Sherril's favourite quote....

"......so that we can do great things in future"

By Dorae-ong

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Sight Seeing in South Island of NZ

Hello people! Finally I have a place to online and update a blog post. Life over here is pretty good, just that the weather is getting colder and we are still jobless, at the moment XD But soon, most probably next week, we will start to work non-stop for at least a month.

To those who love spectacular sceneries, NZ is really a place that you should visit. Not only the place is lovely, the people are friendly as well. A really nice country indeed Red heart

The life pace here is quite slow, and I am wondering when I go home, will my footsteps become slower as well? Haha. Become old lady liao when I go back XD

Been travelling around South Island before settling down in Blenheim, where I am now at. When we first arrived, Fern was still with us hence we toured around and went sight seeing every single day. After she left us and went Aukland, we travelled up to Nelson to find jobs before coming to Blenheim.

sheepIn the land of sheep


Will be working soon, so let’s hope that the weather will turn good soon, because it is an outdoor job!

We were lucky enough because during our journey we met many kind and helpful people. Some are local, some are from Hong Kong, China, German, Israel etc etc. 感激不尽!谢谢啦!

 

Akaroa –> Chez La Mer Backpackers

chez la mer

One of the best accommodations Smile

From Christchurch, we went Akaroa. A small and quiet town. Till now, I still feel that Akaroa is one of the best towns I really love. Nice and quiet with very lovely view. A must-go place!

 

Lake Tekapo

lake tekapo 3

lake tekapo

lake tekapo 2

lake tekapo - church of the good shepherdChurch of the Good Shepherd

kohan bentoKohan Bento

After spending 2 nights at Akaroa (this shows how much we love the town) we drove straight to Lake Tekapo.

Lake Tekapo is one of lakes that you must visit! Very very very nice view. And if you are a salmon lover, please do visit Kohan Japanese Restaurant 湖 at Lake Tekapo. The salmon that they served are very very fresh and delicious. Way better than those that I ate back in Malaysia. Me and Fern nearly teared because the salmon was soooooo good Smile

After staying a night at Lake Tekapa we headed to Mount Cook.

 

Mount Cook

mount cook 2

We chose Hooker Valley route, was expected to finish the journey back to the starting point by 3 to 4 hours, but we spent 5 hours doing it. Definitely not a second time for me! Was exhausted at the end. The beginning of the route was nice and sceneries of the glaciers were really beautiful.

But to spend 3 hours + +  walking to the end point and realized that the view was not that nice… really just made us go =_=’’’’’’’’ . We thought the ice bergs at the lake should be very nice (if not why people spend such a long time walking just to see them?), but really turned out to be a huge disappointment.

mount cookDoing a jumpshot at the end point

If I were to go back, I will choose the 1 hour route haha. But Mount Cook is a must-go place as well. Nice scenery!

After walking for hours, we spent a night at Omarama before heading to Wanaka.

 

Wanaka

wanaka - puzzling world

Our first stop was Puzzling World before checking in our hostel. Inside puzzling world you are led into illusion rooms and spend hours in a maze finding your way out haha.

puzzling world 2
Read this, it’s 100% true!

puzzling world
Guess, who is this? You should know!

The faces are indeed concave, and when we walked, the eyes were really seemed to be following you around. Amazing!

puzzling world 3
Part of the maze

That weekend Wanaka was busy with A&P event. First time we saw traffic jam in NZ.

After Wanaka, we went Queenstown!

 

Queenstown

After Kohan Bento in Lake Tekapo, one of our luxurious meals was at Fergburger.

fergburger2

A very famous burger in Queenstown that you must try! I think it’s way bigger and taste better than Carl’s Jr.  Next time I will need to share a burger with someone. Who wants to share?? XD

fergburger

If you love extreme sports, Queenstown is full of them! What you need is just lots of $$$$$$$$. You can do sky diving, bungy jump, sky swing, paragliding and the list goes on. As all of us have not found job and was shortage of $$, so Fern alone went sky swing.

Which was really unexpected to me. Because Fern would have not done something like that. But glad that she tried it Smile

Took the gondola up with her. The weather then was rainy and super cold!

queenstown gondola

 

sky swingHer weight and size

queenstown sky swing
The platform was just beside the gondola


queestown sky swing 2
She swing to the view of entire Queenstown

Remember, look at the weather forecast before booking your sports. Choose a sunny day if not, you will not be able to enjoy the magnificent view!

 

Te Anau & Milford Sound

Te Anau

We spent a night at Te Anau before heading for a day trip to Milford Sound. Hmm to me Milford Sound is something like our cruise experience back in 张家界 / 长江三峡.

On the way to Milford Sound,

milford sound

 

mirror lake
Mirror Lake

milford sound 2
Our cruise to Milford Sound

s
Rainbow!

