Thorndon National Library

Another library with an amazing café, comfy and spacious seating, wifi, and cool as all get out.

 

One of the interactive computer stations with Maori oral histories, art, and other cultural stuff

Quick Peek at the Bonatic Gardens

This place is huge, beautiful, interactive, free, and cold once the sun starts setting.  We got in about 90mins before it started getting too cold for me.  Its only about a mile from our place so I'm looking forward to doing some more exploring in the future.

Insulation: Ghetto Fabulous Style

Even with heavy drapes, we've been losing a lot of heat through the windows in our apartment since they aren't double-glazed.  Someone told Lucas that you can use saran wrap and place a layer over the window and secure it by using a hair blow dryer and heating it up.  This sounded like just an OK idea so I did a little research.  I found a website that suggested using bubble wrap instead.  The directions sounded easy enough so I gave it a try. 

It could be all in my head but I feel like we are retaining at least 50% more heat than we were before.  One thing I like a lot about this technique (besides being inexpensive and effective) is you don’t lose light from your windows. Light still comes through nicely and it gives a kind of 70's-80's look to the window.

What You'll Need:

• bubble wrap-large bubbles are best, but small bubbles will do fine
• a sponge or spray bottle filled with water.
• measuring tape and scissors

Directions:

• Cut the bubble wrap to the size of your windows.
• Lightly wipe or spray water onto the window.
• Press the bubble wrap on the wet window BUBBLE SIDE DOWN.
• Smooth bubble wrap over wet window. It should stick - I never had a problem
• If you find any spots are not sticking after the water dries (very unlikely), those areas can be secured with double sided tape or remoisten.  If you use too much water the bubble wrap will can start to slide off too.

Measure and cut the bubble wrap to the size of your window

 

after light spraying some water, place bubble warp on window bubble side down

 

smooth out bubble wrap and gentle press on to the window

 

Bam - insulated ghetto style windows!

Carnitas!!!

 

 

I've been having a hankering for Mexican food and fond memories of the carnitas served at friend's birthday party a month or so ago have been playing in my head.  This also gave me the chance to break out our new New Zealand slow cooker.  The left overs are amazing for sandwiches, little burrito bowls, or just plain munching.  We had to leave one key ingredient out: lime (we couldn't find any in the markets). While the carnitas still tasted good - the lime juice was surely missed.

 

Ingredients

3 pounds boneless pork shoulder or pork butt, cut into 2-inch cubes
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice (from about 2 to 3 limes)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Kosher salt, plus more to taste

Fixins'
Avocado slices, corn tortillas, chopped cilantro and onion, and anything else that sounds good.

Directions (per smitten kitchen)

• Place the pork in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot. Add the orange juice, lime juice, garlic, cumin, salt and enough water to just barely cover the meat.
• Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for two hours. Don’t touch the meat.
• After two hours, increase the heat to medium-high and while occasionally stirring and turning the pieces, continue to cook for about 45 minutes, or until all of the liquid has evaporated, leaving only the rendered pork fat. Let it sizzle in this fat long enough to brown at the edges, turning pieces gently (they’ll be eager to fall apart), only as needed.

Crock Pot:

• Add orange juice, lime juice, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper to the crock pot and mix together. 
• Add pork and add water until the meat is barely covered.
• Set to high and allow to cook for 4ish hours or low for 6-7 hours.
• Once cooked, remove from crock pot, shred and place in a heavy pan or wok.  Add the left over juices and fat from the crock pot to fry the shredded pork long enough for the edges to get a little crispy. 

When pork has browned on both sides, it’s ready. Adjust add any extra seasonings to taste and serve with tortillas with fixings

I used about 1/2cup of the leftover juices for cooking the rice - 1 cup of rice, 1ish cup of water, 1/2 cup of juices - yum!

sizzle!

left over juices and fat

A Country Without (or with very few) Mexicans

Wow - where are all my Latinos!?!  How could they not have made it to this side of the world yet?  I did not expect how much I would miss Hispanic food, culture, language, and just plain seeing Hispanic people (of any variation) on a day to day basis.  Its one of the many aspects that makes Wellington seem very foreign to me.

It really hits me hard in the markets.  To list a few: there are no tortillas, no dried beans of any kind (some places do have lentils though), no salsas (I like the mild ones), cinnamon does not come in sticks, no enchilada sauce (I also use canned sauce when I make enchiladas) and cilantro is called coriander.

