Day 1 - 7/12/08

It was around 12 a.m. (Malaysian time). and my back is killing me...

Damn… I’m seriously not used to flying in economy seats... Damn freaking small!!! No wonder obese people get like another free seat… They would need 3 for the flight I was on...

The worst thing, is that we were gonna be in these seat for at least 10 hours... Holy crap. And it was starting to get boring. The only guy i could have talked to (Rex) was half dead beside me. My only companion was the tiny TV in front of me... And the free headsets they give you during flights. I'll go into "emo mode" for about 5 minutes...

OK, done...

So anyways, I ended up watching about 5 movies throughout the entire flight - all of which, I have forgotten what they were... Rex only woke up to eat... And Lai Sim was addicted to the in-flight games... I think it was Tetras or Donkey Kong or something like that...

And then Rex said something that would... -- Hey!! We had landed in Auckland already!! We touched down at Auckland International Airport at 12:50 p.m. Waitaminute... That means we were on that plane for... one... two... three... *counting off fingers - and toes...* -- 15 FREAKING HOURS!!! Argh... How could they? Lying to us like that!! Why, i oughta...

Hold up... My mistake, I forgot that we were now on another side of the globe... That means... Minus 5 hours... Yup... 10 hours. Oh well, honest mistake, people. *blush*

So, we met up with George (our Lions representative in Auckland and President of the Onehunga - Ellerslie Lions), who made sure we were going to the right gates and didn't end up in South Africa... Or worse, on another 10-freaking-hour flight BACK to Malaysia...

At this point, we (Rex and I) had to saparate with the four other girls -- NOOOOO!!! As we were going to Wellington, and the girls were going to... Somewhere else in NZ which it's name escaped me... I'll get it sooner or later.... 

Or not...

At 4:10 p.m. (yes, 4 hours later...), we finally boarded the smallest plane I've ever seen in my entire 17 year of living. It was so damn small that if Rex and I held hands and stretched... We could have touched both the opposite walls. Just to give you a picture of how small it was.. We didn't actually do it... Duh...

I never knew it was possible, but the seats in there were SMALLER than the seats on the flight to NZ

Omfg... Oh my god... The plane actually shakes when it was trying 2 get off the ground... *Saying a silent prayer... :"Omg... God, if u let me die.... I'll kill you!!" *

We reached Wellington from Auckland at 5:30 p.m. (thank you, god) I didn't notice my host parent, Tom until he was in my face, grabbing my arm, and saying :" Hello, Ben, Rex. " Which was really weird as he was wearing a bright red shirt and was probably close to 6 feet in height... Oh well...

The first thing I noticed about NZ when I stepped out of the airport - and i really have to tell you guys this, whether you know it or not - was that NZ's Sun was really, freakishly, unbearably painful. It was so damn harsh, that i couldn't stand even 10 seconds of it on my face!! It hurt as much as putting your face an inch away from the mouth of a toaster oven and turning the oven up to its maximum.

Tom took us up to the peak of Mount Victoria - if you're thinking that Mount Victoria is a snow-capped mountain which needed a 2 mile hike to get up it, think again... It may not be tall enough to give us frozen eyebrows and nutsacks, but it was tall enough to give us a fantastic, breath-taking view of the city of Wellington. 

We headed back to Tom's house after snapping a few shots (top), and this brings me to the second thing I noticed in NZ. 

KIWIS DRIVE DAMN FUCKING FAST!!! 

Tom ACCELERATED at a turning going DOWN-FREAKING-HILL!!! What the hell!! It was like ridding a damn roller coaster - without the safety harness!! AND.... It was also really, freaking FUN!!!

Thankfully, we reached Tom's house safe and sound physically - but not mentally. With adrenaline still pumping in our veins, we entered his house and almost instantly met up with Tom's wife - Anne. We settled down fairly quickly and I helped Anne with dinner. (when i said "helped" , i meant staying out of her way and eating the dinner afterwards)

With our stomachs full, and the fact that the stupid jet lag had caught up with us, we finally went to bed at 10+