I always find myself being sentimental around Chinese New Year, mainly because I'm away from home and I'm missing all the great food you get, like yee sang and Peking duck. I try to go back to Auckland for Chinese New Year at some point during the 15 day celebration - even if I do miss the actual day of Reunion Dinner, we usually do have one and its meaning isn't diminished in any way.

This year, though, my parents are back in Malaysia and I was feeling a bit lonely when my flatmate suggested I do something special for myself. And that snowballed into making my own Reunion Dinner. I've never cooked for that many people before but it turned out well!





I know these may not necessarily usually be associated with Chinese New Year foods but I'm not that great a cook :(

To top it off for dessert, we had vanilla ice cream with Alphonso mango puree, and Jono's chocolate birthday cake.

In any case, wishing you all Gung Hei Fatt Choi in the year of the Dragon!

Another one of my end of year summaries.

I often get asked if I would move back (or when I'm moving back) to Auckland for work. A few months ago, I thought about how hard it would be to leave what I have now - a good job, great friends, a good flat and flatmate, 15 minutes to anywhere in town, badminton on Saturdays, Strawberry Fare - and many other things. I thought about how awkward it would be if I went back to Auckland, but only because I hadn't been back since Easter and it felt like I'd drifted apart from people. I know I complain a lot about Wellington, especially about the weather and the lack of good Asian food, but the city is neat and compact, it has character and most importantly, after 4 years, it's finally feeling more like home.

I was in Auckland last weekend for a friend's wedding (I missed that big 5.7 earthquake too). Two of my other friends at the wedding were in a similar situation to me - they felt like they'd drifted apart from various people there and were wondering if it was going to be awkward seeing them again after so long. But it wasn't. We just slotted back in naturally and it felt like nothing had changed. It felt good. It was good to be reminded that strong friendships endure time and distance, and for that I'm thankful.

The wedding was amazing. The bride was an hour late - I know it's the norm for brides to be late to a wedding but Jo has never been known for her punctuality anyway, so it was a compounding effect. The ceremony was nice and the food was delicious. Jo had set up a candy bar for people to take away a sweet reminder of the day - such a great idea! I want a candy bar at my wedding. After cleaning up the church, we went to the reception restaurant to begin preparations for the night's dinner.

And what a dinner. Buffet style, unlimited oysters. I had 10! No regrets. The seafood was fresh and juicy, the roast pork, chicken and beef were sumptuous and the salads were light and refreshing. There was two different kinds of cheesecake for dessert - one was lemon, the other was some kind of chocolate concotion, I think. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but it tasted like there was some kind of berry flavour. In any case, I was lucky I didn't overeat because it was time to break it out on the dance floor. Party rock - whoo!

I caught up with my school mates at Sun World for yum cha. And again, there was no awkwardness (apart from the natural awkward aura that Tom provides) - we just chatted like old times. Food was top notch as usual. We went our separate ways and I went to catch up with my sister. I haven't seen my nephew in so long - he's grown so much and he is still absolutely adorable. He's a bouncy baby and smiles back at you when you smile at him. It was so cute when he tried to grab the cat - I feel sorry for the poor cat, as my nephew is just clutching whatever his little hands can grip: whiskers, ears, fur, tail!

My flight was quite late so my parents and I went out for dinner at KK with some relatives who were visiting from Brisbane. I hadn't seen them in around 10 years and I was shocked to see how much the three girls had grown. I wouldn't have been able to recognise them in the street. It was good to see them again and of course, the food really hit the spot. Why can't we get nice things like that in Wellington!?

Photos from this brief but very enjoyable trip to Auckland in the gallery.

It's a sunny and peaceful Monday morning, the morning after the Rugby World Cup 2011 finals match. I think the nation sighed a collective sigh of relief last night, which erupted into jubilance and excitement as thousands of people streamed onto the city streets, partying loud and hard into the early hours of the morning - some probably still going as I type. It was amazing.

The day started out kinda poorly for me. I was aiming to get to church but I've been sniffly for the past few days and wasn't feeling great at all. I was quite lethargic throughout the afternoon, but had enough energy to beat the last boss in Final Fantasy X-2 (and no, the story isn't over, it's New Game+ time!). I was about to doze off for a nap before hitting the fanzone when Jono texted, trying to arrange some board games before meeting up. We ended up playing Forbidden Island for a while before donning our black attire and heading into town.

