New Zealand - Christchurch

We took a night flight out of Singapore and lucky for us, we managed to get JD a seat for free. Pity though, that because they was bulkhead seats, we couldn't lift the arm rest and she still had to alternate between sleeping in my arms and in the bassiset.

We arrived in Christchurch about 9am, NZ time. It was really a pleasant surprise for us to see a special queue for families with children below 5. I had always thought airports should have this as young kids do get really cranky if the wait's too long. Needless to say, immigration was smooth sailing, baggage collection was quick and customs declaration was effortless too. The long checks for food declaration that I had to face at Australia were absent here and this made our start alot easier. We picked up our rented car from the Hertz counter and off we went to our first stop, Sign of the Takahe, which allowed us to have an overview of Christchurch.





This 1st day was basically an R&R day for us, before we begin our long drive down south. We put up at Ashleigh Court Motel for the night, a small but quaint apartment. Our host Steve was really friendly and helpful in kickstarting our trip.

New Zealand - Intro

I'm now blogging from Marina Mantra, a lovely 2 bedroom apartment in Queenstown, facing Lake Wakatipu, which I do not regret paying a premium for. When I'm on vacation, I want to really relax & enjoy, otherwise I might as well backpack. I sort of back packed once in my whole life, in Europe, mainly France. Being caught in a downpour, having little cash, living on bread & shaved ham almost everyday are things I probably not do ever again.

This road trip took me quite abit of guts to proceed. I hemmed & hawed for the longest time. I worried about JD's meals, JD's diapers, JD's behaviour during the long long car rides. Finally I told myself that if I wanna do it, just do it. So I did it and with help from Google, Trip Advisor, David & Janelle, I finally worked out a 2 week road trip in New Zealand.

It's half way through my trip and I'm enjoying myself lots. Of course, this wouldn't have been possible without my wonderful driver, DW, whom my admiration of has gone up many notches and my awesome parents who entertained JD during the long car rides. I also thank God for the wonderful weather and for blessing me with good navigational & map reading skills.

When I was doing my research, there were lots of questions in my mind. How difficult will the drive be, where's good to eat etc.. I'll be blogging in parts, of my entire trip, with the hope that this will encourage more parents to travel to NZ with their children. JD had a wonderful time feeding sheeps, watching the gushing waterfalls and playing with the ducks outside our apartment.

I end this post with a lovely photo of Lake Wanaka, an awesome view from our apartment at the Edgewater Resort.

One of those days...

It's a melancholic day. It's one of those days when I wish I can grab a pint of Hagen Daz cookies & cream & Sara Lee pound cake & wrap myself up in a bubble.

When I was single & a day like this came by, I would switch off my handphone & lock myself at home, not facing anyone. Now I don't have this luxury. I'll just sob & indulge in self pity.

An hour of total blindness

When I first learnt that I had to attend Dialogue in the Dark, I freaked out. Not because I'm scared of the dark, but because I'm scared of not beng able to see. I cannot envisage if something happened and I lose my sense of sight, permanently. I don't know what I will become and I dread to think about it. Last Friday evening, I was sort of thrown into a similar scenario, though only temporarily.

I was the last group to enter. It didn't help that each time the door opened for the earlier groups to enter, the room inside was pitch black and a gust of cold wind could be felt. Finally my turn came and I was adamant that I must be able to hold on to the person in front of me. This didn't work out well as we all had our own pace of walking and none of us could see where we were heading. I walked in. I couldn't see a thing. I couldn't breathe and I was nauseous. I wanted to give up and I wanted out. But I couldn't. I knew that I had to finish this.

My fear started to dissipate as I walked from one room to another but it never totally went away. I depended on the walls & my cane to navigate in the dark. The guide who was with us was very re-assuring. Later we found out that he was actually a healthy 31 year old guy who had gradually lost his sight because of glaucoma. It was amazing how he led us throughout the 1 hour journey. He couldn't see, but yet he could operate the metal bridge, work the "boat" and introduce us to the power of our 4 other senses. We used our sense of touch to feel what objects were before us, we used our sense of hearing to decipher the sounds of birds chirping, we used out sense of smell to realise our environment, we used our sense of taste to figure out what our drinks were. It took some of us about 5 mins just to find the hole to poke our straw through the tetra pak.

It was an experience I will never forget. And of course, I couldn't take any photos to post here.

