Boxing day

It was boxing day yesterday and believe me, shopping was great! Most places had really good bargains but sadly, they aren't items on my to-buy list.

So, after walking around and comparing prices for 4 hours along Queen St, i manage to get everything on my list as well as a few deals i couldn't resist.
1) Skinnies from JayJays for nzd50
2) Sewing kit from $3 for nzd 3.40
3) Purse from Strandbags for nzd14
4) Raspberry body wash from Body Shop for nzd10
5) Cardigan from Valley Girl for nzd8
6) 3/4 pants from Valley Girl for nzd10

So with all that, Boxing Day shopping & Project Spend Less Than nzd100 on Boxing Day is completed! =)

Merry Christmas

Yes, its Christmas again! Gosh, how i wish i was back at home this year. But then again, spending Christmas here in Auckland Isnt bad either. Many people are not around - most have gone back to Malaysia for the summer break and some left Auckland to travel to places.

But that's ok. I still have some friends and family that i can spend Christmas with this year.
The plan for this Christmas is to eat and shop and enjoy the summer Christmas. Imagine Christmas on a beach. Wah, syok syok =)

But also not forgetting that Christmas is actually a celebration of the wonderful gift from God to mankind, which is sending His only Son so that he can die on the cross for all our sins and that we then can have a wonderful relationship with God through Jesus.

God didnt send Jesus to die for the Christians alone but he send His Son to the world because He loves the world. So, Jesus didnt only die for me, a Christian, but he also died for every single person on the planet.

Therefore, Christmas is a a time or a season or celebration that should be enjoyed by all, Christians and non-Christians alike. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A BLESSED NEW YEAR!

For God so loved the WORLD that He gave His only SON, and whoever BELIEVES in Him shall not perish but have ETERNAL LIFE (John 3:16)

Guess who's back!

Many things have happened since the last time i updated.

1) South Island trip. Simply amazing!
2) IT took place. I will forever remember 12/12, 9.1am & Invercargill.
3) Everyone's moving away or gone back home or travel elsewhere.
4) Sent out all the Christmas cards.
5) Getting myself organized for work.

There are also a lot of things to do.

1) Christmas presents. Buy them and send them!
2) Visit Auntie Ann. Its about time i do.
3) Personal shopping time during Boxing day & New Year's sale.
4) Meet up with people i havent seen for so long.
5) Plan my OZ trip this coming winter break.

What is you heart beating for?

Love. 사랑. 愛. あい. amour. amore.liebe.

for

God. Jesus. Family. Friends.

Tired...

Tired of studying
Tired of waiting for the official announcement of 2pm
Tired of waiting for 30th of November to arrive
Tired of wishing that my family were here
Tired of constantly feeling distant
Tired of constantly falling into loneliness
Tired of pretending that everything is alright
Tired of fooling myself
Tired of wishing if things were different

JUST TOO TIRED

=)

Like a drawn knife, the first kiss has strong attraction
The second kiss makes my heart want to passionately explode.

You want me
You've fallen for me
You're going crazy for me
You cant escape me
I've got you
Under my skin.

=)

Lalalala~

Got bored of studying, so I decided to go for a stroll in Parnell Rose Garden for the festival. The very sight of the place will make you swoon although you're never a big fan of roses.

Holiday plans

So, we managed to get our tramping tickets today and we'll be booking the accomodations and activities tomorrow at xbase! Oh, and Kin will be joining us! Haha, I cant wait!

Grace ah Grace...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACE!!

Wish we were there to celebrate too but too bad then! Hutang you pressies first ok =)

Guess what i found....

Arent they just the cutest things =) I especially like the sheep one and its not because i'm in NZ so i have to like sheeps.

Let's boggie~

I'm so boggie-ing tonight.

EDUC225? All done =)
Presentation? We can do that this weekend. there's still time
Exams? Long summore what....

IRIS, Gokusen 3, Vampire Knight, Yukan CLub, Conderella MAn~
HEre i come!

Angie's kitchen, Sri Pinang, BBQ King, Il MEe, Strawberry ice-cream, Jay jays, PUMA~
Here i come once our allowance is in! =p

ps: cant wait for 30 Nov! Cant wait to go to Christchurch, Queenstown, Wanaka, Franz Josef and Dunedin!

Kin, are you ok?

