Whose chopper’s is this? Zed’s. Who’s Zed?

Auckland, New Zealand from the Sky Tower
Originally uploaded by ZeeDesertRat

Well, on my flight to Sydney from Auckland, New Zealand or N-Zed as they call it, and then onwards to Brisbane I finally have some time to type out a few thoughts. Right now I’m not sure who this is really for – you or me? Either way it gives me something to do while on an international flight.

Speaking of “international” flights, the only differences I’ve found are these:
1. You need a passport, which in my opinion is nothing more than an international ID with stamps.
2. People look at your passport and then yourself in the very same odd way and for the same amount of time no matter where you are or where you are going.
3. You have the opportunity to fill out “incoming passenger cards”.
4. Free alcoholic beverages.

Now I’d love to say better service, more in-flight activities, better food, and so forth, however United does not apply to those therefore I can’t add them to the list.

Auckland, New Zealand. First off I can safely say that I’m getting used to 14 hour flights and can safely say that they do indeed suck. After you ‘accept’ the suckage factor and the fact that you’ll be on an airplane for that amount of time things seem go to by smoother. You accept that you’re back will hurt for the following few days, and in my case I accept that now that it finally feels better that it will hurt again for the next few days again as I am on a flight again. Other things I now accept include the replay of Charlie Wilson’s War which I already saw on my flight to Auckland, the lack of video screen on the Auckland-Sydney flight because it’s shorter, and…

Oh, so Auckland? Right, that’s the topic. I like New Zealand and I’ll say that I like New Zealand more than Australia right now. New Zealand has a total country population of around four million. Four million. Phoenix, Arizona has five million and this is an entire country, although sometimes in Phoenix heat I do feel like I’m on another world. Yes, so four million, which also makes the country’s population smaller than Sydney, Australia; therefore Auckland is far less. I like it. In Auckland, walking around you probably see 1,500 people less per block than you would in Sydney.

The City of Sails is what Auckland is. When I woke up I would walk to the elevator and while waiting would look out the window towards the harbor. Sailboat masts are everywhere. I estimate almost a half-mile of sailboats going into the harbor, and it going the length of 3-4 miles. That is just one side of the bridge and only one side of the bay. When you walk around Auckland I found it very similar to Sydney, minus the people. There is a large Asian population, great seafood restaurants, tourist and duty-free shops around, and water all around. Business-wise you have your end user customers who are all in the big buildings, and all your resellers or distributors are working out of smaller offices outside of the main city. It makes sense to me – no sense paying a lot of money for a fancy office if you’re always in the nice offices of your customers.

So going back to the suckage factor for just a moment; I recently accepted the fact that no one is going to take my dinner tray away anytime soon. I’m fine with that as the seat next to me is empty and it’s in the open seat’s tray-table, but was annoyed until I accepted this additional suckage factor. That being said - and perhaps this is an act of God – they are now coming around to collect the used dinner trays. Brilliant, and I have another glass of the Cab-Merlot!

Going back to Auckland I can tell one story, but only one story which I’ll comment on in a moment. John who is with our distribution partner in N-Zed suggested a restaurant by the name of Hammerhead’s; yes, like the shark. So arriving there, with John and his wife Angela we sat down and I was given the task to order the wine. Personally I am not a fan of ordering for the whole table because there is a chance that someone will not enjoy even though I am infallible in my decisions. That being said, the red wine I chose (already have forgot what it was) was received well. John Dory was dinner. Yes, John Dory was dinner. John however is a type of fish, and in this particular case was broiled and then served with a coconut based sauce along with scallops, green-lip mussels, and shrimp. The fish itself is light, but with the broiling its skin came as a slight crispy texture with the meat itself being very moist. The scallops are somewhat different than I had been served in the US. In N-Zed they leave the “foot” or “tongue” on the scallop. This additional part or piece was an additional treat for me – and there are white ones and orange ones. If I were to compare this to green-lip mussels I would guess that is a signature of the mollusk’s sex. John Dory. Excellence. Moving on from that the wine was also very good and I’d recommend N-Zed wines to anyone.

New Zealand beer is very good as well. My recent favorite is Speight’s Old Dark that has a smoky and sweet taste to it. The other beer I’d recommend is Mac’s Gold Lager, which is an all-malt lager. Again, it’s sweet – almost like Singha, a Thai beer, but rich in its flavor and texture. Both of these N-Zed beers were on tap, so I can’t comment on how they would be bottled. Speaking of Thai beers, I was able to try a new one – Chaang was its name I believe. It was very similar to Singha – sweet, perfectly carbonated in the bottle, but it was slightly different. I had the opportunity to try this at a Thai restaurant that the other partner of the disti took me too. We ordered three dishes – Tiger’s Milk Chicken, Gai Fai, and California Beef. The California Beef really had nothing to do with California. It was obviously a beef dish along with spices, peppers, and a soy sauce based sauce. The Gai Fai was listed as the restaurant’s wining dish in an all out spiciness curry competition. It was hot; I’d estimate it to be a #9-10 per my Mr. Sushi spiciness rating scale. Finally, the Tiger’s Milk dish was sweet. Chicken and bananas in a very rich coconut sauce helped put out the flames of the Gai Fai. It was an outstanding meal and next time I am there I hope we can find a reason to have dinner there. I wish I had remembered the restaurant’s name.

So with an hour left to Sydney I’ve changed my MacBook’s time zone to Sydney and might also do the same for my Dell and again with my now addicted Blackberry. Yes, addicted. God forbid I miss an email or call now, right? I suppose that is part of my evolution becoming an international business traveler.