The Difference Maker

2007-07-07T19:33:00.000-07:00

It has been an absolutely fantastic experience this 4.5 months of my life spent studying at the university of canterbury in christchurch new zealand.

I will miss the friends I have met there, who have come from all over the world.

Parting is sweet sorrow as Shakespeare wrote in Romeo and Juliet but nevertheless it has to happen, for me.

Singapore is home and home is Singapore.

To all my friends and family who have followed my journey over this 4.5 months, I thank you for your precious time in reading this blog, your comments have been invaluable. I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

And as I told many of you, this blog served to provide a glimpse of my life and to keep my family and friends updated about my whereabouts and wellbeing during this period of my life away from you, away from home, away from Singapore. With my return to Singapore, I can be contacted quite easily.

Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, guys and girls, I will leave this blog for those who still want to read past entries and for those who will chance upon it in future. I will probably drop by occasionally to reminisce.

But beyond that, this will be my last post. I will not be updating it any more.

THANKS for the memories

2007-07-07T19:16:00.000-07:00

7th July 2007

Sister's commencement ceremony - the reason why I came back to Singapore so early.
There was a thunderstorm early in the morning. There was more rain in the morning than in all my time in New Zealand. And I heard thunder for the first time in months.
I am not sure if I should describe the feeling and emotion as therapeutic but it was actually kind of nice to hear it.

Went for the ceremony and met some friends there by chance. K and C had both found jobs in banks and were starting work within the month at stanchart and ocbc I think. Also met yaning my boss in EMCC who has relinquished her position as she wants to work part time.

Everyone I met over the past few days has commented on how long and thick my hair is and advised me to get a hair cut. This I will surely do, on monday.

When I first landed, I really felt the humidity. I never really felt completely dry but it's getting better now as I've been back a couple of days already. Showered about 3 times a day for the past few days but intending to cut down to 1 or 2 soon.

In the 48 hours since I've been back, I've also tasted my mum's cooking as well as had chicken rice, dumpling (shui3 jiao3), shao1 rou4, ngoh hiang, sweet and sour pork, ma pou tofu, yam basket, yeo's green tea, HL milk, digestive biscuits, milo, ang ku kueh, barley, ice lemon tea, 9 layer cake, lotus paste bun, etc.

I am also in the midst of giving out the souvenirs and chocolates to family and friends so just be patient guys!

2007-07-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

6th July 2007
Woke up at 9am, checked email and received a reminder email to submit fyp project list. I found out that I had selected only 9 projects and I needed to have a minimum of 10 projects before I could submit the list. Oops. And so I did the necessary.

Went to school in the afternoon. There was a predeparture briefing for departing SEP students. Talked for 5 minutes about my own experience. Met Faith and Yiling there! Amazing, happy to see them. Yiling's SEP album is really beautiful. She must have put in lots of effort. Heard that Suhui is touring south east asia with xiaoqiang. Met Simin who is going to University of Canterbury on 7th July. Answered all her questions and gave her as much advice as I could. Elaine the IRO officer was telling us about a possible competition for SEP photographs in September during international exchange day; Faith, Yiling and I expressed our desire to win the top 3 prizes. :)

And then it was time to go home. But not before meeting YK by chance in the PC cluster where he was doing some graduation gift for a friend of a friend.

That evening, I went to AMK hub to get a replacement SIM card for the one I had lost 3 months back while touring the north island. It was really big and new and had a huge number of shops, ranging from fish and co to sushi places, to zone x, to cathay cinemas, etc. Spent some time watching people play time crisis 4, initial d 4, etc. Realised that I have not stepped into an arcade for almost half a year.

2007-07-07T18:47:00.000-07:00

5th July 2007

The morning of departure saw me rising at 9 am to finish packing. I gave away lots of stuff which I did not need, like tissue paper, squeeze bottles, survival blanket, engineering paper, graph paper, posters, biscuits, soup, etc to Eli and Meat who were the only 2 students remaining on my level.

Thanks to JieYing for giving me a ride around to settle stuff like checking in my lugguage at the airport, lunch, buying souvenirs and closing my bank account. Reaching the airport at 2.30pm for 2.35pm flight was a little worrying but at least I got a good workout running to the departure gate and clearing customs in 5 minutes, something I've never tried before.

Then it was a 2hr 45 min flight to Sydney where I was informed by my sis to buy krispy kreme donuts and darrell lea chocolates. Try as I might, I could not find the krispy kreme outlet and so I asked the salesgirl. She told me the outlet is outside the departure lounge which was confirmed by my sis when I got home.

Boarded the flight from Sydney to Singapore at about half past 5 Australian time. Met the 2nd irishman in 2 days. Prior to this trip, I had never encountered any irishmen. J had just finished his 3 month travel of australia and had to go back to ireland. He was quite sad that his travel visa was finished as he thoroughly enjoyed his time in australia. We were fortunate that there were only 2 of us because this meant that we had a middle seat empty which meant more space to put our stuff and move around. The flight proved to be a turbulent affair and I could not get much shut eye for the 7 hour flight.

Eventually we landed at Changi Airport at 11:40pm and I was glad to be home, after 4.5 months away in Christchurch New Zealand. Got home at about 12.30am and only went to bed at about 3am Singapore time as I checked my email, do the bedsheets, shower and read the Straits Times.

2007-07-07T18:35:00.000-07:00

2-4 July 2007

3 days of snowboarding was expensive but it was thoroughly enjoyable. I do not know when I will have a chance to do it again so it was with my enthusiasm and relish that I woke up at about 6am every morning during my last days in New Zealand, and eagerly checked the metservice and mount hutt websites for updates. The decision to go depended on whether the mountain was open at 6+ in the morning. Fortunately, my last 3 days were a "Go" even though the snow base was not good.

There's not much else you can do on the 1hr 45 minute ride from christchurch to mount hutt. And when the bus is full, you either sleep or talk to the people seated to your left and right. This I did on my trips and I met I from Ireland who at 17 years of age had already tried ecstasy and weed, etc. He was looking forward to going to amsterdam for his 18th birthday. I was to find out later that he did skating and surfing so he picked up snowboarding really quickly, easily and without falling too many times.

People I met on the snowboarding trips included Clinton (17 years of snowboarding), Kate (who did Summit 6 quite a few times), Peter (who goes on alternate days or when there's powder), Lisa and Daniel (korean students who kept urging me to try highway 72 and broadway with them, which I declined since I was still falling on the magic carpet).

I loved every minute of my experience on Mt Hutt, except for the falling over and chaffing of the legs part, but still that was an experience in itself.

Snowboarding on Mt Hutt, and snowing

2007-07-01T23:44:00.000-07:00

Snowing 1
Snowing 2
Snowing 3
Snowing 4
Snowing 5

Finally managed to get some snowboarding action in on my 4th attempt at getting up Mt Hutt. And it snowed for 1.5 hours which made the slopes slightly better than when we first arrived, since powder is better to ski/snowboard on. Fell many times and it is extremely tiring, but I just kept going since Singapore will never have snow and mountains.

The past few days.....

2007-06-30T23:33:00.000-07:00

It's been 3 frustrating days since friday till today, where the weather has prevented us from going to Mt Hutt to learn snowboarding or skiing. Going to try again tomorrow to get on the mountains to learn before I go back to Singapore since the chance of trying it is close to 0(unless snowcity is considered in the equation).

Been on msn messenger the past few days and chatting with some friends. Many of them have arrived back in Singapore from their exchange programmes, ranging from France to HongKong, etc. I'll be back myself in 4 days time. Feeling ambivalent since I'm sad to leave beautiful NZ but happy to go home as well, after having spent 5 fruitful months here in Christchurch. If any incoming SEP students are reading this, I wish you all the best and have a tremendously enjoyable time just like my batch did.

Last night, we all managed to sing karaoke for the first and last time in christchurch at this place called Ancestral. It's a really popular place with asians. Reminds me of kbox and partyworld back in Singapore.

