Pre-Wedding Pics in Taupo

It's been ages since I wrote in this blog. A lot has happened since 2012!

Jerry finally proposed at 23:05 on the 23.05.15 (on my birthday) at the lovely Chateau Tongariro.

I said YES!

At first I wanted to do our pre-wedding pics in KL but I didn't think Jerry would like being in a suit for hours in 30 degrees much. We decided to take our pics in Taupo instead with the lovely Krystle from Bespoke Photography as our photographer.

Loving her photos xx

View the rest of her pics here...

In front of Taupo's Floatplane

At the Taupo Harbour

Hilton Lake Taupo here I come!

The power of the Secret and the Universe definately works. All the signs were there. At the door when Julie and Penny said put your business card in there are plenty of goodies to be won to Shona rubbing her luck off me (coz she's been winning lucky draws at the last few events).



The best prize was a night's stay at Hilton Lake Taupo, overlooking the magnificient lake and mountains of Taupo in the background. Hilton GM Clinton reached into the bucket, I channeled my energy and visualised him picking my card. Sure enough, a DGLT card with the Taupo macron was chosen - whose could it be? Mine, Christine, Ness?? Clinton looked at me and said my name. Yes. The power of the Secret does work.

Thank you Taupo Chamber of Commerce and thank you Clinton, my favourite person in the world.

Malaysian Prawns in Taupo

Saturday 3 September 2011

Bought a GrabOne deal for half price on the Huka Prawn Park in Taupo but found out later that locals get half price anyways so felt slightly cheated but nevertheless.. since both of us have not been to Prawn Park, I thought it would be great venue for a date.

Saturday came and we were there on the dot for the hourly guided tour around the centre. Check this out - the prawns here are actually - wait for it - MALAYSIAN prawns. What the hell right??? Steal our prawns and make it a tourist attraction hmpph!!! But they're doing a great job at breeding them so they're forgiven.

Macrobrachium Rosenbergii otherwise known as Giant Malaysian River Prawn

The species is called Macrobrachium Rosenbergii (Giant Malaysian River Prawn) and was chosen because they are good for commercial production. Basically because they breed fast and grow big - can be harvested at 8 months. Our guide told us that their largest prawn was named “Horse” - an amazing 68cm. He died of old age at 2 years old.

Old Horse

Coming from tropical waters, the prawns won’t be able to survive in the cold Taupo waters so the park uses the nearby geothermal water to heat up the fresh Waikato River water up to 20c which they then circulates throughout the ponds. Their bill would be $40000 each month if they used electricity to heat the water up!

Our first stop was the educational tour through the Nursery & Hatchery where more than one billion babies are born each year. There are quirky signs placed at the various stages of their growth. A male stud has SEVEN girlfriends who spawn up to five times per year - a 50-gram female can produce up to 50.000 eggs. Had fun hand feeding the baby prawns – very geli and they bite.

How true

Ouch!

Our guide showed us how to fish for prawns too. You need to be VERY VERY patient to fish for prawns which I am NOT. Draw in the line THREE minutes after you feel the first bite coz they want to take the bait away, run and hide, then only start eating. It was torture waiting.

This is how you do it...

Waiting, waiting, waiting...

Another popular attraction is “Shawn’s Walk” which incorporates an Interactive & Educational Hatchery Tour where guests can stroll through the park experiencing Shawn’s Jumping Rocks, Riverside Nature Walk which includes feeding wild trout and a Geothermal Foot Bath where visitors can soak their feet and enjoy fantastic views of the Waikato River.

Quick before I get wet!

I was getting hungry so we headed to their Riverside Restaurant where you can sample their whole prawns and other prawny dishes. The place was filled with Asians! Hahah. Goes to show how adrenaline seeking we Asians are :P

Prawn platter

All in all, quite a good date. And the number of prawns we managed to catch – ONE.

Beautiful Lake Taupo

Woke up to a cold cold frost this morning and was cursing that it's too bloody cold here. Missing my warm humid weather.

But the sky was clear and the sun was out. It was a beautiful day.

Moments like these, I appreciate Taupo again.

Check out the awesome view. Mt Doom is the cone-shaped one in the middle.

And I wore only 1 layer today :)

Workouthon - Less Mills style

Saturday 14 May 2011

Why would anyone in their right mind want to drive 6 hours so that they can exercise for 4 hours straight?  If it's crazy people then I'm one of them.

