summer flowers - Wellington 2014

another posting based on my Otaki and Khandallah trip ..kali nie nak tepek the photos of flowers ..selain daripada the awesome fruit trees and wonderful orchard, that house that we visited tu is surrounded with flowers and plants ....and since it is summer, memang very colourful and  attractive ....

warm yellow dahlia ....aku tak snap the white one ..the white one was so pretty but masa tu aku baru sampai and tangan full with salad bowl ..so tak snap photo

the vibrant hydrangea ...yang nie my fav summer flower ... ada banyak colour ..the most common is white ..tapi my fav is the blue ones ......tapi katanya warna, which can range from reddish ...pink ...white and blue ...all depend ngan the level of acidity tanah .....katanya lah ......ooo yang kat belakang hydrangeas tu is Crab Apple ...first time aku dengar species apple nie ....

tak tau bunga apa nie hehehe ...but i saw it kat vegetable patch ...mixed with the chillies and the tomatoes

 

 

even patio pun dikelilingi oleh bunga ...feel at home coz bunga kertas banyak here hehehe

and the great thing is that, the hosts bagi kami bunga2 untuk di bawak balik ...she even gi trim the flowers and gave us ....so rumah aku berseri2 ada jambangan bunga that week after my Otaki trip ....and bila stop by at Kak Shidah's place pun sama ....the place is surrounded by lovely  flowers

these are the Blue Lily of the Nile ...a type of lily ...cantik!

white hybrid tea roses ....pink alstromeria ....and the lily ...very pleasing to the eyes

from the garden to the dinning table ..hehehe ambik from FB kak shidah ...she just loves flowers!

and today, I gain custody of two of her potted plants ..i helped her gi clear her office ,..but i mentioned i nak gi beli pokok for my office ...my opismate and i plan nak add pokok to our office kan ...but kak shidah kata takyah beli ...i cn plant my own plant at her place ...but then dia fikir ambik jer the ones kat her office ...heheheh so yeah, I gain custody of the plants!

i took the one at the bottom ..and one other plant :-)

anyhow ..since summer kan ..meriah colour bunga bunga kat sini ...but soon ...it is gonna be autumn ...with daun2 kekuningan and berguguran ...and hopefully by then I will be back home to sunny and humid Malaysia ...tanah air ku yang tercinta!

Waitangi Day

Semalam merupakan Waitangi Day kat sini ..suatu ketika dulu it is also known as New Zealand Day ..ia merupakan hari yang mana perjanjian dibuat di antara orang Maori dan Pakeha orang Eropah) yang menandakan NZ granted as part of the british empire (kata wikipedia) ..that was in 1840 ...kira it marks the start of british/pakeha settlement di negara ini ..so, it is a big deal le ...

this is my second waitangi day kat sini ..last year i did not go out coz i vaguely recalled it was raining ...but this year, I and Sue plan nak tengok le the ritual semua tu ..one of the event is the launching of the waka (canoe perang Maori) ...dengan semangat ya kitorang meet up in town at 9.45am coz the ceremony starts at 10am at Frank Kitts Park Lagoon ....

the two waka - yang panjang tu is a brand new waka ...kat sebelah tu dah lama ..they keep adding new waka apparently ..

weather was so nice, hot and sunny ...siap pakai sun block coz too hot after that ..but since tepi lagoon kan, maka ada le angin sepoi sepoi ...Sue and I sampai just nice ..we got a bench which is opposite from the waka itself ...so, sampai2 ingat nak makan ..gi le stalls yang jual makanan kat situ ..but org tu cakap takleh jual lagi ..coz they can only sell after the prayer started :-) terkejut gak ..never encountered such scenario before ...

the maori leader memulakan his prayer ritual ...

pas the ritual tu, the group of rowers mengambil tempat masing masing ....the paddle yang dorang gunakan have different shape than the usual canoe paddle ...sebab katanya paddle nie bukan sahaja untuk mendayungkan canoe, but also used as weapon in war ....

the rower mengambil tempat ..after some ritual and war cry and prayer before that

perempuan yang baju itam between the waka tu started to do her chanting ...abis dia chant baru the waka was launched ...and when she chanted, meremang bulu roma ...her voice is so haunting

and off they went ......

