Taste of Auckland

               On Sunday, Sam and I went to a food festival called “Taste of Auckland” in Victoria Park. The festival showcased some of the best food and wine Auckland has to offer, so in other words, I was in heaven. The weather was really nice and you could hear the live music even from the outside. Once we walked in, it was a bit overwhelming because there were tents all over the place and we weren’t sure where to start. At first we just walked around sampling mostly cheese, and bread with olive oil. For some reason, I was in such a cheese mood and can honestly say I had every type of cheese from every stand there (and even ending up buying 8 dollars worth of the best cheddar cheese I have ever had!). I have a skillful gift of being able to get the biggest cheese cube on the chopping block, usually stuck to some smaller ones as well so I end up getting about 4 free samples of cheese in one shot. It’s an acquired skill that took years of practice so don’t be jealous if you haven’t gotten it down yet. 

                Finally, we moved on to some wine and I went for Sauvignon Blanc, which was my first time having white wine since the first day we arrived here. It was very good though so I think I am no longer scarred for life, but I didn’t get the name of it unfortunately. Besides the little tents that featured local brands, there were also main tents which had the restaurants in it. Each restaurant selected three of their best dishes and served sample sizes of it for a lower price. When I arrived, I got a pamphlet describing all the dishes and I stood at a long table circling the ones I wanted and crossing out all the ones I didn’t want, trying to narrow it down to three dishes. I pretty much ended up circling the entire pamphlet and had to go back and cross out a lot – this took me quite a while and I was very wrapped up in the process so much so that the man next to me asked if I was a food critic. Sadly, no I am just obsessed with food. But here is what I finally ended up going with:

                The third runner up was: dine by Peter Gordon where I got pan-seared sea scallops with pickled leeks, Clevedon buffalo mozzarella, chorizo caramel and Heilala vanilla dressing. It was very good, but I must say Daddy’s scallops are better. 

                Second runner up: Soto where Sam and I split some Prawn Filo Tempura with Japanese style Worcestershire sauce, tartar sauce, and wasabi caviar. It was delicious and very uniquely done. The shrimp was on a giant stick similar to a corn dog and very fun/messy to eat. 

                

             First runner up: Euro where I had Simon Gault Alaskan King crab and prawn in jalapeno crème fraiche sauce topped with tuna wafer. This was probably the heaviest dish I had all day because the sauce was very thick, but it was delicious! I didn’t even know what tuna wafer was when I ordered it, but it looked like it was still alive because it was moving (I’m assuming it was because of the wind, but either way I still ate it.)  And there's no picture for this one because I inhaled it before I remembered to take one.

                And finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the winner: Clooney where I had King Cole Duck Breast, pickled apple, maple & mustard. Yes, that’s right. I’ve finally completed a life-long dream of mine and had duck, and it was amazing! Tastes a bit like chicken. 

                While walking around, we saw this giant painting and a girl was working on the clouds in it. When we got closer, a guy came up and informed us that it was a paint by number version of the Goethe in der romischen Campagna by Johann H W Tischbein. They were promoting the exhibition of European Masters from the Stadel Museum which is now currently being shown in a New Zealand Museum for the next few months. The painting was basically completely finished, but I think he felt bad for us and asked us if we wanted to add to it. So Sam and I got to add a “second coat” to two small areas on the bottom of the painting. It was actually really cool just to add to it a little, knowing we painted that part. 

                Shockingly, I didn’t really have any desserts there, though Sam went back to the same cupcake stand three different times. I think they started to hide the free samples every time she starting coming near. After about four hours and 50 dollars later (eek), the festival was coming to an end. It was nice to be out for the day and somewhere new. I hadn’t even been to Victoria Park last time (that I know of…).

Back in Auckland!

                My last few days home consisted of last minute errands and packing – and by packing, I mean watching Krissy pack for me while Trevor played with my makeup to give himself a bloody lip and two black eyes. I of course over indulged on Sunday dinner with the excuse that it would be my last one in awhile, although I’ve obviously never needed a reason to do so before. Monday flew by and before I knew it, it was Tuesday morning and my flight was at 3. I actually left the house on time and didn’t forget anything! I checked my bags, went through security, and found my gate right away. I was so nervous to fly out of JFK alone, but it wasn’t bad at all. I sat in the lobby for about an hour bored out of my mind so I gave in and bought a book at the airport – Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang – which caused me to laugh out loud in the lobby and on the plane a few times. People stared. I had an aisle seat which was nice and I sat next to a Muslim woman who copied everything I did. I ordered cookies, she saw me open and eat them, and then had the flight attendant go back and get her some too. When they came back around, she got the cookies again, but I ordered pretzels and she then watched me eat those too and asked for pretzels as well. It was interesting. For some reason, I thought the flight was only four hours. It wasn’t. It was six and I got very bored. For awhile, I played a trivia game by myself on the television screen in front of me, and then eventually other people joined and I kept losing to TAHITI in 22F…damn TAHITI. 

