There She Goes…

Auckland will have special memories for me as my friend Esky lives here and showed me around on Saturday. I met Esky on my first solo international adventure in Thailand (she had to remind me because I honestly can’t place where I was in the world when I met her). Guess that’s what happens when you travel around the world…you forget how/where/when you meet people. When she saw that I would be in New Zealand, she messaged me on Facebook that if I ended up in Auckland, she would love to meet. I’m glad I did because she reminds me that there are so many cool people around. And even if you met once in a hostel in Bangkok amidst political unrest, you’re bound to connect on a level that is inexplicable.

She picked me up in her car and we drove to a New Zealand version of dim sum. I think she called it “yum cha.” I warned her I don’t knowingly eat weird things like chicken feet since all of my friends who go to dim sum regularly eat them. She laughed and told me they were “good.” Ok Esky, you do you. Hahaha. The place was quiet and most of the dishes were things we have in American dim sum. They even had sesame balls with red bean paste. That’s my favorite dish. And when they came around with beef stomach, she said, “let’s try it.” It looked like chewy honeycomb and I didn’t quite hear that it was beef stomach. I knew it was something I never had before but I decided I would just try it. I couldn’t even chew off a piece of it. Nope, not for me. But at least I tried it and I think Esky was impressed that I did. I think. She’s so cool that she bought lunch even after I protested that she was driving me around, she wouldn’t let me pay. Classy lady.

After a nice lunch, we went to One Tree Hill which is a lovely park and amazing views. And the smartest sheep that ever existed. They actually waited for cars to pass before crossing the road. I had never seen anything like it and I wanted to hug all of the sheep because they were so cute. But noisy. “Baaaaaaaaaa.”

Then Esky had to go to the grocery store and I was able to stock up on snacks for the 11-hour plane ride to South America I’m taking on Monday. When she dropped me back off at my hostel, she gave me a bottle of her favorite New Zealand wine! Told you, super classy. I told her she needs to visit me in San Diego because I will return all her kindness in full. I’m so grateful she spent the day with me and I will never forget that I got to see Auckland through her eyes.

Here’s Esky and I. Esky, if you’re reading this…THANK YOU!! P.S. THE WINE IS AMAZING 🙂