Falling off the map: Some lonely places of the world
Finished reading
'Falling off the map: Some lonely places of the world' by Pico Iyer & it turned out to be an enjoyable journey through 1989/1990/1991 through various lonely places like North Korea, Paraguay, Bhutan among others. The writing style is unique because of the sarcastic and observational humor & it does take a little getting used to before you truly start enjoying those experiences. I am now a fan of Pico Iyer's travel writing and I'll see if I can track down some more of his books at the library.
To me - one of the lonely places of the world is our own mind. I think even though we are social animals the increasing pressures of modern world {and our own prejudices} are making us more and more lonely. And as a result the physical social connections are being replaced by virtual social connections like online gaming, chats etc. And strange as it might seem - even though we are more & more connected to billions of people via technology, we seem to be heading towards a more lonely place in our minds. 'Solitude' and 'Loneliness' are essentially the same thing with our attitude & beliefs towards it changing the meaning of the words from 'solitude' to 'loneliness' and vice versa. Hopefully more and more people decide to choose 'solitude' over 'loneliness' as I think it's the healthier of the two. Talking of solitude - I watched a documentary called
'Encounters at the End of the World' by Werner Herzog and it definitely defines solitude in a visual form. Highly recommended watch as it is hauntingly beautiful and raises some very interesting questions from within.
Last week, I've had a script meeting on 'Apsara' and the next draft is due from Angelique in a fortnight or so and I am looking forward to it since the meeting turned out to be a fantastic brain storming session with lots of relevant and positive feedback passed onto Angelique to strengthen the story. I've got a script from Mr. Mamea to read through and I've been dragging my feet because of the hectic time schedules but I intend to get onto it this coming week.
Also next weekend planning on filming another scene for 'Moments' and once that is filmed and edited, I'll be able to lock down the first 40-50 minutes of the movie. Working without money on a small movie like this is hard work and I've got to keep reminding myself as to why I started the project in the first place and keep pushing myself to finish it, even though from time to time the challenges and circumstances tempt me to just abandon the project. But due to some faulty genetic wiring in my head I can't just abandon the project. So even though the project is going way slower than I had anticipated and planned, I am still determined to have it finished this year.
Thats me for now.
Till later,
Amit
Labels: Apsara, Books, Movies, The Moments In Between
Fantastic Mr. Fox & Sichuan Pepper
I picked up a book at random from the library as it looked interesting. It was called '
Shark's Fin & Sichuan Pepper' by Fuchsia Dunlop. That was a day and half back and I've finished reading the book. It is compelling, funny, insightful and a real page turner. It's a highly recommended read for those wanting to get an insight into China - through their food, obviously. The biggest compliment I can give to the book is that it wanted me to search out Sichuan restaurants in Auckland and give them a go. There are also a couple of reciepes from the book I intend to try -especially 'Dan Dan Noodles'.
I watched a few movies in the meantime - 'Choke' {dark adult humor topped by Sam Rockwell's performance}; 'King of Kong' {a documentary which had me looking up the latest Donkey Kong records} and most recently '
Fantastic Mr. Fox' - which is one of the most charming and funny movies that I've seen in a while. The stop animation, the style, the pacing, the humor, the voice work -everything is top notch. A highly recommended watch. If you don't walk out with a grin on your face then something in you has died a long time ago. :-)
Tomorrow I'm going with a few friends to Ohakune - which is central north island and on saturday morning we will be hiking up Mt. Ruapehu. The weather forecast is good and I am out of my comfort zone as it's my first proper mountain hike - a fantastic combination to prepare for the Mt. Kinabalu climb in April.
Later,
Amit
Labels: Books, Movies, New Zealand
Year End
I sold off my Polaroid camera as I've been using my LX3 more and more and I can't justify keeping 2 cameras and also lugging them around with me on my travels. So farewell Polaroid. Here is what one of my bedroom wall looks like thanks to Polaroid.
It's my first day off in a while and I am just chilling out even though I've got to digitize and edit the scene that we shot most recently. I guess I'll get to it either tonight or tomorrow. Watched a couple of new releases recently ' Sherlock Holmes' {alright movie with fantastic character work from Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr.} & a swedish movie called '
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' {fantastic in every sense of the word}. And currently reading a book called '
My Desert Kingdom' which is proving to be an interesting read.
