Salad is Nice. But Nothing Beats Sunday Dinner.

Today was a good day! I got up nice and early, got a shower and actually blow dried and straightened my hair! I must admit, straight hair feels great! I feel clean and well groomed, for a change! While it is nice to have straight hair – I don’t think I will be making it a regular thing, it takes too much time and I’m still seriously lazy!

You are probably wondering why I cleaned myself up – It was because I was going to church in Taupo! There is a church pretty close to the Hostel, so I thought it would be nice to pay it a visit. I got ready, had nice straight hair and put a pretty dress on. I then got a taxi to the church, so I wouldn’t arrive all sweaty and gross and besides I didn’t really know how to get there. The church was in a nice area and it looked pretty good, plus it was a beautiful day so everything looked amazing! Sadly, all my efforts to look attractive were wasted – there was nobody there to appreciate my efforts! The entire Branch was made up of families with young children. I only stayed for the first hour. The people were nice, the Bishop and another man came up and said hello to me, but I thought it was interesting that one of the speakers, who spoke entirely about how important it is to befriend people investigating the church didn’t bother to say hello. Typical. But that actually really annoys me. Why stand at the front of a church, talking about all the people you have brought into church by showing them kindness and friendship, when you won’t even talk to a girl, who clearly has never been in your Branch, or even your country. It makes me so mad. Practice what you preach and if you’re not prepared to do what you have said you will do, then shut up, sit down and stop pretending that you are so spiritual that you are about to be translated. Can you tell that hypocrites make me mad? Because they do. One of the few people that actually talked to me was a lady, who I think was an investigator – she came to sacrament and after I chatted to her, while she had a smoke. At least she doesn’t lie about how she lives her life. Now I think about it, the first speaker was really annoying and he was saying some questionable things. Idiot. But obviously not everyone is like that – the church members in Paihia were the nicest people I have met in a really long time!

After church I went for a walk along the Lake, which was really nice. I called home, got the goss, then went and got some lunch. I had the nicest Caesar Salad...mmm! The place was recommended in the Lonely Planet Travel Guide, so I thought I would pay it a visit. I like my Caesar Salad to be quite spicy, which this one wasn’t, it was quite creamy, but still really amazing – there was stacks of Chicken and Bacon, which is always good! Then after lunch I went and bought a book – which I didn’t really want to do, because I hate spending money on books. Like I love having them and I like to own books, but I read them so quickly it seems like a waste. I’m on Chapter 21 of the book, “Look Me in The Eye” by John Elder Robinson, a man who grew up with Asperger’s syndrome. His brother wrote the book “Running With Scissors” which is meant to be really good. It’s really quite interesting – he had a really difficult life, which was only made worse by his Asperger’s, especially because nobody knew what Asperger’s was when he was a child - he wasn’t diagnosed until he was an adult. I love a good book! I really want to read Jeremy Clarksons books, they all look really good and I do love a bit of Jeremy. I’ve read one of his books and I really liked it, so I may have to invest in the next one soon! I also really want to read “The Secret Life of Bee’s” – I loved the movie and I’m sure the book is even better! I also really want to read Richard Attenborough’s Biography, written by one of his best friends, it looks really interesting and I do love the Attenborough family! I think I might have to leave it for a while before I start buying all these books, there really expensive – I’ll have no money left!

After buying my book I just walked about town for a while, walked along the lake, came back to my room, read some of my book and then went to the “Pak ‘n’ Save” to buy some Peppermint Tea. I bought some tea, some sugar cubes (because cubes are more practical than a big bag of sugar that would spill everywhere, plus we all know I’m fond of the odd sugar cube) and some rice! I also got a mug to have my tea in, which I think is a pretty good idea. If I have my own mug I can have tea whenever I want – I can drink it in my room and I don’t have to worry about bringing it back to the communal kitchen when I’m done! I also bought some plastic spoons for 30cents! Genius? I think so.

After my trip to the glorious “Pak ‘n’ Save” I came back to the room, switched beds – I was originally on the top bunk, but now that the American girl is gone I have changed to the bottom bunk, which seemed like a good idea at the time. I say at the time, because I’m not so sure that I’ve made the right decision. I hate being on the top bunk because it’s a hassle to get in and out of, also there is no place for your mug of tea or your phone, so it’s difficult to set alarms. The bonus of being on a top bunk is that nobody can see you when you sleep, unless they stand up all night watching you, and if they do that then I think you have a bigger problem than having to climb a ladder to get into bed. Also if the person below is leaving early then they can fiddle around on the floor, packing their stuff and it won’t bother you. The good points of being on the bottom bunk is that it’s easier to get in and out of, you can set your phone and tea on the floor and it’s at arm’s length. The bad points, people can see you while you sleep, it’s less private and people wake you up in the mornings. Hmm. What to do?

After the bed making saga I had a nice cup of Peppermint Tea. I was surprised to learn that the only ingredient in Peppermint Tea is actually “Peppermint”. That is actually it! I thought they would have thrown in some other rubbish, but apparently not. Good old Twinings! I knew Stephen Fry wouldn’t endorse a product unless it was great (he does the Twinings adverts). The sugar cubes were also pretty fantastic. Reminds me of the good old days, stealing sugar cubes from Harry’s – who needs desert when you can nick an entire bowl of sugar cubes? And that’s what I’ve done pretty much all night, drank tea, read my book and now I’m Blogging about this highly exciting day! I hope your day was as great as mine!

Oh... One last thing... Today is Mothers Day! I’ll be celebrating by ringing home and hanging up so Esther calls back and I don’t have to spend any of my monies! Mummies are a great thing to have and I would really like mine to be here, drinking Peppermint Tea with me (and if she was here I wouldn’t need to drink Peppermint Tea for dinner). But thanks to the wonders of Telephoneular Communication, I can talk to her, even if I am a million(ish) miles away.

Xx