Singapore Haze: One Bright Saturday Afternoon

After almost a week without direct sunlight and blue sky, yesterday miracle did happen and voila blue sky appeared!

I saw this sight on my way out and it brought smile to my face right away.
What's not to smile about? Blue sky? lush green trees? bright pink flowers that seem to be reaching their way out to the sky to get some sun?
And when I reached home at night, there it was, moon lingering in the sky behind thin cloud (or was it haze?), nevertheless, it was still a beautiful sight...

It is in the news that though there was a bright and clear afternoon, haze could come back anytime soon. And today, though I can't see blue sky, the sunlight is still coming strong, so I suppose we should make use of and be grateful for what is given to us, and hope that the haze issue shall pass soon enough :)

Have a great weekend everybody!

NZ-OZ Trip: Auckland to Rotorua with Grayline (Waitomo Cave, Agrodome, Te Puia)

view on the way to Rotorua - cows!

My next destination after Auckland was Rotorua. One reason was because there is a tour to Hobbiton starting from there and it is much cheaper and less exhausting than taking it from Auckland - it takes around 3-4 hours from Auckland to Matamata compared to 30 mins from Rotorua. The other reason was this one-way day tour from Grayline covers the places I wanted to visit, such as Agrodome, Waitomo Glowworm Cave and Te Puia.

It started off early from Auckland. My pick up was at 715AM, though then it only came to pick me up at around 730. There were only less than 10 people in the bus that actually could accomodate up to 30-40 pax, so as you could guess, most of the people sit on their own, except for an elderly couple and a mom with his son.

Right soon after we left Auckland CBD, we were served morning coffee with 2 piece of cookies. There were choices of coffee, tea and milo.

Throughout the journey, I just gotta say that the view was just amazing! Very vast meadows and green hills all around us as far as our eyes can see, cows and sheep enjoying their time munching away the grass-all in all, I was mesmerized to see such healthy cows or sheep. I really think that they were happy!

From where I came from, I often passed by a small farm on my way from my hometown to Jakarta or Jogjakarta, and it seems that as far as I remember, I always think that the cattle all look sad and skinny. I could see the protruding rib cage, and I have no other feeling that sorry for them. But in New Zealand, I ALWAYS smile every time I see a cow or sheep and I feel suddenly happy for them.

Our first stop was Glow Worm Cave at Waitomo.

entrance

statue at the ticket lobby

cafe

The entry to the cave must be accompanied by a guide, and all of us were brought in by a nice lady who had been working there for more than 20 years (wow!). She explained how there are actually a lot of caves in the area, but only few of them are opened for visiting. Taking photo is allowed but with no flash, my photos didn't come out well :(

I was amazed to know that they are actually glow larvae-instead of worm. Of course if the sign says "Glow Larvae Cave", I don't think anyone would be interested in visiting...
The highlight of this cave is taking a boat throughout a water covered area of the cave where there are maybe hundred thousands of glow worm (I use the word "worm" as it makes me feel less "euww") hanging on its ceiling. No photos were impossible to take in almost no light place (or maybe my camera wasn't good enough), so I attach a photo of postcard that I bought with no intention to send out :D

end of tunnel

outside the tunnel

bye bye Waitomo Glowworm Cave~

Right after Waitomo Cave, we were served lunch, which was ordered from the cafe actually. When I touched it and it felt cold, I thought that it would be something that I would not like because I love my meal to be warm. The content of my lunch box was a sandwich with chicken, veggie, some sauce and raspberry jam (if I'm not wrong), a tiny muffin(?), a tiny apple, a cup of cheesecake and a small box of juice.
I wasn't very happy with the meal honestly, but I tried it anyway and I was surprised to find myself enjoying the meal-it was delicious! It was definitely something very different from the usual Asian meal, but it was really good!

lunch

The next place to visit was Agrodome and I got to have close encounter with farm animals, hand-feed them and pet them, watched with farm dog and sheep shearing shows. I love animals so I love every minute spent in this place! :)
I kinda felt sorry for the sheep that was sheared during the show, he (or she?) didn't look like he/she enjoyed the process at all...

Farm tour tractor

sheep!

farm dog show

sheep about to be sheared

yarn maker tool in souvenir shop

Then the last stop was Te Puia to watch Maori cultural show, and visit the geyser and mud pool.

entrance

entrance to Maori cultural show

Maori cultural show

geyser from afar

geyser up close

mud pool

NZ-OZ Trip: Auckland - Sky Tower

It was a cloudy day when I reached Sky Tower. Maybe that's why there weren't many people. I was going in early evening to watch sunset, but I suppose, with that kind of sky that day, there wasn't any sunset to watch... But it was my last night in Auckland, so I just had to go no matter what. 

There are 2 kinds of tickets, one takes you to only up to Main Observation Level, while the other one is for up to Sky Deck (change to a different lift at the Main Observation level). 

On the Main Observation level, there are some parts with glass floor. It was kinda scary to stand on top of it since I'm scared of height. But cmon! Might as well do it while I was there! 

glass floor

view from Sky Deck

storm far far away

sun finally peeking out

When I was in the lift at Sky Deck, the lift didn't move even after the Lift Lady pressed the button. She took it very easy as if it happened before and talked to her walkie talkie. She opened the door and closed it again, and yet it still wouldn't move. So I decided to get out off the lift and spent some time again in the Sky Deck while waiting for the lift to work again. 

However after few minutes, the same lady announced that the lift broke down and we (everyone on Sky Deck) would take the emergency stair to Main Observatory Level, which was 8 floor down. And so we did... and once I reached ground level, I saw the announcement that the Sky Deck was closed. Whew, good thing I came early, otherwise I wouldn't be able to get to Sky Deck. 

NZ-OZ Trip: Auckland - Voyager Maritime Museum

A visit to Voyager Maritime Museum is something to do for those interested in sailing, or history of sailors in NZ. I, for one, am not one, so I'm sorry to say that I find the visit was somewhat a waste of 15 NZD. Although I did like some parts of the exhibitions (beach houses and history of immigrants in NZ), but overall, it was forgettable.

After spending an hour or so at Maritime Museum, I took a walk to Viaduct, across the bascule bridge (Wynyard Crossing).

a bascule Bridge at Wynyard Crossing

plaza with outdoor chaise

great use of container boxes - tourist kiosk, ads display

some kind of library in a container box

a stretch of restaurants/bars

NZ-OZ Trip: Auckland - Wintergarden, Parnell

Just few hundred meters from War Memorial Museum of Auckland, there is Wintergarden. Being designed in 1920s, it is consists of 2 Victorian style glass houses and one quarry at the rear.
One glass house shows tropical plants, and the other glass house shows seasonal plants. I didn't go in to the quarry as it fills with wide variety of ferns, and frankly, I'm only interested in flowers and sometimes fruit plants.

A short walk from Auckland Domain (where the museum and Wintergarden are), there is Parnell Road and it's a good place to take a walk. There are restaurants, cafes, galleries, etc, and also rows of houses made of wood. There is also St. Mary's Cathedral, which is just beautiful. It was the first time for me to see a large wooden church, and it is really a beauty.

Selwyn Library

Apple store housed in an actual house building