Going to the movies over the holiday season is crazy - the cinemas are packed and you get to see a lot of interesting characters & people. One of them was this girl who was standing in the line behind me along with her boy friend. For the 15 minutes that they did stand in the line -she was constantly nagging and annoying her boy friend on why she doesn't watch any movie. It was amusing for 5 minutes but after that you wanted her to shut up and wait for her turn or just go home. I think the boy friend got fed up after 15 minutes, so they left the queue. Another interesting character was a guy sitting 2 seats to my right, who brought into the cinema hall his own stock of whisky and soda and a full meal packed into his backpack - which he finished through out the movie. So no more movies at the cinemas for me till the end of the holiday season.
Hope you are having a good holiday season.
Later,
Amit
Labels: Movies, Polaroid
Holiday Work
The year seems to flying past faster than I give it credit for. The business presentation went really well and I am pretty happy with how it shaped out in the end. The next major thing I can remember after that is the shoot for Tessa. Tessa wanted to make a video for her Phd presentation and that involved me sitting behind a red screen and then do a narration afterwards. Angelique and Xien helped out with that and it was good fun. Here is an image from that shoot (courtesy: Angelique)
Silhouette mine
One of the fun processes for making a shoot happen on 'Moments' is the borrowing of cameras and radio mics and I've been lucky that I've had supportive friends. I had to go and pick up one of the cameras from Simon but ended up having a few drinks at Dan's party, which is where Simon had lodged himself and it turned out to be just what I needed to relax a little so I could plan the shoot for 'Moments' between Tarun, Lorraine & Matt on sunday.
Mike Lowe & me having a chat while Simon poses
Enjoying the afternoon sun and a conversation
The sunday shoot turned out to be lots of fun even though it was an improvisational scene. Tarun was funny as hell and there were a few points where I couldn't control my laughter even though I was behind the camera. Alan George - a guy I met on the shoot of 'Rhodes 2' did the second camera and I am yet to digitize the footage but know from the shoot that we have enough material for me to edit a nice scene together.
Straight after the shoot was a drive to Lance's parents place for a christmas dinner with them and Tania & Andrew and Lance & Tai & her mom. It was an amazing evening with lots of great food and great conversations and laughs. Here are some pics from the evening.
Gorgeous Sunday afternoon
Tania, Andrew & Lance
Tai's mum, Tai & Tina
Chris looking through binoculars
Through the looking glass
Chris cooking some sausages
After the feast
Clouds rising
Andrew, Tania, Tina & Chris while sharing puzzles and stories
Tai's mum, Tai & Lance
Tai & me - she is not that tall - she is standing on a couch. :-)
Watched 3 movies recently - 'Avatar'; 'Observe & Report' & 'The Wackness' - Avatar was an amazing 3-D experience but the story was pretty average and predictable. It's a good watch in 3-D is all I can say. 'Observe & Report' was pure genius and so was Ben Kingsley in 'The Wackness'. Next up is 'Sherlock Holmes' when it releases later this week.
I finally did a fitness test after 2 weeks of recovery from my left shoulder injury and it was a mixed one but tending towards positive for most of the part. My weight is 65 KG's but my body fat %age has gone down to 15% {from 16.5%} which means I have gained more muscle mass. The downside of the test was my VO2 max levels - which have gone down to 48 {from 49.8} and I guess I need to jump straight back into getting my cardio levels up again after this extended break.
That's me for now.
Till later,
Amit
Labels: Fitness, Movies, Party, The Moments In Between
Movies and all that stuff
My age and look and ethnicity means that auditions are far and few in between. I consider myself lucky even if I get 3-4 auditions a year, so it was pretty frutrating only having 2 audition till Oct and then suddenly having a couple of auditions come up while I was overseas. Typical huh!!! Well I had another audition recently and it went really well, even though I didn't get the part. As an actor - the best thing is to prepare well for the audition, give it your best shot and forget all about it as soon as you walk out of the audition room. If you get a follow up call then good for you otherwise you just carry on as if nothing has happened. I've got another audition this year, so I am pretty happy that this year will end with atleast 4 chances to showcase myself to casting directors.