This morning, went to upper riccarton methodist church for possibly the last time because I am leaving NZ on thursday. I have been switching between this church and Arise, which most of my fellow R&R hallmates attend.

Went to the recreation centre to do cardio conditioning on the treadmill and chanced upon the biggest sporting event in malaysian students calendar called "unity" games. It's a 4 day event and this year the event is being held at UC. Stayed and watched a bit of the basketball games; the cmsa team is supposedly very strong and have not lost in 9 years; at least that was what I was told. Left after an hour of watching to go find food (in the end it was a simple choice of muesli bars since it was already in my room).

On another note, going over to uni hall for dinner with hongkai, binjuan and veron cos they are heading to queenstown, wanaka, milford sound, etc and I'm sure they will have loads of fun. Hopefully they see some falling snow (We've been hoping for it since we arrived and even discussed it in our get-togethers before arriving in NZ half a year ago).

Mt Hutt Trip Cancelled

2007-06-28T12:01:00.000-07:00

Rain cloud at 6 am
Rain cloud at 5 am
Rain cloud at 4 am
Rain cloud at 3 am
Rain cloud at 2 am

Absolutely gutted that Mt Hutt has been closed for the day due to rain. Should have expected it since the weather has been decent for the past week. It was bound to happen, on the day we wanted to go up. (Forecast was for snow on the mountains when I went to bed at midnight).

12am: Went to bed around midnight after preparing all the necessary warm clothing for the expected ski/snowboarding trip
6am: Stirred from sleep, didn't want to get out of bed though
6:09am: Hongkai smsed asking if it was still a Go because it was raining in Christchurch. Told him to carry on preparing since I did not get any call.
6:23am: Received a call from SnowFun's Andy saying Mt Hutt has closed for the day due to rain.

Therefore, I am going for an early breakfast at 7:30am. Let's see who is up early like me. Maybe other potential skiiers/snowboarders? Or those having exams at 9:30am. Had I known the trip was going to be cancelled I would have gone to town last night. There's like 4 people left on my level, out of 11 of us. I can hear my echo down the corridor at times. Weird, interesting and eerie at the same time.

At least now I can send some postcards which I promised my friends a couple of days back.

Exams Over, Holidays Begin

2007-06-28T00:21:00.001-07:00

Yup, finally the exams are over. Hope I clear all of them. Especially Systems which I stayed up till 2.30 am to study for it and woke up at 6.30am on the day of the exam just to try and revise more in the hope of passing it. That must have been the least amount I ever slept on this exchange programme, since usually I get my 7 hours of sleep daily. But that's all inconsequential now since it's over. I still remember the day before the paper, the whole lab(civil suite) was filled with people studying systems. Suddenly the professor appeared and everyone swarmed around him asking him questions and hoping for some hints which he refused to divulge. There must have been like 40 of us surrounding the poor guy who was sitting at the table.

The past few days have seen the hall population dwindle to less than half the original number since many of the hostelites have gone home, some as early as last saturday!

Probably spend the last few days catching up with the new-found friends over a meal and bidding farewell to them. It's been good times really.

Plans for the remaining few days are probably to head into the mountains to learn skiiing/snowboarding although it's really really expensive. And hoping for some falling snow man. (Note to those in Christchurch: If you see snow, call me or wake me up at any time and with any method!) I hope it snows when we are on the mountains.

And also of note, Binjuan has flown down from auckland to spend time with us here in christchurch. We'll definitely have loads of fun.

Exam Schedule

2007-06-17T04:32:00.000-07:00

21 June(thursday) - ENCI 383 Environmental Engineering 2 - 2.30pm
23 June(saturday) - ENCI 415 Pavement Engineering - 2.30pm
27 June(wednesday)- ENCI 429 Structural Systems - 9.30am
28 June(thursday) - Maor 107 Maori Heritage - 2.30pm

Nikau Palm Gully Tramping

2007-06-17T04:13:00.000-07:00

Stopping to take in the views and for everyone to catch up and drink some water

Nikau Palms(think oil palms) in the background.
Left to right : Paul, Dee, Pam, Brian (I think these are their names)
Near the end of the tramp, waiting for the rest to catch up.
Closed/Private Property. We needed a permit to tramp there.

Early Sunday morning, I woke up to catch the 7:33am Metrostar to Merivale Mall so that I could meet the christchurch trampers at the papanui road shell station. We were going on an easy tramp in Akaroa. The weather on friday and saturday was absolutely miserable, cloudy, overcast, intermittent drizzle the entire day. It was supposed to be foggy and overcast on sunday morning, and gradually turning fine as the day progressed. At least that was what the weather forecast was and it was true to its word, thankfully. On the way, I actually felt a little carsick even though I didn't eat anything for breakfast. The last time I felt this way was as a kid on the way up genting highlands. Luckily, we arrived soon enough.

And so a group of about 15 of us, adults, teenagers, kids spent the day on this easy walk. The terrain was almost entirely flat with maybe about 200metres of bushwhacking/stream crossing/boulder crossing.

The view was nice and spent some time talking with Pam, Samantha and Paul along the journey. Found out that Manuka is actually considered a kind of tea tree; Samantha was born in Singapore; Paul was thinking of stopping over in Singapore for a short while; Brian was actually in Singapore in 1976!

6 weird things

2007-06-17T04:03:00.000-07:00

1. I cannot wake up late, I wake up naturally by 9am, although I feel tired throughout the day.
2. I eat before I sleep, every night. chocolate or muesli bar.
3. I live out of my suitcase. Clean/washed clothes are thrown into my lugguage. Dirty clothes are thrown into the laundry basket.
4. I must watch tv or use the internet, every night.
5. I have not worn all the clothes I brought from Singapore.
6. I don't use more than 30 sms/month even though I have txt2000.

Weekend Trip to the West Coast of South Island - Pakihi Walk, Hokitika Beach, Pancake Rocks

2007-06-11T04:43:00.000-07:00

Pakihi Walk - View of the Southern Alps
Veron and Hongkai taking a rest and photos
Sunset at Hokitika Beach, opposite Birdsong BBH
Punakaiki Pancake Rocks; waves crashing on the rugged west coast
My shadow with very long legs
Proof that I was there
Departure from Greymouth back to Christchurch

And so after the Franz Josef Glacier walk, we drove about 16km north of Franz Josef township to take in the views of the southern alps. After that, we drove to Hokitika to stay the night at Birdsong BBH. Kerry the lady owner was very hospitable and helpful. And the amazing thing about the hostel was that after 730pm, the 2 owners go home, which means we backpackers are the only ones there. There was no tv but there was a really nice fire place so Hongkai, Veron, Risa(Hongkai's flatmate), Chris (Risa's friend) and I sat near the modern fireplace and played a game of "spoons", which could get violent at times. Risa and Chris had climbed the Fox Glacier that day and they were going to climb Mt Tarua the next day. It was a cold night so I used 2 hot water bottles which kept me sufficiently comfortable for the night, as long as I was under the blanket.

Monday morning, we ate bread with tuna and drank milk for breakfast. Once again, there was frost on the car so we had to use the thermistor and melt the frost. Then we set off for the pancake rocks in punakaiki, 1hr 10 minutes drive north of Hokitika. As it was not high tide, the effect created by the blowholes was not stunning. Apparently, the best time to visit the pancake rocks that day was at 7.30pm, when the high tide conincided with a south west swell, but it would have been too dark and late for us to visit then.

And so we went to eat Subway for lunch (our first meal on arrival was also Subway). Then we boarded the tranzalpine back to Christchurch - journey time was from 1.45pm to 6pm. We were lucky the weather was excellent. It had been raining the past week before our trip but in the end it was fine when we were there.

