Wednesday, January 27, 2010

My 22nd Bday

8:05 PM


I baked. Again. Before leaving Naomi's place. I knew I had to fully utilize my privileges and so i did. This was to relieve myseld off exam stress too considering I did it laaaaate Saturday night after I got sick of studying. It's the first time I've attempted a crumbly topping =) And i used fresh blueberries instead of frozen ones to make these blueberry muffins.


Is it weird that I only take pleasure in seeing them turn out well and then I don't want to have anything to do with them any longer? I bake. I get Naomi to taste it and I taste it with her. We confirm that it tastes heavenly. I gloat. And then I usually wrap them in glad wrap and pack them up in zip lock bags and become santa at uni. I also secretly anticipate the smile and approving nods that comes when people nod in satisfaction when the are savored. waste in resources? not quite. And I won't get to bake for the next two months now that I've moved here anyway. The communal kitchens here suck balls!



It was my birthday on Tuesday. It was also the day of my economics test which I thought went pretty well. =D I didn't let my expectations escalate too much in fear that I would be disappointed but boy was it a spectacular day. All thanks to Akash and to my friends who are in Auckland. From a bouquet of flowers in the morning, to broken slippers mid morning to a surprise party in the park in the afternoon and ice cream at the harbour mid afternoon to dinner at a fine Itallian restaurant at night and a crazy karaoke session to end the night, I loved every part of it! I even got more presents than i thought i'd ever get! Included some pictures here... Sad that I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted to. There were elements of surprise and common absent mindedness that came in the way. But I've captured all the moments in my heart so I think that would suffice. The picture is of Akash and me killing time while the others showed up for my surprise party...

After lunch at Valentinos for ice cream...

The gang. Minus Amanpreet who was taking the picture.

Spotted this cruise ship and like jakuns we all started taking pictures infront of it. LOL.

Me and babypie who's t shirt read sex, drugs and sausage rolls.?!?!?

I like this picture of us..





This is what Navleen gave me. =)








The other girls and Naman shared and bought me this! THe card is super cute, it talkssss!!






The inside. I love the smell!

Akash's SUPER SWEET card. It had a number of pages with pictures of us and writing in it....


This was from Naomi, the girl has prolly seen me bake waaaayyy too much. LOL


This was from Jie Huei...


This one was from Syazana. I LOVE the box. but i didn't quite like the assorted chocolate.. LOL.


Akash also gave me new skullcandy headphones. WHich i LOVe!


and finally, the bouquet of flowers that akash greeted me with in the morning. It was in purple wrapping n all that but I took it out and put it in a mug with water... Didn't take a picture of the portable camera that wei-yuen got me.... but yea, it was an awesome dayyyy!!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Happenings

7:47 PM

Feels like ages since I last blogged but summer here has been so amazing that it leaves me with hardly any time to myself at all. And that's just the way I like it. I'm still hunting down a job but it's so hard to find one here. Am thinking of reinventing my CV coz by the looks of it, mine might be a tad dull... We'll see how that one goes. Just the other day I went around distributing job application forms to all the university libraries, from the Davies Law Library to the Fine Arts Library and the Engineering Library and about ten other libraries. Apparently library jobs receive about a couple of hundred applicants a year! Bummer! Searching online is a pain in the rear coz people hardly reply. I guess with job applications, patience is a virtue so let the patience begin.

Apart from that, everything has been smooth sailing. I move out of this lavish Uptown Apartment in a week and into yet another uni residence like place with communal kitchens and communal showers. But i am still going to hunt around to see if i can get a better place. Uni has been fulfilling. Friends have been evolving. A mix of good times and some bad times... All in all, things are pretty much at a good balance right now...


Me, Priya and Shanika while they shopped for Akash's presents last week. I love hanging out with these people coz it's so different from the usual posse of friends that I have. And difference is always a good thing.


Because I, at present, have complete authority over one of the bestest kitchens in Auckland, I have been experimenting with my love for baking even more! I baked these chocolate walnut muffins for Akash's 21st. And they turned out fabulous!!! =)


and while waiting for the muffins to be set i went ahead and made some cookie batter coz i had all these pretty lil sprinkles that i bought. And they turned out even better than the ones i made last year coz these cookies were actually crumbly and crispy all at the same time. perfection!


Had to make another batch of muffins in order for it to be sufficient to spell out 'Happy 21st Birthday Akash'. These were banana date muffins. And they were better than the chocolate walnut ones coz people kept eating these ones =) So proud!!!


