The past two months has been really busy for me. For most part, working full time while trying to sort out graduation stuff and accommodating visiting family was kinda hard. As much as I want to spend time with my family, I had to work. Sadly, I missed out on half of their activities. The trade-off though was that I had days off from work during the important events.
In one week, we had celebrated mom’s birthday, mama and papa’s (grandparents) anniversary, and papa’s birthday. This was also during the week of their arrival. Imagine how hectic that would be. Trying to find restaurants to eat and stuff like that. We also had the opportunity to celebrate Mother’s Day for the first time in 8 years with Mama. Me and Aly (sister) surprised mom and mama with a bouquet of flowers. After a week of celebrations, my grandparents finally got to relax at home. That was before they got surprised by my Tita (aunt) and my cousins who arrived from Australia. Believe me, that was a hard secret to keep. Especially when they kept asking who was coming to our Auckland trip. Lol.
While they were here, they got to witness my graduation ceremony. Graduands had to march along Lambton Quay towards Civic Square. Luckily, the weather was good and it wasn’t raining. The downside, it was cold under the shades. We handled it pretty well though. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy the parade, but with friends walking with you, it was definitely fun. The ceremony was also a good experience. It was solemn and the speeches were just great. It wasn’t overly long, but I was hungry towards the end. :p After the ceremony, we took photos and headed out. The family went home before dinner while me and Ryan decided to hang around town while waiting for time (grabbing some food along the way too). At dinner, we invited a few of our closest family friends to dine with us. Overall, the whole day was fun. I was just disappointed that I had to go the work the next day. Lol.
During the same week, we headed out to Auckland for my sister’s birthday and a continuation of my graduation ceremony with her. The first night spent in Auckland was buying the essentials and buying dinner. While waiting for our parents and Ryan to arrive, we had dinner at Mama and Papa’s apartment (where they checked in for the weekend). It was getting late so we headed back to where we were staying and just hung out for a while. When our parents arrived, they were tired so they only had dinner and went to their room.
The next day, we hired a van to go around the city. Unfortunately, the weather was bad. Our first stop after going to Aly’s house was Devonport. Because it was raining, we didn’t enjoy the scenery as much. We managed to sneak in a few photos though when it wasn’t raining. For lunch, we headed to Westfield Albany. Most of us had Japanese food and it was good. Our last stop before dinner was Dressmart for some shopping. We had an hour to shop before they closed and so everyone decided to split up to make the most of the time. Ryan bought some shoes and I bought some PJs. Dinner was at a Chinese restaurant near the Sky Tower. While everyone was full, we had still room for dessert so after dropping off Mama and Papa at their apartment, we went to buy some ice cream. How many times do we get to be in Auckland and have some Ben & Jerry’s, right? So we bought 3 tubs of different flavoured ice creams. It is now officially one of my favourite ice cream places. Lol. To end our night, we watched a movie before heading to bed.
Last day in Auckland, our parents and grandparents headed home to Wellington and we were left alone to explore. While Aly was at Church, me, Ryan, and Kaela started our half day adventure in the city. It was a bittersweet moment when we went to Ponsonby to checkout a Sony store. It wasn’t a store, it was Sony’s head office. What was sweet was, we got to go back to Ben & Jerry’s to have more ice cream, before lunch. Lol :D
After Ponsonby, we headed back to the city. We were trying to get to Queen Street but we didn’t know what bus to take. So we ended up in Grafton. We thought, might as well take photos here before going down. We took photos in front of the Auckland University’s Grafton campus before catching the bus to the city. We got off the bus and walked down to Queen Street instead. Rather than going through the main street, we discovered a shortcut. We passed through Myers park and who would’ve thought there was going to be a park this big in the middle of the city. We took a few photos in the park and made our way to the Korean BBQ restaurant. That was the best Korean lunch we’ve had and it was worth our money too. Definitely going back next time we visit Auckland.
After lunch, we had some time to go around the city before going back to get our luggage back at our apartment and go to the airport. We also had to meet with Aly before heading home. So we decided to do our shopping. We bought bread and cake rolls to take home. I was going to buy shoes, but they didn’t have my size. :( I bought a spare battery for my camera instead and bought doughnuts for Ryan to take home. We spent most of our money on food than shopping. Lol. We then met up with Aly for a few minutes and then we headed back to out accommodation to pick up our luggage. After picking up our luggage, we went straight to the bus stop to wait for the airport bus. The first bus didn’t come, and we thought the next one wasn’t going to come too. Luckily, it was only a few minutes late and we got to the airport in time.
Back in Wellington, reality starts to hit as everyone had to go to work and school the next day. It was a good short trip. I am looking forward to more travel adventures in and out of the country.
