The Magic that is Hobbiton

Back to blogging about my New Zealand trip! This is non-chronological but this was one of the main highlights of my trip, so I am enthusiastic to blog about it!

Naturally, one of the biggest (if not the main) excitements of visiting New Zealand was that it meant we could go to Hobbiton, the movie set where Peter Jackson filmed Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit.

Hobbiton is in a small town called Matamata. It is equivalent and comparable to Seria Town; quiet with two to three blocks of shops and restaurants.

We stayed in Tower Road Motel, which I previously mentioned turned out to be the best motel we stayed at in NZ

 The hotel was clean and had all the basic necessities we needed. Also, even though they have enough space for 3, motels in NZ charge a lil extra for a third person.

We reached Matamata, checked in (friendly receptionist) and went to stroll around the town before our Hobbiton trip later that afternoon at 2PM. We've purchased our tickets online and opted for the option of being picked up from the iSite which was 10mins away from the motel.

 I remember taking these photos to show my colleagues how many Asian eateries there were around there, LOL

 We then stopped by for pies for a quick lunch

 Pies are a big deal in NZ, and they come in all kinds of fillings. I chose the steak and cheese pie. Yum yum.

We then made our way to the iSite, which is built like one of the Hobbit houses!!!

Its called the Shire's Rest:

 iSites are visitor kiosks that can be found all over NZ, but only this one in Matamata is built in the Hobbiton theme.

You can purchase your tickets online here. Make sure to buy them early to avoid disappointment!

You can actually purchase evening tours which include dinner at the Banquet Hall, but we got the Day Tour because I wanted to make sure we could see everything clearly with the sunlight #kiasuAsian

There are also Chinese Tours if required.

 YES our ride is here!!!

 The ride there was quite empty except for the 5 of us and 2 Americans

 Lovely lovely landscape

 So the story goes, in 1998 Sir Peter Jackson scouted for the perfect location to film Lord of the Rings and landed on this gem here in Matamata, and he had to seek for filming rights from the Alexanders to film on their massive farm. Upon agreements (KA-CHING), they cleared a portion of the sheep and cow farm for filming. When Sir Peter Jackson wrapped up LOTR the trilogy, he also wrapped everything up and left nothing behind.

It was only many years later when he (even to his own surprise) had to film Hobbiton, did he and the Alexanders strike a deal to make Hobbiton a permanent place and a tourist site for people to experience the magic of JRR Tolkien!

As the bus was so empty, we were unsuccessfully hopeful that it would be just the few of us. But when we met with our tour guide (a local Kiwi who lived in Matamata), we were met with another few in our bunch, but there were many bunches having their tours at the same time but at different paces.

The place was such a beauty! It felt ultimately surreal to be at THE Hobbiton. THE place where Sir Peter Jackson, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen and more were at. Standing on the same grounds and filming the amazing movies from the Franchise.

 We saw many of the Hobbit holes on the way up the hill. Every Hobbit Hole is built with such great attention to detail that you could tell the personalities of the Hobbits that lived inside.

 This is the famous Oak Tree on top of Bilbo's house at Bag End. It was built with artificial leaves imported from Taiwan and individually wired onto the tree. The tour guide mentioned that the dead giveaway that the tree wasn't real was that it had leaves.. in winter!!!

Spot the chess set!

A lumberjack hobbit? 8-)

Everything is real!

The tour guide kept making fun of us that we fit right into these Hobbit Holes, which we good natured-ly agreed. lol I probably would've succeeded in being a Hobbit.. if they hired Asians.

They had auditions to hire Hobbits and they mostly hired the locals that lived around and in Matamata. Key features were round eyes and yes, round cheeks!

None other than Bilbo's house at Bag End. Bilbo was notably the richest hobbit, evident from his many windows and the fact that his house was the highest up on the hill!

cheese??

This was Sam's house!!

