I love to travel and explore new places. I thank the Lord for giving me the opportunity and blessing to go to places that I want to visit. New Zealand is a dream place for me and I’m so happy to be here. For my two weeks stay here, I have discovered a lot of things. Read on faithful readers 
1. Locals here are called Kiwi and the natives/IPs are called Maori.
2. Kia Ora is a famous line here which means hello or welcome.
3. Locals love to walk in barefoot (tiniil or walang sapin sa paa) especially inside the malls (I learned that as young as they are, they are trained to walk this way…part of their culture).
4. I find the people in NZ friendly. They always smile and say hi to you.
5. During summer time, the sun sets at 9pm (as in we eat our dinner here at 10pm).
6. Most stores and establishments close at 5pm and I observed that the stores here have very few manpower (as in one sales attendant in one big store) and no security guard at all (only security cameras). Also in big construction sites, there are only few workers (work as machine operators).
7. Beautiful parks can be found all around NZ. It amazes me how people here love to stay in parks (picnic, sunbathing, reading, playing cards or monopoly, kite flying, eating, chatting, etc.)
8. Cars are right hand drive and so far I have never experienced traffic here. People follow traffic rules even without police around. Street cameras can be found everywhere. For every violation, expect a letter in your home at the end of the month and the corresponding fine. Speed limit is 60kph only and in the motorway (express lane), its 100kph. You have to stick to your lane also and always give way (walay singitan ug sakyanan diri).
9. English is the main language (British influence…garbage is rubbish and elevator is lift). You can also find many Chinese here (most food establishments are owned by them) and Indians as well.
10. I learned that there’s no snake here despite all the trees and mountains (we went to their zoo and there’s no snake at all).
11. You cannot find any alcohol in NZ stores…only in Filipino stores. And retail items (tingi) are not available here.
12. Bus, taxi and train are the public transportation here but fares are quite expensive. Most people have their own cars.
13. So far I haven’t seen scattered garbage here (home owners are responsible for the segregation of their garbage). And I only saw one beggar in the city.
14. Malls here are not that “bongga” like in Pinas. Two storey is the tallest and malls look like warehouses. It’s a little expensive to buy stuff here especially if you convert it, hehe (33 pesos is the conversion of NZ dollar).
15. I think the only cheap stuff here are chocolates (Cadbury if you like), milk (sikat ang Anchor dito) and Doritos (gosh…na-addict si Cache sa chips na ito).
That’s it…will be blogging more about my discoveries here in New Zealand. Kia Ora everyone!
