Dinner Crasher & Record Skyper

My first day working in the new department of AMP was also my first experience with the Friday afternoon drink trolley. =) I gladly accepted a beer from the trolley girls and reveled in its consumption before leaving work. Then, Chris, Jess and I went to Chris’s to hang out for a while, chatting and enjoying some wine while sitting out on his balcony. The Kiwisaver department was doing a ‘team dinner’ that night at this nice Brazilian restaurant on the harbour called Wildfire, which Sandra and I had previously heard about in passing but were never formally invited to attend (rightly so since we had only been temps and our contract with Kiwisaver technically ended the day before the dinner). However, when it came time for Chris to go to the dinner, he tried to convince Jess and I to come with him. Jess stayed strong and declined the offer, which is what I normally would have done. My decision-making abilities after a few glasses of wine, however, were slightly less than superb and I agreed to go.

I thought the dinner may consist of 15 or so people and I could maybe join in unnoticed (still fully paying my own way though). Well, it was more like half that number…and my presence was very noticeable haha. Besides Chris and I, the group consisted of Melissa, Alishia, Ivy, Campbell, Smita, Sea, Julieta, and Winnie. I awkwardly apologized to everyone, but they all assured me it was fine. Since Melissa was the one who had set up everything for the dinner, I made sure to tell her I was fully planning on paying for myself. She said no worries and that it was just $40.00 per person. @#$*!!! Ouch! I had heard Wildfire was a little on the expensive side, but expensive for me is more like $20.00….not twice that much! I couldn’t just leave at that point though and be like “Oh…sorry guys…something came up…enjoy your dinner though..” Haha. So, a $40.00 meal it was.

I had never been to a Brazilian restaurant before (that I can remember), so the setup was new to me. It basically consisted of waiters constantly coming around with skewers of lamb, beef, chicken, and pork, asking if you wanted some, then carving it off of the skewer and onto your plate. They kept coming around and around, again and again, until you flipped this little piece of wood over on your table to show red instead of green. It is a good thing I recently incorporated lamb, beef, and pork back into my diet after 9 years without it because I ate an absurd amount of meat that night. It was soo delicious though! At one point, one of the waiters carved a piece of beef onto my plate that was quite rare, to the point that even my prior boss Campbell verbally noted it. Normal Ashley would find such a thing completely disgusting, but Ashley with a little wine in her and who was thinking about getting absolutely all of her money’s worth, gladly gulped it up haha. Ridiculous.

After dinner, most of us walked to one of the nicest restaurants on the harbour, Cin Cin on Quay, as Campbell was treating for dessert. Campbell, Sea, Julieta, Melissa, Chris and I enjoyed some delectable desserts, chatted for a while, then said goodnight. It was sooo nice to go out with them all; a very good evening indeed! Afterward, Chris and I went back to his flat and hung out with his flatmate Jennie, her rocker boyfriend Kurt, and their friends Lauren, Sasha, Rob, and Jack—highly amusing. I stayed there for a few hours before making the short walk back to my flat. Apparently while we were at Chris’s though, Auckland had a small 2.9 earthquake. We didn’t feel it, but I know of a few people around the city who did. Daiana said she felt it at our flat too. I’m hoping it was the only earthquake I’ll have the joy of experiencing—I much prefer ones that I don’t even know have happened!

The rest of the weekend was fairly relaxed. I cleaned around the flat on Saturday, then had the pleasure of Skyping with my marvelous Mia. What began as a casual afternoon Skype session turned into an all-day affair, for we Skyped for a full FIVE hours!! Haha. It was fantastic though—many stories and laughs =) I also got to Skype with Rory (one of the guys I knew from the Napier hostel) for about 30 minutes too, so that was really great! Talking to them made me miss Napier…more than usual that is. I look back on those lazy days in Napier with Sontsa, hanging out with the Frenchies, joking around with Mia and Greg, watching movies, taking afternoon naps in the lounge, playing pool, and working for crazy Chris at The County, and I can honestly say that those were some of the best days of my life. I never knew it at the time, but I know it now =)

On Sunday, I just chilled out at the flat with Emma. We were talking about school uniforms at one point, which spurred her to go dig one out from underneath her bed. In the process, she found heaps of clothes that she no longer wore, and told me to just go through the pile and take whatever I wanted. Brilliant! I got 12 shirts, a skirt, a dress, a warm Paul Frank pajama top, and a Fijian sulu! So awesome! The rest of the day was spent making phone calls to some family members back home, including my aunt in Colorado. I purposely called when I knew she would be at the hospital with my cousin, so I was able to speak with my cousin as well. I was absolutely thrilled to talk to her and hear her voice!! Think about her every day.

Best,
Ash