What is BAXI?

BAXI or "bicycle taxi" is the kiwi version of "beca" (Malay) or "tuk-tuk" (Thai) - an eco-friendly pedicab.

 

BAXIs are actually large tricycles professionally built by certified engineers. The pilots sit in front of 2 passengers. 

BAXIs also come equipped safety features such as screwed on arm rests, wheel guards, rear disc brakes, front and rear lights, turning indicators, rear view mirrors and even cheerful sounding bells!  

At $5 per ride from mid Queen St to lower Queen St, it is perhaps a bit pricey. But I'm sure it'll be a fun experience :)

 

Parnell Village, Auckland City

Parnell Village is fast becoming my favourite place in Auckland City :)
The cafes here provide unlimited free wireless

 

It's also a great place for photography

Parnell's such a charming little town - quaint, cheerful looking shops, cosy cafes + colourful plants

Good food:)
On my first visit, I stopped by at Alphabet to try the chilli and cheese scone. It was absolutely yummy!

A cute English-style telephone booth...

Colourful signboards... :)

Demonstration on Queen St.

I was chatting with Li Li on YM while surfing Net in the Esquires outlet on Queen St. when she told me that there'd be a massive demonstration there on the same day  *gulp*

I was about to pack my laptop and head back to the hostel... but it was already too late...

The demonstrators had just approached Queen St.!
I had nowhere to run (uh oh)

But fortunately, it wasn't anything that's terribly frightening :)

Yes, it's massive...but also very peaceful

Just like a big street concert

colourful umbrellas...


singers...

even toddlers join in the demonstration

schoolkids too

So, what's the demonstration all about?

Croc Sandwich @ Esquires Coffee

Tried a cute crocodile-shaped sandwich at Esquires Coffee  ☺

It sure looks delicious, but food presentation at Esquires is often very misleading. Really, the Croc Sandwich is nothing more than a just pretty looking snack.

-    The bread’s hard, dry and chewy. 

(It’s like eating plastic)
-    The meat slices were so thin
(even in the Chinese dish “yee sang”, you can find thicker slices of meat)

-    It’s named the “Double Decker Sandwich” by Esquires, but for that kind of name, I expected meatier stuff  - plus a decent slice of cheese (that’s not an unreasonable expectation, is it?).
Instead, there’s only half a slice of processed cheddar cheese in that whole thing. Of course, they substituted the lack of taste with thrice the amount of butter that you would find in any other sandwiches. Very unhealthy!

Like any coffee chain, Esquires Coffee has a team of very cheerful baristas. I do like the Esquires Coffee Baristas. Lovely people. They make sure I get my free 1-hour internet voucher each time I buy something. But Esquires’ food quality is definitely not up to par with the usual stuff that you would find in Auckland.

I’m not just alluding to the Croc Sandwich, but also other common items on the menu.
- The spinach and feta pie is way too salty and oily. Don’t try it at all!

- The muffins are mediocre. Anywhere in Auckland, you can easily find better tasting muffins at 10-20% less the price at Esquires. The cheapest muffin at Esquires is priced at NZD$3.90. At Starbucks (Auckland), you can get a really yummy brownie & bigger muffins at only NZD$3.20-3.50.

- None of the above can really beat the Chicken Wrap. The Chicken Wrap is seriously the saddest looking food item sold here.

Eating the Chicken Wrap is like… eating pita bread soaked with mayonnaise. The irony is, I couldn’t find any chicken bits in the Chicken Wrap! ...Just bits of lettuce, and shredded processed cheddar cheese mixed with mayonnaise.

Goodness gracious, where on earth did they get the brilliant idea of mixing cheese with mayonnaise? Yuck!
I’m sure that even my 6 year-old nephew could come up with better tasting recipes using plain common sense, lol!:)

All items at Esquires are overpriced compared to Starbucks, and most other cafes and bakeries. The Croc Sandwich costs NZD$6.50. At Ronnie’s Café and elsewhere, you can get really good ones at only NZD$4.00. If Esquires is a fine-dining restaurant, then okay... I probably wouldn't question if the Croc costs twice the price. 

More about Ronnie’s Cafe

Albert Park, Auckland City

The best thing about Auckland City is that there's minimal traces of pollution.

Parks are aplenty.

In places where there are no parks, you are bound to see some small trees, bushes, and flower pots.

My favourite park in the city is Albert Park, which is about half a minute's walk from my place at St Paul St.

a very very old tree
- this tree is so huge that you can even sit on it and read a book

More pics of Albert Park...

Best Chicken and Pumpkin Quiche at Ronnie's Cafe, Auckland City

Any visit to Auckland City will not be complete without a breakfast experience at Ronnie's Cafe (located on Quay St). Ronnie's Cafe makes the yummiest quiches I have ever tasted! :)

Ronnie's quiches aren't the usual bacon, ham and egg variety. They give an interesting touch to the quiches by adding some colourful vege in them. For the first time in my life, I tasted and absolutely fell in love with the Pumpkin and Chicken Quiche - served piping hot.

Unlike quiches that you'd find elsewhere, Ronnie's stuff aren't very salty, and I'm quite certain that there's no MSG.

Besides quiches, Ronnie's also has an interesting variety of cheesecakes, scones, brownies, muffins, sandwiches, fruit smoothies, and other goodies.

Why New Zealand is the "least blogged-about" place

The fact that New Zealand is the least blogged about place has always puzzled me until I arrived in Auckland just about a week ago. After all, NZ probably has one the highest literacy rate in the world. Surely,... a high literacy rate = more bloggers? Besides, it's also a very vibrant city - good food/entertainment, rich in culture, very very scenic - and it has many attributes that would render some highly interesting blog topics

Well, unfortunately... internet is horribly expensive over here!

