Happy 20th Wedding Anniversary to my beloved...

 

This year marks our 20th Wedding Anniversary, with my beloved, where we went to an island just off the coast of Fiji (short 10 minute boat ride) called Sonaisali and had our sunset wedding there.

We returned on our 10th Wedding Anniversary with our then two children who had a swim in the pool (just as I had had with my dad on the wedding morning) and they loved it too.

We also returned on our 15th Wedding Anniversary with our children to Fiji and stayed at another hotel with lots of fun but had planned and booked to go back to Fiji for our 20th Anniversary but alas it was not to be.

Instead, we've spent it today with my family eating cake and having lunch together and later we're going to have a movie night and a dessert too.

The COVID-19 Pandemic has certainly changed many things for many people including the ways that we celebrate special dates and also makes me realise how we took for granted how easy it was to make plans and see it through but with COVID it's a whole new ball game and the rules are so different.

Today, there was an announcement that I heard through the media that the NZ government is planning to open up the borders to Australian vaccinated travellers with a 7 day isolation that doesn't need to be spent in an MIQ Managed Isolation Quarantine facility and could be at home. This is expected to start in January.

We were also given the information that overseas travellers could be welcomed in as soon as February next year and that's when I would love to travel to Samoa with my family to finally visit back home. Wow! what a long time to wait now but will be well worth the wait to be able to celebrate overseas again with family...

Bubble Tea/drink...

 

A new drink has made it's way onto NZ shores (well some time ago) but I only started tasting it this year. Known as bubble tea or Boba with many different varieties, colours and tastes.

It was my children who introduced it to me and we have a new local cafe and bakery that now offer the drinks with a variety of flavours to choose from.

The main ingredients seem to be ice, water, your choice of flavour and then little balls, pearls, tapioca or bubbles of flavour such as taro, blueberry, strawberry, honey, apple, brown sugar etc.

I'd definitely put it in the occasion range of drink as it can be quite sweet although flavoursome or like me you can always drink half and then wait until the ice has all melted before drinking the rest of it more diluted.

I was told by our youngest that the discovery of these types of drinks were quite by mistake as the ingredients were accidentally added (I think maybe the tapioca-like balls) but what started as an accident is now a lucrative business with many people buying these new types of drinks with many places offering them.

So if haven't already, why not give it a go? and see which taste you enjoy the most. Mine still is a variety of chocolate flavours with lots of ice that quenches a big thirst on a hot summer's day. It definitely beats fizzy drinks but that's my humble opinion...

Resource packs for children/families at our Samoan bilingual Early childhood centre...

It's day 79 of our National lockdown and this week I've also been busy with some of the teachers from our Samoan bilingual Early childhood centre to set up packs for children at our centre with some of the resources received from the Ministry of Education.

These will be distributed to families in order to support the learnings and home. So far they include bilingual books for children and also resource support for teachers and parents. 

We're still awaiting a box of hard pack resources, from the Ministry, for our children and hopefully they're not too far away.

With our little ones, it is totally understandable that many parents have chosen not to allow their children to attend the centre because of the uncertainty of having their unvaccinated children in any public place that could bring about an infection. I am also of the same mind but equally there are parents who need to work or study and are unable to look after their children so that they trust the centre to do their best in caring for their children.

Therefore, the packs are for the children who are mostly unable to attend the centre and it gives them added resources to support them at home through reading books together, activity resources in spending time together during these unprecedented times...

Art external portfolio exams in a pandemic...

 

Today has been a very busy with sorting things out at our Samoan bilingual Early childhood centre which has recently re-opened to support parents needing support in their childcare.

As well as also supporting our middle child in her NCEA National Certificate in Educational Achievement external art exams (level 2) Year 12 where she must provide a folio of her art work (Painting) that must be sent to examiners in Wellington.

The difficulty was that the Courier company that was selected to send folios were inundated with so many inquiries that when we went to book for a Courier drive to pick up the folio we were in a wait list of 137 callers and had to wait until it got down to our turn.

