Keg Party

Cowboys and Indians

Left to right: Me, Caleb, Garbrielle, Sharon

Josh the DJ with his own mixer

The long awaited keg party finally happened and the theme being Cowboys and Indians, all of us found some way to dress up. The event was held in our hall common room, which is on the 3rd floor of the ashby building. I went to borrow a hat and vest to try and fit the theme. The party started at 6.30pm and by 8pm there was no more beer left. The party was supposed to last until 11 pm so by 8.30pm, most people had left the party and headed into town for 2nd round of drinks. Me, I need to sleep as I'm going to church tomorrow morning.

Assignments, Tests and Lectures

It is starting to get busy with assignments and lab reports due as well as tests, all within this couple of weeks. The weather was pretty dreary today, with overcast skies the whole day and intermittent rain. The only highlight of the day was probably the 2 lectures I attended this evening. The first one was by Prof Tom O'Rourke of Cornell University where he lectured on infrastructure resilience, touching on his experiences in 911 and hurricane katrina. I was speaking to the person next to me and she was telling me Prof O'Rourke is a "guru" in his field. I think he is the same guy whom Prof Harry Tan was raving about in CE3115 last semester. Presently I can't remember what we used the O'Rourke method to find, although I think it was something to do with basal heave. Later in the evening, some guy called Craig gave a lecture on risk assessment and retrofitting of UC berkeley campus because it was in a seismically active area (in fact UC sits on several fault lines).

Ensoc BBQ

People arriving, gathering and socialising at the BBQ

Me on the Ensoc fire engine

Hongkai getting the free flow sausages

People socialising still

This afternoon, there was an Ensoc BBQ from 2pm to 4pm held at Ilam fields. The weather was perfect for such an event as this. There was free flow of 4% alc. beer and sausages for the thirsty and hungry. Basically it was just a time for people to gather and socialise, as with all other bbqs. The highlight of the afternoon must have been the eating competition whereby the winner got 2 free return tickets to Roratonga. It was both hilarious and painful to watch at the same time, something like Fear Factor challenges where the contestants have to eat the weirdest stuff. I'm not sure what they ate but it must have been disgusting from the looks on the participants' faces.

Daylight Savings, Visit to Independent Baptist Church, Hailstones

This morning I woke up at 8.20 am and went for breakfast at the dining hall. But when I arrived, the hall was still locked much to my bemusement. Usually 15 minutes before the official start, people would already be eating inside already. So I went behind to the kitchen thinking that there could be a way in. But it was locked too. Then I happened to see one of the kitchen staff and I asked him why they have not opened the dining hall yet. He told me that the time was only 7.20 am, breakfast would only be ready in an hour. I was shocked and asked him why? Only then did I realise that Daylight savings had occurred, which meant that with effect from 3 am 18 March, time would be pushed back by an hour, ie, what used to be 8.30 is now 7.30. And because of that I lost an hour's sleep. What a confusing concept but at least I experienced my first daylight savings ever.

Later in the morning, I visited the church Sheena is attending, a very distant 40 minute bus ride away (if you don't get off at the wrong stop). It was a small group of believers numbering maybe like 12 people. After service, we walked out of the church and opposite the road was a gypsy fair, the first we ever saw before. We're not sure if there were women sitting in tents with their hands over crystal balls and trying to predict the future, since we didn't venture to take a look. We reached a conclusion that the clouds in christchurch and singapore look different although we don't know why. Stopped off halfway to try and buy lunch at Northland Mall but there was no burger king which i wanted; only macs so I decided to get fried rice from captain ben's. On the way back, it started to rain hail stones; i was half expecting the windscreen or windows of the Orbiter to crack any moment. When I looked out of the window there were still small pieces of ice on the ground.

Within an hour of this heavy downpour, the sky was a clear blue. Such is the unpredictable and ever changing weather here in christchurch.

