leadership and communication skills programme and cultural marathon
international pacific college
palmerston north, new zealand
13th nov 2011, sunday
woke up at 4.00 am. excited feeling being mixed up with tiredness and sleepiness. arrived at lcct and checked in luggage minutes later. we departed for christchurch at 8.50 am. sadness appeared when my sisters cried *sobs. on the plane, every action was limited. moved from one place to another, had a chat with buddies and attempted other irrelevant activities. counting hour by hour, we were delighted with tasty nasi lemak and nasi briyani. finally, our plane had safely landed at 11.50 pm after the long ten-hour journey
14th nov 2011, monday
got our luggage. so lucky of us to receive fried vermicelli from karyna's mummy's friend for supper. an apple and grape juice were just the right finishing for the great meal. here we go, with the new atmosphere plus the 10 degree celsius; it was just remarkably awesome. took a few photos and took a really good nap before the next flight at 8.45am. it was colder than i expected. arrived at palmerston north a.k.a palmy at 9.55 am. we were brought to ipc by rebecca @ bex and kak dasha. patrick; the head of hall management (i think) gave us a key and a student card each. me, the lucky owner of room no. 5. dumped everything on the study table and into the closet. at 10.30 am, patrick briefed us about the rules and regulations and more or less about the positioning of buildings located in ipc's premise. we had a really wonderful new zealand's breakfast style consisting of sweet muffins and hot tea. guess what, we met a few students from malaysia and indonesia. i totally felt at home. we had a tour around the campus. for the first time, we used the student card for lunch in the dining hall. it was just great. not to forget, it was all free flowing. went to dojo and did this interesting game which was mainly to test our teamwork. possibly fun. went back to our rooms and bathed. again, dinner and away for a guides event. we managed to do a lot of new things, but very mind challenging.
15th nov 2011, tuesday
woke up at 5.30 pm. had breakfast at 8.00 am. after that, we were separated into two groups. the other group had economics class. whereas, we had international relationship (ir) with lan. karyna, elynna, husnina, violet and i got a partner each. the class was pretty cool and cold. we had lunch. next up, we attended an environmental studies class which was very entertaining. the last lesson of the day; english class was full of input. went for dinner and prepared for a st. johns ambulance event. they thought us multiples of great steps in becoming a first aider. after that, we went to the town and witnessed the cool clock tower which played music. knowing us, definitely we had hundred of pictures taken.
16th nov 2011, wednesday
had another english class with sa girls only since wednesday is a day off for all the students in ipc, not for us sadly. we had fun presenting about different types of dictionaries. intercultural communications class was definitely fun and kerine managed to make all of us burst into laughter. after lunch, we went to a sheep farm. we were exposed to plenty of stuff and succeeded in sheering the sheep. such a priceless experience. khaty and berry, the owners of the farm were wonderful as they entertained us, their guests well. we had a frisbee ultimate with ryan, jim, logan, a japanese dude and a taiwanese guy. they were really talented.
17th nov 2011, thursday
principle of economics was our first class. we felt bad for throwing the sleepy looks due to the hectic day we had the day before. the japanese class had been brought forward. i'm just an intermediate japanese language learner. taku sensei made me realised that i should practice this language more. i'm glad that i could finally meet a real japanese teacher. we had lunch and off for the intercultural communications class which was quite good. we paid a visit to palmerston north girls high school. they had some kind of a play competition for students in year 9. meaning, they are 14 this year. that evening, we had a frisbee ultimate game again. it was impossibly testing our fitness. so far, it was the best match i ever joined.
18th nov 2011, friday
the last day with our classmates, the students of ipc. the first class was by lan. we had gained various useful input from that lesson. later, we recorded videos on nz and ipc based on our creativity. this task required us to work in pairs. it was a breathtaking moment to see the beauty of ipc. we had another environmental studies class with ross. he actually complimented our english skills. our faces got coloured up. the english class with rona was such a great ending. she had always been wonderful to everyone and definitely like a mother to us. had dinner and shoot off to dojo for another frisbee ultimate match with ryan, jim and logan. even though my body cried for rest, but that was our last game together. i was grateful to be a part of the team.
