[MY] FIRST DAY OF NEW ZEALAND TRIP

December 12, 2012 · by elaine1123hk · in [ ESCAPE ]

Luckily I have got the time to finally visit the very-south-land : New Zealand. Well, its pretty south for me anyways. A total of 5 people, me and my friends happily joined a 5 days tour starting from Christchurch, ending at Christchurch. The whole itinerary was Christchurch –> Lake Tekapo –> Mt.Cook national park –> Omarama –> Queenstown –> Milford Sound –> Te Anau –> Dunedin –> Oamaru –> Christchurch

The tour we joined was run by Chinese…so…typically, we see a bit of everything and nothing. The highlight of the tour is food, comparison to all previous Chinese tours I have joined in my life, this tour has the best food provided. Regardless of the shallow visit of NZ, I still enjoy the tour very much. NZ is the cleanest country I have ever seen, it has rivers which are able to be seen through until the bottom, and lakes too, they are so blue and clean. It is probably the most unpolluted land on earth. People seem to be very nice, of course I need more time to discover that.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————

The first day we arrived Christchurch in the afternoon around 3pm. Right next to the airport there are a sheep farm and I found it so funny what if all the sheeps are deaf due to the noises from airport landing area? haha Surprisingly, NZ customs are actually quite severe, I chose the youngest custom to queue for thinking he should be more easy-going than the older ones. Ends up they are all the same, he had to ask me where I am going during my trip. I told him I am going to visit some kind of Glacier and he even questioned me the name of the Glacier…well, thats a bit harsh.

After going through all that, we crawled up to the one and only shuttle bus and headed to our hostel. It was pretty spacious to fit 5 of us. After settling in, we started to explore the town and hope to find a bite in the town… The city center seems to be 20 mins away from our hostel, as soon as we started to walk, the weather turns very chilly. I had to put on my thickest coat and my scarf, felt like winter. When we walked past the old city center, we found ruins. Ruins everywhere. It was very sad to see scenes like this of a town. Most of the buildings are severely destroyed, showing all the steels and concretes. The whole area was fenced to be the “red zone”, waiting to recover. Somehow it seems it will take at least 10 years to recover to what it was. The town seems dead quiet, we hardly saw people walking on the street, neither did cars.

We found a small Japanese diner “Samurai ” right next to the one and only biggest supermarket. The diner has everything from sushi to ramen. The weather was so cold I decided to order a ramen, it was pretty nice but can hardly be considered as very good.

Nothing to do much after dinner, we walked back to the hostel and get a good night sleep. Zzzzzzz….

* They called Woolworths here as “Countdown”, that sounds a bit funny. The name gives me the imagination that they always have discount and is always counting down for the end of sales.

 

THE AAMAZING [INFRARED OVEN]

December 10, 2012 · by elaine1123hk · in [ EAT ], [ LIFE ]

I would like to present this amazing Infrared Oven! Not sure if it’s a new technology or not, I got this thing from my friend and I was so excited to test it. So the first dish I would like to try with this oven is of course the classic Roast Chicken! I googled and learn that the Infrared Oven can actually replace oven and even healthier. Sounds so amazing, lets see!

To start, put a whole chicken into this oven ( Only $6 from coles! good bargain). I layered some carrots, potatoes and onions under the chicken. And stuffed garlics, salt and pepper into the chicken.

Look a bit closely, I use a stainless steel stand to lift the plate up so the plate wouldn’t has direct contact with the surface of the oven. (Still weird calling it an oven…)

All ready we can start! I used 200 C and for 25 mins. Looking very High-technology with all the light! People living in my place was amazed by how bright it shines…

Thats the device which projects all the heat.

Dah-tah! This is the chicken looked like after 25 mins! Its already done! I have to give it credits, the skin is so crispy while the meat still keeps its juiciness. However, the carrots and potatoes are not as cooked as they should be, I guess they should be cooked separately in order to achieve the best result.

Cuttingggg

Perfectly roasted! 

Overall I really think this oven will be a very helpful hand in kitchen! Since it doesn’t produce very smoke while cooking, and its so convenient that you don’t have to monitor it all the time. For the score max. of 10, I give it a 8! Next time I will try baking bread with it!

 

BEING A [CASHIER] IN TOKYO SUPER…

December 4, 2012 · by elaine1123hk · in [ LIFE ]

I have NEVER thought of being a cashier in my life, not a second in my life. I don’t mind being a customer service, a sales assistant, a telephone surveyor or even a cleaner. But definitely NOT a cashier!

