Arrived safely into New Zealand yesterday afternoon after a shorter-than-normal flight - it was less than 10 hours, and during that time I managed to sleep, watch the remainder of Bolt, see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Aristocats, enjoy a Nasi Lemak and horde some Ferrero Rocher.

I was surprisingly quick through New Zealand customs despite being questioned by three airport security staff. They all asked the same thing: can I see your passport (I guess...), what's in the box (an LCD monitor), and how much did it cost (dirt cheap). Was picked up by Reuben and we went to Cornwall Park to catch up with the rest of the church, who had conveniently decided to have a picnic that day.

Spent the rest of the afternoon with my sister and had dinner at her place before she dropped me at the airport for my flight back to Wellington. Unfortunately for me, Wellington had decided that summer sucks so it shrouded itself in dense fog, preventing the plane from landing and, an hour after we were supposed to land, we had to divert to bloody Palmerston North International Airport (I didn't know it was an international airport...) where Air NZ kindly put us on a very air conditioned bus back to Wellington.

Stupid city.

First day of work for the new year and not too bad really. It was really hard waking up this morning and until about 1pm I was quite groggy and not concentrating well. I think my colleagues appreciated the love letter rolls, the green tea and lemon lollies and the mango chewies. It's Spicy Food Tuesday tomorrow!

I've been a little late in blogging, and I blame this entirely on Apollo Justice. It's not as captivating as Phoenix Wright, I must say, but it is still captivating and I have been playing it every night.

Anyway, on Sunday I went for yum char with Laura (again) and her friend from Uni. At the same place. With the awesome durian tarts :3 We got to have a lot more variety this time, including an awesome mango pudding, that tastes like REAL MANGO!!





Today I met up with Ritu for lunch, and we went to this place on Courtenay Place called R&S Malaysian restaurant. I wasn't sure what to have, so I ordered nasi lemak.



It was nice..until I found a hair in the rice. So I'm not going back there again ^^

Debs and Denise arrived from Auckland today as well, so I took them around to the Civic Centre and to Reading Cinemas for dinner. Then we went back to their hostel, where I played piano! Yay! It was such a calming and relieving experience, to be able to play the piano and to feel the music fill the air. Ahhhhh. I'm satisfied.

Well yes, it’s been a really long time now. When I last posted, I was paying 1c per kilobyte (Thanks Vodafone!) for using my phone as a modem. As a result, Vodafone think I owe them $150, but I’m certainly not paying and I intend to sort it out once and for all after Waitangi Day (Yes I have tried calling 777). BUT YAY INTERNET AT HOME!

Anyway, yes I did arrive safely in Wellington. It did indeed take us 10 hours from Auckland. We stopped over in Taupo for a quick toilet break (The lake was a beautiful rich blue colour), Turangi for fish and chips, and some random long drop on the side of the road about an hour out for Wellington (Ugh. I was lucky I had a blocked nose). Yeah, blocked nose. I ended up suffering from exhaustion and then a cold upon arriving, which was not ideal, but hey.

So yeah, I settled in alright, got everything set up. My parents were with me on Thursday morning and we took a quick ride up the cable car, went to the optometrist, explored Cuba Street…then they took off for Taupo (overnight stay, then Auckland on Friday). For the rest of Thursday, Friday and Saturday, I was just wandering around Wellington. Lots of interesting people were walking around for the Sevens. Went for a walk around the Botanical Gardens, went to Te Papa, saw the Beehive, walked around the city. I had Nasi Lemak at K.K. Malaysian Restaurant, Wellington :3 Sunday I just lazed at home (too much walking) but my flatmate Bjorn took me to church that night.

I walked in to the church with Bjorn and it immediately reminded me of WCCC. Very large, lots of people. I’d say almost everyone was under 30, and I was probably one of three Asians. We were a bit late, so I only caught two of the worship songs, but the second one we sang was “I stand in awe of you”, which was reassuring and comforting for its familiarity. I remember sitting in the chairs, listening to the sermon, feeling very reclusive and thinking about how I miss the friendliness of KCC, and how it’s nice and small and simple and so welcoming. I mean, it’s great that everyone’s so enthusiastic about God and worship here, but it just kinda creeped me out. I really want to find a small community church…I guess I feel less intimidated. Anyway, we didn’t stay long. I had a big day the next day…

Yeah so Monday was my first day at work. Sidhe is a really cool place. I walk in, and there’s people doing some hardcore programming, people in team meetings, people who have put aside their computer and instead are playing around with their creations on a Nintendo Wii. Like, seriously. We get to play with what we write :D I spent most of the day reading documentation and company policies and conventions and stuff like that, so it was kinda boring, and I was falling asleep towards the afternoon. But they sorted me out, and the next day I was completing a competency test (an extension to what I did when I applied for the job) just to make sure I had practice using the naming conventions and commenting styles. I was also given some homework, so I really should be learning all about C++ Templates and STL.

Anyway, I’m really glad I finally have Internet access. It’s like a connection to the world, to friends and family back in Auckland. It feels a little more relaxing and it certainly helps me to settle in better. I think once I get my new pair of glasses on Thursday, I’ll feel more confident too.

Pictures of Epic Win: