Good end to a working year

It's my last day of work for this year and I ended it off with a long Christmas lunch with work mates. We started out at 12:30pm and had to leave eventually at 4:30pm because the restaurant was setting up for dinner diners. Zipped in to check my emails and tie up some loose ends before I'm off for the year. A brilliant end to a working year. Woohoo!

Droolworthy or Not?

Saw this here in Auckland and I'm thinking for a week whether I should get it or not. Any thoughts?

Guilty As Charged

I slipped out during lunch to finish up my Christmas shopping. Yuko is visiting at the moment and I wanted to pick up a gift for her. I ended up shopping for myself instead. Bought a really pretty black cocktail dress. Happy but guilty! Tra la la!

Pitstop

We took a trip to the South Island a couple of weeks ago and I'm slowly but surely catching up on my blogging. This photo was taken on one of our pitstops. The South Island is one of the most stunning places I've seen. Like what people here like to say, God made New Zealand last and He took his time, that's why it turned out so perfect.

Christ Church in Christchurch

Pebbles

Came across this stretch of beach in the South Island where the pebbles are all stacked up for some reason. Never figured out the reason behind it.

Help. Drowning. In. Work.

I thought December is supposed to be one loooonnng weekend but hey it's not happening for me this year. I'm swamped at work. Everyone else seems to be slowing down, getting off work at 3pm to go Christmas shopping or for an afternoon beer. It's been pretty much flat out for me these couple of weeks.

Only consolation is that I'll be on that plane in a week's time. WOOOHHOOOOO!!!!

Hippy Tree-Hugger

I think my hippy tree-hugger phase is here to stay and not some fad after all. I've switched all my skincare and hair stuff to natural and organic products, and started trying to eat healthy. I've recently discovered this cafe just across from my work place that serves really good vegetarian food. When I say it's good vegetarian food, you'd better believe it since I'm such a carnivore and vegetables have never been a big part of my diet. I had a tofu sandwich today and hey hey what do you know?! It was delicious! Yum! So I'm hooked. Gonna try to roasted kumara sandwich tomorrow. Now all I have to do to complete my whole kumbaya-mother-earth-loving-hippy-tree-hugger persona is to whip out my bong and go mediate on world peace or something! ;)

The Countdown Begins

"Oh the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we've no place to go

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"

I know I haven't been blogging lately but it'll be officially summer tomorrow and there are way way way better things to do in summer than to sit behind a PC. I did a road trip to South Island and was totally blown away at how gorgeous the country is. I took a zillion photos of a zillion waterfalls, mountains, rolling hills. I'll get around to putting up a blogpost on that soon. Plus I've been busy Christmas shopping. Ooohhh when it comes to holidays and festivities, I'm a little like Izzie in Grey's Anatomy. Big fan of festivities and holiday season and family get-togethers. Fun!

 

So I've been pretty good with Christmas shopping this year. I bought most of my presents early this year. I'm just missing Stephen's gifts. I don't know what to get him... so a little help will be appreciated. Feel free to send me your suggestions.

 

Another 3 more weeks before I head home. Actually it's more like 2 weeks and  4 days! Ha! As you can see, I can't hardly wait!

Hello.... Summer!

Today is one of those days where all you want to do is lie on the beach and sip beer all day. Hooray! The skies are clear, the sun is out, it's a nice balmy 19 degrees. Okay. Perhaps it's a little too chilly still for the beach but hey, what the hell. It's been a while since we've had weather this sweet. To top it off, it's Friday, and the weekend is here. Again. Can't get any better that than.

Stephen's 31st (yes you've heard it right. THREE-ONE.) birthday is tomorrow and I've got the whole day night all planned out. I'm still working on the day bit. We'll be going for dinner at Tanuki's Cave and plying ourselves with yakitori and lots of sake, before heading to a horror house theme park. It'll be a riot since tomorrow is also Halloween.

Speaking about Halloween, the kids in our neighbourhood dress up and go trick-or-treating every year.  I'm considering whether I should dress Cooper up and when the kids come a-knocking, I'll set the hound from hell in all his full glory on them. It'll be hilarious!!! What say you?

Today Is Gonna Be A Good Day

This song is so apt for kicking off a long weekend. We're going over to a friend's for dinner tomorrow and heading off to Rotorua for the rest of the weekend for some serious quad-biking followed by a well-deserved massage. It's been too long.

p/s: I would love to be part of the flash mob, cheesy choreographed dance moves and all.

/Quote of the Day/

Be like a duck.

Remain calm on the surface and paddle like hell underneath.

Today.

Today is just one of those days. Every thing that can go wrong has gone wrong. Well, not everything everything but it sure feels like it. Lately, it seems like I've been up-to-my-neck with too many thankless issues.

Big fat sigh.

First Poems by Rainer Maria Rilke

Understand, I'll slip quietly
Away from the noisy crowd
When I see the pale
Stars rising, blooming over the oaks
I'll pursue solitary pathways
Through the pale twilit meadows,
With only this one dream:
You come too.

Doggy Minced Meat

This is Cooper feeling really sorry for himself after getting yelled at and spanked on his bum.

Why? Well this is what Cooper did while waiting for us to come home. This is the THIRD time he has attempted to murder my iron and this time round, he's done it. I have no idea how to fix it. He made sure he chewed up every single bit of the wire. I'm going to KILL that dog and make minced meat out of him!

Grey's Anatomy

Season six is now available online and I've been religiously streaming each episode every week.

Heard this phrase on the show and thought it's really funny - I'll kick you from here to Sunday.

That's my new phrase. Now I just have to find opportunities to tell someone that. Ha!

Mt Ruapehu

Jopien came over for a visit about a month ago and we took a drive to Mt Ruapehu and went snowboarding. Or rather attempted to snowboard. I ended up with a really sore bum since the only way I knew how to stop was to fall over while these 5-year old Kiwi kids were just zipping right by and sniggering every time I fell.

Stopped by for a photo op on the way to the mountain.

At Mount Ruapehu.

Tsunami

Just a note to say I'm fine. NZ wasn't hit by the tsunami that unfortunately devastated Samoa and Tonga.

Tyler Durden

One of my favourite movie characters is Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) in Fight Club. Re-watched the movie last night and still loved it! Here's one of the many quotes from the movie:

"Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war. Our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off."

Grandfather's Wooden Bowl

"A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in- law, and four-year old grandson. The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at the table, but the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in- law became irritated with the mess. “We must do something about Grandfather, ” said the son. “I’ve had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.” Therefore, the husband and wife set a small table in the corner.

