the photo series:
sober in the beginning.
“lipton ice tea” aka our vodka & wine punch.
my sister and her boyfriend.
such a stunning day!
VIP pass… woo!
with the Jager moose.
with the cute cop.
the lipton tower… fail!
Tags: photo series
March 8, 2010
0
scorching, sunny, Sunday summer series
By Bronnie in Daily, Events, photography (0) (2) (0)
March 5, 2010
3
You can dunk anything in chocolate.
By Bronnie in Daily
Fondue night is now my new favourite way to catch up with my girlfriends. It’s easier and way more fun than going out for dinner. We dunked everything in chocolate, including salami and cheese, while sipping wine and catching up on everyone’s gossip. Of course all topics of conversation were serious ones, like; men, sex and how working full time sucks.
Sarina, me, Eileen & Toni
I’m sure we will have another fondue night in the very near future!
Yes, my break from blogging was short lived. Not that this is a very lengthy or informative entry – baby steps.
Tags: fondue
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February 25, 2010
0
Lost the will to blog lately?
By Bronnie in DailyWhy yes I have. I have lost the buzz.
It’s not as if I have nothing to blog, it’s been super busy since I got home. But yeah, something is not exciting me right now about blogging. Hopefully the excitement returns soon.
Stay sassy, stalkers!
Tags: taking a break
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February 18, 2010
0
The love life status:
By Bronnie in Daily, love lifeShe’s pretty dormant right now. Sure I had fun and flings overseas, but back here in NZ there are no potentials for moi. To be 
honest I am not worried, I had some good (but not great…) news regarding Mr Christchurch (aka my 10/10) and Mr Navy has definitely nailed his coffin.
So first up the negative. I received a few messages via facebook from Mr Navy while I was away; just asking about my trip, if I was having fun, if I had run out of money… that sort of thing. Kind of flirty, but nothing to lead on that he missed me or was going to do anything when I returned. Which is how it turned out. I’ve been back a week tomorrow and haven’t heard from him, no phone call, no text, no facebook, nada! So that’s easy, right? Now removed from facebook, removed from my thoughts (except to write this entry).
If he does contact me at all for any reason I have been advised by two males friends and my male boss to ignore and not respond or reply. Done. I can do that. It’s time to move on.
In more positive news, I saw Mr Christchurch’s brother on Tuesday night at pub quiz, where he informed me that his brother is now single and does in fact really like me and would like to date me (his words…). So what’s stopping him you ask? The fact that he lives at the opposite end of the country to me. I do understand that. Long distance has never proved to be the easiest form of a relationship and really there’s no rush. Hopefully he comes up for a few visits and then moves here as soon as he possibly can. But hey, it’s always nice to know the feelings are mutual!
So right now I’m over the love life issues. I’m not looking and don’t have any potentials lined up. If Mr Christchurch moved up it would be a whole different story, of course. It has made me realise though; if I can find someone who is my 10/10 and returns the feelings I have, I am definitely not settling for anything less. We shall see what 2010 holds for the life of the girl dubbed the New Zealand Ms Bridget Jones.
Tags: love life, man business, the navy engineer, the traveller
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February 13, 2010
1
Cambodia; to day 37 and Vietnam; to day 46
By Bronnie in Daily, TravelThis is it, the last entry of the trip, it could be a slightly long one – so please prepare yourself with a chilled glass of your favourite beverage, preferably alcohol-based, to help you through. Thank you!
Day 32 – Thursday 28 January
- My Mum’s birthday! So hopped online to send her my best wishes.
- Went to Otres Beach for the day – magical!
- Jacques got a massage on the beach, says he didn’t get turned on… haha sure sure!
- Caught up with Rhys & Jeff and ate bugs; black beetles, crickets and ants. Eww
- Met Crazy Steve while playing pool in a bar; he must have been on something, at one point he was trying to scratch his skin off, then there was something wrong with his foot… we were all a tad nervous, the whole bar was watching him! AT one point one of the guys hit the white ball off the table, so we all made a mad dash for it to the next bar.
- Went to a bar on the beach, Bar Nap.
- Had a hot chat with Rhys on the beach, nothing happened – he had a girl back home he was keen on. Nice to meet a nice guy!
