I've never been to Australia or New Zealand before, kinda a shame really that I have to fly such a long way from London to get there when I did live 21 years in Singapore. But when I lived with my parents, they had absolutely no interest in 'angmoh' countries and thus had no desire to visit Australia or NZ. I reckon if I didn't visit Australia whilst Rob was there, then I'd never go - and whilst I'm already in Australia, what the heck, I'm nipping over to New Zealand just because it is there. To be honest, I wasn't that fussed about visiting Australia because those are English speaking countries so their cultures are neither exotic nor interesting (no offence, I always prefer visiting non-English speaking countries for my holidays) - I would have been more interested to visit Argentina, Chile and South Africa this summer but Rob just had to go win that Australian government investment for his company. Oh well, I have clients in Cape Town and Santiago - maybe I can try to convince my company to send me there to see my investors soon. Anyway, so that's the update from me for now. So guys, any recommendations about what to do in the North Island of New Zealand, do let me know please. I've heard such lovely things about Rotorua. Or should I go to the South Island instead? Many thanks for reading.
Wednesday 19 July 2017
I'm doing down under: Oz & NZ
Hi guys, just to let you know, I'm embarking on a 3.5 week journey this September that will take me to Singapore, Brisbane, Sydney, Auckland and Melbourne. My partner Rob is currently working in Brisbane - since his company has received a substantial grant from the Australian government and in exchange for that money, they are based out of Brisbane for the next six months. For a start up, that's the kind of support you only dream of and I can't stress how huge a deal it is for his young company. Yes it did occur to me to follow him to Australia for six months but what the hell would I do with myself there especially when Brisbane is a fairly small town. In any case, given the number of British clients I deal with, it would be impossible for me to do my job remotely from Australia - so I decided stay put in London but will visit him in September. My work is keeping me busy enough and things are going well, I want to be doing this job for a long time to come. Besides, we have a number of buy-to-let properties and I'm also playing the role of the landlord now.
How am I coping on my own? I guess the work is my focus right now, but sometimes, I'll forget I'm on my own - like I'll start making dinner and realize that I've cooked for two. Yeah that's been a recurring theme, a lot of leftovers in my freezer right now. I've also plenty to look forward to for this long trip, I'm spending a week in Singapore before continuing down to Brisbane to see him for a big tour of Oz and NZ. I'm a little nervous about visiting my parents because I never get along with them - when they visited me in London, my father behaved so badly and threw so many tantrums, I am just dismissing it as him going senile acting like a child because if an adult acted like that, well, that would make him a really nasty person. I'm even considering staying with my sister just to minimize contact with my parents given how we just don't talk - they don't ask me how I am, they know absolutely nothing about what I do for a living and they bombard me with details of the most inane, vapid, mundane details of their lives. Like how much they paid for their tissue paper at the local supermarket - I just roll my eyes and tell them I don't give a shit about the price of tissue paper. Like why not talk about me? I do some pretty interesting things in London, a lot more interesting than your grocery shopping - but as you know, they really don't give a shit about me. SQ are doing a good deal to Australia now with a free stopover in Singapore, I cannot just change planes in Changi without seeing my two wonderful sisters whom I miss and love dearly.
I've never been to Australia or New Zealand before, kinda a shame really that I have to fly such a long way from London to get there when I did live 21 years in Singapore. But when I lived with my parents, they had absolutely no interest in 'angmoh' countries and thus had no desire to visit Australia or NZ. I reckon if I didn't visit Australia whilst Rob was there, then I'd never go - and whilst I'm already in Australia, what the heck, I'm nipping over to New Zealand just because it is there. To be honest, I wasn't that fussed about visiting Australia because those are English speaking countries so their cultures are neither exotic nor interesting (no offence, I always prefer visiting non-English speaking countries for my holidays) - I would have been more interested to visit Argentina, Chile and South Africa this summer but Rob just had to go win that Australian government investment for his company. Oh well, I have clients in Cape Town and Santiago - maybe I can try to convince my company to send me there to see my investors soon. Anyway, so that's the update from me for now. So guys, any recommendations about what to do in the North Island of New Zealand, do let me know please. I've heard such lovely things about Rotorua. Or should I go to the South Island instead? Many thanks for reading.
I've never been to Australia or New Zealand before, kinda a shame really that I have to fly such a long way from London to get there when I did live 21 years in Singapore. But when I lived with my parents, they had absolutely no interest in 'angmoh' countries and thus had no desire to visit Australia or NZ. I reckon if I didn't visit Australia whilst Rob was there, then I'd never go - and whilst I'm already in Australia, what the heck, I'm nipping over to New Zealand just because it is there. To be honest, I wasn't that fussed about visiting Australia because those are English speaking countries so their cultures are neither exotic nor interesting (no offence, I always prefer visiting non-English speaking countries for my holidays) - I would have been more interested to visit Argentina, Chile and South Africa this summer but Rob just had to go win that Australian government investment for his company. Oh well, I have clients in Cape Town and Santiago - maybe I can try to convince my company to send me there to see my investors soon. Anyway, so that's the update from me for now. So guys, any recommendations about what to do in the North Island of New Zealand, do let me know please. I've heard such lovely things about Rotorua. Or should I go to the South Island instead? Many thanks for reading.
