“Welcome to Dunedin!” This is what I always heard in this new-for-me town (I do not consider Dunedin as a city). After eleven hours of flight from Malaysia to Auckland followed by transit to Dunedin, finally I arrived in this extremely “peaceful” and quiet town.

Here is a picture I took about 10.30 pm (New Zealand time), lets see how much it differs from Kuala Lumpur. As this night view was taken using my handset, so please do not expect every details.

Picture shows St David Street just outside my window, which leads to the lecture theatre that I am going to spend most of time in. Excluding the cars that parked at the roadside, you can basically see nothing but flashing traffic lights and street lights! However, this does not mean there is no nightlife in this serene town. There are a few bars, which one of my flatmates love to linger the whole night, that open after working hours. For your information, 98 % of shops in Dunedin close at 5pm during weekdays, and another 60% will keep their door shuts during weekends. From this, arise another problem for me. My lecture ends at 5pm, and so do working hours. If I need to do some shopping, definitely I cannot do it after my lecture, even though the stores are opened until 10pm. How can I walk with my groceries along the cold and quiet street?

I arrived here at 17th February, then my life officially started at 18th. So far, everything should be fine, except the temperature is far lower than I expected. It is summer, man! I really need to wear sweater indoor, and I need to wear more to walk outside, so ironic. I really cannot imagine how am I going to bear the winter. The funniest thing is, I can walked a few kilometres with my friends, bringing a lot of groceries, without any sweat. If I do the same thing in Malaysia, most probably you can see me in the hospital dehydrated. Suddenly I feel kind of miss hot sun, ha3!

Since the second day I settled in Toroa International House, we did a lot shopping for “life” and ran number of errands for academic purposes. We need to buy a lot, for we cannot fit everything in the 25 kilograms luggage all the way from Malaysia. Basically, tired is still bearable, however the most frustrating event happened when I enrol for my courses. I went to university twice, but ended up “Your name is not in our database/ system”. Damn! I flew so far, and JPA sponsoring me, you tell me I am a “ghost”! Thanks God, there are another two friends with the same problem, so we registered again. The weird thing is, there is record in the system about the arrival of registration forms from Malaysia, but how come three forms went missing? Oh yeah, forgot to describe my Toroa house. I am staying in a house (called flat here), which is a double story “bungalow”.

Optic illusion! Which way is up? Ha3, I was standing at the top of the stairs, where this picture was taken downward. This is the hallway to the kitchen and living room. My bedroom is at the side of this stairs.

Notice board in my bedroom. Do you notice Malaysian flag? Hope JPA’s official may see this.

My bed. First time in my life that I need a (maybe more) blanket. There is another blanket under my pillow (the pillow is too low for my smart head, ha3). I still cannot buy a bolster, because it is not sold anywhere (why ha)! I never close the curtains completely, as I hope the sun may wake me.

Few clothes ha… Another Malaysian flag, ha3!

Some of my textbooks. Damn heavy, how am I going to bring them to lecture theatre! I have no need to go to gym, as I can do weight-lifting in my own room.

All right, twelve o’clock now. I have to wake up early tomorrow morning (my lecture starts at eight). Please visit here frequently, as there are many details I have not write about. Wish me luck!