There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl. When the family glanced in Grandfather’s direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.

The four-year-old watched it all in silence. One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, “What are you making?”

Just as sweetly, the boy responded, “Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up.” The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

The words so struck the parents that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.

That evening the husband took Grandfather’ s hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days, he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled."

I have always thought that scenarios like these only happen in stories or overly sappy Chinese drama serials. Well sadly, our stories and crappy drama serials are based on real life and more often then not, it doesn't end quite as sweetly as the story.

Daylight Savings

Woohoo! Daylight savings just kicked in yesterday in the wee hours, so now we're 5 hours ahead instead of the usual 4. The sun is now setting at 7:30pm instead of 6:30pm. I know I know, it's cheating since all we did was move the clock forward but hey, anything for a longer day eh?

The weather is going to be crap the whole of this week. No idea how we'll manage to go skiing this weekend. Although it's the perfect kinda weather for snuggling in bed and all that rain just makes me want to stay in bed until Wednesday.

I'm feeling soooo schleepy at work.
Yawn.
Stretch.
Another 6 more hours to go.

Mondays are no fun.

John Key on Letterman

Psst. In case you're wondering who John Key is, he's the Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Boobs on Bikes

Today is Boobs on Bikes Parade day!

They'll be a bunch of porn stars driving topless up and down CBD.

And today of all days, I forgot my camera! Sorry guys!

Update:
Caught the tail end of the parade as I was on my way out to get lunch. Saw this bunch of topless girls, sitting astride a huge army tank that was driving down the street. Picture that! ;)

Confession of a (once-in-a-while) Shopaholic

I have a confession. I went shopping and spent a bomb. Well, it wasn't exactly a BOMB bomb but it's going against my whole goal of spending less and saving more.

I have to justify my spending because I'm guilt-tripping.

Justifications:

1. I shop only at a few boutiques in Auckland. For those of you who have been here, you know what I mean. Let's just say Auckand isn't the place for you if you're constantly in need of retail therapy.

2. I only shop at Country Road when they're on sales and today was their first day of mid-season sales, and I just so happened to arrive at work earlier than usual and found the store already open with 20% discount (for VIP members, which I am. Yay!) on top of already discounted items. (It's like the stars have aligned and it's just meant to be!)

3. I've been studying for the bloody godamn CFA. My personal opinion is that whoever invented the qualification ought to be shot! I have no life now. I shuttle from home to work and back home again in evenings in time to cook dinner before hitting the books. I'm a NERD, just not the brainy type. The type that has to mug in the vain hope of passing the stupid exam where pass rates are 50% or an impossible statistic like that. Oh I can go on complaining forever about this.

Anyhow, I couldn't possible turn down a good sales and I need to reward myself for being such a NERD, so I happily trotted into the store.

45 minutes later and very late for work, I walked out bearing 2 identical tops in different colours (I couldn't decide which colour to buy, so I bought them both! BUT I can return one of them in 14 days and get a full refund), 1 oh-so-cute tulip skirt (which I just might get the hem shortened so it'll look oh-so-much-cuter) and 2 leather belts. (I need belts! I lost my last Country Road belt and I've been looking for it for ages now!)

I feel so much better. Ah. A good start to a Wednesday.

Opposites

This is so cheesy it makes you want to roll your eyes.
Burst out laughing when I read this:

"You're the ying to my yang... the apple to my crumble... the ice to my cream..."

Moments.

Read this is someone's About Me page.

My proudest moment is now.

My least proud moments are too many to list.

My happiest moments are now.

My unhappiest moments are too few and too unimportant to remember.

It's a good mantra to live by.

Forgetful Lucy

Lately, I've becoming more and more forgetful. Just the other day, I stood in front of the pantry for a full minute trying to figure out what I was planning to get out of the pantry. I had forgotten what I wanted to retrieve in the 5 nano-seconds it took for me to open the door!

Is it just me? Or does it happen to you too?

One Perfect Rose

(by Dorothy Parker)

A single flow'r he sent me, since we met.
All tenderly his messenger he chose;
Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet -
One perfect rose.

I knew the language of the floweret;
'My fragile leaves,' it said, 'his heart enclose.'
Love long has taken for his amulet
One perfect rose.

Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it's always just my luck to get
One perfect rose.

(Love Dorothy Parker! Doesn't she just crack you up?!)

Men v.s. Women

A couple drove down a country road for several miles,
not saying a word.

An earlier discussion had led to an argument and

neither of them wanted to concede their position.

As they passed a barnyard of mules, goats, and pigs,

The husband asked sarcastically, 'Relatives of yours?'

'Yep,' the wife replied, 'in-laws.'

Not So Last Minute Scramble

It is at least 3 months to Christmas and I thought I'll book Cooper in to his regular boarding kennel early for the Christmas period since his regular walker is unable to take him. (Ha! Little did I know.) I called up his kennel and was told that they were full since January this year! Went into full panic mode and started calling up boarding kennels as far as outside Auckland. I was told by 5 different boarding kennels that they were full, some as early as May. Are you kidding me?!

Managed to find 2 smaller kennels which are located west of Auckland. It's a 45-minute drive from where we are but I was so glad to have found a kennel with vacancies that I didn't care if I had to drive to another state just to board him.

We'll have to bring the Coopster in for an orientation tomorrow. (Seriously, this is like bringing a kid on his first day of school! Did I somehow sign up for parenthood without even realising?!) Have 2 appointments set up, one at 12:30pm and the other at 1:45pm. These 2 kennels only accept well-socalised dogs with mild temperaments. The Coopster better behave tomorrow else he'll be sleeping on the streets while we're holidaying in Singapore and Perth.

Guinea Pig: Natural & Organic Skincare

I've been furiously researching online and have been zipping into pharmacies and healthcare shops in a bid to mine the minds of these healthcare/hippies/mother-earthy-let's-all-embrace-mother-nature type of folks.

After shopping around, I've gone ahead and bought some oil products and I have to say I'm a new convert to using body oils and facial oils as moisturisers! Odd as that may sound, especially from someone who has oily skin in summer, but the oils does not leave your face or body greasy at all. In fact, the oils get absorbed so fast, sometimes it's a race to spread it around before it disappears into your skin. Plus it's good to know that these oils are au naturale and free from harmful chemicals. Also I'm my mother's willing guinea pig and am happy to test out the products before buying it back for her. Fun!

