Breaking Traditions

I’ve always been a big Christmas fan, but sadly the Christmas spirit is somewhat lacking in me this year. My family’s Christmases have never been a highly populated occasion due to one side of the family living over the ditch and the cousin department on the other side of the family being rather lacking, but there has always been enough of us to make it a decent affair. You know, the usual stuffing yourself till you’re so full you feel like a 36 week pregnant woman, drinking till all the bottles run dry etc etc. Not to mention the tradition of Pop mysteriously receiving the bowl of Christmas pud which contained the treasure. This tradition of sorts began with him spitting out silver coins “hidden” in his pudding which has escalated over the years from gold coins, to notes, to cheques, to credit cards to watches to golf balls and when it began to feel like he’d done everything but the kitchen sink, what else to do but the kitchen plug.

This year though, things are looking a bit grim. 50% of the family is going to be spread across the world in far off locations like Bulgaria, Wisconsin, Papua New Guinea, Queensland and Tairua. And with our family never having been one to have sack fulls of presents under the tree, this year is going to be somewhat depressing with the pathetic number of only 5 of us for Santa to pass presents out to. The other oddity this year is that for as long as I can remember we have spent Christmas at the beach, whereas this year, as lovely as it will be, we are spending it upon my new parent’s deck out at the family home in South Head. It’s not a bad thought to be relaxing out in the country, something I haven’t done since leaving home, but not being able to go for our traditional morning swim in the sea before opening up the prezzies will be a bit sad to say the least. I guess we’ll have to settle for a swim in Lake Ototoa instead.

Now, I’m sure some people would roll their eyes at this and say come on Tui, it could be far worse but I guess the crux of all of this is that for the last 21 Christmases I’ve had my brother alongside me to dive into the sea with first thing on Christmas morn, to tear open presents with, to stuff my face with and of course to try spy with on how Pop always gets the “treasure”. This year is going to be the first year ever that I won’t get to share all these precious traditions with him and it’s quite a sad thought.

I do have the prospect of Christmas 2008 to look forward to though when we will be reunited to eat and drink ourselves silly and to possibly set a new tradition of having a White Christmas!

Extreme Makeover: Tui Edition

Over the weekend I underwent somewhat of an extreme makeover. For nearly 22 years I have been a blonde, and in the last year or so I'd been getting progressively blonder. The weekend saw that change, for what may be for good. I became a brunette. This was for two reasons, one, to be less conspicuous during my solo travel in South East Asia in a few months time, and two, it is just too damn expensive to be (an artificial) blonde.

Prior to doing the deed, a late night discussion with friends raised the subject of how people seem to get treated differently, and also act differently themselves, depending on their hair colour. I was skeptical as to how different it could be so was tasked with social experimentation to see whether the hypothesis is correct or not. A few more nights out need to be had before any real conclusions can be reached but my findings so far are leaning towards me agreeing with the theory. I think a lot of it comes down to peoples preconceptions of how a hair colour reflects someones personality, which for me seemed silly as I’m the same person whatever hair colour I have, right? Not necessarily, to quote Louis, “since you have changed a fundamental element of your self image then that could have repercussive effects for how you then conceptualise the 'new' you”. And in addition to that, when people begin to treat you differently based on how the “new you” looks, consequently you are going to give an altered response in return.

I will however say that I’ve only had positive feedback since the change. In saying that, I am slightly doubtful if someone would be ballsy enough to say to me at this point that they liked the “old me” better. It’s definitely sparked some interesting responses though. For example “Holy crackers!”, “You look like a man eater now”, “Can I give you a compliment? You are beautiful” (from a random guy in a bar), “My little Tui is a woman now”, “Um Hi... OMG HI!!”, “Do we have a temp working today?” etc etc.

So if anyone is after a flood of compliments, change your hair colour, it’s a sure fire way to give the old ego a boost!

Time is ticking

I can’t believe it’s

8 days till I go to the Gold Coast
27 days till Christmas
33 days till my birthday / New Years Eve
34 days till 2008
52 days till my leaving party
58 days till my last day of work
64 days till I leave NZ

ARP! Honestly, where has this year gone?

Just one of those days

Yesterday was not my day. (Yay another list!)

• I got a blood nose as soon as I got out of bed
• I went for a run and overdid it a bit by nearly fainting afterwards, even had to sit down in the shower at one point
• Discovered I had a bruise and lump on my forehead from the when the lay-z-boy attacked me the night before
• Got another blood nose
• And another blood nose
• Was too drunk and txt someone I shouldn’t have
• Managed to twist my ankle – which has only just recovered from the last time I sprained it
• Got the dreaded spins come bedtime

Lets all point and laugh at Tui’s misfortune yesterday, even if some of it was self inflicted... Thankfully today has been better (apart from having a bloody sore ankle!).