Weekend Trip to the West Coast of South Island - Franz Josef Glacier

2007-06-11T04:31:00.001-07:00

Walking to the Franz Josef Glacier

Before the climb

During the climb
Hongkai
Veron
The rest of our group
View from the glacier
Regaining their sense of balance
Veron crossing the stream and Hong kai watching
At the end of a successful climb

Early on sunday morning, we arrived at the Glacier guides centre at 8.45am to collect our equipment and gear up for the half day walk we were about to embark on. Enjoyable walk, not too technical or difficult; 3 hours valley walk and 1.5 hours on the glacier itself.

Weekend Trip to the West Coast of South Island

2007-06-11T04:27:00.000-07:00

View from the TranzAlpine train 1
View from the TranzAlpine train 2
View from the TranzAlpine train 3
Veron and Hongkai at Arthurs Pass
Me at Arthurs Pass

We arrived at the train station early saturday morning at 7.40 am for the 8.15 am tranzalpine ride that would take us to the west coast. All was well and easy. During the ride, we were allowed to go to the viewing platform. Suffice to say, the view was stunning but the windchill was also too cold such that I lasted the shortest time of 30 minutes before heading back into the carriage for some warmth. Upon our arrival at Greymouth at 12.45pm, we had subway for lunch before spending the rest of the afternoon driving down to Franz Josef township to spend the night. Had indian food for dinner at some touristy cafe but the food was good. Also bought some bread, chocolate and milk for the next day's breakfast.

Visit to the International Antarctic Centre

2007-06-08T00:48:00.000-07:00

Outside the International Antarctic Centre
Outside the Antarctic Storm Chamber (which simulated 60knots/h winds)
Penguin Feeding Time
Search and Rescue team on the Hagglund

Stepping on the brakes in a stationary Hagglund
Antarctic Centre Shop
Antarctic Centre Shop
More souvenirs
Welcome to Antarctica

Last Day of School in University of Canterbury

2007-06-08T00:37:00.000-07:00

Gateway Antarctica office.

The Antarctica course I took had 2 X 8am lectures every week.

Glad to have completed it. Hongkai and I at the Maori Department Signboard
Performing a sort of "completion" haka to signal the end of MAOR 107.
Our usual seats in maori tutorials.
Hongkai and I at the Engineering Department
Engineering Road-first time I actually saw it.
Veron, our kind photographer for today
Nicole and I at the Mix Cafe in UCSA building.
She's the UC Singapore Club secretary.

Queen's Birthday Tramping - Woolshed Hill

2007-06-04T01:49:00.000-07:00

Snow covered landscape we were driving past
First serious frost of winter
Climbing
Alpine tramping, some snow
Alpine tramping, more snow

Darryl taking pictures
Climbing Woolshed Hill
Heading for a sheltered spot for lunch
Lunch away from northwesterly
At the end point, after descending through unmarked tracks and river crossing.

And so it was early monday morning which was queen's birthday holiday, 6 of us arrived at UCSA carpark at 7am to begin our day tramp. Initially our plan was to summit Mt Aicken but the weather was not too good, with winds at the summit expected to be about 90km/h. So we changed location and headed towards Woolshed Hill instead, which was further east, out of the northwesterly's direction. All of them were equiped for the tramp, with beanies, gaiters, boots, etc whereas I was wearing sports shoes (not a good idea as the ground is often uneven). It was the first winter tramp of the season and there was some snow due to the dump on saturday night. Snow was powedery (fresh). Darryl was saying powdery snow makes a crunch sound when you step on it. It is also the ideal type of snow for snowboarding and skiing. There were 2 germans, 1 french, 1 south african, 1 kiwi and myself. The germans and french was really quick even after 2 of them had done the half marathon yesterday. They were constantly ahead and had to wait for Darryl, Simon and me because we were busy taking pictures. In fact, Simon was so hardcore that his camera equipment weighed more than his tramping stuff such as food, water and warm clothing. The climb up was ok but steep at times. And for the 3rd week in the row, the tramping group I was with decided to venture beyond marked tracks. And for the 2nd week in a row, there was river crossing. Luckily we only crossed the river twice this time, but it was still freezing. Nonetheless, it was a decent tramp, even though we are all tired.

Christchurch Chinese Singing Competition

2007-06-04T01:46:00.001-07:00

Penny Dai Look-alike
Winner
1st runner up, Ho Yeow Sun look-alike
Female Comperes
The semi-finalists

SBS Christchurch 10 K Run

2007-06-04T01:33:00.000-07:00

Left to right : Andy, Craig, Josh, Me, before the race
Outside the Christchurch Town Hall before the race
Female winner of half marathon being congratulated by race director
The prizes we did not win
The crowd in the town hall before the race

So it was we left the hall at 7.30 am on sunday morning to head for the race at christchurch town hall. Josh, Craig, Mark and Andy were racing in the half marathon whereas I was just trying to get a PB for the 10k. When we reached the venue, we didn't want to get out cos it was too cold. Eventually we reluctantly did. Met Erica from Maor107 tutorial class and fellow tramper. She was doing the half marathon walk. Also met Peter from ENCI 429 who was supporting his wife doing the marathon. The course is one of the fastest in the world as it is almost flat. Timing for 10k was 44:52; didn't go below 40 minutes. The rest did pretty good times of 1hr 30+ min for half marathon which is excellent. Returned in the afternoon for the prize presentation. We did not win anything, unfortunately.

Much Ado About Nothing

2007-06-01T02:20:00.000-07:00

Nothing much's been happening over the past week. Lots of assignments and labs due. Dinner conversation usually goes like "What are you up to tonight?". And the reply is inevitably "Um, do some physics/maths/chinese/chemistry/etc..." Got the same reply when I sat at the dinner table and asked the 5 people sitting around me. Different days, same response.

A good thing lectures are winding up because there seems to be a tremendous amount to study for the upcoming exams in a couple of weeks time. Was seating in the lecture theatre this morning when the guy next to me asked me where I was from and I told him Singapore. Then he asked me what courses(modules) i was taking and i mentioned structural systems. He commented that structural systems is usually a postgrad course in american universities. I was like "Oh really?" In NUS it's level 5000. I hope I survive.

Quotable quotes :

"Wow, Campbell, you are the most organised guy in the class man. You've got a folder called 'Random'. (Overhead in the computer lab one morning; everyone was laughing at the comment).

"I've got the worst seats in the house man. I was sitting at the bottom left hand corner of the lecture theatre." (engineering recruitment talk. Usually there is food and drinks after seminars or career talks. Most students are not keen on the content of the talk. They are there for the food.)

"I don't even dare to go to the toilet man." (Overheard when rushing out of the lecture theatre for the food, as well)

"Did you get any food?" "No man, the food got savaged." (also at the career talk)

"What do you expect man? We're just poor students." (also at the career talk)

On wednesday I was just sitting in the lecture theatre listening to the lecture when my lab partner came late and sat down in front of me, blocking the screen. Something caught my eye. He was wearing a "team orca" cap with the words "auckland city tri". So after the lecture I asked him what his time for the tri was and he told me he doesn't do olympic distance triathlon. He went on to add that he did the Lake Taupo Ironman (3.86 km swim, 180km bike, 42.19km run) in March and his timing was 12 hours, and sustained an injury during the race. I asked him how he trains and he told me he does not get much sleep.
It was also tramping club's movie night with a turnout of about 10 people. Before the screening, there was ice cream. At that time there were like 40 people. But after some time, the ice cream ran out, and the people started to leave. Anyway the show we watched was starring clint eastwood and probably a film made in the 70s. But the worse thing was at 10pm the school staff/security told us they were closing the place so we did not finish watching the show(just as it was getting exciting).

On thursday I was attending an entre seminar on how to fill in the financials for the summary report when I met someone who studied in singapore but moved here to do high school, university and postgrad.

Trip to international antarctic centre has been postponed.

It's been an unusually warm 2 days here in christchurch.

Today being the first day of winter was a surprisingly comfortable 15 degrees. Maybe there will be a huge dump soon, hopefully. Need to see and touch some snow.

