Our Engagement in New Zealand

Lifes many blessings

This morning was like no other. Clinton and I layed in bed finding it difficult to get up. Clinton had lots more energy than I, so he swayed me out of bed with the promise of home fries and eggs. Smile. That did it! I got up and started getting ready. We were headed to the Matakana markets at 9am so we had to speed up the pace a bit. While I showered and got ready, Clinton was busy getting other things ready...i.e. the proposal. He rushed me to come take a few pictures before Nessa and Boopsie came to pick us up. I came into the living room and we did a little photoshoot :-) After a few shots, Clinton stated he was going to get in the pics with me. He set the camera on what I thought was timer but was really video. He came over to me, I stroke a pose with him, then he said he was going to check the camera but instead he went down on one knee and took out the ring and I started screaming... literally, I started jumping up and down, with tears of happiness in my eyes. I didn't even allow him to get all his words out. From what I remember, he said something like "you've made me the happiest I've ever been and I want to know if you would marry me (Clinton may want to amend this...lol)." I answered a resounding, "Of course, yes I love you (I got to watch the video again to make sure...but this is close enough!)."

He placed the most beautiful solitare on my finger. I'm living a wonderful dream. Thank you babes, you truly make me the happiest woman ever. We will continue making an amazing life together. Blessings are everywhere. 2010 is truly epic!!!!

NZ LOVES

It will be about 2 months since I have been in New Zealand and I have begun to develop "loves" which I want to share with you. I have broken them up into categories which may change throughout my time here in order to incorporate new loves.

SHOPPING AREAS

Newmarket (outside of Auckland): Its a long strip of stores boutiques, brand-name shops and mini-malls that cater to a range of pockets. There are also several resturants and bars in the area to grab a quick meal or to delight on fancy eating expereince. I really like the book-store and second-hand shop across the street from the mall. The book-store seems to always have a good selection of books on sale which is important since books are pricey in NZ (a paperback is upwards to $35). The 2nd-hand store (thift store) has cute stylish items from both well-known labels and local designers.


Mount Wellington (on the #1 motorway towards Hamilton) this is a huge shopping mall much like the ones you would find in New Jersey. The area used to be owned by the American military during WWII but was sold of and has now become a sprawling area for stores and factories. If you are looking for a one-stop shop (food-shopping at Pak & Save, shopping for home items and/or fashion or a bite to eat) then this in-door mall is it. Good luck with parking on the weekends.

Markets:
Takapuna market: (located in the parking lot in the center of Takapuna city in the North Shore). This market is a great place to buy fresh local produce, seasons and craft for a great price. Seasonings in NZ can be a bit pricey and the selection limiting in the local supermarkets, but at this market there are several vendors selling a variety of seasonings for great prices.


GOOD EATS

Seafood

Auckland Fish Market: The fish market is a great place to buy and eat fresh fish. You can even learn how to cook the fish at the Auckland Seafood School located in the market. At the market you will find local and exotic selections of sea creators including 30 pound live crayfish and 2 yard long eals (don't worry they are in deep tanks with little chance of them getting out ;-). The first store in the market sells and cooks seafood at very reasonable prices. I love thier fish and chips. For 7 kiwi dollars you get a crispy fish of the day,an (un)healthy side of french-fries (chips) with a small soda...you can even asks for the fish to be grilled and your chips to be substituted with a very yummy seaweed salad if you are on a health kick. This place is quite popular so I recommend that you place your order, ask for a vibrating electronic alerter and then walk around the rest of the market.
Another notable spot to visit in the market is the wine store at the end. It has a great selection of NZ wines and offers a eductational and experiental wine-tasting. The bar has a food menu with light fares usually seafood base that occupying the wines well.

clinton's Fish and Chips: (located on Vulcan lane, next to Conntinental). Clinton is on quest for the best fish and chips in NZ and after 3 months of being here, he proclaims this still to be the best fish and chips he has eaten. The fish is crispy and well-seasoned and the dish comes with chips and a very tasty salad for $19. I agree that the fish is quite tasty and that the salad scrumptous but for me price, freshness and taste are all a factor and thats why I like the fish and chips at the Market...come on I can have two orders of fish and chips and desert for the price of his fabulous plate. Either way, it is a very yummy dish and its located right off of queen street (center of downtown) so the location couldn't be more convenient for travelers. The resturaunt also offers non-seafood meals which are quite good...oh and it's a bar as well which offers regular and large wine servings (large glasses filled to 3/4 of the way up :-).

