These Foolish Things Remind Me of You

Oh, how the ghost of you clings

These foolish things remind me of you..

I used to sit back, relax and enjoy the tinkling piano and the sweet luscious voice of Michael Buble harmonising together to form this wonderful piece of music and it reminds me a lot about a part of me that have been missing for years. I not really am sure if I could, but I wish someday and somehow, I will fly myself to the place where I called My Second Home.

Throwing back in 2009, I flew to New Zealand as part of my twinning program requirements to complete my degree studies. It was a total eye-opener for me, as I've never imagine myself travelling that far to the end of the world to learn the lesson of my life. When I was growing up in a small town called Pontian, Johor, I have never been to Singapore, not even once! Even though Singapore is merely a stone's throw away from Johor, I grew up with the conundrum of becoming a Johorean but never even once step a foot on Singaporean land.

Anyway, two years in New Zealand were a two-years journey well-spent and throughout the years, I've picked out so many things invaluable to be replaced. If I were about to write a book on what I've learnt and experienced throughout the years, it would take me a year to compile everything in one book. Somehow, I love to share some bits and pieces of New Zealand that I missed so much.

This might look like the usual bottles of milk you can get for a dollar fifty at most convenient stores, but I tell you this Wave milks are the only reason that can force me to drink milk! I've never been the milk lover since after I stopped drinking milk. I love the chocolate milk so much that I could drink up the 3 litre bottle of chocolate milk in 3 days! Well, since the milk could not be kept for a long time, it's either you drink it all or you lose it all.

I missed the walking culture of New Zealand. You see, it's a common sight to see people walking around the city with huge backpacks carried on the back and it's our daily routine, walking up the hill to get to our first class early in the morning. It was literally an uphill battle for us to wake up fresh in the morning and hike up the hill for precious knowledge not other place can offer.

And here comes the grand introduction: the BUTTER CHICKEN! When I went back to Malaysia, there was a hype about this special butter chicken sold at the Chicken Rice Shop and I was like, let's go for it then! But, probably I set my expectations so high that it turned out not to be the same butter chicken I used to have every week back then. The tender boneless chicken, cooked and mixed together with all the spices with utter perfection, eaten with a bowl of Jasmine rice, it never failed to make me drool all over my shirt every time I have it. 

It may not look as appetising as it tastes, but surely it was one of the best and affordable meals in Auckland. They are sold in two different sizes; small and large. The small one was a pot of rice, with reasonable pieces of cooked beef, chicken or lamb kebab and simmered with three sauces of your own choice, stuffed in a polystyrene, the one that the burger stalls use to pack their burgers in Malaysia. Meanwhile, the large one was for people with large tank like me, hehe. But normally, I would by the large set and I will eat half of it, keep the leftovers for my dinner. I love the garlic sauce so much, thanks to my friend Afiq Rudzi for introducing me these things. 

You see, when people travel overseas, they would talk about the beautiful places and attractions. But, for me, I think foods fill up my senses more than the places that I visited did. Sounds foolish, isn't it?