19th nov 2011, saturday
1st day of sightseeing-i woke up late and had to rush to do everything in 20 minutes. *morning jog*, haha. left for taupo. 3-hour journey :( i don't really like to travel ! anyway, on the way there we witnessed beautiful high snowy mountains. remarkably nice. we continued our journey. arrived at the huka falls. my goodness, the water was all turquoise in colour. god's creations are always beautiful. next stop was the front side of lake taupo. wonderful and the wind was just very helpful. had chicken burger with avocado sauce, water and fries. burger fuel, man <3 headed to the gravity canyon view to watch brave jumpers doing bungy jumping. horrifying yet awesome. i managed to buy some souvenirs for my babies :D i played golf ^^ tiger woods is definitely going to envy me ! on the way back to ipc, the van had a flat tyre. we reached late and had domino's pizza for dinner. yummy, loved it <3
20th nov 2011, sunday
2nd day of sightseeing-well, i didn't wake up late. yay ! wanganui, baby :) our first stop was durie hill tower. it was remarkably windy. i flew, man ;D got up the tower which gave a total of 176 steps for a quite fascinating winding flight of stairs. hoped on the waimarie which literally means water boat. it was pretty awesome. arrived at he virginia lake to witness the geese, ducks, ducklings and unimaginably beautiful scenery of the park. i met this man who used to stay in brunei for quite a couple of years. he said "selamat jalan" to me. cool ;D rushed to the cultural museum which exhibits the treasures and histories of maori; the indigenous people of new zealand. on the way back, we went to kouhai to have the hockey pokey branded as tip top. my ice-cream flavour was mochamachiato. oishikatta yo ! we made it on time for dinner in ipc.
21st nov 2011, monday
3rd day of sightseeing-departed for wellington in our official lime green coloured collared t-shirt. we met the malaysian ambassadors in the building of the embassy of malaysia; the malaysian high commission. they looked pleased to have us there. had some kind of talking session where we exchanged experiences, ideas, and stories. it was such a very useful brief meet. after that, we went to istana malaysia restaurant owned by a indian lady. she was once a malaysian who migrated to new zealand and declared herself as a kiwi. the nasi lemak served was hot, yet reminisced me of malaysia. walked to the te papa museum. i was acknowledge with a lot of things there and got some souvenirs for my girl guides supervisors. went to this props shop. this place advertised gadgets, weapons, statues, etc. used for epic and fiction movies like star wars, the chronicles of narnia, the last samurai and plenty more. rode on the cable car situated in the town. made friends with the men and ladies i met in that vehicle. they storied me on how much they admired the mount kinabalu. some of them were lucky enough to pay a visit there recently. glad to be a part of malaysia <3 did some shopping in the streets and returned when the traffic was still not favourable.
22nd nov 2011, tuesday
4th day of sightseeing-palmy <3 went to a playground in town. it was full of excitement. it recalled my childhood. walked to the victoria esplanade rose garden. such a rainbow planet. went to te manawa and also the rugby museum. these two buildings are located side by side. returned for lunch in ipc. later, we went straight for a horse riding. my horse was brown with a black pony tail. it's called tallymarine. *however you spell it ! shopped in the plaza. returned, had lunch and dozed off.
23rd nov 2011, wednesday
it was the coldest day i think. we had our first class with peter. he was a malaysian. cool :) the class was mainly to give use the exposure on international business. had debate. screwed it up. i didn't know how to debate. to be exact, i forgot how to debate :( embarrassed but lesson learnt. had english class with sam a.k.a. samad. i like his accent. we laughed a lot during his lesson due to his funny way of explaining stuff. had lunch and paid a visit to palmerston north girls' high school. everyone was assigned with a buddy each. we went to different classes. i attended a science class with my girlfriend, jaimee. i gave her a bag of wonders from malaysia bought by pn suhafna. after shopping, we went back to ipc and got ready for the farewell dinner. we had to dash trough the rain to get to the senior common room. i accidentally left my fans and script. oh boy, had to rush back to my room hesitatingly :( drenched of rain water ! li-syuen started to make her speech. we presented the presentation on malaysian dishes smoothly. had buffet dinner. extremely delicious, loved it. they started the dance performance before i could stopped eating. with my mouth fulled, we started dancing. they seemed to enjoy the performance :D resumed eating. had a chat with a few faculties including satoshi. he complimented our chinese dance. guess who choreographed it ^^ hehe *blushed up ! anyway, we started hugging and whatnot and some of us cried, including myself T_T'' received warm wishes from everybody. we took pictures while my tears were still jerking :( returned to hostel and watched a maori film recommended by bex called river queen.
24th nov 2011, thursday
woke up late, again :( quickly packed my things and took a shower. i got prepared and we left for the dining hall to have our last meal in ipc :( went to palmy airport with kak ed, kak dasha and bex. made a video containing our last words. we all left palmy unwillingly ! anyway, hugged everyone and had to depart for christchurch. we were served with coffee and cranberry cookies. it was good. azmina got the all blacks' cup :p i envy her :( arrived and waited for the next flight for about 4 hours. did last minute shopping and i was left with only 2 nzd and 30 cents. prayed beside the souvenir shop because over there, it's very unlikely for us to find mosques. it was a great experience though :) on the plane, the atmosphere was impossibly gloom. slept, woke up, ventured to the loo, slept again. such a lifeless girl. arrived safely. it was indeed a really priceless experience and memories.
