quaint melody | A Malaysian's life in the bungy land

Yummy, yummy, yummylicious! click photo to enlarge

What is that little delight that brightens up cold days like this? This of course, my little winter comfort food. Yes, it’s kiwi season again! No, not that bird! The fruit! The green sourly fruit that makes our mouth water. Winter is the best time to savour this sour sweet fruit. The season normally starts in late May, early June. (I know, I know, I was meaning to write about this in June, terrible procrastinator that I am!) Long post, click to continue!

Here are some photos taken at the Orakei Marina, Auckland a few weeks ago, on a bright winter day. It was freezing cold even though it seemed warm and bright in the pictures. Orakei Marina is located on the scenic Tamaki Drive at Okahu Bay in Auckland. It is home to various luxurious large vessels. The view of Auckland city’s skyline and Hauraki Gulf from here is pretty amazing. We were fortunate enough to gain access to a part of the Marina that’s usually close to public due to a kind gesture from a friendly security guard, Lou. She even posed for me! You’ll see her cool photo below.

I’ll let the pictures do the talking here. Hope the many photos brighten up your Monday!

Wait for the photos to fully load then click the main photo. Move your cursor to left/right side of photo to go to the next or previous photo.

p/s: If you missed the Olympic opening ceremony, there are some amazing photographs here.
Special thanks to narrowband for the link!

Sky on a winter afternoon. click photo to enlarge.

The panoramic view outside my window, on a beautiful winter evening. click photo to enlarge.

The Maori named New Zealand Aotearoa for a reason. It means ‘The Land of the Long White Cloud’. Sky like this is a common scene all year round. With the cotton-candy-liked clouds hanging low and extending into the distance.

As you know it’s been one hell of a winter, with continuous rain and strong winds. Yesterday was surprisingly a pretty clear day.The above photos were taken then.

I marveled over the beautiful sky, looking forward to the good days to come.

當輕風吹來，當白雲飄過，我心中輕輕響起典典韻樂。

View outside my bedroom window. click photo to enlarge

It’s been a very wet and gloomy winter down under, raining more than usual. The weather pattern surely has changed dramatically in the past few years. Auckland weather can be very unpredictable. With the sun shining one minute, and gloomy clouds roaming the next. Climate over here is direct opposite to those in the northern hemisphere, with summer starting from December to February, autumn March to May, winter June to Aug and spring September to November. While the weather here is generally temperate, mainly maritime, summery sun can be quite unbearable. Though the general temperature seldom hits the 30 Celsius mark, the UV levels are very high due to its closer proximity to the sun at that time of the year. It is really not advisable to expose oneself under the hot sun for a prolonged period of time, even if sunscreens are applied.

Coming from the tropics, the thing I enjoy the most about living in the temperate climate is the many colours that comes with it. While summer is too harsh, winter too gloomy and spring too garish, autumn yields the perfect season for me. It is then when everything turns colourful and breezy. The whole town seems to turn into a big dazzling picture, with coolness in the air and leaves swaying on trees in shades/hues of reds and yellows. Even the most unromantic people will feel the poetic moments in the air. A walk in the park is most pleasurably at this time of the year. I always feel a little surreal emerging amongst the breezy air and splendid colours of the season. It never fails to amaze me.

On another note, forecast said another storm is heading our way. This gloomy winter weather is killing all my fun to get out of the house for some decent photo shoots. Somehow the sun only comes out occasionally during the weekdays and rains all day long in the weekends! The sky pretty much looks like the above picture lately, albeit a little less dramatic (what to do, I’m all about drama!), but still, gloom! I’m just going to roll into bed and hibernate.

Took the new camera for a test shoot last Sunday. The weather here has been very gloomy and stormy lately, strong winds along with showers and hails. The long-awaited sun finally came out in the afternoon, albeit for a short moment. We decided to try our luck at the Auckland Domain. It was a fun afternoon filled with laughters (mainly came from you-know-who).

Opened in 1840, Auckland Domain is the city’s oldest park. Situated in the city central, here you’d find the prominent Auckland Museum building and a heritage-protected winter gardens with temperate and tropical plants. There are also a few rugby fields and cricket grounds where you’ll find school boys training in warmer days.

I’ll just cut my rambling and let you feast your eyes on the lush wonderland.
Have a great weekend!
(as usual, you can click on the photos to enlarge them. )

Contrary to popular belief, this is not rambutan, it is a type of winter flower. It grows on the tree in the third photo.

See the rugby fields(with white poles) in the distance? This is a hardcore rugby crazed nation. Auckland Domain is also the location for the annual
Christmas in The Park.

Here are some photos taken at Devonport back in the summer. Devonport is a maritime village with lots of old time charms. A very relaxing town located in Auckland North Shore, it houses some unique shops, cafes and old character homes. The charming old town with rich heritage has a very nostalgic feeling to it. There are also three volcanoes situated here. This is one of the best places that offers a spectacular view of Auckland city in my opinion. Great place to hang out on a hot summer day. Devonport is just a 10 minutes ferry ride away from downtown Auckland, or alternately a half an hour drive from Auckland central.

The iconic Esplanade Hotel on the waterfront. It was built in 1903.

The breathtaking view of Auckland city and harbour bridge from Mt Victoria.

Clock tower on waterfront.

A fish boat docked at the pier.

View of Auckland city from the pier.

Many people would come here to fish on a summer day. I wonder what type of fishes they get here.

Melody of the day: Anyone know how to fix the encoding problem? After upgraded to the latest version of wrodpress, all the Chinese characters showed up as ????? again. I have removed ‘define(’DBCHARSET’, ‘utf8′);and define(’DBCOLLATE’, ”);’ from wp-config.php to no avail. Please help!

