Cold on the inside, Colder on the outside

The cold weather symbolizes winter. Yes, without realizing Autumn was actually here and almost over, winter has just begun. And the cold just makes me uncomfortable. Then I found myself a little sick this morning.

Life has started to be very dull. So I start to do something I dont do usually -- like cooking. I started cooking after Elaine went back to Malaysia, and knowing that we can't eat outside food everyday. So I google recipes and cooking method and shop for groceries and mess around in the kitchen. On the first week, my dishes looked beautiful but doesn't really taste good.

Fried rice, Stir-fry Vege, and Prawn with Fish-tofu

Until today, I still can't cook dishes with chicken I don't know why and I give up lah. Just quit eating stupid meat and be vegeterian. But my friend, Ray, said, 'No!! Must eat meat during winter!! If not you will be too weak to fight the cold!!'. Oh well... :( I've been eating non-stop after work everyday and have put on 2kg because the cold will make you hungry. Serious. Trust me.

Tastiest dish ever. Haha. Stir-fry Brocolli

*yawn* i'm sick


You have no idea how I love the sun now because my clothes won't dry for five days after doing the laundry. And I would quickily go to the balcony just to enjoy the sunshine for a few minutes. And you will think hot weather might be better than a cold one. Then you start missing home. Then by eating this (!!!!!), you feel you're at home for 30 seconds. hehehehehe....

Yes we can get Mamee monster here!!! And Snickers!!! Mars!!!! Darlie, Pantene, Nivea... you name it.

*yawn* i'm really sleepy.

Nicknames

I think I have almost 100 nicknames. I can't really remember what nicknames I had before 12, but in secondary school, people call me by a lot of nicknames. My name is pretty difficult to pronounce so to avoid all the unnecessary questions, I would prefer people to refer me as Teh, my surname. And that is when all the nicknames started. My classmates would call me Teh Tarik, Teh Ais, Teh-O, Teh-Peng, and all the whatever-Teh you can think of.

In Form 2, I started attending one home tuition, and that tuition teacher refuse to call my surname, he said its weird. One day, I wore a pink T-shirt and a pink watch to tuition. As my tuition class was scheduled after my co-curriculum activity, I looked pinkish too because I stood under the hot sun for hours. Ta-da, my tuition teacher started calling me Pinky. For TWO years.


And huh!!! I just got a new nickname from my bosses in NZ. The male boss calls me leng-mui (Cantonese) or xiao-mei (Mandarin). And the female boss just wrote THIS on my payslip I was like....... so speechless.

I dont need anymore nicknames :(

Music

Music and I are inseperable. -_-

I went to a free concert by Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (APO) on Tuesday night. I was very excited at first as I successfully booked two tickets online. Since my housemates will come back home late, I invited my colleague to go with me instead.




Well... the concert was not so nice because it appears to be like a debut for three compositions of three Auckland musicians. The first composer is a 18-year old male. He composed the orchestra music when he was 16. I don't really enjoy his music because it is very very contemporary. The second composer is the APO composer, and his composition uses a lot of percussion. The third one is quite interesting because the composer played the pipe organ and the music was very grand. What caught my attention was the conductor. He is from the US and he graduated from The Julliard Music School, which is one of the most prestigious music school in the world. Awesome-ness!

I don't know whether because its a free concert or its the culture, the seats were almost full. And believe it or not, they will either bring wine along or eat ice-cream during the intermediate. *Roll eyes*

XXX

Talking about music, I cannot stand NZ radio station. Its so boring!! They repeat the same songs again and again and again for the whole day. So I basically listen to Lady Gaga's Alejandro for four times a day (which is sooooooo annoying!!! Ale-alejandro Ale-alejandro~~~~ DOH!!!!), Usher's Oh My Gosh for five times a day (very annoying too!!! Oh oh oh oh oh oh... endless 'Ohs'), Train's Hey, Soul Sister for six times a day (why sister and not brother? =.=)... etc etc. Give me variaties!!!!

Its just another home-alone-day

Its raining outside. I'm alone at home. I love being alone when its raining. And the only thing I can do now is stare at the rain.

Woke up at 5 this morning because I couldn't sleep anymore. Since I am home alone today, I started cleaning the house at 7am -- clean the kitchen which is full of rat's shit (yes, rat's shit), change all the bedsheet and do the laundry, sweep and mop the floor, and simply wash the toilet. I cannot believe I did all that on my own! It's like a miracle wtf.... the end result is a clean and dust-less home, and a pair of extremely dry and rough hands. Darn! My hands!

I texted the Korean girl, Yumi, whom I met on the first day I reach Auckland, expecting we could meet up today to have tea. But she didn't reply me. I guess that's what people call 'friends come and go'. You might meet some people at a certain point of your life. But it doesn't mean they will stay by your side forever. Some of them stay, some of them walk away. You just need to learn to deal with the lost.

Umm... I wish I could have a cup of hot chocolate now.

SkyCity

My friends brought me up to SkyCity Orbit Restaurant for dinner last Sunday. Actually, it was one of the many farewell program for Elaine because she is going back (already went back) to Malaysia. For good.

