Levin Factory Shops here to stay

Haha today I went Levin.. 1 hour drive out of Palmerston North... I left at about 11.10am and came back at 5.25pm...That place is nice.. a centre for horticulture and agriculture. Basically it's a small town, with small shops lining up the whole streets at the city centre. The first shop I went was Levin Mall.. I went into the shop 'save the children'. Most of the proceeds they earn from retail will go overseas in helping the African children tide over their poverty. Then I had a little chat with the shop tender. She's Betty.. and she showed me how to go to all the factory shops by drawning me a map haha... So I bought a merino sheep soft toy for my friend.. and a buzzy bee.. New Zealand all time favourite toy.. So it's a must-buy.. lol... then I just walked and walked and walked.. passed by a home-made bakery shop.. then popped in to buy a banana flapjack and apple tart.. wow and they were so yummy and sweet to the taste.. love it.. so ang mo style haha...

Next stop... went to Horowhenua Town Council... Took some brochures and asked some enquiries.. I oso went to i-site.. then took some more brochures.. Finally.. I arrived at the Sovenoir Factory shop at Keepa St.. it's actually a shop that does mass printing of t-shirts.. inside they got sell school uniforms as well.. and I bought a school sweater, from Waiopehu college, meaning 'waio'=water, & 'pehu'=hills and valley.. it actually represents Levin itself.. Levin is close to the sea coast and it's a hilly region.. Levin originated from Levi itself.. ahaha yea..

So my next station: Lindsay Royal Socks Factory Shop

Consequence: Cannot find it... walked out of Levin into expressway.. still cant find it..

Changed motive and direction.

Turned left into another factory shop.. knitting factory shop.. got alot of knitted and woolen sweaters and vests. The men's designs are really nice.. lots of selections.. women's ones not nice.. so I ended up grabbing sth from the cart that sells each clothing @ $25.. they are actually summer clothes.. so because now it's autumn and approaching winter.. most of their clothes are centred on winter coats.. So i bought 3.. paid $75 and went out.. then hor.. found out that I have only 1o min to walk back all the way to the town centre.. my ankles almost break ah.. and I have 3 full bags with me.. how I run lol... I dun wanna run too.. so pai seh la.. lol.. So tired.. and I was rushing by the road side.. and beside me is the railway track.. so cool.. today I saw one train passing by, and another train went by but I didnt see.. only heard.. lol.. so fun la.. haha still horned when it passed by.. Yea.. as I was rushing.. I was puffing in all the hydrocarbon.. So unhealthy!! Where's my oxygen...

*Fast Forward*

Arrived @ the bus-stop.. I was late 5 minutes.. where's my nakedbus? I mean the bus is called naked.. ttz the brand ok... Oh no! I missed the bus! I thought. So horrified until I looked here and there and a sense of hopelessness that is so instant.. Then saw one guy seating on the chair then I asked him whether he saw my nakedbus... oh alright.. The bus hasnt come.. it was late.. OIC.. straight-way on the bus.. I felt a slumber.. until "This is Massey" then I cannot afford to sleep anymore.. my stop was next.. haha.. Cool man.. Going out of my town into another.. Can see lots lots of things and people..

i give Levin.. **** 4 stars

OHAKEA AIR BASE

haha today went for lunch with some Singaporeans at Cafe Cuba.. yummy... went to have 'bread dips with hummus' haha really breads sia.. all 3 different types one.. den oso got 3 sauces, dried tomato, mint sauce, and hummus!! Hummus is actually chickpeas sauce la.. ate before in Israel one.. everytime haha.... suddenly go back to Jewish feeling hahaha.... not bad la the lunch.. but the bread very crispy until my tongue tear.. now havent heal haha.. We have Elisha, Lewis, Jo and Lionel with us.. den have some chats before we go.. lol so funny their school stories lol....

Elisha and me!

Me wif Lewis...

So yea today hitched a ride with Lewis with Elisha.. 3 of us and we went driving around the country.. Oh yea Lewis's a pilot.. cool.. studying how to fly @ Massey...... I can remember where we actually went haha.. first.. Palmy 31.. where another singapore guy stayed.. then to the International Palmerston North Airport.. den to another place near Crabapple St.. lol.. where there was a great patch of empty grass.. Lewis used to play soccer there everytime.. den hor.. so sweet la.. we saw a father and his son playing remote controlled cars together.. they are so family-oriented!.. this is not the first time I saw dads playing cars with sons lol..

