Traveling Ninja Notes: One-day Auckland Adventure

I made my monthly visit to Auckland this week, to refresh my library stash and meet with my graduate advisor. We spent an hour discussing the ins and outs of deciphering the lives and opinions and thoughts of nineteenth century males....Hmmmm... still much work to be done there :) But since my library visit did not take too long I ended up with a bit of time to kill so I opted to stroll through part of downtown Auckland to take in the sights. Despite numerous trips there now, and living there for awhile, there is plenty that has not yet been explored.

The self-inflicted busy-ness of this year has meant my schedule is a bit scant on adventures, so the time to wander felt like a bit of a get-away. The bus ride to and from the airport was on a different route from what I normally take, so I was treated to seeing new areas, which included passing by restaurants with such appetizing names as 'Love-A-Duck Chinese BBQ,' and 'Love Exposure Chinese.' An intriguing take on fusion was the food-truck advertising 'Authentic Chinese-Maori Hangi,' which I hope to be able to try sometime. (Hangi is a traditional Maori meal of meat and vegetables steamed underground. Think YUM. However, unsure how this fuses with Chinese...).

A particularly nice find was an Asian bakery, tucked in between some restaurants. They had an incredible selection of goodies, everything beautifully created and presented (and affordable!). Some favorites were the cake that had dogs on top, seemingly constructed out of icing, and the melon bread that looked like slices of watermelon. I bought some Japanese cheesecake for Troway to try since cheesecake ranks high on his list of favorite desserts.
I also found a little shop called No. 1 Pancake, where you can get pancakes stuff with yummy options such as chocolate and cream, or ham and cheese, or various other sweet or savory options. It is officially on the list of places to try when I have time :)