Love letter to Auckland -City of Sails
I know, I know...the Fräulein has been a bit MIA again lately. But never fear, I am here!
I spent the good part of the weekend in Auckland. Friday afternoon the Fräulein got her hair done. Feeling in need of a bit of an overhaul, I decided rather than chopping off my locks, I would (for the first time in my life) get my hair bleached, or rather the ends, I wanted Ombre hair.
After two and a half hours at the hairdresser...I was finally done! Uff! Not even I love the hairdressers that much. In the end it didn't even end up looking as I imagined, but no matter...at least it was blonder, and not yellow or shades of orange.
In case you were wondering what my official looking lanyard is all about, wonder no more. As mentioned in the previous post, Saturday was Urbis Designday, the magazine's annual design event, and also my final day as an intern for Urbis :( But what a splendid high to end on!
The day started in the wee hours of Saturday morning (really Friday night) as my wonderful friend Miccy and I hit the town. We started the night at Auckland's Silo Park, where over summer there have been night markets, as well as free outdoor movies. Here we had dinner: Some tacos from a little food truck called Mexi Kai (kai means food in Maori so pretty clever name also!) followed by some churros. A rather South American feast!
As we got to the markets quite early (around 6pm), I was initially upset as it wasn't very busy, and I thought how typical, finally Auckland offers something as great as this, and its inhabitants don't make the most of it. But thankfully as the sun set over Auckland in a most spectacular fashion, the locals poured in with blankets, pillows and snacks in tow for the movie. I was tempted to stay.
But Miccy and I had never managed to actually go out together, so tonight was the night. On we moved to...Kingsland. Kingsland is the up-and-coming of the Auckland suburbs, and has had some great gastronomic additions added recently. One of these is Citizen Park, coincidentally where we had the Urbis Designday launch (before it was officially open), so where better to start the night?! We were already impressed upon entering the place as the bouncer randomly identified my perfume! Not sure if this is actually a good thing, since I was standing a good "personal space" distance from him, so really he shouldn't have been able to smell me...but anyway we got ourselves a beer and headed for the "Park", i.e. the courtyard decked out with traditional German beer benches. I felt right at home! We made some friends but had to move on and make ourselves on our merry way to Miccy's friend's flatwarming.
You should know that the Fräulein is not the greatest with technology, this blog is about as advanced as it gets. Reading directions from an iPhone = not so successful. Thankfully Miccy is a fabulous navigator and five minutes later we were at the flat. As we entered the party we did get a slightly "frosty" vibe from the other "flat warmers"/party members...We trawled through the crowd to find Miccy's friend, the host. To no avail. Finally we decided to ask where the host was hiding. Turns out this random was the host of this party...thanks to an error of technology, we had managed to turn up at the wrong address, and the wrong party. They would've been more than happy to have us stay, but we genuinely wanted to make it to the right party so on we navigated.
Thankfully it was just around the corner, and I made another friend...
Meet Nico the Chihuahua. I have really been craving a bit of animal love (not human animal...) lately, since Benny the bunny went to bunny heaven at New Years...Nothing quite like cuddling a creature, being able to tell it all your deepest secrets knowing someone, or rather something is listening but will never tell a soul. Even better it can't talk, and therefore won't judge. It will just sit and endure your love. Anyway...as soon as I took a seat (to have a break from the heels), Nico, the flat dog came out of nowhere and perched himself on my lap. So I indulged him.
The rest of the night was a blur of more new faces, and at a still reasonable hour Miccy dropped me back at a friend's house where, for a few hours I would snooze, before heading to the real part of Designday.
I won't post up our photos of the event, as quite frankly the Urbis site gives you a far better (professional) visual of the whole thing. Click here for the roundup.
To be honest, I find Designday quite overwhelming, but these were my personal highlights:
At the Mini-garage I finally figured out which Mini is best suited to me...
Like I said though, cruising from showroom to showroom (sans-mini) was quite exhausting, so much so that I needed to have a wee nap...
The last "showroom" was the one I had been looking forward to the most, back at...Silo Park. Yes we came full circle. Waterfront Auckland collaborated with Whitecliffe College of Arts & Design students using the interior of the silos as a gallery space. Afterward we coincidentally passed by a couple of young chaps offering tours to get to the top of the silos, for a gold coin donation. An opportunity we couldn't possibly pass up!
At Soul, we promptly scored a table on the terrace, which really is the only place one should sit at Soul, to make the most of the prime people watching position! And we weren't disappointed...plenty of crazys out there. The food was amazing, as always. Only our side of Creamed feta spinach w/ chopped almonds (which we always get) was over-salted on this occasion (chef must've been in love!), but as soon as we mentioned this it got taken off our bill no questions asked, no fuss.
Although our dinner was relatively early, it meant we also got to witness another stunning sunset...
This was the point at which I realised, Auckland, although you have crappy public transport, need better inner-city living options/apartments that young people can actually afford, and could do with some mountains nearby, overall you are pretty awesome, and I do kind of love you.
