Sunday, July 5, 2009
The Colours of Autumn
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Hardcore Tramping - Nelson Lakes
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Ain't Losing to Epilepsy! Nah Uh!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
it's not THE END yet!
It's a cold place where people with warm hearts gather to send or pick up their loved ones.
I love to see people running, grinning, laughing and skipping (hopefully not tripping over bags or trolleys like I did) towards their family, lovers huggin' & kissin' each other goodbyes, wives weeping quietly as they see their husbands fly off for business trips or kids watching anxiously @ the gate as the plane takes off, waving frantically hoping whoever they just sent off could see them from the air, kids think it's cool! Oh I just love all that emotional stuff happening @ airports.
Since my laptop decided to breathe its last breath on my last days in NZ, there's no photos for this entry but I still have got a couple more entries to share about the last days in NZ which was filled with overwhelming emotions, gratitude & appreciation of a great company of people.
It has been a magical dream-like journey all along and I'm actually not sad about waking up from this beautiful dream as everything has to come to an end so that I would have time for more awesome events that will unravel, untangle and present themselves along the journey of my life!
See you soon my beloved family, cousins & my naughty friends who are still reading this thing I'm writing :p
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The last bit of Summer!
January 09
Cherry Grading @ Summerfruit
Unsurprisingly cherry grading was the most boring, unamusing & irksome work of all; I quit after a couple of weeks & changed to packing cherries instead but it was -1ºC in the cold store and 25ºC outside, the changes were so drastic they drove me insane; I quit after a week and resumed my holidays instead - it was a great decision but i didn't realize that the bank account was drying up faster than the speed of light!
Despite the irksome job, we were a bunch of funny people monkeying around with a few stern-looking but amusing supervisors who were capable of evoking deafening laughter from time to time.
Heather(far left) - she was a breast cancer survivor who inspires me (yes even now!) with her great spirit and positive philosophy. And on the right is Flo - the angry n strict lookin' lady who made everyone breath sighs of relief whenever she smiled.
Happy Birthday Yan!
That's the birthday girl right there among the roses from our friendly neighbour.
No man? Roses then!
Everyone scrambled & hid behind the counter to hide excess u know...fats?
What's Juan trying to do by the way?
Her gift from Juan n the Gang - name was "Potito" which means butt in spanish but I'm sure Yan has changed her baby's name by now?
Little Johannes has finally found someone his age!
Rapping Potito - Starring Francisco
Ah that's a pestiferous paparazzi!
The rosy Chillaysian couple of the year!
Tada! The Kiss.
The girls went upstairs and had a party of their own, no booze left so they took me as a hostage and decided to give my tousled drunken look a makeover!
Obviously not drunk enough!
Chikako sprinkled some powder, faked my eyelashes & did some magic while i was half asleep-half drunk although i looked like i was smiling, I was actually trying to sleep, seriously.
My precious wild buncha girls who shared lovely memories.
Traveling along the East Coast - Dunedin
Savouring the cream, relishing the aromatic coffee in the steep town centre of Dunedin.
It's the steepest street in the world! What do u reckon?
Speight's Brewery Tour - It was all for the free beer!
9 glasses of different Speight's beers :D
The drunk "rubberball" almost rolled down & bounced among the steep hills of Dunedin.
Boulder Rocks, Oamaru
The place I missed the first time I went to Oamaru, I came back for it but the weather was greyish yet I was still full of excitement collecting unique sea shells for mom to make a bracelet out of them!
Mini shells cute enough for a bracelet!
It's NOT as easy as u think to stand on 2 round slippery rocks u know?
Yan is singing "I'm FREE! Free-Fallin'!"
Haha! Can u see that li'l head stickin' outta the rock?
She was embarassed after being caught in the act!
Oh I love this place! It's called The Clay Cliffs.
It just felt like a place where Gandalf would appear on his white horse or Frodo with his 2 funny friends.
Long hours of being in the car made me go a li'l cuckcoo with little potito.
Long hours of driving? I needed "potito" to hug & to keep me awake.
The Buscot Station Backpackers @ Oamarama.
Mount Cook & Lake Tekapo in one day. I was bursting with excitement I could barely drive!
On the way...
Stopped for an apple...
Almost there...
Mt. Cook - The highest mountain in NZ
On top of the world!
Hooker Valley Track
Bracing myself for an over-priced Glacier Tour!
The lake with floating glaciers.
I see an iceberg! Kill the engine!
One huge majestic iceberg covered in black dust!
Close up
Even closer
So close you can touch it!
And fish the smaller pieces from the water!
Then bite them!
And kiss them!
Mt Cook is absolutely among my favourite places in NZ!
We were lucky to be there under the huge blue beautiful sky and perfect weather.
Church of the Good Shepard @ Lake Tekapo - The church I've been wanting to visit!
Here I am! Woohoo!!!
The coolest n most amazing view a church could have. It's peaceful too!
Hey I stole this shot shhh cus everyone else does too despite the huge NO CAMERAS sign.
