School holidays

My, my! It has been awhile.

Kia Ora New Zealand!

I thought I'd leave a blog about all the weird things that I have experienced when saying "oh god alright, I'll come out" or "I'd usually say no, so up off my ass I will go!"

I guess as far as I will back track is in the September holidays. Although I've done plenty prior, I think my experiences here will do.

Firstly though, I will share one thing I've been doing for the last few weeks and that is taking care of a wild rooster, named Chicken.

He is such a darling. I feed him all the scrap seeds that I keep from my parrots. Normally I'd throw them over my deck to the sparrows and pigeons, but I now have a much better place to dump them....


Week One of the holidays:
- Friday: Dad arrived.
-Saturday: BBQ at Ryan's sister's place where parents unite and become more acquainted.
-Sunday: Bucklands beach with dad. We ended up sitting on the beach and drew what we saw and painted with pencil paint. A great experience indeed. I also particularly enjoyed the fact that it was relaxing and free !

As you can tell by the photo, the day was gorgeous ! What a great Daddy Daughter Day !

-Monday (finally hitting the actually holiday break) Home alone...didn't do anything but clean and potter around the house. Although a waste of a day, at least I had time to relax further.

-Tuesday -ZUMBA!!- Zumba is always the thing I look forward to each week. I love it!

I also managed to get my bum down to the library and borrow some books for the month. I love that they allow 28 days for return, rather than 2-3 weeks like most places. Brilliant. No rush at all.

So I began reading a follow up on the Irish folklore...the stories of Fionn Mac Cumhaill. It was an extreme fluke that I found this book as I had given up trying to look for another Irish myths and legend style story to read....I found that book on the shelf then walah, as I was reading it I realised it was exactly what I was after.... another side to the story (sort of by discussing a certain character) of "Shapeshifter". The book I read last holidays. CHOICE ! So far, a damn good read. Loads of stories... Fionn is like the Maui of Irish myths. Mauriora !

- Hunted for a new car at Turners auction, nearly brought a faulty car....thank Christ I didn't.
Then went out on the town with Tanya and friends. Now that was fun.... even though we were told we were off on a pub crawl, the guy taken us cancelled it because "only we were going"....Poor service indeed. But nonetheless, we made it fun for us and I experienced different pubs and clubs I hadn't been to in my 9 months living in Auckland. By the way ! I love Auckland still. I'm not going anywhere ! I didn't spend much in town either. My lovely friends paid for my drinks - bless them for understanding my teacher's salary.
-Nursed my birdy better as she was attacked by hormonal nesting "friends". Damn them. I also went to the doctors. Fun times. Being female sucks sometimes.
-Friday: Nearing the end of week one. Tanya had her first DJing gig in NZ so we supported her at Grace bar in town. Good fun and Ryan made an appearance too. Seeing him dance and be merry on the same dance floor as me made me love him even more.
-Saturday. So here we are at today and well, I'm sick. I have throaties, lemonsip and ice blocks...toilet rolls, water bottles and pills.... I will beat this sucker by the end of these holdiays dammit, because the next little blog will be about my lovely experiences with my sister and whanau in Aucstralia!
Looking forward to it...3 weeks away, so let the countdown begin !

Xx

Tovah

Howick Recreation Centre

Although I have been a member since the start of this year, I'd like to write a short review on the group fitness classes that I have attended. I have about two - four classes I am yet to attend (and possibly more if I knew them all). However, I will review my experience of the last few weeks.

KiaOra New Zealand and hopefully a warm welcome to Summer and the Bikini Bod (in the near future!)

Monday = Normal gymmin' - tred mill, Braxton boys and me for a half hour every day at 5:30pm. Providing myself a time limit to get my ass to the gym is a good incentive, as is the fact that if I don't go, I'll miss 'Home and Away'.

Tuesday= Zumba. Always fun and always 'we are a family' vibe, because of our wonderful instructor Sarah Su. Kia Ora Sarah!!!
I am lucky enough to be able to teach some dances and boost my leadership skills in this class. I really enjoy Zumba and the amount of room we have to really boogie. The space is roughly two basketball courts.