There was a fire alarm yesterday night. Thank God i have decided to watch Gokusen trailer before i shower. If not, I would have been already soaping myself when the alarm went off. As i walked all the way down (6th floor dang it!), i can hear a lot of people cursing because the economics students have a test tomorrow. Haha, well.... too bad! =p

Then i saw Jiani from the 1st floor and we talked about our summer plans. Then Lydia and Anne joined in. They were kinda surprise that i wont be going back to Malaysia for the summer break.

After all that commotion (3 fire brigades, R.As trying to keep those econ students from killing people), we went back to our rooms. Then i showered to my heart's content!

And today i fould out from Chew that Kin sut her foot on her way out. Heard that it was deep and Jack, the only R.A that everyone doesnt like, helped her take it out! Ewww, sure sakit like crazy! No wonder i didnt see her. Thought that she would ignore the alarm and continue sleeping or somehting like that. Sorry Kin, & hope you get well soon. More walking to come ya noe..

Dedication: In celebration of Hisagi Shuuhei's airtime in Bleach among other things

There are so many things to complain about this week.

First, all the bus drivers here are on strike! So, technically there's no bus sevices and it has lasted till this very day (it started 3 days ago). With the current weather, its kinda hard to get to place without buses. Dang~

Secondly, i remember clearly telling those two that they have to sit for my test version ofr EDUC 225 at 12pm today. I remember telling them that i will be creating a test based on Chapter 5 of the textbook last Monday. So, that's like 10 days for the both of them to read it! Then at 11.45am today, one of them - the idiot- texted me to tell me that she hasnt read anything yet. I asked her why not since i told her so much more earlier and she said she need another 3HOURS to read. I told her fine since there's nothing i can do (i'll lose marks in MY assessment if they dont do the test well. That means they have nothing to lose even if they do my test shittily) and you know what that idiot texted me back? She said i should give her more time becasue she wants to do her best for my version of the test. DAMN RIGHT YOU SHOULD! THAT'S WHY I GAVE YOU 10 DAYS TO READ IT, YOU @SS! MY NECK IS ON THE LINE HERE AND YOU WANT TO THREATEN ME BOUT MY ASSESSMENT! DONT I KNOW IT THAT I NEED YOU SO THAT I CAN SCORE WELL!!!! With that aside, she needs me too so that she can get good assessment as well... YOU SCREWED WITH THE WRONG HOMIE, B****~

And lastly, Bleach. I'm glad Hisagi Shuuhei is finally getting some airtime. About time I know of his past too. Kinda got sick with the whole save-Orihime-the-weak-idiot-from-Ulqiorra-who-always-seem-to-avoid-fighting-with-Ichigo-so-that-the-PD-can-keep-delaying-Orihime's-stay-in-Hueco Mendo episodes already. Then came his Shikai! I mean, why cant he have a proper nice Shikai. The theme is great (Reaper) but the form.... Cant you give him a small but deadly one like Soi Fon... Bigger and sophisticated doesnt mean deadly! I mean a dude like him should get a Shikai/Zanpaktou that suits him. Dang~

On the death of my grandmother

Dang!

I've been looking at this poem for hours now. And i still cant really figure out what are the aspects that determine my "horizon of expectation" in response to this poem.

Frankly, I dont really care. I mean, I read poems and short stories and novels because i like them. and i read them for pleasure and satisfaction. Who cares if my life experiences or their association to other works or even the genre determine how i read them.

What then determines my expectations and interpretations of these works? Simple.
If i love it, i recommend it.
If i like it, i continue reading it.
If i go "huh?", i just thrown it around first and maybe continue reading it.
If i find it boring, then screw it.

Too bad those determining factors are not in the literary theory i need to justify.
Jauss, Hawthorn and Iser! Boo yah for being such tight @rses when reading literature.

5 degrees

You have got to be kidding me!

Its suppose to be spring and its raining??!! And what's worst, its freaking freezing here... 5 degrees!! Oh My!!! *froze to death*

Ps: Agree with Kin! Didnt really Eunhyuk has got no lines in Sorry Sorry...

______________________________________________________

On a different note, GD's Breathe...
Amazing song...!

http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=swcPG8Rmgp8

보고 싶어요!


It is as simple as that!

All thanks to LEE KL and his vidoes! *sigh*

hmmm....

