Live A Different Life

7 days, 4 cities later, I am finally back in Napier! Graduation was great with rain, friends, family and fellow graduates :) Good old Dunedin with its super cold weather and super rainy face reminds me of the good old times being a scarfie. Go Dunedin!

Some pictures from the weekend






It was great meeting up with old friends & new friend, ie baby Alex! I felt like the graduation weekend was the busiest day(s) ever in my life. Dinner and sleepover at Jocelyn and Sharon's flat on Friday night, picked up Alex and my parents on Saturday morning, picked up regalia, makeup put on by experts, Jocelyn and Sharon, put on regalia, rush to Town Hall 10 minutes late (and apparently our names were called out *oops*), sat for 1 hour and a half for 5 seconds of fame, pictures with family, friends and lecturers, dinner @ Lone Star, reunion at Jocelyn's flat, sleep, more photos the next morning, more reunion at Jitsu, brief visit to Microbiology building and onto the bus back to Christchurch, sleep, flight to Wellington, met May for 2 hours and bus back to Napier. Whew, I felt tired even just typing all the things I have done in the past few days. I feel like I am getting older...oh no~

I have just realised that I haven't blogged in > 1 month. 10 updates since I last blogged:

1. Jocelyn, May and Michelle's trip to Napier was awesome. Legendary!
2. Graduation coming up! 23rd May @ Dunedin Town Hall. Be there :)
3. I am baking biscotti =P
4. I will be going back to Auckland this weekend. What's up?
5. I am going to carry out my first ever medicines use review. How cool is that?!
6. I love 'How I met your mother' Highly recommended
7. I haven't decided on my outfit for the graduation. Ugh!!!
8. I miss Dunedin and all my friends. Group hug
9. I want a dog!
10. All I can think about now is...YUM CHA!

It's confirmed! They are coming! Super excited that friends are coming to Napier for easter holiday! I was quite worried that it would not happen. There were talks and discussions but we didn't really confirm because there are too many unknown factors eg airfare, whether Joss can get a break from her lab, will I get the weekend off etc but *drumroll* it is a GO!

Trying to decide how to showcase Hawkes Bay but realise that I myself is a 'visitor' with 3 months experience..not that best tour guide per se but I will try my best! Hawkes Bay is famous for several things: fruit, wine and leisure! Since I don't eat fruit often and don't drink wine, that leaves leisure! Leisure = Ocean Spa, Splash Planet, walk by the beach (next to Marine Parade, Napier's main street), nice dinners, fish and chips, go to Cape Kidnappers for gannets, go to Ahuriri and Bluff Hill for beautiful overview of the harbour, checking out Art Deco designs etc etc.

The trip to Wellington was fun and food-packed. I felt like the whole trip was orientated around food, fOOd, and FOOD! Wellington = great food. Alex and I arrived in Wellington on Sunday morning, arrived at May's flat in one piece. I really like May's flat. It's close to where she studies, it's spacious and it's on top of a pharmacy.

After we sorted out a rental car, we had a drive around town and started walking around town in search food. After dinner, we went to Arise Church. It was really an eye-opener. Dry ice, live video feed, camera man running around taking video, very cool! The worship and sermon were awesome and the people were really friendly. Reminded me of Cityside. I miss you guys!

The training days were great, the pharmacists were very nice and I learnt heaps. Interesting scenarios, role plays and communication lecture. I wasn't quite sure what to expect but I must say the three days were well spent! Looking forward to the next training days in August!

It was really awesome that Sharon and Cynthia were in Wellington at the same time as well. It was fun catching up with them over food and bubble tea. In the space of three days, we have been to 5 restaurants and 2 bubble tea shops. The winner of best restaurant is....*drumroll* KK! With May's recommendation, we went to KK for dinner on Monday night. I ordered fried keow tiew, my favourite dish in Malaysia. Didn't dare to get my hopes high because of previous disappointments, I kept my fingers crossed that it will be edible. It was not only edible, it tasted exactly like keow tiew straight from Malaysia! We went to Mo Mo Tea and Cha for bubble tea and I personally think that Mo Mo Tea's bubble tea were great but Cha's cakes were awesome. Both have their pros and cons but I will definitely visit both again next time.

Excited! Going to Wellington this weekend! Can't wait!

I'm very excited that wellington is going to I...I mean I am going to Wellington. So excited that I can't form a complete sentence. For one, I haven't seen May for 3 months and secondly, I love Wellington. Well, I have only been there once but really love the whole atmosphere :) Not so excited that we have to read a 40-page book on Maori culture, answer questions and do assignment. I know 40 pages is not a lot but..but...I'm not a student anymore.

Photos from Wellington (on the way to Napier from Dunedin/Christchurch)

Happy Birthday Michelle, the coolest gamer I have ever seen and Sharon, the evil girl who made me addicted to chocolate cookies! I love cookies. I love chocolate chip cookies. I think I'm still suffering from the side effects of eating Sharon's yummy cookies last year. So last Saturday, I baked some chocolate chips cookies. Umm...or should I say I TRIED to bake some chocolate chip cookies. Feeling really excited about baking cookies, I went to The Warehouse and Pak n' Save to buy some basic bakeware and ingredients.

For those of you who are not familiar with Napier (which I guess is everyone), it is famously known as the Art Deco City. The reason behind this is that there was an earthquake in 1930s which destroyed many buildings in Napier and new buildings built around that time has a distinct touch of art deco - the trend of 1930s. To celebrate Napier and Art Deco period, Napier city hosts an Art Deco week every year in February.

My first Art Deco Weekend in Napier :)