day 4, 27th august 2007: rotorua to aukland, like rolling down a hill in a big ball

didn't take much photos today. kept thinking about reno. look at the sheep, think of reno. look at the birds, thing of reno. everything also reno. what to do? he's so unforgettable.

we began the day with zorbing. i didn't do it, but eugene and dias went for it. they did the hydro zorb where they roll down a hill in a great big ball filled with some water. heroes lar these two guys. dressed in a mere pair of shorts and a t-shirt each, each time they hatched out of the ball, they were shivering like munchkins. i don't know why i said munchkins.

since that day, i always laugh to myself whenever i picture dias shivering. he will shiver like there's no tomorrow and tell you at the same time that he's loving it. dias loves a piece of challenge any day. fact of the day, he has only 5% body fat. how unfair! haha.

zorbing!


how duh is this right? that's dias for you!

shireen: so how was it?
dias: well (thinks a bit), it was like rolling down a hill in a big ball.
shireen: ...

after zorbing, we went luging, but we don't have pictures for that because we were all busy luging. the highlight was actually the skyswing which glen, bavani and shanny went on. you should have seen bavani. she screamed and screamed and...screamed. she screamed before the ride started, she screamed throughout the whole ride, she screamed even while the ride was ending when shanny and glen were pretending to scream already. there were even residual screams in short bursts. it's amazing. the video is really huge and it's taking so long to upload. i'll put it up some time for comic relief.

and after all that, we decided to go treat ourselves at a hot springs spa since we got so wet in the rain while luging. yes, shanny was right in her post. it was a day of firsts for bavani and me, haha. thank you shanny. you have opened up a whole new world of possibility for us!! we are eternally grateful!!

no pictures to show. but i recall a mental image of dias shivering again because the pools are all open-air and every time you come out, you are hit by a blast of cold air. and our dear dias kept running to the cold showers to get a shot of cold water sprayed on him so that he could come out shivering and grinning like an insane skeleton, only to do it again! mad!!! and the other image i recall, the crazy seagulls!!! they're crazy, seriously! they're all just gathered right infront of you, on the edge of the lake, making a really big racket, and suddenly, they start flying in all directions as though disaster has struck, only to fly back to the same place again and make more noise. what are they making so much noise for?? and why do they suddenly disperse? what is going on with them???? i need to know!!!!!!!

thanks to the hot springs, shanny and i totally knocked out in the car for a while as we headed to aukland. we're doing laundry so much the big cupboard of a suitcase in my car has been rendered redundant and i am only alternating between 3 different tops and pairs of undies these days! haha. i should have just brought all my belongings in a little basket.

day 3, 26th august 2007: taupo to rotorua, the shrillest highs and the lowest lows

the night before, before i went to sleep, i said a short prayer. i said, "god, i don't know how i'm gonna go for mass tomorrow, but only you know how much i want to. you'll find a way for me." this morning, shanny comes into the room while i'm packing my bags and tells me that worship is going on next to the kitchen. my heart bounces. what on earth are the chances?? in this little backpackers' in taupo?? true enough, i walk to the kitchen and a group of filipinos have gathered for a sunday morning worship. i stand there, dumbfounded and smiling from ear to ear. it's always a joy to see a group of people come together to praise and worship god in song, doesn't matter who or where. they were really welcoming towards me and eugene and offered up their seats to us, inviting us to join them as they broke the word together. yea, it wasn't mass. but i couldn't ask for more. i had only thanks to give. and how apt because shortly after that, glen, shanny, gavin and i were whisked off in a limousine to go...

SKYDIVING!



i felt a special connection with my tandem instructor, not because he was crazy (oh believe you me, he was a nutcase, he was perfect!), but because he had the same name as my darling. not mervin la. reno. haha.

check out the video of my experience below!! a bit tak glam (not glamourous), but what to do. you can't really think about all that fluff when you're 15000ft above ground, falling off an airplane in the middle of god knows where, with a crazy man shouting into your ears!




yes, what cornier song could i have chosen than eye of the tiger right. haha. damn.

the whole experience was rather intense. the first few seconds was such a blur. i was hanging out of the plane one second, and the next thing i know, i'm spinning wildly in the sky, with my ears popping like, i don't know, a popping thing. pop, pop, pop. scream. spin. a glove falls to the earth. scream. spin. wonder what the hell you're doing falling through the sky. fall. fall. fall. sudden realisation that you are actually skydiving. look at mountains and coastlines and fields and hmm, i don't think i saw any birds. suddenly, everything becomes slower, and calmer. the canopy has opened. this is the part i start flailing my arms and my legs as we gracefully descend to the ground, imagining myself to be a bird. this is where i look at the cars below, oh how small they are, and that feeling is perfect. i'm flying!

was it all that scary? i don't know really. i don't think i felt fear. it was more like, what the hell!!!! insanity, perhaps. fear? that would be looking over the edge of a cliff and taking that step to plunge down to the rocks, suspended by a mere cord. i think the consciousness of what you are doing contributes alot to the fear you feel. and in TANDEM skydiving, you don't make that conscious decision. someone makes it for you. that is why, one day, my dear friends, i will learn how to do it alone. that's when i'll really be afraid. that's when i know i have to do it! crazy la this girl.

moving on.

next stop was huka falls. no, it's not a hippie hideout where you smoke hookah the whole day. it's a series of rapids leading to a waterfall. over here, i don't know whether it was just me but i had an urge to jump into the water and let it carry me to wherever. i have a weakness for water-slides and water-rides. you can't blame me. the water was so clear and blue and looked like something you'd find in fantasy island (water theme park which got closed down in singapore). i swear eugene is trying to kill me, whether it's by pushing me into a whirlpool or giving me a heart-attack everytime he suddenly appears at my house or his cockiness when he plays bridge. OOOOF!!!

still not satisfied for the day. we headed on towards craters of the moon, where the earth was literally fagging because the crust there is so thin. it's so insane. some crazy person pointed out that the place looked apt for the setting of a martial art movie and soon, we got to work.