Here's what I'm currently using:

Trilogy Rosehip Oil

I really like this company and their ethics. Their products are made from organic and natural ingredients, free from parabens, have minimal preservatives (unfortunately also means they last for about 6-9 months after opening), and the range is really affordable. This is their signature product and have received lots of raves around the world.
Will definitely buy this for mom.

Springfields Vanilla Bean Massage & Body Oil

This is my favourite new purchase! A little goes a long way and I love love love the vanilla scent. Sometimes I use more than needed just so that I can spend the whole day smelling all vanilla-y.

And this for mom too.





Dr Hauschka Toned Day Cream

My first tube of tinted moisturiser. Figured I can do with a bare hint of colour since I'm just too lazy to put on makeup. To be honest, I'm not blown away by this moisturiser. It's not moisturising enough for the weather now. I reckon it'll be more suitable in summer. Not one of my favourites, and to top it off, it's the most expensive of the lot. Blah.

Best Kind of Diet

If you haven't heard, it's called the "Seafood Diet".

You see food, and you eat it!

My kinda diet. ;)

Go Organic. Go Natural. Go Green.

I've been meaning to blog about the latest fad of mine but Kym beat me to it on her blog. (Notice I used the word "fad" because I don't think I'll be able to keep up with this long because I have absolutely no discipline when it comes to food but while I'm at it, I'll be loud and proud.)

Lately, I've been into everything organic and natural and green. Partly because of all the articles and websites that I've been reading up on the amount of synthetic chemicals in our food, in our cosmetics and skincare and how much harm it's causing our bodies. Call me paranoid or just well-informed but I'm starting to study the ingredients list whenever I make a purchase.

I've started eating more healthily, and buying organic food when I can. So it's more milk, yoghurt, cheese, organic muesli and less chocolates and sugar-coated jellies. I'm also saying no to poor cooped up chickens in their little cages. Only free-range chickens and eggs. I'm taking manuka honey, wholemeal bread and more fruits. (Kiwi fruits are priced at 99cents per kg here. How cheap is that? I can buy half a dozen for 60cents!) I still think salads are meant to be appertizers and not the main itself, I hardly ever eat vegetables and I really don't like plain water but hey, it's a start.

New Zealand has a few of their own organic skincare product lines. I'm slowly switching to these organic products. I'm saying no to parabens, urea, formaldehyde deratives or sulphates in my skincare products. Sure the natural skincare lines are usually more expensive but well worth the extra dollar, besides aren't we already spending a whole bunch of money on our comestics. While we're at it, we might as well buy something that's worth it's price tag. 

There are quite a few websites out there with information on the toxins in our makeup and skincare. Here are some which might interests you. You'll find a lot of information online.

http://safecosmetics.org/index.php
http://beautytruth.com/
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php

Knight in Shining Armour

Bought Stephen a present today. Couldn't wait for him to wear it so that I can take a photo. Too cute eh? (I'm referring to the T-shirt of course!)

Stephen & Qing's B&B

Business is picking up and will be fairly brisk for the rest of the year at Stephen & Qing's B&B! If only we charge like the other B&Bs, we'll be rich rich rich!

Tomorrow will be the official first day of Spring. The rest of the month of September will be relatively quiet. This will be the brief calm before the storm. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some studying done. (Well that's the plan at least.)

Come early October, Sunny will be here for a short trip. Toonie and WJ will be coming over towards the second half of October.

For the month of November, Ben and Rika will be visiting us from Perth. Stephen and I are planning to take a week off from work to go travelling to the South Island together. Road trip!

I have the dreaded exam on the 6th December. Please please please let me pass! Thereafter, I'm home free!

Stephen & Qing's B&B will be closed this year over the Christmas and New Year's period, although if you ask nicely, we might just hand over our house keys to you if you promise to behave and not to trash the house while we're gone.

Pahia, Keri Keri and Pink Sheep

Pahia and Keri Keri are towns north of Auckland, and the pink sheep just took us completely by surprised.

(If you haven't already realised, these entries posted today are events that have happened and pictures that were taken months and even years ago. I'm just trying to catch up on my blogging.)

We decided to splurge a little and stayed at this little beach hotel called Pahia Beach Resort. (I wouldn't exactly call it a resort since it's really small. My idea of a resort is one with sprawling grounds, huge pools, jacuzzis, several nice restaurants. You get the drift.) The rooms were pretty good, we weren't blown away but it was still nice and clean, with an unobstructed view of the ocean and it opens up to the pool. The restaurant served pretty good breakfast too. Yum!

Drove to Keri Keri during our stay in Pahia and found the oldest standing stone house in NZ.

Cooper meet Cooper

We've tried to keep this classified information and photos under wraps for the past year and a half. But the secret is out. Yes, we named our dog after our car. (And yes, I admit we aren't the most original or creative of people.)

Cooper, meet Cooper.

My Spo(r)ty Dog

Stephen woke up early this morning to catch his favourite soccer team, Liverpool play against Bolton, on TV. I walked into the den and found Cooper equally caught up in the match.

Turned my back for a couple of minutes and my very spotty sporty dog was up to his mischief again. Found him all decked out in my scuba gear, ready to go for a splash! Too hilarious!

(It was a riot getting him to stay still without trying to tear the scuba mask off his face. Needless to say, he was not pleased and it took a lot of bribing for him to keep still!)

Grandma's Birthday

Managed to celebrate Grandma's birthday on my recent trip back to Singapore. It was a potluck dinner and we each cooked and brought a different dish. I brought food too except that it was food my mother-in-law cooked. Ha! How brilliant and very shameless am I?!

Here are my favourite people...

Falling...

... sick. Feeling yucky.

Your Thoughts: Pet Dog Barbequed and Eaten

The latest uproar among the animal-lovers community involves news about a Tongan man who was found roasting his pitbull terrier-cross on a BBQ pit in his home. The dog had been skinned and gutted and partially charred when SPCA inspectors arrived. In this man's defense, it is perfectly normal to be eating dog's meat and is considered a delicacy.

Read news article here.

And here's another article in his defense. It's an interesting read.

Let me know what you think.

Is it wrong to BBQ and eat your dog if it turned violent and had to be put down anyway?

Wanderlust

This weekend will be our second trip to Mount Ruapehu and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather will hold up so that we can do some snowboarding. Ok. Fine. It will be closer to the truth to say that we will attempt to snowboard because I foresee that we'll spend most of the time on our bums or knees. I would love to promise to post up lots of photos from our ski trip but I reckon I'll be too busy avoiding face-plants to be wielding the camera.

