July 18th, 2011 Sophie's Cafe and Willowbank Wildlife Preserve

Today, we ate breakfast at our hotel but then walked to Sophie's Cafe for some hot (and a cold) drink(s). Here, my dad bought a latte, my mom bought a mocha, my brother got hot chocolate, and I got a caramel milkshake. The latte was super bitter, the mocha was bitter, and the hot chocolate was bland, and the milkshake was delicious. Not to sweet and not to bland. The milkshake actually looked very stereotypical but actually tasted extraordinary.

Yum!!!
The main highlight of the day was going to a zoo-like place called Willowbank Wildlife Preserve. This place was awesome since they let you buy some animal food and let you feed and pet certain animals! Once you step out of the visitor center, you see other people feeding the eels and the birds. The eels are fed with some unknown meat and the ducks and black swans (The swans are mean! They pecked my finger when I was trying to feed it!) were fed with tiny pellets of matter.
The next animal we saw were all these deer and more ducks. These deer were so cute and would lick the food right out of your hand!! Even though most of the deer were used to being near people, there was this one white deer that would never come near us. Since writing all of the animals and what we did would take forever, I'm just going to write down a list. If you want pictures, click here or go to the Willowbank Wildlife Preserve page. Anyways, the list:
-Ferrets
-Rainbow Trouts
-Kiwis
-Wekas
-Wallabies
-Swans
-Ducks
-Lemurs
-Pigs
-Horses
-Ostrich
-Goat
-Llama
-Otters
-Monkeys
-More Pigs
-Mini Horses
-Eels
-Sheep
-And More
So please view the pictures. There will be no pictures of the kiwis because we weren't allowed to take any pictures. Bye! Enjoy the below pictures!

July 17th, 2011 Professer Adrian's Family

My family went out for a big delicious breakfast. Wait, how would I know?? My parents let me and my brother sleep in while they went out. Here's a picture of a latte the restaurant made.

After that, my dad's colleague picked us up at 1:00pm and brought us to his home. This home was a beautiful two-story house that was built in the 1800's (I wish I could say the same thing about my house) and had a huge backyard with lush vegetation and a trampoline. Professer Adrian's family consist of (like mine) an eleven year old girl named Lucy, a fourteen year old named William (Billy for short), a wife name Sian, and a cute perky springer spaniel named Charlie. The dog in the picture is not actually Charlie. We forgot to take a picture of him. Charlie actually has longer fur and the black dots are in different places.

Once we took off our shoes and jackets, the parents began talking and sent us away from them. So, the four of us scurried upstairs and began playing some video games in separate rooms. Billy and my brother bonded while playing some zombie shooting game on the PS3 while Lucy and I bonded while screaming at the infuriation of driving off the side of a course in Mario Kart. Anyways, Lucy and I played a little bit of Mario Kart and then her parents called us all down to eat lunch.
For lunch, we ate delicious spaghetti and homemade sauce, soft bread and butter, great salad, and water with raspberry and strawberry in it. We finished eating and raced upstairs to play more video games. Lucy and I soon began playing another Wii game called Hasbro Family Game Night Vol. 2. When we finally realized this game was a bit to complicated and hard for our liking, we ran downstairs, received a slice of irresistible chocolate cake, and raced back upstairs. Next, Billy and Ty went downstairs for cake and then came back upstairs and we played more of the Family Game Night game.
Before we finished the game, all of us went to the park with Charlie. At the park, there were many other dogs and some exercise equipment things. Later on, we went back to their house and played this strange game that consist of Billy throwing a ball to us when we're on a trampoline and we must hit it before it touches the trampoline or else. Soon, we had to leave.
Well, that's basically my day! Bye!

July 16th, 2011 Akaroa, Blue Pearl, and Cute (but possibly vicious) Pets

Today, my family and I went to the city of Akaroa. Now, you must be wondering how we got there when we don't have a car (or not but thats fine) and the answer is...........we went on a "tour" which was held by an elderly man who's name I don't know. I don't really know if he even mentioned his name so..... Okay, I have to admit, this wasn't exactly a tour, it's more like a car ride with a chaffer who gives sporadic information. Well, the car is bigger, too.
Anyways, after 1 1/2 hours and two stops, we finally arrived at the beautiful Akaroa. The first store we wandered into was an awesome jewelry shop where all/most of the jewelry is made of real blue pearls. All of the things they sold was very stylish but relatively pricey. Then again, price didn't really seem to matter since you know that it's worth it. Here, the owners actually explain the process of extracting the pearl and told you how to tell the difference from the good and the best pearls. After browsing through other gift shops and jewelry stores, we came back to this shop and bought a ring, a pair of earrings, and two Abalone shells (abalones are where the amazing pearls come from). The website and email:
www.nzbluepearl.co.nz
pearls@nzbluepearls.co.nz

