New Zealand: Tauranga - Farewell dinner with mate

While waiting Will comes back to go out, i decided to update my blog for keeping my readers to visit my site. It is horrible to seeing the daily view rate dropping everyday.

I have got several to update bout, but i decided this come first, i assume friends in NZ is waiting for this post / photos, as the usual me, i'm not uploading photos to my facebook, so much work and i'm lazy.

Alright, the kiwi season runs from March to June, while the repacking season's running from June to October. June is only couple days away and people in the packhouse is getting less, although i'm working with the repacking team and will be staying until July, but some of my teammates are decided to carry on to their journey, leaving the packhouse and go for the next destination.

We know each other not for a long time but the friendship build, some teammate has plan for an outing but our supervisor is not convenience to join, so she suggested to have dinner together before the packing season end.

There in this Thursday night, the whole ECPI team (repacking team) including the forklift drivers and stalkers gathered in Mt. Maunganui for buffet dinner in a Chinese restaurant.

We reached there an hour earlier, we decided to hang out in the cinema nearby, of course not watching movie but VISIT the cinema in NZ. Well the ticker is pretty costy, $16 per ticker, i can go gold class in malaysia with this price.

With Kaie Sieng, Perak, Malaysia

With Jack, SzeChuan, China

Then we walked to the reserved restaurant, Kwang Chow Chinese Restaurant, some of the people are there, but our supervisor wasn't there yet, again we kicked start the dinner with photography section first.

Kwang Chow Chinese Restaurant, Mt. Maunganui

Much better than i imagined

The contact detail for my readers.

Emily's DSLR

The Char Siew that everyone wanting

Random food photo

I was't dare enough to took photo of the choose of food there, i feel bit embarrassed while the rest are taking their food but i standing in the middle to take photo, although some people did.

Oh yea, perhaps you wonder the detail of the buffet, if you were in NZ too. The restaurant mainly serve Chinese style food, anything you can think of the white man would love to, like sweet and sour pork, lemon chinese, fried spring roll and chicken, fried noodle and rice, but i found something that really worth to have as much as possible, the fried mussel.

Mussel here is fresh and yummy, i kind of scared the fishy smell but the mussel here wasn't taste fishy at all, fresh and juicy even though it is in deep fried style, serve together with the sweet and sour source is just simply delicious.

Other than typical chinese food, they do have a salad and sushi bar, sashimi prawn and sushi roll are available, 2 choose of soups and dessert too.

My mates love their roast pork (Char Siew) the most, well it just so-so for me, i prefer the fried mussel still. Haha

And the buffet dinner is $19.90 per person, not too pricey with variety choice of foods, just i cant eat what i pay, i mean i cant eat much, i full in one and half plate, and i'm not taking any rice or noodle. Issh..

But the main thing of the night wasn't food, is photography. As usual i love to take candid, and Emily with her bombastic DSLR camera, i cant think of a reason to let Xiao P be the main camera of the night.

But Xiao P did, 'caused Emily was saying that she lazy to do the setting and all that, hahahahaha. Hey lady, then you shouldn't have a DSLR but compact la wei!

Sun, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Troy the stalker, Hamilton, New Zealand

Audrey the head of repacking team, unknow

Kaie Sieng the repacker, Perak, Malaysia
(I know i been intro her, but i love this photo of her taken by Xiao P :P)

Petr the stalker, Czech Republic

Yee, Kavitha, The Blogger and Emily Bidois

The Blogger and mama in the repacking team, Emily Bidois, Te Puke, New Zealand

Maggie the supervisor, New Zealand

Ian the forklift driver aka the dessert provider!

*He used to a baker, we have dessert twice a week and all made by this fantastic man!

Audrey who always hide in the small room

Jay the repacker, Singapore

He dares me to kiss him

I dare him to act like a monkey :D

Muahahaha Troy when i said i'll upload this, i meant it!

Jack the Lao Ye

Aww look like a happy family isnt!

Malaysian!

The groupie, the unforgettable memory =)

Last but not least, The Blogger and her Xiao P

Great night we had, and this bringing us to the end, almost. Make me wonder this is the 2nd month i have been here. 2 months, without my concern and its passing away.

I've no idea where we'll be going after the July, i so used to the routine life i having in Tauranga, i make so many local and international friends in this town, and some of them are leaving, some of them are waiting the next batch of backpacker for the next kiwi season, and i don't know where i will going for the next, nor who will i meeting in the next, but at this moment i feel hard to moving forward.

Anyway, i'm happy to be here, indeed i am.

Tauranga, NZ

20100530, 0121pm

Rach in having 2 days holiday mood.

New Zealand: Mt. Maunganui - Hike for sunrise!

Scared me!

I never had only 12 people view on my blog per day, i mean, so LESS!

This urge me to update my blog more often, otherwise i will have no readers =(. Although i'm hell sleepy right now, i slept less last night because of the gatherine (will be in the next update).

OKAY!

My offday is in every Sunday, only one offday in a week and this is the only day that i could sleep until whenever i like. But in last Sunday, i woke by 5am, which is earlier than working day! Just for rush to the peak of the mountain before the sun does.

Visited Mt. Maunganui for the second time. The first time for the sunset, and the second time for sunrise with Sun. Woke up by 5am, got out from home by 530am, the weather forecast showed the first light was 645am, 45 minutes to the peak was more than enough, we thought.

We also thought there will be crowdy 'cause Mt. Mauganui is famous with sunrise / sunset viewing, but when we reached there, there were NO CAR, NO PEOPLE, NO ENTRANCE OPEN!!!!

But the slide door is open, Sun and I looking at each other for a while, dilemma if we should step into the horrible jungle track.

We stepped in finally, 'cause both of us don't wanna got up so early for nothing.

There are no photos on the jungle track, 'cause you can see nothing, just dark, and dark, and very dark.

We missed a turn to go to the track that lead to peak before sunrise, so no sunrise viewing in the peak, but seaside of the sunrise direction, which made Sun and I cant help taking photo non-stop!

I took like 50 + photos on the sunrising itself, i choose the best among 'em to upload here, of course, as i always said, the best photo always in your memory, but not the photo.

We suppose to go back home after sunrise, but we haven't hike to the peak yet! So Sun and I decided to hike up to the peak even though the sun is already risen.

We took another track than the first track i hiked with Will and Hoe. I would say the second track is nicer, in term of the view and it is easier to hike, but you might have to spend more time.

We took 4 hours for viewing sunrise, hike up to the peak and got back to our car, our legs were sore and shaking all the way got back from the peak, this is exhausted! I look so pile after the whole hiking section, as below photo!

But its worth, really worth to woke up early and spend my holiday by hiking, but not doing nothing but sitting in front of computer update myself with new drama or song, this is completely no different with what i done in Malaysia.

Once again i touched by the natural of NZ, which i could never seen in Malaysia. FYI NZ is the first country of the world to seen the sunrise, and how lucky i am could stand on the kiwi land, and seeing the sun rising before other people in the world does.

No word or photo in this world could tell how nice of the view exactly, you just have to come here and feel it. I did, and how bout you?

The Blogger, on the peak of Mt. Maunganui

Tauranga, NZ
20100527, 0923pm
Rach in feel so heaty mood. =(