YOU SO HAVE TO WATCH THIS!! presenting eugene vs dias...


with enough done for the day, we headed on to rotorua where the fragrant smell of sulphur resided permanently. it was here at cactus jack backpackers, when the others had gone to play bridge, where i received the awful news that reno had been put to sleep. the phone was passed around from papa to mama to pravin to jeevan to aunty and
my heart broke as i heard the sadness in the voices and let the reality sink in that reno no longer was. it was a strange call now that i think back.

shireen: i went sky-diving, and my instructor's name was reno!!
papa: synchronicity.

and then he had to break the news to me. who knows what to make of such a day as this? you can't be totally happy, and yet, you can't be totally sad either. i guess, in all moments, it's always important to be thankful. and i should know that. there's lots to be thankful for.

synchronicity indeed, this is the song playing on my iTunes now...

I am thinking it's a sign
That the freckles in our eyes
Are mirror images and
When we kiss they're perfectly aligned

And I have to speculate
That God himself did make us into
Corresponding shapes like puzzles pieces
From the clay

True, it may seem like a stretch
But it's thoughts like this
That catch my troubled head
When you're away, when I am missing you to death

When you were out there on the road
For several weeks of shows
And when you scan the radio
I hope this song will guide you home

They will see us waving from such great heights
"Come down now," they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away
"Come down now," but we'll stay

I've tried my best to leave
This all on your machine
But the persistent beat
Sounded thin upon listening

That frankly will not fly
You will hear the shrillest highs
And lowest lows with the windows down
When this is guiding you home

They will see us waving from such great heights
"Come down now," they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away
"Come down now," but we'll say...

-Such Great Heights by The Postal Service

edit: ah yes, we went to the mitai maori village at night but i kinda ended the post already, so, once again, just refer to shanny's blog. and look out for owen! haha. i seriously felt i was at some gigolo show sitting between shanny and bavani who were giggling like little girls and drooling as the almost-naked maori men pranced around crazily on stage. i quote bavani, "i'm in heaven." once again, i hope none of your boyfriends come here! haha.

day 2, 25th august 2007: whanganui to taupo, video killed the radio star

we left omaka river lodge in whanganui with such heavy hearts today. i am definitely going back, and when i do, it will be with you and you and you. we will spend a few days there. we will canoe along the whanganui river, chase the sheep, take walks in the hills, visit the flower garden and the old church in Jerusalem (that’s what the place is called), play a different record every morning while enjoying our breakfast outside on the patio to soak up the sun, and at night, we will heat up the outside bath and watch the sky powdered with stars and feel our hearts skip a beat with every shooting star we see.

so this morning, the 7 of us decided to go for a walk along the “red track”, which as the farmer’s wife informed us, was supposed to take about an hour. it took longer that that for us I think. because we were so busy making such fools of ourselves. evidence as follows.



(bavani jilted by eugene for dias. i sincerely hope all your other halves never set their eyes on my blog for your sakes!)


it was a really nice walk though. walking along those hills in the morning just made me feel like I was supposed to be where I was meant to be and like everything was in its place. maybe it was the gentle spray of rain on my face or the rejuvenating green all around or just being one with the lambs on those hills, with no purpose other than to feast on nature’s beauty and abundance freely and undisturbed.

the farmer and his wife were really a warm couple. they showed us around their farm and let us carry a little lamb (we passed it around like a parcel) and taught us how to shear sheep. refer to day 1's photos and take note of those new kids on the block. it's a wonder the whole contraption did not collapse! haha.

after fetching glen from whaganui city centre, we headed off on a long and winding journey to taupo, where i type this from now. dinner was yummy and it was followed by FONDUE which we made ourselves. we crowded round it, staining our teeth and our lips, and for some of us, our chin and cheeks, with chocolate and laughed till our sides hurt so badly recounting bavani stories and just talking nonsense. I proposed to shanny that we should have a column in our blog dedicated to the “bavani moment of the day”. you guys should really meet bavani.

(mmmm, fondue. photos taken from shanny's blog.)

so tomorrow morning, ok we’ll leave tomorrow morning’s story for tomorrow. you’ll see why. i’m beat. driving at night being assaulted by headlights of oncoming cars just wears your eyes out. later!

slowly, but surely, i will do this!! shanny's finished, and glen's already on day 3. add oil add oil!

day 1, 24th-25th august 2007: dunedin to whanganui, here we go!

we are at omako river lodge in whaganui, north island. it is a much welcome change from sleeping in the car the night before. we drove 9 or 10hrs from dunedin to picton. by 445am, we had reached picton with 2 to 3 hours to kill before we could board the ferry to north island. i don’t know about you but I find it strange sitting in a stationary car full of sleeping people in an almost empty parking lot, shivering our asses off in the wee hours of the morning. i didn’t know where i would rather be or what i would rather be doing. i just wanted to survive it.

we finally board the ferry and picture this: 7 people sprawled out on the seats of the ferry, deep in sleep.

the views were really pretty though. but i was so sleepy i didn’t take much pictures. the views of north island welcoming us were a refreshing sight. endless green hills, waves crashing against rocks, a lighthouse. this was everything i pictured my exchange to be. seriously, when i was choosing where i wanted to do my exchange, i told myself that it had to be a place with cliffs by the sea and a lighthouse and waves crashing against rocks. i’m not disappointed.