Our next target is Doubtful Sound!

After sending Fern to Queenstown Airport we headed straight to Franz Joseph to spend a night before driving all the way up to Nelson. My 1st time driving for like 6 hours. LOL

Nelson

We stayed at “The Palace Backpackers” in Nelson for 3 nights. Spent time searching for jobs as well as sight seeing.

the palace

Really got PALACE eh feel Open-mouthed smile

 

nelson

For the first time, we felt really hot and sweating in NZ! Haha yeah we miss the hot weather in Malaysia LOL.

On Saturday, we went to Nelson Saturday Market. There are lots to see. They sell many different things, some are cute, some are unique, some are odd… they are just different from our pasar malam.

DSC_0198

Mirrors

nelson 2

Aluminium-can made things
(the old man is the maker)

 

DSC_0202

When we saw CHINESE FOOD, we went crazy, We wanted to buy but we need to preserve our cash. So 只好望梅止渴. Haih. I miss CHINESE food, I miss dim sum, I miss tomyam, I miss curry, I miss CHILLI, I miss laksa, I miss char koay teow……

Penang is really a heaven of good food. Makes me miss those delicacies so much. Here our meals are just bread, rice, spaghetti…..

And I miss my family and friends, especially him. But that does not stop me from staying here till our visa end haha.

Take care peeps! Will update again when I have the chance to as gonna start work soon.

Cheers!

 

-sherril=xuele-

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Akaroa

Been raining the whole day so we have to drive out for sight seeing.

sesat

Well, nothing can describe my feelings here. The scenery in Akaroa is magnificent! It’s just…. tooooooo spectacular! In this picture, we actually drove to the wrong road, but the scenery is so priceless!

Well, more to expect in the coming days. Hopefully we can get a job soon!

 

-sherril=xuele-

Sunday, March 04, 2012

Entire New Journey–New Zealand

Yahoo!! Greetings from New Zealand!

Finally, finally, finally… after waiting for so many months, I am now in Christchurch Airport blogging away!

Everything went smooth from my flight from Penang to KL, and from KL to Christchurch. Overnighted in LCCT before leaving for CHC, and now I am here after 11 hours of flight, and again overnighting in airport. Because the time now here is midnight, can’t go anywhere.

But luckily, there are available ports and FREE Wifi!

Very tired, very excited, very nervous….

Later in the morning will start our journey by car hunting, settle our bank accounts and IRD, and then tour around a bit with Fern Fern while finding for a job.

It is autumn now, hopefully we can get a job with reasonable pay Smile

Will blog again when there is FREE WIfi again Smile

Bye!

 

-sherril=xuele-

Thursday, February 23, 2012

M.I.S.S.

I was browsing through my old photos in Facebook and I realized that I was lucky enough to have a very interesting and unforgettable university life Smile 

Yes, I miss my uni days. I miss organizing events with a bunch of very committed team mates. I miss the fun of meeting new people and working together as a team in order to make an event successful. I miss the life as a university student which my job was to study, take exams and occasionally have fun with friends Smile

There were ups and downs in my uni life, learnt many important lessons, met many different kinds of people, enhanced my skills in various aspects, and most importantly it helped me to become who I am today.

I know that no matter how much I miss being a university student, I still can’t wind the time and go back to the past. Life goes on after all, isn’t it?

But to those who are currently in university or going to enrol into a university, remember this, university life will always be one of the best experiences and memories in your life! Hence remember to cherish every moment as a university student!

About 1 more week left to my new journey of life. God knows how nervous I am now. Hopefully things will go on well. Gambate!

 

-sherril=xuele-

Sunday, February 05, 2012

Unique Penang Art Gallery 【槟岛之恋】

Dropped by Unique Penang Art Gallery today after our dinner at BBQ Plaza. This is our second visit to this lovely gallery at Love Lane. Smile 

DSC_0112

Our first visit. That was Joey behind us Smile

 

Unique Penang Art Gallery exhibits a range of beautifully painted drawings by Joey Lim and other little kids as well as mesmerizing photographs by Clovis Leong.

It is good to see people who are passionate with what they do are persistent in pursuing their passion, especially when they are from PenangSmile Thumbs up for both Clovis and Joey!Thumbs up

Before leaving the gallery, you can purchase a favourite postcard and choose a date to send it off. This “future postcard” concept is very special and we actually did that during our last visit in  December 2011. If not mistaken we have chosen to send off our postcards one year later, which is end of this year. Hence now our postcards are still sitting in the shelf, waiting for the big day to arrive hehe. By the way, the postcards are printed with drawings by the kids.

