Auckland

1. NZ Pies, especially Columbus Cafe 's Pot Pie 2. Cafe Latte 3. L&P , NZ's beverage made by The Coca-Cola Company 4. Bush Walk close to city centre (Lover's Walk at  Auckland Domain ) 5. Strawberry Pickings 6. Hangi Traditional Maori food 7. Meeting people from around the world 8. Blue Sky, Blue Waters and Greenery Everywhere 9. Hitchhiking is safe in New Zealand 10. KiwiYo

Auckland, New Zealand's biggest city. One of the best cities in the world to dwell. But sad to say,  Auckland does get a tough rap from tourists.  In the past ten years, I have seen many travellers and even some of my friends avoid Auckland or see only has a gateway to enter New Zealand or stay for a night before heading to beautiful Kiwi pastures -- Rotorua for thermal pools and the smell of Sulphur, the beaches of Bay of Island, wine and dine at Marlborough and sky diving and mesmerising landscape at Queenstown. As some of the travel bloggers have mentioned, Auckland is heartless and soulless. Let me tell you Auckland is not that bad   Here is the list of best things I love about Auckland. 1. Walkable CBD If you are living in Auckland, you don't need your own car to get around the city centre and nearby suburbs of Ponsonby, Parnell, Newmarket, Mt. Eden, One Tree Hill and Remuera. These localities are well-connected to CBD by public transport. If you...

Less Stress means you can Relax more   “Organised people are just too lazy to search for stuff.” That’s cute, but I’d rather be the “lazy” one mentioned in the punchline. Less time spent running around means more time. Just, more time to do what I want to do, like, spending time with your friends and family. Less Stress also means Improved health. The stress I mentioned earlier, which I feel when things start to get out of control, does not promote good health.  And if you are a parent, you are setting a good example for the kids. There was a time when I spent most of my time behind my computer, working on this or that. I felt productive, sure, but I also worried about the message I was sending to the kids. Adults work all the time? My job is more important than them? I want my kids to become productive, contributing adults, of course, but I want them to enjoy life, too, and that absolutely includes time spent not working. Greater productivity. When you kn...

Every year at AUT University in collaboration with AuSM organised a diversity week to celebrate diversity in action in our everyday life. We live in a diverse society. Every person you meet at university or in the workplace is different. Since the day I came to New Zealand, this great diversity has impacted the way I communicate and interact with people. I find myself lucky to live in this beautiful city where people from different parts of the world come and live together in peace and harmony. Many migrants who are living in Auckland today come from a country faced with conflicts, both internal and external. According to Statistics New Zealand, in 2013, there were almost 1 in 4 people that are 23.1 percent people living in Auckland region identified with one or more Asian ethnic groups, compared with 1 in 5 people that is 18.9 percent, in 2006. We have all heard from media sources, the majority of conflict today is happening in Asia.  Every nation is plagued with numerous pro...

For me giving presentations and going for the interview would always give me a fright. However, I am part of a drama team and I love performing in front of an audience. When it comes to giving presentations or interviews, I am not able to get the right words at the right time.  I love acting, especially in dramas. I came to know about toastmasters when Steve and Maxine visited my class of hospitality career development. They brought with them the range of table topics, which we can choose from the pool of topics and speak about it for 90 seconds and they evaluate us by providing us commendations and recommendations. I saw that it was really a good way to help us to improve our communication skills. Because whenever I tried to speak in public and ask people for feedback, it does not help you. In short, the feedback given in toastmasters is more like an educational series. I still remember the time in India, in college or universities when seniors will come to freshman and tell us ...

Last night while walking back home I saw homeless man lying in the middle of the footpath. I stopped for 5 mins, thinking should I call the police or wait for the passing police car and than approach them, while I was waiting for the police car many people pass through him but nobody cared to call the police or the paramedics. After five mins wait, the man didn't moved a bit, I decided to call 111, and informed the police about the man lying in the middle of the footpath and gave description of the man, and dispatcher said to me, police are on their way.  After 10 mins, I saw a small bottle of whisky lying just few meters away from him. Than I saw him moving, I approached him but I couldn't understand a single word he was trying to speak, I called 111 again to keep them up to date, as I was speaking to 111 I told them He is very drank, they immediately dispatched an Ambulance, paramedics arrived while I was still talking on phone. And after few mins po...

On the night of 24th August 2013 when I was walking with my friend Calvin on Anzac Avenue. We saw two people arguing & swearing at each other. As we approach them, we decided to cross the road to avoid any trouble. But then I saw two people actually fighting on the middle of the streets. Immediately I reach out to my cellphone and call the cops - 111. I was talking very furiously with the police caller.  Surprisingly, the conversation lasted less than a minute, usually it takes around 20 mins.   Operator: Where do you want to get connect to, Police, Ambu....(Interrupted) (Speaking furiously to the operator) Me: Police Please! Operator: You are connecting to the #police now. (Few milliseconds later...) Police Caller: Where is the emergency? Me: 72 Anzac Avenue, Auckland Police Caller: What is the emergency? Me: Two people fighting on streets Police Caller: What is your name? Me: Ashish Bijwe Police Caller: Can you please spell it? Me: A S H I S ...