(doggy on my dashboard, which i pat every once in a while, as a proxy for reno)

i think i really like north island so far। the greenness of the rolling hills are really soothing to the eyes.but let me fast-forward to the best part. our lodge.

omaka riverside lodge is a really amazing place to stay at. really cosy, and well-stocked with goodies so you’ll never get bored. like their really cool vinyls collection, the really old school record player, their book collection, yadda yadda. the best part is where we are. outside the lodge runs the whanganui river. as you step out of the house in the evening, the sounds of birds tweet-ing and sheep baa-ram-you-ing greet you. you hear so clearly the sound of the sheep chewing on grass. they never seem to stop, don’t they? it’s just perfect, this place. but let me tell you what’s the best part.you can watch the sky full of stars, undisturbed by light pollution, from your bath tub! yes, there’s actually an outdoor bathtub, in a cosy little nook. but u have to make sure you burn firewood underneath so that you won’t turn into an ice-block. not too much or you’ll turn into stew as well. well, sounds like I actually went out buck-naked in the cold to take a bath and watch the stars. but the truth is, i didn’t, NO STARS. just clouds.
dinner was not bad. bavani and i cooked rice, chicken with chilli and basil, and vegetables in oyster sauce. really filling.

(outdoor bathtub, yummy!)

after that, we randomly formed an air band and put up a kick-ass performance to a song by the cars. i don’t even know what song it was now.



also, being amongst the hills so wide where you can spread your arms and just spin around forever, yodeling your lungs out (and blasting the sound of music soundtrack on the record player in the lodge), inspired this unique and award-winning rendition of doe-a-deer. be warned. toxic on ears. not on eyes though, because you get to see 2 pretty girls for free! haha.



but this is one of those places where i keep feeling that “i wish you were here” kinda feeling. the drive here, the music playing in my ipod in the car, the selection of vinyls here (the cars, simon and garfunkel, dire straits), the tea, the rustic sense you get here, the open-air bath-tub, the cosiness, the ferry ride with the spectacular views, the cold. yeap, i think of all of you. papa (the music and synchronicity in our thoughts), mama (the charming little lodge), pravin (the drive here and how we might have taken turns), jeevan (exploring the place and laughing at the sheep), prrrrraaaaaaak (need i explain even?). i can’t even call or sms you guys. there’s no reception and no phone here.

it’s a bittersweet feeling i’m feeling in this moment. simon and garfunkel echo off the walls, some of them are playing cards infront of me, my thoughts drift between the beauty and surrealness of this place and how much i..well…wish you were here.

prison

it was so hard to wake up this morning because i was stuck in a dream which was hard to separate from reality. ever experienced that feeling while dreaming? i dreamt that i was sent to a prison in singapore, together with 3 other friends. it was quite a strange kind of prison. you had times for nap, using the internet, watching dvds. then, there was also physical training and we were warned that if we went out of the trail we would be shot immediately. the prison was by the ocean and it increased my sense of isolation as i recalled how free i was before that in new zealand. it amplified the ache in my heart because i was away so long and still nowhere near home and missing everyone like mad. i was put there so suddenly i had no time to even inform anyone back home and by the end of the day, was so tired, i just didn't do it. funny how the whole place suddenly resembled a backpackers concept. i know raymond was one of the 3 other friends with me and he was actually excited. as though we were attending some conference or camp together, as though the whole thing was a faith experience for us, especially since the crimes were so small i.e. traffic, parking offences. and the worst part is i was to be there for 300 days! i tried to talk to one of the wardens, that there must be some mistake about it. at first she didn't want to talk to me because she wanted to go sleep. i guess it was because she saw the desperation on my face and knew it would require effort to talk to me. i told her i wanted to talk to her about facts, not emotions. she agreed. i told her there must be a mistake. she comforted me by saying they were considering giving us all a 10-day off period, and for a few seconds, raymond (who suddenly appeared again) and i, were so happy and jumping up and down. and i became sad again when it hit me that my stay was not shortened to 10 days, but 290 days. and i just had to get out...and i woke up. relieved. confused. disoriented. still feeling like i'm in prison.

what's funny was that travelling and being in jail made me feel the exact same thing in that dream, imprisoned. how is that possible?? i can only conclude it was the sense of isolation from my loved ones, from missing them. even when i'm surrounded by people i know. yet, it's always not so bad when i wake up, only in my dreams it is. and it's funny that i've had this same dream before and it felt just as real. something tells me i better obey all traffic rules to the core!

bringing my car for a warrant of fitness check with dias later. it's required here in new zealand. while waiting we might check out this cosy little cafe they keep going on about which i've never seen. will probably bring some work. please let me finish some work so that i can feel like i deserve all this!!! =/

papercuts and bridges

aren't papercuts such strange things? how can a flimsy piece of paper which can be torn so easily create such a tear in one's flesh? maybe we're flimsier and more fragile than paper.

last night, i did get that "surprise" visit and they actually played bridge for like 3 or 4 hours?? i know because that's how long i was talking to mervin in my room haha. such an anti-social host, right? what to do! the 4-hr time difference is not as small as it seems and it's been 2 weeks since we really spoke properly. can't wait can't wait!! don't trick me ar! if not i don't friend you!

