One Month in Huia!

Hi everyone!

This week marks our one month annniversary (technically, a monthsary) since moving into Huia Residence. We had a party at the ground floor to commemorate the special event, filled with face paint, cakes in foil containers drizzled with syrup and cooking chocolate droplets, balloons with the number 1, and streamers. The balloons made it seem as if we were celebrating an invisible baby's first birthday.

I have immensely enjoyed my time in Huia so far, and the friends have not only been quantitative that I have made here have all been absolutely lovely. The whole journey has soared beyond my expectations to say the least.

Key Facts:

1. You can choose between being partially-catered or self-catered in Huia (the only hall in which you have the option; all other UoA halls are fully-catered). Meal Plan A currently costs $70 (7 dinners) and Meal Plan B costs $93 (7 dinners + 5 lunches). I'm on Meal Plan B now but I'm seriously considering to be self-catered next semester, mostly because I miss the freedom of eating out and cooking my own meals. Cutlery is provided.

For lunch, you have the choice of ordering a lunch pack (pretty good value for the amount of items you can order) or have a buffet lunch at the Quad Cafe. For dinner, we have a buffet and you have three main options - Protein (aka meat) Option 1 and 2, plus vegetarian option. There is always a different kind of potato, salads, and vegetables every night. Desserts are most of the time delicious! Seconds are possible when they are available, and our beloved Uncle Wilson (the sweetest catering Asian uncle) often calls us out for seconds, or encourage us to take some leftover desserts into our rooms.

Here is a sample meal plan meal for lunch and dinner:

Don't judge the portion :'( $10 per night so might as well make most of it ;P

2. Currently washing and drying costs $2 each round.
3. We are the only hall blessed with 24-hour reception, which means 24-hour pool with friends (dangerous 'study break' option, as I have discovered) and no worrying if you get locked out of your room.
4. It takes around 13-15 minutes to walk to the OGGB (Business School), depending on the pace that you walk.
5. We have our own small fridge in every room! Another Huia plus point.

Tips before moving in:

1. Bring an ethernet cable!
2. Consider going with the dinner meal plan at some point for the first semester at least. You get to sit, meet, and eat with a lot of new people, and meal plan was how I was rescued from being a potential loner at Huia (a tad too drastic, but kinda true). On my first day I had no idea who to sit with (I was just looking around to see who wouldn't see me as a nuisance for invading their holy privacy), I just walked back and forth in the dining hall carrying my full plate before two guys called me out to sit with them, and now I am privileged to be able to hang out with one of the (self-claimed) coolest clans in Huia <3
3. Try to get involved with as many events as you can, but at the same time, don't force yourself to attend those that don't tickle your fancy. Especially for late comers, getting out there is crucial to meeting new people, making new friends, and having the greatest time at your hall. I moved in one day late and it was already hard enough to meet people because everyone's either dispersed to follow their schedules, already super close with each other, or hiding in their dens.
4. Make sure you have a comfy pair of sport shoes. You'll most likely be doing a lot of walking living in Huia.

Assassins' Week First and Final Update:

Ran to ground floor kitchen (safe zone), but my fate had been sealed the moment I decided to not stay in my room the whole night (I mean who could resist playing pool in the middle of studying?). Killed very gently by Xenia after a long, persistent struggle of waiting each other on separated by the kitchen counter.

Even my lawyer couldn't save me from Xenia and her goons' determination to sock me.

Voluntarily went out because it was past 2 am and wasn't even making any kills anyway (mostly due to lack of Pakeha-distinguishing skills).

Anyway, I apologize for the lack of updates, as we're all currently stumped with uni work. As for now, gotta cram for tomorrow's Business 101 test, tackle unfinished assignment questions and obnoxious online quizzes. I can't wait for mid-sem break already! :-|

As always, thank you for reading! Have a wonderful Sunday everyone! :)

アリシア

Auckland Lantern Festival 2015

Hello hellooo.

So last Sunday marked the end of the Auckland Lantern Festival. I know it's a bit late (blame uni :p) but my friend said that technically the correct date of the Lantern Festival's today, so yeah :)

When we arrived, we saw this lion dance team just about to start. Ahh, the nostalgia brings me back to the days in Indonesia where amateur lion dancers would move around performing in front of restaurant windows then a representative would go inside distributing empty red packets on the tables for customers to put their donation in.

I love watching lion dance, or any form of acrobatics/contortion in general. Their agility and coordination never ceases to amaze me.

Princes St, just beside our university campus, was lined up with countless food stalls selling delicacies from all over the world. Two bummer words to say, however: NO EFTPOS.