Lake Daniells Day Tramping Trip

2007-05-26T05:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Trampers at Lake Daniells Hut

View of Lake Daniells from Lake Daniells Hut

Lake Daniells Jetty

Where are we?
Happy Trampers at Pizza Parlour
Hungry Trampers

Early on Saturday morning at 8am, 4 of us (some nursing a hangover) arrived at the UCSA carpark ready to embark on a tramp to Lake Daniells in Lewis Pass. But before that, we picked up Daniel from his place along the way. Then it was a 2.5 hour drive north west of Christchurch to our destination. We stopped at Maruia Springs for a bite and a proper toilet break before bidding farewell to civilization for the rest of the day. Upon arrival at about 11am, we wasted little time in gearing up and starting the tramp. It was a relatively easy tramp, with gently undulating terrain. Some of us did not even break a sweat, although at times it was slightly muddy as it had rained the previous night. We arrived at Lake Daniell’s hut (8.4km) in 2 hours and had lunch. Since Lake Daniells was in the middle of linear route, we decided that 3 of us (Naomi, Daniel, Moses) would go northwards; while Til and Sam went back to drive the car and pick us up at the end point. Little did we expect the 3 hour tramp northwards to require crossing the same river 25 times (as we followed a 4WD track). Little did we expect the tramp northwards to require bushwhacking and crossing private pasture land where cows were grazing freely. Initial hopes of staying clean and dry evaporated almost as soon as we left the Lake Daniell’s hut. At times, there were no clear tracks so we either proceeded in a general direction or created our own tracks. Losing a shoe in knee deep manure, repeatedly getting wet-dry-wet-dry, climbing over fences were just part of the physical activities for the day.

We learnt 3 valuable tramping lessons that day:
1. Don’t worry if you’re in deep shit, you will be clean by the time you finish crossing the same river 25 times.
2. There’s a reason why 4WD tracks are called 4WD tracks.
3. Just as your feet are about to become dry; they will get wet.

Clip 'n' Climb at the Roxx Climbing Centre

2007-05-23T04:08:00.001-07:00

The Roxx Climbing Centre
Left to Right:Sammy, Eva, James, Me, Jan
Climbing
The professional side of the climbing centre
quite a decent rock wall

And so 5 of us arrived at the Roxx Climbing Centre on Wednesday night ready to find out what was on offer. There was a quick briefing, and then we put on our harnesses and off we went. It was good that no belayer was needed for each climber. This was because the rope acted on a spring mechanism which arrested the fall of the climber when there is a sudden increase in load. Thus each of us was free to try out as many climbs as we wanted (which we happily did). There were climbs which allowed us to time how quick we were in scaling some of the walls. All of us gave it a try and Jan was the quickest, making it to the top in under 10 seconds (His time was 9.99 seconds). There were climbs that allowed us to use Velcro gloves instead of our bare hands. Some even chose to climb without using their hands since the wall was inclined inwards. There were chimney climbs and even “night” climbs (climbing in a dark enclosed space). Generally the climbs were simple enough for all of us to reach the top. All too soon, our time was up; we had only booked for an hour of climbing. It was definitely an enjoyable time as we had a good workout.

You don't get fit tramping; you get fit to tramp

2007-05-20T00:52:00.000-07:00

On top of Bealey Spur
Resting at Bealey Hut (Left to right : Matthias, Marlene, Naomi, Anna)
Admiring the View
The view from up there
Breathtaking Panoramic View

On Saturday morning, we woke up to an overcast sky. Fearing the worst but hoping for the best, 5 trampers from non-kiwi countries met at the UCSA carpark at 8.30 am and left at 8.45am. We stopped along the way in Darfield for a quick energy boost (muffins, coffee, smoothie).

Arriving at the Bealey Spur carpark at about 10.45am, we geared ourselves up (or rather, we degeared by removing as much warm clothing as possible since the skies were clear blue. And then the tramp began. It was a relatively gentle climb, with clear signs and clear paths. Getting lost there is almost impossible; even though we did consider taking a less well-marked route but turned back after 150metres. Climbing from 700metres to 1200metres within 4kilometres in 1.5 hours, we arrived at Bealey hut by 12.30 pm and had lunch there. It was too early to head back down so we decided to forge ahead and climb to the top of the spur which was an unmarked but quite distinct pathway. Arriving at the top (1545metres), it was only 1.15pm. So we went further along the ridgeline to another spot height. Finally, persuading Marlene (she wanted to keep going) that we should not go any further as we had to spend an equal amount of time getting back, we left the ridgeline at 2pm. It took us 2 hours to get back to the Bealey Spur carpark, done without any stops during the descent (unless you consider Matthias offering chocolate to some other trampers a stop). We overtook a few groups on our way down and one lady even called us “the fast pack” as we skipped past. On our way back to Christchurch, we shared experiences of getting lost on past tramping trips and how we eventually found our way. We also debated the issue of whether it was worth it to get lost and get a free helicopter ride at the expense of having our faces splashed on the front of newspapers the next day.

Apparently the tramp was considered easy but my muscles are sore from all the walking and climbing. Was constantly lagging behind trying to catch up with them.

Enjoyable Saturday and Sunday

2007-05-12T18:11:00.000-07:00

Neighbour's room
Funny suggestion/question for the Library
Another funny suggestion/Question for the Library
Towards a sustainable future. Grow a tree.

New Zealand Music Month-Award winning jazz, funk and bebop band Peacock Street
Singapore Club Gathering - Movie, Cards, Mahjong and Winning 11

In comparison to a dull friday, saturday and sunday were more interesting. Went to the beach to spend some quiet personal time. Weather was beautiful. Was walking along the beach when suddenly a small boy ran past me and shouted "Mum! I think I saw a shark!" The mum looked at the sea for a while and then laughed "It's a dolphin, not a shark."

On saturday night there was a singapore club gathering. It was supposed to be a sleepover but in the end everyone went home. But it was good fun. Didn't manage to watch Silent Hill cos I went at 10pm instead of 9pm. So Veron Hongkai and I just sat outdoors in the cold under a star canopied night sky and chatted. Finally it got too cold so we decided to go in. We had waited long enough. It was time for Mahjong! We didn't have a proper table but such was our desperation to play the game that any surface would do. We settled for a rectangular table. In the end there was higher demand than supply, so we had to take turns playing. Some of them were so funny. "Pengs" and "Hus" were exaggerated and some of them could not read chinese characters! Laughed ourselves silly. Good times indeed!

And my neighbour's bedroom was converted into the common room when he was away over the weekend. Apparently, some of the guys have had enough of being woken up at 3.30 am in the morning by my neighbour. Imagine 1 guy coming back from a night in town at 3.30am and waking up 3 floors by his screaming and shouting.

As for rugby, there won't be a new zealand team in the finals of the super 14 since the auckland blues and canterbury crusaders both lost in south africa.

Happy Mother's Day

2007-05-12T02:38:00.000-07:00

Most Boring Friday Night Yet

2007-05-11T04:34:00.000-07:00

Finally the weekend has arrived. Friday came and went. Didn't do much. Had to do active recovery after the brutal boxing skills training on wednesday. This is to remove lactate buildup in the muscles. What was I thinking on wednesday evening. Should have done warm down and run off the lactic acid after the workout but I wasn't thinking properly that evening, because I have not been "tekaned" so much since NS.

Anyway I was chatting with this american classmate of mine, just catching up about how we spent our easter holidays. And I asked him how his hitch-hike to Queenstown from Christchurch went. It took him 2 days and 10 trips from kind drivers before he got there eventually. What an experience. And during dinner tonight, I was talking to another american friend, asking him what his plans after the exams were. Apparently he is doing religious studies and only has 1 exam paper to take. He intends to ask his professor to let him take it earlier so he can travel more.