'Rejected' is in the freezer as it has nowhere to go right now and the script is not in a position I want it to be and the script development process is extremely slow. The best option was to put it on freeze and concentrate on the existing project and other potential projects. Off the potential projects - 'Apsara' has got some legs and it is currently in active development. The script is by Angelique - a close friend and an ex-film school mate and it is being produced by Paula Jones. The script is funny, quirky and has a visual flair and it matches up with everything I want to explore and I guess I'm lucky that the script wasn't already picked up by someone else. More on that in coming months.
The production on 'Moments' is going slower than anticipated because of the holiday season combined with the usual scheduling conflicts associated with 'no budget' movies. Instead of stressing out about it, I'm just playing it by the ear and going with the flow. All this obviosuly means that we won't finish the movie in March'10 as originally planned and it might get pushed back by a few months.
An independent writer was in constant contact with me via email wanting to see if I wanted to direct her script in 2010 with a very miniscule budget. I said no to it because I wasn't getting answers to all the questions I was asking about the project and that's never a good sign. Topped up with unclear roles and responsibilities it was a disaster waiting to happen & all this without even seeing the script itself. After a lot of thought I wrote a very detailed mail as to why I can't accept the project and the response I got made me crack up laughing and I subsequently deleted all the emails related to the project. The final email from the writer/producer goes like this
"Subject: Re:Hey AMIT, in CONFIDENCEMorning Amarbir, thanks again for the email - much appreciated, all the best for your future endeavours:-). Kind regards" Amarbir is another Indian film maker based in Auckland and he is also a good friend of mine. So she obviously asked Amarbir about directing the movie as well or her next person to ask is Amarbir or maybe she confused me for Amarbir all along. I don't know and I don't care. :-)
I scored a couple of free passes to NZ Premiere of 'Morris: A Life with Bells on' - a UK indie movie. The writer/main actor was there for Q&A, so I went along last night and it turned out to be a small but funny movie. Definitely worth a watch. It definitely puts a grin on your face.
That's me for now,
Amit
Labels: Acting, Apsara, Movies, Rejected, The Moments In Between
Booked
One more step to reality - I booked my air tickets and the intrepid journey that I want to do in Borneo next year. I know it is crazy that I booked next year's holiday already but I couldn't let a 20% discount on the tour price + a very good price on the air fares slip away. So now I am counting down to this year's holiday as well as next years one. :-)
I was clearing out my emails and found this email {from a few years back} from a cousin that I've never met. In it she said
"Although we have never met, I heard a lot about naughty little Amit from ammamma [grandmother] and tatagaru [granddad], when you were very very young. So, I had an image of you as this very young boy and I almost had a shock when I heard about you and what you were upto. I guess kids do grow up. " This got me thinking - I wonder if I have ever grown up and if I am still naughty - my perception is that I haven't really grown up [mentally that is - :-)] and I am still cheeky at times but not naughty any more. I would love to meet the younger version of myself just to see how naughty I was.
UP is a fantastic movie and it was even better watching it in 3-D. It is funny, touching, beautiful and above all well told. It's got some serious themes running through it and I am amazed that the director and PIXAR didn't flinch away from them. Watch it - even if you are put off by the hype surrounding the movie.
We filmed another scene for the movie on Wednesday night and we cracked through the scene like a breeze and I am really happy and thankful to everyone involved. Now we have another shoot coming up on Sunday afternoon and looking forward to it. A big thanks to Rosseanne for lending us her camera, so we can still keep shooting with 2 cameras. Here are a couple of screen grabs from the Wednesday shoot.
That's me for now.
Amit
Labels: Movies, The Moments In Between, Travel
District 9
'
District 9' turned out to be a fantastic cinematic experience. A thrilling sci-fi adventure with a clear political view of things. The performances are fantastic and the CGI is seamless and always relegated to the background - keeping the focus firmly on the story and it doesn't break pace. Once it gets going it never stops till the end and it never ran into plotholes which seem to riddle all major hollywood summer blockbusters. Definitely worth watching.
