Friday, February 28, 2014

FSO: Stained window



Our nephew was married in this church which has a  stained glass window. Isn't it beautiful?
Feb 28: Stained glass  -  Large or small, religious or decorative.   Show and tell us about the stained glass in your Town. (Topic by Ginger V)  We tend to associate stained glass with the windows in our chapels, churches and cathedrals but they are also used (and re-used) in older homes, store fronts, and other public buildings.  Hunt one down, and show us how they look from the outside, and from the inside.  How they change the atmosphere, the light and our feelings about the space they adorn. 


http://mytownshootout.blogspot.co.nz/

Saturday, February 22, 2014

crystals and pearls.


Before we left Singapore for New Zealand, my daughter D chose to stay in Singapore. She was making a lot of jewelery and ear-rings and necklace. She made this for me.

My friends admire me for having a talented daughter. They didn't think D made this. I wear it with pride and joy and only on special occasions.

Two days ago, I made a new friend, Sharifah. She makes exquisite Jellwery. Anna Sue jewellery.

Friday, February 21, 2014

FSO:Eating and drinking in my Town -




PhotoPhotoPhoto

http://mytownshootout.blogspot.co.nz/
The Talisman, a cafe in the bush. I was so absorb by the ambiance, and my giant cup of hot cappuccino. Lots of yummy food, flowers and friendly waitress dressed in jungle patterned uniform, antiques and a piano. The tiger tells the waitress where we were sitting.
Eating and drinking in my Town - A paragraph or two with photos featuring your favourite cafe, coffee shop or restaurant and tell us why it appeals to you? 

Monday, February 17, 2014

Lantern Festival In Auckland New Zealand.

Ann Chin's photo.


It seems like we were teleported to China with our 3 days lantern festival at Albert Park.

I am linking my blog post for Heather, whose son was murdered. They are trying to get a bill to pass Cameron's law to make eye witnesses to be responsible.

http://annkitsuetchin.blogspot.co.nz/2014/01/support-bill-for-camerons-law.html

https://www.facebook.com/CameronsLaw/info

 

 

http://ourworldtuesdaymeme.blogspot.com/
 




Wednesday, February 12, 2014

When it isn't ruin, don't fix it.

 Photo: This is the car park of the Auckland Zoo. I don't go there a lot because I prefer the Western Springs park next to it.

Recently there was an outcry when the zoo decided to remove the garden built in 1989 as a recognition of Auckland's sister city of Fukuoka City to make way for the Tasmanian Devil development.

 The mayor Len Brown does not agree with the removal and says there needs to be an apology to the People and City of Fukouka. 
 
For once, I agree with him. 
For Rina Shimamura

This is the car park of the Auckland Zoo. I don't go there a lot because I prefer the Western Springs park next to it.

Recently there was an outcry when the zoo decided to remove the garden built in 1989 as a recognition of Auckland's sister city of Fukuoka City to make way for the Tasmanian Devil development.

The mayor Len Brown does not agree with the removal and says there needs to be an apology to the People and City of Fukouka. 

For once, I agree with him.

http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com/



I am linking my blog post for Heather, whose son was murdered. They are trying to get a bill to pass Cameron's law to make eye witnesses to be responsible.

http://annkitsuetchin.blogspot.co.nz/2014/01/support-bill-for-camerons-law.html

https://www.facebook.com/CameronsLaw/info

 

 

http://ourworldtuesdaymeme.blogspot.com/
 




Friday, February 7, 2014

a person of principle.



href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis2ifBlLC6wHlnKNb8qOQIgP9T7mWqTb5ZH97JdXU9IaQiqj0Hr5Zjho5_zd12I42GCtnaZx5HqyjOsVNfnqcfhGVquaJ8_n3BnIRY1lcZJxrYJVFPS6f9zqf59gWwfLsMhl8KIwrVV_96/s1600-h/scenic+sunday.jpg">
http://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&

When I took this photo, I wanted to do a post on how green this supermarket is when they don't give out free plastic bags. You either pay for their yellow bags or use the paper boxes.

I don't like it when they introduced the self-service checkout. I don't use it because I am always worried I might make a mistake.