North Shore Restuarunt: (located on beach of the North Shore) This resturant is right on the north beach with amazing views of the water, wide sand beach and slendid cliffs. The first time I went there was for lunch on a Sunday afternoon with a fellow American friend, Deborah. We sat outside on the deck overlooking the beach and were awe-struck at the beauty of NZ. On top of the beautiful scenery, I also had delicious Mussels and clams in a coconut curry sauce. The mussels were fresh and the sauce hmmmm hmmm good....I literally asked for a spoon so I could drink the sauce like a soup. And the for reasonable price of 16 dollars, I would definitely order them again. This place is great for outings with family, girls or you significant other.

Pizza
Sal's Pizza (located on Customs street) parrell to Queen Street)...think yummy NY style pizza in auckland. YES! Leave it to Clinton to find out where the NY style pizza in Auckland is located. And yes, it really is NY yummy tasting. The owner is orginally from Queens and has a Sal's pizza over there. He imports all his ingredients from the states and trains all his employees to make the best darn pizza in Auckland. I think he even imports his staff cause everytime we hae gone in there, the staff are Americans (one of which is from Boston...sure he never thought he would be rep'in NYC in his lifetime but he is now...lol). The pizza spot has two-flat screens one with several pictures of NYC-store fronts (makes me feel a nostaligic of home) and the other playing music videos. They offer the pizza by the slice ($5 for one and $4 for the second one) and the pie (there is only one size "large;" the cheese is $24 dollars and the other toppings range from 26 to 32). Highly recommended, Clinton and I feel like this pizza is better then many pizzas we have eaten in other US states...they have done it right.

BARS

Suite: (located on Hobson). Before finding this bar, I had resigned to my 2 years being filled wih wines and beer and only distant memories of yummy cocktails. BUT then Clinton, his IBM co-worker and I were told to go to suite for cheap caprihinas and I was stoked. We went down the steps to a dimly lit bar with a large bar and leather booth seats in the back. There was a two-person band playing upbeat salsa, cumbia and brazilian beats. We sat down and our water Alex, brazilian, quickly captivated us with his knowledge and passion for mixing alcohol, spirits, cocktails (ect.) The boys allowed Alex to showcase his knowledge and talents by allowing him to pick thier next concotion while I sipped on the yummiest caprihnas outside of Rio de Janiero. For the price of a cocktail ( range from NZ $8 to $17 depending on the liquor), we left there with a bit of history, a boost of energy from the listening and dancing to the amazing musicos and a very very nice buzz. BTW, this place is open Tuesday thru saturday till 5am (and they serve food till closing which is fabulous).

DANCING
Pasha: (located on the Viaduct) this spot has a upper 20 to mid-40s chic crowd (Miami-esque). It the spot to dress up and go to be scene, its best to grad a table order a bottle of wine or bubbly and some shesha (hookah) and party the night away.

Rocket bar: (located inside the A&M bar). This small bar has amazing DJs spinning great dance mixes (everything from hip-hop, R&B, 80s, mo-town and rock). The place can get crowded so go with the mindset of "a la freak it...I just want to dance" and you will definitely find just that. If you get a little hot or close-da-phobic then just step outside to A&M and sit on thier funky array of coaches while sipping on some wine or water. A&M serve tapas as well but the kitchen isn't open as long as the bar is so make sure to come earlish (before 10pm)

Longroom: (located on Ponsonby Road) During the day this place is a popular resturant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and then during the late hours it turns into this fabulous club where the young and sexy go to drink and dance. The DJs are ok, they don't always miz thier music well but thet do tend to play good songs. The front of the club is open-air and in the back is where the dancing happens.

(K Street) This resturaunt has a changing menu with yummy specialty dishes. It is one of the only places you can have fine-dining on K Rd ( an area know for its skethyness and highly sexualized activities). I love thier pasta and steak. A definite A-rating for quality, portion and price.


ONE DAY TRIPS FROM AUCKLAND:

Fuller Overnight Cruise to Bay of Islands (NZ $239 to $339)
This is new overnight cruise with 30 ocean view cabins, three course dinner, yummy hot breakfast, tea and amazing views. It leaves from Opua quay and tours around the beautiful bay of islands. It docks for about 2 hours at one of the desolate beaches, where you can kayak, hike and swim and then it sets sail again for dinner. After dinner, it finds a calm spot in the middle of the bay and anchors there till the morning. Expect breathtaking sunsets and sunrises. It's definitely worth the money. By the way, keep your eyes out for dolphins and penguins (we saw them ;-)

Part Two Of Clinton's Fab Birthday

Yes, this is a bit late (over a month)...my apologies. I didn't want to forget about it either, because this next part details our whitewater rafting adventures and since it was both our first times, it was quite sweet!