Once we exited the store, we began scanning the menus of local restaurants. Eventually, we ended up in a great (and kind of outdoor) Akaroa Fish and Chips place. Here, we had some delicious fish (and chips), a hotdog, some oysters, a cheeseburger, and clam chowder (and no, not like one of each. It's what everyone had put together).
So, since there were so many cute pets on this trip, I decided to donate a piece of a post for these little guys. Okay, the first animal was in the Blue Pearl shop and it was a super cute.

Wait a minute! Before you fall victim to it's awesomeness, be aware that you cannot/should not touch it. When I touched its nose, it growled at me and when my brother attempted to pet it, it barked at him!! That lowers its score on the cuteness scale but it's still amazingly cute no matter what!
Next up, we have this hyperactive bird that took forever to take a picture of it.

Sorry about the blurriness. It's like the bird just drank some coffee!! The third one we have here are the four cats at the fish and chips place.

Actually there was five cats in all but the last cat wasn't used to being around people. The other three cats were colored black and two of those cats were a mixed color of brown and black. I was allowed to feed these cats some leftovers which made my day. The last of the pets/animals are these attacking seagulls. They may not be very cute but they are amusing. One time, when my brother was about to throw a fry to the birds, a courageous gull snatched it out of his hands. We caught this on video but I don't exactly know how to upload videos. Only pictures. Well, that's all the time we have for today. Bye-bye!

July 15th, 2011 More Walking, Nintendo 3DS, Food, and Smiggle

Today, my mom, my brother, and I went to Northland Mall where we ate delicious sushi and teriyaki chicken bowls. After that, we went to this bookstore where we bought an awesome purple pencil pouch that (if you unzip it all away) becomes one long zipper thing. It's awesome but not the most practical thing in the world. Mine does't exactly like the one in the picture but it's close enough.

an eraser, a mechanical pencil, and this filer. After that, we ventures into this awesome store called Smiggle which is a huge store devoted to school supplies and (desk) organizers. Here, we bought four pens. I really, really wish that we had stores like this back in the U.S.A. but sadly, they don't.
Once we bought the pens, we went to this store called Dick Smith's which is exactly like Best Buy but smaller. Here, I tried out the amazing Nintendo 3DS. This device was really awesome since it was actually 3D but it didn't make you dizzy. It's like an improved Wii!!
After that, we met up with my dad and ate dinner at this restaurant named Little India. This place was great but was in relatively small portions. The location:
38A Merivale Mall
Christchurch 8146, New Zealand
When we finished eating, we began walking instead of taking the bus like I wished we did. Also, we have never been to this part of Christchurch before so we had to keep studying the map after making some wrong turns. Not only that, we had to walk on these suspicious, scary, and dark roads! Eventually, we did get to our hotel but by then, my feet were killing me and my arms were tired from holding a bag. G'night!

July 14th, 2011 The Lord of the Rings Tour

Sadly, my close friend has passed away yesterday. My brother's G2 pen broke, unfortunately. The part that connects the pen together broke while it was connected so it cannot be repaired. R.I.P. Mr. G2 Pen. May the rest of your days be filled with drawings and words.