Baby vs Big Daddy

Ever since leaving school four years ago I've been working for the same people, slowly making my way up the ranks, beginning as Receptionist, then Secretary, then Loans Officer and now a Loans Analyst. I think I’ve handed in my notice about 4 times and each time have been lured into staying by offers of more money, more responsibility, telling me to properly think through my decision (see number 3. in Duh!) or all of the above. Next time will be the last time though; no amount of money or responsibility can make me stay this time.

Anyway, what I’m getting to is that not long ago the little sized company, never having had more than about 8 employees, was sold to a big daddy sized company. This meant the little baby boutique that I’d come to know and love was to merge into becoming a side cog of an already big, well oiled machine. Once upon a time I think I would have been excited about working for a big company but that was before I knew big companies tend to come with big rules and regulations that dampen the excitement somewhat.

Here is a list (because in case you didn’t already know, I like lists) of some pro’s of working for both small and big companies, at least in my limited experience anyway:

Pro’s of working for a little baby boutique company:

• You get your own office compared to being shoved in a cubby hole so small you bang chairs with the person next to you if you move back at the same time
• You can personalize your desktop picture instead of having black nothingness
• You can save shortcuts/documents to your desktop that won’t disappear every time you log off and on
• ALL internet sites are accessible
• Speakers on your computer are allowed
• USB ports on your computer are actually usable
• Your computer has a CD drive
• The view from your desk is of the Auckland harbour rather than a grey divider
• Your bosses actually know you on a personal level
• It’s fine to email asking for leave a few days before rather than sending in leave applications with up to four weeks notice

Pro’s of working for a big daddy company:

• There are morning teas for someone’s birthday almost weekly
• On your birthday you get shouted a cake compared to having to shout the staff morning tea
• IT staff are on site most of the week
• Gold Coast is the Christmas function venue
• There are more than 3 people at Friday drinks
• There is more than just Chardonnay to drink on a Friday
• Team building events involve going out sailing for the afternoon

I will however concede that I was pretty fortunate in getting to work for such awesome people at the small co. And I suppose the big daddy co is not really as gruff and mean as it may seem.

Duh!

The other day my dear friend Jessie asked me “What is the stupidest thing you have done this year?” Which made me stop and think, shit, what is the stupidest thing I’ve done this year?

Here are some options:

1. Forgave my ex for being a dirty cheat
2. Became a cellphone geek by having one phone for each network
3. Tried to resign from my job a day after my three year relationship had ended
4. Thought it’d be fine getting involved with someone who was heading overseas shortly
5. Created a blog
6. Agreed to mountain bike out to the blue and green lakes with my parents

Place your votes people!

Countdown

Because I’m excited about traveling but also starting to fret a bit about things I have to do before I go, I decided I’d share my load a little by telling you all what I have left to sort out. Those of you who are more experienced travelers than myself feel free to respond with anything you think I might need to remember to get/do that I may have overlooked.

• Go to the doctors to get my vaccinations and sleeping pills
  
• Sit my full license so I’m allowed to drive overseas (yes I know, shocking that I’m still on my restricted)
  
• Fix and then sell my car (any takers?)
  
• Ship my winter/work clothes over to London
  
• Get a new credit card so mine doesn’t expire a month after I leave NZ
  
• Open an HSBC bank account
  
• Get travel insurance
  
• Apply for my UK visa - which I excitedly discovered can now be done online
  
• Book my Bangkok accommodation – any suggestions Andrew?
  
• Buy a pack

Hmmm what else? I’m sure there is tons of other stuff I’ll need to buy but that’s a start. Ooo and I picked up my tickets a few days ago which made it all a bit more real actually having the words Auckland, Melbourne, Bangkok, London printed on a ticket in front of my eyes!!

Also, keep the 19th of Jan free for my birthday/leaving party. Anyone got any ideas for a venue/bar that will be able to accommodate an extra hundred odd people?

Less than 12 weeks to go….

Yuppie Yachties

A bunch of us at work had been told that we were to do some team building yesterday afternoon. I wasn’t exactly enthused by the idea of it to be honest since in my mind team building consists of cheesy introductions, playing “trust” games and being forced to pretend to like the oddballs that normally you would try to avoid in the staff kitchen.

The only details we had been given was to make sure we wore casual clothes and footwear suitable for the outdoors. After the inevitable cheesy intros we were finally put out of our misery and told we were to split into two teams of seven and have a yacht race out on the harbour against each other.

