New Zealand: Goodbye

Goodbye NZ mountains, peaks & sandflies!!!

New Zealand: Foo Fighters Concert 2011

Hot chips, hot dog on stick, rain, hill, jam-packed kiwis, funny Jack Black & his brother, T-shape stage, heaps of ff's hits, Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters playing for freaking 3 hours!!! That's ff's last show in 2011!

I'm glad that I made it to the concert. That's the reason I'm back to Auckland again. On 13th Dec, I screamed my lungs out at Western Springs Stadium with 50,000 ff's fans. No camera or bag allowed in the concert. So pardon my pahlia phone, this is the short clip that I managed to record. "drafted this on Dec 15th and I still do not manage to upload my recording"

The annoying part of the concert is that there's a man got drunk when the concert was just started. Alcohol was sold in the event and that fella had been drinking since ice age. When Jack Black was performing for the opening act, I saw him holding 3 cups of beer with an empty cup in his pocket. In the midst of the concert, his gf/partner/wife/whoever dragged him down the slippery hill to toilet. He was staggering with his hands covering his X (you know where). I think he almost pissed in his pants. I hope someone didn't kick his ass as everyone had to give way to him and he could roll down that hill anytime if he slips. When ff was performing Wheels for the encore, he almost had a fight with a guy next to him. C'mon, that's the first song for encore and concert's almost finished. Memang potong steam lah this fella!

Overall, the concert was more than good. It's awesome!!! And now only I know, 'Cold Day In the Sun' is sung by the drummer, Taylor Hawkins. Woot!

Jan 12th, 2012
I met an Australian in my dorm room. He got a free ticket and watched the concert in Sydney. He was so close to the stage and he showed me the recording of guitar solo. Damn!! He doesn't listen to Foo Fighters and don't know much about this band and he said that they are AMAZING after watching them live. So happy to know that!!

New Zealand: Mavora Explorer Mountain Bike/Run

By chance I was in Te Anau and came across the poster of Mavora Explorer event poster at YHA, library and i-site. This is how the website describes the event.

"This is a unique opportunity to explore the back country of the Mavora area.
This land has been made open to the public for one day only, don't miss this opportunity, there is an event for everyone!"

Sound interesting, isn't it?

Since I was close to the place so I was thinking to go to the event and tried to arrange bus transportation. There is no local bus in Te Anau so I tried TrackNet. I went to the office and the receptionist told me they only go by charter and she pointed me to RealJourney. She said, "RealJourney is the main organiser, you might want to check with them".

Okay,,, so I went to RealJourney office and the receptionist pointed me to i-site at next door. They just want to entertain and suck the money from those wanting to go to Milford/Doubtful Sound, Gloworm Cave or whichever bang-for-the-buck tour.

Okay,,, so I ended up in i-Site and the response that I got was... "TrackNet has a bus to go to Mavora on Mon, Wed and Fri." Duh! In the end, the wheel turns back to TrackNet again.

As expected, this is how helpful those tourism staff are in NZ. I was off to Invercargill the next day. I wonder how many people were in Mavora on Jan 7th, 2012.

All in all, get a car to travel in NZ. :)

New Zealand: Old/ New Year 2011/12

So, I spent my old/ new year in New Zealand. To me, it's just another day. Some says that 2012 is gonna be the year of the end of the day. Flooding, earthquake, climate change... All these bad stuffs fall on us like there is no tomorrow.

I was in Milford Sound for a cruise on the last day of 2011 and lucky us, we spotted dolphins. Is this a good sign that 2012 is gonna be good? Heaven knows.


My new year is kicking off with another tramp. I have not done any hiking or tracking in Malaysia but this is the activity that I do the most in New Zealand. Strange eh? But, I just enjoy it. I'm going for 4D3N Kepler Track (one of NZ great walks) tomorrow. This is gonna be my first and last tramp in NZ and in 2012, I guess. Hopefully it's a good one and I will return safely. I hope I have got everything I need. oh yea, I forgot 2 very important things - Goodbye Sandfly & my lips balm.


Happy new year folks!

New Zealand: Wellington, Foo Fighters and Honey Lemon

Saw my favorite band's poster in my favorite city in New Zealand.

Foo Fighters & Wellington!!!

I love Wellington so much that I wish I could work and live there. Too bad there's no working opportunity for me. I have tried my best by walking door to door to countless number of hotels in the city for job applications but to no avail. I just have to let it go. Life gives me lemon.

Foo Fighters are coming to Auckland for a concert tour. Woohoo... Of course, I snapped a ticket. How big is the chance for them to have a concert in Malaysia? Near to zero, I could say. Life gives me honey?

In New Zealand, I have my sweet and sour "gu lou yok" honey lemon.

New Zealand: 24 Hours In Hamilton Part 1

29 Mar, 2011 - 30 Mar, 2011

The weather in New Zealand has been playing on us. It drizzled for 3 days 3 nights and the pack house had not much kiwi to pack. I only worked for 3 hours on Tuesday and made a last minute plan to go to Hamilton since there was a balloon festival going on there.


I packed and booked a bus ticket from Intercity and boarded onto the bus 45 mins later. The bus stopped at Rotorua for 30 mins and I grabbed the opportunity to book my accommodation. I was quite worried that I had to camp beside Hamilton lake as I rang Eagles Nest Backpackers earlier and I was told that dorm room had been filled. Fortunately, the nice lady in Rotorua i-Site managed to find me a dorm room at Microtel YHA. The reservation invoice and receipt were placed into a nice cover.

The bus passed by Cambridge before arriving at Hamilton. I was catching up with my much deprived sleep during the whole journey. After arriving in Hamilton and checking in to the hostel, I spent my time strolling in the city streets. Finally I was back into a city again after spending time for 3 weeks in a boring small town. Walking along busy Victoria street, I spotted Les Mills!!! I had been doing Les Mills Body Combat for 5 months before coming to NZ and it's my favorite sports so far. I walked into the gym and asked for the price and it's good to know that they allow casual visit at $19. I'm gonna visit the gym someday...


Waikato river is the longest river in New Zealand. There's a nice track at the riverside and a lot of people were jogging there. Of course, I had a walk along the river. 2 fellows were doing kayaking at the river and this is something we won't see in Malaysia. I think they are preparing for a competition because their speeds were fast.


After the stroll, I went back to YHA and took a nap. At dusk, I wanted to go to PaknSave supermarket for shopping and food. Surprisingly, the sky color was so nice I quickly grabbed my camera and took a few shots of Ulster street in front of YHA. The orange color sky really left me awestruck.


YHA was also painted in orange color.
>

There's nothing much to do at night and I spent my time shopping in the supermarket. And, a day has ended.

Malaysia: Thaipusam 2011

I witnessed Thaipusam celebration for the first time in my life last year. This time round, I went to Batu Caves again but with my dslr and kitty lens. Being new in photography, I take it as an assignment for myself. The low light condition in the cave was a challenge for me and I got a lot of crappy shots. Here are some "can see" one.

Spinning kavadi with peacock feathers.


Another spinning trance move. I'm thinking of Flo Rida's "Right Round" song while writing this. You spin my head right round, right round...


Could you feel his move? This uncle moved in a slow motion way.


Devotee in trance state moving his body back and forth with the eyes closed.


Hand on the head giving blessings.


A man after fulfilling his vow. Personally, I like this shot other than the lens flare.


Lady devotee looking tired.


Baby devotee.


That's all for now. More shots are available at my flickr set, Thaipusam 2011.