1) There's no such thing as "unlimited broadband" - nothing similar to Streamyx in Malaysia
- The best internet package that you can probably get is a 20GB + landline (Vodafone) at the cost of NZD$99 per month (that's about MYR200). Any extra usage, you'll have to pay more *gulp*
(C'mon... you must be kidding. 20GB can hardly last for 2 weeks if I were to upload 20 pics, download 2-3 programmes, send a couple of e-mails with attachments!)

2) NZD$2/hour internet cafes
- In most countries, internet cafes probably have a tough time staying in business. But here in Auckland, NZD$2/hour internet cafes are everywhere! - on Queen St, Victoria St, Albert St, Hobson St, Quay St... etc etc
While I have to admit that NZD2/hour is quite a reasonable fee, not many would want to spend that amount maintaining a blog! - especially when Google Adsense doesn't even come close to generating 1/10 the internet fee

3) No free internet
- Umm..., not even at Starbucks or Esquires Coffee. At best, you can get a free 1-hour complimentary wi-fi with every purchase.

So, blogging.. which used to be an income-generating hobby, has become a very pricey indulgence here in NZ

But of course, I'm not about to give up blogging... yet. I'll just find sneaky ways on how to get more airtime, hehe...

i) which involves spending less time on my other favourite hobbies.
- I'm quite a good cook and I do enjoy whipping up a good meal now and then. But nowadays, I'll probably spend more time dining out at wi-fi places than preparing my own food. Thank goodness they do serve good food here - fresh ingredients, no MSG, preservative-free

ii) while walking along Victoria St today, I came across an electronics store that offers free 20-minute internet usage

- The catch is, you would have to provide your e-mail address so that they can spam you ;p
Well, that won't worry me much:) I'll just filter out those spams. Besides, I gave my Dad's e-mail address instead. So, that should keep him busy in the next few days, hehe

iii) Parnell :)
- I have yet to check out Parnell Village - which is about 30 minutes' walk from my place at St Paul St. According to this website http://www.parnell.net.nz/, most cafes/restaurants in Parnell provide free wi-fi. Not sure if it's just the 1-hour voucher or... unlimited wi-fi ;) Will post more info later on

An excerpt from Parnell's website:-

"We're the only business area in Auckland offering you free wireless internet access! Now visitors to Parnell Road and Parnell locals (residents and office workers) can easily go online while away from their homes or offices.

*At launch, Parnell Wireless will provide internet access along Parnell Road between St Stephens Avenue and Heather Street . We'll be expanding the network's reach in the near future."

Long live Parnell! Kia Ora!

Central Hostel

Auckland

Flying to Auckland tomorrow :)

Lucky - by Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat

My favourite song at the moment :)

Lyrics (Source: http://lyricwiki.org/Jason_Mraz:Lucky)


Do you hear me? I'm talking to you


Across the water across the deep blue ocean
Under the open sky oh my, baby I'm trying
Boy I hear you in my dreams
I feel your whisper across the sea
I keep you with me in my heart
You make it easier when life gets hard

Lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again

They don't know how long it takes
Waiting for a love like this
Every time we say goodbye
I wish we had one more kiss
I wait for you I promise you I will

Lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Lucky we're in love in every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

And so I'm sailing through the sea
To an island where we'll meet
You'll hear the music, fill the air
I'll put a flower in your hair
And though the breeze is through the trees

Move so pretty you're all I see
As the world keeps spinning round
You hold me right here right now

Lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Lucky we're in love every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

White hibiscus

Bunurong Marine National Park (a.k.a. Eagle's Nest), Victoria, Australia

(Source: Park Victoria)
The Bunurong Marine National Park extends along approximately 5 km of coastline from 2.5 km east of Cape Patterson in Southern Gippsland to the eastern end of Eagles Nest Beach (about 6 kilometres south-west of Inverloch), and offshore for approximately three nautical miles to the limit of Victorian waters, encompassing a total of approximately 2,100 hectares

 

The Bunurong coast is special - a coast full of striking rock formations, attractive sandy coves, rugged sandstone cliffs and prominent headlands. The coastal waters also contain a remarkable range of habitats that support abundant marine life, nurtured by an unusual set of environmental conditions. The name "Bunurong" refers to the local Aboriginal group that have lived in this area for thousands of years and have used the coast extensively for food gathering.

Eagle's Nest beach, Victoria, Australia

It's a little wonder how Eagle's Nest got its name ;) - the rocky surface, earthy colours + the interesting contrast between the sky, clear water & landscape: Magnificent coastal scenery!

The park contains extensive intertidal platforms and subtidal rocky reefs that are uncommon along the Victorian coast. These sandstone areas provide numerous microhabitats and contribute to the area having a very high diversity of intertidal and shallow subtidal invertebrates. There is a mixed assemblage of brown algae and seagrass, supporting a high proportion of Victoria's marine invertebrates, including brittle stars, sea cucumbers, barnacles, sea anemones and chitons.

Things to do
The most common activity at Bunurong Marine National Park is observational rockpooling, about 22 per cent of tourists visiting the rockpools at some stage in their visit. Other activities include sunbathing, beach activities, swimming, surfing, cliff-top sight seeing, observational SCUBA diving and boating, as well as education and research.

The major tourism activities are focused around the township of Cape Patterson, situated to the west of the Marine National Park.