But here's the funny parts of our conversation (let's call him A, the reproduced conversation may not be as funny as it seems. But during dinner time, the setting, the people, the actions all added up to make us laugh until people at the next few tables were looking at us and wondering what was going on):

A: I want to hitch hike to Auckland.
Me : That sounds interesting .... (and I relate to him my classmate's hitchhiking experience from christchurch to queenstown). So what about the Cook Straits? You intend to hitch hike on some sailing vessel/interislander? Or swim across?
A: Oh, that's the only part of the journey where I will pay for transport on the interislander. So do you know how much it costs to take the interislander?
Me: About 70 dollars. Do you know a one way flight from christchurch to auckland costs only $99 on Qantas? So for that $29 you save on transport, you intend to spend about 2 weeks hitchhiking your way up to Auckland? Are you sure you want to do that?
A: Hmm...that's a good point. Actually my friend who has a van is the one who wants to hitchhike. I am just accompanying him. We think it's going to be a good experience and the kiwis are some of the kindest drivers in the world.
Me: Well good luck then. Look forward to hearing about your trip!

Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou

2007-05-09T03:47:00.000-07:00

"Structural Engineering is the art of modelling materials we do not wholly understand, into shapes we cannot properly assess, in such a way that the public at large has no reason to suspect the extent of our ignorance. " The structural systems prof shared this quote with us this morning during our lecture. It was actually said in 1946, but it's probably still relevant today. Both a scary and funny quote eh?
And then he went on into seismic forces, pseudo-equivalent static forces, ductility, overstrength factors, soft storey mechanism which I need to start learning about.

Days are getting shorter. Sunrise is now 7.30 am and sunset is 5.25pm. And so I must say I was pretty surprised to see the gym crowded at 7.30 am on a weekday last week. Thought I was going to be the only person there but nope, I was wrong; there were easily 15 to 20 other people there.

Christchurch marathon 3 June, 9 am, anyone? Probably will do the 10 k fun run since I have not had time to do progressive training. $25 for early bird registration by 11 May.

Road Trip to the South - Arrowtown, Wanaka, Aoraki/Mt Cook

2007-05-05T05:30:00.000-07:00

Arrowtown - Born of Gold (these words are what I am pointing at)
Wanaka - Puzzling World
Sheep crossing the highway as we were leaving Mt Cook
Following like sheep
Take your time some more...the stragglers, shepherd watching over

Road Trip to the South - Queenstown

2007-05-05T05:18:00.000-07:00

2007 Harvest of Pinot Noir at Gibbston Valley Vineyard
Tour of Wine Cave and winetasting
Bought a few bottles of wine

Animal Farm
Close Encounters of the Animal Kind
Santa's Reindeer and Friends
At the top of Deer Park Heights

Panoramic Shot of Queenstown from Deer Park Heights

Road Trip to the South - Milford Sound

2007-05-05T05:13:00.000-07:00

Red Boat Scenic Cruises - Lady of the Sound
Pitter Patter
Phew, I am soaked
Here we go again Away from the waterfall but raindrops keep falling on my head

Road Trip to the South - Te Anau

2007-05-05T05:11:00.000-07:00

Lake Te Anau
Lake Te Anau

Road Trip to the South - Dunedin St Clair Beach

2007-05-05T05:04:00.000-07:00

St Clair Beach - Decent Breaks
How's that for size?

Panoramic Shots

2007-05-05T03:58:00.000-07:00

Panoramic Shot of Cathedral Square in Christchurch

Panoramic Shot of Wellington as we left the harbour during Easter Trip

Credit to Autostitch for making it possible.

Wall as a Message Board

2007-05-03T03:58:00.000-07:00

This afternoon we had a brutal 3 hour workshop/tutorial under the structures prof who uses profanities quite often. I realise that I don't know much about bending moments, shear force diagramms, tie and strut method, and neither did the 20 + people sitting around me in the lecture theatre today.

I arrived back from school to find the corridor wall plastered with messages. Some were quite funny, some were demeaning. Messages were like "Eli is a stud cripple" (he broke both legs), "Gabrielle is really loud" (Gabrielle is quite soft spoken actually), "Mousegirl is the life of the party" (mousegirl is in her own room most of the time actually).

Fine weather is expected tomorrow. Looking forward to it!

Dreary Days in Christchurch

2007-05-02T02:47:00.000-07:00

It has been a rainy start to 2nd term this semester. The drizzle doesn't help much either. It's the kind that irritates since it is not heavy enough to warrant the use of an umbrella but it's light enough to wet your clothes and shoes to cause discomfort. And the drizzle has been ongoing for the past 24 hours and counting.

Today was sandwich day. I quite like it but some others don't. Abby a friend of mine was real funny when she saw my half eaten muffin. She asked me if I was going to eat it and I replied yes of course. Then she asked me if I was telling a polite lie. I said nope, I was really really going to eat the rest of the muffin after finishing my sandwich. Apparently, I wrote my name under the wrong section thus there was no packed dinner for me tonight. As such I had no choice but to head over to Tandoori Palace for the Chicken Curry.

Been planning the next weekend trips and even the end of semester ones already. Had minor discussions with Hongkai during MAOR107 lectures. Proposal for Queen's Birthday Weekend trip to the West Coast from 2June (saturday) to 4 June(monday). Tranz alpine at 815am on saturday morning, reach greymouth about 1245pm. visit pancake rocks about an hour north of greymouth. travel down to franz josef glacier and stay the night there. Spend sunday doing a 1/2 day or 1 day glacier walk at franz josef glacier. Return to greymouth. take the monday afternoon train back to christchurch for the final week of lectures in UC. What say you, Veron and Hongkai?

Will probably spend the end of exam holidays from 28 June to 4 July in the mountains snowboarding.

News just got in that my beloved Liverpool beat Chelsea 4-1 on penalty shootouts. YES! Hope to meet Milan in the finals on May 23.

On a different note, wishing my dearest young sister a wonderful graduation trip to Australia. May God grant you journey mercies throughout your trip. Will be back for your commencement ceremony.

While waiting

2007-04-20T00:28:00.000-07:00

Day 15 Whale Watching

2007-04-20T00:20:00.000-07:00

Dusky Dolphins in the sunlight
Dusky dolphins frolicking near our catamaran

Excellent Day for whale watching
Little Nick coming up for a breather
Little Nick going down for food
Tiaki surfacing for a breather
Tiaki going down for food

Day 12 and 13 Abel Tasman

2007-04-20T00:03:00.000-07:00

Getting onboard the Aquataxi when the tide is low
Abel Tasman Nature Reserve
In the middle of our trek
Success in completing a 6 hour trek
Going for another trek the next morning

Day 10 and 11 Wellington to Picton

2007-04-19T23:46:00.000-07:00

Departing Wellington(North Island) for Picton(South Island), there was a pod of 50 to 100 dolphins accompanying us across.
Sister Interislander ferry heading from Picton to Wellington
Nice signboard onboard the ferry
Exceptionally beautiful Marlborough Sounds which produces fine wine

Day 7 in Taupo

2007-04-19T23:15:00.000-07:00

Might of the Huka Falls
No tethered rides due to inclement weather
Barbeque dinner in Taupo
"Cold faced Killer"(Hongkai), "Sonic the hedgehog"(Binjuan) and "eskimo"(Veron)
Cold faced killer morphs into Prince Charming (bai2 ma3 wang2 zi3)

Day 6 in Rotorua

2007-04-19T23:10:00.000-07:00

Sheep grazing at Agrodrome
Aerial view of Rotorua
2 fast 2 furious stunt drivers
Our favourite eatery in Rotorua...even the manager is smiling
Hongkai not wanting his photo taken by the paparazzi

Day 5 in Waitomo

2007-04-19T22:47:00.000-07:00

Out of phase swing sequence
Still practicing
Almost there
Finally on the 50th attempt
Success is sweet

Day 4 in Coromandel

2007-04-19T22:43:00.000-07:00

Hot Water Beach
Hot Water Beach
Guess which foot belongs to who
Charlie's Angels
Delicious Homecooked Dinner

Day 3 in Auckland

2007-04-08T01:50:00.000-07:00

5 people's toiletries in Binjuan's bathroom (couldn't fit all on this ledge)

Me at Mission's Bay

Hongkai taking pictures for the 3 girls

The wind was pretty strong and I needed to go to the toilet

Left to Right : Binjuan, Hongkai, Liling and Veron walking up Granny's Bay

Easter Sunday. Woke up at 9am and prepared for a day of fun in the sun. We were going to Mission's Bay located in Northshore, about 25 km north of Auckland city centre. It was a pleasant drive and we reached there soon enough. We walked on the beach and some of the girls picked sea shells. We stopped for lots of photos along the way. Altogether we spent about 3 hours at the area. After that, we went to Victoria Park Market. To say the market was disappointing is an understatement. Amazingly, the girls still bought things. Next, we proceeded to a "Japanese" cafe for dinner. It was ok. We bought dunkin' donuts for supper and possibly tomorrow's breakfast. It has been an exhausting day, but the view of the sea and scenery was more than worth it.