On a regular Auckland day it would be a bit of a gamble with the weather but we struck lucky being blessed with clear blue skies for the afternoon. It was even almost too hot sitting in the cockpit of the boat as our instructors gave us the mandatory safety lesson. As we soon discovered though the wind on the harbour was almost non existent which made for an interesting afternoon since wind tends to be an integral part of yacht racing! Funny that.

Basically our afternoon was spent bobbing around the harbour for two hours trying to get enough speed up to race around a yellow buoy. The problem being that it seemed to only get further away the longer we stayed out there as I swear we were going backwards at times.

Being a team building event you would assume that the teams would work together to maneuver the yacht and hopefully win the race. Our team didn’t seem to take to this idea too well though. I actually think I didn’t touch a rope or winch the whole time we were onboard and I know I wasn't the alone there either. It soon became clear what the females main objective onboard was - to maintain maximum sun exposure to themselves throughout the "race". I even took to swapping sides every time we tacked so that the sail wouldn’t block my precious sunrays. I know, what a girl! In saying that, the guys weren’t much better. We kept joking that if only we had known we were going sailing and we could have brought along the champagne and beers. No matter, it turned out there was more than enough drinking post racing.

Eventually we got the call from the other boat to say should we give up so on came the motor and we headed toward the buoy. The motor was turned off to make our way around the buoy before heading back. Team two didn’t manage to maneuver around the buoy which made for plenty of debate as to who should win the trophy. A.) The team who used the motor to assist temporarily during the race but got around the buoy or B.) the team who didn’t use their motor to assist but never got around the buoy. I think it will be an endless argument, well between those who actually cared about winning anyway.

A few after race drinks in the viaduct somehow turned into several with a bunch of us enjoying the clear, surprisingly balmy evening for a solid 5 hours or so. Once again chatty Tui was out to play which can be a little dangerous while drinking with bosses who don’t know about my travels. Thankfully I managed to keep my mouth shut at all the appropriate times so as to not give myself away. It was not an easy feat I must say!

Bring on the next team building event if it is going to be anything like cruising the harbour followed by hours of drinking in the viaduct…

Vegas, baby!

When I said to people I was going to Rotorua with my parents I don't think they had any idea of what kind of weekend I had in store.

What better way to start of the weekend by polishing off the $50 bar tab I won at the Carpark bar a few weeks prior, not to mention the Jager shots we won from fortune cookies handed out while there. Chatty Tui was definitely out in full force when it came time to be picked up from the bar by the parents.

After some unsuccessful drunken attempts at taking a photo of the full moon and amazingly not needing a toilet stop before then, we made a much needed wine and dine stop at Matamata’s Workmans café. It has received best café in the country by Café Magazine and upon entering the café was immediately apparent why. The interior has been decorated with an assortment of collections including; fire brush sets, retro humour postcards, 1950’s mirrors, greeting cards, retro wall statues of African women, freestanding ashtrays, transistor radios, matching retro tables and chairs and not forgetting the coffin and sequined up mannequin thrown in for good measure. Singly the collections are all very kitch but as a complete scene it makes for a fun and quirky place that is not what you would expect to find in a small NZ town. To top it off one of the male waiters there was extremely “decorative”, as my parents put it, and was also personality plus. I couldn't help but give him a coy smile and wave before we headed off on our final leg of the trip (oh and the food was great too!).

We awoke bright and early on Saturday morning to find that it was a cracker day outside. Off mountain biking we went. Mum took me inside St Faith’s Church along the way and announced that it was her “favourite church in the world”, which coming from her, is a pretty big statement as she is a fairly seasoned traveler. I could see why though upon walking inside. The church has a very prominent Maori theme with all the woodwork inside being carved into Maori designs and the stained glass windows displaying Maori motifs and New Zealand summer scenes. The stand out feature of the church is the window with an etching of Jesus wearing a Maori cloak and is positioned so that he appears to be walking on the water of Lake Rotorua which is behind the window (symbolizing Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee). Anyway, that’s more than enough about godly matters.

Our ride began with a 9km cruise around lake Rotorua. As mum said it was “so surreal” riding along pathways through scrub before emerging onto boardwalks that wound their way through sulphurous pools steaming like a hot, grey, stinky soup. The next 10km were spent exploring the mountain bike trails of the Redwood forest – thankfully we didn't come across any dead bodies though. The final 9km was some more cruising back along the lakefront, where we returned to our hostel at Kiwi Paka. Due to my mum being the fitness freak that she is, she decided that 28km of riding wasn't quite enough exercise for the day, meaning a 10km walk through the Redwoods was next on the list.

