32,000 feet above, 2 hours since departing Auckland
Concluded my first bag packing experience today after spending 2 nights in Auckland. Experienced quite a few things in Auckland, like have my first ever Wendy's burger, met a long lost secondary school friend along the street ( what are the odds man!), hop on to a garbage car for a free ride to the town after i was lost in suburb for 2 hours, had the best Korean meal ever, being ill-treated by bus driver for the first time in NZ, help by many local Indians throughout the stay and perhaps many more.
overall, its jut another city, perhaps a cleaner one, to certain extent only. The city looks so identical to KL, especially around the main street that heavily occupied by Asian, at least that's what i felt. It may be suffering from identity crisis just like KL, but it does have some sense of romanticism flowing along the higher-end part of the city.
When i was crossing this main crossroad over viewing this giant santa claus, i suddenly felt a lost of identity. I cant remember who am i or why i was here for. Stephanie Sun was humming softly through my mp3 player "i wish i am aninvisible person, and i could hide all my sadness" into my ear. The world seems to have pause 3 seconds for me. I managed to catch a glimpse of all the passerby in the middle of the crossroad. So emotionless, so cold, so far. 3 second gone, the pedestrian light start turning red and buzzing the people to finish crossing. I ran to the opposite side, and tell myself, dont worry, i am heading home now...
23/11/05 4.12pm
21/11/05
YHA Hostel, Waitomo Caves
After a whole day of sulphuric smell, i head off my journey again for a fresher air, this time i am going to Waitomo that is famous for its caves.
famous not only because it has unique looking caves, but also inside these caves, there's this interesting creature call glow worms. These glow worms are actually larvae that can glow in the dark and attract flying insects to fly towards them and then trapped in their sticky web. Beautiful but deadly creature. So what's the different between glow worms and fireflies? my perspective, besides the fact that one live in the riverside and another one live in the cave, there's not much different. However, it feels much cooler to be seeing all this artificial milky way on the roof of the underground cave.
this is exactly what i observed in the cave, but i got this picture off the internet :)
instead of seeing the glowworms via a slow sailing boat, i go for the extreme option, black water rafting.
those tube are my boat and we need to cave through the running water under the caves for 2 hours. Its not exactly that challenging, but its definitely fun to do so, especially when u are playing along a group of American ladies that scream for every single tiny thing.
Waitomo have some good scenery to offer too besides the cave. Ended up having an extremely relaxing 2 days in Waitomo with lots of, lots of fresh air.
you will become lazy here...19/11/05 7pm
Rotorua
Without knowing much about the town, i arrived this town just in time to view the children's day parade.
As i walked along the town, a pungent smell is swirling in the sky and yet everyone seems okey with it. Maybe its just me... Later on when i saw this, i know things are not as simple as i first perceived.
look~ The drain releasing some pungent smell along with obvious smoke flowing out. The smell is so strong that it is visible, just like what i see in the cartoon!! OMG, i should call 911. Wait a second, the smoke and the smell is everywhere~
normally a park will have a blue lake within it and people calmly sitting next to it. Interestingly, this park near the city center has a lake that smells real bad and release lots of smoke. Knowing that i have not done my homework regarding this town, i head off to tourism center to figure out what is it all about..
Turn out that Rotorua is a very unique town in which is has extremely high geothermal activity, so high that literally every single hole you dig will cause a release of sulphur from the land below. So if you choose to stay here, you have to live with the smell.
according to my source, Rotorua is famous for 3 things, the first one is Geyser. A geyser is a hot spring characterized by intermittent discharge of water ejected turbulently and accomplished by a vapor phase. its quite impressive to see the periodical eruption the vapour, besides the fact that i got wet after standing too near the eruption point.
Pahula Geyserthe 2nd thing Rotorua famous for is spa/bath house.
this is a former bath house call 'Blue Bath' that eventually become a museum. Nothing impressive to be frank, and later i did go the the real bath house to soke in some hot water. Besides the smell, i really cant distinguish the different from the hot shower i would have at home.The 3rd thing Rotorua famous for is the Maori Cultural heritage. Maybe i have not traveled far enough ever since i got to NZ, but for the first time , i see more Polynesian on the road than Caucasian. There's quite a bit of Maori Cultural show for tourist too in this area. Due to the limitation of the time, i didnt manage to see any cultural show, but i do realise that i should have bring along some egg, because u can almost cook your egg in anywhere.
No joking, people in the past do cook their egg this way....
19/11/05
On the Road
Before I've gone crazy enough to jump from the plane, there's another far more interesting thing happened early in the morning.
(I have shared this story to most of my friends, because it happened in such unexpected manner till now i'm still blushed over what had happened then)
As i scheduled from an early skydiving session so that i can make my way to next destination in the early afternoon, i woke up around 6.30am to prepare myself both mentally and physically. I was sharing the room with the German guy and Jewish girl that i spoke to the night before. I was told that another 2 roommates are British ladies but they were still partying out there when i was heading to bed, hence i did not get to see them.
