I have been stressing a bit about being in New Zealand (Auckland). i have not found it to be to my liking as I was tired I guess from all the running around and really having a great time in Austrailia. I decided to bite the bullet and try something different for dinner. Around the corner from the Auckland YHA at the corner of Turner and Queen St. there are about 15-35 restaurants running up and down Queen St which is a major thoroufare running up from the harbor out to the subburbs. Did I mention that Auckland CBD rolls up their downtown district at 6:00pm promptly....lights out....doors locked....even the street people go to bed early. Even with this oddity of location the strip of Queen St...I just like repeating the Street name...these restaurants which all have the greatest picture display of their meal offerings for people like me that don't know what a dum son or whatever it was the waitress was trying to explain to me. She kept telling me it was like something else I didin't know what she was talkign about. So instead of fight the fear factor and keep walking, I allowed her to seat me.
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| Nice Presentation |
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| Pretty Pictures |
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| Clean Environment & that Beni Hanna meal preparation feel, no I was sitting in the other corner of the room, but just as fun to watch the crazy chef cook, pound, rattle, throw and present food from a distance. |
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| Fully stocked Sushi Bar, I passed, only a soda. the streets on this volcanic eruption waiting to happen of an island, New Zealand has some of the steepest streets I have every traversed/climbed. |
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| Great window display marketing, it caught my eye and my stomach was growling. |
Wow, I got my own picture menu to look at food that is unrecognizable and picked two of the prettiest items: Gun Mandu and Teriyaki Chicken Don and a soft drink all for the reasonably low price of $25.00. The Gun Mandu was something ininside a light pastry (deep fried) with a dipping sause, could have been soy sauce but it tasted good, bitter, could have been old soy sauce, who knows but it was tasty. The Teriyaki Chicken Don was in a large rice bowl and are you redy for this.....i ate it all with chop sticks. I can barely get food to my mouth with my fork, knife and spoon but I said what the hell, noone is looking, and if they do who cares i leave in a few days and unless they want to make a documentary on how not to eat with chop sticks I will never see these people agian. So I have decided to share the meal with you...Enjoy!
One just needs to ask for help from the right people. I found a really nice Japanese girl, Eri, in Auckland, New Zealand who used to work for the Auckland YHA and recently returned and works at the front desk/travel desk.
She helped me plan my trip to Christchurch and then taking a 4 1/2 hour train ride over to Franz Josef to stay at the YHA there and visit the glaciers. She told me that the Rotorua, NZ area was a mock Mauri village and was not very good. She said it like put on show; not real. Just like that. I believe her. So I a skipping the Rotorua & Wellington stops on the North Island and heading right to the South Island so i can cross the country East to West from Christchurch on the East coast of the Southern Island of New Zealand to Frans Josef on the west coast of the South Island. Now I have been to all the compass directions in the country of New Zealand. Yipeeee! (note only one exclamation mark as this is the most excited I have been since arriving, Well finding the Kareoke Night at the Gay Bar was another highlight. But that's another blog.
I will leave on Sat, 2/19 fly to Christchurch (1 hr flight), spend 3 nights exploring the area, catch my train on the 22nd of Feb fro the 4 1/2 hr trip west to Franz Josef, check into the YHA there for 5 nights and then retunr via train on the 27th, stay overnight in Christchurch, leave the next morning to fly back to Auckland stay overnight and then back to the airport for my scheduled flight to Singapore. Oh EE Vey!! Stay Tuned!
Off for my free haircut at 1:00pm at the Auckland, New Zealand hair cutting accademy. good thing I have good hair that will eventually grow back. Pics in the next blog.
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