YFERIC

Canterbury Earthquake 040910

2010-09-19T06:34:00.000-07:00

It's been 16 days from the day a disastrous earthquake which happened in my beloved Christchurch city. After shocks have been fading and fading and will hopefully disappear. Some people said the feeling of after shock has deeply crafted in all Canterbrians' minds, including myself. It's been like a norm in our everyday life in the past 2 weeks. There have been hundreds of after shocks shaking the whole Christchurch with the largest one i think 5.4 something Richter scale. The 7.1 earthquake indeed was really an experience for me, first time in my life feeling the real shake with all the panic and worrying feelings enveloping me.

4 September 2010, 4.35am - I was watching the recent Cantonese drama "Can't Buy Me Love" while enjoying my mung bean soup with Winter Melon and sago. All of a sudden, I heard a large exploding sound far away. After a few seconds, my laptop and table started swaying, I could feel the floor was like moving left and right in a continuous fashion, the shake was really strong, I couldn't even walk a straight line, lamps and my clothes could be seen wobbling, I stood up and supported myself by leaning against the wall..I thought it might be some heavy vehicles or airplane zooming by which made the house to wobble..But..The shake didn't stop at all and it kept getting stronger, my whole brain was blank, I had no idea what to do, IT MUST BE AN EARTHQUAKE...what should I do? I looked up to the ceiling with the hope that the ceiling wont collapse, looking at my stuff on the table, so many stuff, what should I do.. The power was suddenly out...oh my god, the whole house and even outside were so dark...had to use my phone as torchlight..and..I knew I gonna sacrifice all the things on my table, all my gadgets..oh gosh...what to do..i got more and more panic, the shake didn't seem to stop, i thought that the whole house might collapse soon, I've been listening to people that during an earthquake should stay and hold tight to something, don't run out or escape..I held my table tight, praying hard to myself, hoping that nothing would collapse on me....After about a minute, the shake got weaker, but things were still wobbling around, in my mind, i think it's time to go out and scream.. I did scream, standing on the corridor, knocking all my housemates' room doors trying to wake them up..Only Isaac and Wei Chia were sleeping, CS and I were awake..WeiCHia asked us to stay inside, don't go out yet.. Isaac walked out, blurred..CS rushed to wake Shirley up but Shirley got frightened and cried..WEiChia actually tumbled down from the bed because of the strong shake. Okay, now another after shock came, quite powerful, we couldn't wait anymore, first thing to grab was our sweater, it was less than 5 degree of Celcius outside, so cold...I grabbed my cell phone and wore a jacket and dashed to the living room, I could see my tv set fell down and papers dropping on the floor, things got displaced..We ran out and wished nothing happened to us...A lot of our neighbours were gathering outside, it was really dark outside, i thought it might be the end of the world...I could even see the whole galaxy of stars above me..Everybody was talking about the quake and it was really cold outside...No choice...had to be outside and wait till everything became stable before entering my house....After a few minutes, the shake faded..we went back to our house but stayed at the living room together as the main door was near to us, easier to escape if anything happened.. I grabbed my wallet and additional sweater and hopefully nothing collapsed on me while walking to my room...We all stayed for some time in the living room, talking about our own experience while feeling the first shock,...Isaac initially thought that who on earth outside who yelled late at night, so frustrating, waking up seeing stuff wobbling, he thought that it must be a dream, after some time only he realised it was an earthquake..CS was studying and his heater fell hitting floor..It was cold and no power and no heater...we stayed together for some time while WC and Isaac went back to their rooms as they were too tired leaving their room door opened...We then collected a reasonable amount of water as the water and sewage system might got disrupted...I called my mum to tell her the situation hopefully parents and people in Malaysia wouldn't be worried much on us.....all of us received a forwarded msg saying :" There was an earthquake 7.4 on the Richter scale just 30km away from Christchurch. Power is out for most of Christchurch. apparently there might be an aftershock soon..Please take care and hide behind cover if aftershock comes..Pass this to everyone you know".........2 hours to sun rise...we waited and waited..every now and then the after shocks kept us in an uneasy situation, we couldn't sleep properly.....................It was 9.30am and the power was finally recovered....I went to have a rest but all of us were like in a standby position and couldn't sleep properly.. Luckily there was no damage in our house.. I tried to log in to the Internet to see the latest updates...

Some photos of the damages caused by the large earthquake:

From TVNZ website:

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/latest-updates-canterbury-earthquake-3759958/photos

From The Star Online:

From my phone:

University Central Library - notice the falling of book racks (closed for the whole semester)

Central Library fenced

Photos above were taken along Manchester Street which has most of the damage

North Island Trip 2010

2010-08-05T06:31:00.000-07:00

Excitements engulfed all eight of us, getting ourselves prepared for the journey to the North. Second week of my university winter break, which fell in mid-Winter, temperature hitting -3degree, tests coming up after the break didn’t deter us from making our way to the second longest (distance) trip I’ve ever had. The longest one would be my south island trip last year but who knows, the North Island trip might give us more experience and the scenery might have been better than the South Island trip. However, after the completion of the trip, I’d have to admit that the South Island trip is still the best. Still, the north island trip would be more comfortable, as for a driver without ice and thick fog covering the whole car windscreen. Visiting New Zealand’s Largest and Oldest National Park, the most colourful Geyser Wonderland, the mighty Bay of Islands, the City of Sails (Auckland) and the largest lake in New Zealand (NZ) were some of the attractions we went for the trip. Thanks to all my dear friends who had been giving me mental as well as Lift-plus support throughout the journey. And thanks for giving me loads of beautiful photos as well. All the photos in the blog are mainly from Jia Ji, Shirley and Shin Hoon.Thanks..

DAY 1

The day before the trip began (3/7/10) was full of all the surprises and stress! The journey plan had got nowhere. A lot of the bookings were not confirmed and there were lots of last minute preparations going on. However, the whole plan was finally drafted completely but it was done only less than about 6 hours before the trip began. Early morning (4/7/10), Isaac drove me to collect the Toyota Estima – our only car throughout the trip. Shocked, they wanted to freeze about a thousand over NZD in my credit card due to insurance policy but my card definitely wouldn’t have enough credit for it. Even Isaac did not have that big amount in the credit in advance. This was not stated in the online renting process at all. No choice, I’ve to agreed increasing the insurance payment per day, an additional 17dollars per day which wouldn’t need any credit to be frozen…okay, fine, this meant the car was fully covered. I wouldn’t have to pay any cost if the car got hit. After packing up stuff, we departed at around 10pm, driving on Waimairi Road heading up North to the Main North Road which led us to the Christchurch Northern Highway.

Ting Feng was sleeping almost all the time..

Scenery along the road...

Me... drivin'..

A signboard on Alpine Pacific Triangle at Cheviot

The first leg was initially planned to drop by Hanmer Springs but when we arrived at the Waipara town junction, we didn’t have enough time to reach Kaikoura and got the key for the holiday house. So, we changed our direction, just straight up North passing by Cheviot. We stopped by Cheviot, near the Hurunui District Council, getting off for a break at the public toilet. There was a statue showing a boy being nude with hands up which caught our attention. It was just in front of the toilet, which was situated in a park at the junction of Hall St and Cadman St. Passing by Waiau River and Oaru town, we drove into the coastal highway, looking right the Pacific Ocean. It was noon and not much more interesting than just clear blue sky and the deep blue sea. The coastal then led us to Goose Bay.

Heineiken @ the back

A statue of a naked boy in front of the toilet...

Jiaji taking photos...

A really long straight, yet narrow 'highway'..

Zzzzz....

We stopped by the bay, trying our luck to find New Zeeland fur seals on the rocks but failed. Surprised! As the Goose Bay was well-known for the seals sunbathing along the beach. With all the disappointment, we hoped that we could see seals in Kaikoura. Driving along the coastal road, passing by several tunnels, somebody at the back screamed “Seals!!”.. Looking at my right (which was dangerous as a driver), I couldn’t see anything but just rocks n rocks n rocks. Passing by Peketa, we finally arrived at our place of stay called The fairways at Ocean Ridge. After making payment and got our keys, we unpacked our stuff. The holiday house was simply amazing!! Nice!! And Big!! 5 star bungalow stay with a beautiful golf course behind.

Goose Bay - but we found no seals

Yup.. my car was still there..the police must be going toilet instead...

Nice view..

Tunnels a long the coastal highway

Snow cap mountain..

Railway is just along the road on the left..

After ‘exploring’ our new one-night house, we went to carry out our seal finding mission. I took the wrong turn, which I thought It was the Esplanade a recommended by Shirley. We got to the end of the South Bay Parade (Kaka Road), taking some photos.

Not sure what was happening..:Loansharks asking for money back maybe...

@ Goose Bay

Chilling out in that big bungalow..

Being 'wen hua'..instead of having a nap

An artwork on the wall


Cooking indoo mee.. Is ting feng trying to find sth??

Eating Indoo Mee with fried eggs..

Adding seasonings..

Specially made my Kia Xin

Wines + Juice + Indoo Mee + Eggs..