but i enjoyed listening to the laughter and silly comments ensuing from the bridge club in the hall, which made the otherwise quiet house that bit more lively. and it was nice seeing my guitar being put to use when glen serenaded us with a mandarin song. i thought it was really funny because i translated the song pretty opposite from what it actually meant. "i don't just want to be your friend" turned into "i only want to be your friend," and i said it with such smugness even haha.

i thought this picture was quite nice, and silly. glen was playing the guitar and mansi asked me to take out my camera and take a shot. i put on the self-timer and ran to that position in the picture and glen suddenly stopped playing, prob got shocked, and i was signaling him to play and mansi was wondering what was going on and the flash went off.

just like that, one school week has passed. 5 more to go. still, there's an ache in my heart. i don't know why. guess it comes with the package.

strawberry fields forever

ever since i got back on sunday night, i've been floating around dunedin in a holiday mood as though school doesnt exist. still got those roadtripping tendencies in me which can't seem to go away so easily! help! but as a result, i'm starting to realise just how beautiful my own backyard is!

for starters, on monday, i had this craving for sushi. eugene, glen, dias, shanny and i met for lunch and next thing i know, we're driving to the summit of mount cargill and i see dunedin as i've never seen it before. i had no idea how beautiful it was and let my eyes feast on the rolling hills, the peninsula, the oceans and the bays, all the different colours. my recently blown hair was once again wind-swept and crazy, story of my life these past 2 months. and if that wasn't enough, we headed down to the peninsula where we descended some sand dunes to find penguins and seals. i was so amazed to see that there really were penguins and seals here, that in new zealand, you only had to drive to one place or the other and you'd find a surprise waiting for you. here was this beautiful beach, where gulls, penguins, seals and whatnot seemed to co-exist together harmoniously, and we were just intruders, so kindly allowed to tread on their piece of prime land by the sea. it was also the first time i noticed the spray above the waves, which rose and fell so gracefully for something which partnered the roaring waves. a lazy seal whiled away the hours sleeping by the sea, oblivious to the humans, penguins and the other seals who were having their evening tete-a-tete. i was reminded of reno because that's exactly what reno would do. then again, almost all animals remind me of reno and his idiosyncrasies. the climb up the sand dunes was killer and reminded me of the dunes at the 90-mile beach near cape reinga where we climbed up to slide down on our toboggans. i picked up a random stick to aid my climb and imagined i was gandalf, thanks to the teasing of my mates. we ended the day with 5 boxes of pizza and a pasar malam (night market) to divide the leftover groceries from the trip.

you'd think it was back to work but..no. last night, we got together planning part of our travels for after the semester. and today, after "playing" at music technology class, i met up with some of them for a lunch buffet at pizza hut. i was resolved to go for my 4pm pricing lecture and because i had time to kill, i followed glen, eugene and dias for a walk. we walked so far i skipped the whole lecture! it was my first time walking through north dunedin. we walked through castle street where the riots occured recently, we walked through the botanical gardens where i couldn't stop laughing at the crazy antics of the duckies, we walked past schools and houses and shops and churches and...we walked UP baldwin street. baldwin street, my dear friends, is the steepest street in the WORLD. it is actually a tourist attraction. more than a month ago, during the cadbury carnival, cadbury released 20,000 jaffa balls down this hill. you were allowed to place your bets on a ball and if it reached the bottom first, you won. how crazy does that sound? and how crazy is this? i played truant from class to climb this slope, which i had no intention whatsoever of ever climbing in the first place!!! i blame this on glen because he is a visitor in dunedin and taking visitors around always makes me feel like i'm on holiday.

the walk back home today was lovely though. it was one loooooong walk. just after parting from the guys, i came across a pet shop and couldn't resist going in. i saw so many different varieties of birds and oh how cute they were. then i saw a HUGE corgi being brought home by his owners just after grooming. and what a BEEEEEEEG corgi it was! i've never seen any corgi so big before. to those of you who kept calling reno fat, EAT your words man!

on the way home, i passed a park that looked nice to walk in. i think i'll walk there some time. walking home was a feast for my eyes again. i just kept looking, and looking, and looking. at houses, people, shops, buildings, cars, clouds, everything i could look at. and the surreal sounds of moby ringing in my ears, well, you know what that does. i reached home contented but the cold hard truth is that i have ALOT to do!!! faint.

holidays' over, shireen. it doesn't help that i'm expecting a "surprise" visit from eugene with his pack of cards, ready to play bridge later. yes, i learnt how to play bridge, again, for the 3rd time. but don't worry, shanny! i'm not joining their club. not. just. yet. haha.

and why am i just randomly blogging this post when i have such a backlog of posts to put up from the past few weeks??? whatever, just refer to shanny's blog in the meantime. she's tirelessly and determinedly putting up posts about our trip. hopefully i get down to doing mine soon!

i wish you were here.

oh yes, who is lovely ruby? ruby is the new-born daughter of the german couple i bought my car from. they paid us a surprise visit on monday morning and i was so happy just looking at her and carrying her in my arms. it always amazes me how anything can be so small and fragile. welcome to planet earth, little ruby! =)

the only thing stopping me from wishing myself into a seal lazing on the beach is the cold. sunny days, where have you gone?

