Waipu Museum

History is one of my interests. Unfortunately, I could only remember it vaguely and it is definitely not a strong subject of mine. Ever heard of the phrase curiosity kills the cat? I have a mind of high curiosity and am always drawn into interesting things including buildings, culture and etc. If only my brain cooperates well so I can retain information inside the tiny space enclosed in my big head. Being a girl with curious mind has its disadvantage too. Get bored at times after the mystery is solved.

Three days ago, Mina and I were deciding what to do, where to go. It is with great joy that we share common interest. Kiwi North? Dargaville Museum? But those require more time. DUe to time constraint . . . Yes! Let's go to Waipu Museum, 30-40 minutes drive from my place. Here's the website. http://www.waipumuseum.com/html/index.htm 

Okay, let's go! Shut the main house door. Opps! my keys were in the house - car and house. Luckily my flatmate is not away in Auckland. Thank you Mina for driving me to the pharmacy to get my house key so I can get my GPS from my car. Mina drove us to the museum too. Arigato!  

 

Oh man . . . am I glad that I am not living in that era. The iron seems heavy.

Waipu museum gift shop

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Rendezvous night with Mina

Have been staying at home for a couple of days and finally decided to go out to town on a Friday last week. My pale and tired face was brighten a little bit with the help of eyeliner and BB cream. About two hours of shopping on my own, I met up with Mina for an unplanned dinner and movie.

Dinner venue was a choice of two - Rice & Noodle Thai Cuisine or Red Pizzeria. Felt like pizza on that day. Here's the website of Red Pizzeria. - http://www.redpizzeria.co.nz

The ice chocolate is a darling!

 The 3 photos below show part of the interior of the restaurant. I am utterly sorry for the low quality of the photos. 

 

We ordered garlic bread as entree and two mains to share 

Garlic bread

Watercress Waldorf Salad (vegetarian) - Watercress, rocket, pear & walnutswith crumbled blue cheese drizzled
lemon & olive oil dressing and
served w\ focaccia

Little Red Hen - Smoked chicken, prosciutto mushrooms,
red onion, mozzarella cheese,
basil pesto & parmesan

Dinner is never complete without dessert! We have always wanted to try Topsail at Onerahi. This restaurant is sure an award winning restaurant! We went there and it was full house. It is indeed true that you need to make a booking beforehand. Surprisingly, it only runs its business for four days a week, from 6pm for dinner. I bet they must be doing really well that they only need to operate on four days for dinner only. Luckily, we told them we were there for dessert only therefore we were given a spot by the corner. Couch was comfortable. Here's the website for the restaurant. - http://www.topsail.co.nz/

I wish for . . .

 

Mina wanted Mille Feuille but due to out of season for blueberries, it was replaced with this instead. The vanilla bean ice cream is the highlight of this dessert. 

 

As usual, I ordered Creme Brulee. Taste was excellent although the caramel top was a bit burned. 

Mina and I made a promise to try the mains! To be honest, this place is not easy to locate in the dark. Lastly, we ended our day with a movie (The Lucky One)at the cinema and chit chat at my place. Fun time.

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Lunch at Parua Bay Tavern

This is another overdue post. During early March, I paid my Whangarei mama, Helen, a visit at her house. We went out to Parua Bay for lunch. This is about 15-20 minutes drive from Onerahi. Before that, I would like to lead this blog with a cat called Button. She's adopted by my mama from SPCA. Really cute and flirty. The strangest part is she has a thing for shoes. Look at her hugging my flat as if it was hers.

Do not even try to grab it away from me. I bite. Meow~

Helen also has a hyperactive dog called Rosie.

Parua Bay Tavern won an award in hospitality sector this year and had been runners-up for a couple of years. It is a nice restaurant with good food (even though I just tried two on the menu, I heard good review about the food) overlooking the scenic bay.  

This is what I had -

Honey Garlic Chicken Salad (HGC)

Chicken tenders grilled in a garlic, honey and soy marinade on mesclun with cucumber, red onion, tomato and roasted cashew nuts drizzled with garlic aioli and balsamic dressing topped with kumara curls.

I can't remember what mama had >< My memory fails me constantly

For more information, please visit the website : http://www.paruabaytavern.co.nz/

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Steve's farewell dinner

Wow! I have quite a number of overdue entries that need to be shared here. Have I ever mentioned to you about a colleague that I enjoyed working with the most? Ta daaaa . . . The great Steve! It's true! Everyone enjoyed working with him back in Kensington Pharmacy. Too bad that he has left us for a better position at one of the hospitals in Auckland. Nevertheless, he will always be remembered for his easy going nature, great sense of humour and his super brain! Wonder what has made him into a genius? hmm... So as you can see this post is his farewell party . . . not exactly a party but a dinner @ Red, just across the road from the pharmacy at Kensington. Let photos do the talking!

Jen came after work at 9-ish

JD and Sheree

Yeah, I see potential in him as a model

 

Actually the star of the day was baby Jonathan cos' we just couldn't stop playing with him . . . so adorable!

Have you seen my current flatmate? He's the Asian in this photo ;P

Also thank you Steve for wearing his "sheriff-designed" shirt at one of the conferences up here. I was so bored at that time but luckily I had the pictures on his shirt to keep me company - drew it to kill boredom. Yeah, I was just siting behind him.

Steve! You will be missed!

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