PlumpDuck

Ok. So my situation is that due to the fact that I was never really into the idea of future plans I ended up going to University and enrolling myself in a pretty useless degree. A BA majoring in English and Human Development, this is a ridiculous duo as they don’t compliment each other at all and all I’m really geared for is to do a teaching diploma and teach English to college students….yuck. This is definitely not where I want my life going!!!

But I am three years in and I (even though useless) will graduate at the end of 2012 (aged 21). My kind of plan then was to do the teaching diploma (2013 - 22) and then get into this Event Planning course at Wintec (2014 - 23). However I have discovered a course at Uni that I think I could actually enjoy! It is a Bachelor of Communication Studies and I would major in Public Relations and one of the job prospects for this kind of degree is Event Management and Marketing. However if I enroll into this I would be looking at another 3 years of study (2013-2015) meaning that my student life wont be over until I’m about 24/25 and I don’t know if I could commit this long, but on the other hand even though it seems the end of the world 24 isn’t actually that old and being 24 with 2 degrees under my belt might not be to bad thing to have. Plus Dave still has another 2/3 years to go till he finishes and hes 24 this year. Also this sort of degree is not specialised in Waikato so if I was to look at moving down to Wellington or even up to Auckland it would be possible. Plus one of my dreams to teach in Japan I don’t really want to do until I am 26 (older, wiser, maybe more worldly and traveled) so choosing to study a bit longer doesn’t really interfere with any of my kind of plans I mean my 30s is when everything gets serious and the whole buying property and maybe possibly “enhancing” my life with snot nosed brats, so for my 20s why not do as much as I can. After all its all about the possibility of all those little letters after your name on a business card.   

I’m going to set up a meeting with an adviser and see what my options are and if I will even be allowed to spend that much time at University (all of the government budget cuts say something about a 7 year limit). Ill go from there and see what I can do. 

Sorry this was more to clear my head and get it all out in paper then anything else. Thanks. xo

21- Final year of BA, majors: English and Human Development

22- Honors?/ Event Management Diploma? 

23- Event Management?/Teaching Diploma? (Move to the city?) 

24- Working a real career job?/Teaching in Japan?

25- Career?/Travel?

26-Travel?/Career?

27- Career?

28- Kids?/Career?/House?

29- Career

30- Owning own cafe/bar =) 

31- Life is over cause I’m old 

Pricey, bland and the chicken fettuccine was downright disgusting. However the starter bread was really nice and at $11 it should be. The setting was nice and the staff friendly but I am in no rush to go back. Disappointing considering I have been wanting to go here forever =(  

Three Leg Frog is new to the Hamilton restaurant scene and catching a glimpse every time I have driven past I finally got a group of friends and I decided to try out their Chinese based menu.

We were immediately greeted by a man grinning and welcoming, he seated us at a large round table supporting a Lazy Susan. The wooden tables and chairs were roomy and comfortable, a blazing fire heated the restaurant and traditional and contemporary art work covers the walls from top to bottom, it seemed they spared no expense in establishing themselves well. The man turned out to be the owner named Ming; he quickly brought over menus and guided us to the lunch section. The menu included the dinner, lunch and dessert options that were clearly laid out in a booklet style. There was a page inclusive of the history behind the restaurant’s name which helped to clarify the meaning to what a Three Leg Frog was, a clever idea I thought.

The menu was priced around $14.00 for lunch servings including rice and a starter soup. Not being overly fond of rice I browsed through the rest of the menu in search of noodles, cliché I know but found them under the dinner listings. When Ming returned I asked if I could have the noodles and he was more than happy to oblige even recommending which dish to order.

Our free soup was served first, a nice idea but the servings were brought without cutlery, after awkwardly staring at the bowl for five minutes wondering if I was suppose to pick it up and drink it my table was finally given a round of dessert spoons. 

The wine/drinks list was shockingly enormous and supported everything from New Zealand Wine to various Teas to Chinese Spirits. We ordered green tea for five and I have to say I gave a little delighted squeal when what appeared to be just a candle centrepiece on the table doubled as a tea pot warmer.

Lunch quickly arrived but I was rather disappointed with what turned up for me. The noodle mixture was too elaborate having over cooked rubbery prawns, fish bits, tofu, squid, egg and chicken combined on one plate was downright confusing. I also could not be sure if the little half circle things on my plate were fish balls or not. I was also unsure of a flavour or sauce other then chillies, the noodles were also dry and if it wasn’t a burning sensation it was excess bean sprouts.

 My counterpart’s two of which had the Lemon Chicken with a Twist thoroughly enjoyed their meals and I have to say the bits of lemon chicken I could steal were gorgeous.  Chicken covered in a crunchy batter with sweet but lemon zesty tang, accompanied by rice that soaked up the honey like syrup, an option far more suited to a mainstream group. 

An odd issue was the lack of background music playing, surprising given the huge sound system clearly visible that would be perfect for those sad nights of lung bursting Karaoke. They may not have finished setting it all up but in the mean time this did help in making the couple with the screaming baby that much more irritating. 

Ming checked in on us and was so nice that I felt a bit guilty for not enjoying my meal so didn’t say anything, although he did look at my plate and noted the mystery fish half balls I’d pushed to the side – jokingly he said he doubted they even contained seafood. After our meals were done with a different waitress arrived and leaning over almost all of us, proceeded to stack our dirty plates on the table and forgot to take the used cutlery altogether.

            Going up to the counter to pay, a fairly reasonable total for the meals and we were only charged a set amount for the tea even though it was refilled six or seven times. Overall I was a little disappointed by Three Leg Frog, I had had high hopes but was let down by picking something different from my norm which just didn’t work. However the staff made for a really nice dining experience and the atmosphere was so comfortable that I may just have to go back for another crack at a more familiar dish.

Nitro. The new cocktail bar in Hamilton’s CBD. I went to this bar Wednesday night with a group of girlies to celebrate a 21st, sorely disappointed is how I would sum this place up in two words. 

The night was freezing and walking into Nitro there seemed to be little or no heat source so we all had to leave out outdoors coats on while we sat on what looked like cheap outdoor chairs, this may be due to us booking for 10 people as the rest of the seating are couches. The interior was really dull, although their art work pieces were really nice but the actual vibe of the place wasn’t comfortable nor made you feel special for being there.

The staff consisted of one woman who just did not seem like she wanted to be at work nor have to serve us. A funny moment though was when she came over to take our order she was leaning on one of the chairs at our table and the whole thing collapsed (this woman was not at all large) so obviously money wasn’t invested in chairs.   

The cocktail prices were plain ridiculous and not worth the price or time of day in my opinion. At $20 per cocktail or $30 for a cocktail jug there is serious room for improvement. We ordered 3 jugs, mixed breads, garlic bread and hand cut fries. Firstly the nibbles (or Tapas) were really good no complaints there as they totaled $28 for all 3 and were delicious. The jugs however were utter crap. The first tasted like cheap white wine with passion topping, the next was a rhubarb mix, this one was the best of the 3 and had a nice sour tang to it. The third I don’t even think had anything but horrible foam and ice in it. Not worth $90 ever.

So wont be back, and in any case 2 minutes down the road is Easy Tiger, a better Hamilton cocktail choice who offer wonderful half price Wednesdays.