Saturday Out at Culture Galore and Rugby Match

The 2 Russian or Dutch child singers
Left to right : Hongkai, Veron, Wilson, Ang Moh girl, Ang Moh Boy (I don't know who they are, they just like to take pictures I guess, since many of my pictures have them smiling into the camera)

Canterbury Crusaders (red and black jerseys) running onto the pitch

Injured bulls player being treated

This morning, I woke up to visit the Riccarton House and Bush. Spent about 30 minutes walking from hall to the park. Wanted to visit the Organic Farmers Market. Thought it would be something big, but it turned out to be slightly more than 15 stalls only, selling organic produce, rangeing from vegetables to wine to spices.

In the afternoon, I went to Culture Galore, part of the Christchurch Summertimes festivities, possibly the last major event the christchurch city council is holding before the onset of autumn. There were many stalls, rangeing from the popular ice cream trucks, to girl guide biscuits, face painting, blood test stations and also various communities in Christchurch. An unforgettable part was probably the performances put up by the various cultural groups such as the Pasifikas, the dutch, scottish, japanese, korean, filipinos, etc.



In the evening, Veron, Hongkai, Wilson and I went to watch the Crusaders vs Bulls rugby match at Jade Stadium. The pre-match entertainment was pretty rousing but eerie. Shouted myself hoarse, although on my way back from the match I overhead a grandma telling her grandson that was one of the most boring matches she has watched.



Might try and watch next saturday's match where the 7 All Black players return from world cup conditioning camp and are available for selection. But Suhui, Faith and Yiling are coming up from Dunedin next weekend so we shall see how. Looking forward to your visit!

Rainy and Cold Day

It has been a rainy few days since returning from the weekend in Dunedin, the coldest since my arrival.

The temperature for wednesday was a chilly
Max: 11°C (Day)
Min: 5°C (Night)
Showers. Strong cold southwesterly.

Apparently the reason for the weather is "shuttlefuls of Antarctic air have been forced onto New Zealand -- we had the warm front on Monday night and the cold front arrived last night" as NZ metservice spokesman said.

In fact, there were periods when I was leaning into the wind while walking today. The water coming out of the tap seems like ice water, hurting my fingers when I wash my hands.

Hopefully the weather will turn fine soon. And my neighbour just told me winter will be colder.
Better rug up with warm clothing soon.

I think it is because of the weather that the streets are so quiet. There doesn't seem to be any vehicles on the roads as I write this. Usually at 11 + pm there are still vehicles but today, all is quiet. No noise on my floor too. I guess everyone is huddled up in bed somewhere wearing like 3 or 4 layers trying to get through tonight. Silence so deafening I can hear a pin drop... not necessarily a bad thing huh

Return Journey from Dunedin

Sunday morning 7 am, desserted roads of Dunedin Octagon

Stunning view of the Dunedin agriculture plains

Union Bank of Australia...predecessor of ANZ bank

Sheena, Hongkai, Veron, me

(taken with the wrong ice-capped mountain)

Church of Good Shepherd

Sunday morning, 11 March, the weekend is almost over. For us, it was time to head back to Christchurch for the coming week's lessons. Waking up at the unearthly hour of 6 am, we trudged with our heavy laden backpacks from our accommodation to the meeting point. The coach was late.

Finally at 7.40am, we were on our way, passing by Balden Street (the world's steepest street) and stopping occasionally for 5 minutes to take pictures and for morning tea. Because we returned to Christchurch via Mt Cook, the journey time was basically doubled as we travelled to the west coast then back. After a forgettable dinner in christchurch city centre, we went to take in the sights, performances and artistry of the belate Chinese New Year celebrations at Victoria Square.

It has been a tiring but enjoyable weekend.

Weekend Trip to Dunedin

Us with Scottish Bag Pipers at the NZ National Championships

Left to right : Hongkai, me, Veron, Su Hui and Yiling

Strike a pose... and we did

Us in Yiling's Room in Otago University

Enjoying a wonderful homecooked meal by

Su Hui and dessert by Yiling. Yummy!