Also, people everywhere. I had never expected that Auckland could be so crowded. You literally couldn't move on your own - you had to depend on the movement of others to shift you around the place or ya ain't going anywhere. xD

From now onwards, I shall let the photos do the talking :)

UoA & Huia Residence O-Week

Hello!

I arrived back in Auckland to start my BCom degree at the University of Auckland. Classes start tomorrow and I am nervous as.

Things will be pretty hectic from now on (it's already crazy enough now) but I will try my best to upload on YouTube as regularly as possible, so please subscribe!! Thank you so much <3 I upload videos on beauty, life, and talks about random things. I am planning to upload travel vlogs as well when I get the travel opportunity :) Your support will be greatly appreciated.

Alicia J's YouTube Channel
Okay, so orientation week has just ended for Semester One 2015, and we will have Clubs Expo next week where we start admiring the presence of the many clubs offered at the UoA.

UoA O-Week Impession:

It was different from what they show you in the promotional videos, I'll give you that. Don't expect too much - my expectations had already been calmed down by word of mouth of my friends who had attended their faculty's orientations earlier, and it was obvious that it was not as "fun-filled" as was advertised. Nevertheless the O-week for the Business School was quite well-organized and informative, so the orientation day kind of did its job anyway. Some of the lecturers had particularly interesting lectures.

The UniGuides (senior students who volunteer to help out for O-Week) were friendly and helpful, and I definitely appreciate their effort and time to guide us around campus. However, I would have liked to get my free lunch for the day as I had every right to. I understand that it was for the interest of time that we had to avoid the crowded Quad, but still... -_-

Overall, it wasn't bad but a long day, definitely. I opted to skip the Toga Party for the more calming lantern festival, which I will most likely do a separate post about.

Huia Residence O-Week Impression:

I was far from disappointed - I have made so many wonderful new friends and meet so many people from diverse backgrounds in this home of 321ish students. Love love love being here so far. <3

My Huia experience for the first week so far has been absolutely amazing. The hall had the week packed with events such as The Amazing Race (which happened before I arrived), A Night in Paris Speed Dating, Big Night In (free pancakes), Sponge Wars, Classic Kiwi Barbecque, and the oh-so-fun Halls Day Out today, complete with inflatables, live DJ music, and more barbecque!! :D

I realised how unfit I was. :-/

The week ended with a fireworks display that also marked the end of the Auckland Lantern Festival. What an amazing view, right from my window :')

That's a wrap for O-Week! Uni starts tomorrow. Godspeed for all of us.
I look forward to what the future brings! Thank you so much everyone who has been a precious part of my orientation week :)

I am planning to do a separate post about the Huia Residence, so stay tuned! ;)

アリシア

Back from Macau and Hong Kong!

Merry belated Christmas to you all! I hope that you have all spent a joyful Christmas with your loved ones! I know I certainly have :)

I just came back from a short yet very memorable trip with my extended family (a humble size of 8) to Macau and Hong Kong! We spent 3 nights at the lovely Venetian hotel in Macau, and two nights enjoying the (insane) crowds and bustling cityscape of Hong Kong <3

Needless to say, I absolutely enjoyed every single day in both cities. I had some of the best egg tarts, generous confectionery samples, humongous mall/hotel-hopping, free-shuttle-hogging, most desperate free-WiFi-hunting, and agitating "ohmigod-I wish-I-spoke-Cantonese" moments in my life, and many more that I'm looking forward to share with you. Also there were plenty a hilarious family moments xD

How did you all spend your Christmas? Have you ever travelled in Macau and Hong Kong? If so, I would love to know how your experience was! 

See you in the next post!

アリシア

Now listening: 無題 (夜想曲) - 渡邉武尊

Study in New Zealand - Day in Life Campaign Launch!

Hello everyone!

After yet another hiatus due to finals (two more to go, actually), I'm back here, absolutely ecstatic to share with you my campaign video for Education New Zealand.

The campaign has just been launched today! The videos are up on YouTube, and also on the campaign's official page (http://studyinnewzealand.com/day-in-the-life/). I'll leave the YouTube version down below. Make sure you check out the other students' videos as well! Everyone has a different story to share :)



