in. We booked an ensuite room at this backpackers' lodge - 'Surf n Snow', and ended up regretting but I'll tell you why later.

Joe checking out the loo. The room was actually pretty decent. It's not big but it's clean and located right in the heart of the city. Unfortunately ...

...it started raining...through the lights!!!

And onto the bed!!! And the whole room was flooded after 10 mins of rain. The funny thing is, Joe went down to the reception immediately to report the "leakage" and the receptionist thought he was complaining about rain spattering through the windows but when he insisted that she come and see for herself, she went like,"Oooooooooh mmmmmmmmy gaaaaawwwwwwwwwd!!!!!" A pity I didn't dare to snap a shot of that face - it was priceless. Haha.

Needless to say, we were given another room but I wouldn't recommend anyone who's going to Auckland to stay there because, faulty roof aside, the place was noisy as hell. Mainly because the walls are so hollow you can hear this joker showering in the adjacent room for over an hour (Joe said he/she hadn't showered in a year, you know, yi4 nian2 mei2 you3 chong1 liang2). Plus they had to call in the contractors to fix the roof at 11pm and the racket they created could be heard all over the building. By the time I dozed off, it's time to wake up.

Day 2:

After 5.5 hrs on the road (and with undereye rings that were blacker than black), we finally reached Whakapapa. It was really cold. Something like -2 degrees and the wind was howling away.

Another view of the snowcapped mountains.

At last, the whakapapa ski field. This is Happy Valley - the slopes for beginners where all the kids and novices like me hang out/fall down.

The chair lifts. It was bitingly cold. The first day we were there, they shut down most of the lifts because the winds were too strong and we were confined to the T-bars only.

Lo ! Brand new ski jacket, beanie and goggles for me ! And I didn't even know how to ski ! :P Still, I had such a great time there. I didn't think I'd enjoy the ski trip THAT much but I did because: 1) the ski lesson was excellent - almost like a private one because there were only 2 learners (I was lucky because that afternoon session happened to be quite sparse). 2) I finally learnt to not fall down too many times!

That's my instructress on the right (with the red ski jacket). She's from Austria and travels to where the season takes her. Apparently, she was in Michigan the week before and had just flown in to NZ. A globetrotting full time professional skier - how cool is that?

Lesson in progress. Look closely and you'll be able to catch me goofing up there. :P

Joe with his snowboard. He's pretty good with that thing although he claims that he still has to master the "parallel-glide-down" stunt. I have no idea.

And that's me (again) trying to act cool. Surprisingly, skiing isn't that scary. Initially, it was, I must admit, and of course, there's the occasional freaking out when you start to gain speed but once you are more comfortable with the snow plowing, each meter down the slope was a tad more bearable than before. Also, the constant help and encouragement from Joe and my instructor helped a great deal. And after a while, the euphoria sets in and you can't bear to leave your skis behind when it's time to go.

End of 1st ski day where we retire to a nice cosy motel - Discover Lodge - some 9km from the ski field. Joe's pretty pleased with the dry roof and quiet environment. So was I. :)


Day 3:

Off to the snow again. It's foggier than the previous day but all the lifts were opened.

Unlike the 1st day where we could drive in freely, there's a long queue for snowchains on the 2nd day because the roads were a little icy. We must've wasted like an hour waiting for the fitting to be done.

Finally, up on the lifts and freezing our arses off.

And Joe again. Attached to the T-bar this time. I was inelegantly jealous because I fell down the moment I grabbed that thing between my groins and only after 3 successive (and klutzy) tries did I manage to keep my balance all the way uphill. Nevertheless, it was fun.


There are more photos of our skiing here if you're interested but for now, these'll do. And if those are not enough, I have uploaded a few short video clips of Joe snowboarding, me skiing (or trying to), him with a T-bar and me on one (eventually) if you have unlimited bandwidth and nothing better to do.