We had definitely earnt a drink after that effort, and drink we did! A bit of a bar hop ensued before heading home to the bar at Kiwi Paka for a night cap. Somehow I was suddenly downing a Rotorua version of the Jager bomb (lift + Jagermeister, not as bad as it sounds I must say!) and having my photo taken with the people who’d supplied me with the drink. The guy who had given me the drink didn't take to well to me asking him why a local would want to hang out in a youth hostel though so I escaped to hang with my parents.

I was pleased I made the escape as I sat down in time to witness one particular young fellow put on a great show for us. He was sitting in the corner of the bar by himself and proceeded to make heart pumping movements, stroking his forearms and making his arms do the "snake". This was just a few of his wide range of extremely entertaining hand and arm gestures that he performed (all while seated) in what was possibly his own sort of interpretive hip hop dance? Luckily he was so caught up in practising his "moves" he was completely oblivious to Mum and myself in hysterics.

I don’t even know where to begin with Sunday except to say that it was one of the hardest days physically that I have had in a long time. It was up there with doing the Tongariro crossing (9 hours of scaling a mountain side). I must say though that the scenery was magnificent, riding through native bush alongside the blue and green lakes is a pretty amazing experience. It was just a shame that I was so focused on being able to breathe and having enough energy to make it up the next hill that I didn't take as much of it in as I would have liked. 34km along a tar sealed road isn't very much but 34km of up, down, up, down along mountain bike tracks is another story. Some of the ups were so uppy that it was physically impossible to make it up without having to get off and push and some of the downs so steep that I had to squeeze both my front and back brakes for dear life so as to prevent myself from becoming another Redwoods casualty. Aside from the moments where I was fight back tears of exhaustion and was screaming “FUCK YOU mum and dad for doing this to me” in my head over and over again, it was actually an amazing ride that, without a doubt, included some of the best tracks I've ridden on to date.

So that was it. 62km of riding, 10km of walking, eating delicious food and drinking delicious wine about sums up how my weekend away in Rotovegas with my parents was spent. There was plenty of laughs had, mostly at my nutty mother (not forgetting hip hop boy though) and maybe one sneaky tear of exhaustion, which I would never concede to mum and dad of course!

Good times with the olds... Not many can say that now can they.

Inspiration

This is a bit of a prelude to my next post.

As you might be able to tell I'm into two things at the moment, travel and writing. Naturally this has led me to become inspired to start writing more in depth when it comes to my travels. Obviously I will be able to submerge myself into this a lot more once I head off overseas but till then you are all stuck with reading about my sporadic travel within NZ.

Where this has all spawned from I guess is that I've begun reading Erik R. Trinidad's blog about his trip around the world, which I've found really interesting and a good way to kill some time during down time at work. I'm aiming to have a similar sort of format to him by having a daily entry and photo of the day, will see how long that lasts once I'm actually there though!

Apologies in advance if it's a bit boring and shite for you to read but is really more of an online journal for me (for now at least). Fingers crossed I'll eventually get into the travel writing groove though and it might actually become entertaining for you!

Fortunate Flatting

I've been thinking a lot lately about how fortunate I am that Duncan decided I was good enough to make the cut to move into Brown Street.

The thought of flatting again terrified me. I had had a bad experience living with a friend, who became a friend no more after about nine months of living together. Due to this experience I decided I hated flatting and never wanted to do it again. Ever. Well, a few years later circumstances eventually forced me to have to look for a flat and so the flat hunting begun. The first flat I visited the couple were the playboy bunny type, you know the ones... the girl is a bleached blonde with regrowth, wears lots of pink and the boyfriend wears white singlets, flat peaked caps and is into cars (gross generalisations here). Knowing living there wouldn't be for me I politely declined the room. The second flat I went to I met a kind of shy, giggly (quite cute) guy drinking a macs beer (promising!) and he showed me around their cute villa. I liked it and told him so but didn't spend too much time talking about myself as I tend to feel awkward and clam up in situations where I'm meant to "sell myself".

Well that giggly guy was Duncan and after me being sure I wasn't going to get it, I received a call a few days later from him offering me the spot in their flat. I now know I was actually pretty lucky to have managed to get the room for a number of reasons, a.) they offered it to someone else first(!!!), b.) I barely talked about myself when I came to look at the place (I discovered while we were looking for a new flattie that they don't like that at all) and c.) Celine and Neha didn't even get to meet me, so they had to rely solely on Duncan's judgement of me.

Aside from the obvious plus of our flat having such a sweet location, the best part about having moved in there is the people. Having never been to varsity, I'd never really had the opportunity to meet any new people since leaving high school but I struck lucky and found a flat of strangers that turned out to be cool, like minded people who I can now call good friends. I've also met a heap of new people through my flatties (mostly Duncan), all of whom I get along with well, some very well (you know who you are), and some too well! It's made for lots of great times over the last eight months and a very welcome change from the same crowd I'd been hanging around with for far too long and was in desperate need of moving on from.

