Whoever said there is no such thing as a free lunch

THINK AGAIN !!!
Quite simple really,you take some golden fries (with Aioli) a "Doofer" to hold your BACON BACKFIRE burger containing Chicken fillet, bacon, brie, salad, relish and aioli.
Keep your $9.90 in your pocket and sit back comfortable in the knowledge that you are about to enjoy one of those very rare moments in your lifetime........"A free lunch".

Good ole Burger Fuel sent me out a Birthday voucher with this simple message..............

"One free burger cause its your birthday........"

Good on ya Burger Fuel......

Cars,Boats=TOYS

Caught up with my very good friend the other day.

We lazed about at his home and leisurely chatted over yummy bikkies and a nice hot cuppa tea about whanau and friends.......and there new venture which they are about to "launch"

Launch being the right term to use as he and his wife are about to embark on a very exciting (and brave) new business called "Ultimate Escapes" and as you can see its going to be BIG!!!

As you can see the vessel isn't completed yet but will be on the water in and around Tauranga and the beautiful Bay of Plenty very soon so WATCH THIS SPACE!!

What an awesome boat and as he filled my head with facts and figures on the performance,the kitchen (actually the correct term is Galley) how many bedrooms (Yes BEDROOMS) size of this weight of that I was just completely blown away.........one thing I do remember was that there is over 4km on cable to connect all the electrical and electronic equipment......WOW!

The reason I was abit on the forgetful/vacant side was that I was still BUZZING OUT form the ride in "THE GOKART" also known as a Dodge Viper" what an insane ride

I found myself giggling like a little school boy like the first time I heard the someone say "Girls undies"
What a completely insane ride........and just sitting (well more of lying) and feeling that raw "bring it on bro" power sent me into yet another uncontrollable bout of laughter.

Awesome car bro,well done and if you need anything to polished/cleaned or shifted ,give me a call.

East Coast Jewel

Just in case there was ever any doubt that this country of Aotearoa is beautiful .......that's my shadow in the bottom right cornor.

Fully intended on going for a surf today and all surf reports indicated a N-NE ground swell was on its way......but as luck would have it I was a day too early.,but hey

A quick check of my SURF BIBLE I discovered that another beach and surf location was just over the hill....... and with no surf in site I thought the walk would do me good.

Started off ok with abit of a climb which very quickly transformed into a goat track with various types of native & introduced scrub,ferns,prickly bushes and tree all doing there bit to get in my way and prevent any forward movement.

But after 45mins of "Bush bashing" I arrived at Orokawa Bay........

....and with not another soul in sight.

With the winter sun on my face and a gently breeze this is where I stayed for the next hour with my own Pohutukawa "lounge seat" and my own thoughts....... Kau mau te wehi......

What to do on a cold and wintery day??

So what do you do??

Its a cold rainy miserably day outside and the whole whanau has come down with the flu in various stages.......so what are your options?

Watch a video/DVD? Eat? Jump around and get a little bit crazy ?

Sleep? (Obviously you don't have children if you think that's an option).................................a couple of blankets,a kitchen table ,a few pillows and you have your very own BLANKET HOUSE!!!!

Managed to pretty much fill in the whole day as we were in and out out of it eating,reading,drawing....ummm eating again and snuggling up .

Mum prepared us some snacks and with he introduction of the torch shed some light on new adventures (sorry about that) and only took it down so we could have dinner (of course Mana protested.....she wanted to eat inside it)

K made an awesome meal of NZ lamb,Miso,Rice,a yummy carrot & celery and a apple salad dish and to top it all off I had some "Warm Shochu"

Thank you to Kayo and Tsjui kun gave it to "us" as a omiyage (present) when they came over for there Wedding/Honeymoon in March this year.

Boy nothing like a bit of nurukan (warm) 25% alcohol to settle that annoying cough.....yeah I know who am I trying to kid.....cough,cough!

How quickly time flies

"Happy Birthday Daddy........" was the sweet chime of my daughters voice this morning (OK so it was 0730 and I still wanted to sleep some more but hey)
We all got up and had breakfast anticipating the days events only to watch the skies grow darker and gloomier with the approaching rain.

After breakfast Mana and K set about putting the final touches on my Bday cake with fresh whipped cream,grated chocolate and the last of the strawberries from our garden (yes I'm still getting strawberries I guess no one told them its suppose to be winter)

How to make a cake....mix the cream,put it on the cake,grate up the chocolate......sprinkle on (do a taste test) add strawberries smile for the camera and......

......Ta Daaaaa

Mana gave me a Birthday card that she had made/drew herself and then my gift,a new Philips 7100 Series shaver very cool looking (and so quiet) my old one sounded like a swam of killer bees being chased by a lawn mower

It rained off and on the rest of the day so we just hung out and lazed about watching DVD/Videos and playing......I was more than happy to rest as I was still abit tired from my 2 and a half hour surf yesterday (Arigatoo K glad you convinced me to go)

Then it was off for a Bday dinner at a Japanese Restaurant called "NARITA"

It was a real mish mash of clutter inside (not dirty or messy just....full on) I could see how someone who had been to or lived in Japan would find something about it appealing as it had pretty much everything inside.

On one wall was a TV showing Sumo and another was a kids DVD the music was kinda rock (which K immediately took a liking too) and they were a huge collection of old and new figurines,statues,fans,sports memorabilia and from floor to ceiling and empty SAKE bottles lined the windows........so yeah cool in a messy sort of way.

I had the Kabayaki Unagi K had the the Narita dinner box and Mana chan had Udon as well as Edamame,Sashimi and Gyu Tataki with some sake (for me only) all in all it was a pretty good feed.

Oh and Sis Kia huritau ki a koe.....Arohanui (Happy Birthday to you too from your little brother)