I've been on this wonderful journey of becoming a Les Mills Body Balance instructor all because Fiona, the owner of Empower Fitness, asked me last September 2010 if I was interested in becoming one. I was sussing out Taupo at the time so I said I'll come in to see her again when I move in February 2011.

February came and to my delight, Fiona's offer was still standing. What a blessing. To be doing something you like and getting paid for it. I have Fiona to thank for that.

Here's Fiona teaching Body Balance

Being an instructor is not as easy as I thought. I've been practising yoga and pilates so body balance was not something really that new. But it's one thing to be practising, it's another thing all together to be teaching. There are choreographed routines to remember, knowing what to tell your students and setting them up with cues & follow ups. And then there was that whole confidence factor. Who am I to tell other people what to do? How if I screw up? What if I forget my routines? What if people don't like me? Instructors. RESPECT. Damn it was tough. 

Still remember my first few times on stage. Fiona said I was quiet as a mouse! And I messed up a few times - like repeating the right leg in the sun salutation sequence 3x and left 1x instead of 2x each for each leg. I didn't even realise it until Fiona told me haha. And always confusing left from right as we are mirror imaging the students. But the goings been good and I think I'm picking it up fast enough.   

One of the benefits of being part of a franchise is that Les Mills has an excellent support system with workshops and trainings and what nots. May 14 was my first Les Mills workshop up in Auckland. Went up with the rest of the Empower Fitness team Ro, Brooke, Marie, Martina, Mike & Emma. So yea. Drive 3 hours up for a 11am - 6pm workout and drive 3 hours down right after that. Poor Ro. She must have been really tired driving us up and down.

Ro walking in front of Les Mills Auckland

  

Les Mills - one of the better group fitness programmes I've been to

I've only been to one workshop with Revathi (Zumba, belly dancing, bollyjam, etc) and it was exhausting but oh so rewarding! I knew this Les Mills one would be so much better and I was not disappointed.

This workshop was for instructors from all over to check out the new releases that have just come out. For $25, you can get to attend ALL of their classes. What a sweet deal. They also introduced their new programmes, CX30 (core work) and Sh'Bam (dance). I was greedy as usual and wanted to pack in as many classes as I could. Ended up going to CX30, BodyStep, Sh'Bam and BodyBalance which ran back to back. Wanted to go for BodyJam but it was getting late. Was I ever exhausted after that. But oh so happy and satisfied. Am I weird or what?

 

Participants waiting for BodyStep to start

I must say that it was such an opportunity to attend classes by master trainers and even the choreographers for the programmes. The instructors are extremely inspirational. Makes you wanna be like them. To strive to bring your standards to where they are. I have a long way to go yet but I'll get there.

Seriously thinking of taking the module training Brooke was telling us about. She did her BodyStep module up in Auckland. After you complete your module, you have to submit a film of your class and in order to get certified. Whole process would take up to a year. BodyBalance would be a 3 day workshop costing me $400. Just found out there's a training on May 21 up in Auckland! Too soon! Couldn't find another one on their calender. Sob. Hopefully they'll arrange one after this May 21st one.



Teaching BodyBalance and loving it


Fiona said she's thinking of inviting the trainers down sometime in Sept so maybe I'll just wait for that. At least I don't have to bother about transport & accommodation.

It was an awesome time up in Auckland with an awesome team. So glad I was part of that. And I'm grateful I'm still enjoying the journey.

My new baby Puku

Tuesday 26 April 2011

Today we are delighted to welcome a new addition to the family, a little black kitten whom we adopted from the SPCA. I actually wanted a puppy but Jerry said a dog's meant to work on a farm. hmmph! But he's being practical. It will be hard for someone to take care of him when we go on long holidays. Cats are much more independant and easier.

Poku was abandoned at Taupo SPCA with her mum and brother. She's all black with a cute adorable patch under her chin and is about 4 months old. Quite pricey to adopt here NZ$65 (RM156). Puku means tummy in Maori and we thought the name sounded cute. At least I didn't go Pookie.. No, she doesn't have a fat tummy or anything like that. Here she is.

