hello travels. please play nice.

Sky City as seen from Victoria Park Market

It's been almost 1 and a half week now. This is late, very. Still, hello New Zealand, hello Auckland. I've arrived. (:

Parnell, Auckland. Along the yellow brick road.

It's been pretty interesting, Auckland central has been very bustling. But i guess what struck me the most has to be yesterday's trip to Manukau City - went there to get my IRD done. The bus trip there and back was weird in the sense, you really see and feel the difference people talk about in cities. All the social and class difference; same city, different vibe.

The Pacific Islanders are the main residents in that area and i guess, if in Auckland central, Asians are common in a 20% to 30% ratio, there, it was like a 2% to 3% ratio. I get weird looks once in a while in town, but there, i really stuck out. The bus went by several residential districts and i felt my heart tremble at the thought of the people who are stuck there, not because of their abilities but because of their birth. It was like comparing houses in Orchard to the ones in Little India. Confused, really.

Still, the art and vibe there was amazing. Not in Manukau City Central itself but along the way. The graffiti, the community, it felt different from Auckland central. In a way, Auckland in comparison seems to lack a soul, or more specifically, seem to lack a true spirit.

Glass boxes, well preserved buildings, false villages. Beautiful, amazing, but beneath that superficiality, is anything real. Is the organic beauty i see truly birthed on its own ?