I will miss you Auckland, but I will be back. Promise.
Hope you had a splendid weekend also!
Yours truly,
Fräulein SoulFood x
I spent the good part of the weekend in Auckland. Friday afternoon the Fräulein got her hair done. Feeling in need of a bit of an overhaul, I decided rather than chopping off my locks, I would (for the first time in my life) get my hair bleached, or rather the ends, I wanted Ombre hair.
After two and a half hours at the hairdresser...I was finally done! Uff! Not even I love the hairdressers that much. In the end it didn't even end up looking as I imagined, but no matter...at least it was blonder, and not yellow or shades of orange.
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| What the 'do was supposed to look like... |
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| ...what it actually looks like. Ah well every bit more blonde will make me even more fun right?! |
The day started in the wee hours of Saturday morning (really Friday night) as my wonderful friend Miccy and I hit the town. We started the night at Auckland's Silo Park, where over summer there have been night markets, as well as free outdoor movies. Here we had dinner: Some tacos from a little food truck called Mexi Kai (kai means food in Maori so pretty clever name also!) followed by some churros. A rather South American feast!
 |
| The 'arts & crafts' part of the Silo Park night market from above. |
But Miccy and I had never managed to actually go out together, so tonight was the night. On we moved to...Kingsland. Kingsland is the up-and-coming of the Auckland suburbs, and has had some great gastronomic additions added recently. One of these is Citizen Park, coincidentally where we had the Urbis Designday launch (before it was officially open), so where better to start the night?! We were already impressed upon entering the place as the bouncer randomly identified my perfume! Not sure if this is actually a good thing, since I was standing a good "personal space" distance from him, so really he shouldn't have been able to smell me...but anyway we got ourselves a beer and headed for the "Park", i.e. the courtyard decked out with traditional German beer benches. I felt right at home! We made some friends but had to move on and make ourselves on our merry way to Miccy's friend's flatwarming.
You should know that the Fräulein is not the greatest with technology, this blog is about as advanced as it gets. Reading directions from an iPhone = not so successful. Thankfully Miccy is a fabulous navigator and five minutes later we were at the flat. As we entered the party we did get a slightly "frosty" vibe from the other "flat warmers"/party members...We trawled through the crowd to find Miccy's friend, the host. To no avail. Finally we decided to ask where the host was hiding. Turns out this random was the host of this party...thanks to an error of technology, we had managed to turn up at the wrong address, and the wrong party. They would've been more than happy to have us stay, but we genuinely wanted to make it to the right party so on we navigated.
Thankfully it was just around the corner, and I made another friend...
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| Nico & I |
The rest of the night was a blur of more new faces, and at a still reasonable hour Miccy dropped me back at a friend's house where, for a few hours I would snooze, before heading to the real part of Designday.
I won't post up our photos of the event, as quite frankly the Urbis site gives you a far better (professional) visual of the whole thing. Click here for the roundup.
To be honest, I find Designday quite overwhelming, but these were my personal highlights:
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| Naaw :( |
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| The "topless" Mini Roadster...I knew it all along. |
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| Just kidding! I was just resting my eyes... |
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| Art inside the silos. |
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| View from the top, 36m up (I think)! |
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| Even Mama, who is slightly scared of heights made it. |
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| Silhouette of Rangitoto volcano on the left. The silos were used to store cement that was used to build Auckland city. |
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| Plethora of boats in the Auckland, Waitemata Harbour. |
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| Auckland Harbour Bridge in the background, being blocked by the masts of my future toy... |
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| She's a beauty! Just need to find myself a sexy skipper... |
After such a long day, Mama and I were feeling rather peckish...Alright I was ravenous, as usual! So since it had been a special day, and the Fräulein is leaving the City of Sails soon...(more on this later)...we decided to finish by treating ourselves to dinner at Fräulein SoulFood's favourite restaurant in Auckland and so far, the world; Soul Bar & Bistro. We got there via Wynyard quarter, where we passed this little library, which being in the publishing industry, warmed the cockles of my heart.
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| This cutie's got the right idea. |
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| Entree: Goats' milk haloumi fritters w/ almonds, mint and honey $12.50 |
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| Squid ink pappardelle w/ marinated giant squid, prawns, scallops, chopped chill and lime $22.50 + Creamed feta spinach w/ chopped almonds $8 |
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| Wild mushroom tortellini w/chive foam around $20 (menu has since changed). |
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| Cheers Soul for another stellar dinner! |
This was the point at which I realised, Auckland, although you have crappy public transport, need better inner-city living options/apartments that young people can actually afford, and could do with some mountains nearby, overall you are pretty awesome, and I do kind of love you.
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| And off Mama and I walked into the sunset... |
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| Perfect end, to a perfect day. |
Hope you had a splendid weekend also!
Yours truly,
Fräulein SoulFood x
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