Come November, Ben (Stephen's brother) and his wife, Rika, will be flying over from Perth for a visit. We're thinking of taking a week out and travelling with the pair. The plan is to rent a camper van and drive up and down the South Island. And in return, they'll play host to us when we fly over to Perth for Christmas this year.

Our major trip will come next year. Stephen and I have decided to go on a month-long backpacking trip to Asia. We're looking mainly at travelling to Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. And perhaps also spending a couple of weeks volunteering in one of the developing SE Asian countries teaching English, or building houses, or whatever we can find. That would be the travel highlight for that year. Can't wait!

Did you know...

... that it is illegal for parents in New Zealand to smack their children for correction or for whatever reason?

Wake me up when September ends.

Going back to Singapore was a good break for me. I missed the food, the partying, missed the hustle and bustle of city life, missed my friends and my family the mostest! As thoroughly enjoyable as my trip was, it also reminded me that Singapore is no paradise. I think I've acclimatised to the life here in NZ. People back home walk too fast, drive like maniacs and aren't exactly the friendliest people around. I dread driving in Singapore. I think if you measure my blood pressure before I get in the car and after arriving at my destination, you'll probably be able to detect a significant increase. (The most recent episiode, I had Vatsan in the car with me and let's just say that he probably won't be hopping into any car that I'm driving any time soon.)

So I've decided that since I'm here in New Zealand, and won't be for too long, I should make the most out of it.

Laundry list of likes and quirks in NZ:

- clean clean clean air

- the luxury of getting 8 hours of sleep every day (think about it, when was the last time you managed to squeeze in 8 hours of sleep in a work day.)

- of being able to start a conversation with a stranger on the street and not have someone look at you funny

- healthy living - no nightlife means no partying, no late nights, no excessive alcoholic binges, no hangovers, no ugly mascara-smudged eyes next morning (I can't say I'm ecstatic about this point but I have a funny feeling my mom is thrilled with this.)

- a pack of choco milk a day (too lazy for breakfast and milk is cheap. Again, another point to make my mom oh-so-happy since she's been going on about osteoporosis and whatnots.)

- daylight savings and summer days (I'm really looking forward to daylight savings at the end of September. The days will be longer, and warmer, the sun the sun the sun will be out out out! Ooohh I can't even begin to tell you how much the sun affects my moods. Summers in NZ are glorious days. Way too short, but glorious nonetheless.)

Is it Summer yet?

/Quote of the Day/

Regular naps prevent old age...

Especially if you take them while driving.

Back!

Yes I'm back after a long hiatus from blogging. No idea what I've been so busy with. Was in Sydney for a week, and back in Singapore for a week and a half. Apart from that, nothing much has happened. Life is still same old same old. But yes, I'm back and you'll be hearing from me on a more regular basis now, I promise.

Service Nightmare

I have to say that even though we go on and on about how crappy service is in Singapore but it can never be as bad as in NZ. Service centres are closed over the weekends and evenings. Customer service can be absolute crap sometimes.

Here's a classic example - I called Vodafone today to enquire about the charge on my bill for their data plan and this is how the conversation went:

me: I did not subscribe to the data service but there's a charge of $15 on my bill. Why is that so?
girl-on-the-phone: You used the data service.
me: But I didn't subscribe to any such service. Why am I paying for something that I didn't subscribe to?
girl-on-the-phone: Well you did use it and thus you have to pay for it.
me: Is there a way to turn the service off?
girl-on-the-phone: No.
me: Will there be a message or warning if Vodafone live kicks in on my phone.
girl-on-the-phone: No.
me: Is there anything you can do?
girl-on-the-phone: No.
me: Can I speak to someone who can help me? Is there nothing you can do to help me with this issue?
girl-on-the-phone: I'm afraid there's no one here who can assist you.

Then, of course, even though I've developed a higher tolerance for stupidity and lousy service after living here in NZ, I completely lost it. I mean seriously. What is this girl thinking talking to a customer like that? I went on a tirade on decent customer service and how she is not even attempting to help me resolve the issue. I went on to rant about getting her manager to play back the call and come back to me with an adquate explanation for such shabby customer service blah blah blah. I was on a roll. You would have been proud.

After 10 minutes of ranting and raving, she finally decided to attempt do her job and made an effort to answer my questions. Bloody hell.

/Random Thought/

Isn't there something really sexy about a guy who is well-read?

Sisters

The women in my family and extended family are really strong women. It takes a lot to beat them down, and even when they are down, they still somehow manage to bounce back up again. So here's to them, especially to my sisters, whom have turned out to be fine individuals. I am so proud. I miss my sisters.

Phenomenal Woman (by Maya Angelou)

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It’s in the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can’t see.
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman.
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
The palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
‘Cause I’m a woman.
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Rent-head

The first time I watched Rent was in Singapore in 2001. It was a Filipino cast. You know how there are a few rare times after watching a film or musical, you walk out of the theatre feeling moved or changed in a subtle way. Rent did this for me. The musical blew my mind! The musical addresses modern issues like AIDs, homosexuality, drug addiction. I love the songs, love how the script is mostly sang, even the messages left on Mark’s answering machine. I’ve watched Rent a total of three times, second time in New York, and the third time in Singapore, where Karen Mok played Mimi. The musical still takes my breath away every single time.

My all-time favourite scene is when the entire group is at the Life Café singing La Vie Boheme. Love love love the song! *Gush gush gush*

"To days of inspiration
Playing hookey, making
Something out of nothing
The need to express -
To communicate,
Go going against the grain,
Going insane, going mad."

(These clips are from the movie instead of the musical.)


Here’s my second favourite: where Roger meets Mimi for the first time in his apartment. Love love the song. (Notice how I only put 2 “love’s” instead of 3 for my second favourite just to illustrate my point!)


And here's my third favourite. It's hilarious. It's a tough choice since I really enjoy all the songs.

"A tiger in a cage
Can never see the sun
This diva needs her stage
Baby let's have fun
You are the one I choose
Folks would kill to fill your shoes
You love the limelight too now baby."

Orcas spotted at St Heliers

Five or six killer whales were spotted chasing stingrays off St Heliers this morning. Unbelievable! They were just at the beach, 5 minutes from where I lived and I missed them! I take Tamaki Drive to work. How did I miss them driving to work this morning?! Seeing these killer whales would definitely have made my week. It would even have made cleaning up after Cooper all worth the while.

Ahhh... I miss diving.