One day, a middle aged woman sternly told the check out operator when the latter asked if she would use the self check," Watch out, soon, it will take over your jobs."

I didn't think of that, I better stick to the human operator and have the occasional banter, " It is nice a warm here." I don't want the machine to replace my fellow union member.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Handmade Foochow noodles




A handmade noodles MEE SUAH by the Foochows, The Rejang Basin is occupied first by the Foochows and then the Cantonese. 

This noodle is much loved by everyone. You can have a bowl at my Cousin Chai Wen's Opps Kopitam. She cooks it with real wine. She serves me when I visit her, knowing that I live in New Zealand and married to a Hakka, I don't eat it often.



http://youtu.be/L54-cInHrg0

FSO: Entrances

 I went to this park last Saturday. New Zealand has a lot of timber.
 At Mt Albert Baptist Church entrance, our new pastor stands to greet worshippers. It's Chinese New Year, hence the Chinese words greetings.

Below: a little hideaway cafe at Karangahake gorge.
 Entrance to Grafton Hall of residence of Auckland university.
Alcohol ban in our public parks, in summer, it is fire ban too.




This is the entrance of Kai Chung School, Binatang/Bintangnor. Taken during their reunion, and I was invited to attend as their teacher. Thanks you Ke Tara and Francis Chen.
http://mytownshootout.blogspot.co.nz/

Feb 7: Entrances - Show us usual and unusual entrances in your towns and cities, from home doors, to gates in the city. (

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Save the World: World Cancer Day, 4 Feb 2014




Yesterday was World Cancer day. I wore my pink band to raise awareness. Sure enough, two persons asked why I was wearing it. I had two surgeries on my breast, I was prepared in case I had cancer. Praise the Lord my cysts were benign. For my Breast cancer surviving friend and bereaved mum, Ellyn Crompton. This cacti flower is tough, tough like cancer victims.



Cancer, the whore!
She doesn't discriminate,
She doesn't care if you are young,
Or if you are old.
You never know when you might get it.
But if you get it,
You pray there is a cure.
But you may be cure,
you may not.
Help spread the word,
And get involved. 


I am linking my blog post for Heather, whose son was murdered. They are trying to get a bill to pass Cameron's law to make eye witnesses to be responsible.

http://annkitsuetchin.blogspot.co.nz/2014/01/support-bill-for-camerons-law.html

https://www.facebook.com/CameronsLaw/info
 
http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com/


Alphabe-Thursday letter L for Law: car window washers







In 2012, I wrote about the car window washers and their problems. This problem has not gone away.  I took this photo from my reflection mirror because I was afraid this washer might turn nasty on me.



Photo / APN
Bottom photo: courtesy New Zealand Herald.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11196789

The washers are already banned under a bylaw, and offenders can be fined up to $20,000.
But the council says the sanctions are costly, complex and ineffective, and it wants the Government to change the law so it can issue infringement notices - possibly in the form of spot fines.
Under the present law, it must get police to confiscate washers' equipment or prosecute them.
Councillors yesterday unanimously backed a proposed law amendment that would allow the council to specify bylaw breaches that would result in an infringement notice.

My 2012 blog post.



You can't see clearly the woman in the rear mirror. I had been wanting to do this post for a very long time. But it was very hard to take the photo, as I didn't want her to know. When I eventually took the photo last Saturday, the news article was published on Tuesday. A very timely thing.

I don't know if this happens in other places, in many of our busy road junctions, at busy times, men and women come without being asked, and they have a long brush and clean your windscreen. It is a symbolically clean as it is haphazardly done, ( 2 cars before the lights changed, because I actually stalked them today). Then they tap your window. Some people don't give them any money. The cleaners are always polite, and don't insist you give them money. I always give them, not because they clean well, but I appreciate their willingness to be out there, especially in the cold winter evening.

A friend from South Africa who lived during the Apartheid times, told me, to her, it is an automatic reflex to wind up her window when she sees someone with a stick approaching her. Other friends say they are a nuisance, and dirty the windscreen rather than clean it.

The trouble, is these people dress like riff raffs, smoke while cleaning. I like to give them some pocket money for being in the cold. Better than just begging.

However, not many people think like me. What do you think?