The summons in the mail box said that I am required for
jury service and my first reaction was of surprise, then dismay and then relief. Surprised because I didn't know that they called people working in a media company but it turns out that you are picked at random from the electoral roll. Then it turned out to dismay when I read the details and found that you get paid $31 for half day's work [as against maybe $75-150 for half a day's work you might earn normally in whatever profession you are in] - which sucks big time as you have to take a massive paycut for a week in order to make the justice system work while the lawyers and the judges still earn the top dollars. Then i heaved a sigh of relief because the duty date was from 5th October and I am out of the country from 3rd October, so now I have to fill out an application stating why I should be excused from jury duty. So fingers crossed that the Jury Officer sees that my reason is genuine.
Revive has become one of my favorite lunch spots - mainly because it is healthy food at reasonable prices and it is one of the ways I am trying to change my eating habits and eating healthy. The thing I love about the place is that the menu changes weekly and every week I still find some dish/salad that surprises me. If you are in the city, you should definitely stop by for a visit for some yummy salads. Oh and by the way I chanced across the hot dog vendor earlier today and asked them when exactly they do set their stall up and the answer is - depends on the weather - so if it is rainy and crap weather then it is less likely that you'll find them there. The hungarian crepe was again nice tasting and very filling but I think i prefer the hungarian hot dog because the taste is simpler and more direct.
The 'Revive' salad barBrief walks in the city at night when it is raining can throw up some very interesting images. Here are a few of those and some more that I took today:
Watching the world walk by
Breaking free
The lonely walk home
Windows & Stairs
Man walking down Elliot Street
Line building up in front of a night club
A motionless busker
The devil may care
That's me for now,
Amit
P.S - On a random note here is a link to the transcript for the brilliant Errol Morris documentary 'The Fog of War'. The documentary is moving but the written word is even stronger.Labels: LX3, Movies, New Zealand
Drag Me to Hell
I have started designing the website for 'The Moments in Between' and hopefully will have the bare bones version uploaded later tonight with more work on it as the project progresses.
'
Drag Me to Hell' was a thrilling ride - it is scary and funny at the same time. The current crop of horror flicks leave something to be desired but this flick really amps up the tension and pushes the right buttons for the audience {the lady next to me was shrieking and screaming through the movie and there was nervous laughter from some of the audience at some the more gruesome gags}. I would have liked to see a better realized ending for it to have a bigger impact as the audience leaves the theatre but it works as it is right now.
Amit
Labels: Movies, The Moments In Between
Moonombre
NZ is the third fattest country in the world behind Mexico and USA, according to Health Data Report 2009 which monitors OECD countries. Way to go NZ!!!! So much for the outdoorsy, active lifestyle image that we used to have. The problem is processed foods and obviously cheap food like meat pies and fast food, which in the current economic climate is what people buy to save on money and it ain't looking pretty. Anyone who eats more than a pizza or a couple of meat pies or couple of trips to McDonalds, is clearly not thinking of the health ramifications of doing that. I hope we wise up to the silent epidemic and take corrective measures to help avoid major health problems. All it takes is 30 minutes of daily exercise to keep us fit and I guess that's the bare minimum that we owe ourselves.
Sin Nombre was a feast on the eyes - very well directed and shot movie with brilliant performances. And the scale of the movie is amazing as well as it follows the nameless immigrants from central america to a better life in US of A. It is harrowing but mesmerizing at the same time.
Moon was a great experience - especially because I got to watch it with Christina and David - even though we bought our own tickets, seperately and without planning. How random is that? Love it. 'Moon' was an enjoyable experience because it was full of ideas and I am still thinking about some of them. Sam Rockwell is rock solid in the movie and he is the movie really.
Exercising after a 3 day break was hard work and just made me realize how easy it is to get unfit. Need to think of someway to stay fit while on my India trip.
Very early start to the day tomorrow, so I am off to bed.
Later,
Amit
Labels: Movies, New Zealand, NZ Film Festival
Sleepless Pain
I hope I am not becoming an insomniac because I had a terrible sleep last night and I woke up with a painful left shoulder - obviously from sleeping in an awkward position. My misery was compounded by the fact that Lance forgot to close his room window {before he went to Thailand}- which meant the storm like conditions and wind in his room were trying to pry open his locked room door and that created a constant low level banging that I could hear all night. I'll probably do something about that later tonight but the end result of last night is that I feel like I've been run over by a truck or something.
