Dancing, Dinners, Roller Derby & Driving

The same weekend as the mid-August Bollywood Event, the fun just continued. Emma and I met up with Bryce and Brian at Brian’s mom Debbie’s house, chilled there for a bit, played with the new family puppy, and chatted with a few friends that Debbie had over for a dinner party. Then, the four of us went to Africa Bar to hang out with Brian’s brother Craig, as it was Craig’s birthday celebration. After staying there for a bit, we bar-hopped our way around to Family on K Road, then a couple of bars I hadn’t been to before called Ink and Coherent. After a lot of dancing and a great night out, we unfortunately had to end the evening by saying goodbye to Bryce and Brian, as their official move to Wellington was the next day. =(

Luckily, I knew I would be going to Wellington to visit. The next evening, Emma and I went to Neighborhood Brewbar in Ponsonby to meet Hemi and his friends for Hemi’s birthday. During the course of the evening, I met Anna, Alsbyth, Adrian, Adrian’s girlfriend, and James. Plus, a couple familiar faces (Lawrence and Nathan) were there as well who I had already met previously through Hemi. It was a good group =). We all stayed at the Brewbar for a couple of hours before walking down the road to have dinner at Cantons. Our Asian waitress had a cheeky sense of humor, which Lawrence, Nathan, and Hemi all played into—good times. It was a really nice dinner with laughs all around.

The next week was pretty chilled out—work was good (including receiving a surprise morning tea one day with lots of yummy snacks), had lunch with Jess another day, fed my newfound love for sushi once or twice, and had a much-adored Pizza Hut & Vanilla Coke night with Emma. A few of us from work went out for a Ponsonby Food Court dinner on Friday, which turned out to be a perfect way to start the weekend. Jess, Hamish, Hajra, Sian, Jen, her fiance Robin are a hilarious group to go out with, especially when it comes to food. Both Hamish and Hajra are Muslim and were therefore practicing Ramadan at this time. Since they hadn’t eaten all day (or weren’t supposed to have eaten all day), they were STARVING.

This resulted in both of them getting something like two entrees and one main each throughout the evening!! Jen’s fiance Robin got in on the “how much food can you eat” action too since he’s practically solid muscle (rugby player type) and can also eat a ridiculous amount of food. Robin thought he had ‘won’ the said competition until Hajra gladly pointed to her order number for the huge vegetarian pizza she just ordered haha. The best part of the night was when Hajra’s pizza finally came and she took a big bite, only to realize it had ANCHOVIES on it. Yes, anchovies. In other words, something that belongs nowhere near a pizza. Bleh!

Sian, who looks quite intimidating if you don’t know her, successfully took on the mission of getting a new non-anchovy vegetarian pizza for free. After a ridiculous amount of food court food, either Hamish or Hajra further suggested also going for gelato. Why not? =) So, we all drove down to a gelato place on Ponsonby Road and enjoyed some dessert. This also marked the first time Jess experienced one of my notorious memory loss moments. The entire week, she and I had excitedly been discussing going to a Roller Derby match that Saturday (which was the next day by this point). When she mentioned needing to do some homework “before tomorrow night,” I interestedly asked, “What are you doing tomorrow night?” We had even talked about it earlier that same day.

Jess just looked at me with a very confused, blank face, to which I responded, “I take it I should know the answer to that question.” Much laughter ensued once I realized my blunder but yeahhh…I seriously need to invest in some ginko! After Jess dropped me back off at the flat, I was supposed to go to a Rocky Horror Picture Show event that I had previously bought cheap tickets for. Unfortunately, I didn’t end up going because I couldn’t find anyone to go with me. Bummer. Instead, I chatted a bit with Daiana and her friends Luciana and Rina at the flat, then went to bed early. On Saturday (August 20th by this point), I did some blogging, Skyped with my Dad, and then it was time for ROLLER DERBY!

Jess, Emma, Mary and I all went to the game, which was Jess and Mary’s first Roller Derby experience. Such a blast! The players were extra aggressive during this match too. I seriously love watching that sport. Before we left the venue, Emma introduced us to one of her friends Kat who was really nice. Then, Mary, Jess, Emma and I went to Verona bar on K Road to get a couple of drinks and chill out. On Sunday, Emma surprised me by asking if I could drive in New Zealand. I told her I could, but that I hadn’t tried yet. Nonetheless, Emma trusted me, handed me the keys to her car, and let me drive to the grocery store. I was sooo excited! Seriously guys, I have missed driving so much. It felt really strange to drive on the left side of the road and be seated on the right side of the car, but I got the hang of it straight away =).

