My voice is back, thank god!

My voice if back today! Not totally but I can at least talk, better than yesterday. I still sounds like an old smoker but it's not cracking all the time and cutting out.

This morning I went to the Auckland fish market where they apparently sell over 270 types of fish. I didn't see that many but I didn't explore all that much. There were lots of fish though, and very tasty!

I also went to Cornwall Park today for the first time yet. I've lived right near it for 4 weeks now and never been. There are Sheep and Cattle that live at this park, very near to the CBD. I've seen them in the past but they must've been moved to a different part of the park because I didn't see them today. Anyways, the park was amazing - and it was an amazing summer day today! I think tomorrow morning I'm going to walk over to the park with my book and a blanket and spend a few hours in the morning reading in the sunlight. How wonderful!

I'm going to get lunch tomorrow with Brooke, the receptionist from the gym. Or maybe do something else, but either way I have a social engagement planned, yay!

And then Wednesday I'm going to take the ferry over to Rangitoto Island to hike the volcano. Something touristy and adventurous. I need to get back to more of that. I know I haven't done anything like that in a while but I have been enjoying my stable life these last few weeks. Time to mix it up again!

Best!

I can't talk

Thank god this is a written blog and not a video blog because I can't talk. My voice, when it works, sounds terrible! I'm been trying not to talk too much, or whisper, which is much easier on my vocal chords. I've been mostly hanging around the house today since I was out so late last night, can't talk much, and am quite tired. I did get out for lunch today, though, to see Patricia (Canada) who I spent the summer with in Coromandel. She's in Auckland just for the day and it was great to catch up. Nothing else exciting. Work tomorrow.

Best!

4:30am and I just got home

I went out tonight to a gay bar, Family Bar, with some if my coworkers, Max (France) and Anthony (France) from my new job. It's nothing compared to the Gay 90's in Mpls - Family Bar has like 2 rooms vs. Gay 90's never ending passageways - but it was fun. Unfortunately I didn't meet anyone ;) - next weekend we're going to a non-gay bar. Also, I think I've lost my voice. I sound like a man when I talk, that is when I'm not coughing. We'll have to wait until tomorrow morning to know for sure but fingers crossed it heals a bit over night. Anyways, that's all for now. Off to sleep. Best! 

I'm LOVING my new job!

So I'm totally digging my new job! It's fun, the people are great, the atmosphere is professional, the customers are nice and friendly. I'm very happy with my new situation. Plus, it's super fun to have a reason to go into the CBD 5 days a week! Today I got to work a bit early and went down to the water for a few minutes to relax before work. Today my father sent me a video of "spring" in MN with the snow falling so I made a video of "fall" in Auckland with the 85* weather. The video really isn't that cool but if you want to check it out, click here.

Generally, I'm just very happy with my new work situation. It's great to busy 40+ hours of the week. I'm really starting to appreciate my time off more and getting more excited about planning little "weekend" activities for my days off. It's great to spend 40+ hours of my week with tons of cool people from around the world, and it's great to help make people happy 40+ hours of the week. :) I just feel very content with everything right now, which I'm very happy about, because these last weeks in Auckland haven't been the easiest of my travels, without many friends, without much to do, not feeling all the settled, not liking my first job.

Anyways, some things that may be coming up soon - I have Sunday off this week as well as Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. I may try to get over to Rangitoto Island once day and hike the volcano. I may also try to get down to Hobbiton and do the tour. I'm not set on dates yet, must check the weather (not that it doesn't change ever 15 minutes anyways), but I'm going to try to start doing some things that will be good for the blog again.

Oh, on that note, I went for soup dumplings today at a place called Jolin Shainghai restaurant in the Mt. Eden neighborhood of Auckland. Very good. It's really amazing how many different kinds of Asian food they have here in Auckland. I was reflecting on what we have in MN and it's mostly Chinese, Sushi (with the exception of Fuji Ya which does Japanese cuisine), a few up-market Thai places, and that's about it. Here in Auckland they have restaurants from every country in Asia and within those countries, many regions. Vietmanese (Norther and Southern), Malaysian, Indonesian, Korean, Japanese, Chinese (more regions than I even know), etc... It's so cool! So anyways, today I had soup dumplings - a new food for me.

That's about it. May be going out tonight once the rest of the gang gets off at the restaurant or may be reading my new books that I picked up at the library today. Book club ladies, I got the book club book! Yay! So I'll be able to read for this month and hopefully call into the meeting again.

Have a great Friday everyone.

Best!

My last 20 cents

So I'm down to my last 20 cents! Ahhhh! Well, not technically, but pretty much. I only have 20 cent left in coins/cash. I have a bit of money saved in my NZ bank account but I'm trying to actually save that and I have a few dollars in my NZ checking account but I need that for auto withdrawls that will be coming out of that account in the future. So basically, I'm down to 20 cents! Yikes! (Don't worry too much though, I have plenty of money in my US bank account, I'm just not trying to use that either). Here's a photo of what I spent $15.20 on tonight that left me with only 20 cents afterwards:

Ciabatta Bread and Mozzarella Cheese, Yum!

In other news, my cowboy boots showed up today! As you may remember, I purchased these a few months ago after my current pair molded while sitting on the concrete floor. I looked into getting the current pair repaired but the leather is in such terrible condition that I was told it wasn't worth it. I have been holding off on having my new ones sent to me as I didn't really have a real address until now. I opened the box today and it's amazing that the pair I currently have ever even looked like the other ones. I ordered the exact same pair of boots so it must be what they looked like at one point, but man are mine worn out! Take a look:

I bet you can't tell which are the new ones ;)

In boring news, I worked again today. I'm really starting to get a feel for how things run at Ortolana and I'm liking it. It's definitely 5 start service. The expectations are very high, but the customers really enjoy it. My next task, memorize the menu and be prepared for customer questions! The quicker I can do that, the quicker I get my pay raised, and the quicker I start making more money. Wish me luck!

