Dunedin Drama...

Spent the weekend just passed down in Dunedin which was rather eventful and full of drama. All of which will not be revealed here. Haha! There was drama even before the trip began! Oh yeah, i'm supposedly very "gelabah". Was so tempted to leave Azmir down in a rural area for him to walk cuz he called me that. Eesh!

Anyway, let the recollection of my holiday begin!

Friday:

As I was heading down to Ancestral for lunch, I went to pump petrol. However, I couldn't get the cap open. It's not the first time either. Somehow I seem to always screw it on really tight! Not my fault that i'm so strong. Hehe! I gave up after a while and decided to seek help from the petrol attendant since he looked so strong and macho but even he couldn't get it off with his bare hands. So he went into the shop and brought out a hammer and chisel and started hammering it in hopes of loosening the cap. That didn't work either. He gave up and called on his co-worker who was younger, more muscular... even had tattoos and piercings but still couldn't get it off even with the hammer and chisel. After concluding that that wasn't going to work, he headed inside to get a spanner. When he tried it, it wasn't the right size and they didn't have an adjustable one. Meanwhile, half an hour had passed, the cap was still on and there was nothing they could do but to refer me to another petrol station. D'oh~! What a waste of time.

When I got to Ancestral, I told the rest what happened and as expected, they made fun of me. Bleh!! Don't know why I bothered... but I needed their help and I had to explain why I was so late. Grr~!! What more, almost everyone had to leave before 1:00pm. So soon after I arrived and after they finished hassling the hell out of me, they decided to be kind and helped me to unscrew the cap. Meanwhile, I was left inside to eat by myself while the rest were so damn kepo! Screw you guys!! Eesh!! Laugh la... Laugh!

After lunch, went to pick Mark and Azmir up then began our journey down South just before 2:00pm. I think both of them will agree that the drive down was full of drama but we all got to know each other slightly better especially the personal stuff. "Di Persimpangan Dilema"? Haha! However, we all made a pact to keep whatever was said in the car, in the car... right guys?? *aHeM*! I don't know whether I can trust those guys. Haha!

Anyway, we stopped at Cookie Time to buy some cookies for some demanding person in Dunedin. *aHeM* *aHeM*! At that time I didn't really know Norman or else I would have just carried on driving! Haha! Nola... I'm not that mean. Wahahaha!!

On the way down before reaching Rakaia, we had to pull to the side of the road cuz of an "over-sized vehicle". It probably delayed our journey by an unnecessary 15 minutes and it's not even that big! Look at it! It's not even taking up our side of the road but it reminds me of "Transformers" though. Haha! Who knows... We probably didn't even have to stop at the side of the road but the person in front was just being cautious. Stupid...

Our next stop was somewhere near Oamaru where I was busting for the toilet. There was probably 3 large cups of liquid in my bladder! I couldn't tahan anymore! I held my pee since Ashburton which was for almost 2 hours until it literally hurt! At first we stopped at a petrol station hoping to use the toilet but there was a sign on the door to say that the toilet was out of order. Argh! What is it with the petrol stations I encountered that day?! Anyway, we were told that there was a public toilet just after the bridge and this is what we found:


OMG! If I didn't need to pee as bad as I did, I would have driven to the next one but I had no choice. Look at it! Does it even look like a toilet to you? It was so dark inside, it felt like a prison cell or something. Yucks! I'll never forget that toilet. So gross! *sHiVeR*!

Soon after, we reached Oamaru where Azmir had made a special request to stop for McDonald's! The beef there is supposedly halal? *ShRuGs*! I think he was too lazy to get down, so we went through drive-thru. He ordered a Big Mac "Hunger Buster" so that he could share the Cheeseburger with his girlfriend! Awww~!! So sweet~!! Hehe!! Don't kill me for saying that please! MuaHaHaHaHa~!!

We finally arrived in Dunedin at 6:30pm. The first stop was to see Azmir's girlfriend at Clubs & Socs. See see... Awww~!! Look at that smile!! Kuci kuci kooOoooOOOOoooO!! Haha!!

