first week in auckland

my camera broke!! it sucks ass, so i can't show you any interesting sights yet. i haven't been doing that much touristy things anyway, since i like to take pictures of everything, so i will probably just get extremely frustrated not being able to do that. i brought it to the sony shop and received an estimate: 400 dollars!! that's almost two weeks worth of accommodation, so that really really pisses me off, especially since i had my camera in my bag the whole time, so i don't know what the hell happened to it. i'm desperately looking for a job now and so far i haven't been that successful. i wish things would be easier, but i should have just listened to my parents and studied something! i'm gonna have to step it up i guess.
i stayed at YHA the first three nights, on queens street in the middle of the centre. very good hostel, cleaner than i expected (jesus, there's a karaoke bar next to the internet place i'm at right now and this chinese dude is singing so loudly out of key, it's ridiculous!) but not that much to do. i switched to ACB also on queens street and it's more alive. there's a bar in the basement where there's a party every night, but so far i've only checked out the gay bars (already got kicked out of one, but that's just lesbian drama i won't bore you with). most are located on k road, right next to queens road, so it's about a ten minute walk. i have cool roommates, so that's good and we even have a fridge in the room. i must say that the meat here is incredibly tasty and cheap as well (three steaks for about 5 euros in the supermarket). there are a couple of very nice asian foodcourts around, so i can keep on eating singaporean style (noodles!!). i miss singapore alot, especially since my last weeks were so awesome and it was hard saying goodbye to jade and my dad. i must say that i've been a bit homesick lately, but that always happens in the beginning. i'm sometimes not in the mood to meet new people and have the same conversations over and over again (where are you from, how long are you staying here blablabla) i just hope i'll find a job soon to take my mind of things and to not worry about money anymore, even though i'll be fine for a while, but it feels good to know there's not just money going out, but also coming in...and it's comforting to know that my friends will be here soon!!
my camera will hopefully be fixed sometime next week, so i'll be showing you what this side of the world's like.

on the 'road'

i've just arrived in hong kong. it's uhm, almost noon and my plane to auckland leaves at 7pm. went online to check the exchange rates (duty free shopping woohoo) and discovered that 200 cigarettes cost 24 euros :O. it's very strange, but it hasn't hit me yet that i will be gone for a whole year. singapore turned out to be absolutely fantastic, despite some moments of utter frustration. i've met the coolest people the last few weeks and it kinda sucked to leave, but i'm really looking forward to see clare&mau again and to discover new things and meet new people. i wish i had something inspiring and meaningful to say about the past four months, but i guess i still have to wait for that 'looking back' moment and i'll probably find out how much this experience has changed me when i spend time again with the people who knew me before i left. i'm happy. i've left so much fears behind and i'm finally doing what feels right and i must say that this is the best feeling ever.
anyway, i'd planned to go into town and walk around a bit, but the weather looks like ass and i'm incredibly tired, so i'll just chill out at the airport. apparently there's a 4d cinema or something.
allright, so that's it for now, next time i'll be in new zealand :D