"nothing compares, nothing compares....to you."

a 10-day road trip accounts for the temporary silence you found this blog in. 8 of us got together in 2 cars and headed for the north where i can honestly say i had the time of my life! we got back on sunday night, monday morning really, at around 130am. and i don't mean to sound mushy but i already started to miss my 7 other halves who saw through all those wonderful moments and experiences with me in the north. how could i not miss them when for 10 or 11 days straight, i saw their faces from the moment i woke up in the morning to the moment i fell asleep at night. i don't even see my loved ones back at home so often in a day! haha. and when i woke up yesterday morning, i felt some kind of ache, which i prescribed as a form of cold turkey from the lack of packing up and taking off with my buddies to explore a new town or average a speed of 110km/h on the motorways. the cure for that: another roadtrip on a school day in our very own "hometown". it just lasted a few hours but it was amazing! i didn't know my own backyard itself was such a gem for the senses to behold!! i feel like i could go roadtripping forever but alas, it is back to reports and case studies and lectures and the like. woo. hoo.

but i'll save all that for the next post. right now, i want to talk about reno rally royal (click here!!). for those not in the know, reno was our child/brother/grandpa for the past 14 years and in pravin's (my brother) words, remained a pup til his dying day. reno passed away 2 sundays ago, on the 26th of august, the same day i went skydiving in taupo, where coincidentally (is there really such a thing as coincidence?), my crazy tandem instructor was also named reno. a part of me shriveled up that night in that little hostel in rotorua when i got the news. i released silent tears into my pillow as everyone slept, knowing that my house at home would never be the same again. i couldn't possibly imagine the quiet, the emptiness on the front porch when i get back. no reno barking madly at the sneaky birds stealing his food, no reno disarming me with his smiling eyes and perfect smiles, no reno hungrily gobbling up random scraps you drop on the floor, no reno resting his head on your lap or licking up all the toothpaste when you brush his teeth...no reno.

to the world, he was probably just some dog. they go aww and walk on and get back to their lives and that's just how it is. but there was something special about reno. he really had such a character, he was almost human. i'd like to think of him as my little brother. i remember how he used to take me for walks, i remember the feeling of his head on my lap, i remember how he used to run circles to gain momentum before climbing up the stairs, how he ran wildly in our old house in chuan park and kept banging into the cupboard in one of the rooms.

the few weeks before he died, i started to get strange and beautiful dreams about reno. reno had reached the point where he couldn't walk anymore because the arthritis was killing his legs. he used to cry in pain every night and it broke our hearts. that's why we had to put him to sleep. in those dreams, reno was running wildly like he used to, this big crazy messy ball of fur. in those dreams, he ran up all 3 floors of stairs to my room and i'd wake up and find his face staring up at me as i looked down at him from my bed. he was young and pain-free and just as cute (he never grew out of cute). and i'd like to think that's just how he is right now.

i know everyone at home is missing him like mad. i know i do. i knew when i left home that it was probably my last goodbye to him (which is why i was crying like a baby when i said bye to him). but lets be ever thankful for having had reno in our lives all these years and the joy and unconditional love and laughter he brought us. let us never forget him but smile whenever we remember him and how silly and adorable he was. i choose to believe he is now the way he was in all those dreams i dreamt. i love you reno rally royal. you know, nothing compares to you. may you be reading this in those dog glasses of yours and give a knowing bark from heaven.

(a random video taken one morning/afternoon on the front porch. papa was having his tea and reno, as usual, was enjoying being in the centre of all the action. that is aunty bringing papa his tea. reno and aunty had some special connection, methinks. such a duo they were.)

is the window clouding up or is it my eyes? my grief is private here in the backseat. 14 years of my life, you were always there when i got home. unless you went for grooming. you won't be there when i come home now. i hope you are in a better place, young and new forever, where you can run up stairs and stop crying. i love you reno rally royal.
- message to reno, penned down in the backseat of the car during our travels in rotorua

please take this cup away from me



i guess i'm breaking the rule now!! that's my new desktop wallpaper!! you see, i really dread doing this 10-page business to business marketing lit review. it's due next friday but we're leaving for north island on thursday night and i have a pricing and distribution test next wed and i'm leaving for queenstown this friday for a ski trip and will be back on sunday night and cannot study on the trip because i don't have the textbook and can't find one and thus, have been doing all my readings via course reserve, so i will only have monday to wednesday next week to study which means no time for lit review in between which means....pausing for breath...i have to finish the dreaded thing by this friday. BYE!

i dream

almost every single time (when there's still daylight) i step out of the small laundry room, i just stand still for a few moments and let my eyes feast on the calming/overwhelming sight of the rolling hills in the distance. i watch how sunlight bathes the grass and i picture myself just sitting there one day, doesn't matter when, just sitting on one of those slopes in the sunlight where everything below will look so so small and nothing matters but that moment i'm in and the grass dancing in the wind, with some playfully poking my bare feet, and the clouds floating overhead and the quietness of it all. sometimes, i wish i could just roll on those hills, rolling here rolling there, rolling like those slopes would never end. and when i'm tired, i'd just stop wherever i am, lie on my back and watch the sky. the sun wouldn't be piercing but hot enough for me to be comfortably warm with a gentle breeze tickling my face. sometimes, the sky would be pink because of sunset and that's when i will smile even wider, because sunsets and evenings are my favourite times of day. before i turn around to walk back to my flat, i'd tell myself, "this is actually your home for now. aren't you lucky?" and i'd walk back dreamily and contented.

why don't i just turn into a sheep right?

i remember a holiday in melbourne. we were in some park. papa and mama waited for us kids somewhere. us kids, we were running up slopes on this mini hill just so we could run down them again and oh it gave us such a kick.

