I won something! Za Total Hydration BB Cream.

Right now I'm hiding on level 5 in the general library, taking a break from my treacherous assignment. I haven't finished my second post on Hong Kong yet tbh, I haven't started, it's on the way, maybe up on Sunday. So instead, I present to you a post on Za's Total Hydration line. 

A couple of weeks ago, I tweeted Za New Zealand and was put into the draw to win one of two Za BB Creams from their Total Hydration line. I tweeted them "I want to buy the entire line of Za's Total Hydration line because the packaging would look fab on my counter." It took a while to sink in, I don't think I've ever won anything in my life through pure luck. Actually, I don't think I've won anything in my life, full stop. So you'll have to understand my being super excited about it...

The two lucky winners!

I decided to love this line the second I saw it, simply based on it's packaging. I have to admit, I don't have the entire line (I'm working on it ok?!) so I had to do a bit of research before I could find it in stores. I don't think Za New Zealand has an actual website (the site I linked up there is the international websie), but I did follow them on Facebook and Twitter. I had to dig a bit but apparently Za is sold at Farmers and participating pharmacies.

I was pleasantly surprised when one morning, I woke up to a parcel!

(That's what NZ post packaging looks like)

Recently I signed up for the Za Beauty School so my first thought was that they sent me something since the return address was the same. But when I opened it, I remembered I had won something!

My congratulatory letter lol

You can follow Za New Zealand on Facebook and Twitter!

AND here's my prize! Za's Total Hydration BB Cream UV.

Since I was a teen, I've never questioned things. My mother bought these packs of New Zealand Lanolin Cream and I just used that as moisturizer. It wasn't until I went to Hong Kong last year and experienced the most horrible dry skin ever. I swear, all the moisture had left my face and it felt like my skin was splitting - although it wasn't and I kept checking my face in the mirrors. I couldn't take it anymore after two days and the first time I saw a Shiseido shop, I went in and bought a product. After that, I started paying more attention to skincare advertisements.

Since I've had experiences using Shiseido and Za is like Shiseido's little sister, I was really excited when I learnt that Za is available in New Zealand and at a fraction of Shiseido's price.

The first product I bought from Za was the Total Hydration Deep Moist Cream. I didn't intend to buy it so soon as I wanted to save up and buy them all at once, but that fateful day, I went to the gym and forgot to bring moisturizer. I only noticed after I showered and my face was pretty dry and I had to go to work. So I popped into Farmers and bought it.

My current collection...

There are three key ingredients that go into Za's Total Hydration line.

1. Amino Mineral Complex
2. Sebum Holding Power
3. Vitamin B Derivative

Together, minimize pores, relieve stickiness and keeps your skin feeling fresh! I hate those moisturizers that are sticky and leaves you feeling icky. I mean, how could anyone feel fresh after slapping on sticky moisturizers?

Za's Total Hydration BB Cream has an added effect of prism enhancer. It gives the skin a luminous clarity. (Ok I'm not too sure what that truly means, but that's what the site told me).

It also has two kinds of UV protection - UVA and UVB. Living in New Zealand, with that big hole up above us, I think everyone, not just girls would be interested in keeping their skin UV protected. It has a SPF of 43 and PA+++. Now because I'm uneducated in the area of UV protection... I had to Google this.

So the basics of sunscreen is that when you have it on and you're out frolicking in the sun, the sunscreen will protect you by absorbing, blocking or scattering the UV rays. SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor and the number that follows this indicates how long you can stay in the sun. So take Za's BB Cream - it has SPF43 which means that you can stay up to 43 times longer than normal before you start burning. So if you burn after 10 minutes without protection, wearing this BB Cream would give you 430 minutes. PA+++ that follows SPF30 indicates the Protection Grade of UVA. Since there are three grades, this cream would give you the most protection.

Please, if someone reads this and I've got it completely wrong, tell me. Otherwise I'm going to walk around thinking I'm protected. Haha.

