Theif!!!

Last night, 2 guys came in our house. This morning, we found out that they have stolen a DVD player, without the remote control and one of the speakers; the other speaker was left untouch.

Mr. Thong and gf saw 2 guys at around 2:20 a.m. outside the compound, looking into their room. One of them says he's a policeman. Yeah ,right.

THEIF!

The house is a double-storey building. The stolen items were upstairs, and I'm living downstairs. Thank goodness, I don't go to toilets during the wee hours. I mean, imagine what if they saw me and decided to threaten me by using one of the kichen's knife???

I was so trusting of this place. I thought the crime rate was low here. Guess I'm wrong. Although, before this incident, Jay told me she stayed in our room before and accidentally left the window open with her laptop on the table.

And then, you know. She came back from work to find her laptop stolen.

Now, the tenants in the house are obsessing about this malfeasance. There are so many possibilities. The thieves could've come in through the back door, the front door (which is always open all through the night, because some of the ppl in the house comes back way past midnight) and also the downstairs bathroom window is constantly open for ventilation.

Now, I guess everyone will be paranoid about locking their room doors, heaving their windows shut and locking the front door either coming back or going out. Just remember do not latch it.

Imagine: I will walk home from school alone, come back to perhaps an empty house and I'm having problems opening the main door (kept fumbling through)... What if ppl follows me?

Zip it shut. Scary thought.

I'm also concerned about everyone's safety. We've been in good terms with each other.

The landlord should've installed a CCTV long before. He bought the house 2 years ago and till now... the security cam is still outside, but without being programmed. Fehh..

Procrastination evokes a series of problems.

They believe the theives were in a hurry. Only a DVD and a speaker without the remote and cables. I mean, the big TV is probably even mroe valuable.

Nash is an analytical person who gets excited about these things. I mean, in NZ, it's a simple life with boring routines, until of course, petty crimes makes it more interesting.

I think it's HELL LOT OF DANGEROUS.

The Suitcase Murder is still going on in the news. Although with suspects, they believe the killer is still at large. They even put up a picture of 4 girls who could supposedly witness the whole kidnapping thing, or at least recognise the killer.

The theives were 'Westerners, not Asians', according to Mr. Thong and gf.

Weird

I felt a little weird after I've went to Mount Roskill Community Library.

Factors contributing to the strangeness I felt:
(A) One measly floor. Although it's spacious with plenty of computers, tables and seats, the books are far less than what I've expected.
(B) Number of books. Most of the shelfs are half full.
(C) Restricted internet access. I understand the need to restrict ppl from going to 'kinky' sites to avoid 'touching' with viruses, but not allowing us to go to Google, Yahoo and Hotmail??!! There's a catch: Access to the sites you want, you pay $1 every 30 minutes.
(D) The shelves. It's my height.
(E) It's rather noisy.

There are good points.
(A) Printing, photocopying is permissible
(B) Up-to-date (almost anyway) magazine section.
(C) Large array of children books
(D) Many large-screen and slim computers (all of them computers), allows pen-drive access.
(E) Quite systematic
(F) Many seating areas. The seats have cushions. ;)

It IS afterall a COMMUNITY library. Perhaps they rely on ppl's donations?

Rain, Rain, PLEEEASE Go away!

I am so sick and tired of the rain. My clothes will never dry!

I must really search for an umbrella, a clothes railing/hanger (to put it in the garage) and a table lamp. Oh, and finish my story in fanfiction.net.

And well... I moved to a new location, plenty of facilities around and from-China housemates. I find myself getting a little jumpy when communication in mandarin with them. Theirs are so good!

I've met Jay(girl) & Nash (boy):(They're living together), Cecily & mom, Vivian & bf, Mr. Thong (bachelor)... We have to share the fridge, larder, kitchen, washing machine and tv. Not a problem, though. Most of them work part-time and study as well.

Going to Dominion Road tonight. I'm currently living in Three Kings-Mount Roskill on Mount Albert Road.

Did grocery shopping this morning. Our first dinner (yesterday) was maggie mee. Tonight's dinner will be salmon, rice and veggies. My dad doesn't cook, so it's all up to me.

;p

Guilt

This is so frustrating. Mrs. Neoh said, "I don't need your help!"

I was like, "Fine!" In my mind.

My dad then lectured me about studying and said I was too distracted by the Net. He said he might resort to Mr. Neoh's style of teaching - caning.

I hated the thought of it, but another part of me agrees. I know I've been slacking behind my studies and thought I could make a new start in New Zealand. Then, I might come across the possibility of going back to M'sia to finish my studies and take the dreaded SPM.

I have no friends here yet. 'Coz school starts on May. So, I'm hoping I could change myself to be more determined and focus in studies.

I want to be like Sheltie. Her concentration is very good.

I promised to myself that this whole week, I will study all of Bio, Chem (Form 4), read at least half the Account revision book and finish Mathematics.

I know learnt that NZ Math is the combination of M'sia's Modern Math and Additional Maths.

Pffffft!

Online diary is a source of comfort, since I believe adults have grown out of their 'teenage' feelings and starts to misunderstand us.

I feel sorta miffed. Mr. Neoh said I should come down and ask if I could help them in anything and not just sit in a corner or hide there. He also said NZ people or ppl living there will hate ppl like me.

Great.

It's not like I do not want to help. Of course, I did not say this, he would think I'm finding excuses. I should have asked him if he needed any help than asking Mrs. Neoh.

You know what? There was a bunch of ppl came to help him move, and all of them (3) were very much old. I asked if they need any help, they said, "No." So, I gave up and head to my room to read.

