Wellington Zoo Trip: Part 3: Lion berkeliaran

my last entry on the zoo trip ...i promise lol

Berita terkini: Seorang pelancong yang ingin mengikut kekawan beliau ronggeng ke Brisbane, Australia telah tersesat semasa menuju ke airport Wellington ...entah macam mana beliau yang comel lagi muda itu tersilap terjah ke kandang lion (in BM lion panggil apa ehhh?) di Wellington Zoo ..setelah disiasat rupanya beliau tersesat sebab salah bawak map ....namun pelancong yang bijak itu berjaya bersembunyi dari lion lion yang berkeliaran sebab dia berbadan kecik dan bersembunyi di sebalik pokok ....hahahahaha ....dan berdoa agar terselamat daripada haiwan2 liar di situ, sambil menyumpah seranah kenapa lah kekawan dia gi ronggeng jauh sangat ...apa salah nya kalau kekawan datang ke Welly kan ...boleh ramai2 tersesat ke zoo ini ...

dan setelah berjaya menyelamatkan diri, pelancong itu cuba mengendap lion2 itu dari kejauhan saja .. dia tak berani berada dekat sebab lion itu mengingatkan dia pada kekawan dia yang berada jauh di Malaysia ...yang selalu jadi singa lapar bila masa geram kat anak2 dorang ...ehh lupa nak bagi disclaimer, cerita ni tiada kaitan ngan yang hidup atau pun mati ok

sekian sketsa bodoh aku :-)

But on another note, can you imagine living in a housing estate yang dijaga oleh lions???? like biasa rumah dijaga oleh anjing kan, but here - as implied by the photo, rumah2 tu dijaga oleh lions ....kelas gitu!

aku boh in my FB this pics and there are people who asked whether belul ke lions nie lepas gitu ajer ...hehehehe come on, i went for a zoo trip ..sudah semesti nya lion ini terkurung rapi ...kalau tak aku pun tak berani nak dekat ...

nut then again, having said that - similar to meerkat encounter package, Welly Zoo pun ada encounter package for the  lions ...again, you get to spend 30 mins in close proximity ngan lion nie ...harga dalam $130 kalau tak silap ..so, ada beran???? hehehe akak tak sanggup ...especially after watching the news a few days ago yang mana a tiger kat Australia gi gigit trainer dia tu ...sebab over excited punya pasal ....

These two nampak pemalas lah ...tak gerak2 pun ...aku malas tunggu lama, terus beredar tengok haiwan2 lain ....

 muka lega dan mencari jalan pulang :-) and on the way back tu terjumpa pelbagai haiwan - yang hidup, yang jadi batu ..yang memanjat ...yang dalam air ....phewwwww

 ini telur burung kiwi ....

ok ...sekian kisah merapu ....akak nak tido :-) esok nak kuar gi tengok wayang and chill out with friends....

Happy weekend peeps!!! xxx

Wellington Zoo Trip: Part 2: feeding the giraffe

yup, as indicated by the title, this is about feeding the giraffe ...hehehe the highlight of my zoo trip!!!!

suka tau ....that was Tessa ...dia datand from one person to another especially bila kiter pegang their food ...dorang makan fennel leaves..well, kalau nak buat macam saya, datang le kat giraffe pen by 1.00pm ...coz every day there will be feeding the giraffe activity at the same time .....before tu ada le pekerja dia yang akan explain about the giraffe and all that ....

from his explanation, I baru tahu yang giraffe nie sama ngan kiter manusia in terms of vertebra ...the number of vertebra is the same ...cuma saiz besar ...and our size jantung is sebesar penumbuk, but for giraffe, jantung dia sebesar basketball ..hehehe and they have the longest tongue ever!!! In order to survive di savannah africa ...and the long tongue enables them to get the green leaves pada pokok2  yang tinggi ....and guess what, I also  found out yang giraffe has a purple tongue! that is so supaya lidah dia tak sunburnt ...hehehehe

masa show nie kan dorang susun ikut ketinggian hahaha so aku masuk second row ...sebab tu bila part nak bagi makan tu aku dah tolak bebudak nie ketepi and i was on the front hahahaha jahat tak???

aku kata dah kan yang si Diana nie memang adventurous ...hahaha aku punya lah geli nak pegang Zahara (mak giraffe) tu but dia selama ajer ....aku geli sebenar nya coz the lidah panjang ..and really slobbery!!!

hahahaha nie le muka yang sebenar biler face to face with giraffe yang kelaparan hahahaha

tengok le lidah tu!!!!!

