"Popi popi!" was what I exclaimed on the 3rd day of my hives. J laughed at me but I didn't think it was that funny.

The wheals kept disappearing & coming back till the wee hours this morning (it started on Wed morning) and I took my medicine on an empty stomach and woke up to a spinning ceiling. I felt spinny and groggy the whole day. Thankfully, it has been raining these few days so there was not much heat to aggravate my discomfort. I've also been taking cold showers to soothe it.

I am much better now :)

Please go away and never come back.

**

A pleasant surprise visit from Fen. It's been a long time since I last saw her.

My Aunt Agnes teaches at a school for kids with autism and Down Syndrome. Fen was one of the students there and her mother became fast friends with my aunt. I've known them for as long as I can remember, and I used to go to their house for sleep-overs and  games. Fen is two years older than I am and she has a mild case of Down Syndrome. She's a good painter, very loving and affectionate and my family loves her. She came over to my granny's house today because her parents went for a holiday and she's currently under my aunt's care :)
We happened to be celebrating my cousin's birthday today, she was in for a treat! I don't know why, but she likes me a lot and remembers me the best among everyone else.

I've taught at my aunt's school before (as an assistant teacher) and I've learnt from then that these special children always have something to teach us, even though we are the ones wielding the blackboard markers. They love unconditionally and express themselves without fear of being ridiculed and they harbor no evil intentions at all.

Fen dances like no one is watching, so says my aunt. Her brother Charles was one of the finalists in Singapore Idol and taught Fen beatboxing and she demonstrated it by improvising her own "Happy Birthday" for my cousin.

What a wonderful girl she is!

I am finally done with the transfer of pictures from iPad to Macbook. Phew!
It's a lot to go through, so I am going to just upload some here as the highlight of my journey.

I know this isn't fair to the awesome places in NZ that aren't chosen but remember, I love them the same.

To-dos
I did my homework (albeit not extensively) before I set off on my adventure and there were just a few things I set my mind to do.


Tried the L&P - Lemon & Paeroa, a soft drink made in NZ. I thought it was okay-ish. I'm not a huge fan of fizzy drinks anyway.


I had the legendary Fergburger too. $10 for a burger as big as your face. Well, fine, it depends on how big your face is. It was succulent!


My favorite ice-cream in NZ! Ok. I didn't actually made up my mind to eat this cos I didn't even know this existed, but I just enjoy eating it and I'd have it now and then when I felt like it, even when I was freezing.

And I went white water rafting. I water-rafted 5.5 years ago when I went to NZ for the first time with my family and it was SO MUCH FUN. I told myself I had to do it again some day, and I did! The ride along the Skipper Canyon remains the scariest yet for me, but it is exhilarating nonetheless.
I didn't purchase the rafting pictures & Mari-san who shared the raft with me kindly gave me a printed copy from her album :))
I want to do it again and again! I like the American instructor and he allowed us to jump into the icy water! We floated on our backs & let the current sweep us forward. Jumping in was easy, but getting back into the raft was another matter altogether and it was quite hilarious.


I did a beautiful 2-hour horseback riding at Glenorchy with river crossings and a magnificent view of the Misty Mountains. My helmet was so loose around my face (though it was so tight around my head) and it bounced about when we trotted. My handsome horse is called Diesel. Our horses formed a line as they walk and I learnt to tell horses' ranking in the hierarchy by their places in the line. The guide horse was always ahead leading the pack and Diesel was constantly right behind the guide horse.


Canyon swing is seriously the scariest shit I have ever done and I don't know if I will do it again in the future. I had to muster all my courage to conquer this one & I am sure much of my courage evaporated as I took the leap. It was scary because you had to jump off the ledge right into the heart of the canyon by yourself. I had jelly legs balls.

How scary was scary, you ask?

Uh huh.
This is a funny shit underpants on the wall of the Canyon Swing shop. Not mine, but it depicts the scariness. 


My first ever skydiving experience is unforgettable. 


Tumble out of the plane at 12,000ft? Why not?

People I met
Now, I've met a lot of fantastic people. They range from kind shopkeepers to random strangers on the streets to foreign faces in the hostels to people on ferry/look-out points and adventure seekers. But I obviously didn't make friends with them all and I definitely didn't sneak a picture of any unknowing souls.

But I (hope that I will) remember them and the very brief friendship that peeked its head out by the nourishment of sincerity between us.

These are some of the people I met & took pictures of/with.


We cooked dinner together and it was fun and the meal was delicious!


Met Emily from Switzerland at the hostel in Wellington & we went out to the botanical garden (huge and beautiful and FREE, btw) and cable car center together.


Terisha, my wwoofing host in Dunedin. She's a really kind soul :)


Mari and I at Queenstown. I bumped into her the day after we met at our white water rafting activity. She's really nice and excitable and a dare devil! Traveling alone, she went bungee jumping and parasailing and enjoyed it ;)
*thumbs up*


I went to church one Sunday morning at Te Anau and was introduced to this couple with 10 children. 9 boys and 1 girl, and unfortunately, the little lass has a disorder (but I am not sure which exactly). Her brother here is so sweet and takes good care of her. Very heart warming,

Scenic-worthy
I cannot emphasize enough how much I love the deep blue color of the sky in New Zealand. The best thing is when there is a gradual gradient of blue as the hue of the sky joins the horizon. Absolutely breath-taking.


Te Anau is such a peaceful little town & I sat there in front of the lakes for a long time just looking at the ducks on the calm waters (until an occasional boat interrupted the stillness).


Sign reads "Please do not feed the Black Swans. They may attack you." It did not deter the chinese visitors from trying though.


Got up close and personal with the windmills


On the ferry from Picton to Wellington. I took this because I thought the cloud resembles a whale.


See?
And I saw some dolphins jumping jumping jumping! Very brief, but still!


One of the most beautiful beaches I have ever set foot on - Wharariki Beach.


Give me good weather and a mat with a basket full of food & drinks and I can sit there the whole day at the beach.


Mount Cook and Mount Tasman. I am thankful for the good amount of sunshine during my trip. Depending on where I was, it was pretty chilly despite the strong sunlight. Woe betide me when the wind is especially strong - it was so windy in Wellington, I had a bit of trouble when I walked against the wind. The temperate dipped as low as 0° sometimes.


The Cathedral Cove is one of the places I climbed a long and winding way for. And it's so picturesque :)


So calm, so blue, so peaceful.


Ditto!


On the way to Queenstown!


Lake Waktipu


I loveeee it!

The Animals
Cows and sheep are not the only animals in Hobbit Land, though admittedly they are everywhere. And the sheep are a stupid and timid lot - they try to run away in front of a moving vehicle. 
At least the cows stand their ground.


Sexiest tomcat ever


Coolest cat award goes to this one I found at Te Anau. It had its eye on the ducks floating on the lake most of the time and it refused to look at the camera though I must have taken about 100 shots.


He gave my lens a lick when I tried to take a close up picture :\


Terisha's loyal friend, Blaze.


George the grumpy looking cat is actually a very sweet kitty who loves a cuddle. My friends say I have a weird definition of "cute". What? Isn't George cute?  


Jack, the former farm dog at Kaikoura. Look at those puppy eyes!


This is one of my favorite moments at the Wharariki Beach in Takaka- having a wild seal pup come up to me and smell my fingers and toes. It was totally unexpected and magical and OMG.


This is one rude sheep.


Not sure what kind of deer this is, but it's a pretty naughty one. It kept chasing away the friendly goat I was hand feeding.

The girl working at the Korean school where I attend classes told me she would love to try going on such an adventure too, but she is afraid of animals. I should have reminded her that some human beings are worse than animals.