I would like to thank everyone who has supported me, namely my family, all my amazing friends I've found here in ACG and my besties in Indonesia, いつも応援してくれる渡邉武尊さん, and of course, the lovely crew of Clemenger BBDO, whom I got to work with during filming. I think we can all agree that they have done a beautiful job with filming and editing the videos. Words cannot express how grateful I am to have been chosen for this opportunity (as if my life in New Zealand hasn't been memorable enough so far <3 data-blogger-escaped-:="" data-blogger-escaped-blog="" data-blogger-escaped-br="" data-blogger-escaped-by="" data-blogger-escaped-for="" data-blogger-escaped-humble="" data-blogger-escaped-little="" data-blogger-escaped-much="" data-blogger-escaped-my="" data-blogger-escaped-so="" data-blogger-escaped-stopping="" data-blogger-escaped-thank="" data-blogger-escaped-to="" data-blogger-escaped-too="" data-blogger-escaped-you="">
So, if you aren't already considering New Zealand as your international study destination, here's the link to the Study in New Zealand website to get you started!↓↓

http://studyinnewzealand.com/

Well. Unfortunately, I hear that accounting practice paper calling me...
I will be back after the remaining two battles have been won. Yes I am looking at you, Accounting and Biology.

Hope you enjoy the videos! I wish you all a lovely week!

Much love and thanks,

アリシア

Filming for Education New Zealand

Hi! :)

So just last week I was filming with Clemenger BBDO, making a video about a day in my life here as an international student in New Zealand, for Education New Zealand, which is a government organisation. The finished video will be uploaded online on ENZ's website, and can be used by study agents worldwide to promote New Zealand as an international study destination xD

I got to this amazing opportunity by being one of the five winners chosen from a video competition held by ENZ months before (did not expect that at all!!). We had to make a video of ourselves and the 5 things we love about living in New Zealand. I thought my video was just okay and that there would be other more spectacular, talented students who would crush me down haha. But I still remember the time the ENZ brand manager contacted me to announce that I had been chosen as one of the top 9 finalists; I was at the school cafeteria during the holidays surrounded by Japanese exchange students who had come to peruse our school's empty classrooms for their own classes during their field trip here. I literally hyperventilated, naturally drawing the attention of lunch-eaters nearby.

Filming happened on Monday last week, and the day started at 7:15am. They arrived at my door at around 7:20am, and we began filming the first scene of me walking out of my house. In the rain. :P

We walked to the bus stop and one of the camera guys filmed me while on the bus which was rather embarrassing but kind of...flattering? (Idk haha) at the same time. Other passengers nearby were grinning though haha

When we got off the bus at the Civic Theatre, we filmed some more scenes of me 'getting off the bus' and walking across crossroads in drizzle to mid-heavy rain. We had to stop and patiently wait for the weather to show mercy quite a few times that day. They gave me a delicious spinach and cheese scone! :9 After that, we invaded my school!

Equipment invasion - more stares from entering students.

 I was lucky enough to encounter my friends Sela and Teri as we entered, because we were supposed to film a scene where I would greet students as I walked in, so it was nice to actually be able to do it with people I know instead of having to do it with random students! Nevertheless, it was still awkward, but I thank you all for being professional hahaha

The scene we were to film at ACG was me in biology class, but not my usual biology class. Mr Meur wasn't my bio teacher, Lidia, my already-acquainted lab partner, wasn't even taking bio, and it wasn't my usual classroom either. Our real topic was evolution, but we were doing protozoa observation on microscopes instead (which actually beated any microscope observation we've had in these past months). Mr Meur was so good at acting natural in front of the camera that I was impressed, and it turns out that he actually had an acting background for a hilarious Just Juice commercial :O

This was taken inside the van as we were waiting for the rain to subside. Three of my friends joined me for the Albert Park and city scenes, and eventually we got really good at pretending to have real conversations and laughing like crazy on camera xD Sunshine was prevalent throughout the whole day afterwards, and we were able to film the lunch scene smoothly. While we were filming at Albert Park, we saw an Asian parent drag his baby inside a shopping trolley (the cloth kind with a flap on top that you can zip). The baby's head was peering out under the flap, which made us laugh sooo hard the crew made us think of it every time they wanted us to laugh and be happy.

The Viaduct Harbour/Wynyard Quarter area was especially fascinating to film in, and I had never been to this particular place before filming. I remember how the camera assistant joked for us to start when the bridge was vertically all the way up, and how heartbroken we were when it was revealed that we were too short to show up (Asian midget problems) behind the railing of the bridge so they had to change the angle x'D

ACG NZIC Culture Week 2014

On Thursday we wrapped up our school's three-day Culture Week event. We had daily quizzes (I won the second day's quiz about Asia and got a free drink voucher xD) and LOTS of fun and food! I volunteered for the fashion show (Wednesday last period) and the International Food Day, joining the Malaysian group. It was an amazing week and I experienced cultures that I never imagined I would be able to :') Be forewarned: This is a photo-heavy post. Photos were harvested by myself, from friends and school teachers. Enjoy! :D