Not in pictures but we also saw the big piece of land where they filmed Bilbo's 111th Birthday!
Here is a short clip to refresh your memory:


After the tour up and down the hill, we continued to the Green Dragon, which is a pub added in December 2012, that allowed visitors to have a drink before they ended their tour. The Green Dragon is a functional pub where you can order food and drinks in. Inclusive of the tour, drinks included Amber Ales, Apple Ciders, Traditional English Ales and Ginger Beer for the non-alcohol takers.

My BF had the cider while I had the English Ale, which was bitter and salty at the same time.

That ended the amazing tour at the amazing Hobbiton, and we were then dropped off at the merchandise store where I got a t shirt (for CHILDREN... SCORE!!) and some magnets for my friends. Nothing was cheap, hehehe, understandably of course.

It was truly the highlight of my trip! The place was magical and I absolutely enjoyed it. We also visited the WETA Workshop in Wellington toward the end of our trip.. Another amazing trip!!

Xx

Sister Act in Singapore

Gosh, I am so behind with my travel posts. I'd like to think it is because I travel too often but it really is because I am so not loyal in blogging.

I've just recently been engrossed in War Films and War history, which I feel is quite questionable on the time spent because I am so forgetful. Tragic because history entices me deeply but my memory is just shit.

I'm going to backtrack a little to May when I was in Singapore. So I was in Singapore for a week, with the first few days for work and then I extended my stay alone for a few more days.
So what I did was after work was over, I moved from Mariott at Tang Plaza in Orchard to Hotel G, a boutique hotel in Middle Road, which is near Bugis. I've never stayed in that hotel before but reviews were good and it was the cheapest by the time my work trip was confirmed.

The Hotel wasn't difficult to find. It was definitely a change from the high-ceiling, posh hotel of Mariott but it was good enough for me, and it was frankly a boutique hotel for half the price. The lobby for check-in is on a higher floor so you have to enter from the bar downstairs.

The room was small. I want to say quaint but I think I use the word way too often. So this is the bed and there is a luggage-shaped hole below it for your luggage. There is also other stuff like the safe (as above), hair dryer, water heating and....

USB ports! I was very bothered that Mariott didn't have ANY USB ports (old hotel) so technology kept failing me throughout my days there. Hotel G also provides you with a phone to use but I didn't use it, because I already had a M1 Tourist line.

It is safe to say I fully utilised the USB ports almost all the time I stayed there. I brought along two phones and two portable chargers, haha. When you travel alone, it is a true nightmare to have your phone dying on you.. I practically lived on Google Maps and Google search.

The toilet was small but fine, and I kind of broke the shower, so I was really glad when I returned the next day, room keeping fixed it.

So anyway, when my trip was confirmed, I bought my tickets for Sister Act the Musical. I was so thrilled when I saw it was on when I was there!

 It was in the MBS Theatre and it was harder to find than I'd liked. I was so worried I would be late! But thankfully the signs in MBS helped! The theatre was smaller than the one in Esplanade which I last went to for Les Mis.

 my seat was shit because I bought the cheapest option :P

 I enjoyed the musical a lot, it had the same plot as the movie with Whoopi Goldberg but the songs were all different and new. I really liked "Take me to Heaven", it was really catchy. The musical was very colorful and fun!

After the musical, I took the MRT back to Bugis to go back to the hotel. I take some pride in being able to find my way around the MRT because I don't normally look at directions when my BF is around.. There was one night I took the MRT from Ayer Teluk to Rochor and walked back to the hotel at midnight.. alone :-|

I don't think I am in a rush to do that again.

Was in Bugis Junction when I came across this Thai Milk Tea joint:

 I love Thai Milk Tea! I was pleasantly surprised because this one allowed adjustment to the sugar level. :-)

When I was in Sg alone, I was really bored and didn't know where else to go. I guess traveling alone has its ups and downs. Earlier the day of Sister Act, I took a Grab all the way to IMM, an outlet mall all the way in Jurong East Hahaha. It was a big mall with 60 outlet stores ranging from Charles and Keith to electronic stores. I only came out with a steal buy from C&K and a pair of Hush Puppies for my mum. Interesting place you can check out if you want a cheaper option for shopping in expensive Singapore!

xx