Nice to know you are going to dropby Singapore before moving on to Oz and NZ. Though you are enjoying your work, you should take a few weeks off. Bet you have a full itinerary. Just enjoy your hols and not think so much about things you have no control over.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words. Yeah I am going to so many places - I am speaking to a friend from NZ at the moment and he's given me a long list of places to go whilst I'm there and it's like, I can't do them all, so it's a question of trying to prioritize which ones I do decide to go to whilst there. In Oz, I am sticking to the big cities. I only have 1 week in Singapore (plus half a day stopover on the way back) - so fingers crossed, if I can get through that time without an argument with my parents or my father throwing one of his ridiculous tantrums, then I will be happy.
DeleteIt is kinda sad. Some years ago, I watched a French movie about a French grandmother who was unable to connect with her grandchildren who were obsessed about things that kids like these days - her own children are busy working so she feels ignored and neglected, so she would deliberately cook up a crisis just to get their attention, it is a dark comedy because she is treating it like a game and thinks it is funny, but we can tell it is a sad situation. She lacks the social skills to connect with her children and grandchildren and these 'games' she plays - well, it all ends badly. It's the same shit going on with my parents - they have zero social skills have absolutely no idea how to connect with their own children or their grandson. My two sisters default to the Asian stereotype of being the perfect daughters who honour their parents regardless, but my nephew is finding it hard to connect with his grandparents and I just find it impossible to even have any kind of relationship with them.
Oh i honor my parents alrite, but i also ignore them if i think they are BS-ing! Honor AND ignore seems to be the proven formula!
DeleteWow, NZ rocks man. Gotta go once in your life and it's great that its gonna be now for you. Try some of the scenic train rides, the Trans Alpine was great for me. And try the inter islander ferry from North to South Island. Have to say for me South Island appears to be the more "happening" place but it's also because I spent longer there. Queenstown's a great place, and also more landscapes like glaciers, Mt Cook, Milford Sound, etc, if you are into those sort of stuff.
ReplyDeleteI don't know you in person, else wouldn't mind a kopi while you're down here in SG.
Sept happens to be when i go overseas for an exchange program. So strange that you come to Singapore and i go to London. But i won't stay in Singapore for long, once my bond is up i would probably move overseas.
ReplyDeleteWhat are your dates? I am traveling 4 - 30 Sept. When I look at it as a whole, I'm like OMFG that's nearly 4 weeks, then when I actually look at how little time I am spending in each place, I'm like, that's not enough for (eg. Sydney) ...
DeleteBasically the whole of Sept. Officially the exchange is from 4th to 29th but the school wants us to go a few days earlier to recce the place plus some would want to go back a couple of weeks later to explore EU.
DeleteIf you come earlier, then at least we can meet up!
DeleteHi Alex,
ReplyDeleteI spent over a year in NZ and I prefer the South Island. My favourite places are Nelson (sunniest town in NZ, and you get mountains and the ocean) and Golden Bay (beautiful and peaceful). In the North Island, I really liked the Coromandel Peninsula.
Oh, if you get the chance to, while you're travelling between Brisbane and Sydney, drop by the beautiful seaside town of Port Macquarie, which is in between those two major cities. I volunteer at the Koala Hospital there - it's a wonderful place to visit! Port Macquarie also still has quite a number of wild koalas roaming around :)
Have a wonderful trip.
Oh! One more thing. If you go to the South Island, try to visit Oamaru. It's where you can see the little blue penguins and the yellow-eyed penguins. They are gorgeous!!
ReplyDeleteYou'll be pleased to know, I am indeed going to Oamaru!! PENGUINS!! :)
DeleteRotorua is where you'd go to do zorbing and see geothermal sites like Waiotapu. Maori cultural shows are fun but expensive and tourist-oriented. Napier's cool for being almost uniformly Art Deco and it's close to Hawkes Bay. You could do one of the Great Walks at Tongariro within 8 hours.
ReplyDeleteThe South Island is prettier though: Lake Tekapo, Wanaka, Queenstown, the glaciers, Golden Bay, Pancake Rocks, Hanmer Springs, Akaroa, Dunedin, Moeraki boulders and Oamaru are all there. Dolphin swimming in Kaikoura is fun but access is only from Christchurch right now, due to earthquake damage.