The Opera Populaire

First of all, a great news to share: I have been offered a scholarship for my graduate studies!!

This really solves all previous worry of potential money woes, especially coming of The Event. The interview was a little tough and I felt a bit like I was defending my dissertation. But God brought me through it all. I think I have become more and more argumentative and able to defend my points. Maybe I should consider law as my profession? Hehehe. Anyway I have never thought of myself as a scholar material...at least not by the standard of my results during the school years. A few saving graces might have contributed to me being awarded the scholarship...one of which was the fact that I had applied for a local degree. Hearing about people leaving for overseas degrees made me a little sian in the sense that I do wish I have a chance to study abroad as well. Especially after the recent stint in the States. Sigh. But I guess it is not to be. At least, I don't think I can sacrifice that much to let it be. One cannot be too greedy in life, I always think. In the age where individuality is prized above the collective, I still hold on to the belief that we must be considerate towards our loved ones and people we meet.

Let's talk about Auckland!

My work there went exceptionally well, to my greatest surprise. But then again, recently God has showered me with exceptionally wonderful blessing. It is wonderful, especially after spending the last two years or so with much challenges, sometimes working hard with no fruit of the labor to be seen.

The hosts there were exceptionally nice, especially this charming lady. I realise that the thing with Caucasians is that you gotta speak up and prove yourself. After that, everything went very well and I did not even really had to come out of my usually introverted self, because people just keep coming up to introduce themselves to me. I followed a bunch for various dinners, which was fun, despite the fact that I don't drink, which was quite a bummer especially when you are going with Caucasians, but health is at stake.

About fun! Auckland is not exactly the most fun place to be. In fact, it reminded me of Australia, which is somewhere I am not exactly keen on going back to, save for Tasmania. Even the much-famed Harbour was pretty blah, unless you are seeing it from a cruise or on board a heli. I made the right choice in going to Waiheke Island and taking the normal tour. But it was nothing to rave about either. The island was full of little beaches, houses built on steep cliffs (architectural marvel!) and of course, vineyards. The people there are also incredibly artistic, with little shops selling some pretty crafts. Auckland also sell some of the prettiest soft toys I have ever seen. But when the time came for me to utilise my full-day bus pass, I was at a loss as to where to go. The others on the tour stopped for only some refreshments too. And when the bus came to take us back to the harbour, we all hopped on. Or should I say, hobbled on. Because I noticed that, not only was I the only Asian on the island, I was also the youngest person there. All other visitors were retirees, some of whom had to rely on crutches etc. I was particularly impressed by this old man, who managed to make his way everywhere on his crutch and looked cheerful all the time.

Anyway, back I went to the city and had Valentino's gelato, which was perpetually full of customers. I am not sure if I ordered the wrong flavour, but I was not particularly impressed with my cone, with a caramel toffeeish flavour and passion fruit. Should have ordered chocolate instead. I don't have an adventurous taste bud. One of my friends during the trip had told me that she spent 2 years in Naples and Valentino's taste exactly like the gelato in Italy. I remember mine in Rome tasted way better, but it might have been the cold chilling me.

Speaking of taste bud, I found a fantastic restaurant serving ramen that tasted like Golden Dragon in Osaka!!!! So happy was I that I went thrice to Daikoku Ramen. If you wanna try it, it's at the intersection between Albert Street and Victoria Street in Auckland...I forgot the street name. I regretted trying the katsudon on my last night there...the ramen was wayyyy superior! Alas, I no longer had the space in my tummy for the ramen. The service was also great...every employee was Japanese. Prices were very reasonable too...about S$ 10 for a large bowl of ramen. I had ramen Santouka at Central upon coming back to SG, but for $19.50, it did not even compare to Daikoku Ramen. I would go back to Auckland for the ramen alone hehehe...

One place which everyone, especially tourists should avoid going to is the Victoria Park Market. Upon reaching Victoria Park, I was already disappointed. They should have called it Victoria Field instead, because that was all there was to it. You get the picture. The market was even worse. It was basically a group of little shops selling things of lousy materials which you can find in places all over Asia Pacific. The only one perhaps worth looking at is this stall of vintage clothing. But if you are petite like me, you will likely not to find anything you can fit in.

If you are into parks, Albert Park is a place you should not miss. It was a small but tranquil little park with pretty flowers and some statues, including one of Queen Victoria (in Albert Park, geddit?). There was also a clock tower of University of Auckland above the park...very beautiful! There are some art galleries near the Park, which I went to. Like the creativity of the people there. I aspire to use art galleries as inspiration for my house.

The Auckland Domain is also a must visit, but due to my momentary blurness, I walked all the way there and lost all energy by the time I got there hehe. It was also a pity not to able to see Auckland War Museum there.

Queen Street was not bad for shopping, but then I missed Newmarket because I waited till too late to go there. Queen St. was the nearest to my hotel, so I had more opportunities to check it out. Supre is a very affordable New Zealand fashion brand, although I find the material not too good. Glasson is slightly pricier but still very affordable. Parnell is a very pretty area with Victorian-inspired shops.

Labels: Saya Affairs, Travel Diary