CRUISING ON LAKE WAKATIPU - PART ONE

2nd December 2013 ~ We went on the boat cruise on Lake Wakatipu with "Southern Discoveries" tour. It was not that expensive, about NZ$20 and you would be given coffee and a chocolate cookie on the boat.

We were lucky as there were only 9 passengers including us on the boat, a couple from India, two girls from Korea and a family of three from China. Hence the boat operator cum tourist guide, Steve (I hope I got his name right), could give us his undivided attention. We could ask him questions easily because other people seemed not to be communicating with him except the guy from India.

We were there on the boat to witness the beauty of nature - the lake, the mountainous lands surrounding the area and the blue sky, and at the same time listening to the guide telling us everything about the place.
 

At one spot of the lake, Steve stopped the boat and threw a pail into the lake. Right after that, the boat passengers were served with the cooling lake water, and I am not joking. I would not hesitate to gulp in the crystal clear lake water even though there was no urgent need to do that.

TO BE CONTINUED...

MOVIE REVIEW - "I, FRANKENSTEIN"

This was the movie I went to watch because I couldn't wait for the Chinese New Year break to go to the cinema. I think it was not a box-office movie and I could not even find a big poster of this film outside the cinema to take a photograph with. And there were no big stars acted in this movie too.

I was expecting just a mediocre kind of movie, something like a science fiction of how a man was turned into a monster. And I was surprised as it took a different turn altogether. It was more like a vampire movie, how Frankenstein was actually a superhero, trying to protect the human kinds and gargoyles too from the demons. And I must say the movie was quite entertaining even though there are a few very violent scenes. Well, that should not be something new.

I have a feeling there will be a sequel to this film after this. Perhaps I should get the novel, or the graphic novel from which the film was adapted.

AN EX-STUDENT'S GOING-WESTERN-DINNER-TREAT

29th January 2014 ~ Puan Yusidah and I were invited for a dinner treat by an ex-student from SPM batch 2003, Miss Michelle Fatinidris (her Facebook name).
It was hard to turn down an offer for a free meal so we went to "Mama Chops Papa Grill" at Taman Universiti, not only to eat but as usual to catch up lost time.

Pn. Yusidah's son who tagged along

and another one

the restaurant's regular customer

I still remember this one incident back in 1994 when we were placed in a primary school (SKTU2) as our school building construction work (the final stage) was still in progress. Once, during recess time, I was staying in a classroom and suddenly a cute and small primary Chinese girl appeared at the door and asked me, "Teacher, have you eaten?" And she is that girl who has stayed bubbly and cheerful all this while.

Thanks a lot Michelle for the dinner treat. Hopefully you will get a promotion real soon and can treat us again some other time in the future. :)

THE DISTRIBUTION OF BR1M MONEY FOR SCHOOL STUDENTS

28th January 2014 ~ The RM100 fund for school students was distributed today. As we have too many students, about 2800 at present, we have to organize a special day just to make sure the process could be done effectively. The session started at 12 noon and ended at 3:00 p.m. and as expected, many parents came to school to receive the money on behalf of their children.

students and their parents arriving

form teachers waiting for the money

handing over the money

unfortunately not for teachers

 

in my wildest dream

We just hope that the money will be spent wisely by everybody.

*NOTE: All pictures taken from Puan Yasirah's FB.

ASPEN LODGE BACKPACKERS, QUEENSTOWN

This was our humble accommodation when were in Queenstown. We chose the room with the bathroom attached to it but if your are more adventuruous and sociable, you could always stay in a dorm which should be much cheaper.

The facility is situated in the town itself so we could always walk to the lake area or to the supermarket nearby to get our food supply. 

There is a guest room upstairs equipped with television and VCR/DVD players. If you plan to cook your own meals, you can always use the kitchen, cooking equipment and utensils available. We only used the place for breakfast and to prepare food (read: sandwiches) to be taken for our trips. We had dinner outside and for one thing, we arrived to the backpackers quite late in the evening so we were not keen to cook.

It was another pleasant place to stay and I would always recommend this place to people who will be going to Queenstown.