Around the Office

Houses along Seafield View Rd where I pass by to get to Park Rd for lunch.

Along Grafton Rd:  Auckland Museum on the left. Zeacom building on the right.

From Madeira Lane going to Khyber Pass.

Symonds Street where we eat either Malaysian or Thai food.

Chasing the 211 bus along Symonds.

Barely 3 minutes after hopping on the bus, I see Bike Barn everyday.

Work and People

It's tough to be away from hubby and my two small kids. I'm already missing so much of my daughter's many firsts. She can already say Papa and No. And I think I heard her say Mommy yesterday over Skype. She just turned 1 when I left home and I really felt crushed when they couldn't make it for Christmas. Have received similar reactions when people find out about my situation, especially my colleagues. They're often surprised to find out that I have kids, and even more surprised when they find out that I'm away from them.

Over team lunch yesterday, I realized that the tenured folks are more comfortable with seeing and knowing management, and not having one who is overseas. And that they're not too comfortable with continuous change as it really shakes up their comfort level. I guess it's coz we work in a Kiwi-built company which was sold to a Canadian multinational with headquarters in the US. As with everything else here, it's a small and tight community with a strong provincial vibe. And this already being in Auckland, the financial capital, people are still laid back and moves at their own pace. They completely understand family time. I even moved schedules and resources around so people can leave early to attend school/ their kids' activities. In a way it's good that my manager understands this. She'd tell people that they should go attend to their kids otherwise the kid won't make you forget that you've missed that important event for the rest of your life. Hmm, I wonder what was it that she missed coz of work that made such an impact to one of her kids.

I've seen the personal side of people. The big old man had to rush early for a kids' birthday party. Once they go on leave or if it is a weekend, they're absolutely untouchable as people here respect time off. Non-work time is spent on fetching kids, attending school events, gardening, traveling or simply going on training for the next football season or the next marathon/ triathlon or what have you. Another one likes to carry his camera every time he goes out for lunch so he can shoot. There are those who come in on a motorbike, wearing a full suit and helmet. The Moms are hands on Moms and the Dads are hands on Dads. Having extended relatives to help with the kids are a luxury otherwise, smaller kids are left daycare while the bigger ones are ferried to and from school.

Work is just that, work. I see how personal time is valued here.

What I Usually Eat

I left the office feeling a bit dazed with the onslaught of meetings, emails and escalations. I had to make a hard stop as it was already quarter to 6pm. That's considered working late here as people are gone from 4pm onwards. In haste, I found myself hopping on a bus that makes a turn to the park, just 2 stops away from my usual route. I got off and went straight to the nearby grocery as I had to grab a couple of things for dinner and for my first attempt on the oven.

Dinner was sliced pepperoni, eggs and cheese sandwich with yummy aioli dressing, and some salad greens. I thought I'd sample the blueberry muffin recipe tonight but as there weren't any blueberries in the shop, it'll have to wait. I've been browsing for recipes on blueberry muffin and quiche as these were my faves. I thought it's easy to make and that I should make some for myself. If I'm happy, then maybe I'll be making more for my friends.

Since I have an oven, i just thought that it's high time that I get to try out all those simple, just pop in the oven type of recipes. So this will be something for me to look forward too. Tomorrow, I'll be grilling salmon for dinner c/o this grilling appliance that my friend gave.

So breakfast will probably be french toast. Will also make some croissant sandwiches for lunch since I'll be on a call until 1pm tomorrow. The croissant at Countdown is really good, warm or cold. It doesn't break and is very soft unlike those that I've had back home. They sure are a better option than sandwich loaf.

Japanese takeaways are popular here. I usually get a teriyaki rice meal from $5 to $8. We also eat at either Thai or Malaysian for Friday lunch. The meals cost a minimum of $12. The cheaper alternatives are the cafes along Park road offering $3.50 sandwiches or pies. I do make sure that I get some vegetable servings in my meals. And I have avoided coffee for quite a while now. We now have two coffee machines that can make really great brews, cafe style. I just don't know how to work on those air and milk frothing which is good coz I've the perfect excuse to skip on caffeine.

I got enough rice and pasta to make me fat. Though I often struggle with their complementary ingredients to make them flavorful enough to eat. Living alone is no fun especially when it comes to dining at home.

Moving to the Burb

The mad rush for Christmas dissipated early this week. Now it's all about keeping the house tidy and just making it homey.

I moved to Mt. Albert, just a 15 minute bus ride from work. It's a back unit of two and it's handy to shops, the Rocket Park and schools. Like what my friend Al said, he won't be surprised if me and my family would stay here for a while, until  we get our own house. So what was the absolute basics that I purchased prior to the move? A duvet, wok, knife, chopping board, a set of cooking utensils and dinnerware.

My friends lent and gave me the following: foam bed, duvet cover, bed spread, bed sheet, coffee table, chair, two foot stools, a small sauce pan, 2 kilos brown rice, a jar of brown sugar, some iodized salt, 1 whole roast chicken, 2 plastic buckets, an empty jug of milk, some homemade biscuits, and fudge brownies.

The unit only had a an electric stove with oven so I was able to cook whenever I felt liked it. I didn't have a fridge though and washing machine for two weeks so I couldn't store perishable food and I had to hand wash my clothes. The delivery guy told me that the washing machine weighed 80 kilos and he complained that he couldn't move it in place coz the bathroom door was blocking it. So he left and when I tried it myself, funny how I had no problem positioning it in place (of course it was still heavy!) without having to remove the door. I also got an electric kettle, broom, clothes' airer, grabbed a microwave and rice cooker that were on sale, and bought a couple more duvets for the rest of my family. The other day, our IndoorOut table and benches arrived. They were surprisingly easy to assemble.


So today I did my first laundry with my new front loader. It's sunny outside and I was able to use both the clothesline and the airer. I'm to go and look for mattresses today. Am not in a hurry to buy but it would be nice to see what's actually out there instead of just going through mailers.

The plants need some trimming and I need to do some weeding. I need to find a rake, shovel and garden gloves. And maybe a garden hat too as the sun's heat here is just too much that you can actually feel it going through your skin. Skin cancer in the making. Gosh! I need to get a sun block too!