And the last thing is... foundation, duh. It's a BB cream. You know how it works: wear it as a makeup base, conceals pores, dark spots, makes your skin colour look even/lighten the skin colour, and giving your skin a nice healthy tone. Who doesn't love having a healthy, glowing look?

Even if you don't, you should still love the packaging.

Part 1: Hong Kong 2011

FINALLY!!! My blog post about my trip at the end of 2011! It's now the final week of September so it only just took me 10 months to blog it! Since I was away for 2 (!!!) months, these posts will be broken down into a few parts.

How we decided to go: A levelheaded spontaneous decision.

Around August of last year (2011) Shu and I were having dinner at our favourite Japanese restaurant when she absentmindedly made a comment about how she wanted to go somewhere with me in our upcoming holidays. In between stuffing my fat face with food, I nodded enthusiastically and agreed "yeah I'd LOVE to go. You wanna go at the end of the year? Let's go!" And thus, being towed by momentum, Shu replied, "Yeah we should!!!" and we both continued stuffing our faces. In hindsight, I think when she mentioned going for a holiday, she really meant a road trip to... Hamilton or somewhere that doesn't require our passport.

We were just so excited and young, uncaring and determined to go to Japan. Anyway, Shu roped in another friend who is living in Australia and after a couple of months, Shu bought her tickets flying Jetstar from Auckland to Japan (with a stopover in Australia to pick up more passengers). The only thing I've heard from Jetstar is rubbish, so I'm not going to bother regurgitating it. Shu paid approximately NZD$2200 and she STILL had to pay three bucks for a cup of water. You'd think that'd be a some sort of criminal offence against human rights or something... surely on a long haul flight, you'd offer free water!

I refused to travel by Jetstar - mainly because I deemed $2200 way too expensive for a airline that boasts cheap airfares. That and I'm too vain and delicate for mile high horrors. I JOKE. But I didn't buy tickets for the longest time! But we couldn't hide our excitement and spilled our travel plans to everyone. Mr Head Chef was particularly excited for us as he had plans to be in Japan (he was planning his wedding etc) around the time we were planning to go. He urged me to go so we could meet up in Japan. I laughed at him and said we see each other almost every week in New Zealand! He looked at me unimpressed as if he expected much more of me and pointed out it would probably be the only time ever in our lives when we would both be in Japan at the same time. With a bit more prodding, he got me excited too. However I still hadn't purchased my tickets yet. In fact, I put it off for so long that Mr Head Chef actually started being anxious FOR me. Which made me realise how important he seemed to view this. Almost every time I saw him in the next few months, he asked me whether I'd bought my tickets yet. When I answered no, he chided me, told me to hurry up or I'd never go.

I think in the end, I bought my tickets about three weeks before I left. Why did it take me so long to do so? I thought that since I'm going so far, I might as well go to Hong Kong and get my HKPID (Hong Kong Picture identification) renewed. I flew Cathay Pacific for NZD$2400 which took me on this path of travel: Auckland --> Hong Kong --> Tokyo --> Hong Kong --> Auckland. So for a mere $200 more, I went to one more country, sat in more comfortable seats, great customer service, had two meals, snacks and a variety of beverages at no extra charge. Downside? I travelled alone. Which isn't so much of a downside to be honest.

Itinerary for my Hong Kong/Japan trip!

I didn't really do much preparation other than pack my bags at the last second. This was because after my exams, I pretty much worked everyday. Which in turn resulted in near exhaustion and lack of sleep for over a month. The night before I got on the plane, I went to dinner with Rachel, at where else but Nishiki? I feel the need to point out that I chose to have Nishiki as my last meal in NZ! Sadly, it wasn't my first in HK. At the time, the only thing I really wanted to do was to have Nishiki at HK. There’s obviously something wrong with me. Rachel gave me two presents for my departure.

Tin of mints: "You say I'm a BITCH like it's a bad thing!"

Luggage tag: "Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere." This was because Rachel is a good girl and so she's stuck in Auckland but I'm a bad girl and going all over the world! Ok, just to Hong Kong and Japan.

