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.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"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.
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.
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.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"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?$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.
Labels: Auckland, Chocolate Boutique, Lion Beer Brewery, Tow away
posted by Kelvin Lim at 12:45 pm
4 Comments:
Wow, so happening!
So, are you saying those ppl who went to the brewery with you also pontang?
Anyway, SEP means Student Enjoyment Programme, so you should just enjoy yourself there!
Not really lah. We're all taking different modules. I think it was just me who pontang one lesson for it. :p
I'm still trying to tear myself away from the books. Darn that NUS spirit...
Heh.
"Disturbingly, I blended into the props"
haha that's a classic line.
Heh. I think I've found my next career path.
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