- Jacques hooked up with a few girls, but no goal. Even hot guys worry about this stuff. Don’t you worry!
Day 33 – Friday 29 January
- Running on very little sleep…
- Woken up at 6am for a fishing (ha, what a joke!) and snorkelling trip with Rhys and Jeff
- Dry, solid bread for breakfast
- Met some new fun couples, an Irish couple and Steph and Darryl
- Eavesdropped on a skinny, runt-like guy “This is the face that gets everything” he says as he rotates his finger around his own face while sitting onboard the boat in his revolting underwear. He wasn’t even hot to be saying that shit!
- Changed to hotels to one on the beach at Otres Beach – The Greenhouse. Came home from dinner, all getting ready for bed when we saw a rat run through the middle of the room… haha, oh such fun!
- BBQ prawns for dinner. Delish!
Snorkelling trip
Day 34 – Saturday 30 January
- Woke up on the beach front, palatial!
- Spent the day on the loungers getting a tan.
- More seafood for dinner, on the beach with cocktails.
- Left on an overnight bus at 6.30pm for Phnom Penh.
Day 35 – Sunday 31 January
- Arrived in Phnom Penh at 1am
- Bumped into Ed, Fritz and the rest who showed us where they were staying at the #11 Happy Guesthouse, thankfully we managed to get a room there too!
- Jacques went out drinking with them “for one drink” and came home at 4am, lol.
- The guesthouse was gorgeous, it had decks stretching out over the river.
- That day we headed out to the killing fields – we could see bones and clothing surfacing still from the mass graves. They weren’t even fenced off! It was pretty spooky.
- We also visited S21, the school that was turned into a prison and interrogation place – very heartwrenching to see. I couldn’t even make it through the whole thing.
- We were a bit depressed after that one, so stayed at the guesthouse and had a few drinks, trying to improve the mood.
- Tried an Amok curry – traditional Cambodian dish – so amazing! best curry I have ever had.
- Stayed in and played cards with another group of travellers.
Day 36 – Monday 1 February
- Had a chill day at the guesthouse, I read my book on the deck, Toni talked to her boyfriend online.
- Met Kristian from Denmark, gorgeous looking man!
- Had a few drinks in the afternoon and played pool with Toni, Jacques and Matilda (from the UK)
- Had drinks at the guesthouse and went out clubbing with a crowd of about 10 and ended up back in Kristian’s room.
Day 37 – Tuesday 2 February
- Caught the bus to Vietnam
- Standing inline at immigration when someone calls out my full name – scared the shit out of me! Then I realised they had our passports so were calling us up one at a time.
- Got hit on by a Vietnamese immigration office; “you’re beautiful“
- Saw some crazies on our bus trip, usually you just have foreigners/travellers on the bus, this time we had locals. One woman kept perving at Toni’s toes. Another one kept spitting some red (it looked like bits of her gums) into a plastic bag, or the floor if she didn’t have time to grab the bag. And the couple behind us got really angry when we reclined our chairs. One lady was very dressed up for the bus trip, but once we hit the bus ferry, we realised it was probably her big outing for the week!
- Arrived in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) city that evening
cute blue building
Day 38 – Wednesday 3 February
- Visited the Cu Chi Tunnels, amazing! They lived in those for just over 20 years! They’re tiny, I felt sick after walking through 100metres of them!
- Jacques bought some sandals for US$2 made from old tyres. Haha
- Met the most annoying 40yr old man from Sweden, he continued to tag along after this…
- Enjoyed the most beautiful guesthouse room we’d had on the whole trip! No hot water in the whole of Cambodia, but this room had super comfy beds and awesome TV channels!
- Hunted for two hours for damn box for Jacques to put his painting in! No-one understood what we were asking for.
Jacques' too big for the Vietnam tunnels... Cu Chi Tunnels
Day 39 – Thursday 4 February
- Left Ho Chi Minh on an overnight bus (yeah, how many bus trips in total now?! my God!) to Nah Trang
- Had a chill day before we left
- Toni wasn’t feeling 100%
Nah Trang beach
Day 40 – Friday 5 February
- Arrived in Nah Trang at 6am, found a guesthouse and had a sleep
- Hit the beach in the afternoon
- I wasn’t feeling 100%
Day 41 – Saturday 6 February
- Another boat trip; snorkelling, floating bar, a performance from Vietnam’s best boy band
- Met a group of poms (English people) on the trip and then bumped into them while out clubbing that night.
