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 :-)

A visit to Weta Cave, Wellington

another late posting ...but biar lambat asal update ..tak macam org Keramat ngan Kuantan kan kan kan :-)

Went to Weta Cave - kecik jer tempat nya ...it housed workshop utk movie Peter Jackson like Hobbits, Lords of the Ring, Tin Tin, Avatar, King Kong etc ...and shop for souveniours ..entrance masuk sini percuma ...but kalau nak masuk workshop baru berbayar ...akak pergi utk look see look see ajer ..actually went there in October last year .. I was stressed out by my data entry but it was a nice sunny day in spring ..terasa rugi tak keluar ..so make a spontenous decision to go out for brunch ngan my friend, then melencong sekejap ke Miramar - utk ke Weta Cave ..pas posing posing, terus mintak dia drop me off di opis ..hahaha the life of PhD student ..kerja kerja jugak..but bila ada peluang jalan, harusssssss .....

the months of Oct- Dec - my life is basically office office office ... macam kena crushed ngan trolls ajer hahaha

entrance to Weta Cave ...

actually kecik ajer tempat nie ..but orang tak nak missed tempat nie sebab nak ambik gambar with the trolls ...ngan Gandalf etc ...kalau rushing and takde masa ...like me, we spend about 30 mins here ... but dia ada free documentary ..about 25-30mins ...kami tak tengok pun hahaha maybe next time aku stay on for the documentary

masuk masuk jer ke sini, akan jumpa this three trolls - from the Hobbits - meet Tom, Bert and William ..hahaha masa kami sampai takde orang ...so sakan aku posing...kawan aku layan ajer hahaha nasib baik ada photographer ok! but masa nak kuar tu ingat nak posing lagi ...takde makna nya coz by then punya ramai orang kat sini ngan the trolls ...sampai berlaga vontot ..sebab tempat dia kecik jer ...

the main purpose I came here ...hahaha to take photo with Golum @smeagol hahaha and the ring is a necessary accessory hahahaha ..

hahaha ..my precious ....my precious ....

and jumpa pakcik Gandalf ...dia macam tak nak selfie ngan akak le ...ngades org tua tu!

sementara tu, ada gak le benda2 lain in here ....but tak banyak ...sebab tu aku kata 30 mins tu cukup sangat!

 kaki Bilbo - yang dia pakai in the film 

 a hobbit's custome ...huduh kan kuku kaki dorang hahahah

 tak ingat nama mamat nie

Peter Jackson also buat King Kong ..and rupanya some scenes of King Kong dibuat kat Welly ..there you go ...one of these days aku akan cari kat mana tempat tu ..cerita king kong pun aku ingat ingat lupa hahaha ...but aku ingat ending dia sedih

pas look see look see ..and we bumped into a friend gak kat sini hahaha ...tapi tak bergambar ..we came out ..ingat nak posing lagi ...but like i said ..orang ramai kat laman trolls tu ...so aku selfie ajer lah ngan si troll tu for the last time

reason buat posting ini??? hahaha it is a prelude to my trip to Matamata ...to Hobbitton ..insyallah next week ....watch this space for more updates on Hobbiton ...

Wellington summer

Dah mid-summer dah kat Welly ...weather has been on off sunny..windy ..rainy ..a typical summer in Welly. But like all Wellingtonians are fond of saying - nothing beats Wellington on a good (sunny!) day ...memang betul ...aku dari mula jejak kaki ke Welly telah diterapkan idea yang if the sun is shining - try as much as possible to go out and enjoy Welly's lovely sunshine ..kak shidah le yang bagitau like that ..sebab aku kan sampai in the summer of 2013 ...and aku malas kuar ...selalu tido lol so she is so against that ...now i know what she means!

pohutukawa - very synonym with Welly's summer

close up of the pohutukawa blooms

aku dah cuba sedaya upaya untuk try to get out more masa summer nie ...apakan daya ..tak mampu nak kuar jauh masa long xmas break sebab kerja memang banyak ...now, dah lega as I have completed the major task. so since data entry done, next step is data analysis and on going literature review ...i am hoping to get more free time (tanpa rasa gulity tak kerja hahahah) ...semalam, selepas book my percutian mega (tunggu posting meletops bulan depan yea) I rushed home ..sebab dah invite friends for dinner at my place ..hosting my first dinner in 2015 ....awayway, my flatmate Gabby commented yang pertama kali dia nampak aku balik well before the sunset hahahaha ...and she even said, please lah balik awal pas nie so that kiter enjoy dinner kat garden sama sama ...heheheh ...