Princess Puku

Was not really much of a cat person but I'm liking her. She's very sweet a bit like a dog. Curls up under my comfortable and sleeps on the couch with me. Loves being cuddled and stroked. And follows me around the house too. I feel needed and loved hahha.

House training her now. Have to keep her indoors for at least 2 weeks before I let her venture out.

Grow up nicely my lovely.

Sleeping on the couch

Brewing my 1st Beer

Thursday 14 April 2011

I finally started on my beer brewing which I've been 'too busy' to do. Funny huh that I'm so busy taking into consideration that I don't have a job. Well, been busy going on trips, learning my body balance routines and doing some freelance writing on the side plus cooking & grocery shopping and stuff so I'm forgiven right? Hmm bought the kit in Rotorua on 11 March 11. It's 14 April now, just over a month. What excuses people can give huh?



My home brew starter kit

So first things first. Cleaned all my equipment with some Cold Water Cleaner Detergent and sterilised it with a No Rinse Steriliser. Used the bath tub as it was the only place big enough to put my fermenter in. Took me ages to clean everything plus my 30 bottles. Whole process can be found at Brewcraft's website. Quite a good one I might add.

Cleaning & Sterilising all brewing equipment is important

Warm the can of beer concentrate in warm water for 10 minutes so that the contents will soften. My kit came with a can of Mangrove Jack's Munich Lager. There are many variety available at the supermarket. Add 2L of boiling water into the fermenter and add in 1kg of Beer Enhancer. Stir to mix. Open the can and pour the entire contents in. Extract the rest with warm water and mix everything well.

The Mangrove Jack's Munich Lager (left) and Beer Enhancer

Top the fermenter with cold water up to the 23L mark. Keep an eye on the temperature as you want it to be between 18 - 30C. 24C is the ideal temperature. Sprinkle the beer yeast on the surface and stir well. Do not put your yeast in if the temperature is above 32C it will kill your yeast and spoil your beer.

Fill the airlock with water to protect the brew while its fermenting and fit it on the lid. Screw the lid tightly on and there you have it! Now wait for 5-7 days for your yeast to turn the sugar into alcohol. The secret to a good beer is constant temperature so pick a spot where the temperature doesn't change much. I chose my water heater cupboard.


Now what's that brewing in my closet?

The airlock protects your brew during fermentation

If you want to determine the alcohol content, take the Specific Gavity (SG) readings before and after the entire process with a hydrometer. There's some complicated calculations involved and it's explained on the hydrometer sheet. My initial SG reading is 1.0448 at 24C. Let's see what the alco content will be after everything's done.

Hydrometer - tells you the SG, alcohol & sugar content

Tuesday 19 April
Temperature fell to around 20 so I put a small standing heater to warm it up just a bit to 22.

It's day 6 today. My yeast seem to have stopped working as its not bubbling anymore. Took a reading with the hydrometer and it came to 1.018. It should be approx 1.009 or 1.010 if you used a Beer Enhancer which I did so not sure if it's still on the high side.The reading has to be stable for 2 days in a row before I can bottle it.

Using the hydrometer to take the SG reading. 1.018 on Day 6.

Wednesday 20 April

Day 7. SG reading is 1.018 so I guess it's time for bottling. Still on the high side though as it's supposed to be 1.010/2. That means my alcohol % will be lower. Damn. Using the calculator on the website, my alcohol % is 4.1%. Supposed to be 5.2%. Hopefully my reading was wrong then the % will be higher. Fingers crossed.

So before the bottling process - A good brew needs clean bottles so take time to clean and sterilise properly. Use your kitchen sink to clean your bottles. For a clearer beer, add Beer Finings and stir well just before bottling.

Cleaning & sterilising the bottles in my sink

Use Beer Finning to clear your beer and carbonation drops for priming your beer

Adding sugar into the bottles will produce bubbles or carbonation. This is called priming. Easiest way to do it is with Carbonation Drops (basically sugar balls) coz then you'll get a perfect level of carbonation. I use 2 drops for each of my 750ml bottle. The drops produce less sediments too compared to sugar.

Bottling process

Managed to get 30 750ml bottles filled. The bottles must be stored in a warm place (21-27C) for 7 days before moving it to a cool dark place to mature. Your beer will be ready to drink in 2 weeks but if you can wait, 3 months down the road would be better.

Brew well my sweets

Happy brewing!