shit just got real

disclaimer:  i cannot seem to get myself together.  i've been away from home for almost a week and my head is still in safe mode or something.  my thoughts are just completely out of whack and it may take a while before i reboot.  so please bear with all the unnecessary bullshit, grammatical errors and insane language.

a lot of friends have been asking me how things are over here.  well...contrary to what people say (and by 'people', i meant my agency), its not as easy as they make it out to be.

but i am getting ahead of myself.

first things first.

before i arrived in auckland, i had to endure a long and bitter flight from manila.  since there is no such thing as a direct flight, my itinerary said that i have a 4-hour layover in Singapore.  this is fine.  my ticket also included meals and 40kg worth of check-in luggage.  i carried a backpack and a sling bag for my carry-on with the latter starting to (horribly) disintegrate a few minutes after i left our house.

K&K bag

Dear sis:  nabakbak. kthxbye.

can i just say that NAIA Terminal 1 is just plain ugly?  what the hell government.  its embarrassing.  seriously.

the flight from manila to singapore was uneventful.  i had some kind of chicken meal which i failed to take a photo of.  but it was nice knowing you won't starve during the flight.

when i landed in SG, my fellow travelers and i had a quick bite and waited at the lounge for our next flight.  this was a colossal waste of time but we had no choice.  we spent it getting to know each other and charging our phones (haha)

my next flight was looong and cold and....LOOOOOONG.  it was 10 hours.  good thing the person sitting next to me mostly kept to herself.  she was european with pretty platinum blonde hair.  bathroom breaks were our only interaction.  i loved it.  haha.  i wasnt in the mood to talk to anyone even if it was 10 hours.  the worst thing about this flight (aside from the lack of leg room) is that i had a serious allergy attack which made my skin near my nostrils hurt due to constant wiping.  ugh.  it was a very inconvenient and disgusting issue.

i was able to take a photo of my dinner and my breakfast.  airplane food does not look so appealing (im sure the more expensive airlines have cuter trays) but i was glad i availed of the meals.  they were not bad.

dinner (beef something) + my in-flight entertainment (thanks TW folks! love y'all!)

scrambled eggs and ham and potatoes. mukhang kadiri. pero masarap

and then...touchdown Auckland!

first impression:  it was so FUCKING COLD.  and the air was dry.  it was nasty.

after some time, my newly-found friend Jen and I located our driver and took us to our apartments.  my cousin was there to greet me.

Volt Apt at Queen Street

our bed. tatlo kami rito ah. we have space issues talaga.

luggage and other things

cousin by the kitchen cooking...(see pic below)

LONGGANISA!

shower and toilet

my stuff inside the mirror cabinet

laundry area

after hauling my bags to the 4th floor and in our room, we immediately headed out to look around and maybe shop for some supplies.

malaki yung sidewalk

nearest train station is Britomart

old but neat bulding

church

sky tower raw ito

nearest mall

our apartment is located near the metro mall and the civic theater.  it was cool.

kinda malabo the picture. 

several things i noticed while walking around:

1.  Auckland is a multicultural city.  I went out expecting to see lots of Kiwis.  but no, i saw mostly....ASIANS (indians, koreans, chinese).  nothing against asians really, but you know what i mean.

kita nyo mga tao?

2.  I didn't expect beggars hanging around, but there were several of them along Queen St.

though mukha naman maayos at hindi sila "aggressive"

3.  lots of musicians performing along Queen St. as well.  it was really cool.  there was even one guy who wore a horse mask while playing the guitar.  i promise to take a photo of them and post it here next week.

