5 minutes and never a title

Here's a bunch of stuff that I've thought of writing into this blog whilst walking the streets of NZ.

1. Remember to bring you polarizer lense should you be an avid photographer. The skyline here is gorgeous, and failure to bring that particular lense would in an over-exposed pics the while time you're there.

2. Don't feed the Kea (some species of parrot there). They're an endangered species, and they certainly don't need your junk food as their diet.


3. Bring along your windbreaker should you visit Wellington. It's windy almost all of the time. So not only do you have the cold weather to look after, now you have the wind added to the equation as well. It sums up to a pretty chilling experience.


4. If you want to buy an All-Blacks jersey, go buy them at the Auckland Airport. They're much cheaper there.

5. When someone tell you that stuff in Queenstown are expensive, do take it with a grain of salt. I mean i'm not saying that they're wrong - but there's some shops there that have prices better than all of New Zealand (excluding the airport). You really got to walk around to compare the prices.


6. Try DF Souvenir outlets in either Christchurch or Queenstown to get a good bargain on souvenirs. Don't buy at Aotea of Queenstown - as my wife later found out (damn expensive).

7. If you like books - you might wanna have a go at Arty Bees Second Hand Book Shop in Wellington. They're like the best second hand book shop you're ever gonna see in NZ (heck, it's the best i've seen in my life so far). They're not your typical second hand book shop - more like a library when I come to think of it. They've got wide ranges of books to choose from; all sorts of fiction, facts, history, arts, self-help - even dictionaries. Check out http://www.artybees.co.nz/ for more info.


8. For a relaxing visit of NZ, you might wanna stay at Lake Taupo. Basically a crater filled with water, the scenic view of Lake Taupo is simply breathtaking.


9. You can't really compare the prices of things in NZ with its counterpart in Malaysia. They're friggin expensive. Even more so should you decide you want to try out the outdoor activities that they've got to offer. There's bungy jumping, horse riding, sheep shearing, heli ride (for LOTR fans out there), jetboating, kayaking, etc etc. Nice to see, but they're a bit pricey for me. So if you want to experience NZ to the fullest - bring with you a whole lot of moolah.

10. For the ladies, do bring along a container of some sort. This will help you so much when nature does a calling. I even dare say that it's the 2nd most important thing (the 1st being the passport) that you can have with you while your in NZ.


11. If you enjoy having coffees or its variants, NZ is your place. The country has a whole lot of them. Nothing beats having a hot coffee in a cool weather while under the blue blue sky. :)


12. If you ever get the chance to go salmon-tasting at it's farm in Mount Cook, don't miss it. The smoked salmon in particular is awesome!


13. For halal food, you can either get some turkish kebabs or try some indian cuisine. Most of the time the meat used are halal (always ask first).

14. If you intend to stay for quite awhile, stay at room with a kitchen (if possible, get a washing machine + dryer too). And if you're following a tour, make sure at your last stop, you get to stay at a hotel with a washing machine + dryer (because we hate having to think off the stuff we need to wash once we get back home).

15. For the adventurous type - make sure you come with your good walking shoes (and that shoes doesn't have holes on them like Crocs sandals). You got a lot of distance to cover, and the wind might be coming down hard on you (hence the no-holes-in-your-shoes thing).

16. People back home mentioned that I've got a good tan now. For those who aren't going for a tan, bring along your sunblock. (and no, I didn't expect that I would get a tan. It just turned out that way)

I guess that pretty much covers everything. If I remember anything else though, I'll sure be adding back to the list.

...i miss NZ already :)

HDC has recently introduced a halal-widget for us to use as reference when in doubt.

Nifty stuff - altho the design really sucks.

Anyways, for those interested - you can get the codes at 'tinyurl.com/ktcomw'.

To read more on the matter, you can go to http://founder.limkokwing.net/blog/editor/widget_for_finding_halal_products1/

* Just added his blog to my reader. Inspiring and great write-ups overall :)

Okay, a little explanation is in order I suppose,

Marimekko was founded in 1951 by Armi and Viljo Ratia in Finland and became a fashion icon in the 60’s when First Lady Jackie Kennedy included seven Marimekko dresses in her wardrobe.

I came across this "Marimekko" term as I was looking for any interesting design patterns and fabric to be used in our bean bag.

A little side story first on how this came to be.

At first I had thought of getting myself a nice bean bag for our lounge. But the last place I went to at Mid Valley, the price of one was like around RM299. And that is after a somewhat 50% discount.

"What gives?" I thought to myself.

Later my wife provided a rather interesting alternative.

"Why don't you buy it from me then?" she said. She intends to make one and sell it to me.

I could I suppose. After all, I have yet to see a return on my investment (the sewing machine). And she "can" sew. Plus it would be an interesting family project.

So after weeks of thinking about it, we finally went up to a friendly neighbourhood factory near our kampung and bought ourselves 5 kilos worth of polisterene (or however you spell that damn thing) to be used as the beans.

And the plastic bag holding them nearly ripped open at our house. Imagine the horror on our faces. Millions of tiny little lightweight "beans" running amok in our livingroom.

In any case, depending on demand (if any); she was thinking of maybe (just maybe) selling these bean bags to other people as well. We already have identified the beans supplier I suppose. Now for the fabric. And thats where Marimekko came into the picture.


Have to say that I really came to like the look and design of the bean bag covered in Marimekko. But I don't think this thing has entered Malaysia yet - or if it has; I doubt that I can get a good price for it.

Went to KAMDAR yesterday. "Velvet" seems nice and affordable. Looks comfy too, although I do like to have gone to other stores as well to compare the materials and prices. Call it market research. Maybe I'll go have a look at Fella Design or IKEA after this. Or maybe I'll just head up to Nilai.