Last few of days in Auckland (14th - 15th October 2010)
Was up at 7am on Thursday for a 20-minute swim in the outdoor heated pool of the hotel – I’ve been meaning to get up early to swim since Tuesday but it had been raining. Ok, I would be wet anyway, rain or not and the comfy sheets and plump pillows weren’t much help getting me up in the morning…It was still drizzling this morning and only one other person swimming laps in the unguarded pool. It was actually quite refreshing after the morning swim – maybe I’ll do it again tomorrow :) Headed over to Costa Café on City Road for a flat white and fruit French toast (cost $12 all up) and I was off to another day in class.
Around 7.30pm, Ken came to pick me up and we headed to Lone Star Newmarket for dinner. We chatted more about our work and lives over our beers and shared entrée of onion rings and main of Redneck Ribs (cost $42.06 all up). Twelve massive pork ribs piled high on the plate, served with sides of coleslaw and buffalo chips, all I could think of was cartoon character Fred Flintstones (Fred loves his Brontosaurus ribs) while eating the ribs with my hands. Yummy but messy, sauce smudge all over the mouth and bits on the cheek but the ladies in the restaurant who ordered the main didn’t seem to mind at all! Oh well, no need to be embarrassed then :P
Woah, I’m absolutely stuffed! How do people finish the 12 ribs by themselves is beyond me – 6 was more than enough!
Around 10pm, Ken dropped me back at the hotel and we said our goodbyes. Thanks for another lovely evening – until the next time I come to Auckland, keep in touch!
Come Friday, I was more than ready to head home. It has been a long week in Auckland and I just want to go home to my own bed and in the arms of my baby…
Checked out from the hotel around 8am before heading to Costa Café again for breakfast and then to class. How do I find the course? Well, after 5 days of cramming quite a lot of new information into my head, I would say that the course was good to grasp an understanding of business analysis, as well as learning the many techniques to obtain information, put them together into writing and re-presenting the information to various parties, as well as ways to manage others. We had role-playing activities where Ellan played different characters (including a person who kept talking about all sorts and not answering the question to a tight-lipped character) and we had to figure out how to draw information from the various challenging people. And they do exist in any organisation, trust me! Personally, I think the course is not limited to BAs but would be advantageous for most people in the workforce. Hopefully with my new-found knowledge, I’ll be able to start working on more long-term projects (I tend to be assigned to ad hoc work, strangely enough) when I return to the office :)
The class ended earlier than usual but I was not allowed to bring forward my flight home. “Enjoy the rest of your day in the city,” said my manager when I requested a flight change. Right, with me lugging a trolley bag around, there ain’t much I could do. I took Jono’s advice to have a beer in SKYCITY Auckland and parked myself at The Deck, the bar on level 2 of the atrium, sipping my chilled Monteith’s Golden (cost $6 for the pint), relaxing on the lounge chairs hacking away on my laptop drafting a post about the week for my blog. I was quite surprised to find that there wasn’t free wifi anywhere in SKYCITY – rather odd given it’s a place that has 18 bars and restaurants, 2 hotels and a casino. Thank god for internet tethering – I SO love my iPhone!
Around 5.30pm, I hopped into a taxi and headed to the airport for my 7pm flight. Yay, finally heading home! Can’t wait to see my baby again!!
Around 7.30pm, Ken came to pick me up and we headed to Lone Star Newmarket for dinner. We chatted more about our work and lives over our beers and shared entrée of onion rings and main of Redneck Ribs (cost $42.06 all up). Twelve massive pork ribs piled high on the plate, served with sides of coleslaw and buffalo chips, all I could think of was cartoon character Fred Flintstones (Fred loves his Brontosaurus ribs) while eating the ribs with my hands. Yummy but messy, sauce smudge all over the mouth and bits on the cheek but the ladies in the restaurant who ordered the main didn’t seem to mind at all! Oh well, no need to be embarrassed then :P
Woah, I’m absolutely stuffed! How do people finish the 12 ribs by themselves is beyond me – 6 was more than enough!
Around 10pm, Ken dropped me back at the hotel and we said our goodbyes. Thanks for another lovely evening – until the next time I come to Auckland, keep in touch!
Come Friday, I was more than ready to head home. It has been a long week in Auckland and I just want to go home to my own bed and in the arms of my baby…
Checked out from the hotel around 8am before heading to Costa Café again for breakfast and then to class. How do I find the course? Well, after 5 days of cramming quite a lot of new information into my head, I would say that the course was good to grasp an understanding of business analysis, as well as learning the many techniques to obtain information, put them together into writing and re-presenting the information to various parties, as well as ways to manage others. We had role-playing activities where Ellan played different characters (including a person who kept talking about all sorts and not answering the question to a tight-lipped character) and we had to figure out how to draw information from the various challenging people. And they do exist in any organisation, trust me! Personally, I think the course is not limited to BAs but would be advantageous for most people in the workforce. Hopefully with my new-found knowledge, I’ll be able to start working on more long-term projects (I tend to be assigned to ad hoc work, strangely enough) when I return to the office :)
The class ended earlier than usual but I was not allowed to bring forward my flight home. “Enjoy the rest of your day in the city,” said my manager when I requested a flight change. Right, with me lugging a trolley bag around, there ain’t much I could do. I took Jono’s advice to have a beer in SKYCITY Auckland and parked myself at The Deck, the bar on level 2 of the atrium, sipping my chilled Monteith’s Golden (cost $6 for the pint), relaxing on the lounge chairs hacking away on my laptop drafting a post about the week for my blog. I was quite surprised to find that there wasn’t free wifi anywhere in SKYCITY – rather odd given it’s a place that has 18 bars and restaurants, 2 hotels and a casino. Thank god for internet tethering – I SO love my iPhone!
Around 5.30pm, I hopped into a taxi and headed to the airport for my 7pm flight. Yay, finally heading home! Can’t wait to see my baby again!!
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