So I decided to go through a takeaways drive-thru 3 times whilst awaiting for the call. It was quite funny but we finally got it sorted and by the time we got home it was very quickly picked up and away it's gone to be tracked all the way to Wellington.

What's interesting about our middle child's folio is that I remember in my Level 1 art exams (those many years ago) that I had to provide a portfolio and I chose the subject of hands as my topic of interest. It's interesting to see that echoed in both my two eldests' Year 12 folios too i.e. great artistic minds think alike? (ha ha - no just interesting DNA).

Now there are external exams to contend with starting from 24th November and wishing for our middle child all the best in preparations and getting everything sorted in order to perform to the best of their abilities despite the pandemic and the Alert level 3 lockdown orders. Life seems to still go on...

Moana Pasifika Rugby on the horizon...

 

If you haven't already been told, there's a new International Rugby team that's on the horizon called Moana Pasifika Rugby and it's currently looking for committed fans to join the movement.

My dad and my beloved are ardent Rugby fans with my both always watching and backing All Blacks games and Manu Samoa with great interest in International Rugby tournaments.

With this new Rugby team now given the go ahead to select players from all over the globe, it's going to make for a very interest future for Pasifika Rugby as many players have had to live and play in many other countries overseas in order to make financial gains for their families in not having such opportunities in NZ.

If you want to know more information and are an ardent Pasifika rugby fan then you should check their website: https://moanapasifika.co.nz . I'm considering to back them on behalf of my father and I'm sure many others will be interested in seeing how far this will go. It would even be more interesting if it changes the tide of Rugby in NZ as this has been a long time coming...

Fitness challenge in lockdown...

 

This is the last week of my work's fitness challenge that is an annual event where we get into groups of 5 people (including virtual players if players are hard to find) and then we get points for physical sports i.e. steps in walking, running, gym time, biking etc.

I've joined pretty much every years since working for the organisation and have always enjoyed the camaraderie and also the fun things that can happen. 

However, this year has been very different as teams have had to connect virtually via phone, zooms and social media to keep up the spirits and encouragement.

I must say that I've definitely enjoyed it this year having added the virtual global challenges to the mix and virtually walking in places like London, Macchu Picchu etc. and it's made the lockdown a lot more bearable as well.

I'd definitely encourage these activities to any and especially if you're not too keen on going out to walk in your local neighbourhood with lockdowns that you can just dance your steps away. That has also made it more bearable as with having the Delta virus it's a bit disconcerting to walk outside your doors.

But these activities have been not only good for your health, fitness and state of mind but it has also been good for the soul, for me, in having music and dance as a part of the day. I'd highly recommend to all with your playlist and then 'Just Dance' (Videos on YouTube) around the room...

Playing online Scrabble during Lockdown...

Now we are in day 68 of Auckland's lock down (currently in Alert level 3.1) and apart from doing my usual routine of looking after family/s, work, writing and dancing around with trivial pursuits, I also decided to log online into one of my favourite past time board games of Scrabble.

I found an official game and started playing a few weeks ago only to find that there were so many games involved in the one website and after trying out a few decided to stick to the one I know best.

The pic on the right shows me challenging someone called 'Dracula' as its coming to Halloween on 31st October. It was supposed to be a challenge of 5 games with 4 of which I won but Dracula kept adding to the challenge so I finally decided to end it at winning 9 of 10 games.

The special challenges are usually for frames around the 'avatar' or pic that you decide to have to represent you. I decided to use one of my artworks for my profile and have been playing people all over the world ever since. It's quite neat because I found it quite relaxing and when I get tired of it I just leave it and come back later or sometimes I go quick fire to finish a game in one setting.

I'd highly recommend this game for those of you who enjoy playing Scrabble (for free online). You just need to register yourself and then go for gold. Can't help that I was once an English teacher and so I try to challenge myself by not thinking about it too much and trying and finish my time as soon as possible.