Monday Morning

Woke up just in time to find Cooper peeing in the bedroom.
Banished him to the toilet.
Cleaned up spot in bedroom.
Showered.
Got ready for work in the wardrobe room.
Cooper peed in the wardrobe room.
Yelled at Cooper.
Brought him to the door.
Fumbled for keys.
Cooper peed on the mat.
Dragged Cooper out the door while cursing at him.
Cooper peed for eternity.
Cleaned up mat.
Yelled at Cooper somemore.
Cleaned up mess in wardrobe room.
Threatened to drop off Cooper at the SPCA.
Made note to self to purchase more carpet cleaning detergent.
Showered (again). Had pee all over me at this stage.
Finally got to work.
Was an hour late.
And the day has just barely started.

"Me" Time

Stephen is off to Hong Kong the whole of this week. Dropped him off at the airport in the morning and I headed first to the Chinese bakery. Stocked up on bread and pastries. Then off to thread my brows at Bombay Beauty Parlour(!), followed by a trip to Mitre 10 to pick up a fan heater for my bathroom because the bathroom is just crazy cold in the mornings. Not fun to sit on the toilet when it's 2-3 degrees in the mornings.

It's been sunny all day. Took Cooper out for a nice long walk around the neighbourhood. Found another street that I really like with gorgeous character houses and nice big lawns.

After running all my errands, I'm happily settled on the day bed by the window with a steaming cup of earl grey tea, munching on my boluo pao and my red bean bun, watching re-runs on my laptop. One of my neighbours have already started a fire in their fireplace for the day. I can see smoke coming out from their chimney, which reminds me, I'd better start mine soon before the sun goes down.

Am happy for now. One of the moments where I actually enjoy being in Auckland.

Sexism

I have a colleague in the office who constantly makes sexist remarks. The thing is, his remarks are so random that they always catch me unawares and I'll be fuming at him for saying the darnest things and at myself for not saying something brilliantly smart and sarcastic enough in return.

He'll say things like, "Women talk too much", or "Don't you think a man's success is about earning more money than his wife can spend?" or "Why do women spend so much money on clothes? Women dress up only for their men. Don't they realise that their men can't even be bothered?" I'm not taking these things out of context. He just sprouts random stuff like that.

Sometimes I get really irritated, sometimes I just roll my eyes. What I should do is prepare some brilliantly caustic come-back, just so that I'll have something to shoot him down with the next time he comes up with another "Women bashing" topic.

Any ideas?

Cold.

It is going to be freezing this week with temperatures dropping to a low of 0-2 degrees. It is cold enough to see our breathes in the morning when we step out of the house, and the car windscreens are frosted up. I've also started putting on layers after layers of clothing whenever I leave the house. Feel and look like a marshmallow man.

Cooper is such a tropical dog. He loves sun-tanning so he is not too impressed with recent cold bout. He's constantly running to the bathroom and whining in front of the hair dryer, in the vain hope that I'll be willing to turn on the hair dryer at full blast and aim the nozzle at him. Finally caved and moved one of the smaller heaters into the laundry room today so that he won’t be shivering in his crate while waiting for his walker to take him out.

I just realised something – the warmest that we’ll ever get here in summer is probably the coldest it'll ever get in Singapore – about 27 degrees.

Isn't that a funny thought?

Q: Going Home? A: Depends wholly on SIA.

I've decided to make the trip back for my sisters' graduation. One's graduating with a degree from SMU Accounting and the other a masters from LKY School of Public Policy. So proud of them! It'll be fun to take cheesy shots of them in their graduation gowns and then go for a nice meal after. My mother will probably insist that everyone (including Stephen and I) troop down to the studio so we can do a family portrait all decked out in our respective gowns. Very very very cheesy!

I wouldn't miss the graduation for the world except that SIA is not being very cooperative. How is it that every time we travel, we always end up being wait-listed? Even though there are a ton of flight promotions currently, we always manage to travel during peak periods and at full fare. Who does the Auckland/Singapore route in the middle of July?! It's bloody winter here! SIA better send us a hamper or a card at least for all the business we're giving them.

Here's my flight itinerary.

Stephen's flight itinerary looks even worse than mine. Both legs of the journey for him are waitlisted. At least I have the returning flight confirmed.

Mike Tyson vs Evander Cooper-field

HC Chen
Part-time sports reporter to ESPNx.com/full-time slave to Cooper

The Fight

This was the fight everyone had anticipated -- Tyson vs. Cooper-field.

They were calling it "The fight of the century - Man vs. Dog", the $100-million rematch between these titans. The first match took place 11 months earlier, producing a shocking upset -- knockout victory for Cooper-field aka Dog.

Now here we are, middle of the winter of 2009, and the rematch is drawing more attention than the first bout.

The Moment

Tyson, in his usual black trunks and shoes without socks, begins the bout more cautiously than the first fight with Cooper-field last July, when Cooper-field stunned Tyson in the 11th round by staring him down with his ever-powerful puppy dog eyes. On this night, Tyson avoids looking straight at Cooper-field and hammers away.

Seconds into Round 2, Cooper-field headbutts Tyson and the referee immediately signals the two apart. Tyson’s frustration grows. He lunges towards Cooper-field, and then in an explicable and gruesome move, crunches down on Cooper-field’s left ear and bites off a chunk!

The Photos

Coromandel

Last of my twenty-somethings

Yay yay yay!

I just received a bouquet of flowers from my family and a sweet little message. The flowers are gorgeous! THANK YOU! I also have a parcel waiting at the post office from Grandma and PL. Joy!

This is officially the last of my 20-somethings. I don't feel a year over 25, other than the fact that I can't stay out past 11pm without yawning every 2 minutes; and I can't drink like a fish anymore without wanting to chop off my head the next morning from the godawful hangover; and I fret about lines around my eyes; and I nag my sisters to no end; and I think most teenagers out there are annoying as hell... Okay so maybe I am getting a teeny weeny bit older.

Had a low-key but nevertheless purrrfect birthday yesterday! I got breakfast (well sort of breakfast if you count cupcakes as breakfast) in bed. Instead of a birthday cake, I got a whole bunch of birthday cupcakes. They're the prettiest little things. Too cute to be eaten. And a whole bunch of little gifts.

We had a nice lunch and caught Cats the musical in the evening.

I also received another bouquet of flowers from my in-laws. How very thoughtful! (But I must say I still like the flowers from my family best!)

