In Mandarin, “puhoi” means “cannot” as in “woe puhoi” meaning “I cannot (do something)”. The name, Puhoi, in Maori, however, means “slow water” (referring to the tide coming all the way in from the sea) or “spring (water) coming from a long way away”. All through the valley, water comes in abundance all year round, from springs high in the hills, water hydraulically ‘driven’ by the ranges further north.
That 2nd full day we spent in Auckland, we made one last stop at that place and this was where we went – the Puhoi Valley Cafe & Cheese Store…
…and as the sign says…
…this is a place for cheese lovers.
You can see all kinds of cheese inside…
…and if you look at the top right hand corner of the above photograph, you may see the counter where they will let you try all kinds of cheese that they have.
I tried one of their blue varieties and I loved it a lot! It tasted something like our “long” salted fish…but I cannot remember the specific name now…
My friend’s hubby bought some of it and we had that for dinner on one occasion when we ate at home.
We had tea at Silverdale before we came so we did not want anything to eat there but we had ice cream instead…
We decided to try the medal winners…
– Melissa had the gold medalist…
…while I opted for the silver…
…and I loved it heaps! It was so very nice, simply out of this world, I must say…but one thing I noticed was that their ice cream melted kind of fast, so I had to be quick in slurping it all up! I also heard somebody saying that their chocolate would melt faster than our locally-produced ones.
There was a group of Asians at this place when we were there and from the way they spoke English, they probably came from somewhere in Malaysia. It did not matter than they were speaking rather loudly – after all, it’s a free country – but one thing that put me off was they were taking lots of photographs and out of the blue, one kind middle-aged/old lady offered to take a group shot for them. When she had done that, the guy took the camera back from her and remarked, “When I was in New York, the man ran away with my camera!” I did not hear him thank her or maybe he did but after hearing that, I wonder how the lady felt.
Well, this is really a nice place, I would say, with a very nice compound that is so very pleasing to the eye…
…and a good place to rest and relax and maybe have a bite to eat.
We only wanted the ice cream though and having had our fill of that, we went back to the car and headed on home for dinner…
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
well thats a lot of cheese haha
cheese seems synonymous to me hahaha perhaps im not familiar with those
Cheese = smile. 😉
that ice cream was simple yet seem so tasty
whoa im the first to comment huh
It was. I would say it was my favourite…among all the I had. Yup…you’re first! Still up, so late already?
Ice cream… yummz
That guy in the group that the lady took photos of – I guess that his “rather uncouth” way of saying thank you.
You know la, we Malaysians arent’t big on saying thanks to strangers one.
Shouldn’t we try and change that? Can’t be going round giving a bad impression of ourselves. I think the older generations were very refined, very lembut and very polite…especially among the Malays and the Peranakans – something must have gone wrong along the way. Good things we need to preserve and upkeep, bad things we have to try and change…and you young parents, make sure you do not neglect this part of the education of your children. Me? You can ask Shereen what my girl’s like…and I can say her son is such a very sweet and polite boy, true & true.
ahhh now i know what it means! haha anyway pu hui in hokkien means “on fire” usually like “body pu hui” hahaha =p
Heart, you mean? Here, we say “tok”…and when we say “sim tok hoi”, we mean we’re very angry.
Ello ‘heart on fire’ in katlumpor means ‘ki hiao’ aka gatal..haha juz kidding. There is only a 7 year itch no got 60 year itch kakaka. ‘Pu hui’ and ‘tok hoi’ sama sama ‘pu’ is floating and ‘tok’ is starting. Sorry henrytan, Bananaz kaypo a bit answer on your behalf.
Oh!!! I see!!!!! Penang Hokkien uses “float”. I guess it’s the same as in Malay – naik marah…
Blue cheese? Eeekkk….I tried that once when I was a little girl and it was awful for me 😦 I guess I don’t like strong cheese. I only take cheddar (in sandwiches) and mozzarella (in pizza), other than that it’s no thank you. I agree with you that we Malaysians should make an effort to change. There’s no harm saying thank you to a stranger who has helped you. I think we are lacking in this area. Even saying thank you to your spouse when he or she did something nice for you is much encouraged.
True, how very true. One thing about the whites, they’re very nice – some would even greet you as you pass by them on the street or even smile, say thank you when you hold the door or the lift for them…or give way to them…compliment you on what you wear (e.g. the red colour of my sweater) even though they do not know you etc…etc…etc… I really wonder why we cannot be like that here. Try holding the door of the lift to let everybody out first…and see how many will say thank you to you. Chances are…none! And they leave you feeling like some lift attendant! Tsk! Tsk!
Ya…I had blue cheese before and I would not say that I enjoyed it…but this particular variety was very very nice. First time, liking blue cheese…
nice play, nice view, nice cheese, nice ice cream.. 🙂
Yes, everything’s nice! 🙂
ooopsss.. nice place i mean.. but perhaps you went there to play also, so nice play also not wrong, hahaha!! 😀
Play what? >.<
play with your balls~~ >,<
Oooo….an indecent proposal? Wink! Wink! LOL!!!
The ice cream…looks super good.
It most certainly was. Of all that I had when I was there, I think this one’s the best!
Woe puhoi Engrish slow water runs long since no still water. Bananaz got a feeling the ice cream there must be yummy. Yes?
Very creamy, very rich…really out of this world! Yum! Yum!
wow the place where this cafe and cheese store is located is so beautiful! I’m sure you enjoyed yourself there! Happy New Year Arthur!
I most certainly did! You should hop over someday. Bet you’re gonna love it there too. 🙂
Wow so many types of cheese!