That OCD-prone-people-unfriendly "w" though. Mr Meur printed and tried out four different fonts and sizes, only to return to the original one as nothing worked hahaha

The first day of the Culture Week, we had a Maori dance show (due to certain circumstances I ended up watching it twice; sitting in front row seat twice haha) performed by the Kahurangi Dance Group of Hastings. During their dance performance, called Taonga (meaning 'treasure'), they displayed a heartfelt, highly amusing, exciting show. I was in awe as the depicted the Maori culture in front of my eyes. It was hilarious seeing my friends and teachers attempt some moves as well xD

The next day we had storytelling, Japanese students teaching origami, Middle Eastern students doing henna tattoos (I got one with my name in Arabic xD), beautiful Arabic calligraphy, and song challenge. That day, on period 6, we had our international fashion show, and to our surprise -  a LOT more people came than we expected, because it was in period 6, so we'd expected that those who didn't have class would have just gone home, but I wouldn't have had it any other way :') This was one of the most amazing days of my time in ACG so far! I even got to try on a hijab for the first time!

Putra getting into character with his hijab xD

My friend Omayma at the Arabic calligraphy booth. She conjured up beautiful calligraphy of our Arabic names :')

My name in Arabic! On canvas (by Shahd), and on paper (by Omayma). Thita also wrote my name in upside-down Thai 555. Another Middle Eastern student did the henna on my arm - I still have it now, it's gotten darker - love it sooo much xx

The fashion show was especially fun to work in! We had students and teachers modelling for Fiji, Samoa, Malaysia, Indonesia (me lol), Korea, Oman, India, China (me again :P), Japan, Vietnam, Britain and of course, New Zealand! We even had someone walk in a kiwi bird suit! Haha xD

Keep scrolling for more photos of fashion and food! :)

Representing Indonesia with my friend Sela :)

 

 With my beautiful Omani and Fijian friends <3

NZ CETA Student Pursuits Competition

Hello everyone!

Thursday last week the New Zealand Commerce and Economics Teachers Association (NZ CETA) Auckland branch held a student quiz competition at the University of Auckland's Epsom campus. Groups of students from secondary schools all over Auckland participated in each of the three fields - Economics, Accounting, and Business Studies. I myself was lucky enough to have been invited to be a part of the Accounting team representing ACG NZIC :)

So as we arrived at the campus walking to building, we came across a group of school boys looking sleek and smart with the glinting-golden badge-clad green blazers. This group of male students are later to be identified as Westlake Boys High's team, and their teams would later be announced to have won first place in the Economics and Business Studies pursuits. Saint Kentigern won the Accounting pursuits. Congratulations to them!

 ACG NZIC team before the competition - all smiles ;D

There were 7 teams participating, 7 rounds in total, 7 questions each round. A whole lotta sevens, and being fond of the number 7, I had nothing to complain about that. There were trivia questions in between rounds, and for those who got them right chocolates or candies would be bestowed upon them. I attempted to answer two trivia questions and fortunately, succeeded in getting some brain sugar nibbles for the team. Thank you, Mrs Williams! I knew you were going to ask me when Luca Pacioli published that book! Shame I never got to that part Haha xD

Then came the questions. It was so, so intense. My head was literally in pain. I knew right then my sleep that night would be deep and a much-needed one. The questions kept rolling in immediate succession, and there was so little time to figure things out, calculate and write the answers on the sheet of paper given. We kept up pretty well in the first few rounds but eventually finished 5th out of 7 teams. I do believe we have worked quite well as a team, despite being strangers before its formation. I also think that we have fared quite reasonably given that we've only started studying accounting months ago, and the competition was, undeniably, of very high caliber and tough.

Borrowing the winner's trophies for a cheeky victory shot :P

Although it's been slightly more than a week since then, I . Things have been real hectic these past few weeks, and next week is the long-anticipated filming for Education New Zealand! I'll have updates on our school's AMAZING Culture Week up here soon, so stay tuned!

Thank you for reading!

アリシア

Quick Review - Meet Fresh (鮮芋仙)

How's it going everyone?

So I just wanted to do a quick review of this new oriental dessert place in Meet Fresh (鮮芋仙) which has just recently opened at 6-8 Lorne Street, Auckland. And because I just got my laptop fixed today! Finally! :'D

Seems that the oriental dessert crave wave has finally hit the shores of New Zealand. Reminds me of the times in Jakarta when young people were crazy about oriental dessert. A lot of my friends had been raving about how this place was always full (it wasn't when we came, thankfully) and so my Indo pal Adeline and I decided to give it a try after our ACG Day last Friday. This will be a short review with only 2 items, and all my opinion is honest and unbiased.

