First Rugby Match Live

Yesterday afternoon, we went to watch a first division rugby game between Manawatu Turbos and Auckland. As many as 15% (9.400 people) of the Palmerston North population came to the FMG Stadium to watch the first match of the season against the reigning Air New Zealand champions, Auckland. Even though the Turbos lost the game 41-10, it was a brilliant fight shown by the men in green and we even manage to get a try in the second half. There were plenty of activities before, after the game as well as during half time. There was a fly past by the NZ Air Force helicopters, tank displays, repelling demonstation and the children were occupied with face painting and each of them were given lollies and placard banners.

Free Medical Service

Since I arrive on NZ soil about 9 months ago, I have been given free medical check ups for my medical condition. I have done several free blood tests, eye check and even a podiatry check at the hospital.

House Mover

Early this morning, I saw a huge house being moved on a big trailer accompanied by 6 patrols policemen. In NZ, if you want to move place, you call for a furniture mover. A house mover will literally move the entire house from one place to another.

Is This The Start of Spring?

For the past 3 days, we had glorious, sunny weather. The rain have stopped and the sun shine throughout the day. The temperatures was in the mid teens unlike the cold we encountered in the middle of June. Another sign was that the plants buds are starting to grow and little leaves are now appearing and so have the weeds. In the supermarkets, blooming flowers are beginning to be sold and the mall are having sales to clear their winter products. Is this the end of winter and the coming of spring? I certainly hope so.

Malaysian / Singapore Gathering

Last Saturday, we had a big gathering of Malaysian and Singaporean families as one of our friend (owner of a restaurant) had a visitor from Northland, Auckland. This friend from Auckland is on a recce trip to see if it is a good idea for them to relocate to Palmerston North as their only son had just got a place in the vet science course in Massey.

As many of 10 families were invited to this party and as usual, food was the main highlight of the evening. Each family were told to bring a plate (potluck) and we had a huge variety of dishes to be shared. There were curries, gerang asam fish, prawn salad, bbq chicken wings, noodles, pandan cake (which is very yummy) and many more. We had the pleasure of meeting 3 more new Malaysian families and like true Asian meets, the evening ended with a karaoke session.

Interest Rate Rise Again

While most NZers were expecting a rate cut, ANZ surprised everyone by becoming the first bank to raise its 2 years fixed home loan by 0.3%. The current rate will now be 8.3%. This move was soon quickly followed by other banks including Wespac and HSBC. With this rate increase, most Kiwis have to forked our between $10 to $450 more in fortnightly payments and according to property experts, this would encourage more people to sell their houses soon. At the same time, annual rates (property tax) have also increased by another 7% yearly across the country and owning a house can actually be quite expensive for the average Kiwi, considering their low wages and high income tax here.

The grocery shopping just like Singapore

Yesterday after work, at around 10.30 in the morning, I decided to do some grocery shopping because most of the food was running low and being a Thursday morning, I thought it might be a good idea to shop for the weekend. As usual, I was expecting a leisurely day without any crowd. How wrong was I. It was jammed packed with Palmerstonians doing their grocery shopping because "Pak N Save" was having a truckload sale and as I ask some of my colleagues, Thursday is the day NZ do their grocery shopping because it is pay day for most NZers. The crowd remind me of the days when we used to do our grocery shopping in Singapore at NTUC Fairprice.

Petrol Price Rise Again

The petrol prices seem to be on the way up again. All 4 major oil companies raise their petrol price by 6 cents a litre 2 days ago. The current price for unleaded 91 is $176.9 per litre while those for diesel stand at 127.9 per litre. This increase is due to the higher crude oil prices due to the war in Lebanon between the Israelis and the Hezabollah guirellas.

The Days Are Getting Warmer and Brighter

Just realised yesterday that the longest day in NZ are behind us for the year. When I looked in the sky at around 5.45pm, I realised that it still have some light and not the total darkness which happened just about 3 weeks ago. This mean that from now on, we will get more sunlight as we head into spring. In addition, the weather seem to be getting warmer too and we do not get the frost in the morning anymore.

It was 15 Degress But It Felt Warm

Yesterday, we had the luxury of beautiful sunshine after the rain that have fallen for the past 4-5 days. Even though the temperatures was at 15 degrees. all of us felt warm after the cold that we have felt a couple of days before. A couple of locals were even seen in shorts and tshirts in the city.

We Were Really Lucky

Palmerston North residents were very lucky as we were just 1-2 hours from having floods in the city. The Manawatu rivers were so high on Friday night that the Palmerston North City Council have to decide whether to open the gates of the river into the city and thus cause some flooding into some parts of Palmerston North. However, as just when they were deciding on what action to take, the weather turn for the better. It stopped raining and we even have some sunshine on Saturday and this cause the water level in the river to somehow retreat and hence the flood in Palmerston North was averted which has hampered other cities like Wanganui, New Plymouth, Wellington and Masterton.

Floods in Wellington and Wairarapa regions

Even though it has been raining continuosly for the past 3 days, we in Palmerston North were very lucky that we have not experience any flood yet. Our neighbours in the Wairarapa (Masterton and Casterton) about 80 Km from where we are are experiencing floods and slips. Weather in Wellington is not so good too as there was a massive traffic jam due to the rising water and the ferry crossing have to be cancelled too.

The Day We Became Library Members

Today, we went to the Palmerston North City Library to watch a holiday programme featuring a famous story teller from the UK as this is the school holiday season and also it had been raining cats and dogs this couple of days making it impossible to play ball games outside in the parks. At the same time, all 3 of us decided to join the library (free of course) and we are entitled to borrow as many as 20 items each at any one time including magazines(including current issues), books, CDs, DVDs and music tapes. I guess from now on, we will save by just borrowing from the library rather than buying as the collections is amazing and is very current. As the saying goes, it is better late than never (about finding out about the resource available in the library).

The Ducks Must Be Hungry

We went to the local Memorial Park, about 1 km from our home to play baseball and to feed the duck yesterday. To our surprise, most of the duck were sleeping and hibernating in the cold winter weather. When we took out the bread to feed a duck, the other ducks (about a hundred of them) came flying towards us for food. I guess all the ducks must be hungry because of the cold weather and less people visiting the parks to feed them during this period.

Note: Palmerston North have several duck ponds all across the city.

Our First Movie Viewing in NZ

Yesterday, we went to watch "CARS", the first movie we have seen since coming to NZ eight months ago. We are actually not movie buff but decided to check the movie scene here. Normally the cost per movie is $13 per person but yesterday being a Tuesday, it was half the price.

Thee movie itself was quite good and Junius enjoyed himself. The theatre is just like our cineplex in Singapore. It is a free seating theatre and even though we arrive 15 minutes before the start of the screening, most of the seats were taken. We were lucky when we found a good spot at the back of the cinema.

School Holidays In NZ

The children will have a much deserved 2 week winter break from the 30th June until 17th July. Most families will be heading for the skifields while those that stayed behind will have time playing at the many parks, playgrounds and recreation centres across NZ.

Today, we went to see CARs at one of the cinemas in town as Tuesdays are the cheapest day to watch movies. It cost $6.50 per person while on normal days it is double that amount. It is no wonder that it was fully packed due to the school holidays and also because it is on a Tuesday.

Fog Closes Some North Island Airports

The fog have caused some of the North Islands airports to close for the past 2 days. On Sunday (2nd July), Wellington airport was closed temporarily and flights delayed while yesterday(3rd July), it affect both the Auckland airports and Hamilton airports.