After that, Mark and I headed over to Sophia's house where we needed to get ready for the belated birthday dinner celebration for Sophia (23) & Mark (27) - which is why we made the trip down to Dunedin. The dress code set by Mark was that us girls had to wear DRESSES and it was not allowed to be black! Meanwhile the guys were supposed to wear collared shirts and ties. I don't know why we felt the need to humour him but we did even though it's in the midst of WINTER in DUNEDIN! Mark still insists that he kept to the dress code but it was a short sleeved shirt. Apparently we didn't specify that it had to be long sleeved. Bloody hell! So I got changed in 20 minutes and then we were off to the restaurant called "A Cow Called Berta". Interesting name huh? Wonder how they came up with that one. Haha!

The birthday duo...



Me with Sophia and Mark



The girls... and the guys...



The diners in the cosy room...



Random photos during dinner




Sophia & I wearing pink dresses!

With dinner over, Mark and Norman came over to Sophia's flat for quiet drinks which they ended up having by themselves for the first couple of hours as Sophia and I suddenly got the urge to take a ride to the beach. The guys on the other hand were too lazy opting to watch a DVD instead. We went to St Kilda first but it has been closed since the end of August last year and won't re-open until end of January next year. I guess they must be doing some sort of renovation. Wonder what it's going to look like after. Hmmm~! So off we went to St Clair. They've renovated it since I was last there which would have been quite a few years ago now. Haha! It was drizzling so I couldn't take photos. Instead, we sat in the car catching up. It was nice to have a girly session again! Hehe! On the way back, bought some Country Fried Chicken for the guys and headed back to Sophia's flat.

All of us lazed around the lounge, talked and drank until 5:00am when we finally decided to call it a night! But until then, everyone was dishing out low blows even though we're all not that familiar with each other, especially Norman & I which was the first time we actually talked! Haha! Hope he didn't take anything I said personally. Wahahaha! It was quite funny though.

Saturday:

Sophia automatically woke up at 7:30am which then woke me up. We heard the guys talking in the lounge at 8:30am so decided to get out of bed and join them. Talked until 9:30am when Mark & Norman decided to go back to Norman's flat to catch up on their sleep while Sophia & I got ready to go out shopping at Meridian Mall and George St. Call me crazy, but I love shopping in Dunedin cuz everything's in one place, along one street. Haha! It's sad but true... and I like it! Maybe I only like it in the short term. In the long term it'll probably drive me absolutely crazy! :P

We shopped until 12 noon when we went for the OMSA Food Festival held at Clubs & Socs. I was rather apprehensive about attending the event especially after Bersatu Games. After the event, Mark and I both concluded that it wasn't the most welcoming atmosphere. I guess it's expected. Perhaps we would have done the same thing if the situation was reversed. Who knows? Oh well...

Sophia had a blonde moment later that day. We were meant to meet up with Norman and Mark along George St but Sophia and I were shopping in a girl's store so they decided to go off on their own. After we finished, we had to get back to the car as our parking had run out so Sophia texted the guys to ask where they were. Mark replied "Time out". In the car, I asked Sophia where the guys were, she replied "time out" and said that we should probably leave the guys alone cuz they probably want to have time to themselves. So I agreed with her. After going to Countdown, I asked her whether we needed to pick the guys up from Time Out. She suddenly said "OHhHHhhHHhh!! Time Out!". I turned around and looked at her, absolutely speechless! Haha! *fAiNt*! For those of you who don't understand that joke, Time Zone used to be called Time Out. Hehe!

Anyway, Sophia was tired and wanted to go home to cook curry for an event she would have to attend the following day so I went out to pick the guys up and we went to eat at South Dunedin Noodle House. Everytime i'm in Dunedin, I have to eat at this place. *YuM*! It wasn't as nice this time though...

After that, we headed over to St Clair beach. It was quite a nice day and there were good surfing waves so there were quite a few surfers down there. I found it windy and cold though as I didn't bring my jacket along cuz I only expected to pick up the guys and go somewhere near to eat. Respect to all the surfers that day. Don't know how they can stand the temperature of the water. *sHiVeR*! It was refreshing to be by the sea again though - to hear the crashing of the waves against the rocks, to smell the salty air and to have the cool breeze brush against your face. Hmmm~ I miss the beach...

OK. I initially wanted to take a photo of my car ONLY but the guys wanted to spoil my photo. Celaka...

As we were heading back, Norman conked out for a while. I suppose only having 2 1/2 hours of sleep does this to you. Hehe! Poor guy. I'm sure he's glad the weekend's over! Haha!