We spent about 35-40 mins here ...so fun! compared to my other zoo visits kan...kalau visit yang lain tu cuma jalan2 tengok animals ajer ..here i get to interact with the animals ....fun ...fun ...fun!!! then from here we went to see the tiger, the ostrich, kangaroo ...and halfway down, kami terjumpa selonggok fennel leaves ....fennel leaves nie lah makanan zahara and tessa ...diana and i looked at each other, ambik those leaves and patah balik to the giraffe area ....by then semua org dah tak berkerumun kat situ coz the feeding time dah abis ...kami plak, gi selamba rock ajer gi tepi pagar and bila nampak kami bawak fennel leaves Zahara terus datang .....

dia tarik ajer biler kiter hulur ...and the tongue memang panjang lahhhhh

tak menyempat2 ...dia dah rembat hahahaha

some other photos of the nak beranak nie:

hehehe bila check balik kat kamera ..memang bayak gambar aku ngan giraffe ...lol tu yang siap buat separate entry ...coming up next: Part 3 - pasal lion pulak!

Wellington Zoo Trip - Part 1: The animals

A visit to a zoo has always been one of my fav activity hahaha mana mana aku pergi yang ada zoo, aku akan try jugak masuk zoon ...i remembered my first time tengok penguin was at Edinburgh Zoo ...hahaha ...and masa kecik2 suka tengok gajah ...and monyet lol ....and masa sampai Welly, memang nak gi zoo ..tapi mak datok mahal kan ...$21 for adult entrance, or kalau guna student card $16...then ingat nak pergi masa Welly Open Day when the entrance fee cuma $2 ajer tapi queue pulak mak datuk panjang hahaha so tak jugak pergi...and ada a month in September, every Weds entrance fee was only $5 ..pun aku tak pergi ....

because kami pay activity fee for uni hall every year, maka selalu lah ada activity activity uni ...like free movie days, free pizza dinner, bbq, and trips...and one of the trips is the zoo trip hahaha ..so akak join that one ..was on 17th Nov ..it was a Sunday ...yang best nya ..free entrance fee for us...plus they provide us with return transport from uni to the zoo ....

i went alone hahaha malas lah nak gi ngan kekawan kan ....makcik tua tu bila tau aku pergi, terus bagi nama lol ...malas akak ...but akak kan peramah, so ended up meeting this one Ukrainian girl ...nama Diana ...so aku geng ngan dia ajer ...minah ni aktif gila hahaha but kind of fun to be with ...

so, i will just put pic of the animals here ....biasalah zoo kan, nak gambar apa lagi hahaha ...

 my favourite guy ...from the Hamadryas baboon clan ...

Tessa, the baby giraffe

pertama kali tengok menatang nie ...called skinks ...macam cicak gitu ...this one is special sebab lidah dia biru! This is a blue tongued skinks!

kangaroo malas kat belakang aku ....sia tak nak gerak hahaha dok tergolek ajer ..koser melayan tourist kata nya dalam ati kot hahaha ...

then around the corner from kangaroo malas tu kami jumpa lagi kangaroo yang peramah ahahaha ...kami umpan guna rumput and panggil utk bagi makan ...dia datang ....gigi nya agak tajam ...but it is nice and friendly lah jugak ...aku yang takut! kang dia baham jari aku yang gemuk tu kang ....

my friend nie mula2 senyap2 ambik gambar dia ...but then dia try bagi kangaroo tu makan ...and the kangaroo plak layan hahaha .. and she asked me to try bagi kangaroo makan ..hehehe kalau aku sorang mmg aku tak cuba lah ....this section is quite interactive ...tak perpagar ..and the kangaroo, joeys semua mmg bebas gitu ....

and my fav meerkat pun ada...love this shot! as if the meerkat is surveying the city from its hill hahaha

yang nie pun comel ...i just love meerkat ...and here at Welly Zoo, ada package yang dorang panggil personal encounter with the meerkat ....you get to spend 30 mins with the meerkats ...boleh pegang and all that, siap masuk kat kawasan dorang ....for $90 per person ...the reason aku tahu was coz Diana bought a package for her boyfriend's birthday ...

minah nie memang rajin berinteraksi ngan haiwan2 ...hahaha semua dia panggil ...yang nie aku tak berani nak feed ...sebab aggressive tak bertempat hahaha dia main tarik ajer rumput yang you pegang ...dan macam nak mematuk matuk ....geram aku!