We finally landed in California about 40 minutes early and again I breezed through baggage claim and finding Qantas to check in for my international flight. Sam was waiting by our gate and by this time I was starving, so for our last meal in the United States we went to…..Chili’s. It was that or Burger King. The flight to Auckland was very nice due to some Ambien – out of the 13 hour flight I slept for 10 of it. We got into Auckland at around 9AM and instead of the rainbows and fireworks I was expecting upon my arrival back, it was raining and really cold! We took a cab to our hotel which had some serious false online advertising with its apartment pictures, but oh well. 

Right away we went apartment hunting since we only had the hotel for two nights. Of course, we had a backup plan in case we didn’t find anything the first few days though: being homeless. We went around to all the realtor companies and set up appointments for the following day and saw one apartment the same day. The entire building was Asian, and it was kind of a far walk to Queen Street, the main street and the Viaduct, which is where I am currently hoping to get a job so we passed. After running a few more errands such as opening a bank account and buying wine, we went back to the hotel to get ready to go out. We chose our wine based on the most important quality indicator: cheap price. Needless to say, it was actually painful to drink and I am turned off of white wine for the moment and the damage may be permanent. We had to go out that night though because our friend Niall who used to study here and live at Huia had also moved back here and was supposed to stay until the end of December. He ended up getting a job interview back home in Ireland so this was his last weekend in Auckland. We went out to Father Ted’s and everything seemed just like old times!

The next day, I was still a little off with the time difference and it also didn’t help that neither Sam or I had a watch or phone to tell the time, but I woke up convinced we had overslept for our apartment viewings and woke Sam up while I was freaking out. Our apartment viewings were at 11 – it was 6:45AM…...After we finally got up later at the right time, we saw an apartment right on Queen Street in the Volt complex. It is kind of small but it had two double bedrooms with a bathroom, washer dryer, small common room with a kitchenette, and a balcony with a view of the Skytower!  (PICTURES COMING SOON) And we could move in that day so we signed right then and there! It is a little overwhelming thinking about paying bills for rent and electricity and internet. It definitely makes me more appreciative of home and I actually make sure to turn off the lights whenever I leave the house (Krissy would be so proud). I had to buy an internet plan for about $25 dollars a month which only lasts about 10 hours a month! So if I’m not online much this is probably why. We moved out of the hotel and into our apartment. It was reeaaally fun carrying my one-wheeled suitcase into the complex. I looked like a giant mess for sure, definitely made an entrance. We then went to the Warehouse, which is basically their version of Target and get a bunch of things for the apartment. We spent the rest of the day settling in, and I unpacked my clothes and put them in my room, which is more like a closet, literally. I think it’s the size of the walk-in closet Meg and I had in our dorm senior year. Loyola definitely spoiled us. I had to keep all of my clothes on my bed because there was really nowhere to put it. 

Then packing took a back burner to going out again for Niall’s last night in Auckland. Sam and I got ready and headed to Father Ted’s again. We were the first ones there and the bar was filled with Rocky Horror Picture Show characters and they were playing the songs from the movie! (For those of you who don’t know, Glee recently did a Rocky Horror Picture Show episode and I just downloaded the songs and am mildly obsessed with them) Anyway, the reason they were there is because they are putting on the show for the next two weeks up the street so Sam and I are going to try and get tickets. Poor Sam wasn’t as “tipsy” as I was and had to stand there and watch as I sang and danced to the songs – apparently there’s an actual dance to the Time Warp song, who knew? We also had numerous creepers come up to us. One old guy basically motioned how short I was when I walked in and then asked if he could literally pick me up Another guy wouldn’t leave Sam alone - she tried everything from ignoring him to telling him she just snarfed. Finally Niall, his friend Jake, and three other people from Huia showed up and we were hanging out. I also happened to make friends with the bouncer, trying to convince him I would also make a very good bouncer. He let me card people and yell at anyone who stepped outside with a drink. I think I could definitely make a living out of it, besides the few people who just ignored me when I asked for their I.D. One guy even straight up just laughed. 

Sunday, was more errands! Nothing too exciting, but we picked up a few pamphlets and books about Auckland and things to do in/near the area. We also bought a calendar to make planning things easier which Sam has become obsessed with. We are attending a “Taste of Auckland” festival this week and she literally spent a good five minutes debating how to write it in the calendar – if she should put “Taste of Auckland” or Auckland Food Festival. She finally settled with “Taste of Auckland” Food Festival I believe. Anyway, I’m scared to write in it or even look at it for fear she’ll freak out. 

Today is now Monday and we finally went job searching. We applied at about five bars. They all asked us if we had any bartending experience at all, to which we said no. Sooo, it looks promising, obviously. I also applied at a retail store called dotti, just to have some sort of income coming in. Hopefully, it works out! We do have a trial shift set up at a bar called Fox’s, so who knows? I’m actually looking forward to getting a job, hopefully making some new friends there, and just feeling completely settled in. For now, the weather is beautiful – not quite summer yet, but still gorgeous - the people are so friendly, and it’s just nice to be back!