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Well as it goes I am missing some bits here. Namely, I didn't say anything about Auckland city centre. Nor did I go into the details of the search for Queenstown's lost ice rink. Well, fear not! The missing stuff comes up here.
Queenstown - Do You Have A Reservation?
Here's a tip. When you go to a restaurant which the hotel receptionist thinks you need a reservation for, make a reservation.
The Boardwalk is supposed to be a nice, classy establishment with good cheap seafood. But go there without a reservation and
they'll say, "I'm sorry, tonight is especially full, the next free table should be around 10:45pm."
Auckland - The Hilton Hotel
Brand spanking new. The Hilton wasn't even fully open when I was there. Have you ever seen the place they're building next
to Plaza Singapura? Well, it sure is attack of the clones, cause suddenly it seems a lot of buildings are looking like that.
The Hilton Hotel Auckland looks something like that, and allegedly resembles a sailing ship, but the only ship-like thing I
could see about it is that there's a giant inflated dildo on the top, supposedly the sail, and a big, big lightning conductor,
supposedly the mainmast.
Also it has a glass-sided swimming pool which you can see into, which will surely raise the car accident rate on the road outside.
Auckland - The Wild, Wild City Centre
Caltex is really overdoing things these days. Or, they're taking a hint from Starbucks. Along Queen Street (the Kiwi
equivalent of Orchard Road, only minus the ah bengs having gangfights in the alleys) there is a Star Mart every 200 meters,
and 2 of them are literally across the road from each other. They could have a "Raid the Star Mart" race where you have to
run to all of them and buy as many fruits as possible. It would be pretty fast, it could be done within 40 seconds.
Also they were having an international sailing competition. I think it was called the "Make Your Sailboat Go Really Really Fast Cup" or the "President and/or Prime Minister's Cup", I don't know but it is supposed to be really prestigious and as a result there were 3 Star Marts camped along the spectator area for the event, and 2 of them had tie-ins with Subway. That way, you can get a sandwich, a banana and a condom at the same time, which should greatly increase your productivity.
On the other hand, 7-Eleven has to keep up the competitive heat, and they saturate the other areas of the city where Star Mart mania isn't as strong yet. So for this reason, you can safely assume that downtown Auckland has the most convenience stores per square meter in the world. And, with condoms so widely available, you'll never be caught unprepared.
Also they were having an international sailing competition. I think it was called the "Make Your Sailboat Go Really Really Fast Cup" or the "President and/or Prime Minister's Cup", I don't know but it is supposed to be really prestigious and as a result there were 3 Star Marts camped along the spectator area for the event, and 2 of them had tie-ins with Subway. That way, you can get a sandwich, a banana and a condom at the same time, which should greatly increase your productivity.
On the other hand, 7-Eleven has to keep up the competitive heat, and they saturate the other areas of the city where Star Mart mania isn't as strong yet. So for this reason, you can safely assume that downtown Auckland has the most convenience stores per square meter in the world. And, with condoms so widely available, you'll never be caught unprepared.
Auckland - I Like Chinese
Remember Daniel? Well I actually passed the area his house is in, if those namecards he gave out were accurate. Auckland is,
only one way to say it, BLOODY HUGE! Assuming there aren't any jams on the AYE/PIE, you can drive from one end of
Singapore to the other in about 30 minutes if you are willing to break the speed limit a little. In Auckland, doing the same
thing will take at least ONE HOUR. If there ever was a shining example of "urban sprawl", that's Auckland. I remember saying
that in terms of land area Auckland is the biggest city in the world. It's bigger than Wai Leong's ass, before any of you
try to get clever and say "it isn't as big as..."
Also, don't miss the 2nd Chinatown, where it seems China sent 10,000 people to set up a camp there. I can't remember exactly where it is, but when you passed through, it looks like you went through a portal to Hong Kong, weird soups, herb shops, triads and all.
Queenstown - Quest For The Lost Ice Skating Rink
When you advertise your "recreation centre" with "Olympic standard ice skating rink! Open all week!" with a big billboard,
you should probably tell people where it is. Queenstown isn't the megalith Auckland is, but it still gets pretty fustrating
when 3 different buildings, 2 of them on opposite sides of town, are helpfully labelled on the map "Leisure Centre".
Well just for fun I wanted to seek out and invade this "Olympic standard" ice. Also it was a pretty hot day and ice cubes cost extra in the hotel cafe (yes!! What the hell are they thinking?? Well... they are trying to milk Japs and Koreans.) so I was hoping to chisel some off the skating surface. Guess what? I found it, but it isn't open all week. More like "open once we actually get some money to build the damn thing". Ripoff. And anyway, The Loaded Hog is happy to include ice cubes in your Coke for free.