Photo Travel : Lake Tekapo, South Island, New Zealand

Lake Tekapo, South Island , New Zealand - Simply Amazing! Need I say more?

Lake Tekapo, South Island - New Zealand

Driving all the way from Christchurch, you will pass across Lake Tekapo if you are heading towards Mount Cook. In my lifetime, I have never seen anything this amazingly beautiful and it was one of those many 'Nat Geo' moments that one can expect to encounter if you are going on a road trip around New Zealand.

Photo Travel : Feijoa Fruit From New Zealand

Feijoa Fruit

I had my first ever taste of this fruit - the Feijoa during my previous trip to New Zealand. It was also the first time I have ever heard of such a fruit. Apparently, if I can remember this correctly, Feijoa tree is a pretty common garden plant for people living in the North Island of New Zealand ( I think :)).

We received a bag full of feijoas from some friends right out from their backyard and of course they do sell them at the supermarket as well. As for the taste of it, I think it is a bit like the kiwi fruit but with a different texture and a slightly more tangy, sour taste. Some feijoas can be really sweet too and I think I would prefer the sweeter feijoas version a lot more.

In New Zealand, when you buy kiwi fruits, it will come in a pack with a special spoon which makes it easy for you to cut the fruit in half and scoop the juicy kiwis with the tiny spoon. Similarly, that is the way you cut and eat your feijoas too.

 Kiwi and the spoon

For more about Feijoa, read more here from Wiki.

*Note : In Malaysia, I've seen Feijoa fruit being sold at Cold Storage for a crazy price tag. If you are curious to what Feijoa tastes like, probably you should try to get it. Even if you are a Kiwi living in KL and is missing home badly, probably you should buy it too. :)

Travel Photos : Postcards from My Road Trip in New Zealand

It's time for that Travel Photos  again and this time around it is a series of travel postcards from my road trip in New Zealand.

Do you send postcards to people at home when you are traveling? I recently do! I would like to make it a ritual when I travel to send people at home really interesting postcards. It's going to be exciting for the receivers don't you think?

Here are some of the Travel postcards I sent to family and friends while I was on a 24 days, adventurous travel road trip in New Zealand :

[caption id="attachment_2624" align="alignleft" width="640" caption="            "]

Animals Anecdotes : Meet and Greet with a Horse

One of the best things about travelling in New Zealand is that you get to be really close in contact with the  environment which obviously includes the plants and the animals. On our short stay over at Twizel, a little town located somewhere close to Mount Cook in South Island, New Zealand, we came across or some what literally met with this horse along with two other two legged animals - a little pony and a cow out in a fenced area of a field. This friendly horse actually walked all the way across the middle of the field towards the fence simply to greet us. At that time, we didn't have any food to offer them and so we thought, she just came around to say "Hello!"

[caption id="attachment_2489" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="A horse came all the way across the field to greet us. Location : Twizel, New Zealand"][/caption]

It was amazing that she actually came up to us as if she understood that we were eager to see her right up and close. Also, it was the first time for everyone to be that close to a horse before and she even allowed us to pat her which was really sweet of her. I think horses are really smart and for this particular one, it is smart plus very friendly too. I do believe that horses are great mind readers just like dogs and they kind of like know if you have good or bad intentions towards them and probably that was why the horse was drawn towards us.

[caption id="attachment_2490" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The gang of three : the horse, cow and a little pony out in the field somewhere in Twizel, New Zealand"][/caption]

After a couple of minutes of our brief meet and greet, the pony and the cow decided to come closer to check us out over at the fence too. Come to think of it, it is funny to see these three animals hanging out with each other just by themselves and they seemed to be getting along really well too. I do hope the owner do come by to feed them and probably they were just waiting for breakfast to come when we were there.

Probably one day, I should learn up to ride a horse. It should be really fun don't you think?

I got myself a Koru Rose Quartz Pendant | New Zealand Jade Design

So there you go! That's me with a Koru (Spiral) design Quarts Pendant. I was browsing around the souvenir shop in Rotorua, New Zealand and I stumbled across the pendant and necklaces rack. New Zealand has a pretty nifty traditionally designed pendant usually crafted on those beautiful green coloured New Zealand jade.

