Day 2 in Auckland: Catch up with Ken & Tia (12th October 2010)
Woo-hoo! No homework to bring home today!! Day 2 into the course and I’m feeling rather unsure what exactly it is I’m doing at work – none of my classmates seem to doing the same job as me, most of them spending most of their time gathering requirements and managing people whereas my work is more technical, data mining and writing queries. Hmm, perhaps it is just because I’m in working in the data warehouse space? Not sure if I should be concerned that working in this environment may limit my BA career progression in other industries…
Ken came to the hotel to meet me after work around 5.30pm and we went over to SPE Bar & Restaurant in the hotel for a beer. The laidback setting with polished wood makes it a great place to catch up with workmates or friends for a few beers after work, which is exactly what we did :) Around 6.30pm, we headed over to Ken’s place in Mt Roskill to pick up Tia, then headed to Sapor Noodle House on Dominion Road for dinner.
I can see why you guys come here every week! For about $30, we had 3 large dishes including a plate of stir-fry Asian greens, rice with three meat (roast duck, roast pork and steamed chicken) and a noodle dish AND still enough for a doggy bag! The food was authentic, delicious and cheap for its serving size. Despite the dingy-looking place with white-tiled walls and white fluorescent lights (and toilet you should avoid, if possible), it didn’t stop the throngs of people coming to the restaurant. Reminded me much of the Chinese restaurants back in Malaysia – good food but not necessarily the best in setting or ambience.
God, we’re so full yet Tia insisted we walk over to I Scream Shop for dessert. “There’s ALWAYS room for dessert,” she smiled. Hehe, agreed :P Ooo, this ice-cream shop has Indian ice-cream! I tried their Kesar Pista (made with pistachio and saffron) and had a moment where I was transported back to the ice-cream shop in Bikaner (in Rajasthan, India) where Jono and I had our first experience eating Indian ice-cream. Yum!
Around 8pm, Ken drove us all to Ponsonby to Sponge Bar where Tia was attending the 8.30pm zouk dance class. Salsa music played in the background, this chic bar transforms to a salsa dance venue for Aucklanders when not filled the usual hip crowd partying and drinking into the night. Ken convinced me to have a dance with him while the floor was still empty – you’ve got to be kidding, right? I’ve not dance salsa since Stacey’s birthday bash back in July and that didn’t even count because I was still recuperating from the sprained ankle. “Come on!” said Ken and dragged me to the dance floor. Dancing salsa again, it felt both familiar and foreign at the same time. It was good fun dancing with Ken and I think we were both equally rusty with our moves since both have not actively danced for awhile hehe…I really should get back to salsa dancing but just need to work it into my budget and schedule. Perhaps I could convince Jono to take classes together – that would make it an event in itself and more reason to return to the dance scene!
The rest of the evening was spent sipping wine and chatting with Ken as we occasionally glance at the students in the zouk class practice their newly learnt moves from our comfy booth sofas. Around 10pm, Ken dropped me off at my hotel – thanks for the lovely evening! Lovely to catch up with you and Tia again :)
Ken came to the hotel to meet me after work around 5.30pm and we went over to SPE Bar & Restaurant in the hotel for a beer. The laidback setting with polished wood makes it a great place to catch up with workmates or friends for a few beers after work, which is exactly what we did :) Around 6.30pm, we headed over to Ken’s place in Mt Roskill to pick up Tia, then headed to Sapor Noodle House on Dominion Road for dinner.
I can see why you guys come here every week! For about $30, we had 3 large dishes including a plate of stir-fry Asian greens, rice with three meat (roast duck, roast pork and steamed chicken) and a noodle dish AND still enough for a doggy bag! The food was authentic, delicious and cheap for its serving size. Despite the dingy-looking place with white-tiled walls and white fluorescent lights (and toilet you should avoid, if possible), it didn’t stop the throngs of people coming to the restaurant. Reminded me much of the Chinese restaurants back in Malaysia – good food but not necessarily the best in setting or ambience.
God, we’re so full yet Tia insisted we walk over to I Scream Shop for dessert. “There’s ALWAYS room for dessert,” she smiled. Hehe, agreed :P Ooo, this ice-cream shop has Indian ice-cream! I tried their Kesar Pista (made with pistachio and saffron) and had a moment where I was transported back to the ice-cream shop in Bikaner (in Rajasthan, India) where Jono and I had our first experience eating Indian ice-cream. Yum!
Around 8pm, Ken drove us all to Ponsonby to Sponge Bar where Tia was attending the 8.30pm zouk dance class. Salsa music played in the background, this chic bar transforms to a salsa dance venue for Aucklanders when not filled the usual hip crowd partying and drinking into the night. Ken convinced me to have a dance with him while the floor was still empty – you’ve got to be kidding, right? I’ve not dance salsa since Stacey’s birthday bash back in July and that didn’t even count because I was still recuperating from the sprained ankle. “Come on!” said Ken and dragged me to the dance floor. Dancing salsa again, it felt both familiar and foreign at the same time. It was good fun dancing with Ken and I think we were both equally rusty with our moves since both have not actively danced for awhile hehe…I really should get back to salsa dancing but just need to work it into my budget and schedule. Perhaps I could convince Jono to take classes together – that would make it an event in itself and more reason to return to the dance scene!
The rest of the evening was spent sipping wine and chatting with Ken as we occasionally glance at the students in the zouk class practice their newly learnt moves from our comfy booth sofas. Around 10pm, Ken dropped me off at my hotel – thanks for the lovely evening! Lovely to catch up with you and Tia again :)
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