This time next year, I'll be 3-0! Like what the girls in Sex in the City say - 30s is the new 20s. That is until they all grew older and then it was - 40s is the new 20s!

SPCA Comes Calling

My life, I realised, is always quite drama. When I think all is calm and perhaps a little boring, something will pop up and make me eat my words.

Yesterday, I went home and found a name card from one Lori Davies from the SPCA on my front door with a note asking for us to call her back. I rang her back immediately but it was past 5 so surprise, surprise, no one picked up.

Returned her call this morning and we spoke about 10 minutes. Apparently, someone complained that my prince of a dog has been ill-treated and kept in his crate for too long. Little do these people know that my prince of a dog has his own personal walker who comes daily to take him out for 4 hours for walks and romps in the park with other dogs in my neighbourhood. The lady from the SPCA was most understanding and she just put it down to a misunderstanding.

As you can imagine, I was pretty pissed off and I have a good idea of who complained. There's this Kiwi girl that lives in our basement. (Ha! Now that I've written it down, it seems kinda funny. It's like those little people living under your stairs or something. She's real though. The landlord converted our basement into a studio and she lives there with her boyfriend.) Cooper is such a brat and sometimes he whines in his crate and insists on being let out. Girl-living-in-the-basement addresses the problem by using a stick and pounding on her ceiling. Cooper of course gets more excited and thinks that it's a game so that sets him off.

I'm going to walk (well more like march) over tonight and have a chat (well that's putting it mildly) with Girl-living-in-the-basement and her angst-filled boyfriend. On top of it, I'll have to insist that they pay their fair share of the electricity and water bill. In the past, we were happy paying the bulk of the bills cuz we figured that she's young and just starting out in her career as a florist. We were happy helping her out as much as we can. Well that's all going to change!

Having a Coke with You

is even more fun than going to San Sebastian, Irún, Hendaye, Biarritz, Bayonne
or being sick to my stomach on the Travesera de Gracia in Barcelona
partly because in your orange shirt you look like a better happier St. Sebastian
partly because of my love for you, partly because of your love for yoghurt
partly because of the fluorescent orange tulips around the birches
partly because of the secrecy our smiles take on before people and statuary
it is hard to believe when I’m with you that there can be anything as still
as solemn as unpleasantly definitive as statuary when right in front of it
in the warm New York 4 o’clock light we are drifting back and forth
between each other like a tree breathing through its spectacles

and the portrait show seems to have no faces in it at all, just paint
you suddenly wonder why in the world anyone ever did them
I look
at you and I would rather look at you than all the portraits in the world
except possibly for the Polish Rider occasionally and anyway it’s in the Frick
which thank heavens you haven’t gone to yet so we can go together the first time
and the fact that you move so beautifully more or less takes care of Futurism
just as at home I never think of the Nude Descending a Staircase or
at a rehearsal a single drawing of Leonardo or Michelangelo that used to wow me
and what good does all the research of the Impressionists do them
when they never got the right person to stand near the tree when the sun sank
or for that matter Marino Marini when he didn’t pick the rider as carefully
as the horse

it seems they were all cheated of some marvellous experience
which is not going to go wasted on me which is why I’m telling you about it

By Frank O'Hara

Obama's Wedding

Aww... how sweet is this photo?!

Today

Today is the day of reckoning!

p/s: I know I'm being all mysterious and a tease but I'll clue you in once I hear of the news and share it share it share it!

Update: So I've been told that nothing is confirmed yet. And I figured it would not be for another few weeks before we find out. I'm so frustrated with how this is panning out. For once, it'll be nice to have things work out the way I hope it would. I mean, seriously. My life is not my own anymore! Damn these frigging stupid corporates goons!

Ah-Choo!

Stephen just left on a work trip to Melbourne. Over the last week or so, there was a surge in the number of infected H1N1 cases in Australia to over 500. Most of which are in Melbourne, Victoria. I'm pretty sure NZ has already stepped up it's alert and will be really paranoid with screening passengers on flights coming in from Melbourne. Let's hope that Stephen doesn't come down with the H1N1 flu because then we'll all be quarantined... and probably even be on the news! Ha! But that's not exactly how I'd like to spend my birthday.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/433533/1/.html

Baker's Dozen

My house was at its most crowded it has ever been over the last few days. Kenny and his nine other friends rounded off their trip in NZ by spending a few days in Auckland with us. We didn't have enough beds to accommodate all of them so for most of them, nights were spent sprawled on the floor of the den in front of the fireplace and the living area. Cooper, of course, was beside himself with glee because it meant that there were an additional 10 other pairs of hands to give him his rubs.

We took a picture, all thirteen of us, including the Coopster. I'll load the photo once I get my hands on it. I just first have to figure out whose camera the photo is in...

The Ya-Ya Sisterhood of the Missing Gym Pants.

Lately, I’ve been all rah-rah about my fitness regime and trooping over to the gym every other day. Well last Wednesday, I headed for my Yoga class. Figured I need to stretch my achy muscles. Made an effort to leave work early and managed to get a car park lot at the gym without queuing. Yay! So far so good. Day’s coming along just fine. Happily trooped down to the changing room and was half way into my gym attire when I realised that my gym pants weren’t in the bag. I emptied the entire contents of my bag onto the floor. No gym pants!!! I can't exactly walk around the gym partially dressed in my top and undies. So I had to change back into my work outfit, stomped my way to the car, chucked my gym bag into the backseat and backed out of my precious precious parking lot. I was muttering curses under my breath all the way home.

Parked the car in the driveway at home, pulled the handbrake, turned around to retrieve my gym bag and guess what I saw lying on the backseat?! MY GYM PANTS!!! WAH LAO EH!!! Something like that can only happen to me loh!!! Of course I complained to Stephen, and of course I didn’t get any sympathy. Not one of my brilliant moments.

Oh So Cheesy Cliché

Just finished watching "The Wedding Date" starring Debra Messing and the oh-so-delectable Dermot Mulroney.

I really like one of the quotes in the movie since it smartly summarises the love-you-til-death-do-us-part-and-then-hate-your-guts-the-next-moment kinda relationship Stephen and I have.

Dermot Mulroney to Debra Messing: "I'd rather fight with you than make love with anybody else."

It Can't Rain All The Time

We took advantage of the brief respite in the weather last Saturday and trooped down to Muriwai Beach. As you can see from the pictures, both Man and Dog were happy to be finally let out of the house to work off all that pent up energy.

Home

When I was away in Stockholm, I used to listen to this song whenever I felt homesick. Then in Hong Kong and now here in NZ. This song always reminds me of home...