so pagi nie aku ambik peluang lepak rumah (kerja dah submit to supervisor and waiting for his feedback) sebab takde kerja yang super urgent ...and the fine sunny weather tu memanggil manggil aku keluar ..so, I just bring my laptop, my work ...and my book outside at our picnic table under the plum tree ...and work from there ...such as lovely summer weather ....

we have our own plum cherry tree in front of the flat ..and sekarang sedang masak ranum ..super sweet cherry and fresh dipetik gitu .....but banyak kat atas pokok tu ..so plenty of birds "melepak" kat situ jugak ....so, aku kerja at the garden ..with birds surrounding me ...and my flatmate sunbathing at the lawn ....and our neighbours were playing with their kids outside ..semua enjoying the summer weather

 burung and plum cherry ...tak kisah dah burung nie ..takde takut2 dah

 roses at our garden ...berseri seri ...pastu langit kan main biru lagi ..kan liz kannnnn

plum cherry masak ranum ....heavens for burung!

Last weekend aku spent one of my weekend kat rumah gak ...and my flatmate and I dok fruit picking ..dapat semangkuk gitu ....we dont want to take more sebab tak nak membazir ...siap plan nak buat plum cake :-) dia yang nak buat ..bukan aku ehhh ....

we left a day kat dapur to make it masak ranum ..sedap oiiii ...fresh gitu 

sebab summer kan ..bunga bunga pun cantik2 dah ...I have yet to go to Botanic Garden ...maybe minggu depan akan jalan to Botanic garden to the rose garden ....tapi bunga2 kat opis aku pun cukup berseri2 bila summer nie ....

 one of the office plant yang sentiasa segar mekar ...providing lovely colours to my pemandangan terperap dalam opis

 sekarang memang musim lilies ...this one is Blue Lily of the Nile

another addition to our office plant ...P's fav plant for now ...siap kata sah plant ni akan mati kalau dia tinggalkan untuk aku ....

summer weather kat welly tak semestinya panas selalu hahaha hence org kata..kalau panas, just go out and enjoy it ..sebab half of summer time selalu ujan lol it happenned on NY eve ari tu ....memang ujan selebat lebat nya ..and angin kuat ....

 that's our picnic table ..tempat aku lepak buat kerja tadi ....and the pic was taken on NY eve at 7pm..see, pokok pokok plum tu sekangkang kerja jer from our front door :-)

that's my posting on Welly's summer ...and a note to myself - to try to enjoy what's left of the summer :-) have a great weekend everyone - wherever you are.

Day trip to Castlepoint, Wairarapa, New Zealand

Lama dah cerit nie tapi asyik tertangguh ...nie baru ada masa (well, sebenarnya nak buat kerja tapi tadi dok godek godek files nak backup kan gambar - terjumpa gambar2 nie) ..I went to Castlepoint as part of my birthday celebration (hahaha celebration yang low profile tu ..ingat tak?) and also celebrate Lyn punya birthday ..so kami sewa kereta that day and took off to Castlepoint ..

Castlepoint nie dia punya attraction is the lighthouse ..and the long beach and sand dune ...it is outside of Welly, we drove for 2.5 hours to get there ...and to get there kena lalu Rimutaka Hill yang berliku ala ala Cameron Highland tu ...and punya lah dok check weather forecast masa nak gi ..coz Rimutaka ni the only way to get there ...and selalu kalau angin kuat (which is so frequent!) Rimutaka hill road akan ditutup ..so tourists yang drive sendiri perlu beware with this ...sebab kalau tutup kena carik destination lain ...luck was shining on us ..sebab aritu was warm and sunny! it was a few days after that yang Rimutaka tutup and there was an incident lori terbalik kat situ sebab angin too strong ...there you go! sebab tu aku malas bab bab drive kat hills here ...

 stop at the lookout on top of Rimutaka ...nampak panas ..sekali angin bertiup, sejuk sampai  ke tulang! Menyesal tinggalkan jacket dalam kereta

can you see the road? berliku and no penghadang kat sebelah gaung ...aku tak drive masa pergi ..aku drive masa balik - lagi scary sebab drive masa nak gelap! but I did it ...

