After 2 1/2 years, I returned to Auckland. It was a very long and tiring 4 days. I didn't manage to meet up with everyone that I had intended to - for that I apologise and for those of you who I did meet up with, i'm sorry that I didn't have more time to spare. It's just a little bit difficult when everything's uncertain. Hope you all understand. Anyway, i'm sure there'll be a next time... Sooner rather than later. :)
In anticipation of the trip to Auckland, I was working over-time over the 2 week period prior to the trip which absolutely drained me. So by the time it came to Thursday, my battery was almost completely flat but yet, I had an absolutely packed schedule before I could leave for Auckland.
Thursday 3rd July
As I was rushing home at 5:00pm after a full day's work, I saw Cheong at the bus stop so gave him a ride home. Arrived home at 5:30pm, showered, packed, changed and then waited for Tzin Wei to pick me up. He came at 6:15pm (later than expected) and I still had to have dinner - takeaway McDonald's! Ate in the car on the way to our volleyball game at 6:30pm which we ended up arriving mid-way through the first game. Hung on for the full game because we didn't have any subs which ended at 7:30pm. Quickly changed and then Tzin Wei rushed me to the airport for check-in at 7:50pm, the flight being at 8:20pm. Hopped on the plane as if I was taking a bus! Ridiculous...
But it was great looking over
Auckland City as we were descending. I had forgotten how beautiful the City of Sails is when it's lighted up with the many street lights and car headlights over such a massive land area. It was truly magical! I arrived in Auckland at 9:40pm where I was met at the airport by Tim Chuang. I was so tired so he sent me straight to
Skycity Hotel so that I could crash for the rest of the night. Felt so terrible not being able to hang out that night. Sorry again! *fAiNt*!
Friday 4th July
It felt absolutely wonderful not having to wake up early the following day (being a working day) when I could just sleep in and totally ignore the stupid 5 minute snoozing intervals of the alarm on my phone. It was great! We waited around for Clark to arrive from Christchurch. He had decided the night before to book a flight up to Auckland to join us. Crazy guy! After he arrived, we went out to walk around town, visiting a pajamas store. So random. Why? Cuz apparently one of the sales girls in there is hot. *fAiNt*! Guys, guys... It doesn't matter whether they're single, attached, or married - still always on the look out. *SiGh*!
They were very unfortunate because they didn't get to see heras she probably only works weekends. Poor guys had to walk out of there without accomplishing anything. Haha! Anyway, after walking around High Street, having coffee, etc. we decided to take a cab to New Market - 277 Broadway! I was pretty much following the guys around seeing as I was the only girl (and the youngest I might add) but it was interesting. Haha! We headed back to the hotel after that to rest, waiting for Justin and Ellen to arrive from Taupo!
Upon their arrival, we headed out for dinner where Yean brought us to eat roast duck (a special request - more like demand - from Justin). Wahahaha! Check it out... We ordered way too much and had leftovers enough to feed another 2 people (at least). We were tempted to doggy-bag it for the homeless but no one dared to pass it to them incase we were insulting the druggies! Hah!
The weather wasn't too great so we didn't want to venture too far in search for a nice place to have a cup of coffee. Then I remembered
Opium! It was perfect - the girls could have cocktails while the guys could have their coffees (non-drinkers you see? :P). Love the atmostphere of
Opium. If only there was such a place in Christchurch. It would definitely be my new hang out place.
I suppose I should introduce Yean... and her favourite pair of glasses... If you've been following my blog, you would have seen pictures of her from new year's day in Penang. Yes, we're Penangnites! Proud to be one... :)
And of course, there's the rest of us who were originally from Christchurch - Jin, Justin & Ellen who you would have seen countless of times on my blog. Hehe~
The girls...
The guys...
Spot the glasses! Bwahahahaha!
Everyone together now...
We all headed back to
Skycity after that. While Justin and Ellen went back to the room, Jin, Yean and I went to the
Casino to wait for Joel. All of us were engrossed in conversation over relationships. Haha! How ironic. I won't attempt to explain because it's far too complicated to talk about it, let alone to pen it down.
Meet... JOEY!
Apparently he allowed 3 people to die on him that night. So heartless!! J/k~! Hehe...
Tim and his friend - Shafiq (Not sure how to spell his name), came to pick me up soon after and I managed to drag Yean along to join us. Wahahaha! To where? Of all places... The 24-hour driving range! Yet another random happening! Yes, this trip was full of them.
After that, went to
Momo Tea House for a quick drink before sending Yean all the way back to
St Heliers. Can't believe that I actually went from
City Centre -
Manukau -
St Alberts (I think) -
St Heliers. *fAiNt*! Nice car ride. Was exhausted by the time I returned to the hotel though.
Saturday 5th July
We woke up pretty late on the Saturday, had lunch at the
Casino and then set off to explore
Sylvia Park. It only took us around an hour before we decided to leave in search of "bak kua"! I can't believe how many of you Aucklanders don't know that there is at least one store in Auckland selling "bak kua"! Oh dear! I knew roughly where it was but forgot the exact location. So we decided to stop at a petrol station to ask where China Town was. Silly really... Cuz if we had just carried on down the road, we would have found it. Duh! Lesson: Don't ever give up so easily! :P
Between Jin and I, we bought 2 1/2 kgs which totalled $100.00. *fAiNt*! Of course it wasn't just for us... It was for our dear friends and family back in Christchurch! See how important you guys are to us? :P
We headed back to the hotel after that, where I slept for an hour while the rest talked (I think). Woke up and then had to get ready for dinner - korean BBQ (better than Christchurch's)! Unfortunately I have no photos - forgot to bring my camera out of my bag. Hah! It's OK, my memory will never fail me (I hope). The dinner was pretty good. Some didn't expect it to fill us up but we were struggling to finish in the end.
Attempted to watch "Hancock" at
Metro but the cinema was pretty full and I really didn't want to sit in the front watching an action-ish movie. So we went to play
Timezone. Seriously, random. Funny thing was, even though we were in another city, we were still doing the things that we would normally do while we were in Christchurch. And, there was always the question of, what should we do now? *fAiNt*!
Needless to say, we all headed back to
Skycity after that. It gave me an opportunity to test the floor for my beloved "Mr Cashman". Sad to say, they have removed the machines! :( I lost $20.00 playing some stupid machine that I totally did not have a connection with before I decided to give up and meet up with Aveline. Hehe... We had intended to go for bubble tea but the place was closed and all we really wanted to do was to sit down and talk, so off we were to
Burger King! We must have sat there for at least 1 1/2 hours before realising how late it was. Good times though... Treasured the conversation much more than she'll ever know.
Sunday 6th July
On our very last day in Auckland, we decided to indulge in dim sum for brunch at
Sun World - somewhere in Newmarket. Not surprisingly then that after brunch, we walked around
Newmarket. Justin and Ellen wanted to leave at around 3:00pm so we headed back to
Skycity at around 2:00pm. Funnily, we bumped in a couple of people from Christchurch and had coffee at
Rebo Cafe & Bar. With nothing much left to do, Tim came to pick me up to make a quick visit to
Dress Mart with his friend, Calpa (Don't know how to spell his name either). Did a quick 1 hour power shop before he dropped me back to
Skycity for Jin and I to take a shuttle to the airport.
Our flight was delayed for an hour so we ended up meeting Clark at the airport too. Other than that, that was my trip to Auckland. Don't know when i'll return again but i'm sure it won't take another 2 1/2 years. Hah!