That's all for tonight.

Best!

Oh and lastly - a shout out to my MoneyGram ladies, Kristine, Stephanie, and Tammy. I was thinking about our crock pot meals the other day and I miss those. :( Hope you are all doing well. Miss you!

Day 1 at Ortolana

Today was my first official day working with Hipgroup - a full shift, 4 to close at Ortolana. It went very well! I'm definitely still learning but I think it's going to continue to get easier with each additional shift. Plus I think they're going to be teaching me lots as time goes by so eventually I'll probably be able to do just about everything - food running, serving, coffee making, etc... As I was sitting on my post-dinner break at about 9:00 I started thinking that I really enjoy the downtown location. On of my co-workers, Perry, told me they like me a lot there as well. Although it's not quite as close to my house as the Parnell location that I originally applied for, it is in the city and probably more exciting. Obviously I haven't said anything to my boss yet and nothing has changed but I think I wouldn't be opposed to working at their downtown locale. 

As for other news from today - I've got almost no money left and I don't get paid until Thursday (it's Tuesday here right now). Although this isn't a huge deal, I'm going to try to see if I can make it 2 more days on 10 dollars cash plus some coins I've got lying around. I have some money in the bank here but I really want to focus on actually saving money so I'm going to try not to dip into that if avoidable. I did some grocery shopping today so hopefully I'll have enough food to eat until Thursday - I've got like 3 dozen eggs so it might be a pretty boring next few days - when I can go buy some new things. I guess it's kind of fun to see what I can get by on if needed. My life is definitely much simpler here in Auckland than it was in Mpls.

Tomorrow - try not to spend money and then work at 3. Maybe finish my library book because that doesn't cost me anything and walk to the gym because I'm almost out of gas but can't afford to buy any more right now. 

That's all for now, folks!

Best!

Jaile Bun Shop

For lunch today I went to the Jaile Bun Shop in Northcote, an Auckland neighborhood on the northern side of the city - across the harbor bridge. (They don't have a website but you can check out a photo of some girls in the shop in here from a local magazine article about the place.) I don't remember if I wrote yesterday that I attempted to go here for dinner last night but it was closed. I drove back today, however, it was open, and it was amazing. The steamed buns they serve are huge and super tasty - especially the pork and veggie buns. I had 4 buns and was completely stuffed after leaving. And the best part? They only cost $1.20 each. You can eat a really good sized lunch at this place for less than $5. Amazing! I will definitely be making regular trips up to Northcote for the steam buns.

In job news, I will starting full time with Hipgroup tomorrow. I am working 4 - close tomorrow, Tuesday, and 3 - close Wednesday through Saturday of this week. Bring on the hours and bring on the money! I can't wait to be making regular money! I don't have any bigs plans to spend it, yet, but I am sure happy to be able to start saving maybe $100/week. And with the NZ dollar gaining strength against the USD, my money I'm earning here is worth more every day!

What else happened today... I had my trainer this morning. Probably the best session to date. I also went to the library and got a new crime book, which I didn't like. I just finished one by Donna Leon and I wasn't all that impressed. Today I picked one up by Quintin Jardine and didn't like it either. I asked a friend today if they ever read crime novels and they suggested I try Patricia Cornwell. There was only one of her novels at the library next to the bun shop, in large print, but so far so good. I'm about a third of the way through and it's the best I've read yet. Yay!

Let's see... anything else? Not really. Oh yes! I woke up this morning with a sore throat. It'd not getting any better, not any worse but not any better. I'm not very happy about it. I've had a few zinc lozenges today and I'll have some more tomorrow. I just really hope I'm not getting sick. I do know I am getting nervous for my new job though! Ah!!!

Okay, that's all for now.

Best!

Eating Ethiopian

Tonight for dinner I went to an Ethiopian restaurant, Cafe Abyssinia, here in Auckland. Apparently it's one of kind - no other Ethiopian restaurants to speak of. The food was good, but very different. I had a chicken dish serves with Enjera, a type of bread that you use as your silverware and plate. Click here for a photo of the Enjera and an explanation of the bread off the restaurant's website. There are no forks and knives at this restaurant, you eat with your hands. The chicken was tasty as was the bread, but the bread is definitely an acquired taste. It's a sour bread - like sour dough but maybe a little more intense. It wasn't bad but I can't say that I'm in love. I'm sure the quality is very good as all the reviews I read online before going were good, but I think I'd have to eat there a few more times to decide if it's really for me or not.

I spent the morning today catching up on my SVU. I was tired from work and felt like lounging in bed so that's exactly what I did. I watched the last 5 episodes off nbc.com. What a nice morning!

Yesterday I met with a girl Anna that I met on meetup.com about starting a book club. She posted something on a meetup group I'm a part of saying she wanted to start one but didn't know how. I met with her, told her what I did when I started my book club - what worked, what didn't, what to expect, what you need to think about - and helped her get the ball rolling with ideas at least. I think she'll probably organize a first meeting soon that I'll try to attend if possible. Ladies back home, this does NOT mean that I am leaving my American book club, just that I need another one while I"m on the road. Don't take it personally, you're not being replaced, it just appears that I may have room for 2 book clubs in my life right now.