Next, we headed to the Esplanade, passing by Fyffe Quay going straight to the end of the road which was a carpark. Upon getting off the car, we encountered the first fur seal sitting just in front of our car. So amazed!. The seals were not that friendly as we were suggested to keep some distance away from them. My first time seeing seals in such a close distance. We were discussing a lot about the differences between a seals and a sea lions. I’ve browsed through the internet and found some articles about the seals in New Zealand. In fact, New Zealand has 4 species seen on the mainland: two eared seals (New Zealand sea lion, New Zealand fur seal) and two true seals (Southern elephant seal, Leopard seal). http://www.sealiontrust.org.nz/nzseals.htm. All the mammals we were looking at were indeed fur seals - Kekeno (species: Arctocephalus forsteri). The back drop was amazing, rocky sea sides and some seals sunbathing.

Hey, don't block the scenery..

Fiuhhh....Nice sun...

Can you see any seals?? There are more than 5 behind..

Quickly take.. uncle seal is comin'...

Seals as background

Why the seal does this? Get more fresh air? Or just a pose..

Put people inside, the view might be better i guess..

The view is so nice..

Add caption

Mr. Fur Seal..

Sry guys.. this is not Esplanade, wrong place.. It's South Bay

Please, seals, come to me..

Please, i;m not taking you guys..

A picture before departing..

Some scenic views along the journey back from South Bay, kaikoura...

Lobster Inn

Next, dinner time…As planned, we went to have Crayfish at the Lobster Inn Motor Lodge near New World supermarket along the beach Road. The crayfish resembled the king prawn. It was quite delicious and creamy… we ordered Mussels as well as side dishes. After dinner, we headed to Fyffe Quay stargazing place. Lying on the road, looking up the sky with the help of my Star map was really amazing. The place was dark enough for us to see millions and millions of stars and some occasional shooting stars…The best star gazing I’d ever had. After the ‘5 star’ gazing, we headed back to our lovely house and had a stay overnight.

Mussels..

Waiting for dinner.. It took quite a long time..Hungry la...

Still waiting..,

Yummy..

Lamb chop

Lamb chop (Combo Version)

Super big size pasta

Reconstructed crayfish shell

Mussel Shells Collection

Let's Fight.. see who wins..

The deco outside Lobster Inn

Star gazing at Fyffe Qy.. The stars were way more than that in the photo....

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DAY 2

Our second leg of journey started with the morning sunset accompanying us driving along the coastal road heading to Blenheim. Passing by Wharanui, we drove about 2 hours and reached Blenheim. We stopped by McD toilet before heading to our next destination: Wither hills Vineyards.


Front door of the Fairways bungalow.

Reaching Blenheim soon..

On the way to Blenheim..

WIther Hills Vineyeard Entrance

Blenheim was situated in the Marlborough region which has tones of vineyards stretching from the Alpine Triangles to the east coast. Why did we choose Wither hills? Simply because it is famous and nearer to the city centre. We had a wine tasting and bought some cellar door wines. Colin and I each bought a dessert wine Noble Riesling 2006 and JiaJi bought a Pinot Noir. Looking out the vineyards was pretty nice, the whole stretch of vineyards across the Marlborough plain was awesome…

Vineyard

Walking to the Cellar Door..

Marlborough View

Cellar Door and Cafe

Cellar Door...

The vineyards owned by Wither Hills

Oh really.. yea..yup..tht's nice..oh..

Enjoying the wine..

I was supposed not to drink.. But.. i tried as well.. Drank more water cleaned my breath..

A range of different wines available

Awards won by Wither hills

Next, we dropped by Dicksmoth along Maxwell Street to buy a multi-inputs AC to DC adapter which had been a problem for me. I brought the whole media adapter player with all the remote controls and cables but just forgot to bring the main cable (power cable).. How stupid I was… Haiz… but the multi-purpose adapter was quite useful in my electronics project in future. Good for travelling usage as well.,......

It was time to go across the sea (Cook Strait), Picton Interislander Ferry Terminal ) was our next stop. After about half an hour of waiting at the terminal with some poker cards and Uno accompanying me, finally it was our turn to enter the large ferry.. Oh, yea, during the wait, a guy approached all the drivers delivering message about the Didymo - a freshwater diatom that had been spreading in the lakes and rivers across the South Island. And it had come to the attention of biosecurity and people were urged to prevent them from spreading further…. Amazed with the size and the facility in the Waitangi Ferry, we had a great time exploring the whole ferry. This ferry took about 3 to 4 hours to reach Wellington.. it was our first time sitting a ferry which had a cinema, guest rooms, restaurants and viewing decks.. I’d say it didn’t look like a ferry, it was a Cruise indeed…

Reminder for the drivers..

Boarding Pass...to board the ferry...

Waiting to enter the ferry..

Some entertainment.. The wait was pretty long..

UNO (Draw Four) i saw tht..

The queue..

Queuing..

Wow.. such a large ferry..

Entering the vehicle deck.

Inside the car parking deck

Lift going up to sun deck..

Scenery viewed from the ferry upper deck

Safety backup boats..

Smile..

Viewing deck..

Another ferry beside..

Viewing from the back of the ferry

Crusing...

The ferry is called Kaitaki as the name on the boat suggests

Arriving in Wellington soon..

A sofa chair resting zone..

No caption needed here.. so obvious..haha..lol

The route of the ferry is quite challenging..

Eating cookie time for lunch..

Wellington!! I'm coming..

Yup.. Correct.. that's wellington over there..

Hahahahahaha.

Feel the breeze..though it's so cold outside...

Cookie time dai yan ren..

So random..


Aiya.. shouldn't be inside..spoiled d

The Singles...

Shin hoon.. my expression looks weird..

Staircase pose..

Hey.. wait.. i'm not ready yet...

Resting on the playground downstairs

yup.. see that group of stars.. it's Cancer

Jiaji: what do u want? Cookie time.. don wan give u..

Hey guys.. dont poke my nose and pull my beard leh..

Haiz... My cheek so feng man.. fat leh...

Statellite and communication broadcasting

Helipad...

Aiya.. is tht shirley?

South Wing..

Wellington city view

Arriving at Weliington, the capital of New Zeland, we had a great time shooting photos at the sun deck, viewing the Wellington city skyline. At the Wellington Ferry terminal, we went along Aotea Qy, crossing Waterloo Qy and Jervois Qy, we arrived at the Te Papa Musuem ( the national Musuem) which is located along Cable St..The museum was going to close for the day when we arrived, so, we didn’t actually have much time to explore the whole historical artifacts in the museum. Some of the interesting stuff that caught our attention were the very big size squid - the colossal squid - the largest invertebrate in the world.. the one showcased was just a baby squid but it was about 2.5 meter long; the Paperskin created by the Maori which was used as masks during some religious dancing; and the beautiful night skyline of the city of Wellington.

What building is that?

Just came out from the ferry

Some snapshots inside the Te Papa Museum

Biggest invertebrate in the world!!!

Colossal Squid description

Sea World..

How come the dinasour looks like Maori statue..

Yup.. we're in Wellington now. the capital of NZ

Hantu dalam underwater...

Why mine no effect one.. too fair i guess..

Musuem Lounge

Wellington Night View...

Night view + nice guys

Entering Paperskin artwork by Maoris

Te Papa Museum Entrance

A big Maori statue behind

What is that? I can't recall..

A sculpture outside the museum

A statue along the Esplanade

Google map of the Parliament Buildings

Next, we headed to the Parliament Buildings along Molesworth Street, Wellington. The buildings consist of the Parliament House, the beehive and the bowen house. The Parliament House contains the Debating Chamber, Speaker's Office, Visitors' Centre and committee rooms. While the Beehive (Executive Wing) is occupied by the Cabinet room, Prime Minister offices and some other offices of individual ministers...The Bowen House is located just across the street and it is connected to the rest of the parliamentary complex by a tunnel under Bowen Street. It houses MPs' offices and support staff.

Welcome all MPs...

The Parliament House and the Beehive

Might be the future ministers..

The government of NZ

Standing tall in NZ politics..

At the Beehive (Excecutive Wing)

Welcome..

Richard John Seddon

bronze statue of Richard John Seddon (longest serving Prime Minister in NZ)

The Beehive


The house was located at the far bottom right,

Passing by Rorirua, Paekakariki and Paraparaumu (SH1), after about an hour drive we reached our next accommodation situated at the end of the Colenso Place, Otaki… There had been a lot of stories behind this two-storey house… It looked nice during the day but it was simply a ‘ghost’ house when the night came.. The red diplaipted gate, shaky stairs, dingy living rooms and photos of little kids pasted all over the wall with some ancient style decorations were really a challenge for us..But, in overall, the house was beautiful with some artworks and a balcony but due to insufficient lightings, it was just ‘not livable’…

Cooking and some activities in the house..

Making pasta

Fire Place

Real Absoulte Vodka..

Fast! I'm starving.

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DAY 3

The journey continued heading North passing by Palmerston North. We visited the Massey university which was really ‘ulu’..the university was like hiding somehwhere in the outskirt. The university has a reasonable size and it has lots of farms and grasslands surrounding the uni compound. The Palmey town is just a small town, nothing much.. We proceeded, heading straight to Lake Taupo.