Sadly, Tokyo Super is my only part-time opportunity at the moment… Now I realize how hard it is to get a job in Sydney…So with no choice, I started my cashier career last FRI. It was terrible…my mind just went blank when I see there is a long queue forming to pay. I looked at the computer screen with lots of unknown items and those goods with no bar codes kept shouting ” Invalid product code” to me, I wanna scream! And yet I did, I screamed for the boss but usually no one hears me! Where the hell are the boss while I needed her!?? Come on..Today is only my second day, do you expect me to memorize everything already? And you only paid me AUD9 while is WAY below the minimum wage in Sydney. Plus she need me to work from this week, 6pm – 11pm, the busiest period of the whole day. Ha Ha, like a joke. I was desperately scanning an item which screams invalid product code, with a long long queue. I cannot and shouldn’t leave my counter, so I screamed for someone but it was too noisy no one hears me. I stood there and don’t know what to do. Customers starred at me and looked very impatient. I wanted to say it’s not my fault okay? Anyways, I have decided to quit. In fact, T told the boss we’re quitting already. After 4 days of work, I’m officially quitting. I think I deserve a better job than this. I came here to practise my english, but in Tokyo Super, all I can practise is my mandarin.

So, I am having another job trial this Sat as a shop receptionist in Eastgardens. Now this is the kind of job that I am really interested in, chatting with customers, providing them nice services. Helping out people. And paid with an official document so I’m under protect by the minimum wage law. Seriously, I think it is very sad that international students are treated so badly in here. I heard there are plenty jobs offer hourly rate lower than AUD9. Anywhow, byebye to Tokyo Super from tonight!

 

PART-TIME JOB IN SYDNEY

November 27, 2012 · by elaine1123hk · in [ LIFE ]

Just came back from NZ last FRI, which was my birthday…I was hoping Emirates would somehow upgrade me or treat me with something special..but nothing =.= Anyways, NZ is such a beautiful country, it has the cleanest rivers I have ever seen. I can never view the bottom of a river or lake in anywhere other than NZ, may be Switzerland can, but I don’t know cuz I’ve never really been there. (Well I have past Austria and our car was surrounded by snow flakes and mountains, but I was tooo sleepy so I starred for 2 seconds and went back to my dream)

So…Play hard, work hard. It’s time for part-time job! Spent too much in the NZ trip now I need to earn it back. Yesterday me and T walked around Kingsford and asked every stores we are interested if they are hiring people… I first went into the Starlit cafe, I always wanted to work in a cafe! However, they are only looking for long-term employees, so…BYE. Went to Tokyo Super then, T and I both applied for Shop assistant and Cashier, I do cashier. In fact I am very bad at dealing with money, I cant calculate! So this is the job I least want to get… After walking back and forth around Kingsford, I realized it is indeed difficult to find a part-time job in Sydney… especially I don’t have much working experience.

Luckily I got the calls from Tokyo Super and asked me and T to do a job trial tomorrow. Hopefully everything will be fine! [ fingercross ]

P.S. I never knew a job trial is required in Sydney, I thought when they hired me, they hired me. But in Sydney, every shops need to “try” me first in order to decide if they want to hire me. I personally hate this system! Come on, I work a day for no pay and then what if you don’t hire me? Such a waste of my time!

 

THE BEST [ BENEDICT] IN SYDNEY!

November 27, 2012 · by elaine1123hk · in [ EAT ]

So on Sunday 25th Nov, 2012, this historical moment…I found the best egg benedict in Sydney. It is not in some commercial big cafe, it is hidden in this little cafe called “Le Petit Creme” in Darlinghurst Road. My friend recommended me to try it probably a year ago, I went once but it was in weekdays and they only provided the benedict during weekends. What a disappointment, I ordered something else anyways. I remember it was French toast and some kind of salad, French toast tastes really good, the bread was fluffy and soft.

This time I ordered the Salmon Benedict, Ham and cheese Omelette, Iced Chocolate and Earl Grey tea. The benedict tastes like heaven and it looks devine, it DOES worth “dying for”, I wasn’t sure what makes it tastes so good, probably the sauce and the bread, also the eggs cooked with perfection. The Ham and Cheese Omelette doesnt taste as surprise as the benedict but it surely worth trying as well !

The Iced chocolate is pretty light since it has more milk than chocolate which I like. The Earl Grey has nothing special.