Jade can be pretty pricey and usually in Malaysia, we only see old Chinese aunties who traditionally will wear jade jeweleries. So, getting myself a jade pendant didn't sound like a good idea. Hehe. However, I really love the unique traditional New Zealand designs on the jade and I was attracted to the particular pendant that I bought.

[caption id="attachment_2675" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Koru Pendant with Rose Quartz - Maori Traditional Jade Design"][/caption]

It is a Rose Quartz with the Koru or Spiral design. I really thought it fits me well until I finally read at the back of the little card that comes along with the pendant on the meaning of both the Rose Quartz and the Koru (Spiral) design.

Rose Quartz:

The stone of love, acceptance and forgiveness. Removes negative energy by dissolving hidden tensions. Possessing a very pacifying effect, the Rose Quartz is both uplifting and positive. Counteracts the effects of computer or terrestrial radiation.

Koru ( Spiral) Design represents :


New beginnings, growth and harmony

I guess there is a reason why I was attracted to the Koru Rose Quartz pendant or probably I just love the look of them. Either way, if you are down in New Zealand, I think it is worth to get hold of the various traditional, New Zealand jade pendant designs and I am pretty sure you will love it! :)

Photo Travel : Great New Zealand Road Trip - Let's count the sheep!

This is quite possible one of the best views that anyone can look forward to if you are on the Great New Zealand Road Trip driving around the  South Island, New Zealand . We travelled by car heading down south from Christchurch to Mount Cook. Along the way, we were greeted by breathtakingly beautiful mountain views and thousands of acres of green fields filled with among them the grazing sheep.

[caption id="attachment_2417" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Photo travel : Great New Zealand Road Trip - Can you count the sheep?"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2418" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Sheep grazing at the open field in New Zealand"][/caption]

The sheep are obviously having a great time at the open field and I got to say that they are the luckiest sheep in the world for having to live in that view and environment every single day! If you are travelling down to New Zealand, do make sure to make a stop by the roadside and capture these beautiful view for yourself.

 

Animals Anecdotes : The Cow Whisperer

On our Great New Zealand Road Trip back in April this year, we drove through the beautiful country side and somehow making our way through farms thanks to the 'shortest route' option from the GPS. Along the way, we saw this particular cow grazing by the fence right next to our car. Hence, we slowed down the car and decided to make a little chat ala 'Cow Whispering' with this cow.

The one saying "Hallo" is my mum while I make the initial 'moo-ing' sound in attempt for a response from it. What do we know, we got a pretty 'conversational moo' from Mr.Cow ( I am not sure of its gender though. Pardon me for the lack of knowledge on this one. Hehe)

Of course, fun and awesome things needed to be captured on video and I made a video for this Cow Whispering Moment! Hope you will enjoy watching it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhn9lbtGpu4

Spaghetti Crayfish Recipe in 30 Minutes

It's time again for a quick cook up for just 30 minutes.Trust me this is one super delicious meal you can whip up for lunch or dinner today. Let's get started with the Spaghetti Crayfish Recipe:

1. Get you hands on some fresh crayfish or some freshly cooked ones.

[caption id="attachment_2353" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Get your hands on some freshly cooked crayfish. We got one from a lady selling seafood along the coastal, sea view road from Kaikoura, New Zealand heading up north."][/caption]

 

2. The choice of pasta is totally up to you. For this version, I was actually using egg noodles because I just felt like it.Haha. You see cooking is fun and just go about with what you feel like having for the day and cook around it. Follow the cooking instructions for your pasta usually written on the cover of the pasta bag and it shouldn't take more than 12 minutes or so.

3. For the pasta or spaghetti sauce, these are the things that I used:

- I'm Asian and I love it spicy and hot, hence the red chilli is a must have. Chopped it up small for the extra kick of heat in the sauce and the other extra ingredient is to add on a couple of tea spoons of spicy curry powder. The curry powder I used for this dish is Vencat Curry Powder and you can get it readily available in most stores around New Zealand. I couldn't stress how much I adore this particular curry powder.