 So why not give it a try as you never know as you might even win...
 

Pacer medals for first virtual challenges...

Last week, I received my starter pack with the first medals for the virtual challenges that I started last month. 

Starting with the London leg at 21 kms, followed by the Inca Trail at Machu Picchu for 33 kms and the final challenge of that pack was the Grand Canyon trail at 36 kms.

The medals are a wonderful artistic collection and I'm enjoying it so much that I've decided to keep going and have since finished other challenges.

It does mean get up and off the couch to do my minimum 5000 steps a day but then good days when I'm feeling energetic it's 10,000 steps and yesterday I was able to complete 15,000 steps. The neat thing is that I like to dance my way through by putting on loud music and then just going for it.

We also have an online presence in each of the challenges and there are people all over the world checking in and encouraging each other online and if you're really into Social media there's also a web page that many go on to share about their journeys and encouraging others.

I think the other thing that's neat is that because we're unable to travel outside of our country i.e. NZ's borders are closed due to the pandemic, this eases that situation by being able to virtually visit other countries virtually walk the different tracks or trails (which is good for the heart and the soul) and then receive a medal at the end.

So although I haven't physically been to the countries it's definitely something I look forward to being able to do in the near future when this pandemic is under control or even wiped out! This is definitely an activity that I would highly recommend to all...
 

NZ Super Saturday Vaxathon...

Yesterday was a record smashing day for NZ with the Vaxathon that took the national total for one day to 130,002 jabs yesterday.

It definitely was nostalgic for me as in the 1970s, 1980s and even the 1990s where there was a nationally televised fund raising for an important cause and a target with a 24 hour news feed.

Celebrities would come on TV endorsing the cause and there would be a lot of pledges from individuals and companies, groups etc.

With that same idea in mind, I watched the latter part of the show with lots of celebrity endorsements, prizes given away live on TV, free hangi etc. a real celebratory atmosphere with social distancing, masks and lots of support in towns all over NZ.

It was definitely a good idea and although there are still many who are still to get their first jab, many did take that bold step. It was also good to see that many Maori (indigenous peoples of NZ) were getting their first vaccinations also.

And as the nation is still in our Alert level 3 lockdown in day 61, we appreciate that soon with many people getting vaccinated that the relaxing of the lockdown levels may be just on the horizon. Many thanks to those essential workers who made it happen as well as those who took friends and family who would have otherwise not been able to make it yesterday...

To vaccinate or not...

 

Last week, I viewed a bill board that advertised this slogan "Fight for your whakapapa" which means genealogy in Maori and then again yesterday, I found this is the local newspaper.

It's an interesting advertisement that's been sponsored by Te Whānau o Waipareira which is an organisation that looks after the needs of Māori in particular, although they do support others in need of help. Whereby the organisation gets government assistance to reach out to the Maori community out in West Auckland.

One of the reasons that this advertisement has been viewed in many spaces is that there is a low uptake of Maori getting vaccinations as compared with many other ethnic groups including Pacific peoples.

The government is well aware of this and it was been stated on many media platforms as well about the low numbers of Maori getting vaccinated with the concern that this particular Delta variant of the COVID 19 virus could potential be very harmful to any of the un-vaccinated population but will especially affect the most vulnerable.

Hence this advertisement and with many more in conversations to come. Historically, there has been a distrust in the Crown or past governments who have harmed Maori in many ways by taking their lands under "legislated" laws in the past and that have discredited Maori culture with only recently allowing Maori schools to be funded and Maori tertiary organisations like the one that I am currently working in.

Many New Zealanders do not know the true history of New Zealand during the early colonization period where Maori had on first point of contact 100% Maori ownership but which has now dwindled down to only approximately 5% of all lands in NZ (2021 stats). 

The NZ land wars during that time also saw the widespread slaughter of Maori whilst taking their lands. A sad history in many respects that is largely unknown in NZ and has not been taught well in schools in the past. However, that is set to change with the revised History curriculum that comes into affect next year with the requirement to teach local histories as well.