An excerpt from their website:

Journey into the Dark

You begin your journey into the dark in a group of around eight people. Everyone in the tour is given a white cane. Anything that emits light or sound is covered or silenced. A blind guide will accompany you every step of the way to make sure you feel safe and secure.

Then the journey begins…

As you inch slowly in darkness, you come to an open park with plants, benches, and a fountain. The sound of birds and water completes this invisible landscape.

Boarding a boat, you sail down the Singapore River until you reach the city. Moving into town, you will have to navigate a typical Singaporean housing estate and face challenges like crossing the street through the noise of traffic.

The tour comes to a close as visitors are led to a coffeeshop, still within the darkness. Here you may have a drink and chat with your guide before ending your journey.

Prelude to my long break

My long break officially starts from 5.45pm, 23 April 2010.

And I think I really need it.

This week has been hectic and the following week will be no different, having work duties such that I probably reach home only about 10pm.

Adding fuel to fire, I really dread having to face a certain characteristic of people each day. People who do not put much thoughts to their actions, people who are so oblivious of their surroundings, people who do not realise the detrimental consequences as a result of their passiveness. I can't face people that I don't respect.

Maybe the problem lies with me. I've been told many a time that I'm just too impatient and too demanding. I expect things to be done at the snap of my fingers and I show no leeway when things do not turn out the way I want them to. Even the palm reader spared no qualms in telling this to my face a month back. This is bad for work relationships, worse for friendships and worst for family relationships. I had better buck up and work towards a change in my personal self.

It's time for me to calm down & slow my pace. I can't think of anywhere better to do this than in a country where the number of sheep exceed the no. of human beings, in a country where almost every nook you turn is either a lake or mountain.

I hope I don't rot there. I can't wait for this!

The S90

I've finally gotten my hands on this last week. Thanks to Adrian, I think that I've gotten one of the best deals! $650 nett, at least it seems the lowest priced S90 that I've sourced for, and it was even delivered right to my doorstep! I'm taking huge pride in this purchase as this is the 1st camera that I followed through from beginning to end, from the legwork, to the purchase, to the experimentation. The free training though, I've given the honours to Dw to attend. I figured he probably needs it more than me .. *sniggles*..

Admittedly, this idea of getting a new camera stemmed from Dw. The last camera we had was way back in 2005 and the images are no longer as sharp as they used to be. Dw has been toying with the idea of getting a DSLR but I've always put a firm 'no' to it as I felt the money could be better spent elsewhere, given that neither of us were avid photographers.

But I guess the man has overruled the woman on this occasion and after incessant nagging from the man, I finally caved in and so off I went calling each & every of my friend who owns a DSLR for their comments. All of them owned either the Nikon xxx model or the Canon EOS 500. The price of the latter was steep and it was kinda scary to put away so much money on something which I was still skeptical of. Fortunately, Kerk Sheen knew exactly what I was thinking about and introduced me to the S90 - a point & shoot camera with almost the functionality of a DSLR but at half the price. Wow, I liked the sound of "pocket-sized". I just couldn't imagine myself lugging around a huge camera and a 11 kg baby at the same time!

After lots of research, this was it. Called Adrian and the rest is history. I'm blown away by the effects & how the photos turn out, given that I'm a total novice at this. If this works out well, or rather if I still love playing with this after a good amount of time, we may very well move on to a DSLR.

JD at 19 months

Oh my, another month has passed in the blick of an eye. Though it's only a difference of 30 / 31 days, the milestones grow exponentially. Mainly the area which I noticed a great improvement is her vocabulary. With the inclusion of "no no" in her vocabulary now, it's pretty much a pain to get her to co-operate.

Our conversations now circle around these:

Me: Jilliane, quiet time now
JD: No no

Me: Jilliane, time to sleep
JD: No no (followed by fake cries)

Me: Jilliane, you have had enough cookies. Please give the tupperware back to mommy
JD: No no (any attempt to take the box away from her will have her bouncing up & down with legs shaking vigourously which makes me suspect she's hit the terrible 2s stage of tantrum throwing)

Think you would have kinda gotten the picture huh... Otherwise I think this is a lovely age where she's old enough to understand and interact but yet not that old to rebel and turn the house upside down.

It's April fool's today

You reckon today we'll all be informed that the Ris - Ross's saga was merely an April's fool's joke? Sounds lame but if it's true, I think it's good that once in a while, we get some trivial excitement. We so need this.