And so, we went to Ohakea.. where the air show was held last week.. sunday, 16th March.. but I missed it la.. nice and fantastic place to just go out and sit around to talk.. So Lewis and I just talked and talked then the Elisha kept playing with herself lol... coz got my camera to entertain her haha... she can take great shots anyway.. cool... so it was like we were under the big hot sun shining straight into my eyes.. scorching.. den slowly slowly became colder and colder and the weather turned gloomy.. lol it was 6pm liao... we stayed like an hour plus I guess.. just relaxing and facing the boundless landscape......

Really it was a nice drive out of Palmerston North...

My dinner!.. Whole salmon again.. eat and eat until become sashimi haha... coz itz uncooked inside lolol...... yummy dinner anyway haha.. itz healthy ok haha.. omega 3!

So interesting.. buy 2 bottles of coke is smarTER.. haha lol.. coz u save NZ$4.00 lol... taken from Shell Patrol Station on the way to Ohakea.

Please.. I am too short-sighted... haha

Wow.. really tired.. yesterday due to updating blog, I slept at around 5am.. and woke up like 7.40am...... so tired.. but surprisingly I am be still alive until this time, the whole day at school busying myself and not feeling tired until now.. I am sore tired.. just doze off infront of my laptop suddenly haha.. going to bed soon..





I need time to do a good report.. where's my time? Long Easter break coming!!!!! fri no school, sat, sunday, mon and tue also no school.. going for a short trip out of Palmerston north with other Singaporeans staying here.. God one Sg gal living just above us, Elisha.. yea! we going together with her to meet some others from Wellington and Auckand.. all Singaporeans doing attachment here haha...... We going Rotorua... tourist attraction area.. going to play the ludge... weeee..... I hope.. I really hope my report can complete fast.. so I got time to play =(

Haiya.. today ganna scolded by Steve la.. say I just went to do my own experiments without letting him know... Coz got lab students who are coming into the lab for practicals.. so they need the fume hoods to conduct experiments.. then my own experiments contain ether, it's explosive and have to be left inside the fume hoods.. He said I didnt think ahead.. rite lol.. then didnt realise all the potential problems that will arise.. I'm not a good thinker anyway lol... And you know he asks all sorts of questions to force me to arrive at one answer.. "Throw them all away?" coz there was no way of storing my samples until tml as e students need the lab.. He kept asking me, " What are you going to do with it? You have a problem now. How are you goint to deal with it? " He's very analytical, and very step-by-step to make people realise by themselves their mistakes.. but so weird la.. keep asking me.. den I was like dunno what to say.. arghhh... den got another technician I know one, Warrick, starting coming in.. and Steve was telling me way too loud.. and so drawing attention to our conversation.. Haizz.... He was trying to test my reactions la.. den after I give up on my samples to say throw them away.. " Well, I can actually use Mischelle's fume hood for your samples.. " Right... ask so much when he has the answer... but he was like trying to scare people away la.. so serious.............


Record of breakage and spoilage:

1. Monday: I was grinding my cereals, grind grind until the grinder plastic came out... spoiled.. and the technician Garry said it was new.. nobody has used it before...





2. Wednesday (today): Broke a Majonnier tube.. and Steve got to get it cleaned up.. and there goes my GG 2b sample!





Opps...


Waa scary sia.. today while boarding a bus.. before we board it, I saw the bus driver.. and I was looking for signal to board it.. and he kind of smile at me while drinking sth.. so yea.. smile back.. =).. then we board it.. and he said dun tell others he's drinking.. you noe the comment came too suddenly.. I and my fren juz laughed sillyly... den I showed him my bus pass.. den he said where's your address... then I was kind of astounded.. dunno what to say.. den he suddenly pinched my nose.. but I blocked halfway lol... " I was only kidding.." Hey hello we are asians.. conservative people.. lol...

HAPPY EVERYONE? NOW U GET WAD U WANTED

I THROW 5 UPDATES FOR U ALL LIAO HOR.. DUN BUG ME!!! LOLOLOL
HOPE U ALL FALL IN LOVE WITH MY STORIES =)

I need a COMB

So tiring and routinic......

I was packing and sealing all these big bags of puffed cereals.. then one unsealed packet fell backwards from the table....!!! there goes my sample. But I still have enough.. so nvm haha...

BUSY BUSY BUSY

When you look out from inside the lab corridor... can see mountains somemore

Lots of experiments to do today.. just too much, until Steve, the technician, said you didnt allow yourself enough time and you try to do too much".... lol..