Since I pretty much packed in a hurry, I didn't really feel ready to go. I was actually a little bit worried I might not wake up after the few hours of sleep in order to drag my ass to the airport on time. I wasn't excited. I actually contemplated missing my flight for sleep.

Goodbye Auckland…

Totally not Cathay Pacific, but here's a picture of Air New Zealand.

Since my flight out of Auckland was set to depart at 9am, I had to get to get up pretty early. In New Zealand, you have to be at the airport 3 hours before departure so I was at the check in counter at around 6:30 am ish. Late cuz I'm a rebel like that. Not. When I checked in, it was a VERY good looking Pacific Islander guy who was all "SUP, G!" And I automatically went "SUP. How's it." in my fob accent. I can't help it sometimes, OK? I was over by 2ish kgs - I had gifts for various people and a bottle of NZ wine (Oyster Bay's Sauvignon Blanc) since YKR asked me to take a bottle for his friend in Japan, who I was going to meet for the first time. But the nice Islander boy was like "Alguds."

Saw these adorable animal luggage bags you could buy for an overpriced amount while walking to the gates.

I went through the gates and waited about AN HOUR before I could board the plane. Seriously, I should just not obey the rules and go late. While I was engrossed in playing on my phone (actually I think I was updating Tumblr), someone sat down next to me and started talking to me. When it became clear he was talking to ME and I couldn't really pretend I didn't hear him and ignore him... I looked up and realised why he was talking to me. He's a regular customer at the restaurant I work at. He spent most of the time talking about Christianity and in the beginning I was like "oh please, it's too early for this" but then I felt like I had to converse with him because he's actually a really nice person. His luggage was also over by 2-3ish kgs but his stuff got taken off him. Unfortunately for him, he had jars of NZ Manuka Honey (and that shit is expensive, I swear, people in HK treat that stuff like liquid gold like they treat NZ milk powder as if it were powdered gold).

Onboard Cathay Pacific CX118

Oh Cathay Pacific... what can I say about you? Always a pleasant flight, hostess uniform has changed and I think I much prefer the current colour it is. Ok, I just had to Google it again because I forgot which one it was. It's now red instead of green. I might be a bit biased because I love red and I rock red clothing. /shameless

After finding my seat, I plopped down and looked eagerly at the movie guide. You should know by now how cheap I am - I hate going to the movies because $16 (or is it $18 now?) is way too expensive for a ticket. I was hoping for Mission Impossible to be showing - I do love me some Ethan Hunt, thank you very much! It was unfortunate for me, that wasn't on the list. =(

Then the meals came... (ok, I missed out what movies and shows I watched because I can't remember. I know I watched the Help, and Juno at least, and also a few episodes of Undercover Boss - didn't really sleep, just watched and watched and watched). 

Hmmm... what else? OH THE MEALS. Cathay Pacific: gourmet meals. You could argue it's probably because I had low expectations to begin with ("airline food" and all) and I must have been hungry... but seriously. Breakfast was beautiful - had the best croissant I've ever had in my entire life. It was just beautiful. Crisp in all the right places, it had great flavour - didn't even need the jam or butter.

Lunch was ok, I chose chicken but they used chicken breast. I don't like the texture of chicken breast, but MY GOD, the flavour was so good and infused (IS THAT THE RIGHT WORD?!) within the breast. Mmmm.

Ahem. After getting off the plane, I made two short videos while I was walking to grab my luggage but I stopped filming after I caught a glimpse of the customer. Naturally, I felt the need to sit with him (he saw me too) while I waited around for a short while for my luggage - I waited with the customer. It was pretty uneventful anyway, he was probably really tired already so we didn't bother making small talk. He had to wait for much longer, but I didn't stay since my relatives were waiting. My auntie picked me up and we took a taxi to my uncle/grandma's (mother's side) place. I just wanted to sleep but apparently my uncle decided I needed to eat first. My god. Yes, I think I gained like 2kgs in Hong Kong.