***I looked in the photo carefully, she was bending down, she could have dropped her water bottle of detergent. She could have been drunk. I actually had told her, that on my way over, the man at the other side of the road had cleaned my window. She proceeded to clean my front window and said she and the man was competing. Before I could find some small change, the lights had changed, and I had to drive off without giving her any money. But not after I managed to take the photo.)***


Drunks terrorise suburban shoppers
MICHAEL FOX
Last updated 05:00 10/04/2012

Mt Albert residents fed up with "menacing" transients who they say are scaring people have vowed to rid the suburb of the problem.

Community leaders are urging residents and business owners to bombard authorities with complaints while they also putt pressure on police to do more.

Locals say the vagrants have been driven out of the central city and were congregating at the Mt Albert shops where they were drinking, begging, busking, "hustling locals", cleaning windscreens at intersections and sniffing glue in public.

"These people are quite intimidating," Albert-Eden local board spokeswoman Pauline Anderson says.

Sometimes in groups as big as 12, they were scrimping together enough money to buy booze then drinking it in public.

"Then of course during the day it progressively gets worse because they get more high and more drunk to the point where they're dodging traffic and just being a menace and people in Mt Albert are crossing the street to avoid them," she said.

Police could take several hours to respond to calls which often had to be made several times but she said police patrols had increased lately at the board's request. Anderson said they wanted people to be more proactive.

"There is a little bit of apathy which I believe is a big part of the problem, that people think that because they call and then police take the details and then nothing appears to happen then people stop calling and that is the worst thing that you can do."

The council ran a campaign with business owners about four months ago outlining the options available and providing phone numbers to call to report the issues.

If all the incidents were reported they would have the statistics to back up their complaints, Anderson said.

"All we can do is encourage people to keep on at the police, to keep ringing, reporting everything they see, every incident."

The aim was to try to draw people back to the shopping centre because "the more we go there, the residents, the less these people will feel comfortable going there".

"It's not about we don't want them in Mt Albert, we just want them to behave in a socially acceptable way and it's up to us to show them that really, it's unacceptable what they're doing. We don't want them in our faces doing what they do."

http://jennymatlock.blogspot.co.nz/



search/label/Alphabe-Thursday. Jenny Matlock


Monday, February 3, 2014

My World/Outdoor Wednesday: Mining Gold





Karangahake Gorge where gold was once mined in New Zealand.

I am linking my blog post for Heather, whose son was murdered. They are trying to get a bill to pass Cameron's law to make eye witnesses to be responsible.

http://annkitsuetchin.blogspot.co.nz/2014/01/support-bill-for-camerons-law.html

https://www.facebook.com/CameronsLaw/info

 

 

http://ourworldtuesdaymeme.blogspot.com/
 




Sunday, February 2, 2014

Alphabe-Thursday letter K for kiln


 The remains of the ore kiln.

The Victoria Battery

In the earliest mining days, only a small percentage of gold and silver was extracted by the old pan amalgamation process.
In 1896, the Victoria Battery began its ear-splitting work. With 200 stamps, it was the largest quartz crushing plant for gold extraction in Australasia, capable of crushing over 812 tonnes of ore each day to the consistency of sand.
The adoption of the cyanide process by the Waihi Gold Mining Company in 1894 was one of the crucial factors in the success of the Waihi mines. Prior to the cyanide process (pioneered in Karangahake), only a small percentage of gold and silver had been extracted by the old pan amalgamation process.

In 1952, it was closed most of the plant has been removed but the foundations now form a popular tourist attraction. You can wander through the quiet foundations and imagine the fearful, 24 hour pounding that could be heard from as far away as Waihi.

I was lucky to see at least the remains.

http://www.waihi.org.nz/about-us/history-and-heritage/the-victoria-battery/

I am linking my blog post for Heather, whose son was murdered. They are trying to get a bill to pass Cameron's law to make eye witnesses to be responsible.

http://annkitsuetchin.blogspot.co.nz/2014/01/support-bill-for-camerons-law.html

https://www.facebook.com/CameronsLaw/info


http://jennymatlock.blogspot.co.nz/



search/label/Alphabe-Thursday. Jenny Matlock