Since the tour people didn't cancel (finally!!!) we got to go on this amazing and scenic tour. Our fantastic tour guide was named Paul. Personally, I prefer Katie as my tour guide but Paul did provide us with short (and funny) videos and information about the movie. Even though my family and I aren't that big of a fan, we did enjoy this tour.
We began our little adventure by waking up around 7:30am and then got dressed, ate breakfast, and brushed our teeth. Next, Paul picked us up around 9:00am and then picked up the other three passengers. While we were driving to the mountains, there was this huge roadblock (or should I say sheep block). It was so awesome and the sheep were so cute!!!
Our first stop was this Staveley Cafe where we met up with the other three passengers and had some afternoon tea. We ordered a sausage roll, mince and cheese (meat) pie, a latte, a canned carbonated lemon drink, and two hot chocolates. I have to say, the food was delicious!! The hot drinks were also good but I still think the food was much better.
After some bumpy driving, we arrived at this hill where they filmed a part of the movie (Middle Earth Rohan is the name for all of you L.O.T.R. fans.) which was inhabited by black cows (and their cow pies). After about 10-15 minutes of uphill walking/hiking, we arrived at the top of the hill where it was -2oC or roughly 28oF. At the top of the hill, my brother and I did a "sword fight" with replica L.O.T.R. swords, found some super thin ice, and got to see a great view.
Then, we walked downhill for the same amount of time as it took going uphill and we eventually came to the vehicle and then went to a place where we ate lunch. Our free lunch consisted of a choice of ham or smoked chicken sandwich, orange juice or campagne, and a chocolate cake with powdered sugar on top of it.
After a good and satisfying lunch, we began driving back to the hotels. On the way there, we stopped by the same cafe to drop off the same three passengers. As we continued to Christchurch, there was another roadblock. This time, it was a roadblock created by black cows which wasn't as cute as the lambs but it was good enough. While we were coming back, we watched some L.O.T.R. interviews and behind-the-scenes things. If you want to view the pictures of the trip, click here
Have a nice day!

July 13, 2011 Nothing, Banks, and Walking

My brother and I started our day by eating chocolate muffins/cupcakes and studying the SAT. Since I finished the book I was working on the other day, I got to start on another lovely (sarcasm) book.

This book was exactly like the other one, boring, monotonous, and outdated. Again, this is not worth your money and all copies should be burned!
After I folded some clothes, my mom, my brother, and I took the free shuttle to a park and then walked the rest of the way to a bank. At the bank, my brother and I sat in some comfortable chairs. While we were waiting, the bank people began asking us questions like:
-What country did you come from?
-Why are you here?
-How long are you staying?
Though these way sound like ordinary questions, I think that they are going to get plastic surgery to look like us an then steal our identity!! It could happen...
After that, we kind of got lost but eventually found our way. We then visited a butchery and bought some fresh sausages and aged filet mignon. We also went to the fruit and vegetable market where we bought some potatoes and bananas. Then, we travelled back to our hotel/apartment/motel, exhausted. Later on, we ate our second home-cooked which was delicious. We ate delicious steak, mash potatoes (courtesy of me), and steamed broccoli and spinach. Personally, I think the steaks tasted a lot better than yesterdays $32 ones. The vegetables were awesome to but needed quite a bit of salt.
The other day, I visited a retail store and I was looking at the shoes and clothes. While I was studying the shoes, I noticed that many of the shoes were sizes 6 or 7 so I'm guessing that most women have small shoe sizes. This may be very far from the truth but it's just a guess.
While we were walking, we walked through this huge (and relatively famous) park that had this interesting tree.

Well, I've typed long enough! Bye!

July 12, 2011 Letdowns, Library, and Lone Star

Today, we were supposed to be on a Lord of the Rings tour but (of course) the "weather was bad" so instead, we explored the city we are residing in.
Our first place we visited was this library in New Brighton that was amazing. The actual amount of teen books available was relatively low but the actually had a lot of manga (basically Japanese style comics) which was a good thing. It also had a great view of the sea which is right next to the building. After that, we just walked around on the beach's pier and watched people attempt to fish but we never actually saw anyone catch something.

Our next stop was this mall where we ate and "shopped". We ate at this American restaurant (yes, there is something classified as American) called Lone Star. Here, we had to wait forever for our food which was worth the wait. I ordered this chicken stuffed with mushroom, spinach, and something I can't remember. I absolutely love this dish and I would order this over and over again. All the dishes are in huge portions and I had to share almost half of my chicken and not eat most of my salad just to finish a certain amount (okay, that's confusing, so basically, it is huge!!!). The address is:
26 Manchester Street
Christchurch

The above picture is my brother's steak. That is not my dish. Bye!

