E-NEWS 4TH JULY 2025
Written by the staff in the St Andrew’s on The Terrace office
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A Recipe for Community
Hi everyone, I’m Adelina, the Centre Manager here at St Andrew’s on The Terrace.
I grew up in Hong Kong, a busy city full of people, energy, and great food. Weekends were often spent shopping, watching movies, and eating out with friends or family. At home, my parents loved to cook and often invited guests over. Food, in our home, was more than fuel, it was a way to connect.
That love of food and culture stayed with me. I enjoy travelling, trying new cuisines, and cooking when I can. Just last weekend, I saw a French film called All Stirred Up. It’s about a schoolgirl entering a cooking competition with little chance of winning until the whole village comes together to support her. A French chef, her mentor, says something I won’t forget:
“Cooking well isn’t enough. The ingredients must tell the story of your people, your culture, your history.”
That really spoke to me. Whether it’s cooking, working, or serving in the church, what we bring to the table matters. Community, culture, and respect are what hold us together.
As Steve Jobs once said:
“Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.”
I’m grateful to be part of such a team here, where everyone brings their own strengths, and together we create something meaningful.
Blessings,
Adelina Reis, Centre Manager (who’s happy to cook!)
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Hi everyone,
My name is Jemma and I am the Parish Administrator here at St Andrews on The Terrace. I have been working here at St Andrews for over a year now and prior to that I have had the last few years off on maternity leave caring for my son Arley, who is now 4 and a half (and who some of you may have met on the odd occasion he has been in the office.)
We spend a lot of our free time going on small weekends away, in summer we enjoy going camping, and in winter we usually head to Queenstown or Ohakune to catch the snow and head up the mountain for a weekend. Arley is lucky enough that he has been overseas very often to the Gold Coast in Australia, since he was about 8 months old, where we have family and our bestfriends that live there (who doesn’t love free accommodation) and most recently we have been to Fiji, which was probably our favourite so far. We got to go snorkeling, paddle boarding, spent days on different smaller islands, trying fresh coconuts and we were lucky enough to form some great friendships with some of the locals who worked at the resort and who showed us around on one their days off. We chose to stay about an hour and a half away from the airport on the Coral Coast as we wanted more of a chance to see what Fiji was like outside of all of the popular resorts. Fijian people are very welcoming and so happy to share in their culture, we loved it.
Adelina, Germaine and I went for Yum Cha at lunchtime today a few doors down from the centre, very good food and even better conversation!
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Hi everyone! I’m Germaine, the Centre Assistant here at St. Andrew’s, and I work alongside Adelina and Jemma in the office.
Outside of my time in the office I honestly have a pretty simple life. I enjoy the simple things. I love food. I love cooking and eating – I don’t think you can be a good cook if you don’t enjoy eating. If I could spend my whole day eating and drinking I would! Growing up in a Filipino household I was always surrounded by food. Every meal was important and an event. I’m not even kidding. If you have Filipino friends or have ever been to a party hosted Filipinos – you know what I’m talking about. The smell of the Adobo and Kare-Kare (a rich strew off off cuts such as oxtail & tripe with a thick peanut sauce), the tower of fresh Lumpia stacked on a plate making its way from the kitchen to the dining room and of course the piece de resistance of any Filipino party, Lechon – a whole pig slowly roasted over charcoal. Maybe one day I’ll invite you all over for a feast!
My favourite day of the week is Sunday because it’s market day. I love heading in first thing in the morning with my partner to shop around for veggies & fruit for the coming week and stop by the Shelly Bay stand to get croissant (best croissants in the city), savoury scroll and a baguette to have for lunch. Afterwards, we make our way up Tory St. to shop for meat and cheese at Moore Wilsons. They have a gorgeous smoked farmhouse brie which gets devoured as soon as we get home.
I love art. Every time I’m in a new city or even one I’ve already been to before, I always make sure to put time aside to visit all the museums and galleries. I could spend all day in them! I love the French Impressionists. I still remember seeing a Monet for the very first time in person when I was about 7 or 8 on a school trip to Te Papa. It changed my life. My other favourite artists are David Hockney, Francis Bacon and Turner.
And of course, I love music. Other than food, I was also surrounded by music as a child. My mother learnt piano growing up and my Grandad could play every instrument under the sun. There was always music playing in the house, from the 50s to 80s. Lots of Bee Gees, The Carpenters, James Taylor and Carole King. I love the Beach Boys, Joni Mitchell, Chick Corea and Roy Hargrove. I’m also not ashamed to admit that I’m a big fan of Taylor Swift. On Sunday’s I like to tune into Gilles Peterson on BBC 6 Music weekly show. His vinyl collection is insane!
Despite having spent over half of my life playing violin and have received a BMus in performance, I actually don’t listen to Classical music that often in my spare time but when I do I’ll usually put on recordings of either Boston Philharmonic or Chicago Symphony under Ozawa. My favourite composers are Brahms, Stravinsky and Ravel. I adore Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major – the whip at the start!! Best concerto opening in my opinion.
I could go on and on about my other favourite things but I’ll leave it at that. I hope you’ve all enjoyed reading it!
Germaine
You can read the full E-news here: https://mailchi.mp/242091bf2d81/this-weeks-newsletter-from-st-andrews-on-the-terrace-10135497