I worked again last night - nothing too much to report there. It looks like that might've been my last shift as well. It's currently 9:40pm on Sunday night here and I still haven't heard from my boss about a schedule for this coming week. One of my co-workers told me I'm not on the roster but I haven't actually heard from my boss yet. In the interim I e-mailed my new boss to tell her to put me on the roster with some training shift this week any day she'd like. Looks like I've moved on from York Street to the Hipgroup. Exciting changes!

One observation I've had but have always forgotten to share with you about the road names/signage here in Auckland. Most roads here in Auckland, especially the big main roads that traverse the city, change their names about 5 times. For a comparison in Minneapolis, imagine Lake Street changing it's name 5 times between Lake Calhoun on the West side and the Mississippi River on the East side. Sure, if you'd lived in Mpls you entire life you'd know the road well and know the name changes but imagine how confusing this is to an out of towner when a road doesn't keep the same name for more than maybe 10-15 blocks. I've started to learn which roads turn into which other roads but it's still a work in progress. These name changes, however, lead to very interesting road name signage. All the road signs here in Auckland list the name of the road and then have "arrows" pointing to which direction(s) that name applies. By "arrows" I mean they use little signs like this: "<" or ">" so here's a few examples of road signs you might see:

<< Green Lane West >> (meaning Green Lane West is both to your left and right)

<< Balmoral Road Dominion Road >> (Balmoral Road to your left, Dominion Road to your right)

<< Green Lane West (Green Lane West to your left)

Green Lane East>> (Green Lane East to your right)

I'll try to take a few picture for read tomorrow to show you.

It's weird signage though. The first few times I saw it I didn't understand that the "<" and ">" were referring to direction, I thought it was just decoration or something. 

Now that I'm learning it it's not that bad but it had been very confusing to me in the past. You'd think they could just pick one name and stick with it for the length of the road. Essentially, with each new neighborhood everything must be renamed. 

Okay, that's all for tonight.

Best!

Job Change Official

Tonight I told my current boss that I have accepted a new job at another company and will not longer be working at York Street Mechanics. I always get nervous to do these things but it went really well. It actually almost went too well. I told him I was leaving and he was pretty much like "Ok". Not mad, not sad, not really anything, almost disinterested. It was as if I had told him what I ate for breakfast. I mean it's not like I was expecting him to be heartbroken or anything but I was just expecting a bit more of a response than what I got. But I guess I should just be happy it went so well!

Anyways, this morning I went to the gym and did another TRX workout which was good. Then ran some errands and watched an interesting show on the History Channel about the CIA's 30+ year efforts to remove Muammar Gaddafi from power. Rather interesting show.

Tonight at work I was all by myself and it was really busy, or at least too busy to be by myself. I was working super hard, and had two groups in. I felt really bad because I don't feel like I gave any table enough of the attention that they deserved but they all seemed happy. No tips though. I actually thought about this towards the end of the night. I'm sure I did at least $2000 in sales, if not more. If we were talking about being in the states I'm sure I would have gotten about $300 in tips - 15%. Here, nothing! I mean I don't really care, I just want everyone to enjoy themselves, but it's crazy to think about it nonetheless.

Anyways, it's after midnight here and I'm very tired. I need to put my feet up and my head down and let me body relax for 8 or 9 hours.

That's all for now.

Best!

Trial Shift with Hipgroup

Today I had my trial shift at Hipgroup's Ortolana location. I worked three hours over the lunch rush helping run the food to the tables. I wasn't all that hard - well I don't think it will be hard long term - but there's a lot to do and a lot of information to take in today. I had fun, however. Everyone was really nice and because everything, including the kitchen, is in the restaurant, everyone always has to stay calm and collected making a great overall attitude in the restaurant. After my shift I met with Natasha and she formally offered me the position. They are willing to take me on full time ASAP so whenever I'm done at York Street I'll have full time work with them. If I am to still work at York Street next week I will probably do a few shorter shifts at Ortolana at well to continue learning before the new location opens.

With regards to York Street, I didn't have the opportunity to talk with Doug today. I will hopefully get to chat with him tomorrow morning and let him know of my change of plans. Then it will just be a transition time.

With my move to my new job I finally need to apply for an IRD number (or NZ's equivalent of a Social Security Number). It is done through the post and takes 8-10 days. Have to work on that tomorrow.

That's really about it..... nothing else too exciting. Tomorrow I'm going to the gym in the morning and then work starting at 3. A few errands to run (butcher, fruit shop, post office) and that's it. I'll keep you in the loop if anything real great comes up, otherwise don't expect too much over the weekend as I'm just going to be working and sleeping.

Best!

"No Scrubs" x 2

Update on the old school music fad here: I've heard "no scrubs" two times again today. Crazy right? I mean it's cool to hear old school music but they're really hung up on this one song! Anyways, that's all. More to follow shortly.

Best! 

I got the Job at Hipgroup!

I went in for my meet & greet with Natasha, the GM at one of the Hipgroup's Ortolana restaurant and she offered me the job at their new restaurant in Parnell! I did a trial shift over the lunch rush today which went well and so I am going to start full time as soon as I'm done at my current job. Which is now priority #1, tell my current boss that I will no longer be working there. I always hate doing this - you never know how people will react. I'm a bit worried that he might just write me off the schedule completely. Which I guess wouldn't be the end of the world at Hipgroup is willing to put me on full time ASAP, but I wouldn't mind at least finishing out this week at York Street and then moving to Hipgroup full time next week. That'd give me one week to get the flow of things at one of their current locations before moving to the new location for the opening week.