next to the ostrich area ada an african hut ....

aku masuk sini sebab nak carik dinding ini hahahaha

This photo was a special request by my opismate hahaha dia tau aku nak gi zoo and mintak aku ambik gambar kat sini ...coz kami berdua selalu dok talk about perumpamaan ini ...as in, when we tried often enough in our endeavour, one of those days, we will get lucky and be an expert in whatever field we tried hahahaha memang monkey madness kan

We actually spent 3.5 hours there ....and visited all the animals ...tapi tak semua ada gambar ...the highlight for me was feeding the kangaroo and the giraffe ...feeding the giraffe and gambar2 yang lain akan dibuat dalam posting yang lain...sebab this one is getting too long! Anyway, that day, we failed to see Malayan Sun Bear - yang refuse to come out ...

anyhoos ...nanti sambung kat Part 2 pulak :-)

Guy Fawkes Night 2013 and burger fuel dinner

Again, another posting basi hahahaha ... but again, better late than never

Guy Fawkes Night is also known as Bonfire Night (kalau kat UK lah) ...celebrated on 5th November ..kan ada saying yang dok kata "remember ...remember ...the 5th of November.." well that is the famous dialogue for Guy Fawkes Night ...historically 5th Nove tu was the date when Guy Fawkes attempted to kill King James 1st of England ...but the plot failed ...and as celebration, people celebrated by burning effigy etc ..hence the name bonfire night ...or firework night ...and masa zaman muda mudi aku di UK dulu, I am so happy masa bonfire nights ...going rounds with my foster mom to check out the bonfires kat area West Denton ...awesome awesome views and memang fun lah ...

so i was excited when I found out that Welly City Council buat firework display for Guy Fawkes ...hahaha mengalahkan budak kecik ok! since 5th Nov was on weekday, the WCC organised firework on Saturday so that ramai org pergi ....awesome! 

Nabil menggayakan mask Guy Fawkes masa we all had that Holloween potluck

That morning I was in my office, doing some work ...harus le spent a few hours di opis coz kan banyak kerja, and since I know akan berjimba pada sebelah malam nya ...and I also went grocery shopping with my opis mate jugak before venturing to town ...then at 6.30pm I went to town to meet Anita ...and we went for dinner first sebab nak gi awal kat town and book our space ..knowing that org akan ramai berpusu-pusu carik tempat yang strategik ...actually we were lucky coz we were early ....got a really nice spot ....not at the edge of the waterfront ..but belakang Micheal Fowler Centre ...and nobody blocking our view ....but berzaman lah tunggu firework start hahahaha

kapal yang akan tembak the fireworks tu straight ahead ...so the view mmg clear gila!

I think we waited for an hour before the show started ...mula2 tu ngades kan ...aku pakai cardy ajer sebab the weather was nice and warm masa kuar rumah ...then sejuk hahaha padan muka ...and then makin ramai org datang ..and ada yng bawak picnic blanket siap2 untuk duduk ...baring etc untuk tengok firework...so i told anita, next year aku akan bawak blanket jugak hahahaha ...

once it started, it was actually fun! the oooo and the aaaaahhh yang people say tengok fireworks...so jakuns! kiter kat Mysia selalu ajer main bunga api kan ...kat sini 1-2 kali setahun ajer hahahaha ....the show was 12 mins ajer...but as if satu Welly tu kuar tengok and lepak waterfront malam tu ....how doe i know that?? sebab masa nak balik tu macam semut ajer aku tengok org balik hahaha i ended up jalan kaki balik to my flat coz tengok ramai sangat org tunggu bus ...and sepanjang perjalanan balik tu, punya lah ramai org balik saing aku ....fun fun night for me ...different coz masa UK tu aku tgk bonfire ....here, they celebrated with firework :-)

anyway, kan aku kata tadi yang i went for early dinner kan ...well, we went to Burger Fuel ...lama aku tak makan burger kat situ ..and dah ngidam ...so i had my usual burger with kumara chips ...sedap oooo

yang nie burger anita hahaha kami saja jer pose for pic macam nie and sent to anak Kak Shidah ...knowing that he will be missing this burger :-) dia punya fav le katakan ...and now they are all back in Mysia ...jahat tak jahat nyer lah kan