Herbal Jelly No. 5 (left) and Q mochi

HERBAL JELLY NO. 5 with HONEY BEAN

Regarding portion size, I was not disappointed - rather, I was pleasantly surprised. I'd expected it to come out as an overpriced hunk of ice with some random Q-full toppings in a tiny bowl (as with many other 'exotic' food items in NZ), but this was DEE-LICIOUS and very refreshing.

They gave us a small cup of creamer separately, so lactose-intolerant people, fret not. I loved everything in this dessert - the honey bean, the brown-colored shaved ice at the bottom, the herbal jelly (cincau/grass jelly), the brown jelly (whatever it was browned with), the pearls, and the creamer just made it all come together so delectably. Loved the taste, and the size was good :) Price was just barely acceptable at $7.5, but I'm a cheapskate so don't follow my judgement on pricing too much xD

Compared to the oriental desserts in Jakarta (Hong Tang and friends), the size of this one was bigger and overall taste was not too sweet and more refreshing. But I miss the green tea ice cream scoop and QQ balls I could have with my bowl in Jakarta :9

P.S. What's with Chinese and the letter Q? It's like they just put Q on everything to make it Chinese. Somebody please enlighten me on this :S

University of Auckland Roadshow (ACG Day)

Hello! ( ´ ▽ ` )ノ♪

With my laptop gone brain dead (entering its third week of hibernation), trying to post anything with photos on this blog has been utterly irritating to say the least. Will talk more about that at the end of this post. Apologies in advance for the crappy and messed up layout :(

Yesterday, me and my fellow ACG NZIC students from February foundation and April Fast Track were given the opportunity to attend a Course Information Day (a.k.a. The Roadshow), where we attend two faculty presentations of our choice and have some morning tea in between with some UoA freebies! :D The Roadshow is exclusively held for ACG NZIC students, so we're definitely a more privileged bunch of prospective students :')

Courses and Careers Day, the University of Auckland Open Day, was just held last week. I attended but was very late and had unfortunately missed a lot of the events and lectures :( I really regret having come so late, but I got to attend one lecture and see two of the halls of residences that I wanted to see most, so that was a very rare and fascinating experience. But this Roadshow was not a substitute of Open Day, so my message to all prospective students: ATTEND OPEN DAY EARLY AND PLAN YOUR ACTIVITIES BEFOREHAND. Don't leave behind regrets like me.

Freebies: Ingenio et Labore cloth bag (one I failed to get during Courses and Careers Day last week), UoA wristband, UoA pen, and UoA highlighter. Orange juice from morning tea.

The beautiful and modern Owen G Glenn Building, home to the Business School (my future faculty?!) *fingers crossed*

So I chose to attend the Business School and Faculty of Arts presentation. All the presentations happened at the Owen G Glenn Building. I was very, very pleased with the Business School presentation - the lecturer was engaging, easy to understand, very smiley and approachable, and she stayed back to help a horde of students full of questions, particularly those who were too shy to ask out loud during the presentation, like me :P I was able to have all my questions answered (and all these answers I liked, hehe). Plus, my friends and I agreed that the senior student who volunteered during the presentation was a wonderful eye candy :3 All this and more made me stick to my first choice of pursuing a BCom, a far detour from middle-school-to-last-year-me's initial choice of BA. I plan to talk more about how this came to happen in another post.

Then we had morning tea, where they left out plates of small pastries and crumbly cakes and cartons of Just Juice (I have yet to drink mine up to this day - still saving it for that Juice Needed moment xD). During this time, 8 of the 200 clubs at UoA set up stands around the refreshment tables, and I 

was surprised to see that a club for Indonesian students in Auckland had set up a stand! The three guys manning the stand exclaimed in joy when I said I was from Indonesia, and they all immediately stood up to introduce themselves. I promptly called in my fellow Indonesian ACG minion Adeline, and she also was surprised to see an Indonesian club. They told us that this is the first club we should join as soon as we come to Uni, haha :')

The second presentation I attended was the Faculty of Arts. Unfortunately, this presentation came behind my high expectations - mainly because of the rushed, condescending manner the lecturer talked in. It wasn't just me - my friends also agreed. That definitely put me off, because Arts is a diverse and exciting faculty that has so much to offer, but she made it seem tedious, monotonous and about as exciting as watching paint dry on a rainy day. She didn't even stay back to answer questions to students whose questions were too detailed and plentiful to ask during the session (yours truly), so my questions are left unanswered. I know it sounds harsh, but I was just really disappointed. Had this been done by a more friendly and helpful person who didn't seem like she didn't want to be there (the whole time she smiled just once, and even that was a sarcastic one), my day would have been perfect.