I remember blogging a lot last year when I was in NZ, because I was too bored. I think it's going to be the same for the next three weeks. haha, the weather has been rather lovely, and warm enough (15 degrees) in the afternoon. of course, at night and in the mornings, its sooo chillyy

I have been eating a lot, and have been ticking off the boxes on my checklist of kiwi things I want to eat!

So far I've had: 
- Fresco fish and chips
- Chicken and cranberry pie
- Lemon and Paeroa drink
- Kumara Rosti

 went to ancestral for dinner with Z yesterday, it's one of the most popular Asian places in Christchurch i think, the chances of bumping into Asian friends there is always quite high, especially on party nights, because they like to congregate there before heading out. haha, the food was good! (: tofu mushroom and chicken was like comfort food on a cold night. (:

decided to be more kiwi today, had pie for breakfast, and this pumpkin, potato and bacon fritata for lunch! it was yummy (: definitely more local than the asian food i'd been having so far lols.

then Z and I went to dress smart to shop a little, it wasn't as big as I expected, but I still managed to pick up some nice things from Glassons! (: very happy with my new skinny jeans and handbag, which were both more than 50% off. haha

then we decided to stay in and cook today, so we went to pak n save to buy steaks! actually I didn't cook at all, i was the observer cos Z did 90% of the work, as always when we cook. all i did was stir fry some mushrooms and keep time.

 i helped to take pictures i guess?

yumyum! so much food, and a big bottle of Moscato Rose wine, which I had a big glass of. actually i think it's meant to be a desert wine. oh wells (:

Attachment at Swiss + chch day 1 and 2

1. Attachment

Surprised myself by enjoying attachment more than I thought I would. Loved that the teachers there were all pretty young, so it was never too hard to come up with conversation topics.

I heard some strange and scary stories about giving birth though,  for example, some told me their feet expanded (like whattt?!?!), and others were talking about how expensive and painful it all was. ):

Met two other scholars who were on attachment together with me, and it was great that they were both really cool people, it's too bad that they are going back to NYC and London respectively because I've never had friends who live so nearbyyyy! With them, a project on a topic like Assessment for Learning was relatively fun as well (;

and of course, i learnt a lot from the students there. i think that the best part of teaching is that your work is all about finding ways to relate to people? of course, learning is serious business haha, but it sure beats looking at the computer all day.

and here's a picture that we took on the last day of school! (:

2. CHCH day 1 and 2! 

It's such a familiar feeling to be in chch, but I guess not everything is the same anymore...

for starters, I really miss the Singaporean friends that I came to chch with. it's definitely not the same without them.

No them means no late night chit chats and suppers together, no weekend farmer markets or beach outings. No daytrips and star gazing ):

oh well, being by myself is not a bad thing either I suppose

Here's where I'm staying! It's got a lovely garden entrance, and it's warm inside, which is so essential in 0 degrees weather!!!

had korean hotpot with Z last night at Mihyang!! hahah, i have a check list of things I want to eat, and i'm dutifully ticking them off as I go. Eating too much already!

 so good though, it came with all the complimentary sides, as well as the green onion pancake. yumsss

Christchurch

Leaving in a couple hours for chch

Been counting down to this for a long time, and now that it's finally here I don't really know what to feel. haha

well, i'm definitely still excited to see everyone i miss, and eat the yummy food, and i can't wait for cold weather!!! :D

school attachment flew by in a blink of an eye, and i think i will enjoy being a teacher after all (: i miss the kids already, definitely want to come back and see them when im back from nz (:

I think a nice, long flight alone will be quite therapeutic for me at this point in time.





Once again I'm thinking about
Taking the easy way out
But if I let you go
I will never know

It's such a shame we're worlds apart
But sooner or later
We've got to choose

And once again
I'm thinking about 
taking the easy way out

Underwater shoot

Recently got the pics for this shoot, so i shall blog about this, the most physically tiring shoot I've ever done. my goodness.

first we had to train for it, so we spent a couple hours at the pool, learning to sink in the water, keep eyes open and practice the poses.

then on the day of the shoot, first we put on super thick tv war paint make up that would hold up underwater haha, and did some studio shots for that. after that, i put on the heavy gown and headed to the pool. i was in the pool for about 4 hours i think.

it was very tiring because the gown was so heavy and long, so i kept getting trapped in it. we had to use a dark blue backdrop inside the pool, so i also got entangled in the backdrop. lols. it was like 6.30 pm when we started shooting, so i was cold, hungry too. felt all the water go into my ears, and kept feeling like i needed to pee. when we shot in 2m deep water, i couldnt swim much, cos the gown would wrap around my legs, was a little scary sometimes.

thank goodness i had a really awesome team to work with, very patient and experienced. haha, definitely dont regret trying this out. its definitely a very cool experience.

but it was one of the shoots, after which i just wanted to go home and sleep for 10years. haha

but i really like quite a few of the pics!

my fav headshot! 

Behind the scenes!


the very heavy backdrop

the monster crab look alike camera that weighs 20kg!!!! my goodnesss

trying to 'dance' underwater

Mariner's Corner

Went for lunch with my family at Mariner's Corner, which is one of the places where my parents used to date. It's a lovely, rather quaint little place opposite Pinnacle @Duxton. The quality is definitely very good for the price we pay, and there's a lot of food too!!

We had set lunch, which came with open salad bar, bread and butter, Minestrone Soup, main course, dessert and tea/coffee. Pretty good deal for about $15-20++ per person!  (:

 This was my mum's prime rib, which was quite soft, and quite a large cut

 i had salmon with mango salsa sauce, and after trying everyone else's, I think mine was the tastiest, cos the salsa gave it an extra zestiness :D

sister's dory fish!


the good thing about staying at home is that I get to eat a lot more good food, since I eat with my family much more often. hahah :D yum yum!

and I started my school attachment program today. I must say that I really really suddenly miss Pathlight and all the staff and students there. But I guess this will be a good learning experience for me as well, as long as I allow myself to be open to it. and my fellow scholars who are attached with me are very nice and friendly, so that's a good thing for sure (: I'm excited to teach my little sec 1 kids about climate and vegetation! hahaha