Also for yesterday, I had Brooke, the receptionist/trainer at my gym, write me a new exercise routine using the TRX. It's way more fun than just normal exercise and much more challenging as well. I'm somewhat sore today which is good - always what you want after working out. I can't wait to get back to the gym tomorrow and try again!

I'm working tonight at York Street. It's Thursday, pay day, which I love. And I'm not starting until 5 pm so it should be a relatively short shift, maybe 6 hours? Not bad. Anyways, that's all for right now. Working the rest of the weekend. I'll let you know how everything goes with telling my boss I'm leaving tonight.

Best!

Phoebe is gone :(

Phoebe left today for Dunedin. It was a sad day here. I'm going to miss having a friend around. But now that hanging out at home won't be so enjoyable maybe I will stop watching so much Kardashians and Teen Mom!

In more exciting news, I got to call into my book club meeting today. So nice to talk to all my friends back in the states! It's really weird that everyone is living their lives back in MN and I'm here living my life in Auckland. I mean obviously everyone is still there but it's so easy to forget it all exists when you're not in the middle of it anymore.

I had dinner with my NZ family tonight. I talked with them about my job troubled and how I'm applying for a few new jobs. All seems well there.

I feel like I had more to talk about from today but maybe I don't....

Oh yes, an interesting little observation about music here in NZ: they are really into old school rap/hip-hop. Do you guys remember the song "No Scrubs" by TLC? If not, click here for a listen. Anyways, this song came out in the US 1999. I doubt it's been played on any radio station in the US for 10 years and I've heard it at least 3 times in the last week on the radio here. One of the stations, 88.6 FM, has this program called the "Hot 500". Sounds like it must be the500 hottest songs in NZ, right? Well it's mostly hip-hop songs from the late 90's early 2000's, lots of Nelly, TLC, Ludacris, etc... I'm not sure if it just takes that long for music to get down here or what but I'm just floored that "No Scrubs" could still possibly be one of the hottest 500 songs in NZ.

Either way, it is nice to hear so much old school music since I know all the lyrics and can sing along. Brings back lots of memories from my younger years. How sweet.

Anyways, that's all for today. Tomorrow I've got interview #2 with the Hipgroup followed by rock climbing in the evening. Sounds like fun, right?

Best!

Good News!

So I went in today for my job meet and greet with Hipgroup for the new restaurant they are opening and all went well! I talked with the manager for about 15 minutes and he's invited me back for a second interview on Wednesday with the General Manager and then if that goes well, a trial shift to see if we both like each other. Yay!

I had also put an application in for a cafe/restaurant in a smaller neighborhood near my home and I've got a meet and greet with them on Friday lunch time. I think that between these two I can secure a new job. And both places have said that I can have 40+ hours/week which is what I'm looking for now. They both want a 6 month commitment so looks like I'll be staying around Auckland a bit longer. Maybe a week long trip to Queenstown in there somewhere instead of a winter? And then a nice two month tour of NZ at the end of my visa in the spring? Who knows. One day at a time, see what the world brings me, and make my decisions that way!

Tonight I went to see Dallas Buyers Club with Tom. We went to this great theater in Balmoral. It was really fancy - they had fancy decor, fancy snacks, fancy drinks, and fancy seats. Great place! Good movie too. Very interesting story. Matthew McConaughey was looking pretty sickly though. I mean I remember seeing photos of him all skinny like that but man he looked really rough in that film. After the movie we went for dumplings at a Chinese place, apparently with the best dumplings in the city. They were quite good!

Tomorrow Phoebe is leaving - sad! I am going to do the gym, figure out what I'm wearing to interview number 2 since I don't have very many clothes with me here in NZ, clean the house since I haven't done that since Kate went to Australia last week, and then maybe do some more research for my job interview. Anyways, that's all for today. Please keep your fingers crossed for me and my job interviews.

Best!

Catch-Up

The last 5 days have been spent mostly working and sleeping so no really exciting news - and thus the lack of a blog post. Let me recap shortly.

Wednesday:

I worked out in the morning and then went on a day date with Brooke (the receptionist at my gym and a 24 yr. old girl from Auckland) and her friend Sarah. We went out for lunch in Mission Bay, a nice little beach area here in Auckland, and then went for frozen yogurt after and a walk along the beach. I had so much fun with theses ladies. I was laughing the entire lunch. It was so great to be out with some ladies my own age having such a blast. Hopefully we can all go out for lunch again this week! After that I went to work, nothing too exciting for the rest of Wednesday.

Thursday:

Slept/napped most of the morning than worked in the afternoon.

Friday;

I had the day off! Yay! I was very tired from working the last two days so I had a slow morning but went rock climbing in the afternoon with my friend, Tom. We went to an indoor gym out in West Auckland and I had a blast. After climbing a few walls I played one game of Cruisin' USA on the video game machine. Brings back such wonderful memories from being a kid. It was funny how much better I am at the game now that I've actually been driving. I didn't have such drastic reactions to the curves in the road like I did as a kid. Friday night Phoebe and I went out for a dinner date to Selera, a Malaysian restaurant in Newmarket, about one block from where I live. It was a really nice night, warm, felt like summer. We ate outside and just soaked in the city summer atmosphere. Then we walked around a bit to check out the other restaurants in Newmarket as I was looking for places to apply for a new job. Oh yes, Friday I spent some time doing my CV and Cover Letter for job applications.