On the way to Castlepoint tu, we stopped at a few places - mainly lookout la ...tapi tak stop lama ..sebab target nak sampai Castlepoint and have our picnic lunch there ..balik baru plan singgah Masterton and Greytown ...the drive itself was fun ...beautiful scenery along the way ..masa tu September ..baru nak start spring ...and lots of farms along the way ..sheep ..lamb ..montel montel semuanya ...

beberapa kali stop along the way sebab nak tangkap gambar ....the nearer we are, makin cantik the view ...

wish we had time to walk along the beach ...but we plan to be back before sunset kan sebab nak kena drive lalu the Rimutaka ...so tak sempat jalan jauh on the beach itself ...maybe next time kalau aku ada pergi tempat nie lagi

seagulls pun banyak kat sini ..esp bila nampak kiter makan ..laju jer dia datang ...

and we went on Friday, so memang tak ramai orang masa tu ...and this place takde public transport ..heran akak! kalau tak pakai transport sendiri, get a train to Masterton and from Masterton to Castlepoint sangat2 limited transport option ...better rent a car ajer ...but having said that, one of my next trip nanti nak gi Wairarapa towns like Masterton and Greytown - and maybe naik train ajer from Welly, and there I can rent a bike :-)

plan nak picnic at the beach was cancelled ..sebab sesampainya kat carpark tu angin kuat ...and blowing sand from the sand dunes into our food and our faces! so, first time akak picnic dalam kereta hahaha ...spread makanan kat seat belakang ..and makan outside menikmati the sun on our faces, and the wonderful view terbentang depan mata ...sambil avoiding the seagulls yang menagih simpati nak mintak makanan and avoiding sand from masuk makanan ....

the view yang terbentang depan mata masa lunch

then pas perut kenyang, we went to explore ...mula mula we have to go through the sand dune ...kat sini, one side of the area is sand dune ...stretched far along the beach ..akak malas explore sangat, sebab angin kuat ..susah nak jalan kat pasir tu ...posing posing ala kadar ajer ...tapi seriously sangat sangat cantik ...

and from there beransur ansur gi ke light house ...angin kuat menyukarkan perjalanan hahaha and stopping too frequently for pictures ...tapi sebab memang takde orang, it was like having the place to ourselves!

masa naik kira ok lagi ...then the higher up, bertambah kuat angin ...banyak gambar tu rambut spoilkan gambar ...memang mengerbang ajer ...and muka tak nampak! at that time the wind hanya 80km/hour ..a few days pas nie sampai 110km/hour ...tempat nie very exposed ...sebab tu memang angin kuat samgat ...it limits our adventure gak coz kami tak berani nak walk along the top of the walkway that day ....takde pose kaki terjuntai kat tepi gaung ...sebab takut ...

kitorang gi sampai ke puncak tu (belakang light house)  terasa gak le pendakian nya ...tapi takde le tahap hiking yang digeruni abang ngah kiter tu ...

 takde pose ala mermaid kaki terjuntai here ...sebab takut jatuh ditiup angin :-(

gambar candid from my friend ...masa turun tu memang strong wind ..takde nya muka nak posing sebab sibuk nak hold on to the handrail ..imagine beg aku tu terhuyang hayang padahal it is quite heavy - ngan water bottle, book and segala mak nenek ada dalam tu ....

and boleh tersenyum semula bila dah sampai kat bawah hahaha and reach the car park! We left here dengan niat nak singgah Greytown ...but msa samapi Greytown - a popular small town tempat makcik2 kaya singgah shopping and lepak (kata nya!) dah start ujan ..malas le nak jejalan dalam ujan kan ..so teruskan balik ajer ..i was driving balik tu and halfway nak naik Rimutaka, it rained! so segala concentration yang ada difokus pada pemanduan ....so takde gambar dah masa balik tu ...

it was a good trip ..kereta sewa tak mahal ..yang mahal is petrol hahaha harga petrol nak sama ngan rental price a day!  That was 2014 ...2015 nie aku belum start lagi perjalanan ..tapi niat di hati nak gi Rotorua ...tunggu flight murah dulu :-)