Looking at other people's joy makes me happy, believe me.... it does.
Seeing them enjoying themselves - in perfect weather and prefect company.

It is worth taking all those pictures.

But it makes me wonder. I know i feel lonely here sometimes but am i desperatefor attention? desperate to direct my own attention from my own pain and suffering?

i dont really know. Never though i would be this weak. But yea, Min is right... God loves me. I'm His and He is mine. No one will take Him away from me becasue He promised He'll be there for me.... ALWAYS!

Daniel's pathetic advice - get a boyfriend! Same pathetic advice people give me once they find out i'm lonely here sometimes. Except my mum. She just wants me to find someone soon because she's afraid i'll never get married. Pssh!

Gosh, I miss you too.

David emailed me today... I feel good and sad at the same time. He's not an emotional person but he wrote this very words that make me miss him so much.

"What a boring time I'm having! We all miss you! We're always aking if you're ok and we cry for you"

It made my day but i miss my family a lot and it hurts! ;'(

Life is a tough journey but along the way, little wonders make it so beautiful.

Incident I remembered...

Situation: 3 of us are cooking dinner in the kitchen at 5pm.

A (Malay girl): Nasi dah siap ni. Kelaurkan dari microwave.

B (Malay girl): Tunggu jap. Nak serve sambal.

Me: *adding diced chicken to soup*

A: Orang yang duk masak tepi kau tu, dah nak siap ke tak ni? Nak buat jemput lagi ni. Dah nak bukak. Orang cina ni kan, semuanya tak tau nak pikir pasal orang. Sombong giler.

B: Baik-baik. Jangan guna BI. Nanti dia tau kau duk cakap pasal dia.

A: Masak apa benda la dia tu, guna dapur lama-lama. Orang dah nak bukak dah ni, lapar pulak tu. Kacau je la.

B: Bagi tau je la yang kau nak dia cepat. Suruh dia cepat sikit. Bagi tau kat dia, kau nak sembahyang lepas ni, sebab tu nak cepat.

A: Ala, paham ke dia ni?

B: Cuba la dulu. Cakap baik-baik dengan dia.

A: *with fake American accent* Erm, excuse me? Are you almost done? Because we need to rush for prayers later in a few minutes time. So, we need to have our cooking done too because we're going to break fast soon. Is it ok with you?

Me: Erm, my soup might take longer still. Cant you use the other stoves?

A: oh, ok.. Its alright then. *turns to her friend* Kan aku dah kata. Orang cina ni memang tak boleh pikir pasal orang lain. Dah bagi tau dia kita dah puasa satu hari, paham-paham la yang kita ni lapar..

Me: Erm, masa bukak lama lagi kan? Hari ni bukak pukul 6.18 kan? Skrang ni baru je pukul 5.30. Sempat kalau nak buat jemput tu. Lagi pun, i yang guna stove ni dulu. Kalau you guys datang lebih lambat dari i, lazimnya kena la tunggu. Budi bahasa kan??!!

B: *amazed* Pandai je cakap BM.

Me: Mesti la.. kan orang Malaysia.

A: Orang Malaysia?! Jadi awak paham la apa yang kita cakpa tadi...

Me: *smiles* Oh, and the accent. Drop it je. Memang orang boleh tau its fake. You should speak it proudly without faking the accent. Lagi pun, you're studying in NZ. What's with the American accent?!

Moral of the story: Never kutuk someone in another language and assume they dont understand you. If you still want to kutuk, do it in the comfort of your own rooms.

Daddy says

Part of daddy's email:

"You make sure you take care of yourself, we're all fine here. Whatever you do, do well and glorify God's name. And whatever you do, we are always proud of you. We are and we always will. We miss you, especially your mum, and we love you"

Gosh, i miss home so bad!

Kerikeri: Cradle of the Nation 4

THE LAST DAY.

The last day in Kerikeri, we decided to do something extreme. Janine suggested that we canoe or kayak to Duke's nose. Not knowing what was in store for us, the 3 Musketeers agreed. The canoe and kayak are stored in Janine's dad's cabin so we headed there after breakfast. Myn decided that she will kayak instead so that Janine and I can keep an eye on Anita, who is prone to falling.