Gym Bunny

It's late fall over here and the weather is just rubbish. It's been raining every day on and off for about 3 weeks now. Because of the constant rain, I basically have to move my life indoors. I found an indoor rock climbing gym that's huge and promises to be a lot of fun. Have also started hitting the gym again after a year-long hiatus and my body is not happy at all. After yesterday's bodypump session, my body is aching everywhere. I can barely lift my arms above my shoulders and my legs wobble when I walk down stairs. My legs wobble so much that I have to hang on to the handrails and trying to look cool as can be while navigating down flight of stairs when all I want to do is scoot on my bum all the way down these trecherous steps. Aching limbs aside, I'm all ready to go for my next gym session. There'll be bodysteps tonight and bodybalance tomorrow. 3 times a week should be just right to work off all that pent up energy from being cooped up indoors. Goooooo gym bunny!

Wet and Wild

I thought the title of this blogpost is pretty cool. What would be cooler if this blog entry to follow is equally exciting and details what crazy adventures I've been up to recently, which mountain I've climbed, which shark I've wrestled it etc. Well. Sorry to disappoint. This is just another entry to fuel my unhealthy obsession with the weather here.

It's gonna be a wet and wild weekend, weather-wise, that is.

Where To Next?

We found out this morning that there is a high high high likelyhood that we'll be moving back to South-East Asia next year! It's a pity you can't see my expression right now. I'm grinning from ear to ear - like Alice's cheshire cat. Hurrah!

As usual, the panel of big important people (aka B.I.P aka MDs and Head of Markets in S company) are keeping us waiting anxiously for their decision. Gosh these bunch of B.I.Ps are driving me insane with the waiting! Apparently, they haven't decided exactly where the next posting will be but they at least agreed that going back to SE Asia would not be a problem. Well, I'm going to be thankful for small blessings since we'll be a lot closer to home and.. and.. and.. I don't have to do my own washing and ironing anymore! *chuckle*

I'm looking at the map of SE Asia and there aren't exactly a lot of 'glam' countries to choose from. I'm hoping that we'll end up in either Singapore, Thailand or Vietnam. Please don't let us end up in Brunei...! Yikes! We should know by end of June. Wish us luck!

Happy Trio.

Our first road trip with monster dog - Cathedral Cove, Coromandel.

Opening Hours

Love the opening hours for this cafe in Coromandal!

4th Worldwide

Guess which city is ranked 4th world-wide in terms of quality of living?

Drum roll please.

Auckland. Yes good old boring Auckland!

How did that happen - You might ask. Beats me. I'm stumped myself. I wonder what factors were taken into consideration. Well I'm sure they have their reasons and justifications. Hmm... Right-o.

Update:

I did some research on the criteria used by Mercer to rate the different cities. The criteria include factors like political stability, crime, medical services, schools (especially international schools), public services, transport, recreation, shops, housing, climate and pollution.

Interestingly cities with glamourous reputations like New York, Paris, Rome came in 49th, 33rd and 55th respectively. So I guess cities with good quality of life also seem to turn out to be pretty boring places. Yawn. A good balance for me please! Sydney seems like a good choice - 10th on the list and an interesting city enough to live in!

Out Of Credits

In order to call home, I make use of this particular international calling card - Hello China! It costs about 2 cents per minute to a landline in Singapore, so $10 buys you an eternity, well almost. My card recently ran out of credits. Since only certain Asian shops sell this elusive card, I haven't been able to replace it. I'll go hunting for it today and will call home soon! Until then, BIG HUG!!!

Bargain Hunting.

I just came back from a quick lunch-time shopping trip. I bought myself a really nice charcoal-coloured woollen winter coat for about $315. Cue had a members' sale and, of course, I (the ever shopaholic) managed to get myself on their mailing list. I happily printed out the flyer and got the coat at a 30% discount. Regular price of the coat was about $450. Yesterday, I dragged Stephen to Briscoe after work because it was the first day of their annual ANZAC weekend sale and we have had a list of household items that we've been meaning to get for a long time now. I got a non-stick frying pan for $9.99 and an fleece electric blanket with dual temperature controls (Yay! No more freezing sheets to climb into at night.) at a 60% discount. We paid about $50. These aren't exactly rock-bottom bargain prices so can you imagine paying regular prices for these items. My wallet will be smarting for weeks!

One good thing that came out of being here in NZ is that I've learnt to take advantage of good deals and discounts, something which I never bothered to do in Singapore. Sales were too chaotic and crowded for me, and I usually ended up buying the non-sale items anyway. I am also guilty of buying items without so much as a glance at the price tags.

Everything here, on the other hand, is so expensive. For example, eating out is pretty costly. A simple lunch can easily come up to $15, which consists of a sandwich or a main dish and a drink. That's double the price of lunch in Singapore. Furniture here is also priced through the roof. We can actually use our Ikea furniture for a year and sell it online here at a profit. We recently sold a study table at a tidy profit of $80. This basically means that these Kiwis are actually paying us to use the furniture before selling them on. Can you beat that?!

I used to tease my Mom about cutting out coupons and keeping discount vouchers to take advantage of the bargains. Now I'm doing the exact same thing. I can so imagine my Mom going "I told you so!".

Just a note to say...

... that I'm still alive and kicking and not lying in a ditch somewhere in NZ. I just download all my photos yesterday and I'll be putting up new entries.

Soon.

Stay tuned! :)

Daylight Savings

Daylight savings ended in NZ last Saturday while we were away. Now we're 4 hours, instead of 5 hours ahead of Singapore and the sun now sets at 6:30 in the evening instead of 7:30. I'm going to miss those long summer days.

We'll have a long break this weekend because of Good Friday and Easter Monday. I'm thinking of heading north for a couple of days up to Paihia, that is if the weather holds and we can find accommodation since there'll be an exodus of people leaving Auckland for the long weekend.

Boy Racers

A bill is going to be introduced into the courts of NZ that would allow the courts to crush (Yes, you read right. Crush!) boy racer cars to serve as a punishment for repeat offences. Previously, these boy racers* had their cars confiscated and sold off but the cars were bought by other boy racers so the problem was being recycled. Now they're going to crush the cars. How ingenious!

*Boy racers are the NZ equivalent of Ah Bengs racing around in their souped-up WRXes and Evos. Sometimes you can hear them in their cars screaming down the roads in the middle of the night. Crazy bunch.