- Big night! I had some fun with one of the English guys, didn’t do everything, but Jacques is now travelling with them and he has apparently told a different story… ass!
- Met a Dutch guy, nicknamed the Dutch Rudder – haha the dude was weird. Kinda big and gumpy. He was sooo wasted that night, we all tried to stay clear.
the floating bar, so much fun!
Day 42 – Sunday 7 February
- Jacques left Toni and I in Nah Trang as he headed off for his extended 3 weeks of travel further north.
- Toni and I spent the day at the beach, determined to come home with a tan!
Day 43 – Monday 8 February
- Another day on the beach building the tan
- Toni and I treated ourselves to cheese and crackers (a serious favourite back home) and then to pizza in our room with a DVD that we had bought from Thailand to watch. It was heaven I tell you!
Day 44 – Tuesday 9 February
- Whole day spent on the bus from Nah Trang to Ho Chi Minh city. It took 11 hours!!
- Caught the slowest taxi in the history of Southeast Asia to get us to the airport for an international flight that was leaving in an hour! The dude laughed at us, which of course made us angrier. Amazingly enough, he got us there in record time! We were worried he didn’t understand the word “airport”, so did plane signals and everything for us, he must have thought we were right retards.
- We arrived in Bangkok at 12am, were far too tired to look for a good hotel, and ended up spending NZ$40 for one night. Complete feckin’ rip off. But we were in the most expensive part of the city. Grr
- By now, Toni and I are ready for home.
Day 45 – Wednesday 10 February
- We find a cheaper hotel in the morning run by an Indian family, so switch to lower our costs. The beds were terrible though. A plank of wood and a 5cm thick mattress. Hell.
- To make ourselves feel better we indulge in a lavish day of foot massages, body massages and pedicures. The body massage was a tad erotic, not what we were expecting. I move the curtain aside at one point to talk to Toni, to see her masseuse massaging her breasts! Hahaha seriously…
- Leave the beauty place feeling amazing, all oiled up and looking tan!
- We have a real Indian curry at our guesthouse, so yummy, then settle in our room and watch a couple of movies and chill out.
Day 46 – Thursday 11 February
- Travel home day!!! YAY
- Sleep in until 9am, pack up all our bags and get to the airport by 12pm. On the plane by 2pm and we’re heading home. Have a two hour stop in Brunei, and then straight home to Auckland.
- So relieved to get off the plane and see my mum and sister.
Overall there were good and bad days, but seriously, this trip was the most amazing thing I have done in my life. I loved it. Meeting all the other travellers was by far a highlight. I can not wait to travel again. I definitely have the travel bug.
Tags: cambodia, got the travel bug, vietnam
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February 9, 2010
0
Thailand; to day 26 & Cambodia; to day 31
By Bronnie in TravelDay 22 – Monday 18 January
- Left Chiang Mai for Bangkok – heading back to organise our visa’s for Cambodia
- woke up at 11am, pretty chilled day before catching an overnight bus
Day 23 – Tuesday 19 January
- Sleep in to recover from lack of sleep on the overnight bus
- Into Bangkok central city to organise Cambodian visa’s with a funny, chunky, gay Thai man in a tight, pink t-shirt.
- Went to the Night Bazaar, had dinner and looked around the markets
- Had an awesome taxi driver who played us songs in English from his laptop and proceeded to sing and dance along with us.
- Toni finally found her Chloe handbag again! Success!! YUS!
Day 24 – Wednesday 20 January
- Visited the Grand Palace and temples – longest, hottest day ever!
- Went shopping at the Night Bazaar again and bought four handbags! Most amazing shopping night.
Grand Palace & Temples in Bangkok
Day 25 – Thursday 21 January
- Our visa’s turned up, we were nervous they wouldn’t
- Toni and I went on a river ride through Bangkok – very heartbreaking to see.