Back at Sophia's flat, we all sat around in Sophia's room chatting again. Look at the guys... Haha! Looks so dodgy right? :P

Later that night, we attended "Outreach" at Elim Church where quite a few of my friends were performing. It was too dark so I couldn't really take photos in there and wasn't sure whether I was suppose to as it was a church event. Haha! I had forgotten just how talented some of my friends were... but to those that danced, acted, played the guitar and sang... well done! The first two photos are of the dance... the third photo is of Justin acting and who was also the script writer for the event and the fourth photo is of Alastair performing the song that he "wrote with God's help". So proud of you guys! :)

Some of the photos of me with the guys after the event and yes, some of them are wearing make up! Wahahaha!! Unfortunately I didn't take a photo with everyone I met up with that night cuz I was so tired! However, it was nice to catch up with everyone again.

I feel the need to isolate this photo. Hehe... Justin, the now crippled physiotherapist! Wahaha!! At least now he'll have empathy for his patients! :P How did he injure himself? He decided to jump off the stage with his guitar the previous night at rehearsal and landed wrongly on his left leg. Don't worry, the guitar is fine. As he says, "save the guitar, the body can heal". *fAiNt*! Check out his walking stick. It was the talk of the night cuz he fooled everyone who thought it was just a prop until he continued to limp off stage!

The four of us - Sophia, Mark, Norman & I went to the Dunedin Casino to have a late dinner. It's rather expensive to eat at the Casino down there. Double the price of the Christchurch Casino but I suppose the food is of a better quality. Haha! Did you know that you can take photos in the Casino? I've never tried taking any in Christchurch but as far as the Dunedin Casino is concerned, as long as the photos do not include other people, it's fine. How do we know? Cuz we asked the waitress who cleared it with security. Haha! So funny... Anyway, I had the lamb... and mushroom soup. *YuM*!

Bumped into Casey, Nelson and Amy while we were at the Casino but didn't take any photos otherwise the security people will think we're crazy. Haha! We didn't stay at the Casino for nearly as long as I normally would have in Christchurch. There was no Mr Cashman and too many people were playing at the Black Jack tables, so I didn't gamble. :( Everyone was rather tired by midnight so we headed back to Sophia's for quiet drinks again. Mark and I stayed up to talk while Sophia and Norman slept almost as soon as we walked in the door. Well, we thought Norman was asleep but instead, he was eaves dropping in on our conversation! Damn it. Haha! At least a number of things were cleared up that night though. The guys decided to head back to Norman's flat so they could get a good night's sleep at 3:30am. I finally slept half an hour later after listening to the drunkards outside as they were all heading back home at that time. Haha! It was quite funny.

Sunday:

Woke up at 9:00am to pack everything in the car then attended the 10:00am mass. It's been over a year since I last entered a Catholic Church. I've been wanting to go but never quite made it. There was always a part of me that feared. I was somehow brought to tears as I realised how weak I was again. Being there broke me and forced me to admit that i'm not as strong as I had hoped for, that i'm still not alright. It made me cry out for God's strength and guidance again... and for His direction and His helping hand. I suppose all this time, i've been in denial. I thought I could prevail on my own. The power of attending church huh? Haha...

Anyway, I had half an hour to spare between church and brunch so Mark and I went to Norman's flat cuz I wanted to kepo and get photos off him. That's when I met Mickey!! Brought all the way back from the U.S. cuz it was Norman's favourite character as a child! "Hey Mickey you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind... Hey Mickey!! Hey Mickey!!" Wahahaha! I was playing with it until he confiscated it off me cuz I was supposedly taking it's virginity away. Huh?! Haha! Nevermind. It's all good!

Went back to Sophia's flat so we could proceed for brunch. Photo taken in front of her front door though you can't even tell. Haha! I must say, the flat she's staying in this year is a lot nicer than the one she stayed in last year but it's probably not as convenient as it's not as central to the Mall and University compared to the other one.