The night view of the city from the restaurant is awesome. And the restaurant actually spin (at a very slow pace of course) so that we can see the whole city. How cool is that!

This is my main course for the night -- salmon something.. with cheese. hahaha!! Delicious!

And these three ladies.... The one at the front is a very good big sister, she basically take good care of everyone. Oh, there was once I had bad stomachache, she wrapped me with a hot blanket, on the heater, make milo for me, force me to sleep on her bed (we were at her house that time), and boil some chinese herbal soup. So touching right!!!! The second lady -- oh I tell u she and her husband keeeeeeeeep disturbing me only. But its good though, help me to mix well with them. And the third lady, umm... she cooks very well, we often go to her house to have dinner on weekends. She's a hair stylist too, and she's going to cut my hair this weekend!!!! Ok, only my fringes. hahahaah....

So Elaine has gone back to Malaysia. Lesser fun now.

Rant

Today is the 8th day of May. So fast I didnt even realize.

I worked from 6.45am to 6pm yesterday. Around noon, I felt my hand is in pain. There were redness all over, and some blood on my fingertips. I dont know whether I'm allergy to the dishwasher, or the water is too hot, or I carry too many things or etc etc... I felt like crying. :'(

But I have to hang on. But for what? Why? For the money? And tiredness is what I got after all the hard work? No food from 6.45am to 6pm, meet weird customers, work with crazy manager, even my colleague scolded me yesterday for her fault WTF???!!!, come back home, shower, have dinner, sleep at 9pm. My pathetic life.

hang on for few more weeks and i'm done.

please satisfy my physiological needs

today, i am an angry woman. because of sleep deprivation and hunger. according to maslow's hierarchy of needs, i am actually anxious and tense because my very basic physiological needs are not met. blah.

sometimes we need to learn to enjoy the beauty and simplicity of things around us in order to make us happy. like the rainbow. the colors make me happy.

its pretty easy to see rainbows in auckland, because it often rains when the sun is still out. and the rainbow will be very obvious.

Ta.

More drama

Aite. Let me tell you some drama at my work place okay? okay? okay???

My manager is seriously crazy. Besides than extreme Type-A personality, I think she also has Bipolar Disorder plus a little bit of schizophrenia and a lot of fake-ness. Let me analyze them:

• Type-A personality: - Basically, she has all the type-A personality traits. Like walk and talk in a very fast pace, expect others to do things as fast as her, very bad tempered, impatient, easily get angry over little things. Oh ya, and she's a workaholic -- she basically work 365days a year. :)

• Bipolar Disorder + Schizophrenia + Fake-ness: - The only reason I said so because she act completely different when the big boss is here and when he's not. When the big boss is not around, she will show all her bad temper etc etc and scold the employees like they don't worth a single cent. Even worse, she will shout at the customers. Or scold them in Mandarin or Cantonese. When the big boss comes (at around 10am everyday), she will smile so widely. And suddenly she become so friendly and easygoing and soft-spoken WTF. And out of a sudden she will work SUPER fast. Trust me, its SUPER fast. She is already a workaholic. And when the big boss leaves, she'll put on her shit face again. Seriously?

• To add on to the second point. She hates one of the employee AKA China girl AKA kitchen hand (Lets call her 'S'). On my first working day, both of them were arguing in the kitchen, shouting and crying. I was like -- what's their problem? And three days ago, at 6.50am, they argued again. I was witnessing the whole thing. The manager started scolding S, and S was busy preparing the food in the kitchen. And then S brought the food out to the bakery, and the manager wanted to go into the kitchen. By right, if you see someone is carrying something, you will automatically make way. But the manager bumped S's shoulder, and the food dropped on the floor. There goes the fight. S started shouting and the manager keep denying and said S bump into her and call S crazy. The scary part is, I was in front of them. And I don't know what to do. And after that, the manager was oh-so-nice to me I felt very uneasy.

My work is not tough nor stressful. I actually enjoy talking (um... not talking also. Just saying "Hi, 5 dollars, thank you, bye") to the customers. There are all kinds of people there, students, workers, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, NZlanders, Aussie... Its interesting to see them everyday. And anticipate what coffee they are going to order, and see their surprised face.

BUT -- to work with one manager like this is totally crazy. I have to survive through this!!!!!!!!!!!

Mt. Eden, Auckland

Happy Labour's Day! There's not much difference actually. The bakery is open today, my friends are working today. Only me, I'm not working. Sigh.

And I run out of cereals already!!! No breakfast today. What a morning.

Well... I went to Mt. Eden last sunday morning to jog. Yes, to jog. I'm a healthy girl. Mt. Eden (Maunghawau in Maori language) is the highest natural point in Auckland. Its a cinder cone (click if you don't know what is cinder cone). In fact, it is not high at all. I walked to the peak in 10 minutes, and got down in 10 minutes. So they call that high? Haha! And out of curiosity and my attempt to be adventurous, I went down to the crater!! The bowl-like crater is 50 metres deep. And according to wikipedia: "The volcano erupted several times resulting in a series of craters, with the last eruption about 15,000 years ago." Cool eh?

Oh, no pictures this time because I couldn't upload it. Will do so next week :D





updates:


picture time! this is the crater: -