- Mega western fail – ate Burger King for dinner – but seriously, there is only so much Asian food you can stomach before you’re over it!
Day 26 – Friday 22 January
- Took a bus from Bangkok to the Cambodia border. Pretty scary! Already Cambodia looked much poorer.
- Toni got hit on by a little 12 year old (looking, not sure on his age really) Cambodian boy who was pretending to be our bus driver for the second leg of the trip. He was smitten.
- Another bus to Siem Reap. Yes sick of buses.
- Met Savi, who became our awesome chauffeur for a couple of days.
- Hit Pub Street and danced and drank the night away with Nick and Josie. Met the pilot and skinny – Australians. Love triangle. Dear Lord.
Cambodia
Day 27 – Saturday 23 January
- Toni and I ate Cambodian BBQ – snake, crocodile, beef, chicken and squid. All amazingly delicious.
- Toni attracts another Cambodian man, Mr tall and lanky.. hehe
- We watched Ms Tight & Bright strutting up and down the road most of the night. Couldn’t work out if she was a prostitute or a pimp. Cambodian woman in her late 30s, hit on every European man over 30. Haha
- Visited Ankor Thom and Bayon temples during the day. Exhausting, the heat was so intense! But they were stunning to see.
- Watched the sunset from the top of a temple.
Jacques and the Bayon temple
Day 28 – Sunday 24 January
- Had a chill day. Caught up on uploading photos, blogging, emailing etc
- Had a big night out on Pub Street again. Drank a tower of Ankor beer at a bar called Ankor What? with Toni and Jacques.
- Met a crowd of UK, American and Swedish people. Drank buckets of vodka and red bull all night. Home by 4am.
Day 29 – Monday 25 February
- After getting home at 4am, we were woken by Jacques (who hadn’t slept) at 5am to go see sunrise over Ankor Wat. Yeah so not in the mood…
- We all felt like shit, so only managed a half day of temple browsing.
- Back to the hotel by 11am for a nap.
- Jacques and I decided we could handle another night out. Met up with some crazy Australians, one of whom decided it would be a good idea to swallow a whole bottle of chilli sauce, he then swallowed a bottle of milk. Idiot, but funny.
cute Cambodian kiddies that I fell in love with.
Day 30 – Tuesday 26 January
- A chill out day, well needed.
- Took yet another overnight bus to Sihanoukville – my favourite place! Lots of stunning beaches.
- Toni and I complained of being stuck in the back seats of the bus (which didn’t recline – overnight?!!? come on!!), so we got moved. Yus! Sometimes bitching works.
- Met Rhys and Jeff, two crazy guys from Australia – lots of fun.
Day 31 – Wednesday 27 January
- Staying in the Apsaea Guesthouse, the crazy grandma kept talking to us – of course we understood nothing!
- Hit the beach and tanned…
- Ate Cambodian lobster on the beach – YUM
- A huge seafood platter for dinner, with an Australian wine – first glass of wine in 31 DAYS!!!
- Saw the pilot and skinny again, walking down the street, I didn’t recognise them at first so we all just called out feeble hello’s. So lame. But it’s all too tricky, what with the love triangle and all.
beach in Sihanoukville
Tags: cambodia, got the travel bug, love triangle, photography, thailand
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January 26, 2010
2
Thailand; to day 21
By Bronnie in Daily, TravelWow! Week three has already been and gone… insane!
Day 15 – Mon 11 January
- So finishing off with the Frenchman, I got back to my hotel (from his) at 2pm.
- Of course all my friends were worried about me as I probably should have been home earlier – but I was having fun.
- Ate a horrible garlic chicken meal – WAY too much garlic. I am a fan of garlic, but geeez this made me feel ill!
- Shane & Dale headed to Bangkok
- We all had a much needed early night.
Day 16 – Tues 12 January
- 6.45am awake and driven by a man taxi driver at 140km/hr to the Puket airport.
- Two hour flight to Chiang Mai
- Found a gorgeous little hostel called the Chiang Mai White House – definitely recommend!!
Day 17 – Wed 13 January
- A chilled day of shopping in Chiang Mai – was very disappointed at the lack of awesome stuff to buy. All seemed to be crafts and crap you really don’t need. I want designer bags & sunglasses!!
- Was not feeling well in the afternoon and ended up sleeping all arvo.
Day 18 – Thurs 14 January
- Visited Tiger Kingdom – freakin’ amazing!! Played with some 6 month old cubs and some huge adult ones.
- We got a flat tyre on our tuk tuk on the way home and had to pull over on the big highway in the intense heat.
- Still not feeling 100% well, more rest time.
Day 19 – Fri 15 January
- Baan Thai cooking class – absolutely awesome! we got to take home the recipe books, learnt how to make curry paste and everything from scratch! can’t wait to cook more when I’m home!
chicken and coconut milk soup
- We went out for a few drinks at a local bar, met some South Africans and Americans.
- Decided to head to Spicy Bar, met a cute British boy – Jimmy – ended up going home with him *blush*
Day 20 – Sat 16 January
- A R&R day. It was needed!
- Also a touch of shopping, bought a beautiful gold, silver & “diamond” Rolex *cough* watch that some days gains time and other days loses it… it’s still pretty though!
Day 21 – Sun 17 January
- Went white water rafting
- Elephant riding
- Trekking two hours to a waterfall
- Bamboo rafting
- Another night out on the town, where I met a Canadian guy. Yes went home with him too.
Please note I don’t normally sleep around like this. But it’s a few holiday flings. And now my guy friend Jacques has decided we need to make a game/competition of it. It’s the country challenge. So one point for each new country and half a point for a double up. I am winning 3-0.
Tags: got the travel bug, man business, thailand
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January 16, 2010
2
Thailand; to day 14
By Bronnie in Daily, TravelIt seems to all be flying by now and is tricky to squeeze in blogging time, but here we go…
Day 8 – Mon 4th January
- a complete beach day where I got badly burnt on my lower back (I have now peeled…)
- a spot of street shopping in Ao Nang – I got some Ray Bans for NZ$8!
Night shopping
Day 9 – Tues 15 January
- a day trip to James Bond Island
- visited a floating village
- fed a baby monkey
- was blessed by a Bhuddhist monk
- took a ride on a longtail boat
- cocktails at the reggae bar, saw my friend Toni have an intense Climax (a cocktail you dirty people…)
- ate peanut butter sandwiches for dinner – oh my God they have never tasted so good!!!
the travelling group at James Bond island
Day 10 – Wed 6 January
- a day trip to Phi Phi islands
- snorkelling at Lohsamah Bay and Maya Bay
- visited “the beach” from The Beach – way too many tourists!
- went to Viking cave
- had lunch on Phi Phi Don
- went swimming at Bamboo Island
"the beach", looking out
Day 11 – Thurs 4 January
- a 7am ferry to Phuket
- made some new friends; Matt and Jenny (Australian) – took a taxi with them to their amazingly flash hotel, couldn’t afford to stay there so moved on to the Little Bhudda Guesthouse
- Shane and Dale visited from Kata for dinner
- Went to the Aussie Bar to catch up with Matt and Jenny, made another set of new friends; Dave and Bonnie (also Australian)
- headed out clubbing at the Banana Club – clubbing in Phuket is awesome!
- my friend Jacques got hit on by Matt all night… hehehe
at the Aussie bar with Matt & Jenny
Day 12 – Fri 8 January
- spent a day on Patong beach, hounded constantly to pay 100B for a chair and umbrella – kept refusing
- came to the conclusion that Phuket is way too touristy!
- Went to the Fanta Sea show – amazing! It was like Disneyland!
- sadly Patong beach isn’t as blue or clear as Koh Phangan
Day 13 – Sat 9 January
- Treated myself to a NZ$7 pedicure
- lay on the beach
- Headed out to the Aussie Bar for some more socialising – bumped into my New Years kiss man. Dear Lord. Didn’t really talk. haha
- Held an iguana, Jacques held a massive one!
- Home by 3.30am
Iguanas!
Day 14 – Sun 10 January
- Scored a free umbrella at the beach
- Ping Pong show – verrrrry interesting! haha
- Went to a Foam Party, my first ever – it was brilliant fun!