Brunch was at 11:30am at Blue Sky. I went there when it used to be known as New Dynasty which would be around 6 or 7 years ago with Ah Pui and Ah Pui-er! Haha! Mmm... Those were good old days! Haha! Wonder where they are now. Hmmm... Anyway, upon arriving at the restaurant, we realised that we probably shouldn't have chosen this restaurant as it would be difficult for Justin to get up the staircase! Haha! Which when he walked in he commented on how nice it was of us to choose a place with so many stairs! Haha! Oops~!Kolien... Blame it on Alastair? It was his suggestion?? Hehe!

The drama that morning was that Justin couldn't get his make-up off from the previous night! Hehe!! So Sophia had to bring make-up remover just to help him out. *fAiNt*! Can you understand what a lengthy procedure it is for us girls to look good every day? Appreciate the eye candy ok? Wahahaha! He looks quite good with make-up huh? Perhaps we should buy him make-up for his birthday next year! :P

Lewis... Took a lot of persuasion to get him to join us because he had to finish his assignment. The life of a future doctor hoh? Haven't seen him since Bersatu last year when he was the liaison officer for CMSA. To you: Really appreciate you taking your time off your studies to join us though and... I understand. :)

With Brendan... the pharmacist from hell? No la... Will always remember him for being one of the ABC Fung brothers and the big blob that will sit in front of the TV playing the playstation for hours and for all the hours spent over the summer of 2002. Hehe! Justin the currently cacat physio! Haha! Used to be a Cantabrian then betrayed us! Eesh! Hope your knee gets better soon and you'll move back up to Christchurch next year. It'll be nice to have you around again.

Then there's Alastair, the A in ABC Fungs! Hehe! The ever so cautious guy who is a future dentist. Still can't get over what a great song you wrote for "Outreach". Hehe! Still remember him learning how to cook when we were younger! Hehe! Lewis... trying to imitate my pose. Eesh!

Sweet Sophia... my best friend and onfidant who's always been there for me when I needed her although I was not nearly as good a friend to her as she was to me. No doubt she'll be a successful dentist in the future.

All these health professionals. What do you expect when you come to a city where the University is known for its medical professions, huh? But being around them allows you to learn a thing or two about their course because the conversation will somehow always lead back to their profession. Hehe!

Spending a weekend in Dunedin brought back a lot of memories and made me remember how much I actually miss those friends down there! It's different, you know? The people down there and the people here. I'm not saying it's worse or better... The relationship between friends is just different. But sincerely, thanks for taking the time out of your studies and precious weekends to spend a couple of hours with an old friend. Really.

We all parted ways there and then I went back to Norman's flat to have a coffee and picked Mark up. I was so incredibly drained at this point and my eyes were so painful due to the lack of sleep. Only had 11 hours of sleep over the past 3 days and spent around 10 hours driving or at least, on the road.

It was suppose to rain and be really cold over the weekend in Dunedin but we had been blessed with quite good weather up until the point where we were to leave when it rained. It was good to head home though. I think we were all just too tired.

Mark took this photo of Natasha & Azmir in the car as we sent her back to her flat so that they couldn't run away. OMG! Keke! So cute!

So yeah, we started our journey back up to Christchurch around 2:45pm, only stopping at McDonald's in Oamaru for Azmir to try out the Boss burger. I on the other hand, had another cup of coffee to keep myself awake. There was a lot more singing on the way back. Mark and I were trying to duet. Azmir was trying to sleep but after having coffee at McDonald's, he joined us to sing as well. Haha! Too bad I didn't have that many Malay songs though.

After dropping the guys off, I arrived back home at 7:30pm and headed off to volleyball after unloading my car. Yes, I played volleyball even though I was so tired cuz I wanted to make myself so exhausted that I would just get knocked out as soon as my head hit the pillow and it worked.

So what did I get out of the Dunedin trip? I got a chip in my windscreen! No idea how much that's going to cost me cuz it looks quite bad. *SiGh* Other than that, I suppose I have renewed patience and tolerance. Haha! Certain issues were cleared up which helps a lot. It's always nice to get away and it's been long overdue. Perhaps next time i'll head somewhere further. Hopefully that won't be too far away. Meanwhile, I think it's time for me to really sit down and apply for jobs.

More photos will be posted up in time but I have managed to upload more videos. Just one more video to upload but need to learn how to convert the file from .mov to .wmv before I can upload it. Can anyone out there help? Is there any free software out there?

My favourite photo for now... Taken by Norman at Sophia and Mark's belated birthday dinner. What do you think?