Wednesday = Fight Do! Punch punch punch hook, knee knee knee knee, step kick back kick, block block...Well, other than having a good "let's punch the air" session, Fight Do is great because of the delicious instructor's muscle and technique, plus the company is also very warm. It is sadly a bit cramped though, because we are in the smaller yoga room upstairs.

Thursday = Oxyfitness. BORING! loads of stretching, white girl routines and roll downs. We were in the yoga room, which meant when the girl in front bent down, I knew about it. However it was a good once off experience. The teacher had the right attitude and rapport for the class, however I wouldn't have made this class a regular thing.

Friday = Zumba with someone else (Dare me to try?) - I was chicken after the last experience, where the instructor used my well known song for a different routine(after saying they didn't have my music so I could teach) and I ended up being immaturely annoyed at her. I'll go on a Friday, once day. In the meantime I am very happy with Tuesday and Wednesday - Group fitness.

Well I tried to keep this short - but that isn't very rarely the case.
I am loving Auckland and this positive mentality.

 -  Just do it anyway for the thrill. I do not know many that regretted living an opportunistic life.

Tovah

Rate:
Experience: 7-8
Entertainment: 7-8
Amount weekly: $12.70

beach house

Ryan's birthday.

Family and friends attended = happy and appreciate this gesture for Ryan.
Slow service, average food = not happy.

It's a shame that occurred because now I assume Beach house is another over priced restaurant.
The grab one meals were designed to hook us in and it did. Unfortuantely they failed to deliver today...
and for $107 I would have to say I am not happy.

Fail on your part, Beach house (Bucklands beach).

Lame.

Tovah

Tanuki Cave + The Basement Theatre

Firstly, I have to say I WISH YOU CAME ALLIE! because I had an absolute experience tonight.

1. Japanese food at Tanuki's Cave. (Amount spent $80 between 3 people)
2. The Basement - double the plays! yep - two one hour length plays!!

AWESOME

Kia Ora New Zealand!

It's nights like these that make me really glad I am continuing with this blog and continuing to "YOLO"
(my how I hate that acronym). But in all honesty, I am very happy with my new frame of mind and the added pressure of Ryan (my partner) telling me to spend my money instead of saving it or being tight with my money. Because basically, I keep saying to myself "Oh what if I need my money for something else this week" !!! So thank Christ-mas I am spending some now....and still putting away a satisfactory amount...good compromise if I must say so myself.

So!!!!!
Tanuki's Cave - let's start with you aye!

Wicked! 
Atmosphere... so relaxed. I felt like I was in a dear pub. A place where business men meet for "spontanious" meetings away from the long tabled boardrooms. 
...Which is quite the contrast from my first impression. Firstly, it's located where you'd assume caves would lead....underground. If it was in Hamilton, I'd cross the road before it and then cross back again once I passed it. It's a dodgy door with an Asian man smoking outside of it. He unlocked the door with his free hand and off we went down poorly lit stairs to a small room with an island bar in the middle.
Enough about that though - the food was the funny part! Small and dear. Of course. That's what you expect in Auckland. Everything comes in twos and you only were allowed really a bite or small nibble each, if you're sharing. Two kebabs = $10
FWWWAAAARRRR !
But hey, I tasted the following things, which I probably never ever would have, if it wasn't for Bianca's friend's expensive taste.
1. Chicken mince balls wrapped in capsicum
2. Mushrooms stuffed with chicken mince
3. black king prawns (tasted like crayfish! hurrah!)
4. steak kebab
5. octoballs (well what I called them. Seafood chowder in a crumbed batter)
6. pork riblets
7. chicken wings
8. beans..... (my first response was "where's the fucken meat!"....felt the same way after eating them too)
9. Chicken liverssssssssssss -slimey pillows of jelly-like goo...similar to truffle.
10.Plum liquer

What a great experience and I even managed to share my drink with my pants on the first sip. Fail.