Saturday:

In the morning I went to the gym then probably took a nap. I can't really remember. Oh yes, I sent off CVs and Cover Letters to three restaurants that had ads for waitstaff on TradeMe (the NZ equivalent of Craigslist). I am much more inclined to drop off applications in person but two of the three restaurants are opening soon and thus don't have a location to actually go to to meet a manager. After taking care of that I went off to work for the evening. I had one table give me a $20 tip for my travel expenses. How sweet! :) When I got home from work I saw I had received a reply from one of the restaurants all ready thanking me "very, very much" for applying and asking me to come in for a meet and greet this week. This was the place I most wanted to work at out of the three I applied to so I was very happy. For those of you in MN, the group opening the restaurant is probably very similar to the Parasole Restaurant chain - up-market, hip, unique restaurants around the city. I'm very happy to have a chance to possibly work there.

Sunday:

This morning I lounged around on the couch as I was tired again and then took another nap. See now why I don't have anything to write on my blog? Worked this afternoon/evening. Had lots of nice tables and got a few more tips. I think for this week I'm up to about $60 in tips which is pretty good for this city! I got my work schedule for next week this evening so I was able to confirm a time for a meet and greet for tomorrow at 3pm. Wish me luck!

In more general news, I've obviously been working a lot, napping a lot, and watching a lot of E! - mostly the Kardashians. It's been so nice to have Phoebe around this week as well. A friend! Today we were chatting about how we feel like we're old friends but in reality we only met three months ago. How being away from home and totally friendless can move new friendships along so much faster.

For tomorrow:

Personal Trainer at 11:00am
Buy shoes for interview in early afternoon
Interview/Meet & Greet with possible new employed 3:00 pm
Movie and maybe dinner with Tom 6:00ish?

"Sounds Good!"

So as a more general reflection, most people here in Auckland (by that I mean the people I work with who are most of the people I see) have been commenting on how I say "sounds good" all the time. They actually make fun of me at work for it - I don't think it's funny - and generally say it back to me. Is this a MN thing or an Annabelle thing? I'm going to ask you guys to listen for this phrase for the next couple of days and see if you hear it regularly. If so, it must be a MN thing. If not, it must be a me thing. Let me know what you come up with!

Okay, that's all for now. Gotta get to bed so I'm well rested for my trainer appointment in the morning. Expect a post tomorrow with the results of my meet & greet.

Best!

Working out and not working

Let's look back at the last two days:

Monday:

Yesterday morning I had my first session with my personal trainer, Amos. Throughout the workout he kept showing me the easier alternative to the exercises but I insisted I was not going to do those. I am totally capable of "cheating" or taking the easy way out when I'm working out on my own, no need to do that when I'm with my trainer! By the end of the workout I'm pretty sure he realized I didn't want any of the easy options when I'm with him so hopefully he'll step up his game for next week. I did get some good ideas for exercises to do on my own, when I'm not with him, so I'm happy about that. All in all I think Amos will be a good trainer, so long as we both bring out A-game to the table.

After my morning workout Phoebe and I must've run a few errands around town, but to be honest I can't for the life of me remember what we did during the middle of the day. And it was only yesterday, yikes! I really am getting old!

Last night I went out for dinner with Kelsey, Terry and Mimi's son. We went to a Japanese restaurant in Ponsonby, Renkon. It was a tiny little restaurant with only a few tables but the food was tasty. I had the Misodare Tofu. I'd go back again but maybe not out of my way to go there.

Today, Tuesday:

I started my day off again today with some time at the gym. I've really got nothing else to do and since it's kinda like free for me to go it's a good activity for me. Well, it's not technically free but since it's a fixed cost per week once I've paid it it's pretty much free after that. Did some biking and a few resistance training exercises. Read my book and listened to my music. Good morning. I also set a lunch date for tomorrow with one of the trainers, Brooke, who also works at the front desk. She's 24 and seems really nice. We're gonna do lunch tomorrow.

After the gym Phoebe and I went to the beach for maybe 1.5 hours around lunch time. Nice to go for a quick swim and get some sun! Phoebe was also practicing her sand art, see here:

(I'm having trouble with the photo. I'll share at a later date)

In the afternoon I did almost nothing productive - I read my book (which isn't necessarily unproductive) and watched E! for like 3 hours - totally unproductive! I have just been feeling a bit down the last couple days about my job but have been hesitant to do anything about it because I don't want to work on my resume. (Mom - I emailed you a copy, will you please look over and send back to me with comments? Thanks!) I am not getting anywhere near the amount of hours I was lead to believe I would be getting and am thus having a cash flow problem. It's not that I can't afford to be here, I can, but I don't want to keep spending money out of my American bank account because it's not easy to replenish. Anyways, I need a new job.

Which is what I really need to work on now! I have done an initial draft of a resume and once finalized I will spend Thursday and Friday afternoon handing out at bars and restaurants in some trendy neighborhoods, hoping someone will hire me for a full time or more job so I can make some cash both to spend and to save. I just really want to be able to eat out, do activities, pay for petrol without worrying so much, buy clothes, etc... I want to be able to live a little while I'm in Auckland. So that's my plan for the next three days.

Tonight I was supposed to go out with a friend from work but it didn't work out so instead I took myself out for Indian food for dinner. I went to a place down the street from my house, Namaste Express, which was quite good. They had cheap meals for lunch so that's good to keep in mind for the future since I'm usually around during lunch but not always during dinner since I work the occasional evening shift.