After canoeing and kayaking for about 2 hours (we rowed against the current of the sea), we finally reached the resting place of DOC (Department of Conservation). We then trekked for about 45 minutes before we reach the rocks that we are suppose to climb. I instantly felt fear. Dont get me wrong, i'm not afraid of height but i am afraid of the feeling of falling down. And believe me, its a long way down (300 meters from seas level). With the help from Janine, Myn and Anita... I managed to get up there and man, am I proud i made it up there!

Initially, I felt a lot of fear but soon, i began to relax. I even managed to finish my lunch. The view was breath-taking. It WAS worth the climb (and scratches and blood). After spending some time with ourselves and admiring God's beautiful creation, we headed back to the resting place. We needed to head back before the currents change.

On the way back though, Myn was in charge of directing our canoe and boy, did she sucked at it! We were going around in zig-zags and it took so much energry from us. Anita gave up many times and even suggested that we just hitch a hike from some of the boats that were passing us by. But we (Myn & myself) managed to persevere on without the help from Anita. And after paddling for about 2 hours, the image of Janine's car and her dad's house became clearer and clearer. That motivated us to paddle faster and get ourselves on land before we get into more trouble and muscle cramps.

Being so tired, we just wanted to eat. So after washing the canoe and kayak, we drove to a fish market that sells the best fish and chips (according to Janine). When we arrived, Trish was already there and our orders have arrived. We ate as if we were starved for days. The fish was very fresh and the chips were crispy. As we drive back home, Janine came up with a idea (random at that too). She wanted to play badminton at the club house and she asked us to tag along. At first i was reluctant but in the end, they managed to drag me along.

As we arrived, the club meeting has started and Janine and Myn registered to be on the list. I decided that yes, they can make me join them but they cant make me play. So, i sat the observation section with Anita and watched Myn partner and play against old men. When i say old men, i dont mean middele age... i really mean old. I also found that it is hilarious seeing Ang Mo's play badminton. Compared to Myn (the only Asian around), they look really clumsy and power-hungry. There is a saying in the tennis court that goes something like 'a tennis match is not a 1-shot-kill match' but looking at all the Ang Mo's (especially the men), i can pretty much confirm that they havent heard of that saying.

After playing with old people for 2 hours, Myn decided she has had enough and wanted to go back. As we reached home, the house was dark and everyone's asleep. Because of our aching muscles, we had another excuse of using the spa that night. It was a clear night where you can see stars and the moon. Star-gazing and having a chat with the rest, I am glad i went for this trip because of all the memories that i can build from it.

A day in the sun... Dang, i'm burned!

We (Myn, Janine, Anita, Nicole, Kin & Myself) were soaking up the sun at Victoria Park today since its such a beautiful day.

Yeap, it was fun but now, I'm burned! :(

Kerikeri: Cradle of the Nation 3

OF AYAM MASAK MERAH AND CUCUR PISANG.

The third day started late as all of us were too lazy to get out of bed. After an hour of lazing around the room, we managed to get ready without much casualties involved. The plan was to drive along the coast and then get back home in time to prepare dinner for the family. That's right. The three Malaysian girls are making Malaysian dinner for the family.

Our first stop, Waitangi Bay. Janine took us up to a site on a hill and man, the view was beautiful! There is no words to describe how beautiful it is up there. We laid on grasses and took plenty pictures. Waitangi is a site famous for its Maori traditions as well as the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. We were later joined by a mum with her son, Flin and two of their dogs. Gosh, we played around with Flin and Toby, Flin's birthday present and we had a blast with them while Flin's mum basked in the sun.

As we walked down the slpoes back to the beach, Myn and I slipped a few times and got our pants dirty! Luckily, we had extra fresh clothes in the car. But before that, we all ran to the beach! Haha, it was cold no doubt but we still jumped in. We then spotted a couple surfing. According to Janine, people rarely surf at Waitangi Bay because the waves arent strong enough but that day, the sea's rough! As Myn & Janine were busy making sand sculptures (of the Auckland Tower), Anita and I were busy collecting shells and getting our feet wet. The beach isnt like the beaches back in Malaysia because the sand's pink! Yes, pink. That's because of the shells that are scattered around the shore that coloured the whole beach pink.