Massey University Entrance

Massey Uni Directory

Massy Uni Compound

After about 3 hours drive, finally we arrived at Lake Taupo. It was indeed a really large lake, I just couldn’t the sea the edges of the lake. The house we rented was a nice one indeed. With good heating and beds with electric blanket really helped us a lot after several days of insufficient sleeps. After unpacking stuff, we headed North a little bit ,reaching the Huka Falls… The Huka Falls is really a big basin, directing water from the Waikato river to the Lake Taupo - the largest freshwater lake in all of Australasia. The large volume of water falling down formed a spectacular scene and visual feast of powerful falls.. As stated on the description board: Every second up to 220,000 litres of water gushes through the gorge and shoots out over 8 metres beyond to create a beautiful blue/green pool.

Along the way to Lake Taupo...

Arriving at Huka Falls.....

I could feel the strength of the water fall

The water was like so clear green, blue colour..

Some descriptions about Huka Falls

The water is so strong and rapid

The trip then continued by visiting the Scenic Cellars - New Zealand's Largest Underground Wine Cellar..There was a whole lot range of wines sold there and most of the wines were stored underground..it was really fantastic..We then bought some groceries to be cooked in Countdown and ended our day by watching Hitler and had some red wines plus vodka..

A glass looking down to the underground wine storage

The pear can be preserved so long.. The wine must be very fruity.

Underground wine storage..

The large one looks cool...

A fridge on the floor..

Photo shooting @ Lake Taupo

Lake taupo as background...

Lake taupo at dusk...

Eating "Fried Bihoon" with wines in our holiday house..

HDD adapter - movie time..

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DAY 4

Day 4 was the day we got to experience one of the oldest national parks in the world which was listed as UNESCO world heritage site. It had 3 active volcanoes and a big area of conserved forest. As usual, forced to woke up early morning, we drove down along SH1 to the Whakapapa village. The village was situated inside the Tongariro National Park, and we parked our car near the information centre. Initially, we overshot the visitor centre as we thought the national park entrance should be deeper inside the mountain range. Some observations showed that the cars in front were heading to the ski side which was nearer to the volcanoes craters. There were quite a lot of scenic walks and climbs with different durations. We asked for recommendations and finally decided to choose the Taranaki Falls scenic walk, about 5 hours walk....

By Ting Feng.. Before departing..

Kia Xin looking after the dog while we threw rubbish//


The whole boot was full!!

Arriving at Tongariro National Park

Approaching Whakapapa

Approaching one of the volcanoes..

Arriving at Whakapapa Village (visitor centre)

Short Walk (visiting Taranaki Falls)

Taranaki Falls walk began......

One of the smaller falls along the walk..

Yea.. The chips were nice..

Missing 2 people

Shin Hoon don't pull me... i wanna....

Posing

Hey choon seng, why you throw stone to me

Act cure again..

Be serious please..

Taranaki Falls

Statue in front of the visitor centre

Hey.. dont mimick this pose.. dangerous..

Looking at the whole 3D map of Tongariro National Park

Weather Forecast for the day

Nice capture..

The locations of the 3 active volcanoes

KFC DInner @ Tau

After a short drive up North, we arrived at Rotorua. This was my first time driving in the dark. The winding roads were really dangerous and flash lights (High beams) had to be activated every now and then for clearer view and to alert other drivers. As the motel was booked by me, I forgot to ask for the phone number and we could have arrived late, ended up not getting the key for the house. I tried my best to drive as fast as possible but of course with cautions. Arriving at the Motel reception office, I was so relieved that actually the uncle and probably his wife were waiting for us to arrive. So nice…initially, the one I booked was just a holiday house, not a motel but they gave us a motel and put additional beds for us, charging us the same price. We were so grateful to the Uncle Robin if I’m not mistaken. We could even access the thermal pool and swimming pool which were just beside the motel. Not eating much, we were just tired and had a rest early and got ourselves prepared for the adventure the next day o visit Geyser.

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DAY 5

WaiOTapu Wonderland Map

Day 5 was the day which had most excitements and first-time experiences. Early morning, Jiaji and I went to the reception desk to ask for some recommendations on Geyser visit as Rotorua was well-known for its geothermal areas and geysers. We were given 2 recommendations, one which was near but rather small and another one quite a distance away but was a large wonderland. Was it free? That uncle replied “nowadays, there is no free entry stuff, everything is about money…” Finally, we chose the Wai-O-Tapu Geyser which was a distance down south.

Red Rock Thermal Motel Thermal SPa

It took about 30 minutes to arrive at the Wai-O-Tapu village. From far, we could see steam flying up and sulphur-ic smell enveloped us. Sulphur could be seen all over the place. The entrance fee was $30 and we had a really great fun inside the wonderland. The colourful geyser with hands-on experience on the temperature of the geothermal natural water really amazed us a lot.

A video was created with clips compiled showing the whole visit in the geyser areas. We spent quite long in the area, since we’d paid so much money; we opted to choose the longest walk.

WaiOTapu Thermal Wonderland Entrance

Volcanoe Formation

A colourful geyser

Hitler in Geyser

Feel the temperature.. it's indeed hot..boiling!!!

Can see the bubbles boiling..

Lake Ngakoro

Covered by the sulphur steam.. good for skin...

A green pond

This way back to the entrance..

After the geyser visit, we went all the way up to Mata-Mata, with the chance of visiting the Hobbiton set in Peter Jackson;s Lord of the Rings. With disappointment, after such driving on long winding roads, the Hobbit holes tour had ended for the day. It cost about 60 dollars just for the visit which we thought it was rather expensive. A “Welcome to Hobbiton” sign could be seen along the way. We just took some photos inside the café with some hill slopes as background.

Another large Geyser thermal spot in Rotorua (Te Puia)

Little Hobbiton House inside the cafe

Hobbiton Entrance

The sky was turning dark; we rushed all the way to Auckland city, meeting all our Auckland friends. There were quite a bit of traffic jams along the Auckland Highway but we managed to arrive at The Empire apartments where KS was staying as well… Approaching Auckland city on the 3-lanes highway was like on the way going to Kuala Lumpur with highway road lights zooming passed.Auckland- A real big city.. we’ve arrived…KS brought us to have dinner at a Korean restaurants and we had a long chat there.

Funny signboard in Auckland

Thinking hard what to eat

IMAX theatre

Our accommodation.. The Empire Ampartment

I thought coleslaw should have an 'e'?

The trip continued where KS drove us to Devon Port, viewing the night skyline of Auckland City…Back to The Empire, we visited their rooms, while planning for the cruise next day. After some discussion with Jiaji, we’ve decided on a route which had led us to a disastrous driving experience I’d ever had the next day…………

Night Auckland Skyline viewed from DevonPort

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DAY 6

The longest drive in the whole journey had arrived. An approximately 4-hour drive up North to the Bay of Islands. Driving out of the city, we entered the Northern Highway (Auckland Warwera Highway), passing by North Shore and Silverdale. We passed by the Northern Gateway Toll Road (tunnel) and headed up to Puhoi. The toll road uses electronic toll collection, utilizing sophisticated cameras and sensors to capture an image of the vehicle’s license plate and assign the correct toll. We paid the toll fee 2 x $2 return at the self-service kiosk inside the BP Connect at Dairy Flat just before we passed by Silverdale..we then stopped at Ruakaka beach for some photo shootings before heading to Whangarei on SH1..

Toll Payment Kiosk @ BP Dairy Flat

Auckland City Sunrise

Auckland City at dawn

Ruakaka Beach View

Ruakaka Beach

Whangarei Junction

At the WHakapara fork junction, we used the Russell Road heading to Russell town.. The road started smoothly with a bit winding, after a while, the road started to bend with sharp edges, winding which was really hard for passengers behind. The road was really winding and could be considered as off-road, passing by Kaimamaku…The winding road continued for about an hour driving 53 kms..

Russell Road

Russell Scenery

The road condition got worsen when we arrived at the junction between a ‘non-Tar road’ and Oakura Road. We were faced in dilemma whether to continue what the gps showed or choose the road the right.. After some discussions, we better kept to the Gps advice and it took us another half an hour to reach the destination. The road was covered with rocks and it was only one-way (my instinct – as there were no cars coming from front).

Russell Road (no tar)

Arriving at Russell Ferry Terminal

A swamp near the Russell town entrance

The winding road had caused us delays in arriving to catch the cruise. Fiuh….after a minor slip at a junction, we finally arrived safely at Russell Jetty. The plan was to have a walk at Russell town, but due to time constraints, we just couldn’t afford to waste any more time. We should have caught a ferry at the jetty and found out that there was actually no car ferry at that terminal!!!!! Shocked!! Looking at my watch: 45mins left…. Oh my god.. we were not gonna catch the $89 dollar cruise on time.....after browsing through some souvenirs, I drove as fast as possible to Okiato at which the correct car ferry terminal was situated. We sat the ferry, which was quite funny as it was so small that could only accommodate a few vehicles. Surprisingly, there were quite a number of vehicles in the ferry as I thought the ferry might have ‘no business’ as ithe place was really outskirt.. We reached Opua ferry terminal and tried to figure out where to catch the cruise. The tension and stress started to engulfed me as a driver.. 89dollars times 8 was a lot of money..