they then went to row till Evans Bay etc kata nya before they came back and do more ritual ...aku and sue malas nak tunggu dah masa tu coz we both were hungry ..and shu's tennis captain datang join us ...so we left for Rebel Sport - coz they want to get tennis balls ...sebab Waitangi Day Sales hehehe ...and then kitorang gi makan ....captain insist nak belanja lunch ...tentu le akak tak menolak kan??? lama gak we all lepak at that Cambodian Resturant ..coz they are waiting for their tennis practice time ..i ended up tumpang his car to the court ...so aku melepak le kat court sekejap ...somehow now they are persuading me to join their group untuk practice hahaha ..i said i have not played in 15 years ...baru start balik last week ...tak tau macam mana nanti ...aku enjoy tennis masa at school dulu ..but have stop completely ...so tengok lah how ..coz Captain and Sue are pretty persuasive ...and my opismate pun insist nak join sekali ....

aku tak lepak lama situ ...coz we planned to go out for movie under the star event ..sue soh aku rest while she played ...she knows i was asthmatic the day before ..so i went back ...balik ...rest and tido ...for two hours before she came to my place pas abis tennis ...

view otw back to my flat from the tennis court ...an awesome view kan???

so petang tu we went to the town square ...utk the movie under the star event ..org ramai gak ..coz the whole day they have been having concert there ..we were lucky to get a place ..and a sunny place plak tu ..and then Ms. S sampai bawak tikar for us to sit on .....dah settle tu baru kami gi beli makanan ..hehehe tak best le kan tengok movie kalau tak makan hehehehe ....got chilean bread yang dimakan with salsa ...yumm! and pumpkin fried bread...chips ..chocolate ...and roti rolls ...and indian sweets ..pistaschio cake and sugary dessert ...melampau kan makan cam tu?? hehehe

 masa nie org sebelah kitorang dah balik...so our view memang clear ..pastu ada le org dtg and filled that space 

  

Movie yang kami tengok was Whale Rider ...an NZ film yang banyak nominated for Oscar ..released 2002 ..aku tak penah tengok lagi ,,it is a powerful and moving movie ...and very much NZ  element in it ..esp addressing how the Maori practices are ...sedih tau tengok ..nasib aku tak nangis hahaha nearly ....nasib can tahan ...but towards the end it was quite cold ...berangin ...aku siap pakai 4 lapis baju masa tu ...tank top..tee ...cardy and jacket hahaha ...over kan??? and it was supposed to be summer :-)

sisa makanan barbarian

balik2 tu we all beku ...so no more jalan2 ..terus balik rumah masing2 ....it was an eventful day ..i get to see some culture ..i get to catch up with friends ..i get to meet new people ..and berjoli ...so it was good ...

personal tour di kebun buah-buahan di Otaki

Aloooo ...another posting weekend aku  a couple of weeks ago ..ingat tak yang aku dijemput gi potluck lunch at a house in Otaki? Well, the host lives in this house surrounded by his fruit orchards ..kitorang sampai awal, and pas sembang2 he told us to just jalan2 while waiting for the others to arrive ..kitorang datang awal coz he asked us datang awal untuk tolong dia and have a chance to talk to hima nd his wife ..coz once everybody is there hard to talk hahaha ...

He has this huge land ...and memang surrounded by fruit trees ...the most notable are his apple trees ..bermacam2 apple variety ..i lost count at 8 varieties ....different colour ..different taste ..and different stage in term of its ripeness ....most tak masak ranum lagi ...by march and april baru masak and boleh dipetik kata nya ...

 muka2 excited posing ngan apple hahaha

i was surprised tengok certain kawasan sangat semak ...pastu the host explained le bukan dia tak larat nak tebas ..but he is saving it to make hay ...in fact masa tu dia bagitau orang yang buat hay tu akan datang the followig week to clear those grass and make hays for him ...

this is grapefruit ....kak shidah ambik ad rasa and said manis ...aku tak ambik ...coz in my experience ..selalu dapat grapefruit masam haha i always avoided grapefruit ....

close up on the grapefruit

yang aku dok makan was the tangerine ...petik from the tree and makan kat situ gak ..very sweet and refreshing ..kalau lama berdiri kat situ memang banyakle aku abiskan ...unbelievably sweet!

tangerine ...somehow reminded my of pokok limau masa CNY :-)

we also spent a few minutes picking strawberries ..mak aiii gemuk2 strawberry dia ..and so sweet ...so sambil jejalan lawat kawasan, kami makan buah2an yang kami petik ...awesome kan???

hehehe carik strawberry yang banyak terselindung di bawah rumput :-)

and pastu kitorang gi tengok all his haiwan peliharaan pulak ...so many variety ...ayam katik ada sepasang ...itik ...ayam biasa ..and even ada lembu ..but aku tak gi tengok lembu ..sebab kat kawasan sebelah ..aku remain kat area buah2an mostly ....