Last night was random - almost got run over by a stupid (and I mean a special kind of stupid -especially when he had a very close shave with 2 cars at the same intersection) tourist jumping a red light in their camper van; bumped into Brett Gallagher {one of the music composers on 'Memories of Tomorrow'} in person for the first time ever as I was going to watch 'Red Cliff'; ordered a chicken wrap at Burger Fuel and waited for 20 minutes for the order to come through with no luck - and then got the chicken wrap and the money refunded by the duty manager for their poor service; finally got to 'Red Cliff' but was annoyed at the number of people sneezing and coughing in the cinema theatre.
'
Red Cliff' was an excellent movie - I now want to see the original 2 part asian release with run time of 4 hours plus instead of the 2.5 hour foreign version because there were parts which felt rushed and aspects jumped over plus I think it would've had more impact if you knew the politics behind the war instead of the over-simplified foreign version. Don't get me wrong - in it's current form it is still a fantastic epic and the time really flies by quickly and the action scenes are rivetting, though some of the CGI to show the scope of the battles is sometimes just passable. It is a recommended watch if you are into war movies or epics.
1 down - 4 to go.
Amit
Labels: Movies, NZ Film Festival, Random
Terminator -the end
I think they should bury 'The Terminator' franchise, especially after Terminator Salvation. It was a complete misfire with Christian Bale being the weakest link in the movie.
Here is an article which kind of tries to figure out what went wrong with the movie?
A
Labels: Movies
The Hangover
Just back from a media screening of '
The Hangover' and it is a brilliant, funny, fun movie. Never laughed so much in a movie in recent times {i mean in the movies that are supposed to be comedies}.
While walking to the car I saw a asian couple learning how to dance in a closed asian food court with an older lady supervising their steps. They were dancing to Celine Dione's track 'My Heart Will Go On'. It was surreal to say the least. I wanted to take a photo but that would have been very intrusive.
Amit
Labels: Movies, Random
VO2 Max
New round of fitness test is through and it is mixed results. My weight's gone down by 1 KG to 67.2 but my body fat %age has gone up by .5% - which is not too bad I guess. Resting heart rate is still at 65bpm. Blood pressure has improved to almost theoretical/text book levels - 124/72 . While my
VO2 Max has increased to 48.8 - which is a definite plus. What it all means is that my cardio fitness as well as overall fitness is definitely increasing but I need to keep increasing the intensity of training in order to keep on track with my goal.
I saw this fascinating documentary called '
Unknown White Male' and it is a riveting watch. Check it out if you get a chance.
Amit
Labels: Fitness, Movies
2 Days in Wellington (on a budget)
I am back from Wellington and it turned out to be a good trip. I now have my set of 10 Polaroids for the online exhibition and have duly passed on the Polaroid camera to Benji, so he can go about getting his set of 10 snaps. Back to the trip to Wellington - the idea for this particular post came when I was searching for 'things to do in Wellington in 2 days' but could not find anything online. So here is my attempt at doing Wellington on a budget.
I have the luxury of having a car here in Auckland, so instead of catching the Airport shuttle which would have cost me 30 bucks each way, I decided to use a 'park and fly' facility as that meant a substantial saving. There are a fair few facilities like that near the airport but I went with '
Aeroparks' as it was very reasonably priced. I was flying with Qantas but just before I went to bed the night before they rang me up saying that they had overbooked their flight and that they would pay for my transfer to an Air New Zealand flight that was leaving at the same time. The weather forecast for Wellington was bad for the 2 days I was there and the weather across the country for the past 2 weeks has been pretty bad as well, so in a way I was dreading spending 2 days in windy and rainy wellington.
Rising sun The flight was non-eventful for most part but the landing was pretty hairy because of the very strong south westerlies. Wellington is at the southern tip of the North Island and it is a wind tunnel of sorts because of the speed it picks up across Cook Strait, which gives it an average of 173 days in a year with winds blowing more than 60kph. Add to it the cold factor and it becomes pretty miserable. If you look at the photograph of the airport below you can see that there is no wind protection from either side and it gives you goose bumps when the wind rattles your plane around like a toy. Tip for the wise - wear lots of layerings of cloth and have a beanie, scarf and gloves handy as well.
Wellington AirportOnce in Wellington, instead of catching a Shuttle into the city, a cost-effective option is to catch the Airport Flyer 91 which runs every 20 minutes or so. You get out of the departures and walk towards the southern end of the terminal and you'll see signs pointing to the airport flyer stop. It costs about $6.50 to get from the airport into the city.