After dinner, I went out with my uncle to find travel adapters - I didn't bring any because I couldn't find them at home. I got one for Japan and one for China. When I returned, I remembered that I forgot to call my grandfather (dad's side) who lives in the hometown village in mainland China. I hardly contact him anyway, I don't think he even knew I was going to Hong Kong first - assumed I was going to Japan.

First night in Hong Kong? It was incredibly awkward when I gave in and accepted the difficult truth: that I understand more Japanese than the language that is technically classified as my "mother tongue". I no longer understand a word my grandmother speaks!


Forgot to finish end this post. Wtf? Anyway, that concludes my first day/night away from New Zealand. Excuse me while I go start on part 2!

Moustache Milk and Cookie Bar

Today, I'm going to blog about a very exciting little shop that opened in the CBD last week!

There's this bandwagon called "returning to our roots" many people seem to be unable to resist jumping on. It could be really simple things like family picnics or more challenging DIY activities. You know, the sort of activities that most of us Internet obsessed generation would think it's something the older generation would do.

New Zealand's dairy products are world famous. There are many who buy milk powder for export because our milk is just so damn good. Well, at least that's what I heard from overseas. I think living and growing up in NZ has caused me to lose touch with milk. But what I can vouch for is the chocolate brand Whittaker's. It's probably the most delicious chocolate that I can eat all the time without getting sick of it.

So what's a better idea than to put some of the finest products of New Zealand together and let customers return to the good ol' days? That's exactly what Moustache has done! 

Pretty cute logo, right?!

First I got wind of it, I was so excited. The excitement is questionable since I almost NEVER drink milk and hardly ever eat cookies, but I was still a bit too excited about it. So on the night before Moustache opened for the first time, I went on Facebook and begged for friends sent an invitation to meet me for milk and cookies. Our plan was to meet at 9am since I had back to back classes from 10 and then work, it was my only available time! You don't know how much this means... it takes a lot for me to give up my precious sleep time. But doesn't matter, I was still late since I had trouble getting out of bed. However, being late didn't stop me in my tracks when I got close enough to see their shop sign!

Welcome to Moustache!!! Just like the good ol' days~!

Entrance to Moustache! My friends wanted to close the door and stand behind it to take a picture so the moustache would "fit" on her face. But we refrained because the Moustache staff probably wouldn't have been too impressed.

I was so excited about it and so were a LOT of other people as the line extended out the door! Clearly the Moustache marketing team did a great job! So what can you order? Moustache has a variety of cookies and milk comes in three flavours - plain, chocolate and strawberry. If you're too cool for milk, there's a barista and a $10,000 coffee machine (so I heard, maybe someone can confirm) on site so you order your hot beverages the way you want. Oh and also, there's the option of milkshakes! According to their Tumblr page, they prefer not to use syrup in their milkshakes and instead "rely on using the most premium ice cream to give the flavouring to the milkshake".

I ordered a chocolate chip cookie and a cup of plain milk - "dunkie milk". If you don't like chocolate chip cookies, that's ok... you can order others such as black forest, peanut butter, oreo marshmellow, m&m's... I saw quite a few containers but I can't remember them all!

My chocolate chip cookie - those are definitely Whittaker's chocolate!

My dunkie milk container - bit disappointed they didn't serve it in those adorable milk bottles!

The shop is a bit cramped and small, but the decor is absolutely gorgeous. It's cute and funky! My friends and I camped around the end of the shop to munch on our cookies.

The shop from the inside looking out. Can you see the logo on the cups?!

Closer look at the ceiling decorations.

What's better than great products and cute design? Awesome customer service. Moustache staff are so nice! Excited and I think a bit nervous for their first day...

Pouring milk?

If you look behind her, there's that blackboard with chalk on it kind of thing... that's the drink menu! Dunking milk, milkshakes, coffee, tea, and Whittaker's hot chocolate! I'm going to have to go back and try that Whittaker's hot chocolate.

The cubbie holes behind her. Cute!

My friend took a picture of her cookie bag.

Annnnd generous gift to the first 300 customers!

Shop window! Too adorable.