So I think I owe some thanks to Duncan... for suggesting me as an option for the flat, for being a cool flatmate, for introducing me to all your awesome friends and girlfriend and last but not least, for introducing me to d'n'b!

It is going to be sad day for me when I have to leave you guys at Brown in only a few months time.

The Brownies - Celine, Tui, Duncan & Laura

Update: Ideal Job

Since writing the blog post 'Ideal Job' (see here) I continued to think about this and realised what my ideal/dream job would in fact be. It is still within the realms of Media and Journalism too which is promising! So, I would love, love, love to be a travel show host. I'm actually having to wipe away drool just at the thought of it.

Now I am aware that there is quite a high likelihood that it's not nearly as glamourous as it appears when they are on television, but I do still think that it would be an amazing job. I cannot think of anything better than being paid to travel the world and pass on your experiences to your fellow citizens back home. The only con I can think of would be that you would be away from home a lot, even though this doesn't really bother me right now, I guess it could pose problems later on. Meh.

In my original 'Ideal Job' post I mentioned getting ideal monetary return in balance with job satisfaction. Now, in my books being PAID to be flown around the world and experiencing the local culture and different activities locations have to offer gives a pretty ideal job satisfaction/ideal monetary return ratio. I mean shit, people (including myself) generally SPEND their money doing these things, not get paid for it.

My problem is that I need to stop being such a lazy ass and actually start taking steps to reach a goal of mine... watch this space.

Precognition

My Mum once told me (the precise details are a little hazy) that when I was a baby a family friend of ours was holding me and he said something along the lines of "this girl is going to have augur type abilities." I know it sounds ridiculous and I thought so too when she told me (and my mum being as much of a sceptic as me wouldn't have taken it to be true either).

Anyway, lately I've begin to wonder! No way do I think I can predict the future or any bullshit like that, but over the years quite a few things have occurred that I'd just known were going to happen. I'm aware that I probably sound like a raving lunatic about now, but it is seriously starting to creep me out (stop rolling your eyes Duncan). There's the old txting someone at exactly the same that they txt me that is at one end of the scale then there is the knowing what someone is going to say before they are going to say it and then, what really scares me the most, is when I dream things are going to happen before they do.

I suppose it all could just be some sort of weird coincidence each time it has happened but the frequency in which these things happen is what makes me wonder.

What the HELL, just now I was looking up something on Answers.com and then there was a link saying "are you a psychic?". So of course I clicked on it and whadda ya know, the test result is shown in the screen print below....

I rest my case.

Five boys and a Tui

Going to the mountain with five boys, only two of whom I knew, was quite a scary thought. But to my delight, it turned out to be quite a treat.

It was insisted that I sit in the front seat for the whole drive down where I was handed cold Corona's and toilet stops were only given upon my requests. When we finally made it to where we were staying, rock paper scissors was played for one of the double beds and the other left for me. I was woken up at 6am on Saturday morning to "Tui, breakfast is ready", whereupon I stumbled downstairs to find a full cooked breakfast laid out on the table ready to eat. Up the mountain they would all check to see if I was ok when I bailed and then wait for me after each run. The cherry on top was when we were out at the bar that night and I was being hit on by an extremely drunk snowboard instructor, where my bodyguards looked on and discussed giving him a beating before deciding to come and escort me away from him. Aw, bless.

I always knew that I find it easier to get along with guys but holidaying with guys is so, so easy! I guess it's because there is no competition being the only girl and providing they are decent enough guys, they will look out for you. Sorry to all my girlfriends, but think I might have to make it a habit of mine to only holiday with boys from now on! Mind you, can you really blame me after getting royal treatment like that?!

Whop whop!

Since I'm already on the topic of reminiscing, here are some of my favourite childhood memories, mainly to do with the kick ass place South Head where I grew up.

The orchard

• collecting cicada shells and "leaf water" while mum worked
• being chief tractor driver for the persimmon pickers (and thinking I was SO good at it)
• eating fruit straight from the tree, mmm apples warmed by the sun
• sneaking biscuits from the smoko shed
• jumping into the pits up at the maori pa
• mountain biking around all the different rows and tracks

The lake

• winding up the windows on the way there so we were as hot as possible before our swim
• making tracks through the reeds with our boogie boards
• Honeymoon Bay - and the epic walk it took to get there
• Being big enough to swim across to "the other side"
• sinking peoples dingys
• skimming mussels across the water (and always wishing I could do more skims)
• getting there and always finding one of your friends already there to splish and splash with
  
• the night Mum, Nico & I got stuck halfway round and Dad rowed out in the dark to find us

Jana's house

• getting to eat meat
• getting to watch tv
• getting to play with their pets

Ah yes, those days hold many of my fondest memories alright. I am just so fucking glad my parents chose to live in the whop whops and deprive us of television, packaged food, fizzy drinks (apart from our special Friday night lemonade), the latest gimmicks and "cool" clothes. I can honestly say, that as a result of living where we did and "depriving" us of those things, it has helped shaped me both physically and mentally, into a much better person today.