- Went home with a Frenchman, a chef from Paris. First fling of the holiday, very hot.
Tags: got the travel bug, thailand
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January 7, 2010
2
Thailand; to day 7
By Bronnie in Daily, Travel, photographyI know!! How ridiculously slack have I been?! It’s just been so busy and there really hasn’t been time to blog (I mean drinking cocktails, snorkelling and swimming and tanning at the beach totally beat writing a blog entry). So I have come to the conclusion that writing an entry a week in bullet form with a photo of the day (taken from facebook, so sadly not amazing quality) is the best idea. Here we go; week one…
Day 1 – Mon 28th Dec:
- we were supposed to leave Auckland, NZ at 5am but ended up getting delayed to 10am – not a great start
- in-flight entertainment didn’t work – thanks Royal Brunei!
- funny moment of the day – Toni, wearing her tights and a singlet, got asked by one of the cabin crew if she was a marathon runner – hehe!
- 10 hour flight to Brunei, then a 3 hour flight to Bangkok. arrived safe and sound, but exhausted and ready to pass out in the heat.
- Toni and I failed when we didn’t fill in the arriving AND departing slip… back of the line… grr!
- when we asked about visa’s for Thailand a cute chorus of older Thai officials asked “American?” “No, New Zealand” we replied. “No visa, no visa!” they exclaimed very excitedly, waving their hands at the same time.
Bangkok airport
Day 2 – Tues 29th Dec
- False start at 11pm! We got to bed at 9pm, were woken at 11pm by Toni’s alarm which should have been for 5am, but she’d forgotten to change from NZ to Thailand time. My god. we were all up, showered and ready to go… back to bed…
- shared a NZ$1 phad thai at 5.30am on the street (Kohsan Rd) with the leftover prostitutes, homeless and street cleaners. Bangkok is insane!
- looking out the window on the bus driving down the highway – see a body under a sheet and blood & guts sprayed everywhere.
- after 9 hours on the bus we get a quick ferry trip to the island of Koh Phangan, our New Years spot.
- a plunge in the pool, cocktails poolside, dinner at the local food market.
Phad Thai at 5.30am on Kohsan Rd
Day 3 – Wed 30th Dec
- exhausted from all the non-stop travel, so spend a day by the pool and at the beach of our resort. B52 Beach Resort. stunning!
- met a couple of cute UK boys at our resort.
- had an amazing Mexican dinner – Tequila lime shrimp – delicious & hot!!
- headed to Shane & Dale’s resort for cocktails served in fruit.
cocktails!
Day 4 – Thurs 31st Dec – NEW YEARS EVE!
- had a chill day at the beach with a bit of shopping and hit up the food market again in preparation of the big party
- New Years Eve at Haadrin beach – Full Moon Party – over 50,000 people!!! AMAZING!
- had my New Years kiss with a hot farmer from Canberra, Australia
- in bed by 5.30am
New Years at Haadrin beach
Day 5 – Fri 1st January
-
woke up around midday, kept it very relaxed – swimming at the beach
-
bumped into the UK guys again, one decided to sing to me… (I’m actually sad we lost contact with them, they were good fun and the singing one was cute!)
our resort
Day 6 – Sat 2nd January
- headed up north on motorbikes to check out other parts of the island; Koh Ma, Ao Chaloklum, Ao Haad Salad.
- very hot day, did a bit of snorkelling at Haad Salad beach, not many fish & very cloudy water unfortunately – had been stormy.
- Thai Green Prawn curry for dinner, yummy!
Haad Salad beach - stunning!
Day 7 – Sun 3rd January
- early start again, 6am – leaving the island of Koh Phangan, back to the mainland.
- ferry ride to Don Sak, then a bus to the middle of nowhere – we felt like refugees, on the bus, off the bus, all under a shelter waiting…
- on another bus headed to Krabi, then taxi to our new destination of Ao Nang.
Ao Nang beach, with the longtail boats
And that’s week one. We are all finding our footing much more now, so much more climatised as well. I will upload all the photos to flickr when I get home, but for now they’re just on facebook.
It’s now day 10 and we are headed to Phuket! woohooo! I will update with another week post in a few days!
Tags: got the travel bug, thailand
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