Today’s visit is a little bit special because there was a Brazilian girl selling handmade accessories outside the gallery. We actually went there to have a look at the accessories. Love them very much Red heart Bought a black wrist band which I thought the design is very unique while Jhu bought an orange one.

DSC_0497_副本_副本

 

Pay a visit to this gallery if you have some time. Situated in a heritage styled house with simple and minimal decorations, the gallery is just like its name 【槟岛之恋】 Winking smile

Get going, Clovis and Joey!

DSC_0108

 

Unique Penang Art Gallery 【槟岛之恋】

Address: 62, Love Lane, 10200 Penang.
Website: http://www.uniquepenang.com/
Clovis Studio: http://www.clovisstudio.com/

 

-sherril=xuele-

Saturday, February 04, 2012

Behind 50, Love Lane

DSC_0056_副本

Well to be exact, Behind 50 is actually located at Muntri Street Smile

Since last year, many little cozy cafes have mushroomed around Penang town area. Jhu found out this particular cafe named Behind 50 and thought that it should be a good idea to give Jureen a birthday surprise over there.

After working out a plan with Jureen’s bf, we set off to buy cake before reaching the cafe. We parked our car at Love Lane and walked towards Muntri Street.

DSC_0016_副本

Snapped a picture of these excited faces while they were discussing about the best timing to walk in and surprise the birthday girl  with her birthday cake.Open-mouthed smile

After making sure the coast is clear, we proceeded with our plan and…..

DSC_0019_副本

Jureen was caught by surprise! YAY! Plan succeeded!

DSC_0026_副本

Jureen, 你老一岁啦!Hehe XD

DSC_0029_副本

Happy birthday!

DSC_0079_副本

The lovely couple *sweet sweet*

 

DSC_0036_副本

Red heartThe girlsRed heart

So what food does this cafe offer?

DSC_0035_副本

 

I myself ordered:

DSC_0042_副本

Mushroom soup with its signature number 50 on top

 

DSC_0043_副本

Spaghetti Carbonara

Food was not bad and with the ambience, we had a great time chit chatting and relaxed ourselves. Thumbs up!

DSC_0084_副本

 

Now let’s take a look at the interior decor and the antique stuffs that they have in this lovely cafe.

DSC_0037_副本

DSC_0051_副本

I really really love this corner. Always wanted to do something like this for my future home Smile Photo frames corner!

DSC_0061_副本

DSC_0067_副本

 

For exterior decor, you will see these:

DSC_0096_副本

An “Open” sign which was placed on the passenger seat of an old-fashioned bicycle.

 

DSC_0093_副本

The entrance, painted in yellow

 

DSC_0101_副本

Muntri Street

DSC_0095_副本

 

Overall, we had a pleasant time dining and hanging out in Behind 50. Why not you find some day and try out this lovely place yourself? Winking smile

 

Behind 50

Address: Behind 50, Love Lane, 10200 Penang. (it’s actually in Muntri Street)

Business Hour: Monday – Wednesday: 6pm to 1am
                            Friday – Sunday: 6pm to 1am
                            Closes on Thursday

 

-sherril=xuele-

Thursday, February 02, 2012

<3 February <3

Officially resigned and has now started to plan my new journey Smile

These are some small lovely gifts from my colleagues Red heart

DSC_0492_副本

 

My class photo which was taken last year when the kids were still in 3 year old class.

DSC_0495_副本

 

Looking at them made me realized how much they have changed and grown up after this picture was taken. *miss them*

And for a fresh start, I did my nails by myself. Sorry if you think it is ugly because I am not professional.

DSC_0507_副本

 

Anyway, need to continue with my to-do things. I am sure this February will be a very fun month. According to one of the feng shui books, this year’s February is my best month!

 

-sherril=xuele

Sunday, January 29, 2012

哭笑不得

Hello people! How was your Chinese New Year celebration? Did anything different this year?

Well, for me this year’s Chinese New Year is the same as previous years. Been eating and eating since reunion dinner till today, went “bai nian” (CNY visiting in Mandarin), played the usual “games” and lazed around at home. Was quite a nice break for me from work, but too bad I had to start work quite early.

When I started work on Friday, I noticed that I still have another 2 more days till my last day in work. 2 more days!

When I looked at the kids, I realized that I have really gotten close to them and the fact that I am going to leave them in 2 days time just ached my heart. I kept asking them would they remember and miss me? They said “yes”. But kids…..if you are not around for some time, they will forget you de. Really really really 不舍得. How ah?

While I was writing their January reflections, I discovered that many of them have improved, in terms of academic and behaviour. Very happy but also very sad.

I am happy that February is just around the corner and I can start to prepare for my March trip, yet I am sad that I have to leave the little ones behind……

I will never forget you naughty kids!

 

-sherril=xuele-