Bulls vs Waikato

If you are a sports fan, particularly a rugby fan, the good news throughout the long rainy winter is that there is usually some form of the game for you to watch. The All Blacks play periodically, Super Rugby franchise enjoys their season throughout June/July, and of course there’s always little league if you’re willing to brave the weather on Saturday mornings J 

This month saw the start of the provincial rugby season, so Sat night we headed out to Yarrow Stadium to watch the Port Taranaki Bulls take on Waikato (it is unclear to me what Waikato’s mascot is…). Provincial rugby would be equivalent to minor league baseball teams, if you happen to be like me and struggle with the difference between all of them. Of course it makes it harder when players team-hop because I’ll hear a familiar name and think I know what it’s all about.

I am not a diehard rugby fan (as evidenced by my falling asleep on the couch later Sat night as the All Blacks were beating Australia in game one of a three game series), but I do enjoy the stadium atmosphere. The weather had cleared a bit from the windy/rainy morning, so it was chilly but not too cool to be out and enjoy the sport. There is still a lot I do not understand about the game, but I have learned enough to be able to follow along. I now know what a scrum is, and a line out, and what it means if someone says "knock on" or "offside." I can also occasionally tell why a penalty was given, and know that if there's too many "dropkicks" in the game, it is considered boring.

It turned out to be a fairly exciting game. Both teams scored early, with the Bulls scoring significantly in the first half. Waikato made a comeback in the second half that put them very close to winning. However, Bulls tightened their defense and won by a margin of five points! We did have an interesting comparison conversation regarding terminology between rugby and football. The conclusion is that it is slightly less exciting to jubilantly say “Try” rather than “Touchdown” if a player successfully reaches the end zone. Since rugby requires the ball to touch the ground in the end zone for points to be scored, “touchdown” seems ironically to be more fitting. 

Ye old mascot

A line out

A scrum

Trade Aid Nice Spice Night

Now that I have caught up on sleep and recovery time from the busyness of the Mary Poppins show season, I have been enjoying having my schedule to myself again, and getting to choose where I am in the evenings. After so many months of late nights at the theater or rehearsal rooms, it almost feels like a novel concept! So I have had some much needed catch-up time with friends, gone to ladies night at Mitre10 (think Sutherlands type of store), and enjoyed a food tasting night at the local international store.

Trade Aid has become one of my favorite places to gift shop. Every time I stop in the store, there is something different to be found. It is a fair trade organization that sources all its products from solo or small business operations in Palestine, Asia, Latin America, etc. The items they sell are colorful, unique, and beautiful. I had stopped in awhile back and while there saw a sign for a "Spice Night." It turns out they were offering a free food tasting event highlighting some of the food items they sell.

So I called some friends, RSVP'd and away we went. We laughed a bit as the group ended up being yours truly, the resident American, a Brit and a Taiwanese. To round out the multi-culturalism, we met a lady from the Netherlands while at the event.

We were not entirely sure what we were in for, but it turned out to be a fun night. We were greeted with steaming cups of Indian/Sri Lankan hot chocolate and yummy products on sale. After a bit of mingling, the night opened with a speech about spices. The speaker was a young man whose family owns one of the local Indian restaurants, and he explained some of the little-known uses for the spices being used that night, and talked about the role spices play in Indian culture.

Next came the food. Best part of the night, by far! There were 10 to 15 different dishes, each delicious and unique in its own right. There were meat and vegetarian options; sweet and savoury; spicy and mild. Rice, vegetables, couscous, quinoa and lentils complemented the spices and meat used in each dish. Dessert was also available, and the spicy chocolate chip cookies, ginger crunch bars, and  steamed pudding were all a yummy twist on classic favorites.

My two favorites parts of the night was the ability to bring home recipes for everything we tasted, and unexpectedly winning the raffle, which resulted in a nice goodie bag :)

My winnings :)