I just hope that when it comes to me having kids I can show the same patience and strength as what they did while we were complaining about how *unfair* it was not being able to watch tv, eat chips & lollies, drink fanta, own chatter rings and wear tearaway pants.

Yeeha Piha

Piha - oh how I love that place.

Ahh yes, all those fond memories I have of summers staying out there at the Joyce's bach (or more like house nowadays). A night spent there over the weekend reminded me of what, in my eyes, are the contributors to its awesomeness...

Like... getting the "first sight of the sea"; the smell of the burning rubber of car brakes while making the decent of the everlasting hill to the beach; the smell (not to mention taste) of the hot chips from the Piha shop; Lion Rock's enormity; the clean fresh air that instantly makes you feel alive; the prickle of sand against your skin as it's hurled along the beach by the forever present wind; the crashing sound of what always seems to be messy surf; a crowd of people gathered around someone injured on the beach; the delicious home made doughnuts from the Piha store on a Sunday morning; bonding time while having to do the dishes by hand; the fine black sand and how it manages to get in places you didn't know you had; being able to laze about reading, chatting and eating and not feeling guilty for doing so; the peacefulness; and the surfers always crouched in the dunes pointing and squinting out to sea.

A definite must for me will be to make sure I spend more time out there before heading off. It will undoubtedly be one of the places that I'll miss the most while overseas.

Mass Migration

I cannot get over the amount of people I know who are leaving the green pastures of little old New Zealand to explore the rest of the world. Not that I am blaming them as I am about to do the same thing, but it continues to astound me the sheer number of friends that have just left or are just about to head off overseas. The current count is up to about 10 people having left in the last few months and almost the same amount who plan to head off in the next 6 months or so. It makes it even more exciting for me though, as I am able to swap notes and get excited with them rather than feeling guilty when I talk about my plans with people who are sticking around here.

The thing that surprises me even more though is when people have no interest in travel at all. How could you not want to get out there and see what else the world has to offer?! I know NZ is a beautiful place and it will be the place that I will always think of as home no matter where I end up later on in life, but is it not important to get out there and experience other places just to make us appreciate what we have here that much more?

So putting my guilty feelings aside for a moment, my plan is to leave NZ on the 31st of January and go stay with family in Melbourne for four days. Next stop - Bangkok, arriving on the 4th of February at which point I will meet up with Jessie and we will spend three weeks together taking in the sights (and smells) before she heads back home. I will then be flying solo for the last week in Thailand before flying to London on the 3rd of March. I'll doss down there for 9 days before reaching my final stop (temporarily at least) in Edinburgh to stay with brother Nico and his girlfriend Kelly. The plan is to then camp out at their place in Haddington until I sort out what I'm going to do with myself which at this stage is to head back to London and get a job. Phewee! The scary thing is, it is less than five months away.. and my savings account is looking very, very sad. So, time to get my ass into gear and start saving my pennies!! Any donations will be welcomely received...

Sayonara

I'm told that Andrew was sure my blog was going to be all about him so I thought I'd better make his day and dedicate a post to him, specially since he is about to fly the coop and all.

First of all, I would just like to say thank you for being an incredibly bad influence on me. Not only did you mange to influence the increase of my cigarette intake back up to what it was in my early teenage years, but you also succeeded in rubbing some of your recreational drug taking habit off onto me. Mind you, it probably was about time I put down my halo and tried out a few new things..

But in all seriousness, it just won't be the same without you around... Who will help me eat all my breakfast/lunch/dinner; spin all our crockery; share my pineapple juice with me; help me get firewood; tell us which Gardenia product we just saw; come and watch Dunc play at Carpark with me; be (almost) as bad as me at mountain biking; hate subway with me; leave joy bar wrappers in our light fittings; eat all my baking? Who, I say?! I think I can safely say that no one will ever be able to fill those size 13 New Balance shoes of yours that have been such a permanent fixture in the lives of us Brown Street inhabitants.

Sayonara, arrivederci, au revoir, hasta la vista - you will be missed by all of us here on the land of the long white cloud. I do hope the Northern Hemisphere takes good care of you and appreciates your company as much as we do.

Ideal Job

The other night, Jessie asked me what my ideal job would be. I was unable to come up with a real answer on the spot but it got me thinking...