Okiato - Opua Car Ferry

View from the ferry

There was only half an hour left and Opua was nothing like a Paihia where there should be a town with cruises harboring or some sort marina. I got off the car and tried to ask people around and realized that I still needed to drive some 6km to reach Paihia without guidance from GPS.. Rushing as quickly as possible with some over-speed and over-shoots..Even jiaji who sat beside me didn’t fasten her seat belt at all, I was like drifting all the way, luckily there was no police ambush around. 10 mins left, we arrived at the terminal, I coudln;t find anywhere to park my car!!! Dropping the others, I rushed to the car park and tried to find parking bay.. No empty bay!! I tried to squeeze in between a tree and a two-seater car and yes, it was successful!! I didn’t care about scratching the car, just be brave enough drove in.. Fiuh… the small space fitted my Estima.. I then dashed to the terminal, and finally I was able to reach them and it was less than 5 mins before departure……

Ferry Terminal @ Russell

Russell Town Centre

Views from the cruise.....

Captain Pitch

Russell viewed from the cruise

This is not titanic leh..the cruise is so small compared to the titanic

Where are the dolphins??

Passengers Deck

Rocky Mountain ranges around Bay of Islands

Cape Brett Lighthouse

Hole in the rock..

hole in the rock from the back...

After the afternoon rush, my eyes were abit sore with some dizziness.. but, still, I enjoyed the cruise. We got the chance to enjoy the view of the Bay of Islands. What special about the Bay of Islands? Around 700 years ago, a large Maori migration canoe came from Hawaiki. Maori then settled and multiplied. Then, in 1769, James cook arrived and named the place Bay of Islands. It was indeed an historic place where a lot of Maoris were born there. We got to visit some populat attractions like Cape Brett light house and Hole-in-the-Rock.

Cape Brett Lighthouse

Bay of Isle Map

Bay of Islands aerial view

It’s time to go home…On the way back to Auckland city, again, we drove in the dark. We passed by Kawa-Kawa to visit the well-known Kawa-kawa’s Hundertwasser Toilets, which is best in the world.

“It was designed in 1997 by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, famous Austrian architect, painter and print maker, these colorful restrooms feature smashed tiles and glass in curves and spirals reminiscent of Gaudi. Bottles embedded in the wall allow natural light to enter. The building is topped off by grass roof.” http://www.kawakawa.co.nz/

We arrived in Auckland and had a bubble tea at MoMoCha before heading back to The Empire..

Kawa-Kawa Toilet

Kawa-kawa interior

Kawa-kawa interior (2)

Kawa-kawa interior (3)

Mo Mo 'Qi'

Bubble Tea.. not sure whose one..

Night at the Auckland Musuem

Night view by Jia Ji's camera..

DAY 7
The visit had come to the end…before heading to the airport and returning the car, KS bought us to have Kaya and Toast, owned by Malaysian, visit the One Tree Hill Monument. and the Mission bay We bought some souvenirs as well before returning the car at Juicy rental. Some cleaning and vacuuming were done before returning the car…

Auckland viewed from One Tree Hill

One Tree Hill Monument

One Tree Hill

Auckland City View

Auckland University Entrance

A fountain in Albert Park

Along the way to Queens Street

Civic Theatre

Kaya & Toast (lunch)

One of the buildings of Auckland University

Somebody broke my Heineken!!!

Mission Bay (Pose)

Mission Bay (2)

Mission Bay (3)

A toilet near Graham - just in front of the cemetery..

Mission bay (4)

One Tree Hill

Mission Bay (5)

@ Auckland Airport (depart for Christchurch)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The trip had been a successful one though it was quite packed and not well-planned. But, indeed it was a good experience travelling in New Zealand…

Robot Maze Solver

2010-07-27T23:48:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time I didn't write blog already. Why? Simple, because I'm busy and not much stuff to write. New zealand is getting boring and boring.. Luckily I gonna graduate next year, or else, I will have to stay here suffering from : no-Kopitiam, no-Makan, no-shopping mall, no-cheap movie ticket, no-RedBox, no-cheap food and no-Entertainment..

Today is the D-day of my group project to go into action! Line Follower Robot or Robot Maze Solver to be more 'cool'..After 2 months of planning, sketching, modeling, simulating, testing and troubleshooting, finally our robot went to the race day. Looking back at the process of building the robot, the hardest part for me would be the time when we were rushing for a report of the robot design. Combining the entire C codes and circuit design, it came out to be 40+ pages. Shocked but it was really hard. There was so much stuff that needed to be explained and fine-tuned.

PCB Design

Circuit Design

But at last, it did complete the maze but with some glitches. Below is video showing the first round of the race where the robot didn't actually complete the maze, but gone haywire.

We were given one hour to do some troubleshooting. Problems we faced were actually not that serious. The power supply wire came off which was bad. and we deleted a poart of the code to eliminate some probability function we used which seemed not working in real situation. Video below shows the complete one. It was timed at 1.30 minute for the race which was not that good in terms of ranking because of the algorithm we used to save memory in the processor. But in overall, we were quite satisfied.. Yay!

Isaac's S2000

2009-09-01T07:35:00.000-07:00

My friend Isaac's awesome Honda S2000...

2002 Honda S2000 Performance

- 1,997 cc 2 liters 4 in-line front engine with 87 mm bore, 84 mm stroke, 11 compression ratio, double overhead cam, variable valve timing/camshaft and four valves per cylinder
- Premium unleaded fuel
- Fuel economy EPA highway (l/100km): 9
- Multi-point injection fuel system
- Main 50 liter premium unleaded fuel tank
- Power: SAE and 179 kW , 240 HP @ 8,300 rpm; 153 ft lb , 207 Nm @ 7,500 rpm

2002 Honda S2000 Handling

- ABS
- Four disc brakes including two ventilated discs
- Immobilizer
- Limited slip differential
- Spacesaver steel rim internal spare wheel
- Wishbone front and rear suspension with stabilizer bar independent with coil springs

Wei Siong's Birthday

2009-09-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

@ Sura Restaurant

The day before Malaysia National Day is my friend Wei Siong's birthday. We celebrated his birthday last Sunday at Sura Korean/Japanese restaurant on Cashel street Christchurch...

Isaac's 21st Birthday

2009-08-28T07:05:00.000-07:00

28th of August, my fellow house mate's birthday. A birthday makan party was held at our house, with about 10 people joining the party. Congratulation Isaac, you're finally an adult, can enter Malaysia casino, hehe.. Actually before the party, three of us had an "instant noodles buffet" for our lunch and watched Ip Man.. Curry chicken, chicken bak kut teh, fried sambal vege and sweet and sour pork.. and our favourite Heineken beer were prepared. Isaac's new car, Honda S2000, was finally revealed to the "public" and this is the biggest birthday present he had ever received, but not from us.. I bought him a microwave sensor as a birthday present, hopefully he'll like it, I know he'll.. CS and I were busy cooking and didn't take any photos on the party but I managed to snap some pictures when the party was over.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ISAAC...

Party table full of Heineken beer bottles and some mechanical drawings.

Many Thanks to Kimberly for helping us cleaning up the mess..Thanks for scrubbing the black stuff on the bottom of the cooking pan..

Some photos to share...

2009-08-28T06:25:00.000-07:00

Homemade salmon with teriyaki sauce and olive oil..

Frozen Pandan Leaves and Lemon Grass together with a bag of bean sprout sold in NZ. They cost me about 2 dollars each..

This is my favourite energy drink, called "Mother", a weird name but it contains about 32mg of caffeine per 100ml, it's a lot!
"A mother of a Taurine, caffeine and Guarana hit; If you need a MOTHER of an energy hit, you need MOTHER. It delivers double the hit, in a big black can. So now when a mate turns up with a wussy-sized can, you can raise your MOTHER up and proudly say 'did yours come with a man bag'"

A steamboat dinner held last month when our fellow aussie friends visited us. The steamboat cooking style might be a bit weird as we were using rice cooker to cook soup..

A special homemade prawn me (Hokkien Mee) by cs and me..The taste of the prawn mee really depends a lot on the chili paste and the prawn soup combination.

