It seemed that Friday saw me sitting in traffic for long stretches of my day. When it rains in Auckland, drivers forget how to drive. They crash into each other and there is generally mayhem and disaster that mostly clogs up the motorway for the entire day. Sitting in the rain and seeing a numberplate with Noumea made for a few dreamy imaginings of being in a lovely warm place with someone special. Warm white sands and softly baking sunshine, bare skin and gentle waves. The honking of the cars behind me snapped reality back into place and back to the concentrated effort to move around this city.

In an attempt to sway you away from thinking this is a photoblog, I'm going to splatter some words about, casually and with little care. Bit like scatter cushions, but with little regard for the conventions of the English language.

I had a lovely if unbilable day yesterday. I met a woman I don't know very well, but who chats in the Articulate and lives in Hamilton. She works for a large corporate here and was up in Auckland for a few days. I drove into the city to have a cup of coffee in her Metropolis apartment on the 28th floor.

We talked about chatters we know [yes, you.. and you] and about our families etc. It was nice. We had similarities in our background, though she's somewhat younger than me. I realised that while I have met a lot of people I chat with, I haven't done it for many years.

The end of my day started at Maddogs and a few drinks with ex-colleagues and friends. Brevis was in fine form - unfortunately I didn't capture his likeness in a digital form but know that his hand knows my butt far too well at the moment. It seemed an emotional pub session for some, with lots of laughter and sharp remarks with a side of Fox Wedges with sweet chilli dipping sauce. Gareth was back from his trip down to the South Island and had lots of wonderfully descriptive stories and his Frank Sinatra impression is one of the best I've ever seen.

Todd whisked me away to Yakitori and another wonderful Japanese meal and fabulous conversation. We left to visit the bar we passed on the way to the restaurant. I small intimate 1930s styled bar with cozey corners for nooking or talking and a wonderful host and friendly guests. I'm not going to tell you where it is or what it's called because it's a bar you need to find yourself.