I probably should stop writing right about now. Probably wouldn't wanna attract that much attention after what has happened at my last place.
Just got back from Subang Permai. And with that comes the sudden realization that you're not free yet - you've got some laundry to take care of!
Crap.
And the fact that you have a semi-auto washing machine does not help either.
Major Crap.
And slowly I'd drag my ass off of my bean bag and slowly plunder through the luggage and lazily put it in the washing machine. If only we had them automatic ones I thought to myself.
No pain, no gain. Or in our case - gain first, pain comes later on.
The weekend getaway at A Famosa had gone smoothly I suppose. The bungalow unit itself was..well suffice to say that we got what we paid for I suppose. I've seen better - but I guess to see those better ones, then I'd really have to earn the rights to them I suppose.
So much for relying on freebies...owh those were the days :)
Anyhow, we did manage to have a BBQ by sundown. Which was great I guess. I mean at least we did do something worth mentioning about. At least, for myself-lah. Yasir it seems had the most fun - quoting the words of Abah - "the level of noise that he made in the pool had a direct correlation to the level of fun he is having" - which later brought our conversion to some mathematical equations on how an exponential graph would look like if we were to map his fun level VS noise made. Talk about having an intellectual discussion with your dad-in-law.
The BBQ was nice. The burger by Darabiff was awesome. A whole lot better than your typical Ramly. But then the price would also I guess be in the "awesome" region too - which would mean that I'll happily (forcefully make myself happy) stick to my Ramly as usual.
Managed to get some reading time too - surprisingly. It wasn't as much as I had wanted, but at least I'm moving somewhere. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell is quite an interesting read. An interesting read about an interesting topic. Maybe when I'm done with this, I'll get his Outliers too (and rest assured - my 360 Degree Leader would remain untouched for another day...hurm....maybe I should finish that first...).
All in all - the weekend was great. Ate some good food. Spent quality time with family. Spent quality time with self. Not too shabby there I suppose.
Though I'm still waiting for my "ideal" weekend getaway (picture a person sitting lazily on a couch watching his favourite movies while eating junk food all day long..) - which I don't think would be a reality anytime soon..not with my wife having lots of creative ideas every now and then.
Next week is Raya Haji. And on the next week we'd probably be off to Malacca for some wedding reception. And the week after that is my friend's wedding reception. And probably some time in the middle we (my wife and I) would probably be asking ourselves "When in the world are we going to paint this lounge of ours?"
When indeed.
p/s: Yasir, if you're reading this - please build that pool ASAP.
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 :)
