Tuesday April 13th, 2010
Day 2: Auckland
Woke up a bit early to prepare a small three year anniversary present for Apo. I had been editing a short music video for her for a while with Windows Movie Maker but had some problems syncing the music with the video. I was able to complete 1 minute of it (the whole version I will put up when I’m done) and showed that to her. She was quite happy but then quite disappointed when it abruptly ended. She said, “That’s it?” I replied, “Aw yeah, that’s it.”
I have some family that live near Auckland and met with them for lunch. The neighborhood they live in reminded me of some Northern California suburbs: green, quiet, and boring. But there’s definitely a certain sense of peace in the air and a feeling of security in these kinds of areas that I find attractive.
When Apo and I arrived we were greeted with a feast prepared by my Aunt. For those of you who don’t know Taiwanese culture, when a Taiwanese family asks you over for lunch/dinner prepare to get fed. The meal included about nine different dishes of both Western and Eastern taste (e.g. lamb chops and fried Taro balls), all of which was delicious. This was a welcomed change from the backpacker diet of instant noodles and eggs and Apo and I were very grateful for the meal.
This was the first time I had met my cousins in person (my Aunt met me when I was really small). They are all really nice and lovely people and the cousins speak with a New Zealand accent, so it was fun picking up on some new ways of pronunciation and word usage. One of my cousins is thinking about taking up boxing so I showed him some stuff I had picked up from Muay Thai and he seemed to like it. They have a wild backyard and a small aviary which must’ve have been real fun for the cousins while growing up.
Back in Auckland, I found a martial arts store that had Cesar Gracie DVDs and Matt Lindland books for sale. I told Apo, “I met those guys!” but she didn’t seem to care much. It’s very surreal to be in such a faraway place and see something close to home.
For dinner Apo and I celebrated our anniversary with all you can eat Korean BBQ (see pictures)! There is a joy I feel in a quality All You Can Eat restaurant. I know that I’m going to be full at the end of the meal and I know that I’m going to be able to taste multiple dishes without fear of paying more for food. You feel me?
The end of the day was spent online searching for rental cars (internet cafes are cheap here, 1.5-2 NZD per hour).
DT: Hostel 26 + Food & Drink 37.5 + Phone Card 10* + SIM Card 20 + Internet 5 = 107.3
TS: 167.7
DA: 83.85
*You see, I bought the Phone Card first because I was in a hurry to call my Aunt and didn’t have time to shop around. If you’re in NZ for a short time, the 2degrees SIM card is the cheapest option.
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