ABs are shit but Kora rocks!

What a major disappointment, I woke up with a raging hungover after sleeping for 3 hours and spending 1 hr on the tube just to watch the All Blacks lose. When will the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) admit that they hired the wrong person for the job!

Anyway, its midnight on Saturday and I am at home updating this blog. Some may scream 'Soft' but I think my explainations will be pretty valid. So I was out in Shephards Bush on friday night as Kora was performing. If you would like to hear some of their tunes, search youtube for hit songs like 'Politician' and 'Burning'. So back to the story, the night started at a pub (as usual) where I met up with Rangi; a mate from school. In the last 4 years, I have only seen him twice so it was random to see him in London. Wth reunions, there has to be alcohol. Big Pete was also kind enough to bless us with his presence. It was only a small concert (about 1500) but they rocked the party. I was pretty loose by the time I got there so I decided to try to get right up the front; I was like a snake weaving through the crowd. As I got to the fifth row, some girl tapped me on the shoulder and passed me a joint, SWEET! I do not condone affilating with illegal substances. I think it is irresponsible and damaging to your health. Being up the front is totally awesome, beats standing out back listening to static.
The concert finished at around 12am and drinks carried on till 5am.

All Blacks played Australia on Saturday so we had to get up bright and early. As stated, with only 3 hours sleep, I could still taste the rocket fuel of alcohol. But that is not the worst part (Is it 'more worst' or 'worser' Jacqui?), Richard Dalton was about to give me a turkey slap. I think people have different meanings to the term 'Turkey Slap' To illustrate:
Man sees victim sleeping
Man pulls cock out
Man slaps victim across the face with one-eye snake.

So yeah, what a way to start the day!
Anywho, we were back on the piss at 10am and clearly on a liquid diet only. AB's obviously lost but meh, we were too thrased to care. We caught a ferry to Greenwich to check out the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and Greenwich Meridian. Wikipedia will have all the info on Greenwich but in a nutshell, NZ is GMT +12 and London is GMT +0. Greenwich Meridian is 0° longitude. The night ended with a BBQ on a small balcony and more drinks.
It is now 2am and I am not even tired but my liver needs a rest.

Ka kite

Sam





Chilling at Shephards Bush







Tower Bridge








Tourist?










Greenwich Meridian










Go Wellington!

Another Weekend of looseness

I was out in Chiswick on Friday night to watch a few stand-up comedy acts. The guy from the Hellers bacon commercial had a slot. I really wanted to shout out "Thats New Zealand Bacon". We were drinking heavily during the show and it continued till early hours of the monring; 6am to be exact. Sleep is for the weak, although I did sneak in 3 hours.

Saturday night rocked around and it was time to head to Putney for a triple Birthday Party.

There was a guy passed out in the corner so we decided to take photos with him but as I got closer and closer to his face, he woke up and was he fuming!!

Going to watch Kora peform on Friday night and up early for the All Backs vs Australia game on Saturday. Should be a pretty good weekend.

Sam




Party back at the flat








Notice the Sun rising








ZZZZZzzzzzzz......

Unemployed Bum

Well I have been in the market for a week now and I am still jobless. Had a couple of interviews but thats about it. Also found a gym close by and have started working out since I have so much spare time.

Anywho, we went to an Adult puppet musical last weekend. Imagine sesame street characters having sex; very entertaining. After that, it was time to go out on lash. There's an Australian bar here called the Walkabout aka Walkie. This place was cheap for alcohol and girls. Skanky Aussie's and plastered English lassies, I will indeed return.
We also caught up with Richard Dalton and a few other Kiwis, Saffers and Frenchies.

The tubes are like spaghetti, a 20 min trip sometime takes me over an hour as I am constantly getting on the wrong train. I do have a whole year to get use to it though.
Not much else has been happening here, job hunting during the day, dinner and drinks during the evenings.

Sam





Party Mix








eh....Frenchies








Urinal on street corner

The eagle has landed, again!

I arrived in London on Thursday 3rd July at 5:00pm. After crossing numerous time zones, I was very jetlagged. After the long customs queue and getting lost, I was finally reunited with Eileen (my sister). We opted for the cheap (₤5) and long option when we were at the tube stop. This was a very bad idea! The whole Journey took about 80mins whereas the more expensive (₤15) option would have taken about 25mins. I was forced to stay awake to get used to the time zone but didn't last long and ended up passing out on the couch.

I tried to harden up and went out for a few drinks on Friday night, bad idea. I was tired, anti-social and was tipsy after 2 beers. Never have I felt so crap from beer.
So on the way home, we went to a place called Chicken Cottage and picked up a family pack which consisted of a bucket of chicken (18) and 4 large fries. It was disgusting just looking at the amount of food we got for just the two of us. Chicken for breakfast it is.