this is mine! complete with kumara chips and aioli dip and L&P drink

Then, I did a stupid mistake ....rushing kuar from here ...and bila dah jalan 5-8 mins gitu baru sedar fon takde...carik2 selongkar dlm beg mmg takde ....i sort of think that i might actually put my phone on the tray with the wrappers etc ...and i actually might have thrown all that in the bin! Coz kat sini kan you clear your own table before you leave ...so dreading it! Anita dah ready camera dia ...nak capture the moment aku kena selongkar sampah! Siap dah fikirkan caption untuk gambar itu utk upload in FB ...bagus punya kawan kan! But thank God ...masa aku gi tanya kat cashier ...and she asked me where I sat before ..dia pun gi check kat tempat kami duduk tu ..by then ada 3 org mamat bikers dok situ ...muka garang siot ...and one of the guy kata, if you are looking for a phone, I already passed it to the counter ...hahahaha lega akak!!!! check kat counter depan, and there was my phone ...hahahaha tak yah selongkar sampah ..apparently i left it on the seat! bodoh kannnnn ...

One thing i noticed here ...and one thing yang semua org kat sini kagumi is that the kiwi and people in Wellington are honest! Kalau jumpa barang bukan milik dorang, mmg dorang tak ambik ....like my flatmate tinggal her handbag atas longgokan baju kat kedai ...she came the next day, it was still there! My french friend accidentally left her laptop di library ...pun sama, people just handed it to security ...so it is kind of nice knowing that people have that kind of attitude here ....but lets face it, biar pun org honest like that ...jgn lah jadi bodoh cam aku ...boleh cicir fon like that ...duhhhh!!!!

Halloween Potluck

Punya lah basi punya cerita kan hahaha Halloween was on 31st Oct ...now dah nak masuk Dec baru ada masa nak write up about my Halloween potluck gathering with friends ...but, better late than never :-)

My friend, Tia, nie from US ..and Halloween kan a big thing in the state ..dia awal2 texted us tanya ada plan tak for Halloween ..and when we said no, dia kata let's do casual potluck at her place ..we just dress up a bit but mostly just to get together ...sebab lama gak we have not met each other ..especially aku le coz I am in different campus ..and the rest tu same campus .....that day itself ujan mencurah2 macam apa lagi ...so ended up called taxi ....to go to Tia's ...dia dok kat Brooklyn about 4km from where I live ...sampai sana semua dah ada ...

My fren nie dok studio apartment ...so tempat sempit sket ...thats why we did not invite other people ..cuma geng geng biasa ajer lah ...potluck kan ...so, I cooked channa masala (i.e. kacang kuda in indian spices) and roti canai instant ...maryam buat carrot cake ....then Tia buatkan pizza ...and lots of chips and crisps ....but malam tu memang we just hang out ...played poker ...makan makan ...minum minum ..aku tukang buat air sebab aku yang dok paling dekat ngan dapur ...

Tia and her zombie bites lol ...Ana yang lukis kan untuk dia ....ada mask to go with it but last2 we lost track of kat mana mask tu diletakkan

Ana and her muka dicakar ...dia nie mental sket ...memang gila babas punya perangai, tapi satu lah, she is very good to me ...dia nie cam celupar sket ...cakap lepas gitu ..kalau ngan orang but somehow ngan aku takde plak camtu ..

I came as a viking warrior ...but malam tu pas makeover jadi lain lol ....i was supposed to be a dwarf yang dalam LOTR tu hahaha ...gambar aku sebelah Giant (Nabil) takde dalam simpanan aku ....masih kat Tia ...

 

 

nie masa otw back to the flat ..we went bck by bus from Brooklyn ...stop at Lambton Quay and walked uphill ....sebab org ramai gak yang dressing tak tentu pasal, so it was not that akward nak bergambar bodo bodo kat tengah2 town in the middle of the night hahahaha ....

