Frenzical Food

Eating in Auckland has so far been underwhelming. Certainly, the food culture here is dimensions away from that of Singapore. Pies and chips shouldn't be defined as proper food right?

Starting from the beginning, my first meal began with a $8.00 Padh-Thai Noodles at an Asian Food Court.
Then the disturbing trend of Asian Food continued...

Korean Bi bim bap

Japanese Yakisoba

Beijing's gou bu li bao(狗不理包) and spicy Si-chuan soup

The chef was effusively friendly and apologized that it would take quite long to make the steamed buns. So to pass time, he regaled us with a long tale of how the buns got it's unorthodox name, 狗不理 (gou bu li).

Nasi Lemak (with kickass chill) and Teh Tarik

Mee Goreng

Beef Murtabak

Roti Prata

The suspiciously Singaporean-styled food was served at Railway Cafe, an eating place in one of the school accommodation. And not-too-surprisingly, the friendly macik in charge of the cafe was indeed from Singapore.

She mentioned to us how Singapore had been too noisy for her although she always missed the food.

Her solution?
Open a cafe and cook it herself.

The third most common food eaten after Japanese and Korean food was pizza.

I didn't really take much pictures of the better tasting ones from Pizza Fresca but that of La Porchetta would suffice.

The Lot Pizza Tradizionale

Focaccia Ripiena Semi-dried TomatoesAnd more chocolate...
Dark-chocolate coated with a white chocolate heart Afghan with Caramello Choccacino

Stop it, there's nothing politically bush about the lovely cookie.

Ahhh... All is sinfully good if you have deep pockets.
Unfortunately, cooking yourself remains as the cheaper alternative.

The first meal cooked in the apartment with the help of Wei Xin's mother.

The second meal cooked by people in their twenties, aka the 3 NUSsers.

We wanted to spice things up so in comes the Ma Po Dou Fu, although it turned out a bit wrong when there was too little sauce in too much beancurd.

Another ubiquitous meal with fish debuting on the table for the first time

The first noodle meal staring cream fish and hash browns

After a couple of weeks of learning how to cook, the can-only-cook-instant-noodle Kelvin decided to reward himself with some proper homecooked lunch. Although it took much longer than expected, I was beaming with pride when I took the picture.
But Alas! I thought my supposedly fusion black pepper pasta tasted a bit weird. In fact, it was a little tat too salty for my palate. I opened the fridge to take a second look at the sauce I added.

Horrors of horrors, I had mistaken the GARLIC BLACK BEAN SAUCE as black pepper sauce. Gross...

Below is the original black pepper pasta that inspired me to cook the previous fiasco. The black pepper sauce was heavenly peppery and SOLID but it almost killed the rest of the guests (for housewarming).
Add another year of cooking experience and our modest 2 dish meal cooked by 3 people for 7 (above) was confidently trumped by a 3 dish meal prepared by ONE person for 8.

Pizza, Chicken rice and Bak kut teh. Really lovedthe garlic and ginger...

18th August 2008
If you have cooked in New Zealand for all your life, you would probably have developed skills that would rival that of Jeremy's homestay "parents".

Lunch began with appetizers, innocuous sushi prepared by the giggling girl in the background.
And then, the feast began.

Prawns served with a sweet and sour dip, Fusilli Pasta, Noodle bits, Pickles, "Shrek" super cheesy pasta, Celery with sour cream and nuts, Bread with asparagus, pickles, Edam and Brie cheese, Green grapes, Black pepper potato, Salmon strips with bread
As we began to tuck in, another bowl of potato salad was served.
Then came two roasted spring chicken (from Foodtown), where by Jeremy's "father" extracted the "wishbone" and shared with us a funny little superstition.
As I was getting really satiated, we were adviced to eat the cheese with the crackers. And another plate of deep fried stuff (eg. spring rolls and some sesame seed hash brown) made itself at home on the table.
And as we thought we were about to explode, two loafs of piping hot garlic bread appeared before our eyes.
By the time the mince meat and egg pie (again from Foodtown) could find itself a space on the table, I was close to vomiting.

*vomit**BURP*

Brewing Trouble (Updated!)

