Baron To'a movie...

This week, I had the opportunity to watch a Tongan movie (in English) that was very interesting. I watched it with my family, and we were surprised to find that we enjoyed it as the story unfolded. It was also notable to see an array of actors who were Samoan, Māori, and Tongan.

The premise is about a young man who returns to Auckland after spending time away in Australia. He's supposed to tie up the loose ends in selling the property that was jointly owned by his late father and uncle. However, there's a gang that has taken over the cul-de-sac, and his late father's belt is stolen by one of the gang members.

Interestingly, the uncle won't sell the house until the belt is returned, and the belt happens to be a wrestling belt that his late father earned when he was a wrestler. This story brought back memories, as my household growing up, we were wrestling fans and enjoyed watching Samoans wrestle like the late Peter Maiavea (Dwayne Johnson's father) in the early days of American wrestling. In fact, I remember my dad taking us to the Auckland City YMCA to watch wrestling matches when I was very young.

Anyway, I would highly recommend this movie, as it's shot in Mt Roskill, Auckland, which was immediately apparent to me. When my eldest went to check the movie's location, she confirmed that I was right. There are a lot of fight scenes, so I wouldn't recommend it for the very young, but it has an interesting ending...

Happy Birthday wishes to our eldest...

 

Yesterday, we celebrated our eldest's 23rd birthday with a family lunch. It was neat to have it on the weekend during the school holidays, then we could all attend.

Interestingly, she didn't want to go out for lunch, which was our preferred consideration; however, she wanted to have a shared lunch at home, so we did.

It was interesting to see each family member coming with either drinks, a roast, potato salad, surimi salad, three meats with seasoned rice, along with creamy mushroom sauce.

After lunch, we had a blessing service, she blew out the candles of her cake, and she cut the cake as our dessert (being too full from lunch). We also had a time of affirmations, focusing on two positive things to say about her.

After that, she opened her presents and each person had given her a personal gift. As an artist, she received art supplies, stationery, homewares, candles, and other items. She is currently completing her final year in Law school at the University, as well as recently starting a full-time job.

Afterwards, we had a great time with karaoke. We started with three teams of two people and then sang random songs. We had so much fun that when the birthday girl left with her boyfriend, the rest of us continued singing and laughing until we were all sung out...

Evening Dinner date in the central city...

 

Last night, I had a lovely dinner date with my beloved in the central city, taking some time out amid all the upcoming events until the end of the year.

After dinner, we went for a walk around the boardwalk area, which was approximately 3km long or longer.

The photo features the pool in the foreground, and in the background is the Auckland CBD Central Business District, with the Sky City Tower as the tallest building in New Zealand.

After that, we decided to check out Denny's Family Restaurant for dessert in Town, as my beloved hadn't visited there before. It was located almost opposite the Sky City Tower, and we could see it close by. 

It's great to take time out of a busy schedule to reconnect, enjoy a healthy dinner (non-alcoholic), and then take an even-paced walk around the city by the water - always calming and enjoyable without the crowds. Something to look forward to...

WIPCE Conference 2026 Programme...

I received the WIPCE World Indigenous Peoples Conference of Education 2026 a few weeks ago, but have been so busy with end-of-year classes that I haven't taken much notice.

I've now seen that I will be presenting on the last day of the conference during the Day 4 theme of: Linguistic & Cultural Revitalisation with Creative Arts & Media. The latter of which I am speaking to, but my presentation also touches on Cultural Revitalisation.

It's a little exciting but a bit daunting, as I have many other things to work on, which are priorities for my family, including upcoming birthday celebrations and events. Additionally, I have my teaching class with their end-of-year conference presentations, and I'll be presenting in front of my own colleagues on two occasions.

So there's going to be so much to get through before I even get to the conference. I already have an idea of what I'm going to speak about in my 10-minute presentation. Yes, that's right. It's a 20-minute slot with 10 minutes to present and the remaining 10 minutes for questions and answers.

