Anything & Everything

Inevitably when travelling, sampling local food becomes a large part of assimilating with the cultures, giving an insight to both the everyday routine and the overall lifestyle of how the other half lives. Also inevitably, when I live in New Zealand and visit overseas, everything becomes a whole lot more reasonable in price, especially when it comes to that of convenience stores - hardly dense in population even in Auckland, convenience stores become more of a side thought than an actual necessity, located in areas such that neighbourhood inhabitants can avoid driving 10 minutes to the local supermarket, or dorm-residing students can get a quick fix on heavily overpriced goods. But there are too many faults: stock is so minimal, and I haven't managed to express enough how pricy items can be: at $3.50 for a box of Pocky, it becomes the closest definition to legal robbery I've encountered in my short and naive life. Thus: it becomes a world of wonder to encounter so many proces...

I never want to be an adult. This is, of course, disregarding my being of legal age which definitively makes me an adult, and referring largely to succumbing to the grown-up world of Taxes and Middle-Aged Crises. And, yes, while the latter is still decades away (if at all, hopefully), the former is already a topic my parents have addressed in the recent years, making me panic just a little in terms of Things I Have To Do As A Grown-Up. While I realise that I will still have time for myself and to enjoy the things I love to do, I still dread the idea that I will possibly wake up in just a few short years with a long-term career, married, and with children, and that sort of commitment is something I'm really not prepared for. I loved being a non-adult, reaping in the perks of child discounts or mooching off my parents (admittedly, a youthful face and some sweet talk means I still do both), but there is still one particular aspect of being an adult that terrifies me, which, settin...

I am, undoubtedly, a chocolate snob. I am the sort of person to inhale the fumes of a chocolate bar, snap it between my teeth, and comment in a haughty tone as I eat, "Mmm, it has undertones of coffee and biscuits," or maybe, "The melt is divine , but it's nowhere near as good as [obscure gourmet chocolate brand]." Nonetheless, not even the cheapest bars of chocolate with vaguely plastic textures will deter me from devouring some. My current and long-standing favourite brand of chocolate is the famous New Zealand Whittaker's, producing extremely high-quality products for very reasonable prices to suit various ranges. No doubt they've had some flops (the L&P bar was, at least for me, a monstrosity in the name of two of New Zealand's best products), but otherwise, a majority of their products are definite go-tos when out shopping for a gift, souvenir, or more often than not, personal consumption. No doubt that strong pride for New Zealand herit...

My previously regarded cheapness, coupled with a desire to continue content on my blog has given birth to The Student's Guide to Even Cheaper Eats, in which I endeavour to satisfy my tastebuds and stomach during my schooling years in Auckland CBD with a meal on no more than $5 a week. Evidently, about four months since returning home from Japan, my sister and I had a sort of nostalgic desire to return to the country to eat the food, to be in the country itself and relive the excitement of visiting a place we had, for years, desired to go to. However, it's obviously not as easy as purchasing a ticket and taking a long weekend off to eat the food, so we picked the next best option of a true Japanese-run fast food-style Japanese eatery: Japan Dining You . Japan Dining You, sells predominantly Japanese-style curry, along with donburi bowls for those who feel like more substantial dishes, and a variety of sides to add on top such as mini spring rolls, potato croquettes, and brea...