Christchurch
Meeting Jae for the last time b4 he flew back to Korea :(
Hanmer Springs
It was absolutely hilarous quad-cycling in that huge yellow attention-grabber junk especially when we couldn't paddle hard enough to go up a very steep hill and started rolling down the hill hopelessly; the whole town watched with amusement and laughed hysterically at how ridiculous we all looked. Oh well...what a memorable experience we had!
Back in Motueka again! Yippie!
It's the place I've stayed for 6 months; i call it my NZ hometown.

Japanese invasion@Kaiteriteri beach :D
Golden Bay - Wharariki Beach for the 2nd time
My favourite beach !
Loooooong stretch of patterned sand
Great spot for Yoga Katrin!
Modelling shot?
Thai dance shot?
Monkey shot?
Noticed a few colourful lumps of fat seals lying on the beach?
The Old Man Hill. Spot: Old Man Face
Well this old man marks the end of my summer holidays in NZ!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Aotearoa New Zealand - Summer 08/09 (Part 3)
Escape to Wanaka
Yolande - my mate from University (currently traveling across Europe) has fallen deeply in love with New Zealand after coming here for a 3-week holiday back in January and has applied for a visa to come here in September after her UK working holiday ends. Oh i just love her optimism so much and she's always full of spirit when it comes to obtaining the things she really wants. You inspire me Yolande!
Well let's just see who does what better in posing, smiling, acting and of course jumping in the air!
January 09 Partiessss & Escape to Queenstown
Oh this german dude just knows how to partaaaaaaay all day & all night long. He's always with that goofy look, goofy smile and with that goofy headband; all the gooooofiness always cracks me up all the time whenever I see him and of course u can never miss that T-shirt of his - "Think outside of the box!"
Escaped to Queenstown for a yummy authentic sushi meal & a 3-hour short track up the hill full of huge, orangy, mario-like mushrooms to an amazing amazing awesome view.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Aotearoa New Zealand - Summer 08/09 (Part 2)
Reflecting back at all the adventures & great times I've had in the past months, I realized that I have slacked for too long! So here they are all at one shot, in parts...
December 08
Christmas
Christmas did not come early. It just came half a year too late :D
It was a pre-Christmas / farewell party as I was leaving ON Christmas day to travel for 2 days (7 hours drive per day) all the way down to Alexandra for the cherries job.
Oh we had reindeers too!
December 08
Alexandra - Clock on the Hill town
Camilo de "Potito" Birthday
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Aotearoa New Zealand - Summer 08/09 (Part 1)
December 08
Blame it all on the weather. It was supposed to be fine, warm & sunny 2 days 1 night and with everything booked in advance we left for Abel Tasman with bursting excitement! The morning we went to wait for the pick-up it started raining like hell. I still remember the friendly and chirpy bus driver wearing her funny colourful Christmas hat (it was just a few days away!) with a bell on top which made really cute cling-clang sound when she walked up & down the bus.
The sea was very rough; I could see the muscular captain trying very hard to act cool and calm but failed miserably so we ended up hitting the boat on the sides n also bottom. The wobbly bits of my body started aching after some time especially the ones on the bottom that look like bowling balls? They are softer but not smoother. >.<>
Started our 5-hour tramping till we reached the camp site to spend the night.
See what spent the night with us...hint: it messed up my rubbish bag n tried on my sandals :(
It is the New Zealand's road pizza - POSSUM!
Day 2 - Kayak Day!
Camwhoring before the kayak team arrived :D
The kayak team!
I was complaining to our guide about sore arms alot so he decided to take out a huge piece of "cloth" and we did Kayak-Sailing! it was faaaaakin' awesome!
Despite the crappy weather on the 1st day, the 2nd day was hot & sunny and I had an faaaaaaaakin' AWESOME time!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Once in a while...
Everything starts to fall into place as i brush off all the paranoia i was building within.
Everything becomes magical when i could just let go.
Everything sounds like music when i shut down my worries & just listen.
Everything turns into miracle when i just believe.
The bittersweet journey that I've been through over the months has helped me grow a lot in ways that I could never have imagined. Isn't it great to have a gratitude list for all the wonderful happenings? Here goes things that i'm totally in love with right now:
4. This corner of the house in the White Elephant outside my dorm room. That's where I use the mirror (well, most of the time :p)
6. The beautiful white pigeons outside the back porch *points at the dangling shoes*
Life is indeed beautiful.
Once in a while the dream comes true
And the whole pattern of life is altered,
Once in a while the moon turns blue.
- The Operas of Benjamin Britten
Friday, February 20, 2009
Gone Fishin'
My 1st kiwi fishing experience @ the
Coffee anyone?
That's JB when we spotted him. In his cute water proof jumpsuit.
The fishing buddies/supervisors Mark & JB.
Jake - thinking if he could get any fish with his bare paws.
Oh what could possibly be more boring than fishing? Seriously i mean look at that!
It was so boring ppl started taking random pics of my wet butt.
After 10 mins, they started pointing at my rod n telling me i got something. I was like HUH?
Urgh, it was really a huge Kawai fish :(
Ouch!
Look at that poor fella!
No i wasn't as happy as that girl in the picture.
George tried his luck too n aww look at what he got!












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