I was fortunate enough to spend about 8 weeks in Sydney and Melbourne last year while on my gypsy travel binge, and I’d like to share a few quick light-hearted thoughts.
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Room for Rent: Cozy, Fully Furnished, Great View of Giant Pedophile Santa
Among the many joys of having a centrally located flat in Auckland’s CBD, besides waking up to marching bands and political protests on Saturdays, is that every holiday season there’s a giant pedophile Santa outside my window beckoning the young and innocent children of Auckland with his dodgy moving finger. Although I’m not one to shy away [...]
National Depression: Unavoidable Even If I Don’t Give a Crap
So I’m just browsing the Web, minding my own business, and then I happen to check the feed of my friends’ status updates on Facebook. I see some rather distressing updates like “… is in disbelief” and “… is predicting national depression.” Obviously something really bad is happening, and because all the doom and gloom [...]
NZ Police + Big Guns = A Tad Ironic
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the New Zealand Police get mocked for not carrying guns on their person and keeping them in the boot (American translation: trunk) of their cars. Well, a recent hostage crisis in Auckland might poor some cold water on that image, especially with visuals such as: But [...]
Typically Kiwi: Taking the Piss Out of Everything!
This is a really great example of how Kiwis take a slightly different approach to the world. Sure, everyone makes fun of Bush and Brad Pitt’s women, but to do it so openly on the billboard of a major television company? I can only imagine the uproar that would happen in the States if a [...]
Free Idea: Asian Mystery Menu
ATTENTION ALL ASIAN RESTAURATEURS: You’re Missing A Huge Opportunity! So I was having dinner with my friend Priscilla at a Japanese restaurant last night, and realised that Asian restaurants are missing out on a huge opportunity. As with almost any non-Asians, both of us had pretty much no idea what all of the options were [...]
Typically Kiwi: Dealing with Bomb Threats *AFTER* a Night at the Pub
Last Tuesday at the Auckland International Airport an X-ray machine identified a “suspect package” at the NZ Post’s international mail centre. And what was done about it? Exactly what any reasonable person would do – the package was put in storage until the following morning, and then the bomb squad was called in. As reported [...]
Culture Aint Easy
I like to think of myself as a pretty open-minded person, but recently after interacting with a great number of people here in Auckland that represent a very wide range of global cultures, I’ve been thinking that I could only live someplace in the world that generally has a culture pretty close to mine. I [...]
Some Cities Care
I just got back from a 3am cycle through the streets of Auckland and while I was out there were a few things that caught my attention. To my surprise and intrigue, I saw a work crew raking leaves in a small grassy area adjacent to O’Rorke Hall (my dorm.) As I continued south on [...]
Every Country’s ‘Country’ is the Same
I’m sitting in my room and it’s very quiet here in the hall. The reason is that it’s the Easter break and everyone jetted out of the hostel late last week. I actually went up to a little town north of Auckland named Kerikeri where I spent two nights at my friend Jesse’s farm, but [...]