You know it is going to be a rough day when you overhear the locals say 'It's pretty windy and cold today, isn't it?'. I had 4 layers of clothing on my top and 2 layers of clothing on my legs and a scarf and a beanie and I could still feel the cold wind. The good thing though was it wasn't raining and the sun was out {even though you couldn't really feel it's heat}, so I was quitely optimistic that I would have a good day.
I got down at Courtenay Place and then walked all the way up to the Railway station. That gave me a chance to get my bearings on the city layout. I had booked myself in to
Downtown Backpackers and it was alright for a quick/short stay. I am sure that there are better backpackers around the city but I booked it as it was reasonably priced. The thing I did not like about the backpackers was that there was no vibe or life to it. I have stayed at better backpackers where you have better facilities to socialize and catch up with other travellers.
After putting my bag in a locker, I set out exploring the city. I stopped at an
iSite to get local maps and attractions and started mapping out a rough plan. First stop was catching a
Cable car to the top to check out the Cable Car Museum, the Botanical Gardens, the Rose Garden. The cable car is pretty reasonably priced and the entry to everything else that I listed is free, so I pretty much walked everything.
Wellington against the backdrop of the Cable Car
The run home
The Treehouse information center
Children walking through the Rose Garden
Very well looked after tree?I was slightly disappointed that the Carter Observatory was closed for rennovations but it was still an interesting walk through the gardens. The next stop was the Skyline Cafe just besides the cable car station and I ducked in for a quick cup of hot choclate before making my way down to Lambton Quay. There was a graduation ceremony going on at the University and I got this beautiful shot of a girl in her graduation gown waiting for the cable car.
Doors
Girl at the station
The cable car driverNext stop on my itinerary was a stop at the Parliament to take one of their free tours but I missed it by 15 minutes, so I walked to
Old St.Paul's which is this beautiful building. I walked in through the gates and I was kind of apprehensive going into the building as there was a hearse outside and the last thing I wanted to do was walk in on someone's funeral proceedings. Luckily it was all done with and everyone that had come to the funeral had retired to a corner of the building and were having food and drinks, which left me free to wander around and take a few snaps.
Victory
Old St. Paul's Cathedral
Katherine Mansfield's house is close by to Old St. Paul's but I decided to pay the beehive a visit as it was nearly time for the next tour that starts on the hour.
The Parliamentry tours are free to everyone and it was an intersting one hour learning about the political process and checking out the seat of power. The house wasn't in session, so the tour guide took us onto the floor of the house and that was an interesting experience as well. It is highly recommended if you have time to spare.
The BeehiveAfter the tour was finished, I saw that the rain was still holding out, so decided to walk up to Mt. Victoria lookout from where you can get a 360 degree view of Wellington. I took the hard track up to the top and it was a weird feeling - on one hand you are sweating from the exercise but on the other hand you are freezing from the icy cold winds blasting away at you. At the lookout it was super-windy and I spent 5 minutes taking some photos before making the quick descent back.
Wellington
Wellington has a lot going on for it despite the wind factor. It has some nice eating joints, nice cafes, an active theater and arts scene and best of all - it is walkable. If it wasn't so damn windy it would be a gem of a place to live. After the walk up to the Mt. Victoria lookout I definitely needed to warm up and I stopped by at Kaffee Eis on Courtenay Place, which one of my flatmates had recommended. I was tempted to try their famous ice creams but went for a hot drink instead. After spending the whole day walking in the cold wind I felt like being indoors for a bit, so I decided to watch a movie and checked out '
Religulous' at Paramount Cinemas - an art house cinema theatre. The movie I was watching was screening on one of their smaller screens that were made behind the main screen and it was like a home barn modified with plush seating and good sound system. It was weird but pleasant surprise - the not such pleasant surprise was the girl running the ticket counter - who was kind of edgy and not really that friendly. New Zealand still has a lot to learn about customer care/service.