After spending 2 hours at Waitangi Bay, we've decided that we have had enough of beaches. So we just drove along beaches and bays like Opito Bay, Taronui Bay and Matauri Bay without actually stopping by since all of us are already sick of sand, sea water and sun for the day. We then rushed back to Kerikeri to buy ingredients needed for dinner. You have wondered how did we manage to make the dish especially the complicated Ayam Masak Merah. Well, believe it or not, we were fortunate enough to find an Asian Mart in Kerikeri. So yes, we cheated by getting the instant Ayam Masak Merah packet! it took us about an hour or so to get dinner ready in time. We tried so hard to make sure that it was not too spicy for Trish, Gran, Allan, janine and Anita *i know. I dont believe it either* They enjoyed the dinner! Personally i think they enjoyed it because 1) they never had it before so they have nothing to compare it to 2) they're just being nice and 3) we saved them the trouble to prepare dinner. then we had cucur pisang with vanilla ice-cream as dessert! This, i know everyone enjoyed! Before long, everything was gone and the bowls were clear!

After clearing the table and placing the plates into the dishwasher, we went for another round of spa. Yes, we spa-ed a lot in Kerikeri. We also had mature talks and bonding moments. And because it was a long day *cooking takes up a lot of energy*, we slept early not knowing that we will have the best (or most tiring) day of our lives the very next day.

*to be continued*

Kerikeri: Cradle of the Nation 2

LET'S GO FOR A SWIM.

Sunday, the day that we need to go to church for service. So waking up at 8.30am, we managed to make it in time for the church service at Paihia Baptist Church. The service in this particular church is similar to Patani Baptist Church, the church that i attend and grew up in at home. However, one interesting fact about the church is that Janine is the youngest of the whole congragation. Besides us, all of the other members of the congregation are elderly people. But they still know how to worship and praise the Lord. The sermon of the day was a bout making God the priority of our lives. And interesting enough, I needed that reminder.

After the service, Janine drove us around the town area just to give us a glimpse of what is it like there. We managed to shop for souvenirs before we headed home for lunch. Lunch was simple but very filling! And since the day looks gloomy and cloudy, we decided to be on the safe side and get Janine to show us more things in Northland.

First stop, the famous Stone Store and the Mission Station. There is nothing much to see there except for ancient stuffs that you can buy like old fabric, wooden pegs, barrels of gun powder and all the other stuffs that people rarely use anymore. As we walked along the river right in front of the store, Janine told us about her high school stories where they use for their sports day. (Another interesting fact is that their school included water sports such as kayaking, canoeing and sailing as some of the sports events, hence the use of the river)

Our next stop was my favourite out of the activities we did the whole day. We went swimming in Charlie's Rock! Charlie's Rock is a bottomless pit near a farm where Janine and her friends used to go to every summer she was in Kerikeri. You must be wondering since its winter now, what are we doing there. Well, to swim of course! Yes, we are a bunch of crazy people that swam in a bottomless pit, infested with eels during winter just for the fun of it! It was a beautiful waterfall and we couldnt wait to jump in the water. Janine was the first to go in and Myn was next. They re-surfaced and told Anita and me that it is very cold! Thanks to them, Anita chickened out and changed back to her clothes. Believe it or not, I just jumped in! *Heck, I came all the way here! I even changed in the open for this! I aint gonna chicken out!* Oh, if you think you know what cold really means, then you have yet to experience swimming in cold waterfall water! But man, it was refreshing! And since we get to jump of the cliff for this, I had extra fun =)

After the short swim, we dried up for our next stop. Janine drove us to yet another waterfall called Rainbow Falls. Anita looked at us like we're crazy and asked if we're gonna go for another round of a swim. Myn and myself was eager since we're already wet but Janine burst our bubbles. Rainbow Falls is twice the height of Charlie's Rock and nobody tries to swim there. Or at least, doent make it alive to tell their tales. Seeing the place with our very own eyes, we slowly chichkened out and talk ourselves out of our stupid plan. In the end, our photographer just made us strike a few poses as she snaps away with her camera. As we were leaving, droplets of rain fall on our heads which kinda ruined the day for us since we had so much planned.

Sitting in the car, the three of us felt very cold since we're soaking wet. Janine then came up with an idea of taking us to a kauri sanctuary. Kauri is a type of tree that is used for timber. What is so special about the kauri tree is that the whole tree smells good! Like really good! How do we know?? We smelled it! Just like that... and it smelled good! We walked around the sanctuary, sniffing each and every tree (well, almost). Walking around in the sanctuary remineded me of the time when the whole Cohort 5 went on a trip to FRIM. It felt the same with addition to more moist here in the sanctuary. Seeing that it was already late, we drove back home just in time for dinner.