Chocolate button toppings!


this was how they looked when it was all done. I think i spent the whole day (and night) in the kitchen! but he was happy with them, and everyone else enjoyed eating them. so all worth it.


at Mission Bay. where Akash wanted to celebrate his bday on a sunny friday afternoon.


had an awesome time there with everyone. N i got sunburnt really badly. To the point that my skin actually hurt. I've never been sunburnt like that before... I now have multiple tones on my skin.


also went for Boon's bday at Long Bay. This beach was awesome! i absolutely loved it!


enjoying the waves at Long Bay with Jie Huei and Jason.


and finally, to end, my favorite picture of me and akash at his bday dinner =)

Friday, January 8, 2010

Back in Auckland....

1:39 PM

It's been exactly a week since I flew back to Auckland today on what I thought was the worst flight in the history of histories! I didn't sleep a wink, watched three movies in exhaustion, gave up one of my inflight meals, chugged desperately on water every moment I could and felt this massive itch in my nether region that I could not scratch. Thankfully that;s over!


Getting settled wasn't easy either. The first few days upon arriving here, there was an overwhelming sense of loneliness. The streets were almost bare, thanks to the stretch of public holidays that kept everyone at home. Felt like I was in some sort of zombie movie, think 'I am Legend' and 'Zombieland'. Everytime Akash left to go to work or to return home, I felt like bawling my eyes out. Thankfully, moments like that have passed as well. Surprising really, how things can improve massively in a couple of days. The picture above showcases the backpackers that I put up in for the first six days of arriving in Auckland. Princeton backpackers. The room was pretty ok but the shower and kitchen were EXTREMELY small! There was something about it though that heightened the sense of loneliness.






This is where I live at the moment. At a lavish little apartment on upper queen street. I wish I didn't have to move out coz this place puts me at ease. Thanks to a chance run into Naomi at summer school, I managed to score this place for a couple of weeks coz Angie, her house mate won't be around til the end of January. Paying a very reasonable price to live here for three weeks coz it's not only close to uni and to the city but also close to the gym I usually frequent. And yes. I have resumed all gym activity. I just go every other day now instead of everyday. But yup. Back to this place. First picture shows the kitchen that Ive always imagined. It actually makes me wanna cook although truth to be told, I;ve not made anything apart from sarnies since I got here... But just imagine! if i had this kitchen all year round, I'd cook up feasts every weekend and invite friends over for lunch! 2nd pic shows the hall which leads to a rather spacious balcony. Only drawback is right outside the balcony is a cemetery, hence all you see are willowy trees and tomb stones. hahahaha. Next two pictures are pictures of my room at the moment. The mess was never there until I came into the picture. And finally, the bathroom. Also one of my dreams. Good water pressure, clean as hell and just perfecto. So I have to truly embrace being here til I shift into Mt Terrace a couple of weeks from now. Sucks that I've already paid the bond. I shouldve continued my search but sheer panic drove me to secure a place FAST. Naomi treats me like a guest in this house although I am a paying tenant. I should be lucky really. She let's me use her stuff and she always asks me if she can prepare food for me and never lets me do any work. MAN. Blessed is what i feel. By the grace of God, people always help me.

That aside. Social life wise...





 It kicked off on the first day of my return thanks to Akash. This was at Priya's 20th birthday. Was good fun hanging out with his friends who I can safely say are gradually becoming our friends now. I guess it;s natural to be initially lost with a huge group of people who have so much in common with each other. But now that I see most of them at summer school, I think I am warming up to everyone.... Awesome bunch of people really. They make me feel loved all the time.







Summer school with Yuen has been breezy thus far. I wish we only had to do one subject at uni all the while. Focusing on one thing is far better than having four different things to focus on. And it frees up time to get other things going as well. This chatty lil miss keep is good company. Watched sherlock holmes with her and Nath a few days ago and we've been a unit at uni ever since.







The best gratitude for being back though is having to spend time with my baby pie again. It's like every moment feels more worth it than before. I don't know if it's coz I was away for so long or of it's just coz he's working often now. But despite the emotional roller coasters that the past week has put me through, I try to be as understanding a girlfriend as I can be but there's only so much a girl can do before she misses her boyfriend psychotically. Did i say 'a girl'? I just meant ME. He just had a hair cut in this picture. I like!


before I go, I shall leave you with humour...... pedestrians = madfishians?!??!