I didn't even notice the shop window until I left! I was pleasantly surprised. =) Moustache is open Monday to Saturday 10am-6pm at 12 Wellesley St West, Auckland CBD. But if I were you, I'd head in early in the day. They've sold out every day they've been open way before closing!

Follow Moustache on Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter!

Brick by Brick

Hello dears, here I am taking a break between assignments because I'm just that lazy!

Haven't done anything exciting really. Had a few days of pure work and uni just started this past Monday. The only semi exciting thing that's happened would have been last Friday when Freak came over to visit!

Well, actually she went to a dental check up in Onehunga as she purchased a deal for $69 (usual price was $200 some) which included a check up, cleaning and two xrays. Since I live close by, we hung out! Unfortunately for her, she discovered that she's going to need six or so fillings and she's having her wisdom teeth removed (although, I can't be sure if it's 1 or two...). Her last check up was about two years ago and there was no problem. My last check up was way back in intermediate school which was 8 or 9 years ago? I should probably go have a check up too then haha.

To take her mind off the impending doom, I took her to a nearby cafe called Brick by Brick. I really love this cafe FOR REASONS THAT NO ONE NEEDS TO KNOW because of the name. Before it opened, I already decided I liked it because it's got such a cute name and the decoration is also appealing. The first time I went was with Sc. To be completely honest, I don't really remember how the taste was since I was completely absorbed in everything Sc was saying. I did learn though that the cafe is owned and run by Japanese people - probably explains the beautiful presentations and slight culture confusion.

Oh I'm sorry, you'll need an explanation for that. In NZ (if it's the same overseas, inform my uneducated soul), cafe food is really expensive and you could almost categorize the food as rabbit food. It is usually served as a small portion on a big plate.

I was determined to go to Brick by Brick again, so my second time was with Freak.

Our order number! Boring, like every cafe in NZ.

This time, I was going to eat there and remember the food! No Sc to fascinate me. We ordered drinks and food - we both hadn't eaten breakfast and it was already past noon. So excuse us for wanting to stuff ourselves with food.

My iced mocha. The chocolate sauce tasted a bit weird - it was delicious but I think there was a hint of caramel flavour?

Freak ordered a latte

We waited a while for our food, Freak told me about her family and how she got a Longchamp bag. I've never really been into this brand as it never caught my eye. But when she showed me, the zip of the bag instantly caught my attention. So much so, I am considering getting one just for the zip.

It's gorgeous! Well, at least I like it. I don't know why either.

I've recently been looking at the tag whatsinmybag on Instagram. I'm a really nosy person so seeing pictures of what everyone lugs around in their bag really fascinates me. I want a bag that I can throw most things in and not worry about it breaking. My current bag makes me worry a bit, and it's pretty shinny. I currently use a black bag by Agnes B. To be completely honest with you, I only bought the bag because of the adorable charm it came with. I'll do a post on that bag one day. I bought that bag while I was in Japan. If I had passed any Samantha Thavasa stores, I would probably have gone crazy with that brand. Thank god I didn't know about it till later and didn't look at their products till recently.

So recently, I've been looking for a bag that doesn't stand out as much as these brands (so yes, that means no big brands like LV or bags that have really well known brands). Something cheap that I won't be afraid to destroy. Longchamp doesn't fit these criteria, so I'll put off getting that bag for a while. =) I went to Yesstyle and looked through their catalogue and I was instantly reminded of Chinatown in Botany. Chinatown is a miserable excuse for a mall and it's probably nearly all closed down or are closing down. I'll have to go check if they have any cheap sales before work tomorrow. Otherwise, I'm going to just use a plastic bag. JOKING.

I think this is option E on the menu at Brick by Brick...

Right, back to the topic. That meal was huge. Two pieces of toast, two gigantic pieces of hashbrowns, scrambled egg, mushrooms, tomato (you can't see it), bacon and sausages. Ok so technically that was one sausage split down the middle. For the toast, we had a choice between garlic, vogel and white. I chose garlic and Freak chose vogel. I had vogel last time with Sc, and I think I prefer that one. We both had trouble finishing that meal! The hashbrowns were probably too crispy, but I LIKE IT CRISPY! The sausage is the one with cheese in it. Omfggggggggggggg I almost died and went to heaven. /fatnis.

