Breastscreen Aotearoa

This is another reason why I say New Zealand is such a good country to live in. We get a free screening mammogram every two years if we are aged 45-69 years old.

When I was living in Singapore, I had to pay a lot of money to get my screening done.

Mammograms are not a topic that women like to talk about, but it is important. They can save lives. Some women of certain ethnic groups do not like to be screened.

I had my screening in this building which looks quite nice.

www.breastscreen.govt.nz

My world Tuesday: Thermal Springs

http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

"Whangapipiro (Rachel Pool) - Rotorua, New Zealand" 

Rachel Pool is a historic alkaline hot spring located in Government Gardens. Signage at the springs reads: "Water from this boiling cauldron is alkaline and reaches 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Silica-laden water from here was originally piped to the Pavillion Bath, later to the Bath House, and is still reticulated to the modern Polynesian Spa. Whangapipiro was renamed Rachel Pool after Madam Rachel, a notorious English cosmetician who promised youthful complexions because of the softening effect of silica water on the skin." 

Hot spring is open to view 24 hours per day but it is not for using because of its high temperatures and no cold water to moderate the temperatures. The temperature (F): 212 or
 (C): 100. So be careful not to put your fingers into the water to see how hot it is.

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM412V_Whangapipiro_Rachel_Pool_Rotorua_New_Zealand

Friday shoot out: Letter M

In New Zealand, we have many marine nature reserves. Children are taught from a young age to "take nothing and leave nothing," This reserve is at Walker park which is near to my school.

This is a Maori craving of a warrior, we saw this somewhere near Awhitu Peninsula.

This is one of the proudest things I have done. I tell everyone, "I ran the Marathon. Then I have to qualify myself saying it was only the quarter Marathon." I rubbed shoulders with the Marathon greats from Kenya and Ethiopia. They told me that the Singapore Marathon was the hardest to run. It was very hot and very humid. You have to be really keen to wake up to train in the morining at 6am before it gets too hot. On the day of the race, I got up at 4 am. The race started for the real marathon at 6am.

There are morning glory plants in Borneo. I was surprised to see them in New Zealand. At the marine reserve, I was told that morning glories are not natives to New Zealand. They stifle and kill the native plants. Most of them are deep purple. This is an unusual light pink.

This is a seed of the Mangrove plant. These seeds are washed up on the beach. In the sheltered Marine reserve, they root and grow into adult mangrove trees. In areas where the waves are very strong, they are washed away.

This is a mountain ridge in Papua New Guinea. The water engineer went on work assignment and photographed the huts from the helicopter.

I find the maiden hair fern one of the hardest plants to grow.

Here is my friendly mower. He was mowing my lawn when I came home from work. I asked if I could take his photo, and he obliged. Then he asked me why I wanted his photo. I wanted to be cheeky and say I wanted to make him the most famous mower in the world. But I just smiled, I have to be careful with what I say.

This is a Muriwai, West Auckland. A windswept rugged coastline stretching 60 km north makes Muriwai one of New Zealand's most spectacular black sand surf beaches. Sportsmen come here to do kite gliding. It must be fun for them to glide out to the ocean and back. It's great to have a sports that don't burn fossil fuel. Good job aka Ka Pai. 

To pay tribute to a country I lived in for sixteen years, I repeated this photo. Every year in Singapore, they celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival or Moon cake festival. This was in the Chinese Gardens in Jurong. They sent off lanterns on the lakes. There is a legend about the lady in the moon.

Here in Malacca aka Meleka in Malaysia, they have these old red buildings, left behind by the Portuguese from the 1500 to 1600s.

Blood is thicker than water, my Chinese ethnicity leads me to Marina South in Singapore, where they have statues of Chinese Heros. Here was a much younger me with my daughters. Not only we have changed, Marina South has changed a lot since this photo.
Alice of Singapore would tell you. They are building Singapore 's first casino and Integrated Resort (IR). They also built the Singapore Flyer, an imitation of the London Eye. It is a huge ferris wheel 165 metres in height, unfortunately it encountered a problem which wasn't very nice.
http://crisfieldnews.blogspot.com/
Friday Shootout: Letter M. This challange turned out quite easy and I enjoyed revisiting my past. For more commentaries, I have linked to many old sites and my other blog http://ann-mythoughtsandphotos.blogspot.com/

Sunday stills, the next challenge: Silhouettes

http://sundaystills.wordpress.com/
Winter trees showing their bones and skeleton make good silhouettes.
/i-think-i-can-fly.html  In this post I did in February, it was by accident that I photographed these children playing in a playground on the flying fox in silhouette. I was a greenhorn in photography, and I had no idea why the photos turned out this way. Thanks, Ed for this challenge.

Friday Shoot out: Your town, My City, Auckland New Zealand

This is an old hotel in Devonport. You can either drive across the Auckland Harbour Bridge or take a Fuller Ferry. Of course, if you have your boat, you can sail to the jetty.

We are into recycling in a big way. Our students have to take back what ever is left over from their lunch. We have a Green Party in Parliament.

Auckland is the Polynesian Capital of the world. Every year, we celebrate the festival of Pasifika where Samoans, Tonga, Cook Islanders, Fijians, Maoris and so on share their culture with the rest of Auckland. This year, I was at the Maori village to help in their zero waste program to educate recycling.

Within the city, you enjoy the tranquility of Western Springs lake. You will enjoy feeding swans, ducks, geese, chickens, eels and Pukekos.