Just a little bit of the side note, most of the bagpackers around NZ are separated between male and female, but some of the bagpackers do practice co-ed, and obviously i'm content with such arrangement :)
The alarm ring at the note as it should, and i react quickly to prevent the sound from disturbing the rest. Stared at the ceiling for 2 second, recalling back why am i waking up so early, and pick up my spec from the table next to my bed.
As my vision turning from blur to clear, i doubted my eye and stunt from 2 second. the first thing i see in the morning is a naked butt.
To be exact, its one and half naked butt. One of the British girl's butt was facing me while another one was facing me side way. They were both naked, and looking for clothes to wear as well as packing up their stuff.
Honestly, i didnt see much. Or perhaps, my brain wasnt fast enough to process what my eyes manage to see. I cannot recall the exact picture of what i saw, but i remember clearly how i react to this. I was so stunt that i lay down to my bed straightaway and covered myself with duvet. I even take out my spec fearing that they might thought that i am peeping through the duvet.
They took about a good 10minutes before they finally dressed up and leave the room. I'm glad that they did not see me staring at them and scream. As i wore back my spec and look across my bed, i saw the German guy smirked at me and winked. At that instant, i know i was being an idiot. The German guy was enjoying the whole morning while i was fearing of being caught! Damn, why do i have to be short sighted?
After i packed my stuff and ready to leave, i saw 2 Caucasians having breakfast on the table nearby me. I know they must be my roommates, but i decided not to go and say hi to them eventually.
Why? because i find it to hard to say hi to someone that i've seen their butt before seeing their face
19/11/05
Taupo
How to you tell people that you have been to New Zealand?
1. You have seen the Kiwi bird
2. You have done bungee jumping
3. you have done Skydiving
And i decided to take up the challenge no. 3.
How cool is that? take a look and you will know it
yes, our geography teachers weren't lying, the earth, is indeed round in shape. for the full set of pictures, click here
the journey
a lot of time we were so focus on our goal,our destination, we have forgotten to slow down to take a look around during the process. Here's some of the pictures that i snapped along the journey from Wellington to Taupo. Take a better look and you will understand the uniqueness of this area. Pictures below are taken in sequence, within an hour time.
Cloud just seems cuter over here
this is Mordor
Mt Doom, where the ring got destroyed
the plain around the snowy mountain
forest that's just across the desert
greeny mountain
deep blue lake
the curve
civilization18/11/05 (2)
Taupo
the night is getting late, i was still sitting around with 3 Israeli, 1 german, 1 austrian and a canadian tasting over NZ wine, and talking about our motherland.
From historical point of view, we all have a very conflicting background, but hey, that's the beauty of this bagpacking thingy! A german guy that almost being named Elvis by his dad pouring wine for the Austrian; the Canadian that speak mostly French in his life poking fun of America while the Israeli happily reply back "go easy tiger, they are our best friend"; and i'm just a malaysian that gladly showing the rest how malaysia passport has a big printout on "this passport is valid except in Israel"
We really should win Noble peace price for this. I have always dream of meeting these people and asked them about their burden from the past, and today, i actually can meet them in a far fetch country call New Zealand.
Beautiful. Life.
18/11/05 (1)
Taupo
Arrived late on lake Taupo, missed out all the activities that can be done here. Without hesitation, i booked the only possible activities that be done on next day morning, SKYDIVING~
wondered around taupo, snapped a few good shots, and have a medium pizza over viewing the stunning lake taupo that surrounded by greeny mountain. Regret for doing so an hour later, because in order to look cool/romantic/poetic by having meal on the lake side, my fingers are literrally becoming 10 sticks of paddle pop.
My wallpaper picture
The Road that i've taken 
18/11/05 1am
YHA room 604
Had 3 new roomies, a Welsh, an English and a German. getting along with roommates are truly a big part of bagpacking. I got so excited on exchanging experience and thoughts with all these fellow bagpackers.
Fred, the Welsh guy actually dropping by to attend a secondary school reunion. What's more interesting is, he actually graduated from high school since 1968, which is almost 40 years ago! i am beginning to wonder how would i looks like in 40 years.Scary, for sure.
Went back to Welsh pub after long chat with roommates. Was hoping to have a great night before i left Welly, but was constantly harassed by this drunk Caucasian. I know i got to leave when he start blurting racist statement, but before i left, the owner was kind enough to actually requested the guitarist to play a song for me.
" so kiss~~ me and smile for me, tell me that you'll wait for me, hold me like you'll never~~ let me go...i'm leaving ~~~on~~ the jet plane, don't know when i'll be back, oh babe, i hate to go..."
with hugs and songs, i left the pub.
17/11/05 7pm
Cha Restaurant
came back from Te papa, the national museum. i must admit that it is quite impressive, even for me who only have a small fraction of interest on NZ historical past.