Steve=Stern, his favorite word is "No" lol.. so serious everytime.. no this and no that, "u shouldnt do this", "stop what you are doing, look at what you are missing at." I suddenly blur him lol, then he said " your safety glasses, you are working with acid!" okok.... "Can we operate the centrifuge by ourselves?" "No. I must be around" " Can I use this stopper with hole?" "No."

He likes to rush himself like a busy man, and he certainly works fast.. he gives good instruction because his eyes dun blink and you have got to stare at him when he instructs.. He is detailed and explains well and good person generally.. Hard to catch him, he always busy himself as I said. He just made himself bald this week haha.. He is taller than me by one head? yea..



So today do experiments until so tired.. dun care much lol.. then I was adding ethanol to the tube and shaking.. and while I was inserting the tube on the rack.. suddenly the stopper 'popped' and it went upwards while the contents fly towards my lips. HEY... that was ether... yuckx.. but i didnt wash my mouth immediately, because ether evaporates quickly.. so juz let it vaporise lor.. den my mouth will be e same as usual haha...

Chicken Farm.. I have enough of the chicken smell

A bit about the chicken farm and and the chickens that produce the eggs, and how the eggs are being prevented from being poked by their moms and how they are stolen from their moms and went into the packaging boxes for sale and how they got onto my hot frying pan, the brother and his younger sister, and becoming my Saturday morning breakfast.

1. Get to know what type of eggs are fresh, rotten, up to standard or simply putrifying.

Ah, I remember, this particular farm achieves the 5 requirements of a free-range healthy chicken barn. 1. Have food and water

2. Have shelter

3. Not stressed

4. Clean environment

5. Free and easy

Beware, the last 2 might not be true. I made it up but logically, coz I forgot about it.

As we first enter, this storage room is cold, it preserves the freshness of the eggs. Some are being washed due to taintings by its mum or relative's shit. Washing reduces the shelf-life from 35 days down to 14 days as the wax coating is being removed.

Brand of the farm eggs.....

Look at the eggs! They are being packed according to their individual eggs. The tongs clamping them actually passes through a weighing machine and weighs their mass. After that, the tongs will drop their height if they are much heavier and will pack them into different sizes boxes.

"Jumbo" = largest.. got another photo that shows "kiddie"

Their table for taking stocks. They pack other brands too.

Catch ya! Egg fallen out of its basket.

Asking for trouble

Yoz.. something went wrong here.. we actually got into trouble with the teacher-in-charge here.. Basically we secretly went to a farm in Masterton, far away from our hometown, with other lecturer and poland lady and a korean man.. so it was so fun.. that group of people.. just a great mixture and so we learnt alot about Poland.. and the New Zealander, the lecturer, brought us to an animal conservation park to see the shy kiwi animals finding for food in pitch darkness and how it is snared by predators such as possum, struats, that arent supposed to be in New Zealand but were brought in.. He also let us know alot of things.. nice learning trip.. this is the kind of trip I love..


"EKETAHUNA" try saying it fast.. this place is known for its most interesting name.

And so before this park, we were shopping in Masterton.. I went to look for my wooden flute and they said they dont even know there exists a "wooden" flute lol... and so I juz bought a miniature guitar, white one for my sis.. Hey kuan Rou.. u muz like it OKAY! lol...





Back to main topic.. so because I didnt inform the teacher, she got furious, very angry.. and went to call to scold us, and that was while we were taking pictures with the chicken egg farm people lol... But you see.. I treasure Fun above Work haha.. so confirm I want to go farm! especially in New Zealand.. sure must go farm then got e flavour of New Zealand to bring back with me..


But ya but I did wrong.. Yahweh wants us to respect our authority as we should..





I was left puzzled and pretty confused. What should I do? lol She angry until she asked for our report book and report to hand in by the next day, wednesday, farm was on tuesday.. She thought we were slacking and playing and not serious haha.. I think we are.. the thing is that she didnt give us a good systematic plan for us to work on.. flexibility given was not working..





Know what? as we were outside of her door thinking of how to phrase our words.. suddenly the door flung open wide infront of me.. wadde... did she see us hesitating?? O man!!.. well ok.. so she got no patience to talk to us.. like got the " I gonna ignore u totally' reaction.. so it was hard talking to her.. and so we left after some weird talking going on..





But then Miss leong was very encouraging. She was talking to us on msn and was like persuading us to correct a mistake and to really face it up.. And I was wandering.. is she a Christian.. ok she is lol.. she said she is, and always. I kept wandering how she can get at the root of the problem, how we have violated certain principles and she was telling me to pray for wisdom of words and patience to deal with this unseemly problem.





