Friday, November 26, 2010

7 days to go: living in auckland 101

i've learned countless things since the first day i landed in new zealand.
living in new zealand has taught me:
1. how to use credit card . despite all the bad stuffs a credit card can offer, it does play quite an important role in my life
a. i can buy stuffs online. new zealand fashion sucks. yup especially for men. i didn't have much choice in  the first few months living in new zealand. i could only buy esprit and cotton on. i buy esprit because only this brand has XS size, and cotton on because they have cheap and comfortable clothes! i've never been to any cotton on store in malaysia before i flew to auckland, maybe because it was still new few years ago and i've never heard about it. or i wasn't in malaysia until i flew to auckland. in new zealand you can get cotton on t-shirt as cheap as $5 (sometime less) which is around RM11. that is cehap! just last week i bought a shirt for only $10 and it's actual price was $40!

so when i heard that topman ships to new zealand, i guess i was among the first who bought their stuffs from new zealand, and my life has changed drastically cince then. when i was in malaysia, i didn't buy topman stuffs beacuse of the insane prices. why should i spend RM60 just for a plain-thin-t-shirt when i can get three t-shirts from PDI. i could still remember that i spent around $100 for six items which i should pay around RM1000 if i bought them in malaysia. most of the stuffs i bought were sale items. i only buy undiscounted items if i like them so much and has the ability to lead me to go insane if i don't click 'ADD TO SHOPPING BAG'. if i really like some items but i don't think i really need them, i'll buy them in the next few months. living in new zealand, we are two seasons behind (technically we live in the future because of the time differece whatsoever), now it's winter in europe and summer in new zealand. so the probability to get summer clothing at a very low price is very high because big brands like topman has to clear up their collection to give way to new items, which are winter clothing). so this is a good time to buy cheap clothes. for instance, last few months when topman held their clearance sale, i bought a bag for £5 which was actually £40. and a scarf for £1 whch was actually £10. so how much did i save? do the math yourself! technically i don't really spend big, but i buy quite a number of stuffs at one time when they are insanely cheap. this is probably the thing i'll miss the most. to date topman UK doesn't ship their stuffs to malaysia, so i have to find new alternative to get cheap clothes lol.

b. you have to have a credit card to book flight tickets

c. when the allowance comes in very late, credit card can be your savior

2. how to speak english confidently. what is living overseas if you can't speak the language right? big shame. speed is very important when you speak. if you sepak too slowly, people may get quite annoyed, but if you speak too quickly, that is more annoying. when i speak to the locals, i often have to adjust myself so that i don't speak too slowly. mumbling is okay because they mumble too. saying 'yeah' or 'yup' to respond is acceptable when you do not know what to say. it is fun to speak english to the locals.

3. how to make phone calls. working as a part time photographer, requires me to make a lot of phone calls to confirm the bookings and to get jobs. so it is important not to get very nervous and be very confident. try to be clear with what you want to say on the phone.

to be continued...(when i feel like writing Photobucket)



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