Quaint Melody

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!

Like any weekday afternoon, I logged on to the local newspaper website for my dose of current events, while a news piece caught my eyes. It’s a photo article that’s placed in the middle of the front page. In gist, the Labour party Budget pamphlet features a happy family photo. The people in the photo are actually Americans, instead of Kiwis. Yup, it’s a stock photo purchased from iStockphoto, and some nitpicking blogger caught it out and called the newspaper because ‘it’s not kiwis’.

Well, I don’t know about you, but what’s the big deal here? So what if the Labour party spent about 10 or 20 NZ$ to purchase stock photo to use in their Budget pamphlet; So what if the family in the photo is actually American instead of Kiwi?! Big freaking deal! It’s an advertising campaign for pete’s sake! They certainly looked kiwis(and not only I said so).The photo is purely there to act as a portrait. No harm done, no law broken! Most people can’t even tell! Yet some people are making such big deal out of it! Seriously folks, do you really go through all the pamphlets and flyers to scrutinize every single stock photo for originality and authenticity? Some people just have too much time on their hands! I love New Zealand, but every so often, little things get blown out of proportion here. Some trivialized news like this is simply not worth a place in a prominent newspaper, much less on the front page. Yet there you have someone jumping up and down shouting blue murder! As one commentator simply put it, ‘The only embarrassing thing about this is the fact that it’s seen as a newsworthy story here in NZ. Get over it, get a life and move on, it’s a photo for christ’s sake!’

On the side note: Here’s a question. Do you really think every single advertising, say holiday promotion uses the exact photos taken in the said destination? Newsflash! All advertising agencies use stock images, and they choose the ones that suit the champaign best. Most of the time, they are not the same place! It’s all make believe! The most suitable pictures that depict the product in question are always chosen. Photos, so often are just a tool to give people a sense of what the company is marketing. Agencies use whatever that is most relatable and most eye-catching to promote their products. Why do you think Celcom used Leehom as their endorser? He’s not Malaysian and surely is not using Celcom network, but the campaign caught our eyes and it’s a success!