As for the topic that is on everybody’s mind now, petrol hike. YES it’s pretty much the same over here, albeit not up 40% at one go, but gradually. Like 6 cents in 2 days for the latest increase. If I remembered correctly, it was about $1.30 per litre for regular unleaded around this time last year. Someone raised the possibility that it might go up to $2 per litre back then, but most people just brushed it off. Now, the price has peaked at $2.12 per litre and the thought of $3 per litre is becoming so horrifyingly real. A lot of secondhand car dealerships have already taken the hit and closed down in the past few months.

Don’t even get me started on food prices. A research done by NZ Herald in April showed that food prices have upped 28% in the last year and is continuing to soar. Although NZ is a agriculture-based country, the prices of dairy products have surprisingly shot through the sky, with cheese up 45.5 per cent, milk up 21.1 per cent, bread up 13.1 per cent and butter up by a gob smacking 86 per cent, all in one year! By the by, all these prices seem to be on their goal-setting road of soaring to new heights. There you have it, my rant of reality. Now let me go curl up in my blanket in my cold unheated room, as the cost of power has gone up as well. ARG!

Byebye cheese, I will miss you! (photo taken in Nov 2007)

I constantly have people back home asking me questions about my life in NZ. How’s the living standard? What season is it now? Weather cold or not? Kiwis friendly or not? What time zone are you in? What is daylight saving? Do you see sheep everywhere? And the most asked question lately, ‘Did the petrol prices go up?’ Here’s my attempt to write about some of these little facts of life over here in NZ, from a Malaysian point of view.

First of all, let me establish some background info, for those who don’t know me. I’m a Malaysian Chinese from Johor. I first stepped foot on New Zealand soil in February 2000. That makes this my 9th year here. Obtained permanent resident status in 2004. Currently living in Auckland with my husband a.k.a. Mr K (who is also a Malaysian Chinese).

Traffic jam in New Zealand. (photo by Phillip Capper)

Now, for the no. 1 most-asked question. Do you see sheep everywhere? The answer is, no they are no wandering around everywhere. Though this is a country where the woolly creatures tip the scales over humans, they are mostly munching the grass in rural farms. You can spot these candy-flossy creatures along the highway while traveling into the greater region. You do find some scatter around the Cornwall park in Auckland city sometimes. They are not wild, if you are so tempted to take one home, their owner will hunt you down!

That’s how we get ‘em.

How about the Kiwi bird? Do they roam around town often? I believe I was once asked whether they taste nice! Contrary to popular belief, Kiwi birds are extremely fragile creatures and have been classified as a national treasure that is facing extinction. They are being highly protected and only can be seen in zoos or certain kiwi-theme parks, in quiet, dark rooms. They are night creatures, a flightless bird with long down-curve bill. They are stumpy and cute to look at in the dark, and no, you don’t get to hug and and take photos with them like you’d do with the koala. Heh.

A hot summer day at Mt Victoria, Devonport.

What’s the weather like? The seasons over here are the opposite of the northern region like the USA. Climate in Auckland is generally warmer and wetter in compared to other states. With temperatures of about 22-29 Celsius during summer, and about 5-16 Celsius during winter. So far, the hottest summer I’ve experienced in Auckland was 30 Celsius. It might seem nothing compare to Malaysia, but due to the positioning of the globe that time of the year, the solar radiation index (UVI) is often very high in most places and can be extreme in northern New Zealand. You’ll feel your skin burning if exposed directly under the sun for a long period of time. Auckland, being the City of Sails, is very windy. You can find out more about Auckland weather patterns here.

When kiwi meets wallaby…

Is NZ life similar to Australia? Though some said NZ shares a lot of similarities as its neighbor Australia, say that to the kiwis and see their faces turn red. I reckon the relationship between Kiwis and Aussies are similar to one that Malaysians and Singaporeans share. Their life and culture are similar but both think they are better off!

What about time zone? Why change the time twice a year? NZ time zone is UTC+12 and UTC+13 during daylight saving time. That’s 4/5 hours ahead of Malaysia accordingly. Over here, daylight saving commences on the last Sunday in September, where clocks go forward one hour at 2am; and ends on the first Sunday in April the following year, where clocks are put back one hour at 3am. Its purpose is for people to enjoy an extra hour of sunlight during summer months. It is especially of value for the farmers and those who need to seize the sunlight. The practice of daylight saving also makes summer months the best time to travel.

How about food? Can you get Asian food easily? If you have ever come down to downtown Auckland, you’d be surprised at the volume of Asian people around town. Over the years, as more and more Asian immigrants set up roots over here, good Asian cuisines also appear like mushrooms. Kiwis seem to embrace the many choices of food too! Of course, like in any other countries, there bound to be good and bad ones. A simple rule of thumbs for us is to observe the customers who patronize the eateries. If they are mostly Chinese people, meaning authentic food are being served. Otherwise, the restaurant is most likely there to cater for the western taste buds. There are also many Chinese grocers around town where you can find authentic Malaysian food like Aik Cheong 3 in 1 White Coffee Tarik, curry powder, Ayam brand chicken stock, kangkong, and even durian (albeit frozen lah) etc in stock. Of course, the choices are not as vast as back home, but it’s pretty good. Still, nothing beat the good old makan-makan back home, that’s what responsible for my weight gain every trip home! Well-worth it though. Haha.

I’ll write about the read hot topic of food crisis and petrol hikes another day. It’s just too painful for weekend reading. Have a great weekend y’all!