After lunch, Freak had one filling done and then we went to the outlet mall. Everything sucks there. But I did have a picture taken!

These were heart shaped shades for $5.

Of course, I didn't buy them! Deep down I may have wanted to have them, but when I put them on, I noticed that it didn't actually shade anything... I was disappointed and thirsty so I left and bought a bottle of water (I know, shocking) and Freak bought a pair of gym shorts before we headed back home. I gave her her presents (some of the stuff I got from The Body Shop post a while back) and then we decided to go to Momo Tea for dinner. (OK, many hours already passed! After lunch, we spent nearly two hours at the dentist, and then another two at the mall and then over an hour at home!) Still, we were not particularly hungry. We picked up Ace (who lives in the middle of no where in South Auckland) and headed over to Momo Tea for drinks and snacks. Spent so much money that day...

And here's the final photo of this post:

OMG GUAVA!!!

Firstly, I've never seen guava that small. Secondly, it's my first time seeing guava in New Zealand. I ate heaps of guava when I was in HK but they were all bigger than apples! But in NZ they are really expensive - around $10 per kilo. =( 

Right, back to doing my assignments.

Birthday dindin at Haru no Yume and a bit of D3 speak

In my last post, I mentioned that I bought the game and installed it. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I didn't manage to play it right away but I have managed to get a few hours into it. ("I'll just do this one quest..." *three hours later...* FML).

Actually, give me a sec. I'll just create a Tui inspired ad about that.

Yeah well I don't care what kind of gamer you are: pro, semi-pro, "serious" gamer, gamer's gf significant other who occasionally likes to game... but let's face it. It's NEVER just one quest. Now I don't remember whether I mentioned it before, and I can't be bothered checking my post... but the laptop I am using doesn't even reach the minimum requirements that's written in small font on the box. What I've learnt so far? THAT ONE SECOND LAG IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH. FML. I've never died so fast and so often while playing Diablo. Well ok, so it's D3 and considering there's like a decade gap between D2 and D3, harder gameplay should be expected. But seriously, I DIED AT LEVEL 8. God, I'm getting old. It's so embarrassing, I can't even carry on blogging about this.

So I'm moving on. To the dinner I went to last night! I aimed to get this post up when I returned home, but that didn't happen. Excuse my lazy.

It's Freak's birthday soon but since it's really difficult getting people together to celebrate we just decided to do something small, just the (important) girls and have dinner (and to top it off, it's just her 22nd birthday so it's not like a gigantic milestone. Ok I'm sorry, EVERY BIRTHDAY IS A GIGANTIC MILESTONE, congratulations, you're one year closer to death.) We went to a Japanese restaurant situated in the heart of Mt Eden Village. 

Haru no Yume

To be honest with you, I think the food is average and overpriced. If they're charging me $12 for a plate of deep fried chicken, it better be a freaking huge plate of chicken. The thing you're paying for is really the location. Of course, if you're rich and like dining in the heart of Mt Eden, go for it. The food is nice, and so is the setting (if you like dark restaurants - which I don't, but if I think it's acceptable then it should be ok right?)

Due to how dark it was, I didn't feel like putting in so much effort to take and edit pictures. Sorry for the crap photos. I ordered a green salad (which came with some sort of sesame dressing), a plate of spicy chicken karaage (deep fried pieces of chicken) and a bowl of miso soup.

Cup of dressing! It's actually a tiny cup!

That's how tiny it was! It was so cute!

At first, I didn't realise how bad I am at taking pictures. After I took it, I realised oh gee, no one's gonna know how small it is so I made Ace pick it up and pose with it. Then her order of yakisoba (stir fried noodles) came and it came in a gigantic bowl/plate/thing. It was so gigantic, we were silent for about 30 seconds before voicing a reaction.

At this point, I thought to myself "stop being so lazy and get out your camera". I should have listened to myself.