sometimes, the days/nights get a little mundane, i look up at the sky with all its stars and i know life is never ordinary. sometimes, the day/nights get so so noisy and congested, i look up at the sky with all its stars and imagine myself on the moon where it must be oh so quiet and i secretly float away into those thoughts.

this is how i never get bored much. this is why i'm hardly cynical. this is why there's always something that can inspire. i just remember (and i remember alot!), i just dream, i just imagine the possibilities because hey...it just might be possible and there's so much we don't know! don't ever stop dreaming and hold on to the memories of those moments when your heart was more alive than ever. at least, that's what i do.

now i can breathe!

saturday was a rather hair-pen-ning day. the otago singapore club organised a lunch to celebrate national day at the golden harvest restaurant. it was a hearty affair for those with a hearty appetite. i ate to my heart's (and stomach's) content, walloping as much of the chilli stuff as i could. made a mental note to go back there for dim sum or more of the yummy food we gorged on. we also received some of the ndp stuff which you guys back in singapore might have received at the parade, like that ridiculous-looking fish hat (i seem to totally dig ridiculous-looking hats) and this really cool hand-held fan with some laser thing that spells out "happy birthday singapore". impressive!

managed to rest for a while at home before heading for the otago indian cultural night, held in conjunction with india's independence day. though entertaining and educational in some places, i was sore that there was no bhangra!! bhangra, to me, is one of the coolest dances there is! the energy and passion and forcefulness of the dance is just awe-inspiring. i think i've never seen so many indians in one place before in dunedin. and people were all dressed like it was deepavali or some indian wedding!!! i think that's cos they hardly get to wear their gorgeous indian clothes in dunedin, inclusive of blings-blings and jing-a-lings. mansi was incredibly happy and i can tell that she, together with so many of the other indian nationals, are fiercely proud of their country. i remember asking mansi(my flatmate from india, look how happy she is in the photos!) how to sing her national anthem and she said we had to stand at attention to do it and i was thinking, man, sometimes we just rattle off our own national anthem in such a joking manner and here's someone who wouldn't sing it until she was in the correct disposition to. the programme ended with the anthem and as i looked around at the faces of those singing it and listened to the chorus rise, i couldn't help but be amazed and whoa-ed because you could really feel their passion and their love for their country.

the after-party was held at 10 bar. i've not gone clubbing in quite a while and was reminded why i don't anymore. something about crowds really unleashes some violent tendencies in me! haha. i mean, i can't dance when my hands are all glued to my side. unless i was mr bean. and because it was so crowded and squashy, alot of pushing wass going on, people were getting drinks spilt on them, staring competitions ensued, couples got closer. but anyway, the crowd wasn't such a big problem and i was there on a mission. it was a special night in 10 bar because they got a renowned dj down from aukland who was known from spinning good indian music. everything sounded totally foreign to me (yes, i'm indian) but it didn't matter. i just wanted to know what an indian party in a bar in dunedin would be like. i just danced and danced, immitating and inventing and improvising moves. it was fun, and funny, especially when you see the ang mohs trying to copy those moves as well! haha.

i also think we are successfully turning winnie (my hong kong flatmate) into an indian. she now loves indian food and she was there with us, partying and bobbing to indian music and even attempting to learn the dappankuthu dance. which i think is one of the more energetic and crazy dances i've ever seen!

as a consequence of all that dancing, spent the whole of sunday nursing my bruised body. i was aching everywhere and i think i was just...exhausted.

monday's come and i have to really slog like a dog (dogs don't really slog, do they?) before my north island trip during the break. wow, i can't believe that the MID-TERM break is already almost here! really fast!

i gotta go cook dinner now. winnie is starving! haha. we're gonna try something new. wish us luck!

41 days
(click on pictures for enlargement)

that's how long its been since i left home.

sunday, 1st july

boarded the flight to christchurch. it's funny how you look forward to something so much but when it comes you get cold feet. you're bombarded with "what if"s and "did i do the right thing"s and all that other nonsense. yes, nonsense. it's then that you really have to tell yourself, focus, shireen, or mary jane or mutu or whoever.

look back and you turn into stone or a pillar of salt (from your tears maybe) like lot's wife. no, look forward instead, life is waiting for you!

and the same things which made my heart ache with the pain of goodbye gave me strength. the loves of my life. family, friends,aunty, mutu (haha)...they were with me to the very second the glass doors of changi airport separated us. but even then, nothing could separate their love from me.

i was practically running to my flight though! paid about $200 or so (that was a heavily bargained price by the way!) for overweight luggage (42kg!!! max was 23kg.) by the time we got all that sorted, prayed and did all the hugging, i had like minutes left to board my flight!

monday, 2nd july

the sight of the southern alps on south island new zealand welcome me. i'm one of the last to leave baggage claim and clear customs because i'm waiting for my guitar. at the baggage desk, a young guy looks stressed. i overhear his conversation. his luggage is lost and he has been travelling for days, from hungary to germany to singapore to new zealand. plane delays, lost luggage. i see my guitar and walk on to screen my 42kg and slightly more worth of luggage. (they screen luggage and practically empty your bags to make sure you don't bring in any unauthorised foods). i was praying that they wouldn't open my luggage not because i brought my whole fridge from singapore (i didn't, just instant noodles, chicken rice chilli, blabla), but because packing was KILLER seriously! and praise god, they asked me to proceed to the xray machines instead.