Good Windscreen Wiping Skill

2009-08-27T09:14:00.000-07:00

A man with a good windscreen wiping skill..Video shown below was taken by me early this morning at the junction of Shands Rd and Main South Rd. A　ｇｕｙ　ｗａｓ　ｗｏｒｋｉｎｇ　ｈａｒｄ　ｔｏ　ｗｉｐｅ　ｓｏｍｅ　ｏｆ　ｔｈｅ　ｗｉｎｄｓｃｒｅｅｎｓ　ｗｈｉｌｅ　ｔｈｅ　ｔｒａｆｆｉｃ　ｌｉｇｈｔｓ　ｔｕｒｎｅｄ　ｒｅｄ．　Ｈｅ　ｗａｓ　ｉｎｄｅｅｄ　ｗｏｒｋｉｎｇ　ｈａｒｄ　ｔｏ　ｅａｒｎ　ｍｏｎｅｙ　ａｎｄ　ｃｈｏｏｎ　ｓｅｎｇ　ａｎｄ　Ｉ　ｂｅｌｉｅｖｅ　ｈｅ　ｍｉｇｈｔ　ｅａｒｎ　ｍｏｒｅ　ｍｏｎｅｙ　ｔｈａｎ　ｗｏｒｋｉｎｇ　ａｔ　ｔｈｅ　ｐｅｔｒｏｌ　ｓｔａｔｉｏｎｓ　ｅｖｅｎ　ｉｆ　ｏｎｌｙ　ｈａｌｆ　ｏｆ　ｔｈｅ　ｎｕｍｂｅｒ　ｏｆ　ｄｒｉｖｅｒｓ　ｐａｙ　ｈｉｍ　ｆｏｒ　ｈｉｓ　ｈａｒｄｗｏｒｋ　ｕｎｄｅｒ　ｔｈｅ　ｈｏｔ　ｓｕｎ．．

台湾校园偶像剧 ('07) : 《18禁不禁》 & 《黑糖瑪奇朵》

2009-08-27T08:45:00.000-07:00

《18禁不禁》

《18禁不禁》，是一部台湾偶像剧，共有20集，由三个偶像团体（模范棒棒堂Choc7、黑Girl、翼势力）的成员和多位新进演员演出，另外在不同部份集数加入客串演员，导演明金成在18禁不禁内经常客串不同小角色。剧集内容以灌输青少年正确的性观念和两性关系为主。此剧在台湾已于2007年4月29日及5月5日分别在中视及八大上映，原为15集，因高收视而加至20集。
直接下载：
Download Links:
01
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9AUJTX19
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《黑糖玛奇朵》

《黑糖玛奇朵》（Brown Sugar Macchiato），是一部台湾偶像剧，共有13集，是“黑糖”剧集系列之一，由Channel [V]旗下团体棒棒堂及黑Girl首次合作主演的偶像剧。
直接下载：
Download Links:
ch01 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AX8IAP07

ch02 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TILD1D5C

ch03 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=UWHZ661K

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ch13 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=A5NA011X

NZ South Island Trip

2009-07-14T01:44:00.001-07:00

A wonderful trip during winter break...From the first of July till ninth of July

JOURNEY ROUTES
Routes highlighted in yellow

The above map is taken from MapSource retrieved as the trip history from Garmin Nuvi 265W GPS which has been accompanying us throughout the whole journey. It's a fantastic GPS with great features and user friendly..

Day 1 - Hokitika

Zhi Bin, Han Chow, Isaac, Kia Xin, Choon Seng and I woke up early in the morning of the first of July and got ourselves prepared for 9 days journey. I woke up the earliest to pick up our rented car Toyota Estima 8 seater. I was the main driver for the journey and many thanks to Choon Seng and Isaac for helping me driving for the last 2 days.

Arthur's Pass is our first via point heading to Hokitika. From 164 Waimairi Road, we entered Yaldhurst Road and entered West Coast Road. This is the longest road I've ever drove on. We passed by 3 small towns, Darfield, Sheffield and Castle Hill before reaching Arthur's Pass. There was not much interesting scenery along the way to Castle Hill. I think Castle Hill is only a small village. As we were passing by that village, ice and snow could be seen covering the road side and thick fog enveloped us. The only way to continue our journey was by looking at GPS, the scenery tuned from greenery to snowy. We stopped by and snapped some photos. The scenery would be even better if the fog was not so thick and the snow cap mountain ranges along the road could be seen clearly. We took some photos with some cows as background and we were wondering what the cows were doing standing in the middle of ice instead of green grasses? Eating? It was indeed a wonderful experience. Passed through Waimakairiri River, we arrived at Arthur's Pass. Before that, we was told that Arthur's Pass is a nice place to visit with fascinating scenery. However, it was not so true that Arthur's Pass has great scenery, it is the journey heading there that has the nicest scenery. Lush green forest and small township of Arthur's Pass didn't attract us a lot. Therefore, we didn't stop at all, instead, we went straight away to Hokitika using Otira Highway. We didn't stop and after about 3 and a half hours of driving, we reached Kumara Junction. This junction was a remarkable one! Why? That was the place we got the chance to view the West Coast, Tasman Sea came into our sight. Yeah!! We've reached the West Coast of New Zealand South Island. Another half an hour driving on Kumara Junction Highway led us to our backpackers (Birdsong Backpackers) in Hokitika. The backpackers was just situated along the highway, beside the Tasman Sea. We went to buy some food and headed to the beaches. Watching Sunset at the West Coast is a must as you can see the whole sun setting at the horizon. Really a great experience. Besides, we went to see Glow Worms at Glow Worms Dell near our backpackers. The path leading to the site was so dark and it was a pain for us to find the blinking worms hanging all over the trees... Our dinner was just Bi Hun and some marinated chicken bought from nearby New World Supermarket. Looking forward to our next destination : Franz Josef..

Day 2 - Franz Josef

It was Choon Seng who drove us to Franz Josef.. It took us one and a half to reach there. There was not much stuff to see along the way there. Franz Josef is famous for its glacier. Glacier is a large mass of ice moving slowly down a valley. It was formed from the accumulation of snow in areas in mountain tops where the amount of snow that falls exceeds the amount that melts. Interesting enough? That was why we visited that place. Early in the morning, we drove into Ruatapu Road, crossing the Hokitika River. After driving on this straight road, we turned into Ruatapu-Ross road which then led us to a small town called Ross. After a long drive on HariHari Highway, crossing several rivers and lakes, we arrived at Hari Hari town, this town has the widest road and it is the traffic police favourite spot, speeding in this area will definitely get you in trouble, 50km/h in town. Can you imagine how low the speed limit is and we had to decrease our speed from 100km/h to 50km/h immediately. Following the Whataroa Highway, which is long and winding, we finally reached Franz Josef town. Our backpackers, Chateau Franz, was the nicest backpackers ever in which we can have a motel style of staying. Our room was fully equipped with tv and video player and we've got our own kitchen. not wasting any time, after filling up petrol, we went to have a look at the mighty Franz Josef glacier. Driving along Condon Street, entering State Highway 6 and crossing the river sourced from the glacier led us to the glacier walk. There were about 13 tracks to have different angles of viewing the glacier, we chose the one which could lead us to the nearest possible viewing location. That was A.Glacier Valley Walk. We walked along the large Waiho riverbed. We had to walk across lots of rocky uneven terrain which led us to the glacier terminal. Upon reaching there, there was a sudden ice avalanche but we didn't manage to capture that. Along the way, we saw lots of big ice cubes resting just beside the river. It was a tiring walk, about 2 hours I think but the view there was indeed magnificent.

After that tiring sight seeing, we went to buy some chickens at Four Square Supermarket to cook for our dinner. We managed to watch The Ring and Lord of the Rings and chilled out in this comfortable backpackers. The next day would be our first time ever climbing up the glacier at Fox Glacier..

Day 3 - Fox Glacier

A 20mins drive on the Fox Glacier Highway led us to the Fox Glacier town. This town is a lot smaller than Franz Josef and it is situated on top of a hill. We headed to the Ivory Tower Backpackers and this is a small backpackers with good service. We'd booked a glacier walking guide for 89 dollars per person. After registration, each of us was provided a water proof jacket, a proper boot, metal spikes and a walking(alpine stick).

Every glacier is classified according to its terrain and difficulty of the climb. We chose the 4-hour return glacier walk. Below is a short video clip of our journey and it was the toughest and most dangerous climbing I've ever had. Walking on the edge of a cliff was the most significant one and we need to grip tightly the chain while walking. Also, walking on the ice (glacier) was not that easy as we need to trample on the ice while walking.

Ok, after so much energy being consumed during the walk, it was time for us to have a rest and continue our journey to Queenstown...

Day 4 - Queenstown

Before heading to Queestown, we went to explore a beautiful lake called Matheson Lake. It was not nice when we went there as there was a road construction and we had to walk on muddy pathway which led us to the lake. As we didn't have enough time to explore further, we just managed to snap some photos of the lake, instead we bought some post cards of the lake..

Queenstown, our next destination, this would be one of the longest routes and it took us about 4 and a half hours to reach there. Wanaka was our via point. We started our journey driving on Haast highway. Along this highway, we passed by Karangarua and again reached the West Coast. The scenery of one of the beaches along the way was so captivating with thick fog floating above the Tasman Sea..Besides that, we arrived at a place called Knights Point where we got the chance to see an awesome cliff with craggy coastlines. Another beach we visited was Ship Creek. What special about this beach other than the scenery? Ship Creek crosses the northern end of a remarkable coastal plain, formed during the last 14000 years since the last ice age. The rock bluffs which dominate the coast north of there give way to a gently-curving sandy beach that extend 50km to Jackson bay, and a complex dune and wetland landscape which spreads up to 7km inland. We then passed by a small town called Haast and Yea, the coming route leading to Wanaka Lake was the most fascinating part of the whole trip driving. It had been snowing before we drove on the Makaroa-Lake Hawea Road, the whole road was covered with snow and tyre chain was needed for safety purpose. However, we didn't have any chain in the car. Luckily, the snow-clearing guy gave me some advice on driving on the slippery road. "Do not apply break and please apply very low gear when driving on slippery slopes".. We managed to get through the whole journey to Wanaka safely and enjoyed the great and attractive calm lake with snow cap mountains as back drop..