  <– Iced Chocolate

  <– Earl Grey Tea

  <– Salmon Benedict

<– Ham & Cheese Omelette

 

SO LOOKING FORWARD TO [ LES MISÉRABLES ]

November 27, 2012 · by elaine1123hk · in Movie

Les Misérables is my second favourite musical on earth (The first one is always the Phantom of the opera, it changes my life). My first time watching Les Misérables was in London, I have listened to its music long ago before I watched it and it stunned me. The music is so sorrow and dark, like “I dreamed a dream”, ” Castle on a cloud”, “On my own” are easily my favourites. And yet the stage version stunned me even more! The moving stage, and live music strike my emotions in every bit. I still couldn’t understand how could they put the whole French revolution on stage.

Anyways, this new Les Misérables movie is finally on next month! On 26th Dec, 2012, just a dream comes true to me! There was an old version of Les Misérables (1998)act by Liam Neeson as Valjean, but it had no musical elements involve which was disappointing to me. In alternatives, the new Les Misérables movie has the strongest cast every, such as Russel Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, only these three can attract millions of viewer!! SOOO LOOKING FORWARD!

 

TO THE MOON [A STORY WORTH LISTENING TO]

November 26, 2012 · by elaine1123hk · in [ GAME ]

TO THE MOON [ A story worth listening to ] 

To the moon is an indie RPG-adventure game produced by Kan Gao. I wouldn’t talk much about the background information, its easy to search online -> Official site / Wiki

Spending almost 5 hours for this game, its totally worth it. I am very grateful meeting this game and listened to its story, it takes me quite a while to get away from the world that Kan Gao has created… Kan is a genius in terms of story telling, he brings us back into Johnny’s life step by step, slowly we discovered the truth behind the veil. Honestly, the first bit of the game was kind of creepy, the music and atmosphere are all very mysterious. However some parts of the game are  humorous, sometimes it gets me laughing sometimes it gets my tears.

The music are the main reason that brings me into the characters’ world, simple but so touching. I did not cry for the game but it gives me something much deeper, it gets me think about…about life.

The most interesting thing of this game is its ending, seems like there is only one ending but there can be actually more than 3 interpretations of the ending. I couldn’t get the game out of my mind after playing it so I crazily went online and searched for information of it. I was stunned that there can be a second ending! Not literally but there can be alternate ending due to your own interpretation! How amazing is that? That’s totally what a good story required, a story that can keep people thinking and interpreting.

However, there are some minor criticisms. This game would be beyond perfect if there are more interactions involve between the storyline and players’ choices. So far there are not much we can do while we’re in the game. All we can do is to follow the tracks and simply watch the story, I personally would prefer more actual “gaming”. A game with good storyline doesn’t have to be less playful. Like those classic games “Final Fantasy 7″ & ” Kingdom hearts” are my all-time favourite since they have this exceptional storyline and interesting interactions between player and the game itself. For “To the moon”, the players are only the player who sit behind the computer screen.

Before having spoilers, below are some snapshots from the game.

 - Really simple puzzles for each scenes, pretty unnecessary

 - There is a life bar throughout the game for us to keep track which stage of Johnny’s life we’re at

 - A scene while Johnny chatting with old friends

—————————————Below includes spoilers—————————————————————————–

So, the most arguable points of this game is definitely the endings. My first impression of the story is just simply what the game is showing. Joey is the one who died and Johnny survived, Johnny’s mom gave him betablockers to erase his tragic memories thus he forgot he ever had a twin brother and he thought he has never met River. However, to my surprise, there can be more interpretations!

2) The other ending is…the one who died is actually Johnny (in the last scene where Johnny’s memories are all mixed up, the little boy who were hit by car said ” Hi, I’m Johnny.” ) So Joey took the pills and thought himself as Johnny, he took Johnny’s memories and shared his beloved. In fact, there are some clues that support this theory. Like, Joey is the one who loves pickle while Johnny hates them. But in the game, the “Johnny” we know loves pickle which means in high possibility, the one survived is Joey.

3) This ending is about Dr. Eva Rosalene, someone stated in fact Eva is actually in a coma while the car crashed, so the whole game is actually in Eva’s head. Dr. Neil Watts is only there to help Eva achieve her dream, which is to help Johnny and other patients. This ending is supported by the ending scene where Eva and Neil are under the lighthouse. When Eva ran off the screen, Neil looked at the lighthouse and paused, then there is a red light flashing, exactly like the red light while Johnny was in near death.

All those endings are very interesting and seems correct, however no one knows if there is a real ending or not. I personally like the second one, it would be absolutely a big twist if its correct. I always loved a big surprised ending. Anyways, I believe there can be many more different endings and that is exactly the reason why this game is so successful. Now I even looking forward to a movie if possible ” To the moon—coming soon!”