seminggu di Melbourne - jumpa family and best friend!

alooooo semua ...hahaha akak baru balik ke rumah sendiri setelah seminggu menghilangkan diri ke Melbourne...bukan apa, memang impromptu plan masa beli ticket - was stress out regarding my work and it (non) progress that I decided to take a week break ..sv pun kata ok as he was also away overseas at the same time ...gi Melbourne coz nak jumpa familiar faces - haslina and family as well as my cousin who recently moved there ...

but punya lah kalut masa nak pergi tu as I have to complete some tasks ..even packcing was done a few hours before the airport shuttle ambik aku! Shuttle picked me up at 3.30am hahaha itu penangan ambik flight kol 6 pagi ok ..selalu nya aku avoid those extremely early or extremely late flights but nak murah punya pasal ...akak ambik jugak le ..pastu tido dlm flight all the way to Melbourne ..3 hours 50 mins jer pon! sesampai nya kat sana, Haslina picked me up from the airport ...and my first port of call after dropping my bags at her house is pergi assembly and open day kat sekolah Iris...

her classroom

Dia dah primary 1 sekarang ..and OMG sangat petah becakap ...with an Aussie accents! Kebetulan open day plak so hedmaster memang encouraged the parents (inc aku lol) to participate in her classes that day - to see how their kids study ...sempat le aku join a few activities ...coz pas tu bergegas ke city - sebab dah janji to meet up with my cousin.

took the train to the city and catch up with my cousin pulak. I decided to stay overnight at her place dulu coz after this I will be staying with Haslina's. Cousin nie aku tak jumpa dah over 3 years gitu hehehe ...she and her hubby took me for lunch before we head out to her home - hubby kena balik opis!

It was great catching up with them - biasala kan, kat Welly aku sebatang kara - takde sedara mara, but when I reached here terasa le ada orang yang kiter kenal ...she and her family pon baru 5 months living in Melbourne and I was actually their first visitor ...glad I managed to spend time with them ...

sangat suka bila jumpa mangga muda kat Vietnamese market di Springvale hahahaha malam tu jugak mangga tu abis! hehehe kat Welly aku tak penah jumpa mangga muda - yang ada is ripe mangoes yang imported from India or Thailand tu!

the following day tu aku balik rumah Haslina - and stayed with her till I balik Melboune. Aku malas nak kacau dorang ni lagi as they are all busy - with antar ambik anak anak dorang sekolah kan ...most of the time aku jalan sendiri and OMG Melbourne has so much to see, to do ...and to visit ... 

gambar gambar nie as teasers dulu ..nanti akak sambung buat posting ok ..sebab now kena buat kerja dulu! kang sv marah le pulak ....

 the iconic Flinders Street Station

 The Shrine of Rememberance

Strawberries at Queen Victoria Market

Federation Square

Half day at Wai-o-tapu Geothermal Park, NZ North Island

lagi kisah percutian lampau - takde lah lampau sangat - just 6 month too late gitu

second day kat Rotorua tu aku gi to Wai-o-tapu Geothermal park. Aku book a shuttle to go there - with pickup depan backpacker yang aku stay tu. So, sangat convenient lah. Aku travel sorang so malas la nak sewa kereta bagai ..and murah lagi just used the shuttle. Aku lupa company mana aku ikut ..hahaha lama sangat dah ..but the price include the transport pergi and balik to Rotorua CBD, plus entry fee into Wai-o-tapu ..masa aku gi tu entry fee is $32.50 ...and it also include gi melencong ke mud pool ....

 kawasan mud pool nie outside of the main Geothermal park ...

 menggelegak ..tak sanggup nak dekat pon

mud pool memang panas sesangat le ...mengelegak jer lumpur tu ...and our shuttle driver, Lisa, bagitau ada company ambik mud kat sini - with permission of corse - utk dorang buat mud mask and mud soap etc ...kalau tak silap Helena Christiensen duta produk tu :-) mud from mud pool Rotorua gitu

 viewing deck for the mud pool ...dua org tu from my shuttle group :-)

the famous Lady Knox Geyser

pick up pagi at 8 or 8.30am gitu ..dia punya pick up quite strict sebab nak make sure arrive on time to see Lady Knox Geyser's (induced) erruption at 10.15am ....ada le mamat tu akan nagitau the history on how the geysey was found zaman tok kadok dulu ....and how it errupts etc ....kat area nie dia buat cam amphitheatre with seating etc ..dtg awal sket boleh dapat tempat yang elok ...kalau tak jadi macam aku ....nampak kepala org jer lebih!

nie masa dah abis show - baru aku gi dekat hahaha ...