After snapping some photos, we passed by Albert Town and winding roads and finally reached Queenstown. We stayed at Resort Lodge Backpackers for 2 nights in Queenstown. No doubt, the part of road from Haast to Queenstown was the most difficult one and we gained lots of experience and we like it!!! Guess what was our dinner there? fast Food? KFC.. We had KFC for 2 nights actually. We'd been starving and craving for nice food since we came from Christchurch as the towns we visited had very limited food and cafes. Here, in queenstown, was like a paradise to us. There are casinos, gondolas, extremely beautiful lake (Lake Wakatipu) and scenic shooting locations of LOTR. Lots of tourists visiting there and we really enjoyed that place.

Day 5 - Queenstown (Visit to Lord of the Rings film locations)

It was a very packed day. Our target destinations were LOTR shooting locations. Due to limited time, we found a place where we could really experience the environment of LOTR movie. It was Deer Park Heights. We drove there and paid 20 dollars of entry fee. It was very very cold up the hill with strong winds blowing at us. We got to see lots of deers, llamas and some other animals. The scenery up there was so fantastic that it looked "fake". There was a "Korean Prison" situated up on top of the hill and it was purposely built for a shooting location for a movie, The Rescue (1988). Next, we went to Sunshine Bay and headed North to Glenorchy to have a different viewing angle of the big lake.

Day 6 - Milford Sound

Milford Sound, if you had visited New Zealand before, this place would be familiar to you. The most peaceful and calm place with great scenery. From Queenstown, we drove all the way surrounding Lake Wakatipu and reached Kawarau Falls. We didn't get the chance visiting the waterfalls as the connecting road was under construction. Driving on Kingston Road, we passed by Jacks Point. The whole Kingston Road was along Lake Wakatipu lakeside. We continued our journey on Kingston-Garston Highway and passed by Fairlight and Garston. Then, we drove on Garston-Athol Highway , entering Mossburn Five Rivers Road. We continued our journey to Te Anau (via point) on Te Anau- Mossburn Highway. The entire highway was covered with thick fog in the morning and not much scenery could be viewed along the way. After about 2 hours of driving, we reached Te Anau town and we need to fill up our car with full petrol as there was no petrol station at all at Milford Sound. We'd our lunch at Subway in Te Anau before continuing our journey. We drove on Te Anau-Milford Highway and passed by the biggest lake in SOuth Island (Lake Te Anau). We stopped by at some interesting places like Te Anau Downs and Lake Mirrors. Lake Mirrors was the nicer one as we could see the reflection of snow-cap mountains on a small pond. We'd heard a lot prior to our journey that the road from Te Anau to Milford Sound was quite dangerous. It was indeed dangerous when it came to a tunnel crossing a high snow covered mountain. That was a hot spot of snow avalanche and luckily we didnit spot any warning sign boards before entering the tunnel. After going through that tunnel, we finally reached Milford Sound.. Our backpackers was surrounded by snow cap mountains and it was indeed a nice place to stay.. Just after reaching there, we went for the Milford Sound Cruise where we got the chance to enjoy the river reflections, dolphins chasing the cruise, sea lions laying on the rocks and a beautiful river mouth leading to Tasman Sea...

Te Anau was our next destination. We'd passed by this place when we headed to Milford Sound. The next day, we were going to explore that small town..

Day 7 - Te Anau

On the way back to Te Anau, we went to explore some interesting places like The Chasm, Homer Alpine Nature Walk and lake Marian. At The Chasm, we got the chance to stand very near on top of a waterfall and some other small waterfalls. Homer Alpine Nature Walk was situated just after the tunnel and lucky enough, it was safe for us that morning to walk on thick snow and enjoy the cold morning. Lake Marian was a bit further down and we just got to a viewing gantry of a very nice waterfall..

We reached Te Anau in late afternoon and enjoyed the view of lake Te Anau. A bit further down, we went to enjoy the lakefront scenery of Lake Manapouri.

The journey next day was the longest one. It'd take us 5 hours to reach Lake Tekapo according to the GPS.

Day 8 - Lake Tekapo

Using the same route back to queenstown, we passed by a bungy site. It was called "Kawarau Bridge AJ Hackett Bungy". This is the first bungy site in the world. We just had a visit there and Kawarau River was really a very nice river. Prior to jumping down, one could enjoy the amazing scenery just in front of you, so nice... Not so high, the height is about 43m if I'm not mistaken. Next, we headed to a town called Omarama and reached Twizel. Twizel was another shooting location in LOTR movie. This place was indeed very cold as it was totally surrounded by ice. Several salmon farms could be seen along the way there. All I can say about the scenery along the way to Lake Tekapo is "unbelievable". The background and the river were so "fake" and every photo taken looked as if it was taken in studio. I couldn't manage to describe the beauty of the scenery. Lake Ohao and Lake Pukaki were the 2 lakes we passed by before arriving at Lake Tekapo. I think the scenery around the lakes is the best during winter. A white landscape and blinking snow under the sun light made the place so beautiful and attractive. We reached Lake Tekapo in the evening and we took some night views of the lake. The whole backpackers was surrounded by snow and we managed to build 3 snow men.. The backpackers was situated within the Lake Tekapo Motels and Holidays Park.. This was our last stop before going back to Christchurch..

The next morning, we went to a church called Church of the Good Shepherd. This famous church has captured the hearts of couples from all over the world and is a quaint and unassuming but enormously romantic venue for any wedding ceremony. It has large panoramic window behind the altar which is deliberately clear to allow an uninterrupted view of Lake Tekapo and the spectacular Southern Alps mountain range beyond..Before going back home, we passed by another town on East Coast - Timaru. We'd our lunch there and headed back home in the afternoon. It only took us about 2 hours from Lake Tekapo to Christchurch. Metro buses could be seen plying the street and we knew, we'd reached the East Coast and Canterbury Plains...

Haze

2009-06-12T07:40:00.000-07:00

Wah, haze in Malaysia is really serious..
Cheras and Port Klang record unhealthy air quality readings of 107 and 138 respectively..

KFC New Zealand

2009-06-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

"Original or Spicy?"
This is a common question the cashier in KFC, especially in Malaysia, will ask you when you order any meal containing chicken..Though it is common, it is unusual in New Zealand. Only original recipe is available here.

After so many years of waiting, finally, hot and spicy chicken recipe is available in KFC New Zealand. CS and I went to try the Hot and spicy chicken. The taste is indeed similar to the one in Malaysia. However, the spicy topping of the chicken here is not enough, not spicy and hot enough. But, at least we can enjoy our favourite spicy chicken in New Zealand..

Hot n Spicy Chicken

Homemade Sushi

2009-05-16T18:30:00.000-07:00

Getting bored baking cake, now trying to do something new, after a few days of research, sushi is my next attempt.. No wonder sushi is so expensive, it really takes me lots of time just to prepare the ingredients before rolling them into sushi..I tried to make Ebi Sushi and Salmon sushi as well and it was really fun preparing the shrimps and the sushi rice..Below are some photos of my sushi:

A piece of remembrance… (Part 1)

2009-04-02T22:18:00.000-07:00

It’s been one and a half years since I left INTEC, lots of stuff came across my mind these few days, academic, relationship, engineering practical work stuff, really chocked my brain.. Thinking back the days we might have forgotten, the days where we were still a little junior, struggling hard to achieve what we desire… SPM had once been our most burdening public exam I reckon. Many people told me that SPM or AUSMAT would be the last fully packed courses we need to take before entering university, being an undergraduate overseas seems to be easy as there’ll be no more weird and lame courses like moral, sejarah, any ethics courses or even can ignore cocurriculum activities to graduate. However, after one year of study, it doesn’t look as simple as I’ve thought.. Maybe it’s engineering course which has it’s own ‘professional’ approach of solving problems in the real world. It’s indeed difficult. Attending lectures, doing assignments, writing reports, attending workshops, practical work, writing programming codes and dealing with hard Maths are the typical stuff carried out by an undergraduate, cant get away from them.. Every field of study or engineering type has its own difficulties.. Chemical engineers have to cope with such a lot of reports, almost 3 reports every week and all the reports are long and manipulations and writing out the reports would take so much time. Mechanical engineers have to cope with heaps of assignments and projects and drawings as well, being a ‘copy cat’ I think is a norm among them, but I might be wrong and it’s indeed too much to handle. As an electrical and electronics engineer, I do think that it’s indeed far less stuff to do compared to them, as all of the subjects are whole year papers, the percentage of mark allocated for each test or assignment wouldn’t cost me much but the material takes much time to learn and understand and lots of exercises and practical ‘hands-on’ experiments are needed to fully understand the material taught..

Let’s put the academic stuff aside, here I wanna share with you guys some songs which are pretty familiar to you guys..These are the songs which might be considered as ‘hot songs’ during the life at INTEC. They are my favourites as well..