We had a dish from South Africa (which I already forgot the name to) and it was delicious. Gran lived in Zimbabwe before and travelled to South Africa often. She had her first taste of the dish and fall in love with it. She learned how to make it and here it is, for us to savour! After dinner, the girls (Janine, Myn, Anita & myself) showered and got ready to go for a youth event. Its called the Tribe gathering because the youth fellowhip of the church is called Tribe. The Tribe band played a few songs (some was written by the bass player, Steven) and the band was good *or maybe only the drummer, Blake, was really cute* The singers suck *they sounded like cats being slaughtered* but the rest of the band has amazing skills! Then they had a couple of games which was really random and 'unplanned'. it was all over the place which makes it much more fun to watch. Janine met a lot of the buddies here and she had a ball with them. As for us, we had a ball laughing at Ang Mo's dancing! :)

*to be continued*

Kerikeri: Cradle of the Nation

Kerikeri is the largest town is Bay of Islands, situated at the north of the North Island of NZ *phew* The town was a village established by pioneering missionaries and therefore the oldest building in NZ can be found there. The Mission House and the Stone Store (which are situated next to each other) are among the famous tourist spots in Kerikeri. Kerikeri is also famous for its oranges, beautiful beaches and water sports.

Haha, but I didnt know all that when i decided to visit the place. I just felt that since Janine is going back home to Kerikeri, i should just visit her place for some Kiwi love. Little did i know that we would go through so much for Kiwi experiences.

THE ARRIVAL.

Janine & Alan picked us up from Huia at 9am. The whole journey to Kerikeri took 3 hours. You may say "Dang, that's long!". But we had fun (at least I did). We passed by many greenery, sheeps, cows, turkeys, farms and more greenery. Yipee..! *rolls eyes* Anyways, we passed by a number of small twons along the way and you wouldn't believe the things we were told. For example, the town Kawakawa is famous for their public toilets! Tourists even take pictures with the urinals! It is that famous! Sadly, we didnt manage to do so because our photographer, Anita Mary, was asleep!

After a looooooong journey, we finally arrived! Ahem, if you think Sungai Petani is a small town, wait till you see Kerikeri! It is 'homey' and its suppose to be the BIGGEST town in the Bay of Islands! Ang Mo's! Dont they know how to differentiate VILLAGES from towns! I felt decieved for a while.

Then we met Janine's family. Her mum Trish and her grandma Gran (well, of course we called her Gran). Her house is amazing-ly beautiful and homey. It looks just like all those Ang Mo houses you see in architectural and home makeover magazines. As we were going through a round of introductions and taoilet visits, it started raining! I mean like WHAT??!! Its suppose to be a beautiful day so that we can go out and play! (Oh, it rhymes!) Dang! So we looked at each other and believe me.... everyone looked pissed and disappointed. Not knowing what to do, we laid on the beds and begin to rot. We rot till it was time to go back to Auckland. The trip was a failure!

Nah, we weren't that boring! I know Asians have this thing against walking in the rain and all those grandmother tales stuffs, but hey... according to Janine, we're the best buncg of Malaysians that visited her place. Wanna know her reason? Its not because we are neat or careful or trifty or polite. It's because we are unorganized, fickle-minded bunch of idiots who just goes with the flow! In the end, we decided to walked around town in the rain! Janine showed us the town area (or the lepak area in the village) as well as her primary and high school. Ha, and i though my school was small! But for a small school in a village, it's fully-facilitated and looks kinda fun actually! We met a friend of Janine's and chat for a while. She's now a teacher in the same school she went to and she found that although teaching can be of a challenge sometimes, she enjoys it!

At around 6pm, it began to get darker so we head back to Janine's home for dinner. Trish originally wanted to make a rice dish but changed her mind! She made roasted pork with potatoes and it was lovely! After stuffing ourselves with food, Myn decided to go for a spa~ She managed to convince me to spa along with the rest in the rain. So along I went with the rest and sat in the spa for an hour before deciding that it was too cold. So, while they were still screaming and splashing around, i showered and dreamed of ice-cream that night.