We didn't spend the whole of Day 3 skiing because we wanted to break the long journey back to Auckland so, we drove to Waitomo (which is like 2 hours from Auckland) to stay for the night. Waitomo is famous for their glowworms-inhabited caves so, we made an obligatory visit to said caves but before we did, we checked into Waitomo Cave Hotel - yes, hotel (because we are spoilt rotten and cannot tahan the hardship of backpackers' lodge and motels lor). Ironically, Joe's making us cup mee in the hotel room. Very high "crass" hor.

Front view of the Waitomo Cave Hotel. Quite nice, right? And it's supposed to be a "budget" trip. Heh.

The only shot they allow at the Waitomo Caves is at their entrance. They are very particular about copyrights and stuff so, strictly no photography of any form inside the caves but I bought postcards! :) Maybe if I'm really, really free (which I am right now), I might scan them in and post it here.

Day 4:

Back to Auckland ! This was a very exciting day for us because we were getting the permanant visa labels so, we set off rather early to beat the queue (which we did) but it turned out that the stupid lady at the counter wasn't sure how to go about with our case and had us go back there 6 hours later to collect our passports. From Joe's friend's experience, it should only take 15 mins but what the heck. We'd already waited 4 long months, what's 6 hours to us?

And so we roamed the city while we waited. That's Joe and Auckland's icon - the sky tower.

Joe and the sky tower again.

Er ... the sky tower and Joe?

Did I mention Joe luuurrrvvveeess the sky tower?

In fact, anything that had a remote resemblance to the tower (see also the waitomo cave pic) was a photo opportunity even though we didn't actually enter the maritime museum. That's how much he loves the architect.

I know. It's kinda like a fetish but hey, he just likes posing with them so, why do I care? He pose, I take lor!

Can u spot the adored structure here? Heh. :P

I'm not sure if I'm permitted to put this up since the sky tower is not in the backdrop but let's see if this photo disappears mysteriously along the way like some of the pics did in previous entries. ;)

Finally, after we got our PR, we checked into this place called the Oak Tree Lodge and I highly recommend this motel because: 1) the price is reasonable ($10 more than the backpackers' lodge and no faulty anything). 2) The service's very homey. 3) The location's great (though not in the city, it's close enough and very near to shops and eateries). 4) Facilities very new, has 3 heaters, comfy beds, sky TV, free parking, a kitchenette with fridge, microwave, kettle, etc.,. Best amongst the 4 rooms we stayed in NZ. :)

Judge for yourself. Not too shabby, eh?

Day 5:

And finally, our last day in Auckland was spent wandering through the Moari museum where the indigenous people performed some songs and dances like the Hakka (if you've seen All Blacks, you've seen the warrior dance they put up before each match). It was all very interesting.

Sometimes you get picked to go on stage to make a fool of yourself.

The handsome warrior with a slimy tougue.

We took a lot more pics in there but I'm running out of typing energy. So go to the pic link above if you want to see all the Maori artefacts and statues.

And finally, just before we hit the airport, a mandatory tour of One Tree Hill. I told Joe that it looked different because I seem to recall seeing a tree on top of the hill when I was there in 1999 but I could be wrong. Anyway, It's like fort canning, only more picturesque.


So there, all written out. Am going to check on Joe now. He caught my bug and was very ill last night but still insisted on going to work this morning. Stubborn mule. If you know him, please send a get well message to him, k? :)

Leaving for the Kennel Today

This is it. I'm leaving for the kennel today. Goodbye, my friends. Should I die in there, please bury my kong (the red one) with me...


Vale of tears,
Ginger
xoxox

Itinerary for NZ

Shame, shame. Joe only got 40/100 for the quiz. He really doesn't know me very well, does he? Got my age and birthdate wrong! What kind of a husband is that?! *Bitch-bitch* :P


Anyway, here's a sketchy plan of our itinerary in NZ (whee! 1 more day!):


Mon


2pm: Arrive in Auckland n collect car
3pm: Check in
4pm: Roam city / visitor centre?
6pm: Dinner
8pm: Roam city? *shrugs*


Tues


6am: Rise n shine / breakie
7am: Off to Whakapapa Ski Resort
11am: Arrive and check in
12pm: Ski, ski, ski! (If I only know how to, haha!)