Boy oh boy... I've been studying almost half as hard as I do in NUS. Which is almost blasphemous considering I'm on exchange... Tsk tsk.

2nd August 2007
Officially pontanging (aka skipping) my first lecture in University of Auckland, this was the first time entering a beer brewery.

The Entrance of the Lion Brewery Disturbingly, I blended into the props.

Hops are used primarily as a flavouring and stability agent in beer. But the room showcasing them smelled really gross.

The huge variety of beers produced by Lion Brewery.

Pipes of Liquid Gold

Personally, I thought the large part of the "excursion" was rather crappy. It seemed as if the stupid company was more interested in exhibiting and boasting its long illustrious history.

Painstakingly convincing us what marvelous beer they produce and even compelling us to watch their past advertisements, I simply could not help rolling my eyes.

Sianz, I bet Asia Pacific Breweries (better known for it's Tiger Beer) can do a better job than that!

Eventually, everyone was finally brought to a "real" part of Lion Brewery, where bottling and packaging are being done. Unfortunately, the pseudo-tour guide informed us that things were quiet at that moment of time because the workers were probably having their lunch break.

...

For goodness sake, it was 4PM.
Well, at least the last part of the tour proved to be the most fulfilling, making our $10.00 worth.

FREE FLOW OF BEER!

3 Choices of Beer: Lion Red Beer, Steinlager, Speight's Gold Medal Ale

Happy and Free.

After a lackluster dinner, we headed for some endorphin rush at cosy little Chocolate Boutique Cafe at Parnell.
In clockwise: Bittersweet Submarino, Chocolate Mocha Nut Latte, Chilli Denso and Traditional Italian Denso. With a chocolate impregnated brownie in the centre.
Yes, Chilli Denso is literal combination of pure melted chocolate and spices. It tasted weirdly wonderful until one takes the fifth or sixth mouthful...

3rd August 2007
If Thursday was unadulterated alcoholic chocolatyly fun, Friday was its antithesis.

After the weekly badminton sessions organized by Auckland Badminton Club, a famished Kelvin was delighted to discover a just rented Blue Toyota MPV had become our new form of transport for the coming weekend.

Of course, before everyone headed off for the fateful dinner, we had to drop a certain someone off at Vector Arena to watch her book-long-time-ago-when-in-Singapore Christina Aguilera concert.

But when we had driven to the venue, Vector Arena proved to be unusually quiet. Someone even remarked that maybe the concert was cancelled.

Like a joke come true, IT WAS INDEED CANCELLED, due to some bad flu virus that Christina had caught. Unfortunately, the night was still young for more to go wrong.

After someone's concert in vain, we settled for one of numerous Korean Restaurants at Upper Queen Street, parking just outside the entrance.
Okay, the Korean food was not the main point in this entry.

After a rather sumptuous dinner, everyone were making plans on where to go, just to make use of our newfound freedom. Indeed, public transport in Auckland ain't the most convenient and cheapest in the world.

But all our plans fell flat on our face.

As we exited from the restaurant, an uneasy and awkward silence settled on us boisterous crowd.
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"Where is our car?"

Indeed, our light blue Toyota MPV had been replaced by an unknown entity, better known as shit-that's-not-our-car car.

To cut the long story short, after a few frantic calls, we manage to confirm our car had been towed away because part of the vehicle was overlapping the bus stop.

Tragically, everyone walked in the relatively cold nocturnal winter temperature, with one of us lacking a jacket because he had left it in the car.

And to top it off, before we reach the doorsteps of our kidnappers, we officially faced our first blatant racist attack. It came in the form of an egg thrown from a car, but heng, it hit none of us.

Ominously, our kidnapper's enclave was just opposite Mount Eden Prison.

Our poor blue hostage

Negotiating with the kidnappers

As negotiations were ongoing, we realized business was really brisk!

The Ransom?
$120.00
$130.00

Nonetheless, we refused to be pessimistic and considered ourselves lucky that the bill did not run up into a few hundred dollars.

"After this incident..." I thought, "What else could possibly go wrong?"

Heh.