Anyways, tomorrow I've the gym in the morning, lunch with Brooke in the afternoon, work for a few hours over dinner, and then probably out with Phoebe and her other friend who's living here in Auckland. Fun day! Oh yeah, and working on my resume! Please, everyone, keep you fingers crossed that I am able to get another job here in Auckland so I can meet more people, make more money, and have more financial freedom while I'm here in the big city of NZ.

Best!

A busy day - Pasifika, parties, reunions

I had a very busy day today!

Let's start at the beginning. I slept in today since I was up so late yesterday writing my blog post. Woke up around 10 am. Sooo nice! Had breakfast, went to the gym, etc...

Around 12:30 I headed out for Pasifika, a festival held annually in Auckland celebrating the island nations of the pacific. I walk through many of the island nation exhibits - Tonga, Fiji, Cook Island, Niue, Hawaii, a few others. It was a really hot day - I guess it is still summer here! - and I was trying mostly not to get sun burnt. I had one meal what I was at Pasifika, Chop Suey, but wasn't overly impressed. Maybe because it was cooked at a festival and not in a restaurant kitchen served fresh. I will definitely try again somewhere else. Overall, I wasn't super impressed by the festival. It may be because I was there on the afternoon of the second and final day so many of the vendors were winding down. I bet if I'd have gone yesterday I would've been more impressed. There were lots of cool things going on the stages in each island nation's area - dancing, singing, performances - but I was hoping I would've learned more about each island and how they're different from each other. It was not as educational/informative as I would've hoped. If I ever go again it'll be on the Saturday.

After Pasifika I headed out to my NZ family's house to pick up a few things I'd forgotten there and caught up with my NZ sister, Rosie. We chit-chatted for a bit but I had to run to my afternoon house party that I was invited to by my new friends I made last night, Tom and Oscar. I got to the party about 4:45 and stayed for like 2 hours. Almost everyone at the party works at one of a few restaurants in Ponsonby, a somewhat up-market but still hip neighborhood here in Auckland. They were all pretty cool people and it was fun to have a social activity on my calendar. While I was at the party I finally got a call from Alanna saying she was in Auckland. I'd been expecting the call much earlier in the morning so I was beginning to worry that something had happened so I was quite relieved to find out that she was all well and good and here in the city. I picked her up about 7pm and we went out for a drink and then dinner. Before getting Alanna, however, I got a surprising call from Phoebe (England) saying she was also going to be in Auckland tonight and wondering if she could stay with me. Of course she could! Alanna and I went and picked up Phoebe about 10pm and then we all went out for a drink. Now I'm just sitting in bed here with Phoebe having one last sleep over, just like back at the cafe.

Oh, the good old days back in Coromandel.

Anyways, my blog post is surprisingly short for how busy my day was (or felt). I haven't been home almost at  all today! Crazy! Anyways, it was a great day. I met some new people, got to see my good friends from my WWOOFing in Coro and spent lots of time outside enjoying the final days of Summer! How nice to have a good day here in Auckland.

For tomorrow:

I have a session with my Personal Trainer in the morning. I figure if I'm going to be in Auckland for a bit I might as well use my time wisely!
Dinner tomorrow night with Terry and Mimi's son, Kelsey in Ponsonby.
And I might spend the afternoon looking for a second job.

That's all for today, folks.

Best!

Annabelle

A Night out in Ponsonby

So it's been hard this last week here in Auckland getting settled in, having lots of free time, and no friends. Last night I was very tempted to go out by myself but I chickened out at the last minute and didn't. Tonight, however, had to be different. I couldn't spend another weekend night home sleeping when I'm in a new city that deserves a bit of exploring. Work was good today but a bit short and I needed some more social time. On my walk to the bus after work I walked past this store selling cute clothes and saw a sign on a rack saying $9.99. That's like $8.50 USD! So I decided to take a peak in and 30 minutes later I walked out with 6 items - a cute black skirt for the club, a cute black top of going out, a cream crochet sweater, 2 tank tops, and a black sweater - all for less than $70 NZD. Crazy amazing! So with my new clothes in hand I decided I was going out tonight and I was going to make a fun night of it. I did my hair, did my nails, got all dressed up, found a great restaurant to go to and went out on a date with myself.

I went to a restaurant, Moo Chow Chow, in Ponsonby. I got this place as a recommendation from a woman who worked at the clothing store I was at earlier today and at first I thought maybe a burger joint but it was asian tapas food. I had fried pig tail - yes, real pig tail! - and caramelized pork and prawns for dinner. I can confidently say I didn't know what I was getting into with the pig tail when I saw it on the menu but who can pass up pig tail? You never know when you're going to get another chance to eat it! It was a struggle though, and I didn't finish it. I am a meat eater, and have no problem eating meat, but when you are eating meat off of a vertebrate it's a whole other ball game. In the end I ate about half the order and took the other half home. I have no intention of ever finishing it but maybe tomorrow I'll feel differently....?

While I was sitting there in the bar eating dinner I got to chatting with the waiter and bar tender. They offered me suggestions on places to go for an after dinner drink by myself but while I was paying one of them got off work and so I went for a drink with him. His name is Tom and he's very funny. We went to a little bar down the road, Mea Culpa. I had a great time hanging out with Tom - I finally made a friend!!! Highlight of my time in Auckland so far, for sure! They are apparently having a party tomorrow at one of their co-workers and they invited me to that as well so maybe I'll make a few more friends! Yay!

Okay, I'm getting very tired now. I started this blog post whenI got home, about 12:30am on Sunday morning, then mid-way through had an hour long Skype with a friend from home and am now trying to finish this up at 2:00am. I'm sure it's not making much sense - at least it isn't making much sense to me anymore. Tired! That's all for today.