And so it was on 9 February, Veron, Hongkai and I took the 2 pm Intercity from the bus depot to Dunedin. The 5 hour trip was interesting with much to see along the way. We arrived in Dunedin at 7.50pm, and proceeded to deposit our belongings for the weekend trip at the backpackers' hostel. Thereafter, we had a leisurely stroll down the undulating terrain of Princess and George Street to look for dinner.

On Saturday morning, we woke up and went for breakfast at Macdonalds. We had arranged to meet Su Hui and Yiling at 930 at the Dunedin Visitor Centre to plan the day's visits. We were slightly late as we watched the bagpipe procession; part of the NZ national championships. After meeting up, we proceeded to the Cadbury Chocolate World. As we still had some time, we decided to visit the Otago Settler's Musuem. We spent 75 minutes on the guided tour and bought some new chocolates available only in NZ. Thereafter we had lunch at a place called Asian Licensed Restaurant which was absolutely value for money. In the afternoon, we went to the Train Station which is apparently one of the most photographed spots in NZ. Unfortunately we could not enter as they were preparing the stage for the night's Dunedin Fashion Show. Nevertheless we took some pictures outside and proceeded to visit Otago University and Dunedin Botanic Gardens.

Dinner was homecooked by Su Hui and Yiling. We spent the rest of the night catching up and only left Su Hui's hostel at 11pm, reluctantly. Thanks a lot to them for being such great hosts while we were there. Come up soon and we hope to reciprocate your kindness.

Economics Experiment

Today, my room was finally cleaned. It sure feels better being in it now. But anyway, managed to meet Nicole, secretary of UC Singapore Club. If Hong Kai was not there, we wouldn't have met. STA travel agency quoted some high prices for Air NZ and Qantas. In the end, managed to get tickets to Auckland for NZ$140 and a bit. In the evening, I went to take part in an economics experiment and received $24.80 for it. It's similar to game theory. Quite interesting I must say, but a lot depends on the decisions both party makes. Luckily my partner and I did not practice the zero-sum principle. It proves there are nice people around...I think.

Lunch with IRO Officers

IRO officers and us

I suspect the waitress at the restaurant must have honed her photo-taking skills by helping many customers take photographs during lunch or dinner. How else do you explain such a decently composed photograph, without flash and not much handshake.

But anyhow, this afternoon, we were delighted to meet up with NUS IRO officers at Fox and the Ferret Ale House along Riccarton. The meal was delightful and one of the best since my arrival. Later on in the afternoon, travelled down to visitor i-site in the city centre to book our coach passes to Dunedin, accommodation and return trip for this weekend.

In the evening, Prof Peter Guthrie of Cambridge University gave a lecture on "Sustainable Development - Time to Act : A Civil Engineer's Response" which provoked much thought provoking debate and comments from the audience of academics and students.

Cost of Mineral Water

NZ$2.50 for 500 ml of mineral water

I was walking by one of the vending machines last week and decided to check out the prices of the mineral water. Just like the Macdonalds index which is a rough gauge of a country's PPP or standard of living, I think mineral water can be used as well. In NZ, 1 bottle of 500 ml mineral water costs NZ$2.50. No wonder the vending machines are always full. So far, I have not seen anyone buy anything from vending machines. I mean, why would I want to buy mineral water when I have some of the cleanest and purest mineral water in the world here in NZ, flowing straight out of the tap. My conclusion : it is not good to be a bottled mineral water seller in NZ.

Apparently, they do not have those pocket-size packet tissues here in NZ as well, according to Veron - the shopaholic. She's been pretty distressed about this since her arrival in NZ. And our attempts to find 3-in-1 Milo have resulted in failure as well. Need to increase my stockpile of dry rations for the coming autumn/winter.