*to be continued*

End it with a bang!

The last school visit for this semester is to Rangitoto College, which is situated quite a distance from where we stay. But among all the schools that we have been to this semester (Mt Eden Primary, Remuera Intermediate, St Heliers Full Primary & Massey High School), this trip is by far the best trip to a high school ever!

When we arrived at the school, we were formally invited with a powhiri, a Moari tradition. The kapa haka group performed and we responded with two speeches (1 In English + Moari & 1 in BM). We also sang 'Negaraku' *shudder* and "Rasa Sayang' in support of the 2 speeches. We were then divided to groups for a short tour around the school.

The first thing i noticed when we (Anita, Kin, Myn & myself) got the map was the school has 8 fields, 2 gyms & 1 hockey field! Man, why do you need that many for...??!! Then i found out that the yearly enrolment to the school in 3000 students! No wonder they need so much space for the kids to run around in. Our guide was a prefect called Daniel. He has beautiful long hair *envious* He took us round the school and we met up with the Head Boy, Jack.

The school motto.


Cant resist the temptation to cam-whore.


One of the many fields of the school.

An art piece by one of the former students of the school, found in the ESOL class.

Our group, Group 3, was assigned to attend a ESOL class, Media & TV class and a Classics class. All the 3 classes were interesting in their own ways. But i personally found the Media & TV class more interesting because of the teacher's accent! His Scottish accent was so thick that i couldnt help but to giggle everytime he said "That's right".

I wasnt sure if Lady Luck was with us yesterday, but all the 4 of us felt lucky. Myn was super excited since she can cuci her mata with "OLDER" students, Kin was just mesmerized by Jack (he's Jap. That explains everything already), Anita was busy fan-girling over the Head of Department who was ever so kind to all of us & me... i'm just happy to observe the 'running' of the school *I really did*

At the end of the day, the 10 things (or facts) i learned from this school are:

1) It is not compulsory for Yr 13 students to wear uniforms to the school. Its kinda like their priviliges as seniors.

2) Boys in the school can keep their hair long (check out Daniel's hair) as long as it's neat.

3) In Yr 13, English & Maths are the only compulsory subjects. You can take any subject you like in that year (ie Accounting, Commerce, Dance, PE, Bio, Music, Chemistry, Physics, Arts, Media etc).

4) Yr 13 kids, especially boys, are huge and intimidating when you're physically smaller compared to them.

5) Piercings for boys are fine in school as long as there isnt more than 2.

6) 19-year-old boys can be hot and cute when they want to.

7) Younger kids find visitors interesting.

8) Kin can be a pedophile when she wants to.

9) Anita like older men.

10) Myn is *desperately* good when it comes to GCA (cute guys alerts).

Arent they charming? *swoons*

We learned lots *rolls eyes* and we had a great time, thanks to Daniel & Jack! They were really charming (they always arrive early to pick us up & waits for us when we're running late) and they entertained our crazy antics all the time (we offered to send them coconut trees as a thank you gift for hosting us).

It was a fun and educating visit. All in all, we ended the school trips with a bang!

Orakei

phew!

Just got back from Orakei Primary. The tutoring session is killing me but making me feel happy at the same time.

Totally missing Marino now. She's been absent for 2 weeks. Hope to see her soon. Kaleb is absent this week as well. Wonder what's up with these kids??!!

Since Marino is absent, Mrs Craig assigned me with a new kid, William. He's 11 and heck of a smart kid. Well, its either he is smart or I'm stuck in been-tutoring-an-8-year-old-for-too-long-and-begin-to-think-like-them situation. But William is a bright kid. He could explain to me what nouns, adverbs, prepositions and conjunctions are. So basically, my tutoring session with him was way easier compared to the times with Marino because he doesn't require much help. He rarely goes off-task too.

He's pretty chatty too. Talks about his classes, the games he played before going to school everyday. He even told me what he had for lunch! Its a change compared to Marino where I do most of the talking. With William, I actually feel that I dont have to try so hard to get him to do stuffs. What more can a teacher (or tutor) asked for... He's perfect!

But heck, I still want my baby back! Marino, please come back! Miss Amy is missing you!

G-Dragon!!!

First blog entry!

Gonna celebrate it with a wonderful song!