 

dressing up was just for fun ajer ...and we were mostly melepak ...just hang out..catch up on each others news ..sebab semua sibuk and amat jarang jumpa each other..esp bila now aku di saat saat critical kan ....but kalau gi town that night memang penuh le establishments with people dressing up...aku siap dapat ilham ...next year, can be a mexican mariachi singer ...senang sangat custome nya ...or a disco dancing diva ..with afro ...but yang nie kena hati2 sket coz boleh menyinggung perasaan org yang berambut afro ..isu2 nie kan biasa debated as politically incorrect ...and as ita suggested as nenek kebayan ...pakai kain batik ajer hahahaha 

well i did that at the party kat flat sebelah the weekend before tu ..aku dijemput gi this Haloween party di Aro Valley ...dah siap nak gi but malam tu tetiba ribut kuat ...akak malas ...so tak gi ...but ended up berparty kat flat sebelah ...aku bawak jer kain batik as my dressing hahahaha atas cadangan ita lol ....and it was fun ..but takde gambar :-)

Sunday morning at Lyall Bay, Wellington

alooooo ....

posting GC dah abis kata nya, so akak terjah masuk posting Welly pulak ...bukan apa, nak buat kesinambungan langit nan biru hehehehe

well, this past two weeks have been very warm and sunny in Welly ...summer is just round the corner..felt weird to have spring in Sept-Nov time coz I am so used to the notheren hemisphere weather and season ....but, hey..i am in the southern hemisphere now...so, go with the flow jer lah ...anyhoos, warm weather means sun dresses, skirts etc are coming out ...all my thick jacket, thick jumpers are being stored ...suka sangat sebab tak yah nak rasa beku lagi :-)

back to story on hand, I went lepaking with the girls at the beach this morning. It was an impromptu outing - coz the actual plan was a sleep over at Ms. S but I was the party pooper and changed the plan yesterday ..had to cancel due to my allergic reaction and stomach cramp ...so today, met up at 11.30 and went straight to Lyall Bay .....

the view was super awesome ...the beach was not crowded ...as this is a bit further away from the city centre ...see map for location here (click this link)....but at 11.45 it was hard to get  parking spot by the beach! Too many cars ....especially on a great weekend like this ...the sun was shining, the weather was lovely and the beach was so inviting ...so maybe half of Wellington was out today!

Lyall Bay ni terletak kat the very southern tip kat North Island ..so memang betul2 ngadap lautan ...and a popular place for surfing ...ombak dia memang hebat ....but not at the part where we sat today ...the stretch of sand is actually quite far ...banyak tempat utk lepak here .....jgn terpedaya ngan air laut itu ..weather may be warm and nie ...it was 20 degree today ...but air tetap sejuk! trust me on that, coz i did test the water temperature :-)

we spread our picnic blanket over the pebbles part of the beach ...didnt want to sit on the sand side of the beach ...coz that would be too near to the water edge ..and we (Shu and I) didnt want sand to get ito our food ...lol we broght some cranberries, choolate and apple cake, which I baked last night ...so was lying down and hanging out wih the girls is definitely a fun way to spend my Sunday morning

kebiruan langit terserlah ...begitu juga ketembaman aku :-(

the girls - never fail to have a great time when I am out with them ....

 that side is for area yang org bawak anjing exercise ...and the other side plak just for people ...and dogs are no allowed on the beach

after spending hours there ...just lepaking, talking, cuci mata, having fun, we went for late lunch at Maranui Cafe ...one of the popular cafe kat sini ...the queue alone was long but people are willing to wait in the queue ...just to get in ....masa ni a friend came to join us for lunch. He is a friend of Ms. S ...lawak orang nya ...he is a local guy lah ....he must be wondering what he got himself into by joining kami berempat ...memang dok ketawa ajer ..and sometime we just speak in BM hahahaha lupa dia ada!

the queue was long ..we got bored and started posing in front of the entrance!

the cafe was packed to the brim! We got an inside table, but we asked to change to an outdoor table ..kat deck and see the ocean view ...sangat cantik lagi medamaikan ...and because we were so hungry, the moment the food sampai semua terus makan ...and not even a single photo of the food...hahaha but it was nice..i had egg benedicts with hollandaise sauce and smoked salmon ...and my usual cappucino sedappp ...and they say the muffin here are so delicious that ppl sanggup queue for the muffin ...kata nya lah ...i didnt try coz i was so full from my lunch ...next time i am here, i am gonna try the pancake stack ...looks yummy!

from here, the four of us decided that we want ice-cream before heading home ...so ended up at Oriental Bay pulak ...and again melepak at the beach while having ice cream ..well, I actually had iced coffee instead of ice cream ..coz I was wheezing a bit by then ...but sitting in the sun, sipping iced coffee ..watching ppl sunbathing on the beach ...whilst talking and people watching is a good way to spend my weekend :-) when it started to get windy, we went home ....it was a fun day out for me ...sun, sea, good company and clear blue sky ...a really good combination!