 lemon ...banyak sangat buah nya ...sampai tak dipetik

pastu otw back to the house tu banyak lagi variety buah ...fig, grapes, plums and so on ...semua belum masak lagi ....so aku feast my eyes ajer on them .....

grapes yang tak masak lagi

 Fig - also tak masak lagi ..balik tu aku singgah supermarket beli dried fig ..hehehe the week before tu aku jenuh makan dried fig kat opis ...opismate aku dapat kiriman dari his mom ...mak dia balik from their negara asal and sent him a box of dried figs and other goodies ...sedap ....so, now aku aim to try fresh fig pulak ...klau in BM, fig nie panggil apa eh?

plum ...the mini plum variety ..cute comel ajer size nya

and kat depan rumah dia pun ada banyak lagi pokok pokok buah2an ..yang paling menarik perhatian aku are the pears ..mak aiiii so lebat buahnya ....sampah kena tongkat dahan pokok tu!

Ms. S and I commented yang kitorang rasa cam jalan2 kat sunday market masa jalan2 kat sini hehehe cuma the difference is that kat sii buah2an masih bergantungan lol ....it was an awesome day to be able to see all this ...and experience jejalan makan buah cam tu ...ooo the potluck was awesome too..i get to know new people :-)

next posting aku tunjuk other pictures of the kawasan rumah tu ..with its wonderful flowers

Moments at Taman Gelora, Kuantan

Aloha...few days mcm trauma ingat dah nak kojol blog ni sebab we were not able to log in and do any postg..ceh macam lah kita rajin sgt kan...but hei this blog captures our happiness n despair n our friendship so of course trauma kejap...and tq to our IT guy..tak sia sia ko belajor sampai ke kent..akak dok ulang tu aje ha..ha..bagi pressure sikit so cepat lah dia buat dr dok play...opps tak leh ckp he..he...

Actuallynya last weekend tu yg sebok sgt pasal blog hang ni sebab i wanted to make a postg pasal "Taman Gelora".. another beachside here in Kuantan.

Ok kita setahun payah sekali ke pantai ..i know...kalau tak bersebab mmg tak pergi lah..i know i know...and last weekend duan had a mini reunion with his ex school mates, so we were all there menyemak kan diri.
Well d truth is we had bfast there then d boys n i , we left for ecm and later fetched duan when he's done. Aci ke tak? Boleh lah...but we managed to enjoy d scenery..d open air...d breeze...d cooling weather of kuantan... p.s.coolg weather tu is so over- now panas berdentum. Sapa yg berangan nak beli turtle neck tu pelezzzzz.... malam sikit.
By d way nice kan scenerynya...cantik bumi tercinta ni

my 2 sagi boys..i actually have 2 librans n 2 sagitarians...librans are peace maker -you can reason with them..sagi adoii..most of d time they learn from reallife experience ..kena cite bersungguh2.. but at d end of d day it is all about respect...yg tua di hormati yg kecil disayangi..ni kata kata pujangga dr mr hubby...alhamdulillah they fight but they also keep each other butts.

All white for d beach..color or no color for d day..ha..ha..sukahati aku lah ek..

i am now writing at my #slakeandbite ..lenggang adoii...more promosi needed...our food is yummylicious but crowd in d mall during week days is depressing. Eh bileh ke hashtag macam tu ha..ha..memandai kan

.Afi tuition kat bandar...Aimran tuition dekat dgn rumah...so sent Aimran then Afi..and now here w Adib...Adib is so pelajar contoh alaf ini..betul tak miss gina??

..siap bawak homework...dia tak nak ikut sebab hwork byk but i suggested him to do it here kalau tak mati kering nga nga mummy ...ini blh lah layan mulut dia sambil dia menulis tu..

Ok itu aje nanti kite cite lagi...muah muah..can cin chow...ada 45 min lagi...another postg...maybe..maybe not..perhaps...perhaps not
Sawan tu lah aku ni heeeliz

first trip to health centre

aloooo .. baru lega dapat sort kan blog nie yang cam buat hal the last few days ...so, a quick posting from yours truly to check whether it works ...