While waiting for food, we took a few pictures. They didn't turn out that well, some were taken with my iPhone, and others were taken by Freak's tablet.

Birthday girl Freak and I.

Top: Jenjen's sashimi set meal ($36). Bottom left: tamago yaki (egg) and bottom right: seaweed salad.

The last two pics were taken and edited by Freak. Following our dinner, the four of us went to have dessert across the road at Casa del Gelato. I've only been there once, but it's delicious! The first time I went, I think I bought Rocher (Ferrero Rocher taste) and some coffee flavour. This time, I picked Rocher and Crunchie. The crunchie didn't really taste like anything so I was mildly disappointed. I gobbled it up so I could start enjoying the Rocher.

DELICIOUS!!!

Wow! It was really delicious. Only Freak and I bought some and the other two just sat and watched us eat. After we finished, they decided to get some. Freak and I wanted some more (which is why you must always takeaway or leave as soon as you finish!!!) and for the second round, I bought Rocher for both the scoops and swore that I'd only ever pay for Rocher. That's how good it is.

Ace's attempt to get a picture of Jenjen... she made us move and stand there.

Overall, a pretty good night. Probably ate and spent way too much for my liking! That's ok though, I didn't spend any money today and don't plan on spending any tomorrow. But what I should have done and what I should do is do some study and finish some of my assignments which I haven't even looked at.

D3

SOooooooooooooo I bought D3 (that's Diablo III for those of you who don't game) yesterday before I went to work. JB hi-fi were having a sale - 20% off all games and like usual, I went on the very last day to get a copy. =_=

I didn't get to play it instantly because you know... work and all. Sunday nights are usually meh but yesterday was Father's Day (in NZ, Father's Day usually falls on the first Sunday of September) and IT WAS MEGA BUSY! We went over $5000 for the day which is our benchmark for a celebration. I didn't stay though because I was too lazy.

I figured I'd install the game but I ended up just mucking around before going to sleep. Then today (Monday) I didn't wake up till around noon and I spent the afternoon sorting through my iPhone pictures - will be uploading the ones from Japan and Hong Kong in a future blog post. Yes, I know... late by 9 months. When I got bored of sorting, I installed the game.

Here's the box in all it's glory. I suppose a hastily taken iPhone pic is not actually that glorious.

Just as I was trying to decide on my character, I received a text from Shu asking if I was free because it appears that her car got towed. Now, I haven't done anything all day, I had just woken up about four hours ago, rolled out of bed, brushed my teeth, washed my face, had breakfast... so I sighed and shut down D3 even before entering in a name for the character! Chucked on some minimally publicly acceptable clothing (would have been a total poster girl for Nike if my entire outfit wasn't completely black - Nike hoodie, track pants and shoes. Hideous mess I tell you.) and drove over to the shore to sort her out. Driving there now requires you to go through a tunnel, one that I've never been through before. I wasn't really paying attention and so when it suddenly went dark I was like "OMFGWTFBBQ?" Sorry if I panicked ok, tunnels are like a near extinct species in NZ. That was the most exciting thing that happened to me today. Drove through a tunnel.

When I got to Shu, it turns out that yes her car did get towed away but they just towed it onto a side street and left it safe and sound there. She didn't even have to pay the usual $200 to get her car back. Someone just had it moved. Weird. Afterwards, we left and went to Botany to try KiwiYo which had just opened at the mall recently - like in the last couple of days.

Mah yoghurt with some fruit and lollies

Ok the concept is this, there's this shop and it's all self serviced. There are a range of yoghurt that is dispensed from a few machines. There are like 8-10 or so different flavours and then you can put toppings on it. Lollies, fruit, chocolate, fudge, nuts, cereal and various syrups/sauces. When you're done creating your yoghurt, you head off to the register and it gets weighed - you pay by weight. The combinations are up to you, you can have one flavour, two flavours or all flavours with no toppings or as many as you like. It's just a matter of money.

