Christchurch Part 1

John, Mark and I arrived in Christchurch at 2, dropped our bags at the hostel, and decided to walk around and take in the city sights. It helped us get our bearings straight, and we found out Christchurch is structured so that it is pretty easy to find your way around.

Since it was our first day in Christchurch, what better way to see it all than to climb up the Christchurch Cathedral tower? And that's exactly what we did.


Its 143 spiralling steps made us really dizzy. Actually, climbing down was scarier for someone who is clumsy not so graceful like me. =P Also the staircase was really narrow. So narrow that if someone wanted to pass by you, you would know them... intimately. Gosh *_* Torturing yourself Climbing up the tower cost $2-$5 depending on whether you're a child, adult, student or senior.

Inside the cathedral..


Entrance to the cathedral is free but there are old people staff standing near the donation box that look at you and you feel so guilty that you pay up.. Understandable, because maintenance surely costs a bomb.

Christchurch Cathedral can be said to be the symbol of the city and is right in the centre of the city. If you get lost, look for the cathedral to find your way back to cathedral square.

This is the Bridge of Remembrance, which is there to commemorate the soldiers that took part in the war. I have nothing much to say about it really.

I reckon winter is not exactly a good time to visit Christchurch as it is called the garden city. And in winter all the trees are bald and it's more like city of dead trees. Because of that, we decided to mostly focus on FOOD HUNTING. The next few posts will probably be filled with more NOMS than landmarks =D

For now let me just show you where we had dinner...

We ended up at a Japanese restaurant called Cookai. Walked in at 5.30pm without reservation, and we were told that they could seat us but we had to be done by 7. No prob. We were starving already which is why we had been stalking them outside their restaurant since 5pm.

Cherlyn insisted that if I went to Cookai, I must order the soft shell crab. But after looking at its measly portions at the table next to us, I decided on the soft shell crab sushi rolls instead. The soft shell crab was so good.. A little bit salty and crunchy, yet nice and chewy on the inside. I thought there was too much rice and too little filling in the sushi though.

I also had the spicy garlic prawns. The prawns were nice and juicy but there were only 6 pieces in the giant pot! The sauce was really nice, not too thick that you felt like it had been smothered with cornflour. I would definitely order it again if they increased the portions.

John had the Unagi and Egg sushi roll as well as the Unagi on rice. Let me just say that I love eel, and almost always order eel when I eat Japanese, but this timed I decided to go for something else.

The Unagi was served in large portions so I quite happily stole some off him =D Mm... Warm, soft, chewy, fatty and a bit crispy at the sides. Oh my sweet barbecued eel, I am in heaven!

Mark had the Marinated Pork Belly which was also very good but (I'm sorry) we were too busy stuffing our faces to take a photo. =X

John and I payed about $50-60 altogether which was not bad considering the fact that we had both eaten two mains. (I can feel the skinny bitches of the world gawking at me right now) I know right? Talk about gluttony.

So anyway, if you decide to go to Cookai, I would recommend making reservations in advance because they seem like a very busy restaurant. For your convenience, Cookai is located at 224 Cashel Street and their number is 03-366 8688