Family at North Shore

Facebook does bring people together. So there I was again at Takapuna Central Platform 2, stepping off the bus and walking towards the direction of Fresh market, which is just across Burger King. Then I saw a familiar face, whom I was studying just the other night on FB. It's Tita Cynthia with her son Jod. They drove me around Takapuna and Milford first just to show me around and then rode all the way up to Albany to check on the new house and the new housing development site that was being offered them. I met Floyd who worked at Chelsea, the largest sugar factory in NZ.

View from Mt. Victoria

View of Rangitoto Island 

Lake Road on the right; Takapuna towers on the left

I met a couple of people afterwards, from the Apoderado side of the family. We even took a photo of Tita Vinda since the Villamayor siblings(Dad's generation) have been very close to her and probably hasn't seen her for a while. She still doesn't have a facebook page and has almost given up on ever using it.

My day started out great, with a nice long walk to the bus stop at Te Atatu Road. The trip to the city was uneventful. It's really the road trip around Northshore with my aunt and cousin that made my day. A couple of hours rest in their house at Milford then another road trip at night with Tito Boy. He drove us around the city up to Mission Bay. It was Friday night and there were a lot of young people out on the streets and in bars and clubs. The city was picturesque with it's pretty skyline. I wasn't able to take a photo though since we were inside the car the whole time.

It's great to be around family. It brings back all the memories of our family reunions in Dolores.

Railway, Transport and then Consulting?

Cold morning, heavy fog, zero visibility and you can almost see some frost. Then the sun came up and cleared everything around. It was still cold though.

I wasn't quite sure on what my job strategy will be for the day but somehow I found myself diving deeply on making online applications to companies like KiwiRail and Auckland Transport. What caught my attention was a posting from a recruiter saying that the location is just here at Waitakere city. It's library is just walking distance from here.. well, 25minutes of walking at least. I hope I can get into Auckland Transport!

Peeking through the glass door

I've been cooped up in this house, mostly in my room for three days straight working on my applications. It was perfect timing when I noticed the sun at its golden peak! It's sunset and I couldn't resist taking a photo of it, despite the rain.

Job Hunting - Kiwi Style

I sent a few applications last week upon arriving then stopped when I decided to attend a migrant seminar first.

During the seminar last Friday, I picked up the following pointers which I believe helped me figure things out for my kiwi job hunt.

1. Polish your CV, it should be a Kiwi-style CV that fits the advertised requirements.

2. Sell yourself in the cover letter.

3. Build a Kiwi network. Employers prefer an applicant that was referred by one of their employees.

4. Have a strategy in applying. You'll need to keep track of the role that you applied for and through what means did you apply: direct, online, via recruiter or internal employee. 

So I polished my CV and sent it to three people: my flatmate, my friend from grad school and my 2nd degree aunt.

Today, I gave one IT recruitment company a shot just to see how I fared. I applied to four postings early today and just a few minutes after 9am, I got a call from one of them. She'll be forwarding my application to their client and will see how it goes. Each posting has a different handler(consultant), the other two already responded with a nice no via email.

With this, I know now that I have a shot and will be a bit more patient to let my small network tap theirs.

I'm meeting people this weekend and hopefully, I'll chance upon those who can increase my network.

So anybody out there know anyone who lives here in Auckland? PM me ok?

Takapuna Trip and its Warm Surprise

Hurstmere Road, Takapuna

It rained again this morning and it's been darn chilly all day! I'm to take the 130 bus all the way to Takapuna for my IRD appointment. It was a long and scenic ride, 1hr 30mins for about $6.40. The bus route took the Northern Pass Lower Zone. I've seen some nice houses with a great view of the lake unlike here at the west where you only see houses all around.




So I arrived at Takapuna Central 1 hour early. The place looks lovely, like a nice and carefree beach town. It was too early in the afternoon to actually see any activities but the shops and cafes reminded me of the Malate vibe.

Beach Parking for Takapuna

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the nice view of the beach have been blocked off by these establishments according to the old man who assisted me at the bank. That's how they wanted it built back in the old days he said. It's to keep people away from the beach.

It was a windy day, and that meant wearing three layers of clothing was just about right (a shirt, some knitwear and a coat). My task for the day was completed early and as I tried to take a look at the beach, i got a nice surprise.

An old friend from grad school called me and said that she wanted to see me in the city since her appointment got rescheduled. Finally, a familiar voice and though exploring Takapuna beach was just as tempting, I know that I can do this again some other time in during the warmer months. I took the next bus headed to the city where I met with Myn. And i suppose the rest will be history. This is more than chance.

The sail that won

My View on the Harbor

Fish & chips on the left, some yummy bread and spread on the right

After some catching up, I now feel more at home since finally, I found an old friend. And this is just because I updated my LinkedIn profile.

Sunday Church and The Flea Market

The 10:30am mass here at Holy Cross is managed by the youth. There's even a section in the church where all the little tykes are gathered where their homily is delivered by someone else, in the form of story telling. That's where my flatmates were seated and I didn't really see what went on there. I was in the main church with everyone else, hearing mass as any catholic person does. Nothing different except maybe the songs orr the melodies.

Arnie and her daughter seem to have caught the flu already since I've been hearing coughing and sneezing here at home. We headed home afterwards to pick up the food. We were going to the flea market, then have lunch at the park.

There's a flea market every Sunday, until 2pm at Avondale Race Track. This is where we got our veggies and fruits. Most shoppers were Asian-- Chinese, Korean, Indian and Pinoy. According to Arnie, prices go lower as the market closes, up to a 50% difference compared with the usual Asian or Fresh fruits store. The place looked almost like the regular street stalls in Quiapo or Baclaran. Nothing special really and definitely not comparable to the posh weekend markets in Salcedo and Legaspi. It has been chilly since after mass, so my flatmates decided to skip lunch at the park and just go home instead.

Tofu with oyster sauce, tausi and green peas were quite filling with some pork sisig (no innards) and rice. Though it was late lunch, it was definitely worth the wait. Then 30minutes later, it started to rain.