Lazy weekend

It was my wife's birthday last week. We thought of going away from Auckland for the weekend but convincing people to scrap the two nights minimum stay rule and renting out their holiday homes has proven to be a difficult task. In the end, we settled for a 1/2 day trip to Kumeu.

Kumeu is a small town 25 kilometers Northwest of Auckland city. It was quite an easy drive on State highway 16. Took us less than 40 mins by car.

 Kumeu is well known for the wineries. The one we went to is called Soljans winery. It is a family run business that has been around for ages,established in the 1930's i think.  Their cafe is supposed to be one of the top 20 restaurants in Auckland.  So i went there with certain expectations.

We started off with their freshly baked bread, which we have totally enjoyed. The bread was warm and soft. It went really well with the chef's daily spread that came with the bread.

Hui got a glass of Gewurtz which she thought was quite good. My empty stomach doesn't usually agree with any form of alcohol. So i decided to skip the wine and got a cup of coffee instead.

Sadly, my praises for the food end there. Hui got a Croatian seared Lignja. It was basically seared squid coated lightly with bread crumbs served with salad.  We thought the squid should have been seared without the bread crumbs. Because it was pan-seared rather than deep fried, the crumbs soaked up quite a bit of moisture and have made the squid a bit too soft and chewy.

I got a Mushroom a la greque. I got it because i love hashcakes. But my hashcake was soggy.  I couldn't figure what happened but i suspect it was left standing for too long before serving.  The poor hashcake must have soaked up too much paprika oil or the moisture from their redwine infusion while left standing.

So, basically we were happy with half the food but the other half has left us a little disappointed.  I must say the service was pretty good though. Will we go back there again? Probably not. Aucklanders are blessed because Matakana (North of Auckland) and Kumeu (Northwest) are all saturated with numerous quality wineries. There are always better choices and definitely better hashcakes!

Downunder

As a member of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, i attend the Update conference every year. The conference is held in Australia, usually in Sydney. This year the meeting was in Melbourne. And this year, it was a little bit more than just a conference for me. This year, i was there to attend a small ceremony where i have officially become a fellow of the college. Oh, we got a certificate at the end of the ceremony too. Though i must say the college was being very cheap, giving out a certificate without a cover or a case of some sort. I had to stuff it in my hand carry bag and ended up tearing it a little bit after my 3.5 hour flight.

The best part of conferences like that is i get to fly for free, as all our expenses are reimbursed under medical education claim, with a limit of course (otherwise i will be flying to Hawaii every 6 months!). My trip there this time was not without a few hiccups. Firstly my flight got delayed for two hours, which means i touched down at Melbourne at 11pm. Then i realised i have booked into the wrong hotel. Apparently there were two Medina executive apartments, one at each end of Flinders street. I was supposed to stay at the Medina at the Northbank instead of the one on Southbank. Anyway, at midnight, i walked the entire length of Flinders street and finally reached my hotel just after midnight. Luckily, the apartment was very nice. I could see the iconic building of Federation square from my balcony.

Due to the fact that i got the wrong hotel, i had a fair distance to travel to my conference venue the next morning. It would have taken me 25-30 mins on foot. I chose to take a tram. As usual, i carried my DSLR with me wherever i go. I walked pass this lane with cool Graffiti on my way to the tram stop.

On Sunday, i got a little fed up with the very facts packed talks. So, i decided to flag some of the talks and went wondering in the CBD of Melbourne.  Melbourne streets are busier than ever, packed with people, cars and all kinds of street performers. On the same street (Bourke street), i have seen a few but two of the performances caught my eyes. First act was by a group of Italian men, playing their music. The music had a heavy Latin swing to it. The band actually attracted lots of attention.

The second act was a man who painted himself gray to look like a statue. But instead of standing still like just another boring statue wannabe, he created another three statue who looked like him. It was kind of freaky seeing four faces in stone-form, especially when one of them could move.

Of course, Melbourne is not all pretty and civilised. Here's a dodgy one.....

Chinese new year with family

It is that time of the year again, a time for family members to gather, a time to celebrate, a time to rejoice. It is the year of rabbit this year. This year, i have the luxury of being on holiday for two months. Sadly, my wife's leave application got turned down, hence my Chinese new year celebration in Auckland instead of Malaysia. On the better side of things,my folks and sister flew to Auckland for the new year gathering. Their trip was fairly short, which limited our choices when it came to planning our out-of-Auckland trip. In the end we spent most of our time together exploring Auckland. We spent a sunny afternoon at Cornwall park. Then on the following day we took a ferry to Waiheke island and spent a night there.

Cornwall park is one of the many parks in Auckland city. Together with the neighbouring park One tree hill, Cornwall park is the biggest parkland in central Auckland. Here, you will find an interesting landscape formed by many hills and terraces, a result of volcanic activity in the distant past. One tree hill, the neighbouring park is centered on an inactive volcanic cone. Built around this cone, was ancient Maori fortresses from the pre-European era. They said the domain was called One tree hill because there used to be a tree standing solo on the hill top. Unfortunately, that tree has suffered from some kind of disease and had to be removed. All we are left with now is a monument on the hill top. Nevertheless, Cornwall park and One tree hill domain are still an excellent place to have a stroll, jog or summer barbeque. Speaking of the latter, there are dedicated areas with permanent built in BBQ facilities for everyone. There are extensive walkways and walking paths running between the mature oak and Kauri trees. There is even a Cornwall restaurant in the middle of the park, a popular venue for weddings.


Here is a shot of my sister sitting on the floating roots of a tree.