The Maoris were the first people who came to New Zealand. This Waka or boat is still at Orakei marae. The Maoris came across the ocean from Cook Islands. This is an incredibly big boat, it carried 180 strong men. 60 on each side, and 60 men rested in the middle. My friend Ngarimu told me that it took a crane to take it up the hill.

The Pohutukawa tree blossoms in December giving a red hue across the landscape. This native tree is passionately known as the New Zealand Christmas tree. This monument is a man made light bulbs. You see it when you enter the city from the motorways.

You can see the Orakei marae from Bastion Point. Can you see that triangle structure. That's the marae, a Maori meetimg house. I have been privileged to have a sleep over last Waitangi Day.

Auckland Harbour bridge is an eight-lane box truss motorway bridge over the Waitemata Harbour. Part of the lanes can be moved to allow the cars to travel depending on the flow of the traffic. They have a special machine that pushes the dividers. It was the only roading that people had to pay toll. This was abolished. She is fifty years old.
You can pay to walk on top of the bridge, or bungy jump from under the cars. My second daughter did just taht at fifteen, and I was the crazy mum to see her jump. It was quite scary as the bridge moved and the winds howled.
On Sunday, 24 May 2009, thousands of people, including many families, crossed the bridge as a part of a protest that there is no cycle and walking lanes. The police couldn't do anything but step aside to let these thousands of people walk on the bridge.

Auckland, the City of sails. You can see why. They start their kids early. My school has a water wise lessons, and we are a primary school.

The weather is quite mild. You just make sure you wear warm. Even at 8 degrees, the water engineer still took us to the beach. Brrrrrrr!!!! Some people say that there are four seasons in a day in Auckland. I tell my guests that they have to take something warm in summer. The weather is that changeable. This photo was at the waterfront where we went to see the ships and boats. This must have been in summer because you can see we were wearing summer dresses. But we were also wear winter parkas. The wind at the beach is very strong.
In 1995, when Team New Zealand wrested the America's Cup away from the San Diego Yacht Club. You can see that winning yacht at the Viaduct.

Our flora and fauna are beautiful Throughout the year, you can enjoy flowers. Our native plants tend to be evergreen.

Albert Park is in the mid of the city. This is a beautiful place to enjoy and relax, especially for the Auckland University students to unwind after a hard lecture or exam. LOL. I love this place and spent most of my lunch hours when I was a student.  Photo shows Sam when he was three. I had posted this photo before, I like the fountain very much, and I love the little boy. He looked so cute.

This shows a contrast of city and "farm" Can you see the cow against the backdrop of the Sky City Tower? This photo was taken at Mt Eden extinct volcano. The city council rents out the park to farmers. There are cows and sheep. The animals  "mow" the volcanic crater. Children and tourists are amazed to see these animals in the middle of the city.

This is Auckland University. I am very proud of this Old Arts Building. But at that time, when I had my lectures and exams there, I had different sentiments, it was freezing cold in winter as it is like an old castle.
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This week Challenge, showing off your city.
Haere mai or welcome to Auckland. Auckland City is the most populous city in New Zealand with a population of 1,319,352.  Auckland is known as the city of sails, as we have more boats than any other city per capital and the title is gained from the view of yachts seen against the cityscape. Nestled within and isthmus of two oceans, the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea, Auckland contains much serene natural beauty. Our weather is mild and we enjoy outdoor sports all year round.
I hope I have challenged you enough to come and visit Auckland. In this blog and my other blog, http://ann-mythoughtsandphotos.blogspot.com/ I have posted numerous photos and commentaries. Please go on them if you are interested.
As New Zealand is so small with just 4 million people, this could be a city to many of you. May I entice you to come to New Zealand which had just been rated as the most peaceful country in the world.
http://crisfieldnews.blogspot.com/

New Zealand, the most peaceful country????

What do you think?
Even the gannets think so. LOL. Every year in August to March, about 1,200 pairs of gannets nest here in Muriwai, West Auckland. Then they fly off to Australia coming back to roost. I find it very peaceful when I come to Muriwai at different times of the year. Some times you see the newly hatched fluffy nestlings, and a few weeks later, you see them attempt to fly.
People say they fish because of the peace and tranquility. Here in Muriwai, hordes of immigrants come to do rock fishing. They must know what they are talking about. My Vietnamese student tells me that his Dad and him spend the whole day fishing. When I asked if I could tag along, he says," No! it not for girls."
Click on the second photo to see the fishermen.
You need just to drive one hour to see this beautiful sight.
New Zealand has been judged the most peaceful nation in the world.

An Australian thinktank recognised our stable political situation, relatively low rate of violence and decrease in military spending.

The Institute for Economics and Peace list was created after the start of the global recession, finding the financial meltdown was dragging the world toward political instability and conflict.

It laid out its key findings ahead of the publication of its annual Global Peace Index, a report prepared with the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The report, which surveyed 144 countries, says New Zealand's rise to first is partly explained by the election of a National-Act coalition last year.

"The centre-right National Party has a strong popular mandate and a robust parliamentary majority by New Zealand's standards, putting the new Prime Minister, John Key, in a good position to push through his agenda."

It also says New Zealand received the best possible scores for the likelihood of violent demonstrations, the homicide rate and the level of respect for human rights.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10576106

My World Tuesday

http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

In Auckland, we have many parks. These city parks are rented out to farmers who graze their sheep and cows. The city council gets a rental, and the animals "mow" the difficult terraine, the city slickers take their children to see the animals. It is a win-win situation.

The only drawback is you got to be careful where you step. You could step on a cow pat or on sheep pellets.

My students went to Mangere Volcanic Mountian last week. They like it except for the cow pats. Kids are kids, they don't watch where they walk.