Our original plan was to try and get a table at Mac's Brewery but it seems a lot of other people had the same idea. We eventually settled for Electric Avenue - cheap food, cheap drinks, a table right in front of the TV and direct access to Courtenay Place for the ensuing mayhem - if we win then that's great, if we lose, then we can go looting, said Jono. We killed around three hours there, eating and playing card games. By the time 8.30pm rolled about, the bar was packed and we knew the atmosphere was going to be awesome.

I remember seeing aerial footage of the All Blacks bus arriving at Eden Park, and hundreds of people lining the streets to cheer the All Blacks on. As the team stood in the corridor, waiting to enter the field, everyone began applauding and cheering. Despite being so far from the action, we all knew that our hearts were there with everyone at Eden Park, united in spirit to cheer on the All Blacks. We all joined in with our voices as the national anthem played, and again the emphatic applause and cheering after the haka. Who could have realised what a thrilling game was ahead...

Emotions ran high and low throughout the game. We celebrated our only try. We anguished over Cruden's injury. We gasped in terror as Dusautoir crossed the line. I'm pretty sure I was close to this around 70 minutes:
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
As the clock continued ticking, we held on to hope that we'd be able to defend just that bit longer. A score of 8 - 7 to the All Blacks could have easily become 10 - 8 to France if they got close enough for a dropgoal or if they got a penalty.

At five minutes to go, the crowd at Electric Avenue began chanting, willing the All Blacks to keep their defense strong. Anxiety was slightly relieved as we turned the ball over and began an attack on the French. With ten seconds on the clock to go, I started a countdown, to be joined by everyone around me, everyone holding their breath and waiting for that last play to finish. At the final whistle, a thunderous roar of approval echoed through the room as we celebrated a close win over the French. People jumped and threw their hands up in the air, we screamed and shouted and high-fived. We hugged and fist-pumped. It's been 24 long years and 2011 is the new 1987.

The same enthusiastic applause and cheering continued while the presentation began, with the volume peaking when Richie McCaw, Piri Weepu, Dan Carter and Graham Henry all received their medals. As Richie took center stage, the whole country must have risen to their feet and yelled in approval as he lifted the Webb Ellis Cup in victory.



We took to Courtenay Place shortly after, joining thousands of people arriving from all over the city to sing and dance and shout. Crowds had gathered around drummers and street musicians. People were still proudly waving their black flags and banners of support. I've never seen so many people in Wellington (probably because I don't go out for the Sevens Weekend). What an awesome night. Gallery pictures available here. Congratulations to the All Blacks - you've done the country proud.

Yesterday I completed Final Fantasy X after spending 141 hours on it. I defeated Penance and Nemesis, maxed almost all my stats and got all the Celestial Weapons, Crests and Sigils (I hate you, Chocobo Races). The ending was still as poignant and emotional as it was when I played FFX 10 years ago.

My strategy for Penance:

• I used Yuna, Kimahri and Rikku. Using Yuna was a mistake because Nirvana deals damage based on her MP and Penance's Immolation attack does heavy MP damage. I should have used someone with Counter Attack, like Auron.
• Rikku and Yuna had Dispel and Quick Pockets, Rikku and Kimahri had Use. All three had Quick Hit.
• Everyone had max stats except for Luck, and HP above 50000. Luck was at 89.
• Yuna's armour had Break HP Limit, Auto Haste, Auto Protect and Ribbon. Kimahri and Rikku had Break HP Limit, Auto Haste, Auto Protect and Auto Potion.
• When the battle started, Rikku Mixed Ultra NulAll, which additionally provides the effect of five Cheers, reducing physical damage from Obliteration. The next turn, she used Three Stars to reduce the party's MP cost to zero. All this time, Kimahri and Yuna Quick Hit the arms to prevent them from attacking. During the entire battle, the only time the arms got to attack was once when the Left Arm cast Slowga, which Auto Haste protects against.
• When my HP got low, Rikku's Overdrive (Comrade mode) had already recharged, so I Mixed Trio of 9999, which lets Potions heal for 9999. I Quick Pocket some Mega Potions with Yuna and get Rikku to use a Stamina Tonic to boost the party's HP to 99999.
• While there are no arms, I attacked the main body. After three million HP, Penance loses its tail and gains Haste which I dispelled using a Purifying Salt.
• In its new form, Penance uses Immolation which deals around 7000 damage with Ultra NulAll and Protect, but also causes Full Break and 999MP damage. I got Yuna to cast Dispel on the affected character and continue Quick Hitting the arms or the body as necessary.
• When Rikku and Kimahri dropped below 50000 HP, Auto Potion triggered for 9999 HP recovery, meaning Immolation can never kill them as long as Full Break is dispelled.
• When Yuna drops below 50000 HP, I get her to Quick Pocket some Potions or Mega Potions to heal the whole party. Occasionally I give her a Turbo Ether so she can cause 99999 damage with Quick Hit, but generally you can just keep her hitting the arms.
• Immolation triggers Kimahri's Counter Attack, so I get a free 99999 damage every so often.
• Eventually after a total of 12 million HP damage, you get this:

Anyway, I managed to catch the All Blacks vs France game as well. Fantastic game, though a bit of a nervous start. Congratulations to Richie McCaw on his 100th game for the All Blacks, and hopefully he can lead us to victory.

We better bloody win.

And finally, today I went to see the Lion King in 3D. The 3D was not intrusive or overly noticeable at times, which was great, but more importantly, all the things which makes the Lion King so awesome remained intact. The magnificent score, the songs, the humour, the dialogue... amazing. Brought a tear to my eye :P

So now that FFX is done and dusted... I guess it's time to get my X-2 on. What can I do for you!?

So yeah, okay, blog post mentioning the World Cup. My wall on Facebook is filled with RWC-related hate and excitement, and it was abuzz about it even before the opening ceremony had started. I saw bits of the fireworks on television last night - they looked really amazing and I wish I was there to see it live. I did, however, catch the game against Tonga and luckily, started watching just before the hakas began. I've never seen the country this patriotic before, and you can definitely feel the hype in the air as you walk through town. I think the atmosphere will be amazing if we win - and I really hope we do.

In slightly related news, Sidhe's Rugby Challenge game hit the stores a few weeks ago and we've topped the New Zealand games charts. I wasn't on the development team for it, but I did make this nifty database exporter tool that they used. Yay. We had a launch party celebrating its release last week, with many of my ex-colleagues turning up for what was a fantastic night, and on Thursday, we got our own Rugby Challenge t-shirts. The Latin phrase "durum candidumque domi ludit" is written on the front, and it means "playing hard and fair at home".

Work has been tough for me lately. I spent a few late nights last week trying to wrap up some features and bugs. The end is in sight though, and I think we can make next Friday's deadline, though it depends on whether the company that we're doing this for can get their act together and deliver the final bits of information to us. The game will be our first social game on iOS and I'll be the first to let you know when you can download it.

Badminton time!

Took a drive with Char up to Brooklyn, then picked up Jono and went to Karori. It's madness! I've never actually seen anything like it. Totally amazing. This weather is set to continue over the next few days apparently - whoohoo!

So for the past three or so weeks, I've tried growing my facial hair out, just as an experiment to see if I can grow a decent beard - which everyone knows, is vital to a person's programming ability. It's been received well at work; best compliment was from Dale ("Woah JLai, you look like you're 25 years old"). My parents were a bit shocked to see me unshaven though. I don't know how long I'll keep it. It's getting a bit itchy and long, and I will need to trim it to stop it looking gross.

Work is going well. Still busy. Thanks to this article, I can say I'm on the team working on the "social smartphone game". Whoo.

Portal 2 is going well. I'm in this large underground cavern with water and large broken spherical objects, and a tower with stairs leading to the top. The game is clever and humourous, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

Final Fantasy X is also progressing. I've just finished Bevelle and I'm rolling around the Calm Lands now. Eventually I'll have to do the stupid Chocobo Racing...and those butterflies...and blitzball. Blerg.

Oh yeah. I'm on Google+.

It's hard to believe it's July already. On one hand, we're getting to the coldest part of the year - this week has been absolutely freezing. On the other hand, the days are supposedly lengthening, but we won't actually notice a difference until much, much later. It's still depressing getting up in the dark and coming home in the dark.

Work has been incredibly busy. I'm finding myself having more responsibility, which is great and all, but it means I have to attend more meetings when sometimes all I want to do is just sit and program in silence, har har. Despite being busy though, I'm still enjoying where I am and what I'm doing.

I had Burger King for dinner for the first time in ages, and I'm reminded why I don't eat Burger King often.

It's gross.

Now that I have heaps of time on my hands, I've lined up a healthy set of games to keep me occupied: Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2 (don't hate), Final Fantasy XII, Kingdom Hearts and my most recent purchase, Portal 2, thanks to a Steam Summer Sale. That'll keep me going for a few months!