I could have really used a fellow Mexican over the past 3 days.  When we moved into our new apartment the curtain was broken and a chair's screws were loose.  The manager said she would send  her handy man over to fix it.  Seems like two simple enough jobs, right?  I'm sad to say they weren't and my patience over a period of 3 days was tested to the max.  Basically the curtain and rod needed to be replaced and the chair's screws need to be tightened so it wouldn't be wobbly.

Now this is not a bad thing, just different, but I'm learning that New Zealanders aren't big on efficiency, like to talk things over, and discuss details...a lot.  My handy man Graham is no exception.  He began by coming over Wednesday at 8am to inspect the job.  He looked around and got all the information he needed and reviewed all the specific details with me about what he discovered during his inspection.  He wasn't ready to start the job just yet, he needed to talk it over with someone and he would come back in an hour with more information.  An hour later he returned - he gained no new information from the person he talked to but he felt better about the situation.  This was repeated Thursday morning from 8am - 1030am - he looked at everything, talked it over with me, made a mental list of the tools and supplies he might need, and left.  When he returned on Friday (at 8am) he came empty handed - no curtain rod, no tools, nothing!  He wanted one more look - granted he said he was nervous about a work situation his wife was dealing with but dang - get it together!  He left for 45 mins, returning with all his supplies and again wanting to review the procedure with me. Around 1115am I wanted to yell: listen handy man, we can't take a siesta or eat until the works done ok? Let get it done!  I finally took charge, became the pushy American  (in one of my many conversations with Graham, he relayed to me that New Zealanders don't like pushy Americans), and focused him on getting the work done.  What this situation needed was a Mexican - Me!  I got the tape measure, measured lengths and widths, made little marks with a pencil on the wall, put the hooks in the curtain, told him where to drill, and 30 mins later the curtain was hung.  By 1215pm Graham was off and I was finally able to take a shower.

I know this post is mostly me venting but to be fair, this whole ordeal took up three mornings of my week.  I know from the bottom of my heart, if this guy was a Mexican - he would have come in, done the job, and I would have made him something to eat - case closed. I guess what it really boils down to is I miss LA, a faster paced life, Latinos and all their glory.

The Culprit Window

The Former Curtain

Progress - Tools, Rod, and New Curtain Present



Reenacting How We Are Planning to Put the Curtain up (Again)



Curtain Hung!

24 Cottleville - A New Apartment

We did it! After 2 weeks of tirelessly searching, we found an apartment!  We are living a 5-10 min walk out of City Center and Kate Mansfield's house is just down the block.  It feels so good to finally be able unpack all the suitcases and rediscover all my things again.

Our first night in the apartment was rough!  We thought we could tough it out, put on a few layers, and save some money by not turning the heat on.  This plan of action would have worked great if had not been 30-33F outside, windy, and rainy. I was taken back to those cold nights on our road trip; balled up in a sleeping bag, freezing in a minivan in a Walmart parking lot somewhere.  By 2am, we hadn't slept well, our heads felt frozen, and I had the inklings of a sore throat - we caved in and turned on the heater and it was glorious.

Two days later, we've got heating the apartment down to a science.  We've also acquired some electric blankets that are probably straight from a unicorn fairyland nearby- they are that awesome.

The place is still a mess but here are a quick few pictures

Lounge

Dining and Kitchen Area

Bathroom - Organized!



2nd Bedroom Small but Perfect for Visitors



Clothes are Out of Plastic Bags and Yes, that's Special Blanket

My New Best Friend

Wellington Central Library

I spent sometime at the Wellington Central Library and loved it.  I foresee I'll be spending many hours hanging out here in the near future. This past Saturday they had an assortment of events and I even discovered the most amazing library cafeteria - it was quick, cheap, and delicious.  

Maori Dance Lesson

View from the 2nd Level Lounge

Library Cafeteria Lunch: BLT and Egg Panini and Tuna Pasta Salad

Entrance from Civic Square



Marionette Show! This Puppet Actually Painted a Picture!

 

Experiencing Windy Wellington

 

The worst storm in over 20 years hit Wellington this past weekend!  Winds reached 145kph-200kph that's about 90-100mph!! We spent minimal time outside but when we did venture out of our motel room, you could really feel the intensity of the wind and rain that pelted our faces.  Several of the highways and trains were closed during the weekend. I didn't take the above photos since I was hiding inside but got them from the local NZ news website.

We took this opportunity to get better acquainted with our new favorite (indoor) places, the Porirua McDonalds, and our local movie theater to watch World War Z (which was awesome). 

latte, free wifi, and a citrus slice

check out these roomy seats