The rest of our Sunday morning was spent sunbathing on our balcony while reading the paper. During the afternoon, we met a couple of Emma’s friends Alex and Alicia at a shopping mall in Onehunga called Dress Smart so the girls could find outfits for their school’s upcoming ball (Emma and Alicia are both teachers). The weekend ended the same way it started—another dinner at Ponsonby Food Court =). This time, it was with Jess, Emma, Kat, Hemi and Lawrence. Jess and I got into a rather in-depth conversation about what made me come to New Zealand, life, traveling, etc. It made me realize even more how much more of a connection I have with the Kiwi lifestyle of ‘working to live’ as opposed to the American lifestyle of ‘living to work.’ To say the very least, I’m interested to see where life takes me after my New Zealand experience.

Cheers,
Ash

Bollywood Bash

The following week was quite good as well. I didn’t do too much after work each day—chatted at the flat with Daiana one night, hung out with Chris and his flatmate Jennie at their place another evening, followed by hanging out with Daiana and her friends Luciana and Rina at our flat later that same night. Dai and the girls had baked flan, so the four of us ate dessert and shared some laughs. The eventful day of the week, however, was Friday. During the day, we had a morning tea for Sian who was leaving AMP. Then, after work, it was time to get ready for BOLLYWOOD!! Since it wasn’t scheduled to start until later, I walked home after work to get primped.

By the time I got back to AMP, many of my coworkers had already transformed into proper Indian goddesses! Some of the guys went all out too and had on traditional Indian garb as well. It was fabulous! After admiring everyone for a few minutes, I went to change into the special Indian outfit that Chhaya had given me a few weeks prior to wear for the event. It was absolutely stunning---a sequined and beaded silky half top and a long silky, sequined bottom piece in a brilliant gold color with splashes of red. I felt so special that Chhaya had specifically thought of me for wearing it that evening. I just love her! Most of the other women wore traditional Indian sarees for the event. The sarees were all soooo beautiful and so different, ranging from gorgeous pastels to bright vivid hues. I loved them all. =)

Chhaya was a master at delicately wrapping the sarees around each person to get them to look just right. A few of us just watched in awe as she worked her magic. After everyone was saree’d up and adorned with bindis on their foreheads, we headed out toward the Heritage Hotel. A group of about ten of us walked from AMP to the hotel and received many curious gazes from onlookers along the way. After arriving there and squeezing together in the Heritage elevator, we were escorted to The Grand Tearoom where the actual event was being held. A huge smile spread across my face as I heard the traditional Indian music blaring down the hall before we ever reached the room.

Upon entering The Grand Tearoom, the feel of New Zealand completely
dissipated and we were quickly immersed in the vibrant culture and spirit of India. The room was spectacular and the decorations and lighting were perfect. We had a buffet of food, plus an open bar was available the entire evening, offering champagne, mimosas, wine, and beer. AMP had even hired traditional Indian dancers who put on a wonderful performance. After they were done, everyone else got out onto the dance floor and boogied until the late hours of the night. At one point, the DJ put on “Jai Ho” from the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack, and the crowd went absolutely WILD haha. SO much fun!!

It was great to dance and let loose with all my girls from the Kiwisaver and Life teams. Everyone just had a ball. There were of course a few people who enjoyed the open bar a little too much, but I suppose that’s to be expected. One of the guys from work named Simon had us laughing quite a bit with his improvisation skills during the evening. Since he didn’t have a proper Indian kurta that many of the men wore, he took off his flannel over-shirt and wrapped it around his head like a turban haha. Our evening at the Heritage ended with some tasty ice cream for dessert. Overall, the Bollywood Event was a smashing hit and I felt so fortunate that I was able to be a part of it. =)

After it was over, a group of about 10 of us walked back to AMP to change our clothes. To get into the building after hours, you have to scan your access card for the entrance door to unlock. Well, at some point between all of us entering and exiting, a random Asian couple snuck into the building without us noticing straight away. When one of our managers Fiona yelled at them to leave, the Asian girl was drunk, belligerent and confused. Her male Asian companion had apparently promised her a ‘room’ in our building haha. The guy, who didn’t seem to speak much English, just kept repeating in a strong Asian accent, “We booked room here, we booked room.” Hahaha…nice try buddy. Pretty sure our corporate AMP building doesn’t offer any hotel rooms.

After changing clothes at AMP, Jess and I met up with a group from work at the Bungalow bar on the harbour. A friend of Chelsea and Ervin’s was having his birthday celebration on the back deck, so we all chilled there for a good portion of the evening. Besides hanging out with Jess, Chelsea, Ervin, Celeste, Sara, Nicole, Fiona, Kanch, Chris and Izzy from work, I was also introduced an American girl who Izzy had been dying for me to meet. He had previously told me that I reminded him of her because of our similar accents =). She was a sweetheart.

I also randomly met a couple guys Russell and Basir during the evening, whom I had in-depth criminology-related conversations with as opposed to the usual bar conversations. Surprisingly, this turned out to be quite amusing. I spent the rest of the evening dancing with my AMP girls on the dance floor. Then, Jess, Sara and I all eventually left together in the late hours of the morning to head home. All in all, a memorable evening in New Zealand. =)

Cheers,
Ash