Check out some photos of our Auckland trip here.
Hope you enjoyed my little story and the photo gallery highlighting some of the events.
Until next time!
In one week, we had celebrated mom’s birthday, mama and papa’s (grandparents) anniversary, and papa’s birthday. This was also during the week of their arrival. Imagine how hectic that would be. Trying to find restaurants to eat and stuff like that. We also had the opportunity to celebrate Mother’s Day for the first time in 8 years with Mama. Me and Aly (sister) surprised mom and mama with a bouquet of flowers. After a week of celebrations, my grandparents finally got to relax at home. That was before they got surprised by my Tita (aunt) and my cousins who arrived from Australia. Believe me, that was a hard secret to keep. Especially when they kept asking who was coming to our Auckland trip. Lol.
While they were here, they got to witness my graduation ceremony. Graduands had to march along Lambton Quay towards Civic Square. Luckily, the weather was good and it wasn’t raining. The downside, it was cold under the shades. We handled it pretty well though. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy the parade, but with friends walking with you, it was definitely fun. The ceremony was also a good experience. It was solemn and the speeches were just great. It wasn’t overly long, but I was hungry towards the end. :p After the ceremony, we took photos and headed out. The family went home before dinner while me and Ryan decided to hang around town while waiting for time (grabbing some food along the way too). At dinner, we invited a few of our closest family friends to dine with us. Overall, the whole day was fun. I was just disappointed that I had to go the work the next day. Lol.
During the same week, we headed out to Auckland for my sister’s birthday and a continuation of my graduation ceremony with her. The first night spent in Auckland was buying the essentials and buying dinner. While waiting for our parents and Ryan to arrive, we had dinner at Mama and Papa’s apartment (where they checked in for the weekend). It was getting late so we headed back to where we were staying and just hung out for a while. When our parents arrived, they were tired so they only had dinner and went to their room.
The next day, we hired a van to go around the city. Unfortunately, the weather was bad. Our first stop after going to Aly’s house was Devonport. Because it was raining, we didn’t enjoy the scenery as much. We managed to sneak in a few photos though when it wasn’t raining. For lunch, we headed to Westfield Albany. Most of us had Japanese food and it was good. Our last stop before dinner was Dressmart for some shopping. We had an hour to shop before they closed and so everyone decided to split up to make the most of the time. Ryan bought some shoes and I bought some PJs. Dinner was at a Chinese restaurant near the Sky Tower. While everyone was full, we had still room for dessert so after dropping off Mama and Papa at their apartment, we went to buy some ice cream. How many times do we get to be in Auckland and have some Ben & Jerry’s, right? So we bought 3 tubs of different flavoured ice creams. It is now officially one of my favourite ice cream places. Lol. To end our night, we watched a movie before heading to bed.
Last day in Auckland, our parents and grandparents headed home to Wellington and we were left alone to explore. While Aly was at Church, me, Ryan, and Kaela started our half day adventure in the city. It was a bittersweet moment when we went to Ponsonby to checkout a Sony store. It wasn’t a store, it was Sony’s head office. What was sweet was, we got to go back to Ben & Jerry’s to have more ice cream, before lunch. Lol :D
After Ponsonby, we headed back to the city. We were trying to get to Queen Street but we didn’t know what bus to take. So we ended up in Grafton. We thought, might as well take photos here before going down. We took photos in front of the Auckland University’s Grafton campus before catching the bus to the city. We got off the bus and walked down to Queen Street instead. Rather than going through the main street, we discovered a shortcut. We passed through Myers park and who would’ve thought there was going to be a park this big in the middle of the city. We took a few photos in the park and made our way to the Korean BBQ restaurant. That was the best Korean lunch we’ve had and it was worth our money too. Definitely going back next time we visit Auckland.
After lunch, we had some time to go around the city before going back to get our luggage back at our apartment and go to the airport. We also had to meet with Aly before heading home. So we decided to do our shopping. We bought bread and cake rolls to take home. I was going to buy shoes, but they didn’t have my size. :( I bought a spare battery for my camera instead and bought doughnuts for Ryan to take home. We spent most of our money on food than shopping. Lol. We then met up with Aly for a few minutes and then we headed back to out accommodation to pick up our luggage. After picking up our luggage, we went straight to the bus stop to wait for the airport bus. The first bus didn’t come, and we thought the next one wasn’t going to come too. Luckily, it was only a few minutes late and we got to the airport in time.
Back in Wellington, reality starts to hit as everyone had to go to work and school the next day. It was a good short trip. I am looking forward to more travel adventures in and out of the country.
Check out some photos of our Auckland trip here.
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Until next time!
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