App review: Flipboard

I’ve never really caught on the need for rss feed readers but I was curious about Flipboard after reading about it on Gizmodo.

What it is: an app that collects popular articles/news/webpages on the web and neatly (and beautifully) presents them all in a single app on your iPad, it can even include your Facebook and Twitter feeds
Cost: free!
Interface: beautiful flip animations when transitioning between news articles, clean layout of different items
Portability across different devices: great! Because you can create a flipboard account and use this account on different devices, you can access your customized feeds on your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
Drawbacks: I can’t think of any actually… Except maybe the Facebook and twitter feeds are not necessarily useful for me as I already have these apps installed
Would I recommend it to you? A big fat yes!

2011: what a year!

It’s been a while since I posted anything on here so I thought I’d cheat and do a quick recap of (perhaps) the most amazing year for B and I.

Here’s a list of the significant dates for us this 2011:

1. January 1
   B had a great birthday, a significant age milestone!
2. January 6
   Received the email from New Zealand immigration, our NZ Residence visas, which we have been waiting 3 years for, have finally been approved!
3. February 5
   Papa turned 70, had an amazing birthday party with the family complete! We also received great news that we have a new nephew on the way.
4. March 19
   B and I flew to India for the first time. Beautiful country, amazing food, great people!
5. April 9
   The big move to New Zealand. It was an emotionally charged day, and I cried like a baby on the plane. Sad to leave my family behind, but so excited about our future in NZ. Wow what a day!
6. April 10
   Arrived in Auckland and had a first glimpse of our new country, beautiful!
7. April 11
   Touched down at our final destination, New Plymouth. Our mouths dropped when we saw how beautiful the place was. Though it felt like we were in limbo for a few days, loved the place but we were living out of a low-cost hotel room, which I hated.
8. April 15
   Moved in to our new apartment. Finally I was happy! We were sooo so lucky to get this place and we can finally say we are finally home!
9. April 18
   First day on the new job. NZ is a great place to work, I love my Kiwi officemates.
10. May 28
    The start of our weight loss journey, attended my first Weightwatchers meeting with a starting weight of 78.3kilos or 172 pounds, 6 months later.. we ended up losing 10kilos or 22 lbs each
11. October 3
    I turned 33 this year!
12. November 11
    One of the best days of our lives, we got married surrounded by family and friends! It was absolutely the most perfect and beautiful day.
13. December 19
    Honeymoon in Fiji, 9 days of pure bliss with the love of my life

What can I say? We’re having the time of our lives! We feel so incredibly happy and blessed for this wonderful year!

Getting ready to head out…

Wow, three days later and it’s time to go home!

All bags packed and ready to go, check!

Gps destinations listed and programmed, check!

Last minute photos at the hotel, check!

Have a bit of shopping to do before we go back to New Plymouth, let the card swiping begin!!!

Day two wrap-up: buffets, shopping, and some crazy Rugby World Cup fans!

Our day started pretty good: woke up early, did a few laps at the pool, and… Breakfast buffet! It’s the best part of staying at a hotel, the abundance of bacon, eggs, and smoked salmon a few steps outside of your hotel room. Yum. Highlights of the Rendezvous Hotel buffet breakfast definitely includes the delish mushrooms and the super ‘balot’ tasting omelette! So glad there’s another round to go tomorrow (though a bit guilty because of my supposed diet).

After breakfast we prettified ourselves for the busy day ahead! A quick shopping stop on the North Shore for B’s VERY early birthday gift, then a date with our friends for lunch, a BUFFET lunch! Two and a half hours later, we finally left the hotel for a quick stop at SYlvia Park mall, Auckland’s biggest mall.

Deciding that we ate too much today and needed more exercise, we decided to walk down Queen Street and enjoy the festive RWC! Up tonight were Tonga vs France, and England vs Scotland! The fans were just so excited and happy, it was difficult not to be excited yourself! We are such big rugby ‘experts’ now, haha!

We are headed back tomorrow, still a whole lot left on our list to do (buy), I’m just hoping our bank account survives this trip! happy!

Touchdown Rendezvous Hotel

Just arrived at the hotel and lounging on the bed. If there is one thing Auckland has going for it, it’s the shoppping! Spent four wonderful hours at Dress Smart, outlet shopping! Sigh, the Quiksilver store is heaven on earth. Will definitely have to stop by again before the drive back home!

Now time to shut the blinds and take a nap!

Auckland driving!

My driver is enjoying the state highway and his trusty GPS!

4 hours later and almost 350 kms travelled.

Pit stop: The Fat Pigeon Cafe, Piopio, NZ

Survived the first 176 kilometers! Hot chocolate for me and iced mocha for the driver.

What the fog!!

We just a brief section of road where visibility was down to a few meters because of fog! It was like silent hill! Scary!

Live blogging on the great road trip!

We headed out early this morning later than we hoped but hey it’s dark outside and we are not rushing to catch a plane anyway…

A glorious Taranaki sunrise has been accompanying us for the first ten kilometers! Woot!

The great Auckland road trip!

Tomorrow we’re off to another great mini adventure! We have been in NZ for almost six months now, and we haven’t really been exploring as much as we like. So tomorrow we are packing our reliable little blue car, and driving the five hours to the great city of sails. Armed with a new gps, my new iPad, and a bunch of chicken sandwiches. Yahuu! Auckland here we come!