plus it rained masa tu ..so nak elak payung orang lagi ...memerlukan kesabaran sungguh :-) from there baru aku gerak explore the park - it is approximately 2-2.5 hours bejalan in the park ..you will be given a map ..and just pepandai sendiri le follow the track ..just follow jer the number assigned to the track ....

 nama kawah kat sini seram seram belaka ....devil's home lah ...pastu ada satu tu (fav aku) is Devil's bath :-) abang ngah keramat - ngko harus melawat tempat2 nie hahahaha tak kan aku ajer kannnn kiter kan sama arah perjalanan :-)

 yang nie dipanggil artist's pellete ..coz of the campuran warna ...warna tu terhasil sebab tindakbalas the mineral kat situ ...sangat cantik dan mendamaikan ...tapi busuk tak tau nak cakap ..sulphur kannnnn

 

 track dia cam nie lah ..ada ditandakan ngan nombor ..so ikut nombor-nombor tu ajer ...ada yang berbukit ..ada yang mendatar ..ada yang track betul betul sebelah kawah ...

 the famous Champagne Pool ...nak ambik gambar tanpa gangguan bontot orang menang susah kat sini ...sebab orang punya lah ramai (cam ulat taik kata abang ngah)

 ini lah Devil's Bath ...air nya hijau

 aku rasa aku pusing area tu about 2.5 hours ...byk stop ambik gambar

 then abis pusingan tu ..stop pekena cappucino and pie ..sebab dah lunch time! sementara tunggu the shuttle ambik ....

nie shuttle service yang aku guna aritu ...pickup kat accommodation around Rotorua CBD and drop off pun sama ...but aku mintak drop off kat i-Site sebab nak sambung lake tour after this ...

stress eating

stress eating memang sinonim ngan PhD life aku nie ...early this year P told me that we should read a book called "What a we hungry for?" by Deepak Chopra ...dia siap bagi audio book for me ...so akak dengar lah ..hahaha deepak dok tanya - why are you eating like that bla bla bla ..it is psychological aspect of eating ..yea lah kan ..naper nak makan makan dan makan ...tapi yang paling aku ingat is Deepak kata - diet will not work - hambik ngko! sapa yang nak sangat diet tu kan...it will not work ...tapi deepak suggest we analyse why we eat the way we do ..so, understanding what we hungry for mungkin dapat membantu ...kata nya

one of his findings is ..we tend to eat our emotion ..hahaha macam alu le tu ..aku stress about study - I eat to compensate for my stressful situation ....i am eating away my emotion ..i am eating away all my problem ....sepatutnya jgn dilayan lol ...just know what is happening and control your emotion - so akan control makan

and guess what - minggu nie memang aku eat my emotion gila babas punya:

this was Monday - bangun extra awal - nervous sebab competition tu start at 12 and akak sambil lewa tak prepare ..so took myself to Milk & Honey (cafe khas untuk staff and postgrad kat campus) and ordered toasted brioche with jam and cream cheese ..sambil prepare the sppech ...

with latte and plain water bagai ..hahaha

then on Weds night pun kelam kabut - had problems with my analysis - and then tetiba rasa nak baking and had serious craving for brownies ..sampai rumah at 9.30pm ...terus perhangatkan my own dinner (chicken and pesto taggatelli) and pas dinner terus baking ...semangat sangat ....

 before

 after hiasan

 

masa nak dimakan ..masih warm from the oven ..at 11pm!

aku bagi bagikan to my flatties and my friends - hahaha tak nak makan seorang - so kira ok lah ..calories are being shared gitu ...

 

and pagi tadi plak bangun bangun bukan main sejuk lagi ..check temp ..kata nya 0 darjah celcius ...and rasa cam nak makan lontong hahaha terus masak NZ version of kuah lontong ...gigih memasak di dapur yang sejuk ....

and yang best nya I have instant peanut sauce jugak to complement the kuah lontong

so emosi yang terganggu pun dapatlah ditenangkan sementara ...dengan makanan ...kalau lah aku nie buat semua benda macam aku mengejar makanan kannnnnnnnnn ....sah maju jaya idup aku :-)

Visiting a Maori Village at Whakarewarewa, Rotorua

Nie cerita my holiday early this year hahaha I went at the end of Jan - baru sekarang nak update kan ...better late than takde :p

Went to Rotorua on my own - kan I am in my travel alone mode sekarang nie. Lama dah tak buat - last travelling alone sebelum this trip was masa dok jejalan kat Shanghai dulu ..before than my UK trips lah - zaman malas nak gi ngan orang coz kalau gi ngan orang - banyak kerenah and kesonggelan.