[caption id="attachment_2357" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="The fiery Vencat Curry Powder!"][/caption]

- Diced some onions, tomatoes, celery (optional)

- Tomato puree or one of those tomato spaghetti sauce in the can or bottle

- Italian herbs or mix herbs (any kind of herbs of your choice)

- Cut up the crayfish into smaller pieces and keep the head too because that's where the sweet crayfish juices will come from

4. To make the Crayfish Pasta Sauce, simply heat the pot, pour some oil in and saute the onions, diced tomatoes, diced chilli and herbs. Next throw in the tomato puree / tomato spaghetti sauce and add in a bit of water. Just as the sauce started to boil, throw in the diced crayfish and the head. Throw in everything, don't even miss a leg of the crayfish. Haha. For taste, add on some pepper and salt. And you are ready to serve!

The end result of this Spaghetti Crayfish in a quick 30 minutes cook up looks like this:

[caption id="attachment_2354" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Any kind of noodles or pasta will work too! This one I used egg noodles instead. The most important part is the spaghetti sauce with the crayfish in it!"][/caption]

And the close up version of the Crayfish Pasta Sauce! Yum!

[caption id="attachment_2355" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The killer crayfish pasta or spaghetti sauce"][/caption]

Cooking pasta is really easy and if you happen to have crayfish available around you, you should try out this Spaghetti Crayfish Recipe. It is simply divine! Ah, I'm drooling just writing about this. Give this recipe a try and happy cooking!

Quad Biking : It Gets Even Better After You Crash!

When it comes down to quad biking and especially when it is your first time riding a quad bike, things only get even better when you experienced your first ever bike crash! Yes, bike riding gets crazily addictive even after you crash. You got to believe me on that one, although  I have to admit that I was a little bit traumatized for a good few minutes after the crash.

Cutting the long and boring story short ( I hope this excites you instead), I figured that I should at least capture the quad bike crashing moment and the best thing I could come up with was to illustrate the crash with my sketches. Below is the closest on what  I could vividly remember during my quad biking crash at Queenstown, New Zealand :

[caption id="attachment_2199" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="This is how I crashed on my quad bike and yes, I sketched this one up myself . :)"][/caption]

Let's close up on the sketch shall we.



1. I lost control of the quad during a turning (it wasn't even a sharp turning) and I hit straight on towards a 'huge ass' pole. Haha talking about being a big time klutz right!



2. Naturally, after a strong impact one will fall and in my case, I plunged forward over the handle bar and the sequence of events followed by a couple of front rolls all over the ground. This was an awesome stunt and I remembered falling over the yellow fender of my quad, tucking in my head and did a front roll like a gymnast!



3 & 4.  I continued on rolling while both my legs went scraping against the wire fence.



5. Finally, the rolling stopped with me falling flat on my stomach with my face down kissing the dirt on the ground.



6. I rolled myself to face up and at this point, I felt a sharp pain on my right side around the pelvic area. I tried to stand up but I can't and I laid there on the ground for a couple of seconds feeling utterly hopeless.

7. I tried again to stand up from my left side and pushed myself upward and...



8. Phew, it was a huge relief to be up again. The next thing I knew, the guide came running back to find me and he saw that I had crashed and the first thing he asked was, " Are you okay? Did you break any bones? ". He did looked genuinely worried there but all was good. I was fine and I continued the next hour quad biking on the off road adventure.

The quad biking adventure in Queenstown, New Zealand was awesome and it gets way awesome-r after I crashed! And this, shall be a great adventure story that I can always talk or brag about always in the future. Have you any great biking incident that you can always share or brag about with people? Do share it with me! :)

Photo Travel : Quad Biking in Queenstown, New Zealand

I've never rode on a four wheeler or quad bike or the ATV bike before, hence having a go at it while I was in Queenstown, New Zealand for our close to a month Great Kiwi Road Trip, couldn't have been any better than that. It was superb and a MUST DO thing for anyone looking for a real biking, dirt road adventure.