I got Irish toffee flavoured yoghurt (it just tastes like coffee to tell you the truth) and on top of that I had a combination of blueberry tart and banana strawberry. The banana strawberry was weird. My toppings were pineapple, lychee and sour lollies. That cost something like $5.15!!! My god. Expensive. At the moment, I prefer Yoghurt Story over this mainly because the yoghurt from Yoghurt Story actually tastes like yoghurt... I'm going to have to give KiwiYo a few more tries before I can truly say which is best.

Following that, we went to have a feast at Yos Mite. Yeah, not a good idea. I probably gained 20pounds form that meal. Ugh. Too much meat, too many flavours. 

This post is going to end here now. Must get the pictures sorted soon so I can upload and blog about them. Long awaited.

Family dinner at MAKODO

It's been a while since I went out with my parents. Today I went with my mother to a few open homes. The first one we saw was a complete trash. Seriously, you can't trust photos... they can make a dump look like heaven and that's not taking photoshop into consideration even.

Our last house viewing was to take place after my father finished work so we decided to wait. While waiting for my father, I was trying to be Asian. I haven't camwhored in forever and so I'm so very rusty. I'm going to have to up my game and polish my image way better!!

That and I'm going to have to clean that mirror!

The houses we viewed today were in Papatoetoe, South Auckland. That suburb is on the rise... the last house we viewed today was a tidy brick and tile house with a large backyard which was clear that the landlord had long given up on using a lawn mower. My father wandered through the forest grass and muttered to himself "who needs a lawn mower, just have a couple of cows and she'll be right".

My only disappointment about that house is that it's the third house behind two large ones. It does have its own driveway, although straight as it is... that driveway is probably over 25 metres long.

After leaving the place, we decided to go have dinner at a small restaurant that goes by the name of MAKODO in Botany/Howick area. It is run by a chef that used to work in the restaurant I work at. He's by ethnicity a Chinese man, but he learnt and trained in Japan and by Japanese chefs. Apparently the kanji he used for the restaurant name is meant to be pronounced "makoto" but I'm going to stand on his side and assume he chose to use "makodo" to protect his ass since there will probably be haters who will riot "that restaurant isn't even authentic" then the owner can easily say "I'm not claiming to be authentic!"

EXTREMELY hot miso soup!

My parents are vegetarian and since this chef is strictly vegetarian on certain days of the month for religious reasons, his vegetarian cooking is very strict as well (he does cook meat food since he's not vegetarian all the time). He has two deep fryers - which considering the size of his restaurant, two is one more than enough. One of the fryers is strictly for vegetarians and the other has meat products go through it.

Deep fried tofu pieces with sweet miso paste. Garnished with coriander and sesame seeds.

Some of his dishes are very obviously "inspired" from the restaurant I work at. It's cheaper as well but there's no obvious competition. We also ordered a bowl of udon soup. It came with tofu, mushroom, seaweed, cucumber and was once again garnished with coriander. Udon is a thick type of noodles.

MAKODO's vegetarian udon soup.

Vegetarian box set - served with rice and miso soup.

This is surprisingly cheap! Set at NZD$12 for all that! That box contains spinach dipped in a thick, sweet miso paste, salad dressed with delicious Japanese sesame dressing, vegetarian sushi (avocado, carrots and pickles) and three slices of "vegetarian fish" (soy based). I love the sesame dressing! I once bought a small bottle and it was practically all we ate until the bottle ran out.

Vegetable tempura

This was a dish of kumara, eggplant, okra and pumpkin slices deep fried in a tempura style! Taking into account that the fryer has extra clean oil (has only ever deep fried these vegetables), these came out really good. The tempura taste was very distinct and although the oil could have been drained better (I've had tempura made by the same chef so I know he could have drained the oil a bit better), you could taste that the oil was very clean (not mixed with meat, cleaned often etc).

That dish was made so well that my mother ordered another serving for takeaway! It's obvious this chef puts a lot of effort into his dishes even though he runs a small restaurant and there aren't many customers. Wish him luck and hope he'll gain lots of customers or enough money to move to a better location!