Twitter

What's this new thing that everyone is talking about - Twitter? Is it even worth checking out? So it's the new Facebook? And you get updates on what your friends are doing?

I can't keep up with all these internet fads. Too old. Too slow. Just can't be bothered. I'm sitting here at work (I really should be working) and wondering whether I should go sign up for an account on Twitter.

Racism. It's no laughing matter.

I've been told that people living in the South Island, especially Christchurch tend to be more vocal in their dislike for foreigners. Personally, I've not had any encounters here in Auckland. There will be the odd occasion when the locals here make you repeat yourself but I'll put it down to me not speaking in a Kiwi accent or me speaking too softly, so I speak up, I enunciate my words clearly, and they have no excuse not to understand me.

I feel really sorry for the lady who has written the article below. I can't imagine how it's like living in a place where you encounter racism on a regular or worse, daily basis. Still I would like to visit Christchurch someday and see firsthand for myself if it is really that bad there. If strangers really yell rude names at you on the streets and throw things at you just because of the colour of your skin. That being said, the below article is only one side of the story. Read with an open mind.

The article:

"I have been making posts in different areas of the forum referring obliquely to the problems we have faced in Christchurch. It appears to have made some people uncomfortable, so I would like to lay out the specifics in this long post rather than leave it at what some may consider an unframed accusation.

This is the 8th country I've lived in, and I have visited around 40 in my 32 years. Yes, discrimination based on every conceivable thing is a universal human failing. But as societies grow in complexity, people learn to act more tolerant than they perhaps feel, and learn to hide their prejudices as societal norms increasingly make taboos of sexism, racism, homophobia etc. Indulging in open expression of bigotry marginalizes individuals in most developed nations, particularly in major economic centers. It rightly marks that person as a bad investment, as it were; the consensus is that someone so incapable of making basic rational evaluation of people's worth is equally incapable of adding greater value to the school, workplace, neighborhood or society.

In the almost 6 months that we've lived in Christchurch, we've found it to be a bigoted place with very little social pushback against bigotry. Before you hit the 'reply' button for a rebuttal, let me repeat: WE have found it to be a bigoted place. If you've found it to be a warm, fuzzy place of smiles and puppies, that's very nice. For you.

Now if you're one of those people who were about to rebut, you're probably thinking, "well, I'm sure it's not Christchurch, it's YOU." You would be half right. Part of it is me. I happen to be Japanese, so Christchurch shows me a very different face than what a Caucasian person might see. Let me tell you what that means in specific terms.

I will walk up to a store counter, smile, and ask in my native American English if I can give them money for their goods or services. The clerk will not smile back. S/he will not make eye contact with me, or ask me how my day is. If my Dutch-German partner is with me, responses to questions I ask will be directed at him. The change is often handed to him, even though I am the one standing at the counter and he is off to the side. In some stores, I—and other Asians, Middle Easterners and Africans if there are any—am kept waiting while Caucasian customers who came before us are served. I would conservatively estimate that this kind of thing happens 6 out of 10 times I patronize businesses here.

I will be out walking, and people in cars will yell the kind of racist epithets I've only previously known in period-piece fiction at me. They yell as they zip by on bicycles. People block my way on sidewalks, snickering.

I've lost my privacy on the streets, even what little we have as women in the States. Don't underestimate the sheer drag of being glared at, frowned at, muttered about or looked up and down until you run the gauntlet yourself. When you were a teenager, was there a store you and your friends hated because the people there assumed all teens were shoplifters? That's what it feels like, except I also wonder if someone's going to run me over or sucker-punch me.

Whenever the issue of anti-Asian behavior comes up, whether it's in forums like this or in Kiwi newspapers, it seems that all I see are excuses for the perpetrators. It's just ignorance, not racism. Kiwis are just outspoken, none of this PC nonsense. It's the Asians' fault for not speaking English. For hanging out with just their own kind. For not 'embracing Kiwi values'.

According to this argument, those 2 bicyclists last month who called me "chop suey" and wondered out loud why I was in their country just had a bad case of ignorance. They weren't racists, you see. You have to go all Missisippi Burning and kill people to be actual racists. The implication is that I should get over the sense of, oh I don't know, mortal danger from 2 irrational and aggressive men who appear to hate me and call me funny names that don't seem so funny coming from their mouths. And true, nobody could fault the carful of guys that kept pace with me along Cashel during the afternoon rush, yelling "Hey Chiiiink! Chink girl!" for being feminist-whipped politically-correct nancyboys. Kudos to all the idling commuters who managed to keep their cool within full earshot of this too. It's odd how the calm that had withstood overhearing someone threatened with what sounded an awful lot like gang rape should crack upon hearing the 'Chink girl' tell the fine young men what they could do to themselves. They looked shocked—shocked!—that I would use such language. I guess I failed that Kiwi values test, huh?

Lest you think all the glory belongs to boys with rides, I'd like to give a shout-out to the middle-aged store owner who stuck his palm within an inch of my face and enunciated "Clooosed. Cloooosed!" after I asked him what time they would open in the morning. Or the ladies at a Postshop whose chatty, laughing day I somehow always manage to ruin just by showing my mug. I'm like Kryptonite! I have other exciting powers too, like inducing nervous giggles in people who presumably can't reconcile my appearance with my native English. My favorite superpower is making children goggle at me fearfully and run away when I smile or wink at them.

You know, I have two nephews and two nieces, Japanese and Caucasian, all under 12. I love being an aunt. I knit them cool sweaters, know all the good stuff online, and am the queen of cakes and strawberry cream. Here, mothers with young children shoot me unfriendly glances and step in between me and their kids at restroom sinks. They must do it out of instinct that I find too hideous to contemplate.

This is my everyday life here, in lovely Christchurch where the NZ government was so eager for a couple of well-educated technologically savvy Americans to settle. I can literally count the number of locals I deal with who act normal towards me on one hand. My partner has taken on a lot of the interfacing because of the unpleasantness, and he worries that I may be in actual danger after hearing Asian-Kiwis casually discuss being assaulted.

After a particularly demoralizing day, I found myself facing a young Asian clerk with accented but fluent English at a burger place. The store wasn't crowded, and on impulse I asked her how long she had been in the country. She had come over from Guangdong 5 years ago. Did she feel that people here were—kind of racist? She scrunched up her face a little and nodded, reluctantly. "People yell things, say things all the time. It happened on my first day in New Zealand and it made me cry. But you get used to it." She looked about 17, but was probably 24. "I don't even notice it anymore."