By the time I came out of the movie it was night and I roamed around a bit checking out the various eating joints and had a quick bite to eat before retiring for the night since I didn't feel like going out for a drink. I had a chat with one of the other guys staying in the same dorm and he was an american student doing a semester in Dunedin. Ryan was from Nebraska and he was going up to do the Tongariro crossing the next day as he didn't want to loose out on the last chance to do it before going back to USA. I had forgotten to put any soap in my backpack and I didn't realize it till I was in my night dress. My plan was to drop into Les Mills {the gym I am a member of} and use their facilities since my membership is valid anywhere in the country.- Luckily for me Ryan was walking down to the supermarket and he was kind of enough to buy me a bar of soap, so I could take a shower the next day without implementing my elaborate plan to take a shower.
The second day started off at 6.30 in the morning and I got ready for another day in windy wellington. Since the backpackers I was staying at is bang opposite the railway station - i went in and took a few pics before wandering onto the water front where I got some stunning photos. One of the things I find is that if you live in the same city then sometimes you don't stop to appreciate the beauty because you are so used to it. Since it was rush hour, with people going about busily to work, I stood out like a sore thumb as I was in no rush to get anywhere and was happily snapping away the beautiful sights. I think I did manage to influence a few office goers to take a minute to see what I was taking photographs of. :-)
The railway station
Shadows and Light
On the Waterfront
Wellington Harbour
The public transportation in Wellington is pretty good and if you are a traveler, you can buy a 'Day Tripper' pass for $5 which gives you unlimited bus rides to anywhere in the city. I didn't know of it till later as the bus driver of the bus I was taking to the
'Weta Cave' in Miramar was new and didn't mention the day tripper pass - it was the return bus driver who told me about it. You basically catch Bus Route 2 from central city and get down at the corner of Camperdown road and walk 20 meters odd before you get to the 'cave'. Weta Cave is a mini-museum/shop that displays stuff made by Weta and it is a geek heaven of sorts. There is a documentary that screens there as well - which gives you a behind the scenes look at what all goes on behind the scenes at the company. It runs for about 20 minutes and is a quick look and I really would've liked to see a 40 minute version to get some more details but I guess that 20 minute is good to accommodate for the constant visitors who come to the cave. It is definitely worth a watch.
Gollum
My precious
More displays
Creature from 'Brain Dead'
The 'Weta Cave' screening room
After Weta Cave - I wanted to check out Karori Wildlife Sanctuary which is a 5 minute drive from central wellington. I asked around to see if I could walk there but the advise was to catch a bus since there was plenty of walking to do in the sanctuary itself. I caught Bus number 3 which dropped me off close to the Sanctuary and from there it is a 5 minute walk to the reception. The admission price of $14 is well worth the trip and I missed the tour by 10 minutes {the tour costs an additional $14 on top of the admission price}, so I was happy to roam about the sanctuary by myself. The tracks are extensive and it was just a wonderful experience listening to all kinds of birds and sometimes spotting them. I saw a total of 2 other people during my hour odd walk through the sanctuary and it was kind of surreal walking through the native bush. The sanctuary itself was very well maintained and looked after with good signs and information posts through out the trail. Oh and just so you are not scared - there is no 'dangerous' wildlife in New Zealand per se and it is pretty safe walking through the woods by yourself.
Pathway to an electric boat
Art installation in the middle of the sanctuary?
Spot to chill out and grab a bite to eat
The path rarely trodden
A native bird singing
The sanctuary
There is a night tour that is held everyday around 4.30 PM and I am told that it is well worth it - even though it costs slightly more than the normal tour. I wanted to do the tour but then I was catching up with Sebastian - a friend of mine who had recently moved down to Wellington, around 5.00 PM and that would've clashed with the tour. Maybe some other time. But a visit to the Wildlife santuary is a must if you are in Wellington.
After the nature walk, the plan was to go back into the city and then check out Te Papa - the museum of New Zealand. I wanted to catch the same bus number back into the city but another bus came before it and I promptly got onto it as I had the day tripper pass and I could somehow make my way to central city even if the bus dropped me close by. The bus went through Victoria University and it was interesting watching the students going about their business - it was just like any other educational institution anywhere else in the world. As the bus made it's way into the city an alleyway caught my eye and I promptly got out of the bus to take a snap of it. I didn't know where I was but I knew that I could find my way around even if I did get lost. As I was walking to the alleyway, I noticed a restaurant called 'KK Malaysian Restaurant' and I somehow thought that it might be related to the restaurant of the same name in Auckland, where I had eaten before {and whose food I loved}. I decided that I would have my lunch there and then I went about finding the alleyway - took the snap before returning to KK to eat.