1) Because I’m a girl – Kiss
This song has been a popular song for quite a long time and it was played almost anywhere in Cendana College.. KISS is a team of Korean singers which consists of Mini, Jini and Umji.. The song was so touching and the video clip of the song was so amazing as well. This song has been dubbed into different versions, Cantonese, Mandarin, Tagalog, English, Hokkien and so on..Below is the video clip as well as the lyric of the songs (Translated):

I just cant understand the hearts of men
they tell you they want you and then they leave you
this is the first time, you're special
I believed those words and I was so happy
You should have told me you didn't like me any more
but I couldn't see that and you just rushed me
although I will curse you I'll still miss you
Because I am a girl, to whom love is everything
i heard that if you give up things too easily
to a man, he will get bored with you
i don't think this is wrong
a girl says that she will never be fooled again
but she will fall in love again
you should have told me you didn't like me any more
but I couldn't see that and you just rushed me
although I will curse you I'll still miss you
Because I am a girl, to whom love is everything
[narration]
Hey babe
the pain
it's not enough to describe how i feel
we were so happy together
but I know now
I've been blind
you told me that you'd never let me down
whenever I needed you you'd always be here
I can forgive but I cant forget
even though you hurt me
I still love you
I still love you
Don't take advantage of a girl's willingness to do anything for love
and her caring instinct
U didn't know that to be born as a girl and to be loved was so hard
Although i will curse you i'll still miss you
Because I am a girl, to whom love is everything
although i will curse you i'll still miss you
Because I am a girl, to whom love is everything
[the guy said]
there is a girl whom I love. Now I can`t stay with her, but I still love her.

2) Don’t Matter - Akon
This song was the first Akon song I listened to. Since then I love this song not because of the lyric, it’s just the music which seems relaxing and it was in the album Konvicted which was released in 2006 if I’m not mistaken.

3) Kenangan Terindah – Samsons
This song was given by Calvin. I’ve been listening to this song played by most of my Malay housemates in Cendana College. This song was once a popular romantic song by an indon Male group called Samsons.. Quite a good song and it has nice lyric. The music is incredibly powerful yet soothing but when it comes to the chorus part, it’s too ‘noisy’, I prefer it to be a song with simple music without too much add-ons..

Aku yang lemah tanpamu
Aku yang rentan karena
cinta yang tlah hilang darimu
yang mampu menyanjungku

Selama mata terbuka
Sampai jantung tak berdetak
selama itu pun
aku mampu tuk mengenangmu

Darimu, kutemukan hidupku
Bagiku, kau lah cinta sejati

Bila yang tertulis untukku
Adalah yang terbaik untukmu
Kan kujadikan kau kenangan
Yang terindah dalam hidupku
Namun takkan mudah bagiku
Meninggalkan jejak hidupku
Yang telah terukir abadi
Sebagai kenangan yang terindah

4) I Believe - Shin Seung Hoon
This song I think all my friends from my batch here will definitely know this unless they didn’t attend the Grand Dinner of AUSMAT.. A song presented by my friend, my ex-housemate to be specific, Kien Seng during that event. To be honest, I’ve been listening to him practicing singing that song with a guitar every day and the song is pretty nice.

5) Heaven Knows
Another fantastic and melodious song I would recommend. This song however, was released I think 16 years before by Rick Price I think:

she's always on my mind,
from the time i wake up
'till i close my eyes
she's everywhere i go
she's all i know

though she's so far away
it's just keeps getting stronger
every day
and even now she's gone
i'm still holding on

so tell me where do i start
'cause it's breaking my heart
don't wanna let her go

chorus:
maybe my love will come back some day
only heaven knows
and maybe our hearts will find their way
only heaven knows
and all i can do is hope and pray
'cause heaven knows

my friends keep telling me
that if you really love her
you've gotta set her free
and if she returns in kind
i'll know she's mine

so tell me where do i start
'cause it's breaking my heart
don't wanna let her go

chorus

why i live in despair
'cause wide awake or dreaming
i know she's never there
and all these time i act so brave
i'm shaking inside
why does it hurt me so...

chorus

heaven knows

6) I think I Love You -Byul
Have you guys watched Full House before? I Think I is one of the songs for the drama. I didn’t watch it, quite a waste as I’ve been told that it was a nice drama, a light hearted drama and it’ll definitely cheer your days up..Correct me if I’m wrong..

7) Where’d you go - Fort Minor ;
8) Truly deeply madly - Savage Garden;
9) Buttons - PCD ft. Snoop Dogg

Earth Hour 2009

2009-03-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

Christchurch

Before

After

www.earthhouramericas.org

Malaysia (KL)

Before

After

Penang

Before

After

Earth Hour at Gurney Drive

http://www.kwongwah.com.my/

Look at this steamed fish..

2009-03-21T20:50:00.000-07:00

How does it look like? Look nice right..This steamed fish was cooked in Cantonese style I reckon. The ingredients of the sauce consisted of ginger, soy sauce, rice wine and sugar and the topping was just spring onions. But, do you know, this fish was bought from a hypermarket 3 weeks ago and cooked yesterday and the expiry date is 2 weeks ago.. Can you imagine how it smells? It did smell good with the help of the sauce but it's still an expired fish..Hopefully we wont get food poisoning because of this..

珠光宝气-音乐

2009-03-19T23:14:00.000-07:00

不知大家有观看珠光宝气吗。。里头有好多好多背景音乐或插曲，都蛮不错与动听的哦！其实这部连续剧我又从看过，不是因为无聊，而是我在戏里头学了好多东西，其实这部戏对我蛮有意义的，我学了如何诚心对待个女子，如何成为个gentleman..里头有很多上流社会的礼节与男人处事态度可学习，都蛮不错的。。

在这里跟大家分享戏里头一些歌曲音乐：

G弦上的咏叹调	e Maria - Rebecca Luker
Saeeda Wright - one and only	Ckaur Marlo - Respect
莫扎特 - 费加罗的婚礼	珠光宝气插曲 - when you know
陈慧琳 - lover's concerto	Toni Braxton - Fairy Tale
James Marsden - That-s Amore

MiEV Presentation

2009-03-12T18:00:00.000-07:00

An interesting part I like about EEE(Electrical and Electronics Engineering) is its variety..There're lots of stuff I can learn from by taking this course. C programming, design and management process, machine labs, electronics, engineering mathematics... and lots of fun stuff.. The electrical and computer department organised a presentation on MiEV in the machine lab on Monday and I got the chance to see the future of sustainable energy by the innivation of highly efficient electric car.. MiEV stands for Mitsubishi Innovative Electric Vehicle.. This car will be introduced into NZ sustainable transportation options by Meridian and Mitsubishi Motors New Zealand..

MiEV

According to the presntation given by a tecnical engineer,Hayden Scott-Dye, from Electrical Vehicle Programme, Meridian Energy, this MiEV employs a highly energy efficient electric motor powered by recycled lithium-ion batteries and hence, producing no emission, making it one of the most sustainable transportation options. Besides, this car substantially creates less vibration and noise than the petrol powered car. Battery-powered vehicle was proven to have far greater torque and yields stronger acceleration..

Below are photos of the MiEV car exhibition in front of the Electrical and COmputer Engineering Machine Lab:

Food

2009-03-12T00:47:00.000-07:00

Food..Yea..Since I'm staying out of campus, food would be the main problem I might face ..However, with the help of my fellow housemates, cs and isaac, we've been cooking and eating Chinese meals (Malaysian style) since I came here.. Lots of cooking techniques I've learned throughout these few weeks.. Since all of us here are busy with our academic stuff, the ingredients of the food are really simple and it's quite easy to prepare..Below are some of the photos of the meals we cooked:

Dessert :

Dinner :

Lunch :

Breakfast :

24 days....

2009-03-11T05:28:00.000-07:00

"10th March 09" After 24 days of waiting and waiting, finally, my phone connection was fixed.. Whose fault? Everyone who involved.. I just got the internet connection as well yesterday and it was such a torturing period to go through for the past few weeks without internet at home.. I cant blame anyone for the delay here but one thing I've to mention here is that the service offered by the phone company is lousy. Here, there are several telecommunication providers, and Snap is one of them and the phone base plan as well as the internet broadband plan were the cheapest among all.. Do u know, it took more than a week to get the connection sorted..And even worse, there was a cross-wire in the connection of my house phone line and the house behind me.. How could this happen as it is not the first time this house was rented out, there has been several "generations" of people staying here before..The phone line should work properly.. But, anyway, lets talk about sth which is more interesting...

The moment I stepped on the Christchurch International Airport, it was about 3pm on 15th Feb and the weather was pretty hot with slightly cold wind blowing..This drastic temperature difference actually has further worsen my eczema problem and it took me one whole week to adapt to the freezing temperature.. Now, the autumn season has begun, the temperature will keep on dropping till winter and it might be worse if it's raining or during cloudy days but apparently, even though the sun is shining and no matter how bright or strong the sunlight is, the cold temperature still remains the same and it gets colder if there is wind blowing.. Thanks Gloria and Airy btw for welcoming us at the airport and fetched us to our residence..

An inspection on the house was carried out at about 5pm.. Every corner was inspected by the landlord and an agreement was signed.. The house that we rent looks nice in overall but not nice after looking at all the details of the house.. Below are some of the photos taken in my house.. The address of my house is 164 Waimairi Road, 8041 Ilam and it's just beside Waimairi Community Centre (just before the traffic light and Domino Pizza).. Staying out of campus is a new experience to me and it's indeed interesting and I can learn much from the management of the house..