Sadly, I only just found out over the weekend that I had missed another opportunity to present in Samoa for the Measina conference. This was particularly the one that I was looking forward to, as it is on the topic that I wrote my doctoral thesis on, but that's okay, as I was already inundated with all the work that I'm currently working on, which means that I have to wait another 2 - 3 years before the next round...
 

Beautifully coloured beads...

 

A big shout-out to my eldest, who, having seen my large collection of colourful beads, decided to have a go at making some beaded bracelets and mobile phone beaded decorations.

She had recently visited Sydney, Australia, with her beloved and came back with one as a gift for a younger sibling. It was shiny and beaded, which then gave her the idea of making some.

Well, of course, her friends were most appreciative to receive them, and I certainly enjoyed the two colourful blue-hued beaded bracelets that were gifted to me. 

But alas, they broke because I'm always busy doing something, and they were snagged and broke as a result. There's also a birthday coming up for her, and what do you think of buying? Yeap, you guessed it, a whole lotta colourful beads. 

I remember when I was four (I think I've told this story before), when I accompanied my mum to take my elder sister to start school. She was a year older, and I saw some colourful beads on the floor that I was allowed to play with. However, when we left, I kept dreaming about those colourful beads and couldn't wait until I started school so that I too could play with them too...

Forgiveness? or 'an eye for an eye?...

Every now and then, I take time out with a work colleague to share, read a bible passage and a devotional, then pray. Lately, there have been so many sad shootings that have happened in our nation, in America and wars between countries.

So what can we do about it? But pray. We often underestimate the power of prayer and sometimes even forget that it is a powerful weapon against evil.

Last week, with the shooting of Charlie Kirk, a Christian and political figure whom I had known nothing about until the day he was shot. It was sad to reflect that someone could take the life of another just because they disagreed with their ideas, philosophies, etc.

But then again, that's how wars begin, with people's ideologies in wanting to have power over others. I'm definitely not a history buff, but it's sobering to know that the death penalty could come into effect for the alleged killer of Charlie Kirk.

"An eye for an eye" is an old biblical understanding, but in the New Testament, Jesus preached forgiveness, which is not an easy thing to do. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the court of the state of Utah, which still has the death penalty, with the whole world watching, but especially sad for his widow, children and family.

The international news has shown how polarising his passing has been, particularly in America, but also in other countries, across the political and religious spectrums. Some were mourning and gathering for nighttime vigils, demonstrations, and walks of support, while others were celebrating, and some even lost their jobs as a result. 

I've also heard of revivals and large church attendance that fills churches to overflowing in some states of America and overseas. I remember how, similarly, in Christchurch, New Zealand, some years ago, a shooter entered a mosque and took the lives of innocent people. He is still in jail, and I remember hearing that the bill for his stay in prison would have easily been taken care of had we had the death penalty.

I often pray to let there be light in the darkest reaches where evil lurks and is willing to kill, steal and destroy in overpowering the vulnerable and the weak. Who abuse and take the lives of innocent children, women, those with disabilities and the elderly, etc. 

We are not helpless, and we do not need to despair, as we do have the power of prayer and can trust in a living God who has our backs and is delighted to welcome us to heaven. Yes, death is the end of our journey on earth and the beginning of another journey in the afterlife. Do not despair and pray!...

 

Panda Mart, in east Auckland...

 

Today, I went with my beloved, his sister and our youngest to a relatively new Supastore called "Panda Mart".

It's an interesting store in Auckland because it is a large store with a wide selection of wares at very discounted prices. 

Most were imported from China, and today, on the weekend, it was packed with shoppers, a day before Father's Day, which is tomorrow.

I appreciate the vast array of products and the numerous options available, unlike some stores that offer only a limited selection of homeware brands.

We mainly bought water bottles to stay hydrated, as they come in a variety of styles and colours to choose from. I also purchased some pens with 8 and 10 colour pens, mainly when categorising things - it really comes in handy.