there, yan, my dad's friend's sister, met me (it was the first time in my life i ever saw her or spoke to her! and many more people to come.) and i was worried about the excess baggage allowance for my connecting flight to dunedin. and she offered to bring down the excess for me because she was going to be driving around south island in a few days and would be stopping by dunedin! thank you god! thank you yan! so there i was unpacking and repacking at christchurch airport, my belongings a mini-musuem for the world to see. then yan drove me around and brought me back like 10 minutes before my flight was bound to take off! story of my life these 2 days. she wasn't panicking so i thought i didn't have to either.

funny thing is, i get on the flight and guess who's in my row? the hungarian guy i saw earlier. an old lady sits between us and we 3 get quite friendly with each other. then i find out that the hungarian guy is also bound for exchange at the university of otago and he tells us his whole unfortunate story again (which i actually heard earlier). the old lady buys us cookies (because the plane didn't have proper food) as we had both not eaten for a while and as we part ways at dunedin airport, she blows me a flying kiss and i am wowed!

hungarian guy and i almost miss our bus to our accomodation because he is busy looking for this person and that counter to sort out his luggage dilemma but to no avail. i make a call to the transport company and the lot come back to fetch the 2 of us. (oh my gosh!! how will i finish this post if i go on at this rate??soo....will fast forward some bits!)

so i checked into my acommodation, toroa international house. nice flat, nice flatmates, pretty much a nice place to stay. but i won't talk about it much here. i'll put up another post about life in dunedin sometime. and the hungarian guy, keep bumping into him around school and in funny situations. he finally got his luggage haha.

saturday, 7th july


my first trip here was to moeraki with a bunch of singaporeans i met here (all from NUS!). nice bunch. moeraki was beautiful. i just wanted to stay there and imagine i was all alone and there was nothing but the sea and me and these strange round boulders and who knows how they got here (i guess there's an explanation but i like to make things sound mysterious and dramatic). i walked along the shore looking for shells, remembering those wildwood days last year and the special shells i found meant only for me. i admired the greenness of the sea and let the wind mess up my hair. saw a little boy sitting on one of the boulders who refused to leave and get down even after his family walked pretty far away. as though it pained him greatly to leave this rock he claimed as his own.

old train station in oamaru, shanny (un)intentionally poses

after moeraki, it was still early so we decided to check out oamaru. it's this little town where we got a really magnicifent view from a hilltop overlooking the coast and the town. there, we were starving and couldn't find a proper place to eat as it was saturday and most places don't function here on weekends, what more a small town! we had some heavenly milkshake here. they ran out of chicken. damn.

top(from left): shanny, me

bottom(from left): eugene, dias, leonard (johnson didn't join us and bavani wasn't in nz yet)

fri, 13th july to sun, 15th july

the next roadtrip involves eugene, shanny, a ford focus and me (and later ron, shanny's darling and the catalyst for the trip). we headed to christchurch to fetch shanny's boyfriend. what a character ron is! haha. the trip to christchurch was lovely. great weather (clear, blue skies), great views (mountains, rivers, ocean), great food (budget new world stuff really, cookietime!!!, and yummy mongers fish and chips at night) and great company.



it was also the first time i pushed a caravan out of snow before. we had made a pit stop while we were driving along the scenic route to play with snow along the roadside. while frolicking in the snow, we see a camper van in distress and the ever helpful eugene walks over to investigate the situation and the next thing i know, we're all pushing the van together out of the snow!

eugene made us walk so much at night i tell you! all because of his beer! haha. walked and walked and walked, i just wanted to go back and plonk into bed.

next day, we headed to the airport to fetch ron (lucky shanny!!). then, we began our roadtrip to the outskirts of christchurch. i really loved those places and they're on my lists of places to go back to again some day. if i have the chance, i would really love to take you and you and you and you there (the you thing inspired by joyce unkhoo).

view en route to akaroa, didn't know where to aim! haha.

akaroa was really lovely and i could imagine just rowing a boat in the lake or whiling the hours away by the dock, just reading a book or playing my guitar or having a cup of coffee and some good ol' conversation with someone i love. or just being quiet and listening to the gulls, the gentle waves, or even just the sound of silence. didn't take a photo because again, i didn't know where to aim the camera. i've resorted to taking videos whenever i'm lost for choice now! i'm compiling them for my own lonely planet kind of video. it's in the works.

next, we drove through clouds (i'm not kidding!) to little akaloa. we found it by accident and curiousity. i really love this place too! it was a little inlet or bay or whatever you call it between two cliffs, with the big wide ocean outside. quiet little place with nice little houses and these old school boats and an abandoned tyre and clean air and the sound of the waves again. little akaloa, goes on the list too.

at little akaloa. i somehow had an affinity for this tyre. god knows why.

after a whole day on the road, we headed back to the hostel to rest for a SHORT while before going for our ALL BLACKS GAME!!! haha, yes you read it right. main reason why i came on the trip actually (not ron! haha, that's shanny's.) we met yan and her friend, hansel, again, for dinner, then briskwalked to the game cos the buses were all not stopping (too full!). i got alot of stares and comments because well, you see, i was wearing quite a ridiculous-looking hat. refer to pic. i gotta admit, i'm really a fake all blacks fan and i hope some crazed all blacks fan doesn't come to this blog and start cyber-stalking me and spamming my comment box with hate msges. because well, kiwis take their rugby really seriously.

the haka (dance of challenge) was awesome though. and haka is the name of my flat so i have an affinity for it. and the atmosphere was really electrifying. i know nuts about rugby and didn't give a damn who won but i just cheered anyway. loudly for the all blacks of course. (and silently for the south african springboks.)