as the title suggests, akak tak sihat ...i have been feeling unwell the last few days but cannot take days off sebab dateline looming ..but, gonna announce here that my proposal was finally (as in FINALLY!!!) submitted last Monday ...so now ada kat reviewers, who will report their evaluation to committee on 27th nie ..so, my one year work is now at the hand of the reviewers ...so, doakan le aku lepas :-)

 the version before the last amendment - my one year work being summarised into 15 pages (tak termasuk references and appendices) ..takleh lebih than 15 pages coz kalau lebih reviewer boleh reject :-)

anyhoos ...last sunday I was supposed to be working, but ended up playing tennis with sue and my opis mate for 2.5 hours in the middle of the day..tennis was fun ..i have not played tennis in over 15 years ...followed by leisurely lunch at asian market sempena CNY ..siap ada lion dance ok ...terubat rindu jap lol ..and then followed by scenic drive and grocery shopping ..last2 that sunday i only did 3 hours of work ...and let me just say this - i know i work better under pressure hahaha ..so come Monday, aku memang start at 8 am ...and managed to submit 2 hours before the specified time ...i just cannot make any more improvement by then ..perasaan lega menguasai diri ....now my sv plak in Melbourne so I am free till end of this week ...next monday baru aku start kerja balik ...

and now..two days after submission, i bangun pagi feeling asthmatic ..i have been coughing since sunday ..and i can hear myself wheezing ..selama kat sini memang tak pernah jejak kaki kat student health centre until lah pagi ni ..i called to make appointment (note: kat sini kena buat appointment, sebab kalau mai gitu ajer, they will charge you as outpatient and kena bayar..kalau appointment, insuran will cover) ..and sebab esok public hols, my appoitment was set for fri ..then bila dengar aku batuk, she asked me to drop by pagi nie jugak ..see the nurse for triage ..and kalau teruk baru jumpa doktor ...so i went ...

while waiting for the nurse

memang aku a bit asthmatic ..but oxigen circulation ok ...dry cough ...slight temperature ...nurse asked me to jumpa doktor coz she doesnt like the sound of my breathing  ..so i did ...ended up with inhaler ..dia bagi dua serentak ..one for my handbag ..one for my bedside ...and i am to rest :-)

kat uni nie ada pharmacy sendiri - called uni pharmacy hehehe ..so senang, after gi health centre, terus ajer datang sini utk ambik prescription ..located at easterfield building ..and sekangkang kera from my opis

kat sini, kalau ada insuran, treatment and ubat akan dicover oleh insuran ...and i am lucky coz as pelajar tajaan, my insuran is up to date ...kalau kena bayar sendiri memang payah ...so all i need to do is ..buat appointment jumpa doktor ...will be covered by insuran ..and then gi pharmacy ambik ubat  and also covered by insuran ..tapi ada gak cases yang insuran tak cover ...like dentist treatment ...which is so expensive here ...and buat cermin mata pun tak covered by insuran ...also bloody expensive ...physiotherapy and counselling - depends on situation ....but also available kat student health centre ...and test test lain bergantung pada keadaan jugak ...like pap smear for international students are not covered by insuran ..so kena bayar ...

so sekian cerita aku gi health centre - semoga it will not become a routine for me!

Home made scone

Semalam, fid kata nak buat cake. Tapi ada beberapa barang x de kat rumah. X pasti barang tu ada kat jusco ke tak. Pastu semalam kan chinese new year, x pasti pulak kedai jual barangan nak buat cake buka ke tak kan. At last decided buat scone. Terus google recipe sambil nyanyi nyanyi kat adik beradik just 40 mintak recipe. 

Rasa cam senang la pulak nak buat scone ni. Aku ke jusco belit dried cranberries, butter and sour cream. Petang semalam jugak Fid buat scone ikut recipe google.

Lepas bakar nampak mcm cookies pulak. Tapi bau semerbak harum satu rumah. Makan masa panas panas dgn butter and strawberry jam. Sedap.

Masa roger roger my neigbour sebab nak pulangkan tray kueh tak kan nak pulang tray kosong kan. I suggested fid buat lagi scone ni. Aku ke jusco lagi beli butter dan dried cranberries. Yang kali ke 2 ni dah pandai dah nak bentukkan. The whole house bau scone yang menyelerakan.

Baru la terserlah rupa scone. He he. Very soft and delicous. Tadi breakfast pun dengan scone. Dapat la beri kat neighbour merasa scone sedap ni. 

Kisahnya nak buat scone ni senang sangat. Bahan yang nak di gunakan pun x banyak. Tepung naik sendiri, telur sebiji,  butter, sour cream, gula dan dried cranberries. Godek je semua sekali. Bentukkan pastu bakar. Senang bgt.

Lepas ni biler trringin scone aje boleh mintak Fid buatkan. X payah susah susah cari kat mana mana cafe or bread shop. 

Cara berlauk ni 40 sen seketul. Kalau cicah cili sos. Sedap bangat. Hari tu kakak fid order pastu dia bagi kami sikit. Aku suka beli cara berlauk ni time time bulan puasa.

I miss this place. Rasa macam nak lepak lepak kat sini sambil tengok sungai.