2nd Day in Auckland

2007-04-07T03:17:00.000-07:00

Hongkai, BinJuan, Veron and Liling on our way from Aotea Market
Me at Sylvia Park Mall (the biggest in Auckland)
Me, Liling and Veron in Binjuan's room

This morning we woke up at 10.30 am and left Binjuan's place at about noon. First to fetch Veron to see the doctor, and then to visit Aotea Market, located just 10 minutes walk from Binjuan's place. There was nothing much for me; I think it is like an Ang Moh Pasar Malam. After lunch, where we finally got our taste of Auckland's Kiwi Egg Burger Meal, we drove to Sylvia Park Mall which just had it's 3rd phase opening a few weeks back. Sylvia Park Mall is arguably the biggest mall in Auckland and maybe New Zealand (think of it as a cross between Vivocity, Suntec City, Marina Square and Singapore Expo). We spent about 3 hours walking around, separately from the girls of course. Managed to buy a jacket. Spent about half an hour watching some kids playing Formula 1 on a Playstation 3 which costs about NZ$1150. After that, we drove back to find dinner. It was a toss-up between Pizza and Japanese food. In the end, we had to settle for the pizza which was take-away because parking cost $5 for 1st half hour, $8 for 1 full hour and maximum of $15 which was extremely expensive. It is both stressful and unfriendly driving in the city.

First Day of Easter Holidays in Auckland

2007-04-06T02:56:00.000-07:00

Liling and I with our 4 backpacks
Nice pier which we walked on (Binjuan's back view)

Hongkai and Veron fooling around

Binjuan at the Viewing deck of Auckland Skytower

View from Auckland Skytower

If there was one unifying theme for our first day in Auckland for our Easter holidays, it has to be the word late. First I was late by 5 minutes at the pickup point, then the plane arrived and left Christchurch Airport late. Then we had a late lunch and we were late in trying to go to Rangitoto Island which resulted in us having to try again tomorrow or Sunday.

Random Pictures Over The Past Week

2007-04-05T04:14:00.000-07:00

Autumn is upon us

same tree from a different angle

wide angle

lecturers getting "egged" for a good cause

Just some of the pictures I took on my way to and from school this week. A week of tests and assignments due before the 3 week easter break. Some work due in the first week when 2nd term opens as well.

To all those reading this, have a Good Friday and great easter weekend!

See you all in a couple of weeks time when I return from travelling.

Keg Party

2007-03-31T04:19:00.000-07:00

Cowboys and Indians

Left to right: Me, Caleb, Garbrielle, Sharon

Josh the DJ with his own mixer

The long awaited keg party finally happened and the theme being Cowboys and Indians, all of us found some way to dress up. The event was held in our hall common room, which is on the 3rd floor of the ashby building. I went to borrow a hat and vest to try and fit the theme. The party started at 6.30pm and by 8pm there was no more beer left. The party was supposed to last until 11 pm so by 8.30pm, most people had left the party and headed into town for 2nd round of drinks. Me, I need to sleep as I'm going to church tomorrow morning.

Assignments, Tests and Lectures

2007-03-28T03:35:00.000-07:00

It is starting to get busy with assignments and lab reports due as well as tests, all within this couple of weeks. The weather was pretty dreary today, with overcast skies the whole day and intermittent rain. The only highlight of the day was probably the 2 lectures I attended this evening. The first one was by Prof Tom O'Rourke of Cornell University where he lectured on infrastructure resilience, touching on his experiences in 911 and hurricane katrina. I was speaking to the person next to me and she was telling me Prof O'Rourke is a "guru" in his field. I think he is the same guy whom Prof Harry Tan was raving about in CE3115 last semester. Presently I can't remember what we used the O'Rourke method to find, although I think it was something to do with basal heave. Later in the evening, some guy called Craig gave a lecture on risk assessment and retrofitting of UC berkeley campus because it was in a seismically active area (in fact UC sits on several fault lines).

Ensoc BBQ

2007-03-23T00:11:00.000-07:00

People arriving, gathering and socialising at the BBQ

Me on the Ensoc fire engine

Hongkai getting the free flow sausages

People socialising still

This afternoon, there was an Ensoc BBQ from 2pm to 4pm held at Ilam fields. The weather was perfect for such an event as this. There was free flow of 4% alc. beer and sausages for the thirsty and hungry. Basically it was just a time for people to gather and socialise, as with all other bbqs. The highlight of the afternoon must have been the eating competition whereby the winner got 2 free return tickets to Roratonga. It was both hilarious and painful to watch at the same time, something like Fear Factor challenges where the contestants have to eat the weirdest stuff. I'm not sure what they ate but it must have been disgusting from the looks on the participants' faces.

Daylight Savings, Visit to Independent Baptist Church, Hailstones

2007-03-18T04:08:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up at 8.20 am and went for breakfast at the dining hall. But when I arrived, the hall was still locked much to my bemusement. Usually 15 minutes before the official start, people would already be eating inside already. So I went behind to the kitchen thinking that there could be a way in. But it was locked too. Then I happened to see one of the kitchen staff and I asked him why they have not opened the dining hall yet. He told me that the time was only 7.20 am, breakfast would only be ready in an hour. I was shocked and asked him why? Only then did I realise that Daylight savings had occurred, which meant that with effect from 3 am 18 March, time would be pushed back by an hour, ie, what used to be 8.30 is now 7.30. And because of that I lost an hour's sleep. What a confusing concept but at least I experienced my first daylight savings ever.

Later in the morning, I visited the church Sheena is attending, a very distant 40 minute bus ride away (if you don't get off at the wrong stop). It was a small group of believers numbering maybe like 12 people. After service, we walked out of the church and opposite the road was a gypsy fair, the first we ever saw before. We're not sure if there were women sitting in tents with their hands over crystal balls and trying to predict the future, since we didn't venture to take a look. We reached a conclusion that the clouds in christchurch and singapore look different although we don't know why. Stopped off halfway to try and buy lunch at Northland Mall but there was no burger king which i wanted; only macs so I decided to get fried rice from captain ben's. On the way back, it started to rain hail stones; i was half expecting the windscreen or windows of the Orbiter to crack any moment. When I looked out of the window there were still small pieces of ice on the ground.

Within an hour of this heavy downpour, the sky was a clear blue. Such is the unpredictable and ever changing weather here in christchurch.

Saturday Out at Culture Galore and Rugby Match

2007-03-17T03:51:00.000-07:00

The 2 Russian or Dutch child singers
Left to right : Hongkai, Veron, Wilson, Ang Moh girl, Ang Moh Boy (I don't know who they are, they just like to take pictures I guess, since many of my pictures have them smiling into the camera)

Canterbury Crusaders (red and black jerseys) running onto the pitch

Injured bulls player being treated

This morning, I woke up to visit the Riccarton House and Bush. Spent about 30 minutes walking from hall to the park. Wanted to visit the Organic Farmers Market. Thought it would be something big, but it turned out to be slightly more than 15 stalls only, selling organic produce, rangeing from vegetables to wine to spices.