Looking forward to my next stop by, as I still haven't had the time to really explore the store, but for now, Christmas presents and gifts won't be so hard to source with the addition of new products that they often advertise. Roll on Christmas...

"Inspiring Futures" Careers day...

 

Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending an "Inspiring Futures" event at an Intermediate school, which is similar to a middle school but with only two year levels of Year 7 and 8 students. It reminded me of the Intermediate school I attended many years ago, which I also really enjoyed.

There were about 300 students at the school and I was at a careers event whereby the students needed to guess what five guest speakers occupations were (including myself as an author/illustrator) although teaching is also my job.

It was an interesting morning as I arrived around 8.45am after a 45-minute drive to the school. After we introduced ourselves to each other, I found it very interesting in the careers that we each had, which included:

• an environmental engineer
• an economist at a bank
• a costume hire business owner
• a people-centred designer
• an author/illustrator (me)

We met the teacher in charge of the event, who was also the Deputy Principal, and followed the student councillors into the hall, where half the school gathered in their class rows, which numbered over 100 students.

They were then asked to consider 20 yes/no questions that had been pre-prepared to ask us. The student counsellors chose who got mic time, and these were some of the questions included with my responses in brackets:

• do you work with animals? (no)
• are you a business owner? (yes)
• does your job involve overseas travel? (yes: sometimes) i.e. book launch in Samoa or taking books to sell there, or American Samoa
• does your job involve making something? (yes)

We were taken to the boardroom while students deliberated on guessing the jobs or work involved in each of our roles. We then returned to the assembly hall, and students were given the opportunity to guess each of our jobs/work.

We were all asked to bring along props to assist as clues. They guessed the engineer as he was wearing a high-vis vest. The bank worker, they guessed, because she wore a bank logo T-shirt, but they weren't able to guess her actual occupation within the bank. They didn't guess the costume hire business owner, as she was wearing an amazing overcoat, and they thought that she was an actress or magician. They definitely weren't able to guess the people-centred designer, although they guessed the company that she worked for with her Business logo prop. 

When it was my turn, they guessed that I was an artist based on the markers I was shown, but couldn't make the connection with the laptop (those were my props). I then had to reveal to them my occupation, and then all the clues made sense to them.

We were then dismissed and had a cup of tea in the staff room, where we got to meet other staff members. I also had the opportunity to talk with a Māori teacher, and we recognised mutual acquaintances who worked at the Wānanga where I teach.

After the break, we were ushered back to the hall for group rotations, and I spoke to around 8-10 small groups of students. Some were interested, some were not, some asked some very good questions. It was also nice to meet some Samoan students, and I encouraged them in their studies, as well as other students. 

All in all, it was another neat experience, and I'm also glad that I was able to share a quick backstory about enjoying art and reading books when I was young. I'm glad that all that hard work paid off as I'm able to support others in their learning journeys and encourage authenticity too...

Netflix series "Building the Band" with fave SZN4...

 

One of the Netflix series I picked up while in Bali was called "Building the Band". It was a reality music competition that began with 40 people, all of whom were in a booth and couldn't see each other. They then had to individually sing with the others listening to see if, through voice only, people would choose each other to make up a band.

The interesting thing was that you needed to get at least five votes from the other singers, and some didn't make the cut and had to be sent home. It got even more interesting as there were only six spaces for bands, so people had to be strategic to quickly find a place in a band and then secure it.

Unfortunately, some people missed out and only the first six bands that were formed advanced to the next stage. At this point, they had to learn a song, and in performing it, they would meet for the first time, having originally met sight unseen.

To this end, there was a mixed band called SZN4, and they were my favourite among the boy bands and Girl bands. I didn't really know why they called them bands because they were more groups than bands, as they didn't play any musical instruments, so that didn't make a lot of sense.

Of course, with all reality shows, there are eliminations, and it was whittled down to my favourite mixed band SZN4, a boy band and a girl band. I'm not going to make any spoiler alerts except to say that my fave band came second, although their voices were No.1!...