On Sunday, we attended the O2 Wireless Festival, it was cold, wet and muddy but the outing was great and I was able to embrace what London was all about. Each of the bands were playing 1 hour sets and we got to see, Goo Goo Dolls, Powderfinger, Ben Harper and Counting Crows.

So today is Wednesday and the first day on the market for jobs. Recruiters are totally different here, most don't even have an IT background. All they are doing is selling you like a used car; polished and shined. To give you an idea of my day, I applied for about 15 jobs today and spent about 4 hours on the phone speaking to 10 recruiters, think its time for a beer.

Sam




mmmm breakfast








Borrowed raincoat








Partying with Sis

Weekend in Auckland and Seoul Korea.

The olds and I decided to go up to Auckland for a final family trip away before I depart off the shores of New Zealand. While we were up there, we got invited to dinner party, great food, mahjong (Chinese game), drinks and karaoke were the main attraction. Never in my life have I seen so many random high 5’s, cheering of glasses and man-hugs go around. Not to mention and pace that the alcohol was getting drank. These guys really know how to party and would put us binge drinkers to shame.

The lads came around for dinner on Tuesday night. We ate, drank and reminisce the old times. I did not get to sleep till 3:00am and had to get up at 4:30am to catch my flight. I was feeling like total crap.

A lot happened while I was at Auckland Airport. As I was sitting peacefully trying to kill 4 hours, a Samoan family of 20 decided to sit next to me, across from me and all around me. Babies were crying, kids screaming and jumping on seats. I bet they were probably thinking

“Look, there’s a quiet Asian sitting over there, let’s ruin his day by causing havoc around him”

I was also greeted with a piece of hair in my ham & cheese croissant. Things were not looking good for me. But when I went to the Travelex to exchange some money, I gave the lady $85 NZD and she gave me $55,000 Won (Korean Dollars). She must have made a mistake as I am now filthy rich. Shortly after, the Airline paged me to advise me that there has been a mix up with my luggages. So now I have to pick one bag up in Seoul and pick the second one up from London.

I was only in Seoul, Korea for 1 night during transit. The room I was in had a touch panel for all the lights in my room. The toilet seat had water jets for Rear Cleansing and Front Cleansing options. I was even able to specify the water pressure, water temp and seat temperature; now that is what I call a luxury toilet. I went out for a few beers with some randoms that were on the same flight. Even though we were in a remote part of Seoul, there were a lot of eateries around.

Off to bed, have another 12 hour journey tomorrow

Sam

Asian Karaoke - 5.3 MB

Find the white guy?








Man-hugs all round








Spot the hair








Chicken 15,000 Won









Squid in a pack







Korean Breakfast of Champions









Engrish







Fresh Taste Keeping System?

No more Golf and BBQ

So I have been told that a round of Golf in the UK is going to cost an arm and a leg. BBQ's are also non-existent. So last weekend, my boss and a few guys from work decided to get back out on the golf course to cause more havoc. We decided to play at Paraparaumu. For the non-golfers, Paraparaumu golf course has been the course of choice for 12 NZ Opens. It is also rated 73rd on the world top 100 golf courses. The morning started at 7:30am, such a beautiful course with golf carts is bad news. Although donuts were a no-no, rally driving and skiddies were a must. The boss and I got hussled and lost the game by 5 strokes, breakfast and beers were on us.

The day followed with a trip to Lindale Farm to see umm.....farm animals I guess. It was the first time I've seen a lama in the flesh and boy are those things ugly. The only thing that sprung to my mind was:

"Tina, you fat lard, come get some DINNER!... Tina, eat. Food. Eat the FOOD! "

We also found out that if you gave the pigs a hug, they start oinking. Mike got a bit upset, I think he's part of the animal rights movement.

Mike: Nicole! On the sign it says "Dont tease the animals, they have feelings too"

After the farm, it was back to the bach to indulge with some beverages and good food. Although we did not have a BBQ, we did use it as a brazier to keep us warm. Typical shenanigans went on and I passed out around 10pm. What a great weekend.

Only 1 more week in New Zealand and I'm off to the big smoke.

Sam

Oink Oink - 1.2 MB

Highland Cattle - 2.5 MB




Extreme Carting








Check out the Scenery








Dirty Mongrel









Getting lucky from an Emu







It's Tina the Lama








Say "Cheese"








Love Waikanae









Performance from Kapahaka group

London here I come

People say Friday the 13th is an unlucky day, but on that day, my visa was aproved!
Very excited; like a little school boy with a stiffy.
I meet up with Sam Burrett during her short stint in Wellington and went out for a few drinks, dinner, drinks, dessert, drinks. It was an early night but we managed to get a lot of drinks down. The next day at work was a ride off, drinking pints is totally different from drinking schooners.