the drive back the next day saw us on the scenic route again. shanny wanted ron to see the mountains and the snow up-close. we decided to go explore a lake on the way, thus taking an off-beaten track (one of the many taken and many to come) to find our way there. it was an adventure reaching the lake but better left unelaborated. i was picturing myself taking a sip of natural springwater from the lakes and smacking my lips in satisfaction. but when we got there, the lake(s) were all frozen!!! haha. there were actually people ice-skating on it and i really wished then that i had brought a pair of ice-skates (not that i have a pair to start with) along because hello, it's not like i get the chance to ice-skate on a real-life lake everyday, what more, surrounded by mountains! and also because, a few days before, toroa had organised an ice-skating night with a retro theme and i had put on my most retro outfit and learnt how to ice-skate and was RACING others by the end of it! gave me such a kick!

saturday, 21st july


the office for international students at otago makes up to us for our cancelled peninsula trip by organising another for us. so off we go in 3 busloads to the otago peninsula to spot penguins and albatrosses. we saw none. but we saw some really gorgeous sights. the most gorgeous ones i couldn't capture on camera because my camera battery died. and just as well because i was battling wind, rain and hail. but i saw the most beautiful rainbow i've ever seen in my life. it was at this beach (i don't even know what it's called) and there were 2 rainbows actually! full ones! one end touching the water, the other, the rocks on land. and what a sight to behold! i walked backwards after every 3 steps while leaving because i just had to get as much of it as i could! the beach itself was beautiful, with hidden caves here and there and a huge rocks scattered all over. aaah. and of course, the bbq dinner after that was heaven! free as well! haha. went home to thaw though cos i got really wet at that rainbow beach and i've been falling in and out of sickness since then!

saturday, 4th august
we had our toroa ball. the theme was masquerade and the ticket was a mask which we had to decorate. i think mine looked like something fit for a chinese wayang (opera)! it was accidental. people seem to take balls really seriously over here. so well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em right? so we all dressed up, carried our masks to the ball (at otago musuem), took lots of pictures (i took some too because everyone was taking pictures and i felt quite awkward just sitting at the table and drinking water because food was not ready yet, i was starving i tell you!), oooh and aaaahed at people's outfits and whatever, ate like there was no tomorrow (i paid the price the next day), danced like we were in a club to music that skipped and we tried to like (but well, when i dance, the music doesn't really matter. dancing alone gets me high, really! i realise that there were times when i was sad and alone in my room, and i'd just start dancing to a song on my player and find myself feeling happy and optimistic very soon! maybe i should dance more when i'm alone! on the street, in the bathroom, in my sleep, cooking!). but i missed you alot.

oh yes, i haven't introduced bavani. she's a really cute little package, methinks. we had to look for her and leonard on a mountain (ok, hill) at night because they got lost. i suspect she was going ooh and aaah looking at stars or something and he must have been fidgeting with his camera and when they got back to reality, found the whole group vanished into thin air. it was quite a walk that one. we joined the tramping club for this trek and because bavani, dias, winnie (my flatmate) and i reached late, they had started without us and we spent the whole uphill portion totally breathless and wanting to die trying to catch up with them. i seriously wanted to let myself go and roll down the hill. when we reached the part with no lights however, it was really amazing. i could see soooooo many stars! and then, dias would turn to us once in a while and his head light would totally blind me. dias is real up-to-date with all these gadgets. he's the man when it comes to these things. the trek down was a surprise! muddy, steep...i slipped once even. this was the part where we found those 2 missing! and everyone had gone ahead, even the tramping club members! long story short, they were found and we're all safe now. i felt bad for asking winnie to come, after all that chaos and the tiredness and craziness of it all. furthermore, it was a really last-minute thing. but she actually enjoyed herself thank god! and i actually enjoyed myself too, in some weird way. it was a really new and different experience. washing our shoes after that was a whole other challenge.


so bavani, i knew i liked her the moment i met her and even more so, when i went over to her house (she lives near me, in toroa, woohoo!) the first time to finish up her chicken curry leftovers! since then, i've been a regular at helping them to clear their plates!

so this was us fending off the paparazzi (whom we kinda imposed on to hound us for these shots).


well, this is pretty much what i've been up to in pictures. other than that, been up to alot of other things as well. meeting people, going for mass (the church is nearby, yay! it's called holy name), getting introduced to yummy hot chocolate, eating lotsa sushi, buying $1 books at a booksale in an old theatre, shopping, chilling out at friends' places, planning trips, getting a car, cooking, cleaning, grocery-shopping, playing guitar, composing some songs, jamming with some people randomly, potlucks, being quiet, spending too many hours on the computer, reading, laughing, crying, stoning, sighing, so on and so forth. oh yes, and of course, studying and finishing assignments as well. for real! but i'll talk more about all this in that post about my life in dunedin. i've kinda been on this post for HOURS! i'm done now and can't really end with anything philosophical or life-changing or sappy.

i miss you alot though. it's harder this time, but i'm holding firm. i love you.

p.s. please keep melt's late grandma in your prayers. melt, if you read this, hang in there! i love you! god bless. (hug)
p.s.2. happy (belated) national day! i couldn't watch the live telecast here. hate it that i'm missing fireworks!
p.s.3. at times when i fail to blog, you can always refer to shanny's or eugene's blogs (refer to sidebar) for updates. shanny's more frequent at updating though. good on ya, mate!
p.s.4. these p.s.'s remind me of something familiar. hope you're fine.