Wed


8am: Rise n shine / breakie
10am: Check out
Rest of day: Our plan is to drive to and stay at Lake Taupo for the night (apparently, the lake is as big as Singapore!) but the journey back to Auckland is like 4 hrs and we simply can't afford the time if we want to get to the Australian Consulate Office by 8am the next day so, we are still deciding where to go for this day.


Thur


7am: Rise n shine / breakie
8am: Start queuing outside Australian Consulate-General (we were told that the queue is mad so have to go there really early) to get our passports evidenced and stamped for our permanant entry visas. :)
Rest of day: Not planned (because it really depends on how long the procedure will take).


Fri


8am: Rise n shine / breakie
10am: Check out / roam around city
12pm: Lunch
2pm: Airport / Home sweet home ...


As for Ginger, we are putting her in a kennel different to the one I mentioned before because the said kennel doesn't open on Sun and refuses to let us check her in at 6.30 in the morning just before our flight. So it's either we bring her in on Sat which I thought was a bit silly or we find another kennel. And glad that we did because this kennel is a lot cheaper and more spacious, it is also very near to the airport. Although they also don't allow us to bring her in at 6.30am on Mon, they are open on Sun. :) Here's a pic of where she'll be at for the next 6 days.

Not too bad, eh? We inspected the place this afternoon and it housed like 30-40(?) dogs right now so, she'll have a bit of company. Unlike the other kennel where the dogs are kept apart by walls, this one has fences which allow the pooches to see each other (not sure if that's a good thing though but Ginger is fully vaccinated so I'm not too worried that she'll pick up kennel cough or whatnot from her canine friends). Another plus point is their claim to disinfecting the complex daily so I'm assuming they should be pretty decent on the hygiene scale (hopefully!).


Alrighty, till my next post when I'm back from NZ as an aussie PR ! :)

Redacted

Grr .. the previous post was taken out by the site owner. He didn't like the pics, I guess.


Well, here's to making up for the deleted entry - a quiz "inspired" by Yenni.


4 more days to NZ .. heh.

Horseriding

Looks like Joe beat me to the announcement. He's probably more thrilled (and/or relieved) than I because having a permanant visa means that he can continue working on his current project (some marketing strategy role on some wireless video cam invention? *shrugs*). Anyway, it's all good now and he might even get to travel to Sydney next week for some work-related seminar. I'm asking to tag along because I've been wanting to visit my brother but budget's on the front burner at the moment especially with the NZ trip coming up on the 11th this month. Nevertheless, you'd never know if there's a cheap ticket promotion lying around waiting to be discovered. ;)


PR aside, it's been a whirlwind of activities the last few days mainly because the exams are over (not mine, of course, but my MU friends') and it's only natural to want to "maximise" the holidays while it last. And one of the first things we did was to take an equestrian trip.

Only 4 of us this time. The rest are either not free or have flown back home to enjoy their holidays. We went to our "usual" Uncle Nev trail rides because he charged reasonable fees and (probably also because) I was too lazy to explore "new territories". :P

Mounting time. That's Jean, the expert rider, having her stirrups adjusted and checked for alignment. I never gave much thought to this part of the preparation until my horse started to run, and I realised my stirrups were "unbalanced", and my left foot kept popping out and hitting against the damn piece of metal. So the first reaction was to try and get the foot back on the ring but after a while, I just gave up and let it hang loose while the horse galloped away. It didn't seem like a bad idea, but when I reached home and looked at my ankle, it was all bruised and swollen. How clever.

Jean again. And her gorgeous stallion - Midnight. All set and ready to go.



Sokling, the other expert rider. ;)

This photo is not blurred. It was really foggy (and cold) in the forest. In fact, it was so cold Jean's hands started turning blue. She rubbed them real hard to get the blood back but for all I know, those pair of gloveless hands could've dropped off her wrists (the horror!). Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit but they really did turn blue.

Rest time. Giving the horses a breather ...



... and a drink.



A bunch of very thirty horses. Mine drank for like a full minute nonstop.



Finally, a lovely view of Mt. Disappointment State Forest. Still can't tell what's so disappointing about it though.