The Basement

To write two reviews will be hard on the fingers because I could write and write and write. So I'm going to take a whack at being brief. Wish me luck.
Firstly, I am impressed.
'N0ughty Girls' (directed by Hera Dunleavy) is a two women cast, that play multiple roles (both genders). It is about two girls that work at a cafe together, after first meeting in a pub waiting for the toilet. One has a morbid sense of humour, the other is a rather innocent. One is single and mingles....regularly (if you know what I mean), the other has invested in a 7 year relationship with a lazy boy named Ben. However, they both want a taste of each other's lives.. and like most dramas, it somewhat occurs after the other girl's influence.
The acting was not completely spot on, as one actress carried the other. There was an akward moment where one was playing a guy and the other was the girlfriend. It became awkward when they had to kiss. It wasn't the kiss that was deemed awkward to me, it was rather the preempted lines staggering along then the hesitant heads jarring towards each other, when they were meant to be into it.
In my eyes, if you are not going to do something the whole way, don't do it at all! Nothing should ever be done half-arsed. Nothing! It just spoils it....and in this case, it did spoil the scene.
I'd have to say that I particularly enjoyed Chelsea McEwan Millar taking on the role of an Irish "diddle lee dee" player. Her facial expressions and pausing made the "dinner date" scenes most enjoyable. It was at a point where I became excited when the right hand side of the stage lit up on the pub table. Good work, indeed. I felt she let herself go in that role...her work as the female lead was weaker. But she was still the best actress, in my opinion.
I won't even start on the other girl, Elizabeth Mc Menamin. Although, she also, carried a better male role than a female.

-----A 20 minute interval and awayyyyy we went onto the next showwwwwww!-----

The second play was called 'The Pantry Shelf'. I enjoyed this play the most. It was fast paced and snappy.
The characters all had their strnegths and they shared a bond with one another that reflected in their performances. It was good to see no one over staging another, as they each has a role that was unique and hilarious. Because each actor had multiples roles, it was quite enjoyable to see the quick changes between gigantic food product costumes and tones of voices. I particularly enjoyed Michelle Blundell (you may know her as Hailey, the psycho from Shortland St) her facial expressions brought out the energy and fire in her. I loved the "up the nose" milk carton, punching Wasabi peas and her geeky professor cereal characters.
She was even quick to help out her "love interest" when he fumbled recognisably through his lines....which is something I truly respect in another actor. Some people tend to let the other actor rot, in fear of being upstages, but not her. Well done.
The love interests worked really well and they were not your typical hotties either. I think the warm nature of Peter, the "porridge" package, made the audience connect with the lovers "boring" characters a little more than they could have. I enjoyed the typical "run to find your true love and kiss and make up ending". I felt like I was watching a movie for a brief moment, which is an effect I have never experienced with theatre.

I had a great night tonight and am so glad I went out !
Now off to bed for me to dream about my next endeavour "Black Grace".
That is definitely something to be excited about !!!! 

Overall: 8/10

Tovah Xx

   

Fluro Party !

House parties.
What comes to mind for me are bonfires, couches outside in the cold, RTD bottles scattered all over the back lawn and the odd couple of strangers pashing it up next to a group of smokers oblivious to the PDA.
But then again, that is a party influenced from a small town. So what on earth would come to mind in a big town?

Well, instead of contemplating it, I actually experienced it...

Auckland, middle of town, a high-tech security apartment and little ole me with a backpack filled with left over vodka bottles and cartons of Just Juice.

Kia Oraaaaaaa New Zealand!
One little white Maori went for a mission to hang out with a bunch of Canadians.

The theme was fluro so I dressed in purple jeans and a purple jacket and made my way to the ferry. I spent $13.90 return on tickets and was told by the lady behind me that one day I would earn millions of dollars. I had asked if there was a student ticket and was told no. How reassuring. Cheers for calling me cheap, lady. Good start.
Up I went to enjoy a relaxing time looking at the view on the top deck...It was lovely and warm up there so I made myself comfortable and then, DOM DOM, a flock of testosterone flew up the stairs with drinks in hand. I was hit on inappropriately and was annoyed by a man that refused to follow the simple "no smoking" policy on the boat.
The Sky Tower came around the bend and once I reached the shore, I paced myself for a great climb up Victoria St West. I waited patiently to be let in and away I went for around 7 hours enjoying a night filled with drinking games, laughs, new greetings and of course loads of fluorescent lights.

I really enjoyed the Auckland house-party, even if it was in an apartment. There was no necessity for clubbing. We enjoyed dancing, drinking without paying $100 on booze or entry fees and were able to select music ourselves to cater to our moods.
Everyone was friendly, no one was hitting on us girls inappropriately and everyone was there just for a dam good time.