I think I am going to love this place too! Especially the ice cream~
Wouldn’t mind going back there for more… 😉
I don’t know what I like more your pic of the silver medal ice cream or the green green scenery. 🙂
I love them all… 😉
Must at least say thank you to the lady. There are 3 most powerful magic words, Thank You, Sorry and I Love You. I always hammer these into my girls’ brain now.
You can add one more to the list – “Please…”
Love the ice-cream, whether gold or silver…but the cheese not really into it. Beautiful compound with all the greens, certainly a nice place to relax. Lovely pix.
I’m not a fan of unfamilair cheese…but I loved the blue one here. Very nice.
I like cheese and ice cream..
there is a shop in KL that sell new zealand icecream..
Try it and it is very good…
Oh? What brand would that be? Had a low-fat, low-sugar one in Singapore once…of course, low on taste lah! Not nice.
I tasted one time before.. NZ ice cream.. something like Natural … forgot the name.. anyway, ice cream Italian, US, UK la.. anything goes with me well..!! hahahaa…
Love the scenery too.. but on the “running off with my camera” thingy, I surely wont say that to someone who is so kind to take photograph for me… it might be misinterpreted..
Yalor…like telling her he was worried all the while she was taking their photograph. 😦 The ice cream here is a lot creamier, so much nicer than the usual ones we have – definitely not the same.
New Zealand Ice Cream is just like any other ice cream eg. Baskin Robbins, Haagen Daz etc. They are factory made whereas this particular ice cream that Arthur tasted is an artisan ice cream. They use the best cream and best of everything else and are hand made. The quality is totally different and hence it melts faster than normal ice cream due to its high fat contents.
Yup! We had Kapiti…which was good but more or less like BR or HD, but this one that we had here really stood out – a cut above the rest. Very very very nice…but melted real fast. Lucky thing, did not get it all over my face and down the front of my shirt. Sure somebody so malu, would have pretended did not know me and made me walk home. LOL!!! 😀
New Zealand Ice Cream factory is just 15 minutes away from my place. 2 liters of ice cream for only $4.00 😉 Sometimes, the end cut ( not seconds ) sells for only $4.00 for 5 liters.
Yakah??? Why I had only two sticks of Kapiti the whole time when I was there? Tsk! Tsk! LOL!!! 😀
Aiyah, buat kotor perut only eat those ice cream! I mean why eat something that is quite common and one that you can get in Malaysia also. So little time but so many things still to eat!
Ya…have to go again! But the ice cream there a lot nicer…not like what we have here. Sibu, no BR, no HD some more, yunno… 😦
i’m a cheese-lover and a gelato-lover, so this would definitely be a good day for me! 😀
Don’t miss this place if and when you hop over to NZ then… 😉
Blue cheese can be very delicious if you can get past the smell.. hehe. We do enjoy our blue cheese a lot and would very often go hunting for very good ones every now and then.
Malaysians do tend to behave a bit weird ( jakun?) when they are overseas. You can spot them a mile away from their behavior and dressing and they tend to draw attention to themselves. They would also find every chance they can get to let you know that they are ‘well travelled’! This particular group that we saw in Puhoi really made me cringe. Not only they were loud, very chor-loh behaviour wise and extremely rude…so embarrassing! As we were leaving the place, there was this Caucasian boy who went to their table and asked one of them if the toy that he found in the playground was theirs, and this middle aged lady just grabbed the said toy from the boy and started scolding her little boy loudly ignoring the poor flabbergasted Caucasian boy. Not a single person at that table actually thank the boy for his trouble!
I guess “Thank You” does not exist in their vocabulary. Hmmm…hope I did not give any such impression – this jakun from the Borneo jungle….or maybe I did – because I took photographs of virtually everything!!! Like never seen anything before. LOL!!! 😀
No la! You definately not like ‘that’ at all. You are so nice and so pleasant. Even the kiwis can learn a thing or two from you 🙂
Blush! Blush! Thank you, thank you… 😉
The ice cream looks good…
It was. VERY good!
Cheese and red wine, perfect match.
wow…read shereen’s comment on the ice cream, they use the best cream, means fattening too? I can imagine how rich and creamy the ice cream is. Melt fast? Sure cannot give to my boys. hahahhaha
Hah!!! If I could manage, anyone could! Shereen was horrified to see my t-shirt – all kinds of colours – that morning we arrived in Auckland from KL en routeto Wellington…and it was a smooth flight!!! So horribilis!!!! Muahahahahaha!!!!!!
Lovely ice cream shot. Would have gone gaga over the different cheeses.
Hmmm….kinda rude of that bunch of people. Sigh.
Ya, I guess it takes all kinds to make the world… 😦
if i were you, i’d like to answer the guy, “who ask you to be so hillbilly in new york leh?”
They certainly behaved somewhat hillbilly – so loud, so uncultured… 😦
Yummmm…..would love a taste of that ice cream
Out of this world!!! 😉
I love the cheese post and the place. I’ll have gone for the silver medal winner too.
That anecdote left me with a bad taste in my mouth though. Ugly tourists.
It sounds like a variant of “name dropping” (except this is “place dropping”) showing how well traveled the person is. That’s just secondary though, the primary thing is that:
They were just plain RUDE!
For an unsolicited kind act from a random stranger and to be commented upon like that, it leaves a bad impression of tourists of that kind, even if it was said in jest.
Yes, that guy certainly had a peculiar sense of humour. Can’t stand such brash and loud people, kinda inconsiderate, I would say – not that they were some of those not very well-educated but very rich immigrants from China. Behaviour like this from the likes of those would be quite excusable.