Rugged Rugby & Wacky Waiheke

21st July 2007
If there is one sports that you have to catch in New Zealand, then it has to be rugby. Rugby Union Tri Nations 2007, it was the finals between the New Zealand's All Blacks and the nemesis, Australia's Wallabies.

Never mind majority of us know nuts about Rugby, it was the face that matters. *Roar!*
After the face, it was time to eat eat eat.
After gulping down a mug of Beer and Bread with sausage at Globe's Bar, it was time to head to Mount Eden Stadium. That was when I tucked in my second meal of ultra oily Fish & Chips and Mochachino awaited for me.
Okay, I admit that the Fish & Chips wasn't too palatable.

Everyone was busy snapping pictures, taking videos and soaking up the enthusiastic atmosphere.
But we soaked up more than just enthusiasm... Yes, the sweh buangz in the NUSsers literally triggered a downpour.
Umbrellas began popping up as the incorrigible Kelvin continues to take photos and videos despite risks of getting his camera wet.
Others resorted to hiding under whatever that seemed remotely waterproof. Nice try, Swee Yong...It wasn't before long that the boisterous crowds started chanting, "Down with Umbrellas!" And so... for much of the game, the NUSsers sat miserably in the freezing rain, shivering their butts off.

The rain eventually stopped and All Blacks won.

I think it really feels good when you belong to a nation that is genuinely excellent in a certain sports.

28th July 2007
Ah... The weekend again and it's time to explore the boring New Zealand again! The destination this time was Waiheke Island.

Waiheke Island is in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand and is located about 17.7 km (about 35 minutes by ferry) from Auckland. The second-largest (after Great Barrier Island) of all the gulf islands, is also the most populated and the most accessible due to regular ferry and air services. Waiheke is the third most populated island in New Zealand, after the North and South Islands.

It was further than Devonport so we had to donate 28 bucks for the short ferry ride.

Somehow, I'm weirdly reminded of "Welcome to Pulau Tekong" sign.

Sea kayaking in Waiheke Island is one of the main attraction but once again, the sweh buangz in us strikes! Apparently, the kayaking shop was closed in winter.

Agad... So we settled for the next best, biking.

"Stupid Asians"

After a quick hiccup with the gears on one of the bikes, we were peddling happily like retarded kids. Until we met inclined roads...
Which were utterly bike-unfriendly...

So by the time we reach Ostend Market, the stallholders were already packing up.
Thanks to the incredibly slack ang mohs, we were reduced to eating Chinese Takeaways. Once again, you can always depend on the Chinese to be working.

My grotesquely huge Sweet and Sour Fish with Fried Rice

After a heavy lunch, we headed to Onetangi Beach which was immensely nicer than the beach at Mission Bay.

Of course, in such a romantic beach, love blossoms.

And yes, that guy already has a girlfriend in Hong Kong. Heh.

And the rest of us...

Satisfying the thirst of local kiwis, Waiheke Island is one of the numerous places in New Zealand which produces wine.

Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we had to settle for Cable Bay Vineyards which was closest to the port.
Irritatingly, the $5.00 wine-tasting session was over. And while it was one of the cheapest vineyard (on Waiheke Island) to sample wines, it was rather pricey to drink it from the bar.

But still, I ended up forking out $11.00 for a glass of Pinot Noir.
At first, the waitress was just friendly, recommending to us different wines. After delivering our wines and cheese, she asked us if we would like to "try" their olive oil. And before we knew it, we were served with soft fluffy bread with fragrant Cable Bay Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

*Yummy* Until the bill came...
#@&@!#@!&^*???!!!
18 BUCKS FOR SLICES OF BREAD AND OLIVE OIL?!

Lesson of the Day: Don't agree readily when someone asks, "Would you like to try...?"

Of course, we were even more alarmed when we exited the bar because we were greeted by utter pitch blackness. The roads were not lit and our bikes did not have any lamps in front. And to exacerbate matters, the ferry we wanted to catch was arriving in 15 minutes time.

Thankfully, the skies were pretty clear and the moon became our only source of light. Free wheeling down the slopes, we manage to make it to the ferry in time.

Sore-Butts.