The reason I am writing this blog is to re-enforce the importance of experiencing things.. I wasn't going to go to this event, because I assumed no one would. A few people pulled out from the event and I negatively assumed the worst. I truly had a great time. It was great to be around people that were not catty, were not uncomfortably flirting with me and genuinely wanted to have a good laugh.
I look forward to more experiences and hope I continue to push myself to attend events and experience life properly.

Xx Kia Ora Canadians for a great house party.

P.S. Fluro party theme = Fluro font in my blog. I'm brilliant. So are you.

8/10 Experience
$50 roughly on transport and booze (with left over alcohol for future experiences)

Ara Tai, Half Moon Bay.

Another spotted success at Ara Tai Cafe!

Kia Ora New Zealand!
We have now decided to come here (Ara Tai) every second week. Yes, it is definitely that good.

I think, other than the food, I particularly enjoyed the fact hardly any people were there and meals were quicker than normal. I also liked the lack of wind, the warmth of the sun and the view of lazy boats tied up at the wharf.
I could smell Spring and it felt like an early morning in the middle of Summer.
Ryan had bacon and eggs on toast and I had french toast.
Only it was more like cinnamon donuts covered in banana and super crunchy bacon. It was a little too chewy/crunchy for my liking - but everything else, PERFECT.

The picture pretty much speaks louder than words.

Then there was the berry smoothie..... actually tasted real - there's a first.
Other than Tank, where will you ever find real smoothies?

Congrats Ara Tai you now have two very happy regular customers that will gladly spend $40 a fortnight having a lovely relaxing and romantic breakfast.

Xx Tovah

The Beach House, Beachlands.

THE BEACH HOUSE, BEACHLANDS.

Well.... I am beyond satisified with this restaurant.
It really says a lot considering my fussy mouth. I have only enjoyed one other restaurant and that is in Wellington called 'Cobarr'.

Kia Ora New Zealand!

The picture here is of our steak dish we both slowly savoured.
There were elements of cream, crunch and crazily enough ...crinkle!
The steak was cooked to perfection....I have never experienced that in a restaurant... I always find they define "medium rear" as a chewy slab of meat.
But today, I finally experienced "medium rear" the way it is meant to be cooked.

Both Ryan and myself were satisfied with our three course meal.

We began with a Pumpkin soup entree. It came with a triangle sliced piece of wholemeal and walnut bread and a perfectly portioned amount of soft butter.The pumpkin soup's texture was incredible. I ate it slowly just because I was fascinated with the texture as it pressed between my tongue and the roof of my mouth. True story.

Second course is what you've been visually drooling over top left.

The crinkle I mentioned earlier involved potato chips in a cross hatched "chex" cutting. They smelt and even tasted like ready salted thick cut chips, but warm. That was awesome with blanc jus and perfectly cooked steak...amongst many other complimented flavours.

I have to say by the time I reached desert, which was brought instantly to our tables, I was smiling. Although, I kind of panicked that my stomach hadn't had time to get used to it's recent forced expansion.I did my best, nonetheless. I finished a lovely night with a brownie and very rich chocolate ice cream. The little strawberry was one thing I've missed, since it had been some time since I had eaten one...I also felt the wafer straw was a great touch too. Simple, covered in thick icing.

The presentation was good too. The lemon tart (right) was delicious also, although I was only able to steal one bite. I didn't fancy the pistachio flavoured ice cream, but I was slightly smitten over the lemon tart.
There was a theme of "piling" food on top of each other in each meal... I noticed this as I watched many concoctions float past with the waiters to other tables.

But what really took the cake was finally finding Ryan's favourite bottle of wine (Vavasour: Pinot Gris) in the wine list $56 a bottle, that we happily bought for his benefit. He had been searching for a place that either sells this or offers it as a wine option at a restaurant and have been unsuccessful... then low and behold, the restaurant down the road from out house sells it. We were so happy. Ryan shared his happiness in the form of full glasses, four times over.

We will be back indeed for Ryan's birthday for another bottle of special wine and more three course meals.I highly recommend this place. It is on the beach so in the light of day, the view would be spectacular....just like Cobarr, Wellington.

I felt warm, relaxed and in love.... even when the rain plummeted outside.

9/10

Xx

Tovah

29/07/2012