For tomorrow:
- Pasifika festival
- Party with my new friends
- Alanna (Canada) and Patricia (Canada) will be in town for the night - yay again!

Best!

Work, Work, More Work, and Lighthouses

Sorry for the delay in posting - I've been working the past two nights and have been very tired upon my return home and thus have not had the energy to post. Let's look back now to Wednesday - nothing too exciting in the morning. I signed up for a gym near my new house so I've got that all sorted. Worked out at the gym as well so that took up a few hours in the morning. In the afternoon I drove to the Manukau Heads Lighthouse, a beautiful lighthouse on the West Coast of New Zealand overlooking the Tasman Sea on one side and the Manukau Harbour on the other with views of Auckland. It's an amazing little place - great for a picnic - and you can even go up inside the lighthouse. When I went there I was the only person there. I did see one dog but it completely ignored me. Anyway, here are a few of my photos from the top of the lighthouse:

Ok, I lied. This first photo is from the drive to lighthouse. Look at those colors!

The lighthouse.

The light part of the lighthouse.

Looking out over the Tasman Sea from the top of the lighthouse.

Now looking over towards Auckland and the Manukau Harbor.

Selfie.

I noticed this picture when I was leaving the lighthouse. Creepy, isn't it?!

On my way out to the lighthouse my boss texted to see if I could work at night because one of my coworkers was ill. I said I could since I can really use the money and thus I wasn't able to spend very much time at the lighthouse. Another day I'll likely so back with a picnic lunch and a full day off work. A very nice place and a nice drive there as well.

Work on Wednesday night was slow but I got 5 hours in so that was good. Money in the bank! Well, not really but money to pay my bills, just as exciting!

Thursday I went to the gym in the morning and then ran some errands in the early afternoon. Bought a hair dryer, nail polish, shampoo - really exciting life I'm leading now that I've got a job and need to pay rent, car insurance, gas, food, etc... After all this morning excitement I went to work in the evening. A bit busier and some nice table - a few Americans in the house which is always a nice treat.

Onto today. I worked from 10 - 5. Nice busy lunch hour and working a mid shift I got to hang out with some of my coworkers I don't see in the evening. I'm still learning how everything works at the bar, and the learning curve is quite steep, but it's going okay.

In more general reflections on my situation, I'm not sure yet if staying in Auckland was such a good idea. It's very hard to make friends in a big city and I'm not quite sure where to start. It's also a bit stressful being here with so many bills to pay but I'm going to stick it out for at least a bit longer. I haven't been getting full time hours and I really need the social benefits of being at work right now. Since I don't have any friends to hang out with it would be really great to be working more and do my socializing there. I'm either going to need more hours at work at a second job to make Auckland a happier place for me. Don't worry, no changes immediately, but something I desperately need to take care of ASAP.

Okay, I've got to get to bed now. It's 10:40pm here and I've got to be back at work at 8:30am. Time for some rest and then some work.

Best!

Rainbows and New Rooms

This morning while I was preparing my breakfast in the kitchen I looked out the window and saw the most beautiful rainbow. Have a look:

Quite nice, isn’t it?

Anyways, that’s all on that.

In bigger news, I moved into my new home today.  I have procrastinating on packing these last few days because I have enjoyed staying with Terry and Mimi so much but I finally had to get everything together. It appeared that I had lots more stuff then when I arrived in Auckland only 2 weeks ago but really I just didn’t pack it all that well this time around. Either way, I think I had my suitcase, backpack, and purse that I left the states with. I also had the beach bag that I acquired in Coromandel Town. In addition to all this I think I had 2 more bags that I didn’t usually have just because I didn’t pack all that well. Enough about my luggage…

I moved in today at 2:30pm to my new place. Here’s a photo of my new bedroom:

The house is really cute and so homey. I knew from the moment I first walked in here that this would be a great place for me to stay – relaxing, comfortable, quite, nice.  My roommate, Kate, is likely in her early 60s and lives here alone – well not anymore, but she did. It is likely a 3-bedroom house – one of the bedrooms is an office – and has one extremely large bathroom. (I’ll take some more photos tomorrow so y’all can see where I’m living.) It has a nice large family/living room, a dining room, large kitchen, a very nice backyard with good outdoor furniture and a driveway where I can leave my truck.

Tonight Kate cooked a dinner for me a welcome and we had champagne. That’s the second time I’ve had champagne in two days. Champagne is not my favorite but you can’t pass it up when there’s something to celebrate.

In moving news, I got myself signed up at the library today and started looking at gyms. Now that I’m going to stay here for a few months I might as well get my life sorted. I also went to the grocery store today do my first real grocery shop in NZ and it went pretty well. Not everything is organized the same as it is in the states but I eventually found my way around. And I signed up for the grocery store discount card. It really feels like I’m settling here in Auckland. Yikes! Gotta keep moving!

Okay, I think that’s all for today… gonna read my book, lie down in my new bed, and make plans for tomorrow.

Best!