At the time, all I was able to decide on was that I would love to do something that I was doing for the enjoyment and not for the money. But then you could actually divide the answer into two different categories really, one being ideal in job satisfaction and one that is ideal in monetary return while still enjoying the job, possibly not as much as others that don't pay as well. So I guess the way to get a real answer is to think what job would be ideal, pretending that I would get paid an ideal amount regardless of the profession.

A couple of things I used to want to be (in order of age) were:

1. Flight Attendant
2. Actress
3. Judge
4. Psychotherapist
5. Artist
6. Journalist

Never did I want to be a Loans Analyst. Oops! Half of that list are on the creative side and I think that is a definite sign of something. I've just come to the conclusion that if I am ever to go to university that my ideal degree would probably be something to do with media. English, media studies & drama were all favourites of mine at school and I think the combination of all three possibly equate to something within the realms of journalism.

Well, well, well, thanks Jessie for getting me thinking about what the hell I want to do with my life. No doubt I will come home from my O.E with completely different ideas of where I am headed but for now I'm going to endeavour to pay more attention to the world of media.

Love, Hate

Here are some things that I love:

• laughing so hard my face and/or stomach hurts
• hugs from people close to me
• kisses on my forehead
• summertime
• watching a movie that's good enough to keep me thinking about it for hours/days/weeks to follow
• the tipsy feeling after that first glass or two of wine
• creme brulee, especially cracking the top of it
• snowboarding
• reading a book that is so good I can't put it down but also never want it to end
• dancing with my eyes closed because I am so into the music
• going for a walk on a crisp winters day
• swimming in the sea
• giving people presents I know they will love
• wearing a new outfit
• clean, crisp white sheets
• travelling
• lying in bed with that special someone while it's raining outside
• looking after people I care about
• being in love

And here are some things that I don't love:

• people who lie to me
• being hugged by someone I'm not comfortable with
• feeling lonely
• arguing
• missing someone so much it hurts
• letting my wall down
• seeing people I care about upset
• being shallow
• when guys get into fist fights
• the spinning feeling after a night of drinking too much
• crying so much my eyes hurt
• when people are extremely needy
• getting up on Monday mornings
• people who shit stir
• waking up from a good dream and discovering it wasn't real
• being in love when it's not mutual

I heart Wellington

I have just returned from the best road trip ever. Friday afternoon Duncan, Andrew and myself embarked on what was to be an nine hour long car journey to Wellington. Armed with treats, drinks, a mixture of Duncan's Drum & Bass, Andrew's Hip Hop & Tui's Miscellaneous Tunes, we were set. Forgetting only one detail, a map, which caused us to go on a slight detour through Whanganui, delaying our otherwise reasonably express trip with us arriving at Ani's place at just after 1am.

Saturday we brunched at Fidels and paired off to wander the city before meeting up again at James & Sonya's apartment to plan the evening ahead. Foods, beverages & dvds were purchased for the night and comedown to follow on Sunday.

Marcus Intalex & Doc Scott put on an awesome show for us at Sandwiches. Being on another planet (see evidence here) may have something to do with my enthusiasm towards the evening but you know what, I don't care because I had an absolutely awesome night which carried on till 7am the next morning. Being greeted by the sunlight as you leave the club is always a sure sign of a night well spent. We coaxed a taxi driver into squeezing 5 of us into a car only to discover we were to go through a police check point. Duncan was made to exit the car prior to the checkpoint and walk past it while we went through it and then looped back around the block to pick him up. The taxi driver then proceeded to try and give us a discount for the "hassle" even though we had nearly cost him his licence and a hefty fine!

Sunday was spent sleeping, eating KFC and icecream, watching movies by the fire and being generally lazy. The perfect way to spend a cold winters day after a big night out.

Monday was time to say farewell to Wellington. A hearty breakfast was had to keep us fuelled for the long trip home before waving our goodbyes to our host Ani and the rest of the city. Nine hours later, feeling weary, we safely returned to Auckland after a fair few stops at toilets and other amenities along the way. Andrew's car was still safely parked at Sylvia Park albeit with 2 parking warnings on his windscreens, thankfully clamp free though.

Although I didn't actually see much of the city itself, mainly just the inside of Ani's house and the inside of Sandwiches, I did however have an awesome time, the great company kept being the main contributor to the fun times had.

Another trip to get me even more excited about my fast approaching departure date. Not as fast as Andrew's departure date though. THREE WEEKS! Sniff..

Pet Peeves

According to Wikipedia the def. of a Pet Peeve is a minor annoyance that can instill extreme frustration in an individual. Typically each person has several pet peeves that aggravate her or him more than the average person. Another person may not react as negatively or at all to the same circumstance.