So that is why there is a huge mistrust of government declarations that have been detrimental to Maori even to the fact that at one time one philanthropic Auckland leader had a monument built on what was once called "One tree hill" in Auckland which was to be a memorial or commemoration regarding Maori in thinking that they may be wiped out. 

That did not happen as Maori people are very resilient (similar to Pacific peoples) and have been working hard to keep their culture and language strong with many independent Maori schools teaching te reo (Maori language) from Early childhood centres now to tertiary institutions...

Krispy Kreme doughnuts in lock down level 3...

 

Earlier this week, we celebrated the 19th birthday of our eldest with an inter-generational lunch at her request.

Afterwards, we picked up desert through the drive through of Krispy Kreme as that's one of her favourite donut places to go to.

As you can see, they had a special 'Pokemon' doughnuts pack as well as their usual glazed and favourites.

I still remember when Krispy Kreme opened its first shop in Manukau (way before the COVID 19 outbreak) that there was a long line that first week.

Now that its made a name for itself in being found in many BP service stations across NZ, the novelty has worn off and the long lines aren't so bad except for the first few days out of lock down level 4, then there are long lines with contact-less pick ups through the drive thrus.

I remember being in Oregon those many years ago and buying my first 'Dunkin' Do-nuts' doughnuts during the late 1980s in Auckland having nothing of the kind. Hasn't Auckland now come a long way in that many of the fast foods that can be found in the US can now also be found in Auckland especially during our lock downs. Although, I'm not always sure that that's a good thing...

"Just Dance" YouTube and virtual tours with dance...

 So far, so good, in since starting my fitness goal of 10 K steps per 5 day during the work week (and taking the weekends of Saturday and Sunday off) I've been able to keep to the goal. It's been neat in that my sister or youngest acts as the DJ and then I dance for an hour to some funky music.

I'd highly recommend listening or watching the "Just Dance" YouTube clips, make a playlist and then go for it. Another neat thing is that you don't have to go outside, especially if you are in lockdown like we are here in NZ in level 3 and you can dance in you bedroom, in your lounge or anywhere you want to.

Have currently danced some 90km according to my pedometer and virtual world tours that I'm going on and it's such fun when adding on these tours that quite take my mind off the task of exercising and makes it fun to get to the next pit stop or end of destination.

In fact, I've decided to do Pacer's 'Solar System' with 10 virtual walk that starts with small goals of walking around Mercury for 3 km's and later to the sun with it's 100 km's. Looks like this is definitely going to keep me busy and enjoying my time each day of over an hour for the next few months. A real blessing in these unprecedented times...

Enjoying the Virtual Adventures: Machu Picchu...

 

Loving these Pacer Virtual Adventure Challenge series in having now just completed the 33 km 'Inca Trail' in 3+ days, my second tour since first starting this week..

It's part of the Starter pack that includes the 3 challenges of:

1. London: 21 km

2. Machu Picchu: 33 km

3. Grand Canyon (USA): 36 km

Tomorrow, I'll take a break and then start again on Monday with a tour of the Grand Canyon. It's especially neat in that, for me, it's just about dancing to the beat of my own drum i.e. music playlist.

It's particularly special since not being able to visit these places and for everyone who's now joining these virtual tours during this COVID-19 lockdown times and the closure of international borders all over the world.

It's been amazing to see so many people around the world on these races and each going at their own pace. I also enjoy the fact that you don't even have to leave the safety of your home as it's quite concerning with the Delta variant making its presence felt in NZ.

These virtual tours also serve as a neat distraction during these trying times as well as serving as a neat reminder of getting fit and moving as it's been so easy to sit and complete online work without taking many breaks.

So this comes highly recommended from me if you don't mind spending some of that saved monies to pay for the access online as well as to receive a neat fashioned medal at the end. Especially for those of us who wouldn't otherwise get an Olympic medal but would enjoy this time hanging out at home...