Another important thing to note is : Quad Biking can be ADDICTIVE! If speed and thrill is your kind of game, Quad Biking is an absolute MUST TRY!

[caption id="attachment_2188" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Yours truly posing on a quad bike minutes after I had an awesome 'fall & flip' from the quad bike"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2189" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Splashing through the water on the quad bike"][/caption]

Juicy things you ought to know on my first time quad biking experience :

1. It was awesome shite and  I want to do it again and again!

2. It got a whole lot better because I met with an accident with my quad and no, nobody hit me. Instead, I hit a mega huge fencing pole for no reason at all and I literally 'flew' over the handle bar, flipped 360 degrees twice, scraped my legs over the wire of the fence and finally, falling flat on my stomach. All that happened in a split second while my quad bike and my friend were already ahead of me in front and yes, it took them sometime to realize that I had gone MIA. Lol!

Oh, other than that, I'm perfectly FINE! Thank God!

3. I love speed and drifting at cornering whenever I drive and I got to do just that on those many corners with the quad! Super great fun!

4. With my level of competency on the quad, I was riding on automatic transmission all the way (that's on the 3rd gear I think) and I was only riding on the Beginners Trail for about an hour 15minutes. It was exhausting, bumpy but with tonnes of fun!

5. I'm in love with quad and now I'm having some crazy ideas to get one in the future or at least if I can't get a quad, I should get a motorbike.

6. It was a great quad biking experience after going through an insanely exhilarating and heart wrenching free fall from my first ever bungy jump at Nevis Bungy the day before.

So yeah, if you happen to travel around to Queenstown, New Zealand and you are in need for an adrenaline fix, make sure you go crazy with some off road biking experience either on the quads or bikes. You will absolutely love it to bits :)

* There are a few off road quads and bikes tours that you can choose from in Queenstown. The one that I went with was with :

Off Road Adventures, Queenstown : www.offroad.co.nz (0800 633 7623)

Should natural disaster stop you from continuing with your travel plan?

For all avid travellers out there, I'm pretty sure you are more than aware with all the natural disasters news going about since the beginning of the year. So the question is now, should natural disaster stop you from continuing with your travel plan? To answer this questions, you need to bare in mind the followings:

1. Keep yourself updated on the latest news about the place you will be travelling and contact embassies if necessary to find out on any safety issues for your travel. In short, you have to be aware and update yourself on all the latest news about the place that you have planned to travel to.

2. I would still think, it is fairly safe to continue with your travel plans if you are planning to visit the country probably 1-2 months from the date of the disaster. Well, it is still very highly necessary to take precautions on things but personally, I would say it will be fine to continue with your travel plan by then.

You may want to cancel things altogether if you are planning to travel on the same day or anytime from days/a week after the day of the disaster struck. That will be a bad choice to keep on continuing with the travel plans. Well that's what most rational and logical person will do.

3.  Always follow your guts or intuitions whether you need to continue or not for your travel. If you just feel confident that things are going to be okay and there are no doubt inside of you, then by all means, do continue on with your travel journey.

4. Good judgments and again, constantly updating yourself with the latest news on the country you are planning to visit is very important to decide on things. There are many ways to keep yourself updated online. One of the best things we can have right now is the to simply Google on the latest news. For example if you Google : Japan Earthquake, you'll get to view these links at the very top of the search result page:

The Google Crisis Response website - for news, media, maps and others related:

http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html

Pacific Tsunami Warning Center website :


http://ptwc.weather.gov/

And for updates on New Zealand :

http://canterburyearthquake.org.nz/
With all the information you can gather from the websites, live news and even contacting your embassies to find out details on the safety of your future travel, that should help you to decide on whether you should stop or continue with your travel plans. All in all, there are no certain answers to what should stop you from travelling. However, always make wise judgment and what's important is if you are going to continue with your travel plans, let's just take whatever that is going on on the country you are planning to visit as part of the extra adventure that should accompany you during your travel. Who knows, it could be a life changing experience for you and I'm definite that we all at the end of the day can learn so much from the things that had happened.

So, travel safely if you are leaving for Japan or New Zealand any time soon. :)