The Alleyway
The restaurant was busy and when I asked for a table for one - they looked around and couldn't find anything. The host asked me if I minded sharing a table and I told them that I didn't as long as whoever I am sharing the table with didn't mind. So I was pointed to a table where I struck up a conversation with Julian - who was a political sciences student at the university. He was from Germany and on a scholarship studying in Wellington for a year. We had a good chat about different things ranging from politics to economy to general stuff. To top it off the food was delicious, the serving size was generous and the food was very reasonably priced. I would highly recommend the place based on my own taste preferences. While paying for the bill, I asked the host if they were anyway related to the restaurant in Auckland to which the host dissapointedly said no but then reassured me that I was not the first person to ask the same question. I parted ways with Julian and walked about till I found my bearings and walked over to Te Papa.
Te Papa had
the Colossal Squid on display and I never got past the first level of the museum. It was nice and warm and that started making me feel sleepy, so I decided to pass on the rest of the museum. You can easily spend an hour or so exploring the museum. I had been there once before briefly and I was definitely not feeling the museum love this time around. So I went around to Kaffee Eis and tried one of their famous ice creams - 2 scoops of it actually. I did get some really funny looks from people when I was walking around the main strip enjoying my ice cream. I guess the wind factor might have had something to do with it. :-)
I had another hour or so before catching up with Sebastian and I was feeling pretty tired from all the walking, so I decided to go to the backpackers and have a quick snooze. It definitely did me heaps of good as I felt refreshed and ready for the evening. I had trouble getting a hold of Sebastian, so I walked down to Courtenay Place and had a drink at one of the bars on the strip. While enjoying the drink, watching the world rush by, I heard back from Sebastian, who had left left his phone at home. We soon caught up for a couple of drinks, traded stories and then caught '
Defiance' at the local cinemas. During the movie one of the guys behind us started annoying me big time when he hadn't turned off his cellphone and decided to take the call in the middle of the movie. I got annoyed and turned around and told him to put his phone down - which he did but it is such selfish behaviour that it annoys the crap out of me. Funnily enough the guy disappeared from the cinema as soon as the movie ended - he didn't even wait for the credits to start rolling. I enjoyed the movie despite a slow and flawed start - Daniel Craig & Liev Schreiber & Jamie Bell were in top form.
After the movie I parted ways with Sebastian and went back to the backpackers for my final night in Wellington. I was in my bed when one of the new room mates came back. His name was Scotty and he was drunk and he was British. Those 2 things are not a good combination and he just wouldn't shut up. He was a chef by trade and he was going back to UK for 4 months for the peak tourist season there with a top catering company. When I told him that I worked in film & tv, he kept going on and on about how he can be an excellent front for a NZ Food TV show and he just kept going in a loop and started telling me how I should pitch the idea and why such a show would be a good idea. I tolerated it to a point and then snapped back and basically in an indirect way told him to shut up. I think he got the point because he did let me go back to bed. I am sure that he must be a top notch chef but with his personality I find it hard to imagine how he can be a good host. I did see him the next morning as I was about to catch the Airport Flyer back to Wellington Airport and he didn't seem any different personality wise - sober. I guess that's the charm of travelling - you meet interesting people - some of them whom you get along with and some who just annoy the crap out of you.
The flight back was uneventful - even though it was running slightly late and half the plane was full of talkative law graduates who had flown down to Wellington to collect their law degrees. I am glad to be back in Auckland where the wind doesn't have as much of a bite as in Wellington and where you can actually feel the sun. I enjoyed my trip thoroughly and there are a few more things I could've squeezed into my 2 days down there - mainly because most of the attractions and places are located within walking distance of each other and a lot of them are free to visit, but I am still happy that I managed to do this trip on a budget. There are heaps more things you can do if you have the money like tours, adventure activities etc. but ulitmately it depends on what kind of holiday you want it to be.
That's me for now. Hope this helps anyone wanting a quick overview of things to visit in Wellington in 2 days.
Till later,
Amit
Labels: Conservation, Movies, New Zealand, Wellington
