A pretty awesome day

Today was a pretty awesome day, both the weather and the way we spent it. Some days, things just work out perfectly, even when they weren’t originally planned.

We decided to head to Hamilton for the day, and timed it so we could stop in Manukau for lunch so we could try Texas Chicken, which I talked about earlier this week. We both liked the chicken (crispy and far less greasy than KFC), the mashed potato and gravy (less peppery than KFC), the coleslaw (tasty vegies and not as sweet or overly liquid as KFC), and the chips, but I was less keen on the biscuit (basically, a scone dipped in honey; but I liked it better than KFC’s bread roll, so there’s that) than Nigel was. We’ll definitely have it again.

I took the photo above after we were finished, obviously, and kind of quickly (so it’s a bit out of focus). The food court was very crowded and it just felt odd to take a photo there—it made me a bit uncomfortable. The mall there is actually a fascinating place, far more ethnically diverse than any other mall in Auckland, yet with most of the same stores as any other, which is noticeable because the area has been considered “deprived” for years.

After lunch, we immediately headed on our way, getting as far as Gordonton at 2pm. We made our way into town, first to visit Nigel’s sister and her husband, and Nigel’s Mum, who was staying there because she was sick with a bad cold.

It was getting on to late afternoon by this point, so we went on to Nigel’s brother’s house, picked up him and his two daughters (our nieces who used to stay with us during school holidays when they were kids), and off we went to a place in the Rototuna area of Hamilton called The Keg Room, which is basically a pub/café kind of place, right next door to a restaurant owned by the same people called The Eatery. It was a lovely dinner, and a nice time together.

By the time we finished, it was dark outside, so we dropped them all off at home and headed back to Auckland. It took about an hour and forty minutes (I timed it for no particular reason).

And, that was that. None of that was planned in advance, it all just kind of fell together late morning, and off we went, somewhat spur of the moment. Sometimes the best days happen that way, and this one, with it’s perfect autumn weather, was a pretty awesome day.

Days like this make up for the days that aren’t like this, I think.

Update – May 1, 2016: We had KFC for dinner tonight, while the other place was still fresh in our minds and we could make a fairer comparison. The results: KFC chicken pieces are MUCH smaller than Texas Chicken's, far saltier tasting, and noticeably greasier. The potato and gravy is nice, but the gravy is peppery; Texas Chicken's is very different, but nice, too. KFC coleslaw tastes nice, but it's too watery and is oddly sharp taste (although, it did seem like a bit of an antidote to the greasiness of the chicken). Also, why dies their coleslaw have no green cabbage in it? The Texas Chicken coleslaw was made with finely shredded cabbage, not chopped, there was some green, and the dressing was much more subtle in both taste (not as tart or sweet as KFC), and not watery), So, on balance, we definitely preferred Texas Chicken. And, finally, for both meals we shared a three-piece meal with one extra side.