CityBeat - Te Waha Nui Online

by Bex Appleton

A pregnant woman was questioned and reprimanded by a bartender when she ordered a light alcoholic beverage at an Auckland bar recently.

What use to be seen as a ‘no no’ for pregnant women now appears to be slipping into an acceptable trend, with the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow being seen drinking a beer while pregnant with baby number two.

Studies show 50 per cent of women in New Zealand believe drinking some alcohol during pregnancy is acceptable. Read more

by Michele Coelho

News of an earthquake next to NZ, and the danger of an impending tsunami almost meant Auckland city would be destroyed.

The earthquake took place 475km south of NZ near an archipelago known as the Auckland Islands.

But to some parts of the world, the news was that the tremor had happened next to Auckland city. Read more

by Michele Coelho

Excuse me, Sir? Where can I find a New Zealand restaurant?

That is one of the many question visitors, backpackers and international students ask as soon as they arrive here.

But getting an answer to that question is harder than you may think. Read more

by Lydia BrewerThe ‘leaders’ of the world met in Sydney for the much anticipated Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit earlier this month.

Along with other important global issues, sustainability and climate change was on the agenda.

So, with the amount of carbon emissions being produced by Read more

by Lydia Brewer 

A deathly silence descends upon homes across the world…

The phone doesn’t ring any more.

The ringing telephone has been replaced with the clatter of keyboards and dull hum of computers.

It has been replaced by a myriad of social networking sites, text messaging and email. Read more

by Dan Satherley

You know what sucks harder than disco? Moving house.

The older I get, the more crap I accumulate, and the more crap I accumulate, the older I feel when it comes time to move it all.

I distinctly remember a time when all it took to relocate was two hours’ packing and a dozen beers for the use of a mate’s car and lifting prowess. Read more

by Myrddin Gwynedd

Superstitions - they’ve been around longer than the old wives themselves, but they still manage to influence us to this day.

Do you avoid walking under a ladder, or touch wood to ward off misfortune? It may not be logical, but underlying these irrational beliefs are centuries of long-forgotten ways of thought.

Superstitions centre around an irrational belief that a specific object, action, or circumstance will indirectly influence the outcome of certain events that occur thereafter. Read more

by Veronica Johnston

Westfield opens its new $210 million 7ha mall in Albany this week.

The 142-shop mall will generate 1500 new retail jobs with 10 theatres, Farmers, K-Mart, New World and onsite parking for 2300 cars.

The new mall is just south of the North Harbour Stadium opposite Massey University. Read more

by Carmen Stella

For many girls an outing to the mall is supposed to be a blissful experience, especially if you have money to spend.

However, this wasn’t the case when I set out to Takapuna mall last Saturday.

It was the first weekend in many that I did not have any dreaded assignments to procrastinate over, so I could actually go out…guilt free. Read more

by Niko Kloeten

The fights are scripted, the acting is cheesy and the lycra speedos are vomit-inducing.

But millions of people worldwide still tune in to watch WWE, the world’s largest professional wrestling brand.

WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) is a billion-dollar corporation that owns the Raw and Smackdown television franchises, as well as ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling). Read more