4.  EVERYTHING is expensive in the city.  especially if you are a student and do not have a job.

i have 2 more days before school officially starts so i took advantage of the time by familiarizing myself with the place.  my cousin took me to Esquire, a local coffee joint.  i think i have an instagram photo of that.  i can't even afford coffee (3nzd!).  purita lang.  haha.

monday night (or was it tuesday?) my cousin's friend took us out to Turo-Turo Philippine Cafe.  nakakatawa lang, wala pa akong 3 araw na wala sa pinas, kumain na ulit ng pinoy food.  haha!  special thanks to PJ for the treat.

yessss food

the menu.  ang mahal ah!

last customer kami for the day

cute lang

i was very nervous about school.  almost a decade na akong di nakakakita ng classroom.  haha!  when i got there, i was hoping to at least have European classmates.  tanggap ko na na walang Kiwi sa international school.  though siguro naman may french or german or someone from czech republic or kahit greece, south africa.  hay.  pero lo and behold....i saw....ASIANS.

come on!

buti na lang may classmate ako na pinoy.  ang dami ko rin classmate....tumataginting na...ANIM!

AT...ako ang pinakamatanda.  may classmate ako from India who just turned 17.  what the hell.

this will be a blast indeed.

so orientation was like 2 days.  we were thought some basic Kiwi slang, working in NZ and all that.  it was very very very basic.  there was a part there about writing a CV and cover letter.  it was strange at first but then i realized that most of my classmates are young and do not have corporate experience.  so it makes sense to provide all these information.  but really, when one of the professors asked this question, i can't help but feel soooo out of place:

"what is the difference between a laptop and a netbook?"

good god.

anyway....

i began asking questions about my course and all that.  apparently, i am not taking up something that is equivalent to an MS degree.  my course is just a stepping stone to get an MS.  ugh, i was duped.  but what can i do?  i am already here.  might as well get the most out of it.

so one good thing about the 2-day orientation was the free food.  or so i thought.  let's backtrack a bit...i got here around sunday morning and for that night, my flatmate's friend cooked us LOTS of curry rice (he's from india).  naturally, we had leftovers.  my cousin and i ate the same curry rice the night after that.  for lunch the next day (this was now a tuesday), we ate the same curry rice again.  i was really happy to have free food at the school for wednesday morning tea and lunch so i can try other dishes (hopefully Kiwi cuisine).  so imagine my horror when we went to the cafe and saw this:

curry everyday

curry.....AGAIN.

it gets worse.  thursday is STILL orientation day...and we had the SAME lunch.

tengeneng yen.

bawal naman ako magreklamo.  kasi libre.  beggars can't be choosy.

OH another strange thing.  inside the restroom of the school, i saw this sign (which i ignored):

di ko binasa nung una. haha!

there was a sanipod where you ONLY throw your napkins and whatnot (dito ko tinapon yung tissue pero bawal pala).

mukhang trash can diba?

labo, mehn

WEIRD lang.  iba ang turo sa Pinas hahaha.  no idea why.  di siguro masyado malupit si habagat rito.

i spent friday night at home.  i did go out to buy food at the grocery store and did a bit of shopping at cotton on (in my defense, sale!).  i did the laundry, i fixed my things.  i COOKED my own dinner.  ok it was just a sandwich, but still!  i cooked it by myself.  i was happy and i felt very productive.

ham + egg + cheese sandwich

THEN...around 2am in the morning, my flatmate turned up.  she was drunk as fuck.  my cousin picked her up at the other flat.  our neighbor accompanied them because my flatmate couldnt walk at all.  he dragged her to our bed and told her to lie down (big mistake).  10minutes later, she started vomiting ALL OVER herself AND OUR BED!  WOAH.  my cousin and i had to clean everything, laundered all the sheets and pillow covers.  cleaned up our flatmate.  we went to bed around 3am.  good times.

eventful naman ang first week ko, no?  HAHAHAHA.

i don't know what will happen to me tomorrow.  i just went to north shore today (its a suburb) and got a taste of what its like to ride the bus.  right now, i can hear people screaming and having a good time in the street.  sabado nights.  lots of the college kids out in pubs having a drink.  gusto ko man maki-join, wala ako pambili ng drink.  POBRE lang talaga.  i miss red horse i swear.  and the company of my friends.

so there.  there are still lots to say about my first week here.  but i choose to let things sink in for few more weeks before i start ranting.  i am feeling the jet lag.  i am starting to understand the pains of being away from home.  but i chose this.  and with that, i have to accept my fate here and just go with the flow.

and try to enjoy myself for goodness sake.

the world is my oyster.  yun ang peg ko.

bring it on, bitch.