In the afternoon, I went to Culture Galore, part of the Christchurch Summertimes festivities, possibly the last major event the christchurch city council is holding before the onset of autumn. There were many stalls, rangeing from the popular ice cream trucks, to girl guide biscuits, face painting, blood test stations and also various communities in Christchurch. An unforgettable part was probably the performances put up by the various cultural groups such as the Pasifikas, the dutch, scottish, japanese, korean, filipinos, etc.

In the evening, Veron, Hongkai, Wilson and I went to watch the Crusaders vs Bulls rugby match at Jade Stadium. The pre-match entertainment was pretty rousing but eerie. Shouted myself hoarse, although on my way back from the match I overhead a grandma telling her grandson that was one of the most boring matches she has watched.

Might try and watch next saturday's match where the 7 All Black players return from world cup conditioning camp and are available for selection. But Suhui, Faith and Yiling are coming up from Dunedin next weekend so we shall see how. Looking forward to your visit!

Rainy and Cold Day

2007-03-14T03:29:00.000-07:00

It has been a rainy few days since returning from the weekend in Dunedin, the coldest since my arrival.

The temperature for wednesday was a chilly
Max: 11°C (Day)
Min: 5°C (Night)
Showers. Strong cold southwesterly.

Apparently the reason for the weather is "shuttlefuls of Antarctic air have been forced onto New Zealand -- we had the warm front on Monday night and the cold front arrived last night" as NZ metservice spokesman said.

In fact, there were periods when I was leaning into the wind while walking today. The water coming out of the tap seems like ice water, hurting my fingers when I wash my hands.

Hopefully the weather will turn fine soon. And my neighbour just told me winter will be colder.
Better rug up with warm clothing soon.

I think it is because of the weather that the streets are so quiet. There doesn't seem to be any vehicles on the roads as I write this. Usually at 11 + pm there are still vehicles but today, all is quiet. No noise on my floor too. I guess everyone is huddled up in bed somewhere wearing like 3 or 4 layers trying to get through tonight. Silence so deafening I can hear a pin drop... not necessarily a bad thing huh

Return Journey from Dunedin

2007-03-11T04:21:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning 7 am, desserted roads of Dunedin Octagon

Stunning view of the Dunedin agriculture plains

Union Bank of Australia...predecessor of ANZ bank

Sheena, Hongkai, Veron, me

(taken with the wrong ice-capped mountain)

Church of Good Shepherd

Sunday morning, 11 March, the weekend is almost over. For us, it was time to head back to Christchurch for the coming week's lessons. Waking up at the unearthly hour of 6 am, we trudged with our heavy laden backpacks from our accommodation to the meeting point. The coach was late.

Finally at 7.40am, we were on our way, passing by Balden Street (the world's steepest street) and stopping occasionally for 5 minutes to take pictures and for morning tea. Because we returned to Christchurch via Mt Cook, the journey time was basically doubled as we travelled to the west coast then back. After a forgettable dinner in christchurch city centre, we went to take in the sights, performances and artistry of the belate Chinese New Year celebrations at Victoria Square.

It has been a tiring but enjoyable weekend.

Weekend Trip to Dunedin

2007-03-11T03:55:00.000-07:00

Us with Scottish Bag Pipers at the NZ National Championships

Left to right : Hongkai, me, Veron, Su Hui and Yiling

Strike a pose... and we did

Us in Yiling's Room in Otago University

Enjoying a wonderful homecooked meal by

Su Hui and dessert by Yiling. Yummy!

And so it was on 9 February, Veron, Hongkai and I took the 2 pm Intercity from the bus depot to Dunedin. The 5 hour trip was interesting with much to see along the way. We arrived in Dunedin at 7.50pm, and proceeded to deposit our belongings for the weekend trip at the backpackers' hostel. Thereafter, we had a leisurely stroll down the undulating terrain of Princess and George Street to look for dinner.

On Saturday morning, we woke up and went for breakfast at Macdonalds. We had arranged to meet Su Hui and Yiling at 930 at the Dunedin Visitor Centre to plan the day's visits. We were slightly late as we watched the bagpipe procession; part of the NZ national championships. After meeting up, we proceeded to the Cadbury Chocolate World. As we still had some time, we decided to visit the Otago Settler's Musuem. We spent 75 minutes on the guided tour and bought some new chocolates available only in NZ. Thereafter we had lunch at a place called Asian Licensed Restaurant which was absolutely value for money. In the afternoon, we went to the Train Station which is apparently one of the most photographed spots in NZ. Unfortunately we could not enter as they were preparing the stage for the night's Dunedin Fashion Show. Nevertheless we took some pictures outside and proceeded to visit Otago University and Dunedin Botanic Gardens.

Dinner was homecooked by Su Hui and Yiling. We spent the rest of the night catching up and only left Su Hui's hostel at 11pm, reluctantly. Thanks a lot to them for being such great hosts while we were there. Come up soon and we hope to reciprocate your kindness.

Economics Experiment

2007-03-07T22:46:00.000-08:00

Today, my room was finally cleaned. It sure feels better being in it now. But anyway, managed to meet Nicole, secretary of UC Singapore Club. If Hong Kai was not there, we wouldn't have met. STA travel agency quoted some high prices for Air NZ and Qantas. In the end, managed to get tickets to Auckland for NZ$140 and a bit. In the evening, I went to take part in an economics experiment and received $24.80 for it. It's similar to game theory. Quite interesting I must say, but a lot depends on the decisions both party makes. Luckily my partner and I did not practice the zero-sum principle. It proves there are nice people around...I think.

Lunch with IRO Officers

2007-03-06T01:33:00.000-08:00

IRO officers and us

I suspect the waitress at the restaurant must have honed her photo-taking skills by helping many customers take photographs during lunch or dinner. How else do you explain such a decently composed photograph, without flash and not much handshake.

But anyhow, this afternoon, we were delighted to meet up with NUS IRO officers at Fox and the Ferret Ale House along Riccarton. The meal was delightful and one of the best since my arrival. Later on in the afternoon, travelled down to visitor i-site in the city centre to book our coach passes to Dunedin, accommodation and return trip for this weekend.

In the evening, Prof Peter Guthrie of Cambridge University gave a lecture on "Sustainable Development - Time to Act : A Civil Engineer's Response" which provoked much thought provoking debate and comments from the audience of academics and students.

Cost of Mineral Water

2007-03-05T03:11:00.000-08:00

NZ$2.50 for 500 ml of mineral water

I was walking by one of the vending machines last week and decided to check out the prices of the mineral water. Just like the Macdonalds index which is a rough gauge of a country's PPP or standard of living, I think mineral water can be used as well. In NZ, 1 bottle of 500 ml mineral water costs NZ$2.50. No wonder the vending machines are always full. So far, I have not seen anyone buy anything from vending machines. I mean, why would I want to buy mineral water when I have some of the cleanest and purest mineral water in the world here in NZ, flowing straight out of the tap. My conclusion : it is not good to be a bottled mineral water seller in NZ.

Apparently, they do not have those pocket-size packet tissues here in NZ as well, according to Veron - the shopaholic. She's been pretty distressed about this since her arrival in NZ. And our attempts to find 3-in-1 Milo have resulted in failure as well. Need to increase my stockpile of dry rations for the coming autumn/winter.