Friday night was meant to be a quiet night as I was feeling under the moon. I brushed my mates as I did not want to go out. But at 5:30pm, my colleagues wanted me to go for a quick drink before going home, so why not. After the first pint, I went outside to have a smoke and to my surprise, it was my mates that I brushed. I was caught red handed and no amount of reasoning could explain my actions. So out partying we went and as usual, drinks flowed. Saturday was another ride off on the couch like a vegetable.

Time is slowly running out for me in Wellington. My flights are booked, clothes packed. Just waiting for the day to arrive. Anyway, spending this weekend up in Waikanae relaxing and sinking a few beers with mates.

Sam





Sam Burrett and Emma








mmm beers







We saw Ghosts









Will loves his convertible

3 weeks and still no Visa.

I have now been home for 6 weeks and still visaless.

Although I have a feeling that something is going to come in the mail this week. So intensed.

I did not utilise my gym membership last month so I have been getting my arse into gear this week; getting up at 5:30am to go for a run with a sweatshirt and beanie.

A lot of people have said to me.

"Why are you going so hard at the gym? You are just going to get the Healthrow injection"

No matter how strong my determination not to pack on the pounds, I have to agree with that statement. All I'll be eating is Bangas & Mash and Yorkshire Pudding.

The old lady was feeling a bit down on Sunday so I treated her to a movie. We went to the Lighthouse Cinema in Petone. The cinema is situated in a historical building that seats about 40 people. All the seats are twin seater couches, you can only imagine the luxurious atmosphere; sitting there with a glass of red. The movie that was screening when we arrived was Happy go Lucky. It was about a 30 year old female that is high on life. Quirky, Spontaneous and amusing. Sam Burrett from England via Australia is in Wellington tomorrow night so I'll be meeting her for a few drinks.

Lame update, but its 12:45am and I have less than 5 hours sleep.

Sam

Drunken Mike making cheese toastie






Romantic walk in the park with Ham







This is why NZ is so beautiful

Golf carts kick ass

My boss and 2 work colleagues decided to have a little friendly competition over 18 holes of golf. We hired two golf carts as we were too lazy to walk 5 kilometres. The moment we got into the carts, the game was all over. No longer was the game about having the least amount of shots to get the ball into the hole but who can get to the players ball first & kick it, pull donuts, put the other players off and basically shout obscenity when a shot is mothered. The c-bomb was possibly the most used word followed closely by Fuck - Bitch - Shit.
A normal game of golf when walking should take about 4 hrs 30 mins. But our game in the carts took 4 hrs 15mins. We are so crap! I was annoyed at leaving the camera at home.

The week has been pretty full on, work sent me to Auckland for a few days to finish some project work. It was all work and no play, I bascially slept for about 3 hours per night.
This then lead to me not going out Friday and Saturday night just so I could catch up on sleep.
It's Queens Birthday Monday, I am feeling fresh and ready for the week ahead.
I am still missing Brisbane quite a bit, I miss the ease of partying and going out any night of the week. Due to the bad weather in Wellington, it is an effort to get friends to go out at night.

It's late and I need my beauty sleep.

Sam




Asians










I need to stop posing









DRINKS!









Why do I hang with Retards?

Just waiting on Visa

I have finally applied for my visa after 4 weeks of procrastinating.
Work has been pretty full on and living at home is kinda a drag as it takes me 1 hour to get to work.

The boys and I went on a road trip 2 weeks ago to attend a mates engagement party in Taranaki. The 5 hour drive was painful as I was sick. The funny part about it is that the 5 people I went up with all got sick! So when I was recovering, they started sneezing and coughing. My bad. From Taranaki, we took another 4+ hour drive up to Auckland as my mates had tickets to the Foo Fighters, I on the other hand did not want to go to the concert so ended up spending time with close family friends in Auckland.
My mate Mike shows a slight resemblance to Foo Fighters front-man Dave Grohl. While walking down the street, a stranger approached him and asked "Aren't you in a band?"
It was very funny and still is.

There is a casino in Auckland and of course most of my time was spent there, I love Blackjack.
Blackjack paid for all our entertainment so the trip was pretty good.
I've also been using Skype quite a bit to call people. It's amazing how good the quality is. If you have skype, feel free to gimme a call, I may even show you a bit of something something.

SkypeName: Sam-NZ

No time to write, need to catch up on emails.

Sam




Notice the beer in Mike's hand








Fiona was the first to get sick








Party on the farm








Moisties









7 degrees in Taranaki







It's Dave Grohl








Tracey's 21st








He's special








I am a sexy bitch