In a nutshell, I have enjoyed my trip and it was rejuvenating. I have learnt a lot of things about myself during this journey too. I woke up at 7-8am, had breakfast & applied sunblock religiously. I don't even use sunblock in SG, but the air was so dry and sun so strong that my skin started to resemble snake skin. 

This has cost me quite a bomb & left a relatively empty pocket in my jeans. I could have saved some unnecessary costs but for some reasons. Anyhow, I will take it as a lesson and I will not repeat it.
The most important thing about traveling is to make sure you make a good travel mate, and also make friends wisely. Not everyone you meet is a buddy and not every stranger is a potential thief or peeping tom. Even if you are traveling alone, always be considerate of others & it is really ok if things don't as planned (yes, it is good to have a plan as a guide) I discovered heavenly places when I strayed from my plan.

Here are some random images to end this post.


Cute Kiwi beanie at the Rainbow Springs shop


Cupcake beanie - I think this is meant for kids cos it looks a tad too small for me


Angry bird beanie!


I like Cookie Monster, and we both love to eat cookies.



Don't know what i was doing


A first - got bitten by nasty bedbugs in Napier. I am suffering from mosquito bites now, but the bedbugs experience was much worse. The itch was unbelievable and they bit me all over my shoulder and face and arms and legs and belly and I shudder to think about it. I used toothpaste every night to dry the bites and it worked!


This is just a random picture that I find quite amusing.


I left my precious iPad in between the sheets at the last hostel I stayed in before I left for the North Island. I usually flip out the sheets to check that I leave nothing behind, but I left it between the double sheets that day.
The owner called when I was about to board the ferry and we arranged for a courier to deliver it to me at my next hostel. The kind owner emailed me the tracking number and said that I didn't need to pay her back the NZ$8+. But I sent her a thank you card with a NZ$10 bill inside anyway :)
So kind of her!!


How I feel about the end of my adventure in NZ

*
But this is not the end of it.
I want to visit Japan, Fiji, Europe and many many other countries! $_$

Milo is making me fat(ter) and broke by introducing all these collectables.
First the vintage milo tin - which I bought a BIG tin of milo for - and now this

Yes, I'm a sucker for these. HAAA!

Flashes of my 21st birthday just came to my mind.

It was more of the preparation part that came to mind. I remember going to Pasir Ris with my Aunt Agnes to buy some door gifts and drinks for the party at the chalet. I don't know why, but it's sort of a tradition in my family to hold 21st birthday parties in a chalet.

I remember the customised cake from Cedele - in the shape of a cow. I was about to take a bite from my share when I had to say bye to my guests who were leaving and the cake was gone when I went back for it. I didn't taste my own birthday cake!

I remember Jinny & Rayner being the earliest and we played mahjong together.

I remember I was sweaty and sticky from being so busy taking care of my people. My calves muscles ached that night, from walking too much.

I remember being really happy and honored by those who turned up for me. The gifts didn't hurt either.

6 years ago. What has happened between then and now?

My title for this post is "Im still here" but the auto correction function suggested "beautiful" after I typed "I'm".

Thanks for the compliment, Macbook.

I have been feeling lethargic lately. Not sure if it's the weather or what.
I have also been busy uploading my 100 tonnes of pictures into my dropbox so that I can back them up in my hard disc.

I need to send the resume out real soon. And it's funny, Subway (regional office) called me up to ask if I am keen to go back to work, with a slightly different role. Seated in a proper office, no more storeroom.
I am rejuvenated, and ready to get back to work. It's just the process of finding work that turns me off.

Still, I am not complaining. I have been very privileged already.
J told me that I am not confident enough and that I do not give myself enough credit; in terms of both playing golf and in my work.

I kind of agree - I always think of myself as stupid and incapable and inadequate.

I need to become smarter and more resourceful and learn how to say the right things at the right time for my own survival.

**
I am really upset about the recent Ferrari accident. The victim/s could have been someone dear to me. You really would never know what would happen next, even if you are doing nothing wrong and going about your usual business. A reckless drunktard took a child away from his/her parents that fateful morning.