So we finally got to the whitewater rafting gathering location. As we neared the back of the camp, Clinton and I noted the reggae tunes that were playing. They were some real underground type tunes and all the kiwi employees (which where all male and in there late 20s to mid 30s) were singing and bopping their heads to it...hard. This place was definitely low-key and chill. The backyard had a volleyball net to the left and a few picnic tables in the center. There were wet-suits, flippers, watershoes and life-jackets across the back fence. Clinton and I sat down and lathered ourselves with some extra SPF 30. We were told to wait for the earlier group to return shortly. Within 15 minutes, a parade of giggling, bathing-suit & life-jacket wearing women and men entered the yard. For a second or two I left like I was in a scuba-diving fashion contest and was tempted to hold up cue cards with scores...LOL. As the group cleared out, the energetic male staff gathered the next group, including us, in the back. One of the guys asked me my shoes size. "8," I replied. He turned and looked through several rows. So I added "I'm like a 6 in men and I don't know my European size...its like 40 something." He handed me size 5s and stated "these should fit, you Americans like to exaggerate." I laughed and but the wet (literally they were soaked) booties on...and guess what, they fit! LOL!

After, getting our gear (BTW, our group has changed and is only wearing bathing-suits and life-jackets), we march out of the yard and into the parking lot to load a yellow-bus. There are about 28 of us and 5 or 6 staff members. They staff were cracking jokes and singing happy birthday to the 2 birthday boys, one of which was Clinton. We got to the river "Roto Ito." we unloaded the bus and sets of 5 to 6 people helped bring a raft to the opening of the river. Before we jumped into the water, we were given a bit of history of the river which included some facts about the local Maori iwi that controlled access to the river. We were also told that the river was the reason for fights between the Maori iwis because of the wealth of eel that are found. One of the staff members, lead the group in a Maori prayer asking the river for access and safety. After a recognizable "Amenie (Amen)", we pushed our raft into the crystal clear green water and one-by-one stepped into it. Once we were all in our staff guy (totally forgot his name...that's what happens when you don't write things down soon enough) pushed our raft out of the way but held on to the rock wall to wait for the other rafts. I was told to sit on the ledge of the raft (2nd person on the left side of the boat of which there were 6 people). Clinton was seated in the front right side. Midway through our journey, we switched places but I stayed right in the middle..hehehe. The river was beautiful, the rock walls and trees completely drowned out the road right behind it. It was peaceful and smelled of fresh morning dew. I was excited and nervous! While we waited, our guide instructed us on how to sit, paddle and prepare for drops. Ohhh lord, what have we gotten into. He explained that we had to keep feet under the inflated middle row while we paddled hard, deep and complete. We were a team and needed to paddle together in the same speed (something that I am not sure the German guy in front of me comprehended cause he was paddling like his life depended on it). We paddled down the beautiful clear green water, which taste like crisp Fiji bottled water...hmmm, I guess spring water is genuinely tasty. We went down our first fall....wooheee, we made it. We "practiced" down 2 other shorter falls before splashing down the 7 meter (22.97 ft) fall. Not sure if I was ready, but we did it anyway. All I kept thinking was "roll up like a ball" and "look for the light" advice our guide gave us if we fell off the raft. Our raft rocked, tilted and "almost" flipped BUT we all managed to stay in the raft....whhhooohooooo!
We lazily maneuvered our way down the river enjoying a cold dip into the water (Well I was bamboozled by our guide. He asked to see my footwear because he thought something was wrong. I quickly gave him my foot, which he used to flip me out of the raft and into the water). After finding my way back to the side of the raft, I managed to calm my nerves and take a few voluntary dips in the river. It was an amazing experience! A definite must do!

Clinton's Cameo: Life is Good

I know it’s been a while since I made a cameo on yadi’s blog. But it’s for good reason. I like it here. I mean sure I’m still made I have to pay $15 for some chicken breast (or what I like to call chicken tities) and sure I fear for my life every time I walk off the curb, but I have to say I’m getting use to you. I’ve gone sailing, and white water rafting. I’ve seen the ground boiling from under me. I’ve driven on the other side of the road. I’ve lost 13 lbs and I’m running faster and longer then I’ve done in years. I have to say I’m good. Life is good.

These first three months have been amazing. Everyone should feel this free =)