Mum and dad seemed to have a good time walking around the park.  Here is a shot i took of mum, with my camera close to  the ground. It was difficult to get the subject in focus when i couldn't actually see through my view finder. The live view mode on my D90 has never been working that well for me somehow. I prefer using the viewfinder but i was reluctant to get dirty lying with my tummy down on the tarmac. In the end, i think i got the effect i wanted.

 

The following photo is one with my sister trying out her photography skill with her iphone. Hers is a 3Gs, not the one with the 5 megapixel chip that you will find in iphone 4, which is the one i'd much prefer. I am amazed by the picture quality an iphone 4 can produce. I have been wanting to get a pocket camera that i can bring to dinner parties. Sometimes, lugging a big DSLR to a dinner party is just not very "cool". I was eyeing on the Canon S95. Lately, i have been thinking maybe i should wait until my current cellphone (a Nokia) goes kaput and needs replacing, then i will get an iPhone 4 or iPhone 5 if they have one by then. It just makes more sense to me that way, since i carry my cellphone everywhere i go anyway. Why bother filling up another one of your pocket with another chunk of electronic device when the one that you use as a phone is perfectly capable of producing nice photos. Afterall you are not doing a proper photoshoot for fashion magazine at a dinner party. The 5 megapixel lens with a large aperture of f2.5 should do the job most of the time.

 

We spent 15 minutes observing the cows at Cornwall park. My sister lives in Australia. They don't get to see cows or sheeps unless they travelled far out from the city. Who would have thought you can see so many cows grazing the parkland in the middle of Auckland. That is exactly what i love about Auckland. It's a big little city. It is big enough for most things but small enough to blend rural into your buzy urban city life. Fantastic if you ask me.

We spent a day on Waiheke island.  We departed from the Auckland main ferry terminal at the viaduct. The ferry to Waiheke departs from pier 2.  

My sister on the ferry.

The place we stayed in was Anzac villa. Here are some photos taken at the property.

The villa is quite an old premise but fairly well maintained. You will find many little decorative details in the house, which add a personal touch to the villa. I have found the villa quite "funky". Most importantly, it is very clean.  The kitchen is well equiped with oven , cooktops, microwave, kettle and all kinds kitchen utensils.  The island's biggest supermarket, the Woolworth is within walking distance from the villa. We bought  fresh pasta and cooked up a simple but delicious dinner and had the dinner at the villa's front porch, by the water. To top it off, the villa comes with a courtesy vehicle for us to use. In our case, it was a spacious Toyota Estima, a seven seater people carrier. I understand the owner also has a big bad Landrover that he sometimes uses as the courtesy vehicle.

Complimentary tea and coffee.

Waterfront is right at our doorstep at Anzac villa.

Waiheke island is famous for two things. Wineries and beaches. Our Waiheke experience would not be complete without a visit at one of the wineries. Choosing winery to visit is not as easy as i thought. There are more than 30 different wineries on the island. I have been to Mudbrick winery some time ago and liked the mediterranean feel it has and its beautiful Lavender garden. But i thought i'd try somewhere else. So i did some googling and found Te Whau. We had lunch at Te Whau winery.  Te Whau is a smallish vineyeard but it's restauarnt is award winning and has been crowned the best Auckland rural fine dining restaurant. Sure enough, the food was absolutely amazing. So was the service. We started off with a basket of bread to share. The we had a main course each. We had pan fried salmon with king prawn and Vietnamese salad, eye fillet with potatoe tart, pan fried snapper fillet with tomaoe fondue and twice cooked duck.

We had an enjoyable and relaxing time on the island. I liked the villa we stayed in. One thing i will advice you not to do though is visiing a garden called Te Whau garden. It was a total waste of money and time if you ask me. It is basically a private residence with a big compound with partial landscape and partial wetland and flax bush. The garden has been advertised as a sculpture garden, but there were hardly any sculptures worth looking at. Entrance fee was $10 per adult. We only spent 20mins there and left disappointed. If you like garden, the are many much nicer gardens around Auckland, most of which are free for everyone to visit. I highly recommend the Auckland botanica garden in Manurewa (Hills rd).

For those of you planning to visit Waiheke, i recommend two things. One, stay at Anzac villa. Two, having lunch at Te Whau winery. Check out their websites. Here's the website address.

http://www.tewhau.co.nz/
http://www.anzacvilla.com

Don't like the past week

I haven't blogged for quite a few days. Not because i am lazy but because i have been as sick as a dog the past few days. There must a potent virus around that gives people the mother of all runny nose and nausea. Nausea and vomiting have never been my symptoms when i get flu. I absolutely hate the experience of waking up at night and retching in front of the toilet with nothing but gastric acid being expelled.

To top it off, the super bad rain last week has flooded my balcony and caused some unsightly water damage to one of my walls at home. Then came tropical cyclone Wilma, bringing lots of rain again. Everytime it rains my heart pounds 10 times faster. I worry a lot about my house as it doesn't seem to tolerate high rain falls well. Blame the poor building standard in New Zealand.

Then my precious boy racer car WRX got stolen yesterday morning. That was when cyclone Wilma visited our neighbourhood. I parked my car on street. My street is supposed to be a rather safe street. I have made a police report pronto but have not heard anything about my car so far. According to statistics only 30% of stolen cars in New Zealand get recovered eventually (wrecked or not). Now, I am car-less and mega pissed off.

My mood is much better today though. Although i still have to put up with my niggly cough, i did something cool today. I have done a 1/2 day photoshoot for my friend, Kait and Luke, lovely couple. I will need some time sorting out some editing and will make a full post on the shoot. So stay tuned and watch the space. Meanwhile, here are a few photos from the shoot, just to tease you for now.