Day Out at Sumner Beach

2007-03-04T02:47:00.000-08:00

View of Sumner Beach

Another View of Sumner Beach

Veron testing the water to see if it's cold

Hongkai, Veron and I happy to be at Sumner

3 of us atop a rocky outcrop

Today, being a Sunday, we wasted no time getting down to some travelling. Since we could only make a day trip, we decided to pay Sumner beach a visit. Setting off at 10.30 am in the morning, the sky started to become overcast. Our mood deteriorated with the weather upon reaching the beach. We saw few people on the beach, basically just some kids having surfing lessons. This led me to think "Were we at the right place? Isn't a beach supposed to be crowded with people... like east coast or sentosa?" Anyhow, we took a stroll down the wide stretch of sand and back. By the time we had lunch (fish and chips again), the weather was much better and the sun began to show its true powers. Veron and Hongkai spent quite some time debating about tanning. While waiting for the bus back to hall, Hongkai and Veron were visibly irritated by the number of "zeng" cars passing us by. Despite the slight disappointment with this beach, it was another "attraction" visited and thus struck off our list of places left to visit.

Day Trip to Akaroa

2007-03-03T01:15:00.000-08:00

Left to right : Me, Liling, Veron and Hongkai

At the Pacific Ocean

Map of Akaroa

Windy Road to Akaroa

Handicraft sold inside Akaroa Dolphins Shop

Hector Dolphins - the world's smallest dolphins

This morning Hongkai, Veron, Liling, Devon (Liling's friend) and I took a trip down to Akaroa, a quaint little french town located 86 km (1 hr 20 minutes) drive away from Christchurch city centre. Along the way, we stopped to take in the magnificent view of Akaroa atop a hill. We also had the opportunity to walk along the shoreline which interfaces the Pacific Ocean. Having seen the force of the ocean waves, I must say that wave energy will play an important role in the area of sustainable energy sources...soon. The Akaroa Dolphins encounter ($55) was indeed a 2 hr boat ride worth remembering as we had the opportunity to see 1 penguin, sea lions, hector dolphins, salmon farms and Paua Pearl farm. Unfortunately for us, we did not get the chance to try the highly acclaimed Akaroa Salmon as we did not have time. Instead we had to settle for ordinary fish and chips. Due to shortage of time, we couldn't visit tree crop farm as well which the german masters students recommended. Nevertheless, it was a satisfying day spent in the sun, amidst the creations of God.

Operation Friendship

2007-03-02T01:47:00.000-08:00

Ensoc Car decorated with astrotuft

Outside the School of Commerce, Accounting, Political Science Building

Wonderful spread of food for dinner

Just some of the kind kiwis who provided the sumptuous dinner

With German Masters Law students(Kirsten & Sven) who went for the same dinner

Tonight we were fortunate enough to have dinner with some kind local kiwis who provided dinner to us international students who are far away from home. Dinner was probably the best meal we had since our arrival, at least it was for me. There was like a 10 course meal, then dessert, and coffee/tea/milo. It is always nice to meet new people and learn about their lifestyles, cultures, languages, idiosyncrasies. I will probably go for the next dinner which is scheduled on 30 March, should my timetable allow (i.e. no travel plans).

It was at dinner that I met this phd student from egypt whom I shall call the prof. He seemed pretty quirky with his antics and attempts at speaking mandarin, much to our humour. We also learnt a bit about the german masters students who are doing law at Canterbury. They basically have to write 6 X 10,000 word thesis about topics which they decide on and then they can get their masters. Personally I do not think that is an easy task.

The hosts for the evening were russell, ivy, david, beth, cliff, inez, margaret, just to name a few and they were very accomodating. All in all, dinner, fellowship and forging of new ties was memorable and I'll see if I can go for the next dinner.

6th Brunel International Lecture

2007-03-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

Prof Paul W Jowitt

Students having beer and pizza after the lecture

This evening, there was also a lecture by Prof Paul Jowitt, ICE Vice President on the topic "Engineering Civilisation from the Shadows" where the Prof discussed poverty, climate change, technology and the role engineers play in alleviating these problems the world faces.

Clubs Day

2007-02-28T23:37:00.000-08:00

Left to right : Hongkai, Wilson, Me, at the Singapore Club booth

Mediaeval Society Booth

The Amber Card (Drinking Tui has its privileges), Dries Up: Feb 2008

28 th of February and 1st of March are Clubs' Days, the equivalent of CCA fair where CCAs set up their booths to get freshies to join them. The difference between joining clubs/societies in UC and NUS is that UC charges exorbitant membership fees although they do include t-shirts and free bbqs. For example, ensoc membership cost NZ$25 and singapore club membership cost NZ$20. UC has interesting clubs/societies such as Curry Society, Ninja Society, Mediaeval Club, Gentlemen's Club, Wine Club, just to name a few.

Pictures from the tallest building in Christchurch...formerly

2007-02-28T01:13:00.000-08:00

Discussion Room on 11th Level

Ilam Field in the distance...the field is about the size of 10 or 11 football fields

The short squarish building at the left are the science lecture theatres.

The square or quadrangle in front of the library and registry

The short arc building holds the central lecture theatres.

A little history about the university of canterbury library. It was formerly the tallest building in christchurch up till a few years ago. Standing at 11 storeys, one can see far into the horizon, since the canterbury plains are flat. The pictures are taken at 8pm just before the sun sets.

It has been a full day of lectures on tuesday and wednesday and the weather was a chilly 15 degrees (excluding wind chill). An interesting observation is students are punctual. When the lectures are set at 8 am, the lecture theatre is full at 8am. For my ANTA 102: The Cold Continent module, I was in the unenviable position of turning up at 8.03 am and everyone was staring at me, much to my embarassment.

The same day, in my other lecture(pavement engineering) from 12 pm to 1pm, one student turned up 5 minutes late. To my surprise, he apologised to the professor after the lecture.

Lesson learnt.

First Day of School

2007-02-26T02:03:00.000-08:00

The most interesting thing that happened today.... the course information provided by lecturer.

Today was the first day of school. There wasn't much to do. This was roughly how it went

10 am to 11 am Environmental Engineering 2
12 pm to 1 pm Lunch
1 pm to 2 pm Pavement Engineering
4pm to 5 pm Te Ahi Ka : Introducing Traditional Maori Society
5 pm to 5.15pm Visited 11th storey of Central Library for aerial view of surroundings
5.30pm to 6.30pm Dinner + Talk by UCSA/health centre/rec centre/lifeskills centre

Initially I wanted to buy the course readers but the queues were ridiculously long. Looks like I will have to get it another time.

I would say based on today's first introductory lecture, environmental engineering 2 and Maori module are interesting whereas for pavement engineering, I just hope it gets better as the days go by.

Sunday Out in Christchurch (25 Feb)

2007-02-25T04:25:00.000-08:00

Left to Right : Me, HongKai, Veron at Cathedral Square

At a signpost

Hongkai and Veron on the tram

Outside the tram

Hongkai and Veron excited to see a sea gull

You Won't Believe It

2007-02-25T03:56:00.000-08:00

Before: Formal Dinner after chapel service, 6.30pm (22 Feb)

After: Toga Party 8.30pm (22 Feb)

It Rained The Whole Day

2007-02-25T03:38:00.000-08:00

From left to right : Me, Veron, Hongkai, Liling, Liling's uncle

On friday 23 February, Liling's uncle brought us to the canterbury musuem. Unfortunately, the rain was a dampener and we didn't take much photos.

University of Canterbury

2007-02-25T03:27:00.000-08:00

School of Engineering

Map of University

Registration

Students Association

Christchurch Rochester & Rutherford Hall

2007-02-25T03:12:00.000-08:00

2007-02-15T06:46:00.000-08:00

The Bend in the Road

2007-02-04T06:30:00.000-08:00

And together we stand at life's crossroads
And view what we think is the end,
But God has a much bigger vision
And He tells us it's only a bend.

For the road goes on and is smoother,
And the pause in the song is a rest.
And the part that's unsung and unfinished
Is the sweetest and richest and best

So rest and relax and grow stronger.
Let go and let God share your load,
Your work is not finished or ended,
You've just come to a bend in the road.
------- Helen Steiner Rice

Asean Cup Final 1st Leg - National Stadium 31st January 2007

2007-01-31T08:22:00.000-08:00

Asean Football Championship Semi-Finals

2007-01-30T07:02:00.000-08:00