A New Purchase orTwo

'Money going out' is a familiar expression in Singapore and so it has proven to be here in Auckland.

Today we purchased a new Volkswagen Polo 6 which arrives at the end of the month and capped it off with an option to purchase our new home; with a settlement date of September 6th.

We are very happy with both but somewhat poorer as a result.

Related articles by Zemanta

• "Volkswagen Polo is the World Car of the Year" and related posts (blogs.insideline.com)
• Volkswagen Polo Declared 2010 World Car Of The Year (inautonews.com)

Today's Print

NZ Mall in Winter

Day Three

Day three back in NZ and feeling rather jaded but satisfied with progress to date.  We have found rental accommodation at a reasonable weekly rate and we shift into the units on Friday.

It is in Bucklands Beach which as the name suggests is a beach suburb in South Auckland.  Not that we are likely to staying there for long as fortuitously we have also found some brand new two bedroom properties in a mews development which look most attractive and are in our price range.

We will decide on the morrow whether we wish to make the purchase or not.

At time of writing we are still existing in a small motel unit in Botany Downs trying to dry clothes with the heavy, wintry rains blowing outside.

Our next major purchase is a car and today we test drove a Peugot 207 but were not completely convinced. Tomorrow we hope to try out a Volkswagen Polo 6 if one is available.

Umbrellas and Fleece

An umbrella, some warm fleece trousers and a 2,400 watt heater were the first three items we purchased upon touch down in New Zealand today.

The temperature in Auckland as I type is a wet and blustery 11 degrees with promise that the mercury will drop still further.  Oh for the warmth of my 'adopted city' Singapore.

We had an inauspicious start at the Avis counter at Auckland airport when a rather bombastic Indian manager refused to release our pre-booked vehicle to us as we did not have a credit card.

The fact that Avis had accepted our booking and reconfirmed it with out needing credit card numbers cut no ice with him.  Our plan was to pay cash for the rental in advance, as other companies are quite willing to accept this transaction process.

The reason we do not have credit cards at the moment is that we cleared our accounts and cut up our Singapore cards before we left and it will not be until tomorrow when we visit our local bank that we can arrange for an NZ Visa card.

Finally in desperation we rang a friend and got them to provide their credit card details to Avis; only then could we take the car and make our way tot eh Botany Motor Inn in Dannemora, South Auckland where we are no domiciled.

Another friend paid a us lightening visit to welcome us and left us two packets of nuts to much upon.  A good choice of vittles!

Tonight's supper will be a fresh NZ Camembert cheese, pumpkin soup and soy and linseed toast.  I shall be resplendent in my Chinese fleece pajamas that I bought in Singapore's Chinatown.  This is the first time that in nearly forty years that I have worn trousers with fly buttons and my manual dexterity is not what it once was!

The remaining challenges include finding a place to live, buying a car and coming to grips with the difference in time zones.

Last Meals

Changi airport  is humming with the replays of the World Cup as I write. Various males are reclining in a variety of postures and a mock grandstand has been set up to add to the ambience.

I am feeling somewhat like a condemned man after having eaten a last meal of chicken rice at the Killeney Kopitiam on the third floor of Terminal Three.

My wife complained of a chilly right foot and we belatedly discovered that the sole of one of her sand shoes had detached from the upper.  Such are the unplanned joys of travel.

Our flight departs at 9:10 pm and ten hours later we will reach Auckland.

I shall miss Changi which has become almost a home away from home this past year as I travel back and forth throughout Asia.  It is undoubtedly the finest airport in the world.

We are feeling quite pleased with ourselves as the combined weight of our luggage did not exceed the prescribed limit of 50 kilos.

Makeshift Showers And Rain For Hours

It is perhaps fitting that our last ramble along Orchard Road should culminate with a food fair; not an unusual occurrence in Singapore.

We navigated our way under the eaves of available buildings as the rain was both long and heavy. With one small umbrella between us we had to wait on the porch of Lucky Plaza until the rain eased.

Watching the lengthy taxi queue snake its way along Orchard road was entertainment in itself.

The weather has been quite unseasonal. June and July are usually hot months but this year they have been very wet and the trend continues.

This rain must be playing havoc with the showering arrangements of foreign workers in Mandai who, according to the Electric New Paper, have been living in shipping containers and using "makeshift showers created out of water tanks and pipes which snaked along the length of the canal"

Our mission late morning took us to Takashimaya's centre court where row after row of earnest sales staff cajoled us to try abalone macadamia, D24 durian ice-cream and other challenging delights.  For the record the ice-cream was delicious.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Singapore Warns of Heavy Rain a Week After Orchard Flash Flood (businessweek.com)

Signs We Like To See

Let's hear it for a local council in Harwich, England, with a sense of humour.

Eye In The Sky

Image via Wikipedia

News today that the ERP gantries will soon be made obsolete by the introduction of satellite technology. 

This may or may not be good news to the many Singaporean motorists who indulge in the national sport of finding side roads to skirt the gantries, thereby saving on the road usage tax that these structures trigger.

The proposed system uses GPS to accurately locate a vehicle and the charges can commence when the ignition key is switched on and/or the vehicle moves into a controlled space.

In Germany trucks can be accurately levied  based on the distance they travel so perhaps the Singapore government are considering something similar?  Their principal concern remains traffic congestion which is only going to get worse in the future.