A throwback to June, it was fasting month (Ramadhan), and winter season. I am not really a fan of travelling during winter nor Ramadhan. But I was daring enough to have it try travelling during those times. I thought, “why not?” One month later, I packed my bags and ready to enjoy my winter wonderland trip. I planned to explore South Island for...

After drove around one hour and a half, we reached the lodge. We stayed in Travers-Sabine Lodge for one night. It is really close to the lake, only around 5-10 minutes walks. We  were really tired when we got there, we missed the lodge and keep driving. It was so dark and we tired, we didn't catch the lodge sign on the left, and suddenly...

This is still the same road trip as the previous post. Actually, I was thinking to put the title as "Road Trip to the South of the North feat. the North of the South". Then, I realized, it is too long. So, I make it short into the current title.  We arrived in South Island in the super early morning. The car that...

On the third day, we drove to the capital city of New Zealand, Wellington. We were going to return the car to the rental, meet another friend (which later became my boyfriend), and take the earliest ferry to South Island.  Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand, but I feel it less crowded than Auckland. Indeed, there are a lot of shops,...

The highlight of this road trip was to visit Tongariro Alpine Crossing, Tongariro National Park. It is the oldest national park in New Zealand. It was my first time ever climbing up the real mountain in New Zealand. The plan is to go up to Emerald Lakes from Mangatepopo Hut. According to the website, it takes around 6 hours from Mangatepopo Hut to...

In the beginning of the month April 2015:  Got pointed as the International Student Ambassador for Auckland (the story about it can be found here) Lost in direction for my research, didn't know what to do and how to do it Super duper tired struggling between research and part time job Need a vacation but don't have that much money In the middle...

It's been couple months from the last time I post. A lot of things happen from May until today in December: I extended my study I supposed to finish my study on July. Yet, I couldn't finish it on time. Doing research in a foreign country with no background at all in the field is indeed not an easy thing to do. It was really...