Hey.. then also the teacher complained to the head lor.. then he wanted a meeting with us as soon as possible. So we met him.. and remained silent most of the time he was speaking. What can I say? I know I am in the wrong. Yea.. he said " Sg polytechnic have sent you here to do some work, and we expect that from you. But currently you are not, and your progress is below satisfactory. Apparently, I think it is very rude to not do the things people assigned for you and go to do your own things." ... speechless here..





I'm still speechless.

Going Maori

Sunday late afternoon trip:

Went to Maori dinner today at 4.30pm in school.. before that, I went to a cafe to have my chicken with chips.. not bad.. cost me NZ $8.50... i also bought a drink called 'fluffy', basically it juz have alot of foams lol with marshmallow inside... so yep.. went to meet the other friend from singapore studying here for 3 years in horticulture. So we went to the dinner with his other friends.. got to mix around with really alot of people lol.. but alright... not bad.. at least I am outside doing something.. something new.. not staying at home.. I hope I have more activities going on.. dun wan to waste my time here doing no sightseeing... Yea.. the dinner was nice.. they actually cooked the food deep into the ground and cover them totally with sacks and bags of sand.. so the aroma really goes into the food.

Ya of coz.. also the maori performance. Any idea wad maori is? it's actually another race that live in NZ beside New Zealanders, they are the ones who found NZ.. and they are sort of tribal and they are fairly black people. Many names in NZ are not in English, they are all Maori language. ie Manawatu, the place i stay in, Taupo, Kapati, Rotorua, Tararua... all these are of Maori origin.

During the performance.. I can only hear mysterious tongues.. lol.. and they are really fierce.. just look into their eyes.. they widen it on purpose.. to scare off predators.. and yea their voices were so loud and strong and intimating.. almost to the state of shouting while singing.. but it was great.. the way they harmonise it.. splendid vocals...

So you know.. the bus service on weekend ends at 4.30pm... so it's like I was going back home but no transport... so yea.. my friend bought a second-hand bike.. wow not bad.. quite fast and ez to cycle.... lol but his bike doesnt has any light on it and i could get caught.. and the streets are really dark. So he used his touchlight and taped it in front of the bike.. lol It was really a cool experience.. the night was tingling cold and I cycles really fast because on the way through a very short underpass, a man was peeing.. Oh mine! too shocking.. but I didnt see anything.. only his pee haha... so disgusting.. so I just zoom past him.. didnt even look at him.. scared later he come after me.. coz itz night time and no cyclists only cars.. so I just sped home.. very exhausted.. phew.. he didnt stalk me haha...
Quite a nice outing.. met this girl, a californian.. but originally from China, her grandparents... but she cant speak Chinese anyway...

Bicycle Track

Where will this path lead me to? Is there an end to it? Certainly.. I cycled from my motel straight down.. seriously straight down..a long and calm pathway with the road next to me.. towards the end.. I saw the horse farm lol.. I didnt know there's an end to it.. I thought I was heading to the park.. coz got ppl jogging on this track..

so den suddenly I entered sand.. there was no path left.. And den suddenly agn, I found myself stopping before the expressway to Wellington, the major city in New Zealand... and then I stopped to take this pic..

then of coz.. I got to head back the same way.. along the way i caught a glimpse of the sunshine..
















My first shot while waiting for the traffic light.. isnt is beautiful? Its very windy though.. this day...

Oh there's a bulky helmet on me.. it's compulsory to wear helmet while on the go with your bike..

New Zealand Schools...

A school raising funds i guess... the red paint they will brush onto the thermometer after they completed each task.. cool visual planner... nice.. passer-bys will be so intrigued by the art..

Yea.. schools for "normal" kids...

As I went, across the road, there's a vintage small library.. look so homely.. so I took it.. Nice name isnt it..

Cool... library returns.. just outside the homes... not like in Sg you stil have to go back to the library.. this is in front of u! No worries about overdue books... o man.. i need one in front of my house pls....












Interesting sign as I turn into car repairing area... the shop is decorated with the racing flags.. fascinating..

A graffiti.. New Zealanders love sports especially rugby.. I have seen many families that play together.. father cycling behind the son on the road during children's day.. 2nd March.. Just ytd... but i missed e funfair.. didnt go...

ON my way back.. I recalled seeing on the tv young boys throwing newspapers onto people's yard. I love this particular photo..

This is the rubbish area.. thrashing all ur garbage.. basically lots of wood bricks are found here... good contrast..

Nite... 2.116am lo... it's late liao.. Cya... =) Have a great evening singaporeans...