Day Out at Sumner Beach

View of Sumner Beach

Another View of Sumner Beach

Veron testing the water to see if it's cold

Hongkai, Veron and I happy to be at Sumner

3 of us atop a rocky outcrop

Today, being a Sunday, we wasted no time getting down to some travelling. Since we could only make a day trip, we decided to pay Sumner beach a visit. Setting off at 10.30 am in the morning, the sky started to become overcast. Our mood deteriorated with the weather upon reaching the beach. We saw few people on the beach, basically just some kids having surfing lessons. This led me to think "Were we at the right place? Isn't a beach supposed to be crowded with people... like east coast or sentosa?" Anyhow, we took a stroll down the wide stretch of sand and back. By the time we had lunch (fish and chips again), the weather was much better and the sun began to show its true powers. Veron and Hongkai spent quite some time debating about tanning. While waiting for the bus back to hall, Hongkai and Veron were visibly irritated by the number of "zeng" cars passing us by. Despite the slight disappointment with this beach, it was another "attraction" visited and thus struck off our list of places left to visit.

Day Trip to Akaroa

Left to right : Me, Liling, Veron and Hongkai

At the Pacific Ocean

Map of Akaroa

Windy Road to Akaroa

Handicraft sold inside Akaroa Dolphins Shop

Hector Dolphins - the world's smallest dolphins

This morning Hongkai, Veron, Liling, Devon (Liling's friend) and I took a trip down to Akaroa, a quaint little french town located 86 km (1 hr 20 minutes) drive away from Christchurch city centre. Along the way, we stopped to take in the magnificent view of Akaroa atop a hill. We also had the opportunity to walk along the shoreline which interfaces the Pacific Ocean. Having seen the force of the ocean waves, I must say that wave energy will play an important role in the area of sustainable energy sources...soon. The Akaroa Dolphins encounter ($55) was indeed a 2 hr boat ride worth remembering as we had the opportunity to see 1 penguin, sea lions, hector dolphins, salmon farms and Paua Pearl farm. Unfortunately for us, we did not get the chance to try the highly acclaimed Akaroa Salmon as we did not have time. Instead we had to settle for ordinary fish and chips. Due to shortage of time, we couldn't visit tree crop farm as well which the german masters students recommended. Nevertheless, it was a satisfying day spent in the sun, amidst the creations of God.

Operation Friendship

Ensoc Car decorated with astrotuft

Outside the School of Commerce, Accounting, Political Science Building

Wonderful spread of food for dinner

Just some of the kind kiwis who provided the sumptuous dinner

With German Masters Law students(Kirsten & Sven) who went for the same dinner

Tonight we were fortunate enough to have dinner with some kind local kiwis who provided dinner to us international students who are far away from home. Dinner was probably the best meal we had since our arrival, at least it was for me. There was like a 10 course meal, then dessert, and coffee/tea/milo. It is always nice to meet new people and learn about their lifestyles, cultures, languages, idiosyncrasies. I will probably go for the next dinner which is scheduled on 30 March, should my timetable allow (i.e. no travel plans).

It was at dinner that I met this phd student from egypt whom I shall call the prof. He seemed pretty quirky with his antics and attempts at speaking mandarin, much to our humour. We also learnt a bit about the german masters students who are doing law at Canterbury. They basically have to write 6 X 10,000 word thesis about topics which they decide on and then they can get their masters. Personally I do not think that is an easy task.

The hosts for the evening were russell, ivy, david, beth, cliff, inez, margaret, just to name a few and they were very accomodating. All in all, dinner, fellowship and forging of new ties was memorable and I'll see if I can go for the next dinner.

6th Brunel International Lecture

Prof Paul W Jowitt

Students having beer and pizza after the lecture

This evening, there was also a lecture by Prof Paul Jowitt, ICE Vice President on the topic "Engineering Civilisation from the Shadows" where the Prof discussed poverty, climate change, technology and the role engineers play in alleviating these problems the world faces.