blog berputik kembali???

Berbulan blog ini sepi tanpa di update, sepi takde coretan
sebab masing masing busy ....kata nya lah ...
aku takpe lah ..memang busy tahap gaban ....
yang lain tu busy apa aku tak tau
(katanya sorang tu busy jadi pelakon handalan hahahaha ...)
so malam nie akak update le sket ....

tak tau nak mula kat mana
coz banyak sangat cerita
banyak sangat gambar

yes, akak masih lagi kat Welly
insyaallah setahun lagi kot
tapi masa nie kerja makin banyak
dah masuk tahun kritikal le kata kan ....

akak kiter kat Kuantan now sibuk
dia biasalah ...dok kira duit syarikat kan
so sibuk le ..kang salah kira susah pulak

akak CEO kiter ...as usual terjah sana terjah sini ajer
sibuk meeting sana sini
sibuk jumpa pengarah itu ini
hahahaha so kiter kutuk kat blog nie pun takpe
dia tak baca punya

abang ngah ...tak tau aku nak cakap
sunyi sepi ajer ...tak update blog dah
cuba le update sket trip makan makan maha hebat tu .....

  gambar2 terkini keluarga kak long and abang ngah (sori, Ita - aku takde gambar terkini ngko sekeluarga)

itu ajer lah update pembuka tirai blog yang seakan terkubur ni ...pasnie kalau ada masa akan di update lagi :-)

Apa Khabar

Apa khabar semua? Bersawang macam blog ni jugak ke? Ha ha ha.  Punya la lama tak update sampai aku lupa password nak masuk google. Lol.

Aku tengah breakfast ni. So a short update aje. Masa tak mengizinkan. 

Aku tepek gambar get together kita beberapa bulan yang lepas. Again Ejin tak dapat menjoinkan diri.

Semua ceria aje. Makanan pun sedap mantap.

Anak anak riang gembira walaupun sessi sekejap aje. Hensem hensem anak lizduan. 

Cake ni order semata semata nak meraikan Ejin yang takde masa kita jumpa makan makan ni. Thank you to loz and duan sebab belanja  kami. 

Happy sangat dapat jumpa korang. Nanti aku update lagi.

Hobbiton tour - melawat kampung hobbit

The second day in Rotorua tu aku bangun awal ... sebab my bus will pick me up at designated point at 8.15am but was told to wait there at least 15mins before ..so tak sempat breakfast pun, pas mandi siap semua, kuar hostel by 7.55 terus menapak 5 mins to i-site office at Fenton Street. Sebab tu aku pilih that hostel, knowing that it is just minutes away from i-site, which is often the pik up and drop off point sepanjang percutian aku kat sini

The destination of that day is Hobbiton Movie set in Matamata ...kira nak balik Shire le tu..nak lawat hobbits ...aku ingatkan shuttle kecik ajer yang kami guna ...sekali sampai memang bus gedabak tu ..and it was nearly full off people!

hari tu aku lupa snap gambar bus hehehe but while waiting for my bus back to Welly on my last day, kebetulan bus Hobbiton nie lalu ..so aku snap jer lah

I booked a tour tu before sampai kat Rotorua. Takut takde ticket kalau beli the day before. I booked with a tour company - costs $107 for a half day tour with return transport from  Rotorua, entrance fee ke movie set plus guide.That day that bus hampir full..but the tour company banyak kat sini and all buat two trip a day ..trip pagi start at 8.15am and yang petang start at 1.15pm. Nasib I choose to go on that day coz the day after that weather was on off ujan ...

Hobbiton ni terletak kat Matamata ..on a sheep farm ..owner dia masih lagi keep the sheep around the farm kat sini. Matamata ni kat Waikato region, so the bus took us from Bay of Plenty region menuju ke Waikato region...perjalanan dalam sejam lebih gitu lah ...i kan travel alone, so all the way I was listening to my audiobook...it is very thereaputics hahaha sebab all these while, aku sempat dengat 2-3 chapters ajer ..but that day I have ample of time to listen to my book (Mao's last dancer - a really good book!)

then, when we reached Hobbiton, the bus driver stopped so that we can have toilet break and also spent time kat souveniour shop ..coz we all sampai awal and at that time tak ramai orang ..so spent a few minutes kat situ and then i lepak luar admiring the view ..padahal tak masuk pun lagi kawasan tu hahahaha ...souveniours as usual mahal le ...aku beli poskad and stamps jer ..and stamps here semua gambar hobbitons ..so worth it lah beli here :-)

The tour started here ..kitorang dengar safety briefing dulu lol and one of them is to apply sun block ..i lupa nak put on my face - as a result i got sun burnt! NZ sun is very strong - jgn lupa pakai sun block ..sebab walaupun cloudy, it is quite strong

our tour guide - Sam

and our tour started at the Garden ...a plae where Bilbo lalu masa dia berlari2 nak join Thorin and the dwarfs the day after the party at his place ...

up there is Bilbo's hobbit hole (pintu hijau at top of this pic)..and he ran down here across the garden ..pagar yang dia lompat tu tersembunyi kat sini ...i didnt get the close up of the gate

and from here it is just one wonderful feature after another ..the guide tu sangat suka bercakap hahaha so memang informative ..and he also gave us longer time to take pics ..the tip is that we should be as close to him as possible ..and he will try akan stay lelama sket at each place so that we have longer time hahahaha ...

as a huge fan of LOTR and Hobbit (ok, I watched LOTR and Hobbits for numerous time, read the book and listen to audio books multiple times - yup - a huge fab indeed!!!), this is a dream come true ..cant believe I am here ..at the movie set where the sceneries seemed so familiar ...OMG, it was surreal ...

According to the guide, masa LOTR dulu, the hobbit holes were temporary and mostly made from non-permanent structure..ada yang buat pakai polisterin and then diwarnakan etc masa tu dorang buat 39 hobbit holes ...and bila abis penggambaran LOTR, the structures semua di buka - sebab itu yang agreed by Peter Jackson dan owner of the land. But kata nya, sebelum abis semua structure dibuka, filem dah kuar kat wayang ..and neighbours realised lokasi itu actually farms dekat diorang (the ridge and everything else was so identifiable oleh tuanpunya tanah sekitar kawasan ni), and neighbours started to visit the farm to see the structure ...masa dorang shooting yng first filem, tiada siapa boleh bagitau jiran apa yang actually dorang buat kat situ ...so bila jiran dah tau, org pun kecoh le nak tengok ...

rumah cousin Bilbo yang nak lelong rumah Bilbo at the end of Hobbit 3 ... sackville-baggins kalau tak silap

Then bila Peter Jackson kata nak guna lagi kawasan ini utk Hobbit, the landowner kata boleh ..tapi dengan syarat, buat structure permanent and tak yah buka after abis shooting ...hevat le request tu coz now org buat tour ke situ ...

but the highlight of the tour is at Bag End - the name of Bilbo's hobbit hole ...the one yang warna hijau ...and queue to take pic was so long lol ..but we waited patiently and by then dah ada geng dah ...all fans of LOTR and Hobbit kan ....so memang helped each other ambik gambar ..tak perlu tanya dah ..aku toleh jer kat belakang and the two guys will take my camera and took my pics ..so sweet hahahaha ..

 the seat where Bilbo first met Gandalf!

that tree above Bilbo's house is probably the most expensive tree in the worls hahaha it is an artificial tree made from steel and silicon :-) katanya artificial leaves dari Taiwan and individually wired into the tree! kan hobbit dibuat selepas LOTR padahal in terms sequence, Hobbit tu dulu then LOTR ..so, the tree has to be smaller ...

 saw this and teringat kan labah labah yang dok serang the dwarfs in Hobbit and the huge one yang tangkap Frodo in LOTR! so uncanny hahahaha

see how long the queue is! at least it is teratur ...and not bersesak sesak ..so dapat jugak gambar sorang tanpa gangguan ..but seriously, the place is crowded and we were told it is still quiet sebab kami antara group terawal for that day!

our guide

and another familiar feature is the party field ..with the party tree as the centre of attention! Ingat tak the opening epiosds in LOTR masa Bilbo nak celebrate his 100th birthday ..well, that is where they had the party!

From here, we ended the tour by going to Green Dragon - the pub where Frodo jumpa mamat ansem tu ..the hero a.k.a Aragorn. we also had free drinks there ..nak kata free tak free lah as it is part of the entrance fee hahaha ...

 after walking for over 2 hours! muka dah peluh dah masa nie ...

after a short rest at the pub ..it is time to say goodbye to the Shire ..tapi sangat puas hati, and that feeling of awesomeness hahaha cannot believe I have been here!!!!!!!

Rotorua trip sepintas lalu

yeayyyyyyyy!!!! 

I am back from my holiday ... arrived home 3.5 hours ago ...terasa cepat masa berlalu ..pejam celik pejam celik dah 4 malam 5 hari ....but it was a great break ...here's my posting on the trip sepintas lalu..posting lain akan menyusul ngan lebih detailed

I decided to go for break ..sebab masa long Christmas break aritu aku cuma ambik a few days off jer ..so pas settle data entry, I did an impulsive booking lol ..book backpacker dulu then book bus ...pas settle baru bagitau supervisor yang aky akan gi cuti hahaha ...not that I expect him to object but usually I think more than 10 kali kalau nak gi cuti ...rasa bersalah nak tinggalkan kerja half done ..but my suervisor was all for it ..in fact siap kata I should learn to let go - hahaha ..so akak pergi cuti ngan senang ati ...

Percutian mega tu naik bus ajer hahaha sebab tak mampu naik flight ..kalau naik flight over $300 return - sebab book lambat kan ..kalau book awal murah sket ..so naik Intercity Bus - return trip costs me only $47.00 but jenuh le dok dalam bus sebab perjalanan dalam 7-8 jam but murah punya pasal ..road trip pun road trip lah! 

Lake Rotorua

Day 1: Started on Thurs 29th Jan - took an early morning bus from Welly - sampai Rotorua kol 3.00 ptg. Pas checked in into my backpackers at Hinemoa Street, aku lepak jap to rehat2 ..weather was so sunny and wonderful, so by 5.00pm aku kuar to check out the town. Ended up lepak2 at the lake front ...menghadap Lake Rotorua ..a good start to the day! 

Day 2: Hari yang ditunggu tunggu ..pagi tu aku join the Hobbiton Tour! OMG it was amazing ...tak sangka aku jejak kaki ke movie set tu hahaha ...costs me $107 for a trip from Rotorua to Matamata, including return transport, entrance fee and guide :-) posting akan menyusul nanti. Then malam nya I went with a few people yang aku jumpa masa trip nie to Polynesian Spa - also an amazing time! 

Champagne Pool, Wai-o-tapu

Day 3: Pagi tu I gi merayap ke Wai-o-tapu - the thermal wonderland. The sceneries there are amazing ..steam coming out from the ground ...the heat ..the wonderful colour ...ada mud pool, champagne pool ..again, posting with photos akan menyusul. This place is out of town, so I book a transport untuk ke sana. Book from i-Site jer masa tu for $70 inc entrance fee and returned transport with pick up depan hostel.  and petang tu, I went for Lake tours with Duck Tour, visiting 3 major lakes in the area: Lake Okareka, Lake Tikitipu and Lake Tarawera

Day 4: My last day untuk jejalan. Pagi tu I gi Whakarewarewa (pronounced as Fa-ka-rewa-rewa). It is a living Maori village located just at the outskirt of town. Aku beli tiket kat i-Site at discounted rate of $30. Usually entrance fee more than that. then pas abis tu, last chance ronda ronda town..so I went to Government Garden and took photos kat situ ajer ..ujan cut short my jalan jalan

Day 5: Balik Welly :-)

Now, as I am typing this, I am waiting for my laundry. Hahaha kena basuh baju yang bertimbun and pas nie nak masak maggie ..lapar!

But one thing for sure, I sure had fun in Rotorua. Have not done solo travelling since Shanghai :-) now tak sabar nak jejalan Bangkok plak ..

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 ...