A Taste of Home

It's been awhile since I posted, but things have been busy in addition to the thesis. I ended up having to go back to the U.S. unexpectedly, and then coming back and moving house, and all of that took a lot of time and energy. But I am settled back into the rhythm of working seven days a week and hoping to be on the last stretch of the thesis journey this year.

The good part about being in the U.S. was the food and company. I miss the variety of restaurants and the cheapness and meal deals. And walking into Target's pantry section was both horrifying due to all the sugary, unhealthy stuff, but also so exciting and colorful. I made sure to take photos of a lot of the food so I could share them and remember the tour of my favorite stuff and new things I tried. It is good for the budget that Christchurch doesn't have affordable eating-out and not much to tempt me, but also lame.

First meal in the U.S. - Mexican!

strange to see bleached eggs again, and they don't taste as good

wall o'Oreos (America is doomed...)

I love Belgian waffles

French-toast style Belgian waffle

Denny's Pancake Breakfast

Olive Garden - unlimited breadsticks and salad

Olive Garden fettuccine alfredo

Olive Garden's new cookie butter cake was delicious.

Ravioli with sausage and bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip

Blueberry coconut pie - yum

Costco pumpkin pie (didn't make it through it all... :( )

Had to get the classic Eggo waffles. Taste exactly the same!

Airport restaurant's Clam Chowder

Note the carb-o-licious / dessert theme in most of these foods... There were some other things to note as well. Apparently games now have to list the materials they are made out of (so if you're gluten-free, you won't lick it??...). There are robots at airports. I tried out the Amazon Locker delivery service and it was easy and convenient.

Coming back to New Zealand, I noticed that CookieTime has finally realized the wonder of butterscotch in cookies.

Finally, seeing the snow-covered Southern Alps is always a treat. It's a perk of coming in during daylight hours.

 

Trip to Lake Coleridge and BBQ

We went for another day trip out of Christchurch -- this time the weather was even colder and there were very strong winds we had to walk into. We were near the ski fields of Mt Hutt, south of where we went last time to Castle Hill. Unfortunately there was no snow at ground level, which I had been hoping for. We went for a walk near Lake Coleridge, which is part of a hydoelectric power plant, but the only exciting things were fantail birds and sheep. The fantails are so cute, flitting around and showing off their tails. There were three of them very close to us on one of the forest paths. The sheep were more afraid of us. There were one black-faced one and some were pregnant. The walk was fine on the way out to the lake, but the winds were blisteringly harsh and cold on the way back.

We took a detour to eat at this Texas BBQ place I had read an advertisement for in the paper recently. It's got a great name -- Truck Norris BBQ -- and is run by a Kiwi guy and his partner who is a Texan woman. She must be the one in charge of the Facebook page because it was very friendly and cheery on there. The guy is a typical Kiwi who doesn't say much and doesn't have the customer service skills we expect in America. I figured that would be the case and didn't mind too much because I am used to it. I just ordered the food and didn't make conversation. The food was indeed American-style and the BBQ sauce was soo good. Just like what I've had in the Southwest. We got a sampler platter with BBQ chicken, beef brisket, and pulled pork as well as macaroni and cheese and seasoned fries. I would be eating there all the time if it weren't such a long drive away. Maybe for the best!

I can't wait for winter to be over. The electricity bill was over $340 last month, and that's with us not being home during weekdays. There has been flooding in surrounding areas due to a huge rainfall in the past week, and tomorrow the high is supposed to be 6 C (43 F). It is just crazy that people don't have proper and affordable heating systems to cope with this kind of weather. And drainage systems cannot cope with the amount of water and the fact that the city is built in the floodplains of the river.

Fantail with the white and black tail

 

Castle Hill

There's not much going on besides a rather tedious cycle of writing and editing, but we did get out of the city for a day trip to Castle Hill, which is a limestone rock area about an hour-and-a-half's drive west. I can't believe it took us this long to get out there, because it was a really cool place (and also nearly freezing - somewhere around 4 C / 40 F). And since it's winter, there were snow-covered hills and mountains to see on the drive, and we stopped at an accessible patch of snow on the way back to throw some around (several other groups of people were doing the same thing). Snow in June is still such a foreign concept, even after years down here. I'm looking forward to some more free time after the thesis is completed to enjoy more of the beautiful New Zealand scenery.