July 11, 2011 Nothing, Bread, and "Thai" Food

In the beginning of the day, my brother and I began studying the SAT (Yay?) and I read this:

This book was okay at first but then went downhill in a flash. The connections became more distance and eventually just ended. This book is not worth your money.
Once 4:00pm rolled around, my mom, my brother, and I walked around and reached this small market where we bought this amazing olive bread and some other stuff. I can't show you a picture since we already ate most of it! We have bought from here before so they gave us a free already wilted spinach. Delicious...
For dinner, we bought from this lunch truck where I bought an octopus ball with butter rice (Don't knock it until you've tried it!) and then my parents bought this pork fried noodles and chicken with garlic and pepper sauce. These dishes were questionable Thai and very bland. The food I got from the lunch truck was delicious but a bit dry, it needed a bit more sauce. The locations (for the Thai place) is:
Kanniga's Thai Food
18a Carlton Courts
Corner Bearley Avenue & Papanui Road

The lunch truck was right next to the other place but don't count on it being there since it's......a lunch truck thing. Bye!

July 10th, 2011 Adrenaline Forest, Spencer's Wild Farm, and Indian and Greek Cuisine

All of my followers, why are you following this blog? Isn't that stalking? Just kidding!
Anyways, the main highlight of today was going to this place called Adrenaline Forest which is basically an aerial obstacle course. My first thought was, "Oh my god, I'm going to die!!!". Eventually, I got used to the height, speed, and the scariness and I was able to "enjoy" a course. My favorite part of the forest was crashing into the cushion. All in all, I finished three courses, 1,2, and 3 out of the 6 ones and my hands are so sore!!! Even though I still think that the place is dangerous and designed by a hand-abuser, I would recommend this to other people (especially people I dislike!).

After we finally got out of that death trap, we went to this amazing(ly smelly) farm which was completely free but you can't even touch the lambs, rabbits, and certain birds.

The untouchable bunny:(. Even though mast of the animals were cute, there was something a little weird about them. I mean, the white bunnies had creepy red eyes, the pigs had strange things on their chins, and the roosters kept crowing, and it's not even morning!!! They also had very low numbers of certain animals. For example, they only had one peacock and only three (black) sheep. I also stepped in a lot of poop/mud. :(
For dinner, my brother had this gyro which no one had a taste of so I can't write anything about it. We also had butter chicken and lamb biryani which (if you don't know already) is a type of Indian food. After that, my parents and I ate this boysenberry ripple ice cream which is basically boysenberry syrup "mixed" with vanilla ice cream.
One thing I would like to address is how green New Zealand is (not like green green, just like not-wasting-stuff green). I mean, they charge you .50 50 cents for ONE plastic bag but sometimes they don't even have (plastic) bags!! Also, even though most of the roads and shops are closed, the casino is still open! Have a good day/afternoon/night.

July 9th, 2011 Destruction, Greek Food, and Rugby

Today, my family and I (duh, why would the forget me?) explored more of Christchurch. here, it seems only half of it was affected by the earthquake while the other half is anything but damaged. Everything on this side looks new and modern while the other side looks like it had been through a long war.

Eventually, we reached this HUGE park where these teenagers were playing rugby, which is a combination between soccer and football. This sport requires many skills but you can get very strange pictures when people are playing. Zoom in for more even stranger effects!

For lunch, we ordered this lamb gyro from this food truck. This food was the best I've had on this trip. The food truck was called "Dimitri's Greek Food". We also went to this (smelly) fish market which sold a ton of fish. Here, we bought some fried fish (don't ask what type of fish because I really don't know) and it was awesome!! So that's about it. Please enjoy this picture of this useful lock.

July 8th, 2011 Repeats and New Zealand

Yesterday (after I posted yesterday's post), my parents brought me back beef curry from this amazing Malaysian (and yes, we eat Malaysian food often) place. It's called Little Malaysian (simplicity...) and it is awesome.
Anyways, the main event of today was going to New Zealand. Christchurch, New Zealand is like the exact opposite of Mel. While Melbourne is a crowded city, Christchurch is a place where you can actually see houses and most people have cars (maybe that's not a good thing..). So far, we have not seen a supermarket but we have been to a butchery, a bakery, an organic fruit market, and Domino's. There's really not much in walking distance and I wish we rented a car but because people have left-sided cars, my parents can't drive. Most places have been destroyed by the earthquake which happened in February. This also limits the places we can go.

The apartment/hotel we have here is relatively smaller than the one in Melbourne but gives you the impression that it's huge because of the way it is set up.
One thing I miss from Melbourne is the retarded bikes. All around the city, there are crumpled up bikes and ones that are missing one or both wheel(s). There are also people who walk around with bicycle wheels. Wow, there are no connection between these two things. That was random. Please enjoy this random picture!

And this comic: