I talk too much my mouth hurts

from here

I have a thing about feet. A fetish, perhaps. I like to take photos of them, to remind me of the places I've been to. They may be small and smelly, but they have led me to some pretty cool moments in life thus far.

S and I had dinner here last night. It was our first time, because we usually come here for coffee or a slice of cake. I insisted. Apart from wanting to check out the cute waiter there, who reminds me of the Beatles every time, there are lots of Spanish and Moroccan inspired dishes on offer. Of course I was more interested in the latter choice. They have a tagine dish! Unfortunately I wasn't that hungry, so opted for a smaller lamb tapa, while S chose to have a chicken salad.
The conversation over dinner was our usual current topic of guys and work/study and Europe. S is going off on a month-long European trip, the lucky thing, with a backpack in tow. I spent the whole evening listing things for her to see and do and eat (!!), especially in Paris, wishing how much I would love to go with her. Tant pis, I've had my chance. I'll do Eastern Europe with her, next time, I told her. Haha. Soon...

BON VOYAGE ! Say hi to the beautiful lady Paris for me !

2T sesame oil
2T soy sauce
100 mL honey
1kg cocktail sausages.
Mix the wet ingredients, pour over sausages lined up on the tray, mix gently. Bake on 200'C. Easy as, and sweet, too.

I love candles and will light them whenever I can. Studied by the candle lights last night. :)

"This boy walked 4000 km and is now planning to swim the Channel just to be with his girl... I couldn't even cross the road to get you back."

Watched a sad French movie at the uni audiovisual library today and couldn't help crying a little, lol. So sad!!!!

I saw a man last night with a large mole on his right jawline, right at the corner where it starts. Who was it, I cannot remember. Was it a friend? A stranger on the streets? Or did I see you in my dreams? For some reason that mole really fascinated me. Well, it must have, because I keep wondering about whose it was... Man, I'm weird...

I'm touring the countryside of a country. I don't know which one. It's not even really a countryside; there are lots of developed buildings, houses, mostly on an incline. Trees are lined up in between, and also inside the glass houses, keeping up with the latest green housing trends.

Afar I can see a huge platform high up in the air, supported by only a tree pole. It's an isolated structure on which stands what looks like an open roofed warehouse.

It's an orphanage.

From an area where babies are scarce, these orphans are precious. The open roof allows their cries to be heard all over the town, especially during the dark hours of the night. But the path towards them is daring. The only way to the platform is by swinging oneself from the nearby mountain side. Then to swing back, this time with a baby in tow. The babies are normally happy for the adventure, but not everyone makes it to the other side. When that happens, the whole town mourns.

It is a risk only the truly determined will go through, an admirable feat after which the adopted children growing up will never doubt that they were wanted in the first place.

Back from the Tongariro trip with friends! The Tongariro Alpine Crossing was an intense day of all kinds of imaginable weather conditions.

From Friday when our original transport got cancelled due to the operator feeling that it was too dangerous to bus people to the tracks, thus last minute stressful searches for a replacement; the steep first leg of the track to the last long drops with the long as queue; the steps that hurt your quadriceps; the strong gusts of wind that blew people off balance; the foggy mist that prevented you from seeing anything but a few metres from you; the rocky terrains, the sandy terrains, the muddy terrains... We experienced it all. It was long, but we made it and I was so happy to have done it.








Uni again tomorrow, don't know how I am going to be able to wake up in the morning, but we will see. Goodnight! :)

Ate a bag of buttery popcorn, all by myself. Argh. I'm craving sweet and crunchy munchy things these days. Hmm.. It's okay, because I'll walk it all off this weekend! Tongariro Crossing!! :)

Have you ever had a romantic relationship?

I wasn't sure what you had meant by 'romantic'. Sure, I had been in relationships. They had been fun, wild, heartbreaking at times, definitely dramatic, too, but romantic? In my hesitation I had said,

No.

Were you to ask me again, though, I would take the opportunity to change my answer:

Yes. Yes, yes, yes.

The guitar playing in the dark. The hot sun above us and the plushy green below us, live jazz in the background. The endless conversations about happiness and sadness, laughters and tears. Dreams together, plans together. I'm pretty sure they have been pretty romantic.

When feeling down, force the corners of your lips to a smile anyway, and breathe deeply, once, twice.

I had dinner with Sis tonight at a small well known Donburi place a block away. Unfortunately Sis did not enjoy her meal as much as I had. Aw...

As well as trying to exercise more than I have in a while, I have also been eating more than usual. Don't think it's because I've been more active or anything, though. Exercising is enjoyable, and fun with the adrenaline pumping within me, but when I'm not in my gym gear I have been a lot more tired than usual, I think. Hmm.. In an attempt to wake myself up, I made myself a cup of coffee. Now my heart is racing, but I still feel bloated, and not very awake. Maybe it's the weather. It's wet and cold today, and one of my trees in the deck toppled over this afternoon. The scrawny green trees that don't flower in its first twelve years, so not any time while I will be in this place.

S and I did our very first Round the Bays this morning, and we finished it without stopping once. Ran all the way! 65:57 I am so proud of ourselves :) A half-marathon, next, S?!

F***ing hell! Mate, that's not good enough!


Something is never good enough for him.


I didn't.
Yes, you did. 
But I didn't.
Yes, you did!


She never believes me. It's like talking to a wall.  

Oh, guess what was waiting for me at work this afternoon?! Finally, my modem for the Internet!!! Yes! It's been an unbelievably frustrating wait for the package to arrive. Argh. No matter. So, the first post from my own home!!!

Just had a really nice Fish n' Chips for dinner. Kumara chips, and all wrapped in newspaper as proper fish and chips should be :) I wish I had taken a photo before I ate them, was too hungry to even think! It's from an award winning shop in Mt Eden. Best Auckland shop winner/nominee in the years 2007, 9, 10, and 11. Wow. It really was nice. The really funny thing about it was that when I went in today, there were three beautiful ladies working there. Like, model beautiful. I thought it was quite unusual to have such attractive women working at a fish shop. Guys, get in there to have a look yourselves! haha.

Mt Eden Fisheries
253 Dominion Road,
Mt Eden, Auckland 1024

I did this for a darling friend for her 21st late last year. There are still some pieces missing, but it was good fun, and I think she loved getting puzzle bday postcards from all four corners of the world. The project was inspired by Ohhappyday, for whom I did a little internship last year in Paris. :)

Sweetie, I am so so glad you were born and I miss you so much! bisous!

Went here for dinner and show for a friend's hen party. It was after a day of games and vineyard wine tastings and general girl fun-ness. :)

S came to visit Auckland again a few weeks ago, so we had a catch up dinner at Little Italy, a small restaurant near Sky Tower. I've always passed it but had never been. We shared a pizza and pasta. The owners are real Italians, and the service was friendly. I miss Italy so much... :)

First, and so far the only flatwarming evening, I'm afraid. Only a small one, as well, and only for a short while. It was a Thursday night and everyone came at around 10ish.

I had a few potatoes roughly chopped, skins and all, golden kumara too, though they may look like pumpkin, olives, herbs, and chicken thigh filets. Baked until the chicken pieces were golden and cooked through, then added half a cup of white wine then baked some more for a further 5 minutes. Everyone liked it, thankfully. For dessert we had plain yoghurt with muesli and fresh blueberries on top :)

22nd of February was the one year anniversary of the horrific Christchurch earthquakes, the third major series after the initial September ones, previously. It was the first and only series where people died. 185 in all. To commemorate we went to one of the memorials in Hagley Park. There were lots of people who came to join from schools and work places. All 185 names were read out, and a two-minute silence followed. All throughout the city flowers could be seen on road cones, such as this one, shown. It was a beautifully sad day. Kia kaha.

The gondola was close by the hotel, in between where we stayed and the city centre. So we went up to enjoy the view from the top.
See how beautiful it is?!
There were heaps of paragliders up in the air. How cool is that?




Then we went up even more to luge down. So much fun. Sis even went on it an extra time, because she loved it so much.
Quick posed photos while waiting for sis, haha.

Queenstown, I would love to go back when the snow season begins!

How lovely is that! It was such a freeing feeling. Then the parachute down was so peaceful.. I'm so glad I did it! :)
What a beautiful landscape.
Thank you NZONE and Caleb, my tandem person...
I would recommend it to anyone who is interested! In Queenstown, because it's just so beautiful down there.

The first time we had a Little Lamby burger, with mint sauce. Lamb should always be eaten with mint sauce, in my opinion. It was sweet, and very nice.

My parents had recommended that we get their onion rings with aoli. I had to give it a go, of course. Brownie points for the waitress who gave us TWO pots of aoli.
The little green area on Camp St was an ideal spot for a picinic.


The second burger that we had, this time at the beach, was a Bamby. Deer meat. It was still good, but we preferred the first lamb burger. I want one right now, actually :)