Karekare Beach

After Rosie and I finished watching Pocahontas I decided to head to one of the western beaches. As back story for those of you who don't know, I was not allowed to watch Disney movies as a child. My parents did not like them because all of the main characters in Disney movies come from broken homes - the parents are dead, or missing, or otherwise absent. Think about, they're all the same! Anyways, I have a lot of catching up to do in this regard and so Rosie and I decided to make some headway today we got through 2 of the Disney classics that I've never seen: Beauty and the Beast and Pocahontas. I thought Beauty and the Beast was quite scary but a good movie. I was happy to finally see Pocahontas because I saw the trailer so many times as a kid before my Lion King video started. Yes, I understand that Lion King is Disney movie. Technically I owned 2 Disney movies as a kid, The Lion King and Lady and the Tramp. Of all the rest, I haven't seen many. But after today I'm closer than before to seeing all of the classics. Anyways, back to the real point of this post - Karekare beach - after finishing Pocahontas I decided to drive over to Karekare beach to check it out. It's supposed to be very beautiful! It's a bit of a drive over there - about 45 minutes on steep, curving, hilly roads through the Waitakere Range. When I eventually made it it was cloudy and very windy and starting to sprinkle but I hiked out to the beach anyways. When I got there it was way too windy to do anything, even walk all the way to the water, but I took a few photos. Here they are:

They photos aren't all that great - sorry. That's all I've got from that little beach adventure. The wind was blowing the sand so fast at my legs that it actually hurt so I didn't have a bunch of time to take lots of photos.

Anyways, tonight we had a little celebratory family dinner. My last night at with the Lewell's and Kelsey and Rosie's first night back. Tomorrow I'm moving to my new place in the city.

That's all for now.

Best! 

Photos With Alanna

As you all know, Alanna and I hung out a few times this last week when she was in Auckland. Here's a few photos I never posted from those days:

Enjoying a drink in Mission Bay. While we were sitting there chatting Alanna told me "I didn't think I'd ever see you again." Little did she know we are going to see each other many more times in our lives!

At the Jordanian Restaurant, Petra Shawarma.

Our Shawarma's that we had for lunch. I had lamb and Alanna had chicken. They were delicious :)

That's all for now. Currently mid-way through our Disney movie marathon. We watched Beauty and the Beast this morning and now watching Pocahontas. Later, the Oscars!

Gannet Colony at Muriwai Beach

Today I rode with Terry over to Muriwai beach to see the Gannet Colony. A gannet is a bird. See their Wikipedia page here. Apparently Terry had sent his oldest son Ryan and Ryan's girlfriend Flo to see the Gannet Colony once and there were no gannets at it that day. We, however, were lucky enough to see them. Here are some pics:

There's Gannets on top of that rock in the foreground.

Check out them Gannets!

Momma and Baby. See a video of these two here.

I also took a few photos of the beach while we were there:

Some starfish waiting for the tide to come back in.

That's all for today. I spent the early part of the day recovering from my late night last night and watching Teen Mom with Rosie. 

For tomorrow, Rosie and I plan to watch Disney movies all day. Rosie hasn't been feeling well the last few days and so has been hanging around the house sick. It's fun to have a friend around!

Best!

First 2 Days at the New Job and a Place to Live

Sorry for the absence of posts the last two days. I have been working like crazy at my new job while trying to find a place to live.

For starters, the job. I worked Thursday and Friday at the job so far. Thursday was a weird day. I was scheduled to work 12 - 8 but ended up staying until 11. There was almost nothing to do for the first 5 hours, then we had a fairly busy dinner from like 5 - 9 and then just clean up and shut down after that. I didn't find the work to be that hard. I haven't ever served before but I think I did alright. My co-workers seemed to agree as well. It got a bit awkward towards the end of the night as I was getting one message from my boss and a different one from my co-workers but it all got sorted on Friday and we're all cool now. Friday at work was a better day. I worked the 12 - 8 shift that I was scheduled and then went home. It was  good slow/steady pass all day so not too much sitting around waiting for something to happen. Just before I left I had a table of three women in their early sixties. I mentioned to them in conversation that I was looking for a place to stay and one of the women, Anne, gave me the number for her across the street neighbor, Kate, who sometimes has people rent her spare room. It seemed a bit awkward to call Kate being that Anne gave me her number without telling her but I figured I had nothing to lose.

So, this morning I called Kate and left a message explaining the situation. She called me back this afternoon and I spoke to her on the phone, then went over there, and have decided to live there. Another decision that I made in about 10 minutes but I think it's going to work out well. I've been to look at 4 places now and this was the only one where I walked in and it felt like a home. It's an old house and very beautiful, it has off street parking for my car, and is very close to my job where I can now ride the bus and no longer have to be concerned with parking my car in the city. Including utilities it's $250/week - they pay for rent by the week here in NZ and Australia. It's towards the top of my budget but I'm going to save lots on petrol living in the city now so it'll likely work out all right in the end. I'm just very happy now that I've got this all sorted and will be moving in Tuesday. Yay!

In non-job and non-room renting news, I went to a great little Sri Lankan restaurant for lunch today, 7 Siri Taste of Sri Lanka. They have won tons of awards for top dish, top restaurant, they had write ups in lots of local magazines and newspapers, and the food was delicious. The owners were there and were very friendly. I had the lump rice, a dish of rice served with small portions of 6 types of curry. The presentation is fantastic wrapped up like a present in a banana leaf.

Earlier today I went to a Brazilian Carnival festival in Remuera, a neighborhood in Auckland. I was immensely disappointed. It was nothing like a festival in the states where they shut the street down or hold it at a park and have tons of stalls selling different foods and booths selling festival related goods. There were a few "stages" where they had dancing and one small grill set up with meat shish-kabobs and that was all. I stayed maybe 30 minutes and then left. I spent the next hour or so driving around the city getting a feel for the neighborhoods and the roads and such.

That's really it. Besides work, the last two days I haven't done anything. Back to living a boring working life.

Best!