As a general rule they are something that really isn't worth being bothered by but you just cannot help but get wound by peoples certain behaviours. I have compiled a small list off the top of my head that contains some of the things that tend to rub me up the wrong way. They are when people:

• Get to and too mixed up
• Don't know the difference between your and you're (this is a recent one of mine, thanks to Duncan..)
• Don't indicate when driving
• Drive RIGHT up your / someones ass
• Squish the toothpaste so its all scrunched up rather than a smooth tube
• Leave dirty dishes piled in the sink, so much so that you can't use the tap to pour yourself a glass of water

So everyone, watch out next time you are around me and say / perform one of the above, as I may explode out of frustration and bite your head off. What about you though, what do I have to be careful of saying / doing around you? Please tell me so I know I'm not the only crazy person with totally irrational pet peeves.

Highs & Lows

It seems I am on a plateau at the moment... Don't get me wrong I have plenty of things to be excited about.. like:

• I started a new job today as a Loans Analyst which equals a significant pay rise
• I have booked my tickets for my O.E. leaving on the 9th of February 2008 (!!!)
• I am going on a road trip to wonderful Wellington with Duncan & Andrew in two weeks time
• We are getting a new flatmate next week and she could potentially be another cool new friend
• It's snowboarding season and I have a season pass waiting to be used

But there just seems to be an equal number of downers making the exciting things seem not so exciting.. like:

• I am broke from buying my tickets


• Andrew leaves in just over a month


• I miss my brother tons


• I've lost a best friend to his new thang

Ho hum. Just felt like complaining. Looking at my exciting list it is all pretty exciting though I guess. I'll be quiet now...

Realisation

I have turned into a bit of a hermit of late, due to a combination of wanting to stay at home with my new beau and not wanting to face the cold weather outside while standing in line for clubs freezing our tits off (quite literally). Well Saturday night I decided that enough was enough and I needed to break my hermit habits and get out amongst things.

Well we definitely got out and amongst it but it wasn't quite how I had imagined my evening. First of all we bumped into my ex's brother in the line for Asta which probably wasn't an ideal start to my evening. Next up we ran into an old friend that we probably would have preferred not to see, as him and his friends were less than desirable companions for the evening. Then there just seemed to be a stream of loser guys continually trying their luck with us throughout the evening which began to wear very thin. I am usually pretty tolerant of guys and their lame pickup lines but I was blown away with the patheticness of the guys we encountered on this particular night. There was however ONE decent looking guy that I noticed but then on closer inspection I noticed his guy friend behind him getting closer and closer and then began err grinding him.. The hottest/most interesting looking guy in the bar was gay. Typical.

While looking around the bar at the various patrons I came to the realisation that 90% of the guys in that bar were people that we would not want to meet or have any sort of relationship with whether it be friendship or god forbid anything more than that. And so it dawned on me that in general, guys that like house music and go to these clubs are what can only be described as cockheads. I do concede that there is the other 10% that I'm sure are good guys who have either been dragged out with their idiot friends or are just the kind of people that don't care where they are as long as they are having a good time and not just out trying to score. But I definitely think that as a general rule, if you are single you will NOT find a decent guy who you will actually ever want to see again at one of these type places.

Upon realisation of this, new beau (who was at the time at a hip hop gig) received the following text "It's official, you are amazing and all guys that listen to house are cockheads".

So I have decided it is time to find a new way to spend our Saturday nights... any suggestions?

Introduction

Hello and welcome to my blog. I'm a bit nervous about writing for all to see on what really can be described as a not so private diary. But after reading many of my friends' blogs of late, I have been inspired to make one of my own, so here goes...

Now, firstly I want to explain why I have decided to choose the name "Tui too nice" as my blogger name. In the last six months or so I have begun to notice a theme in my life that has become hard to ignore which is that I have noticed that I seem to get myself into trouble (namely with guys) because of what can only be described as me being "too nice". Now most people would think that being what others describe as a nice person is a good thing but I have discovered that it in fact it doesn't seem to get you anywhere very fast. Reading this I may sound quite bitter and that is probably quite a true reflection of my feelings of late. However I am hoping that this blog may be a way for me to possibly find a way to sort out ways of taking my bitterness and putting a more positive spin on it and my view of this "niceness" I seem to emit often unwillingly.

Which leads me to why I'm writing this blog. As mentioned, I'm hoping for this to be a way for me to hopefully "sort" through things that are often whirling around inside of my head. I also want to be able to share any experiences / interesting findings I have while going about my daily life whether it be discussing relevant topics or relaying incidents I have been involved in. Also, all comments by anyone who decides that they want to spend time reading this will be appreciated.