Anyway on my last day di Rototua tu aku gi visit Whakarewarewa (pronounced as Faka-Rewa-rewa) - which is a living Maoiri village ..memang ini kawasan perkampungan yang dorang masih diami ...open to public everyday kecuali on Christmas Day .... click here for its website ...entrance fee dalam NZD35, or if you ambik package to include pengangkutan lagi mahal le ..dalam NZD45-60 gitu. I initially nak ambik package ..coz tak tau tempat tu kat mana ..and I am the Queen of convenience kan ..so nak yang senang ajer ..but the owner of the backpacker that I stayed in said takyah ambik package as I can get there using a bus ajer (will explain at the last section in this posting on how to get there) ....and i get a cheaper ticket jugak at the time as I bought my ticket at the tourist info centre yang kebetulan was offering discount to a few places that weekend

It is actually a geothermal village ...kampung tu terletak kat atas kawasan geothermal ..so memang nampak le berasap sana sini ...looks so beautiful jugak ....dia ada tour every hour ..aku sampai ngam ngam tour nak start so I just join in ...but kalau tak nak tour..jalan je lah sendiri ...i ikut tour tu as the guide (dia keturunan ke-5 ke 6 jadi tour guide kat situ) tu akan explain the different parts of the area

sebab dorang ada akses to the geothermal tu kan ...it has been their way of cooking since azali ...takyah guna dapur gas pun ...jagung tu dorang clean ..buang the kulit and drop dalam that kolam air panas ..literally less than 1 minute ..and walla ..siap jagung rebus! that is their communal cooking pool ..usually for vege .....aku beli la jagung tu ...and rasa cam jagung rebus biasa ajer ..aku ingat ade le rasa sulfur ke apa ke hahaha ...ngades lebih

 

yang nie plak dia demo kan cara dorang masak Hangi - a maori food yang dimasak bawah tanah. Kat sini, sebab geothermal, they put the things kat situ ....like beef..lamb..ayam ke apa ke ..and the vege ..and even cake ...and using the steam to cook it ...

 

dia kata now ada foil, org guna foil le ..dulu alas ngan daun ....but this one is a communal one ..and yang dorang guna utk buat demo for tourist ..tapi bila aku jalan jalan aroung kampung tu, memang nampak kat depan each hoouse akan ada their own hangi pit ...kelas gitu ..save duit tak yah pakai gas or dapur electric!

 

 

and this is their communal tempat tanam sayur..and yang macam tempat burung tu kan - that is where they put their extra vege yang dah di harvest!

 

 

and this one is their common pool ...we were told, after 5.00pm selepas the tourist semua takde, pool nie akan digunakan ...usually by orang tua tua ...and air from this pool is said to have that properties yang healing ...utk yang sakit sendi etc ...kata the guide ...aku rendam kaki ajer ...panas gak le ...tapi tak dibenarkan berendam :-)

Pohutu Geyser

 

from this side of the village, boleh nampak the famous Pohutu geyser kat village sebelah (Te Puia) ..kalau ikut sejarah, dulu dorang ni satu kampung ..but the one next door tu dah macam diambik alih oleh corporation and more commercialise ...and so happen the Pohutu Geyser kat belh sana ..but masih boleh nampak from belah sini ..and dia meletup when we were there ... aku nie kan development studies punya org ..choose to go here sebab tau hasil kutipan gooes back to the village and village depa nampak lebih asli :-)
 

 

and daily akan ada show - the cultural show - sekali waktu pagi, and sekali waktu petang. So need to time perfectly jugak le. In my plan, i sepatutnya gi sini the day before - but I missed the bus, so if i gi jugak using the next bus maksudnya akan sampai akhir sket and pasti terlepas cultural show ..so sebab tu tunda le Sunday...pagi2 akak pergi ...

lepas cultural show tu aku stop at its cafe ..nak balik tapi ari ujan ..so better lah carik tempat teduh kannnnnnnn ....here i tried the pie yang dimasak hangi style ....plus another jagung ....

 

dorang banyak ukiran cam nie depan rumah and di area village tu ...aku rasa le utk halau hantu hahahaha aku lupa apa guide tu cakap ..aku pepandai ajer assume kan gitu ...jgn plak korang quote aku!

and last stop at its gift shop ...sembang le ngan minah jaga kedai tu. She told me that memang kampung tu dah lama, and semua rumah tu dihuni. Ada yang kosong pun coz penghuni kerja kat Taupo or outside Rotorua - so weekdays kosong but weekend or masa keramaian akan balik situ ..teringat macam Malaysia plak ....

How to get there by bus ..Naik bus Route 2  and ticket is like NZD2 ajer one way..about 10 mins from CBD ...so cheap compared to kalau nak ambik package shuttle ke apa ke ..kalau ikut pla asal aku tu..so the extra money aritu aku gunakan utk beli souveniour for my dad ...a nice home made Maori carving from the village ...