A beautiful holiday you may be

I hate beautiful holidays - wonderful and unforgettable they may be, they merely succeed in making me detest the realities of life.

When will we be so happy and free, again?

Without facebook, mobile network, blackberry, worries and troubles? The only thing we had to worry about was whether we had too little to cover ourselves from the cold.

It'd be how nice

-

How do we break out of this rat race?

And it's Monday yet again.

NZ - The planning

I second that.

It was, and still is, an unbelievable experience. Like 14 days of heaven. On cloud nine. Over the moon. They say winter's too cold to do anything in New Zealand? I say winter makes New Zealand prettier and unforgettable. GO THERE IN WINTER YOU CAN DO EVERYTHING THERE IS TO DO DURING SUMMER AND ALSO THINGS YOU CAN'T DO DURING SUMMER. Snow skiing. Ice skating on a frozen pond. Puff out warm air and see the condensation. Accessorise with beanie and scarf. Slide down snowy slopes. Build snowmans. Carve out snow angels. Throw snowballs at one another. You have no idea the joy, ecstacy, delight and excitement we had, the first time we touched fluffy snow.

Back to as early as Feb, when we first planned, all of us have never been to this part of the world. We had zero idea of the weather, the landscape, the road conditions, the culture, the food etc. We started out with a map:

Having no idea of where to start planning from, we headed down to Natas Fair. Chan Brothers travel fair. Kop-ed brochures. Asked for quotations. Sourced for air ticket sales and deals. Asked friends and relatives for sample itinerary. Searched online for activities, accomodation, car rental and guided tours. We planned everything on just a map. Things fell in place and before we knew it, our homework bore fruit - our 14 day travel route was visualized.

Time flew. Our tickets were bought in Feb in a fluster, racing against time to catch the last minute SQ sales fares. We counted down to July. We met several times to discuss, plan and confirm. We booked, paid deposits and made online reservations. We were so detailed and paranoid, we had a Plan A, B and C for skydiving (lest the weather turns bad). We had an imba itinerary with information meticulously researched and noted down.

Before we knew it, our holiday was round the corner - just weeks to go! We stocked up on winter clothing, fleece jackets, beanies and scarves, and lotsa heat packs. The irony was that we were so eager and looking forward to the trip, but when the departure was days away, we felt like, "Am I really going already?"

1 July came. Terminal 3. And the rest, is beautiful history. =)

Our 1st cookout

We chopped, washed, peeled and boiled
Fried, sliced, simmered and broiled

Colourful capsicums and pan-fried onion
Ah careful, lessen the fire don’t let them burn

Black pepper and salt, less the basil
On hot boiled potatoes the butter glows

Non-stick Happycall we heated and tossed
Beef to perfection our fingers kept crossed

Cheers to pink Moscato our dinner ready
The sumptuous spread we beamed at gaily

Smiled she did with every bite
Sweetness of food and effort to much delight

It’s not just for your Happy Birthday
Cos I think we can do this just everyday
 

P/S: I forgot about your favourite baked beans! =(

NZ trip in afterthoughts