I should've asked help in front of Mr. Neoh. Although I know he's giving sound advice, but come on! Who wouldn't know??!!!

Pifffff!

I'm not angry at him, I'm just angry, I couldn't do better. Dad sai I should've taken the initiative. I surely did! But no one gave me the opportunity to shine! Besides, I do not have the strength like a man to help move those heavy things.

I should learn how to operate a washing machine. Any ideas?

NZ natives :-)

New Zealand is a simple place. They preserve the environment very well. You can see timber everywhere, greens (and I don't mean money) and short wooden fences. Just to give you an idea on the weather here, it's cool and nice, especially during autumn.

The nights are terribly cold and I do as much as I can to conserve heat. The Neohs are kind enough to provide us a roof over our (me and my dad) heads, in turn, we have to help them move their things to the container.

Every time I ask Mrs. Neoh what can I do to help her, she would refuse me kindly and thank me for asking. It was a little frustrating, because I begin to feel useless. She accepts her other 60-something-year-old friends' help and not a bouncy robust youth. Although not to say I'm entirely idle, I did help move the pots of flowers, sorting and packing CDs and.... that's about it.

I wake up every morning at 6 and we go out at 7 to Walker's Park to do some Tai Chi. During the day, we scout for rental rooms, flats or houses. And I can tell you one thing: New Zealand properties are not cheap. In fact, the housing price has boomed very quickly for the past 5 years. A 75, 000 house costs 600,000 now!

So, as you can see, we cannot afford to spend that much money, because we don't have that large sum!

For the first few days, I missed home, my mother and friends. I was rather disappointed that none of them, save for Ellectra that e-mailed me. My dad forbade me to install MSN on this notebook, so... it's only e-mail and this blog then.

I have a different perspective towards Malaysia now. I couldn't see it then and it was right there all along. The country is progressing and it is also the source of many different raw materials, plus the most important of all - petrol. The petrol price hike can really kill a person.

I grudgingly admits that the things in M'sia are cheaper, compared to NZ. I've said it before and I'm saying it again to emphasize this particular detail. The cheapest is soap, which cost $1.70. Supplements are damn expensive and I do not recommend you to travel daily by public transport, unless you have no other choice.

A plus point is that the air here is not so polluted, although you still get the occasional carbon monoxide from the vehicles' exhaust.

The place I'm currently staying is Formby Avenue, Point Chevalier. It's a little town and everyone is nice. I've said 'good morning' to complete strangers when I got lost in that area. Thankfully, I managed to find my way back to the park through another route, a short-cut, I presume. I was all by myself when I got lost and walked for like eons to find Neoh's house when I was out jogging in the morning.

The Neohs were at the park and they took me home. My dad decided to sleep a little later.

I have noticed one little thing: the people here are very corteous. They say, 'Thanks, driver' and step off the bus. So different from Malaysia. The laws here are strict; even police are not allowed to bear firearms unless authorized to.

I went to the bus terminal with my dad. He gave me permission to walk around the area outside the terminal, 'coz he will be taking a bus and ferry to Devonport for an interview and then going to East Tamaki. So, as I was walking, browsing through Whitcoulls' (apparently a very popular bookstore because I have seen many branches of it) and then to a pharmacy to check price.

Imagine, no Popular o MPH, just Whitcoulls' and Borders. Oh, and there's no Digi or Maxis. It's Vodafone or Telecom. Electronics are cheap here. Oh, and one more thing, they seperate the food and essential necessities, such as Foodtown (only food) and Westfield or any other supermarket. Cars are cheap; purchasing a Lamborghini would not burn a hole in your bank account.

I returned to the bus terminal, Britomart at noon and I took out a book to read. ANd then, I got bored. I realized the trains are just below ground and it stinks. Other than that, I talked to a fairly corpulent NZ native. He has blond hair and blue eyes, 26, and working in the New World supermarket.

He complimented me twice and I graciously thank him without returning any compliments. Oh well. Daniel (him) said my English is very good, after I told him I came from Malaysia and right in the middle of the conversation, he said I was pretty. That took me by surprise and I felt that he was flirting with me.

Hilariously, he thought I was 20.

I ate sushi alone; Daniel had to catch a train back to West Auckland. We did not exchange phone numbers, because it is illegal for a grown man to date an underage girl.

My dad and I then took a bus home and although it wasn't very crowded, another blondie chose to sit in front of me. Riiiight. I must be thinking too much.

And then, after the bus dropped us off Take Aways, while ordering food, another guy(this time is a brunette) in black sweater came by and looked directly into my eyes and smiled.

Whoa! I so like these feelings.

Did I tell you that cyber cafe's are open, free to all?

Hmmm...

Do you know any other FREE edition of anti-virus system? I don't want to pay!

New Zealand things are already so expensive! Equivalent to Malaysia's, perhaps a little bit more expensive if you convert it dollar to dollar.

So... unless I get another anti-virus system, I can't go online.

The weather here is O.K. Air-condition and the funny thing is it rains unpredictably on one day, meaning it has a lot of small intervals of rain on one particular day. Every week, there will be one or two days which are deemed 'rainy day'.

The flight was uneventful. Slept only 4 hours. Jet-lagged and suffering from try throat and crack lips.

Travelling in NZ is hell lot of expensive. One 3-stages trip cost about NZ$3!!!! Not counting the trip back.

I never kenw they have New Zealand White Pages....

Although I've found a school, the most important thing is find a job. For my dad. If not, there is every possibility that you'll see me soon.