Friends were bringing me around the whole day, and i managed to snap a few shot of " i've been here". The parliament building beehive is equally conventional to our old parliament house (maybe the building doesnt leaked like ours, that's why it does attract my attention)
Walked around rose garden. Roses were pretty colourful, but doent really impressed we guys. But what attract our attention was, 2 ducks were busy pecking one another in order to win the heart of the female duck. The winner was mating on the spot, but the loser was pretty sly, it actually launched an attack while the male was having fun. Eventually their are like having a orgy party right in front of us.
Thirsty. My goodness, how many kilo's of MSG did they put into my noodle? no wonder the america have the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome back in the 50's. (seriously, there is such thing)
17/11/05 11am - 11pm
Lambton Quey, Courtney Place, Botanical Garden, Cuba Street, Te Papa
Met up with my friend and had a day tour around welly town area. pictures speak louder than words.
purple rose at the botanical garden
all i know is that it is a struture symbolizing something that is culturally significant to Maori and looks darn cool
Te Papa, NZ National Museum
Beehive, NZ parliment building
Moa, an extinct bird that is MUCH bigger tha ostrich. and yes, NZ native birds have no wings, or too small to call it a wing.
a shopping complex that looks antique n cool but has nothing to shop for
somehow this coffee looks so great on picture, but it taste really ordinary. ( my wallpaper for almsot half a year :) )
that's what i am looking at while i am enjoying the coffee above. the green lanes are the bus lane, n those cables are the electrical cable that keeps all the bus running
My defination of a successful big city - put random arts across the city with hardly any citizen appreciate it and yet manage to amaze stupid tourist like me and shot a few photoes on it.
if u live in this city n yet not knowing how to enjoy all the wonderful open cafe cafe during the day, you are definately an idiot.
No i am not swearing at you, read the fine print
This is the cool cafe, Smith's Cafe located inside that cool looking shopping complex. The lift goes up to offices
too poor to buy glass window :)
Welly is so cool tat even the dogs have their own cellphone17/11/05 8am
YHA Wellington
Both my legs are aching thanks to the great walk i had yesterday. And surprisingly my face was burned quite badly by the lovely UV ( why do our body need this particular wavelength of light to produce vitamin while it is THIS bloody UV that can cause skin cancer??!! n Malaysian who expose to sun ALL the time hardly have any risk for skin cancer while the Kiwi have t highest rate of Melanoma in t world.Strange strange world...)
Went out last night and managed to explore 2 pubs that are pretty interesting, at least to me. The first bistro/restaurant - Sandwiches has their weekly Jazz night performance, so i decided to pay it a visit. Bought a glass of overprice Merlot, only to realise that i was late for the performance. The vocalist, a young and vibrant guy singing their last song 'Out of Tune' as i was trying to figure out what makes that Merlot that expesnive. Its a great piece of music though, composed by the same composer of The Girl from Ipanema.
my seat was barely warmed up by me when the performance ended. I do not wish myself to be looking like a pathetic loser sitting next to the bar table drinking lonely wine, so I walked to another pub for second round. I ended up walked into a Welsh pub name Welsh Dragon. If you have seen the Welsh national flag, you would probably understand why the pub's name is dragon
unsurprisingly, the pub is owned by Welsh,visits by Welsh,decorated with Welsh national flags and items, and of course, selling Welsh beer.And unsurprisingly, i am the only yellow pigmented homo Sapien in this pub. But SURPRISINGLY, this pub located at the divider between a busy 4 lanes street. the reason of this interesting location is because this pub was formally known as the Public Toilet! dont ask me why and how, i have absolutely no clue on how can a public toilet could ended up as a pub. And the interior of the building looks absolutely nothing like a toilet.
the origin of this building is definitely interesting,but what caaught my eyes yesterday night was not a wrongly placed toilet bowl, but an eccentric pianist that played ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC piano along with his wonderful voice. He is known as Mark @ Mr. B @ Mr. Friday. He didnt explain where did he get the nick, but he should be called as Mr. A as his piano skills are definitely AAA class.
Mr. B is trully an entertainer. His whole body moved along with the music, and he tapped his left foot loudly and produced a perfect instrumental like tune to accompany the piano tune. and MArk could almost played all the song requested by the customer (well, there's only 6 of us..)
then the owner of the pub came over and have a small talk with me. HE requested Mark to play a Malaysian song to welcome me. Obviously he struggled to do that, but he played along by singing a Fiji song. All of us recoqnised the song in a very short period, so the owner make Him to sing Macarena in Malay. Mark gave up and sang it in English,but it is still amazing that he can actually played such a fast tune song on piano. His fast moving finger actually made me felt a little bit dizzy...
I ended up in that pub for almost 2hours, singing almost all the song along with everyone in the pub, and it feels wonderful, really really wonderful...i dont think i would be envying the pub in Alley Mcbeal anymore.