Bathtub	Bathroom	Front Door
Toilet	Clothes Washing	Inside Garage
Garage	Waimairi Community Centre	My House
Corridor	My room table	My Room
Kitchen (Cooking Stove and Oven)	Kitchen (Side)	Kitchen
Kitchen	Kitchen	Dining Table (Temporary)
My Bed (Before putting duvet cover)

Before getting into my life staying here, I wanna share some photos I captured during the journey from Brisbane Australia to Christchurch NZ (Journey from KL - Sydney (transit) - Brisbane - Christchurch):

KL --> Sydney(transit)

Entertainment on flight (MAS)

Staying Overnight at Brisbane International Aiport (to catch out next flight the next day) : As usual, food is the main problem there, all the cafes were close at night till early morning and this is what I can find, the size of the muffin was indeed huge!! about 3 times larger than a normal muffin we got in M'sia...

Overnight Stay:

Brisbane --> Christchurch

< East Coast of Australia (Around Gold Coast)	Canterbury Mountain Range
Canterbury Grassland	Canterbury

(TO BE CONTINUED....)

Kek Lok Si temple during CNY

2009-02-05T09:05:00.000-08:00

Below are some photos of the magnificent temple and how beautiful the temple is when the whole temple is lighted up for 33 days since the 21st of January..I went there on the second day of the Chinese New Year and managed to capture lots of photos and you know what, I saw our beloved Chief Minister with his family.. The whole temple was so crowded with visitors and the scenery was indeed breathtaking and amazing. The glittering pagoda and the grand Kuan Yin pavilion could be seen some kilometers away just like a huge palace situated on the hill..230,000 light bulbs and 10,000 lanterns were lit in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebration and thousands of visitors including devotees thronged the whole place, praying for peace and good luck as well as snapping photos for remembrance...











	Lim Guan Eng and his family

Thni Kong Seh

2009-02-04T05:40:00.000-08:00

Thni Kong Seh @ 天公坛

The ninth day of the lunar calendar is the Hokkien's New year and it's the second new year for Penangites.. Again, fireworks could be seen all over Penang, celebrating the new year and obviously, the celebration is even grander than the Chinese New Year celebration.. As usual, annually, I'll go to pray at the biggest Jade Emperor’s temple at Bukit Bendera..I'm not a Hokkien but paying homage to the Jade Emperor has been a tradition to all the people here.. Thni Kong in Hokkien means Jade Emperor.. Sugarcane stalks and other Chinese traditional cakes and roasted pork are some of the prayer offerings to the Jade Emperor..

The origin of this tradition is as below:

For the Hokkien community, the most important time of the 15-day Chinese New Year celebration is the eighth night and ninth day, which is their liberation day.

According to the ancient tradition, hundreds of years ago, people of the Hokkien province in China were under bondage to some demonic forces and didn’t have the opportunity to celebrate the Chinese New Year for years until one year, on the eighth night of the lunar new year, when the Jade Emperor of Heaven came and liberated them.

During the cosmic battle between the Jade Emperor and the demonic forces, the Hokkien hid in the sugarcane plantations.

Following the victory over the demons and their liberation, the Hokkien people came out to celebrate the Chinese New Year for the first time in years.

They wanted to give thanks to the Jade Emperor and also honour him on his birthday on the ninth day of the lunar new year but didn’t have anything to worship with. So, they used sugarcanes as their offering to the Jade Emperor.

From that first worship ceremony, they continued with the tradition of using sugarcanes to thank the Jade Emperor on the eighth night of the lunar new year.

This tradition is closely observed by the Hokkiens of Klang, Petaling Jaya, Penang and elsewhere in Malaysia.

Taken from The Star

Below are some photos of the temple and people offering and paying homage to the Jade Emperor in conjunction with HIS birthday :

My Old Friends....

2009-02-04T05:32:00.000-08:00

Introducing my old friends.. From the left : Eng Bin, Jin Song, Yee Sheng , Me

Wah.. It's been a long time d I didn't meet you guys, almost 3 years d, missing you guys..

Penang Heritage Enclave CNY celebration

2009-02-04T05:08:00.001-08:00

Penang Heritage Enclave CNY celebration was held annually and this year it was held on the 8th of the the First Month of Lunar Calendar.. I didn't get the chance to visit the event but I did get the chance to see the amazing fireworks which was set off at 11.55pm sharp.. It was so fantastic and colourful.. I really enjoyed it and below is a clip of the fireworks I captured on that night..

As I didn't attend the celebration this year, I've taken an article from The Star describing the event and it sounds so grand and special..

Taken from The Star
Tuesday February 3, 2009
Explosion of Chinese culture
By JEREMY TAN

THE Penang Chinese New Year Cultural and Heritage Celebration 2009 at the heritage enclave around Armenian Street was a massive success, with tens of thousands of people from all walks of life turning up to witness a plethora of cultural and heritage showcases.

Visitors to the 12-hour long celebration were greeted by an ornate archway as well as a Wang Niu (Prosperous Bull) polystyrene sculpture shimmering in brown and yellow.

At the main stage on Cannon Street, visitors and VIP’s were treated to multicultural dances, cross-talk shows, lion dances, classical song and drum performances, and an acrobatic display.

“Such a celebration showcasing our cultural and living heritage is very meaningful, especially after George Town’s listing as a Unesco World Heritage Site.
The main stage at Cannon Street featured many colourful cultural dances and musical performances

“It’s part of our efforts to promote George Town and give an insight into the traditions of various Chinese clans, among them the Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, Teochew and Hainan,” said Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in his opening speech.

Over at the Khoo Kongsi, a showcase themed Wushu City highlighted Chinese martial arts. Exponents performed lightning quick moves, much to the delight of the audience.

They also enjoyed a Pekingese lion dance, a dragon dance and Qi Lin and Qi Gong performances.

“It’s amazing, the performances are so colourful and diverse. There is so much we have never seen before,” said Australian Wesley Cooke who brought his whole family along.

Former Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, who rushed from Kuala Lumpur to attend the celebrations, was given a warm welcome by the public when he arrived.
Youngsters demonstrating the art of Chinese Diabolo juggling.

“Since the Cultural Celebration was first held in 1999, I haven’t missed any, and I don’t intend to,” he said.

Armenian Street was the site of the Hokkien City which showcased a traditional Hokkien Wedding Ceremony demonstration, a Hokkien Glove Puppet show and a traditional Nan Yin Opera show.

Complementing these were several dance and musical performances that kept many visitors engrossed. Others were seen admiring the traditional operatic costumes and God of Heaven display.

At Ah Quee street, a traditional handicraft showcase drew scores of curious onlookers, all fascinated by the skill and finesse of local craftsmen. Mini-figurines of Chinese warriors and cartoon characters, made of a special powder mixed with water and then hardened, were a hit with the children.
Visitors to the Cultural and Heritage Celebration 2009 watching the process of making "Nian Gao".

Other crafts included a traditional facial treatment method using a string, wood carving and joss stick making.

Further down, at a section themed Canton City, visitors were entertained with a Kwang Tung cuisine demonstration, a Cantonese pop song performance as well as a traditional opera performance.

The Hainan City at Soo Hong Lane showcased its traditional cuisine, song and dance. Visitors took part in a calligraphy contest and there was an aromatic Hainanese coffee auction. Scores of local vendors sold tempting Hainanese treats.

The Penang Youth Centre at Acheh Street was turned into a Hakka City with its own mini archway. Songs and dances were performed below it, highlighting Hakka culture.

Further down, the Malaysia Cultural City showcased a giant mural depicting the heritage buildings of George Town.

The Teochew City at Chulia Street showed a traditional wedding ceremony and held a puppet show and a pottery and bamboo exhibition while at the Poh Hock Seah temple, people were engrossed watching glutinous rice flour ball and mooncake making demonstrations, with a lucky few getting to sample the sweet treats.

There was also an exhibition highlighting traditional Chinese festivals such as Jade Emperor’s Day, All Soul’s Day, Hungry Ghost Festival and the Mid Autumn Festival.

The festivities were capped off with a spectacular five-minute fireworks show that lit up the night sky.

Also present were Yang di-Pertua Negri Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas, his consort Toh Puan Majimor Shariff, Indonesian Consul-General Moenir Ari Soenanda and Japanese Consul-General Hideaki Hoshi.

CNY Family Reunion Treat @ CRC

2009-02-04T04:43:00.000-08:00

Shark Fin soup

Lao Yu Sheng

Me and Christine

It was Christine's family reunion and I was invited to be together. The reunion dinner was held ar CRC (Penang Chinese Recreation Club) on the 6th of the first month of Lunar Calendar.. Though the next day is the 7th day, tht day, I did have the chance to taste Lao Yu Sheng, so nice as it was the first time in my life to "Lao" together happily, shouting out all the wishes and "Lao"=toss as high as possible.. The 7th day is called Ren Ri or "Everyman's Birthday" and the action of tossing the mixed chinese salad dish would bring prosperity and longevity... The detail of Lao Yu Sheng and the origin of it could be obtained from http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_177__2009-01-08.html