Starcraft II is now complete (bare minimum) with a plethora of achievements still to go, and I think three branched missions to try just for fun.

I was a little disappointed with the final FMV, I was expecting something a little more than that, but the game on the whole was awesome and I thoroughly enjoyed the campaign. Can't wait for Heart of the Swarm!

INTERNET AT HOME!

YAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!

This means more Starcraft II! Less staying at work! More lolcats! More information! More connectedness to people! More excuses to stay at home and shy away from social gatherings!

Just got back from Inception, movie was great, blahblahblah. I don't really want to talk too much about it yet, but all I'll say is that it is very worthwhile seeing, it's interesting and action-packed and definitely a thumbs-up from me.

Also hot off the weekend was a visit from Cinta, Jo and Alice. I took them to the best food places in Wellington: Chocolate Frog Cafe, Cosa Nostra (Cinta got a free tiramisu!) and Strawberry Fare, of course (two new desserts!). The weather was great on Saturday so we spent a bit of time driving around the bays and enjoying the sun, but on Sunday, the wind really picked up and gave them a good gale of what Wellington wind can truly feel like!

Sweet toasted zerglings, this game is amazing.

I have to resort to playing at work because we still don't have Internet at home, but hey. A game is a game.

The big move from the Villa happened on Saturday, and thankfully the weather held out for a brilliantly sunny day, so all our furniture and belongings stayed dry.

Okay, that's about all the positive things I can say about my weekend.

We rushed like hell to complete the day's activities by 4pm, as that was the time stipulated by the letting agency as the time we needed to hand in our keys to their office in order to be done with the tenancy. After making it to Taranaki Street at 3.50pm and illegally parking, I found out that the bloody office had closed (I knew it was going to happen, somehow :/). After some frantic calls, we got the okay from the property manager to hand in the keys today, which was fine, but it doesn't excuse the fact we had to rush around on Saturday for no reason.

The property itself is okay. It will take a bit of getting used to. There are two problems I have issues with.

Firstly, I found out that my room doesn't have curtains, so it's all open for the world to see. There was a detached rail and curtain that I tried to hook up to these flimsy clip things by the window, but three people who looked at it couldn't figure out how to attach the rail. While this isn't as annoying as the second issue (see below), it's still very awkward.

I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to unlock the *&^#!~$ door. Apparently you need to shove it in and quickly turn the key, but regardless of what black magic you need to do to get it working, I am not going to stand there for 10 minutes trying my luck at opening my front door. This morning, I woke up early knowing I would have issues with the door, and sure enough, as 8.25am rolled around, I was getting seriously pissed off at the reluctance of the door to unlock.

I had to climb out the *^!@%# window. It was the angriest I have ever been.

I hereby christen my new flat, "the Jail".

The time has come to write my closing statements sitting from my desk at the Villa. It has been a really good 14 months living here, despite being so far away from everyone and everything. I'll miss the luxuries of a dryer and dishwasher too...ha, I've been spoiled. Anyway, Internet will be gone for [however many days it takes XNet to reconnect me], which means I'll also be missing out on the Starcraft II launch on Tuesday. Sigh.

It's been a tough few weeks for me, there's been so many things to organise in and out of work, so many things to worry about and plan for; however, there is light at the end of the tunnel and lots of events to look forward to in the upcoming weeks.

Work has been going well, I've been very busy with some good old C# and WPF work. Plenty of things to learn and experiment with - totally loving it. Just got back from dinner with some workmates at New Kor as well, so things at Sidhe are pretty sweet at the moment.

Quick list of notable things:
- I took last Monday off on account of sickness. Ironically, there was some news about one day sicknesses.
- Briefly took a gander at the All Whites parade on Wednesday.
- Had yum char last Friday thanks to the continued success of Flick Kick Football at the top of the UK app store. Not so lucky this week though.

It's time for the half-year status check.

I've been pretty busy with Psypoke, helping to rewrite the news system and the admin panel, both running on code written six years ago by 18 Year Old Noob Jeremy, and also the GPCT code and marketing materials which I am very proud of, for the record. That intro flash is epic <3.

Since my last blog update, we've had Queen's Birthday where Richard and his girlfriend come down to visit, as well as Jono's girlfriend and her sister, and in amongst the typical sightseeing and random Disney singalongs, we went to Strawberry Fare for a night of delectable desserts.

Sidhe celebrated its 13th birthday with a night out at the Lanes on Wakefield, where we gathered in our drunken stupor to somehow make the bowling balls and pins connect. It was a great night with fantastic food - I just could not get enough of the seafood platter of prawns, scallops and mussels. There was also breads, dips, pestos, ribs, chicken drumsticks, mini cheeseburgers, squid rings... so good.

We've also been given the first hard copies of Shatter for PC, as well as the greatest game of all, Rugby League 3 for the Wii!

Our success with Flick Kick Football continues as we hit the #1 paid app in the UK store last week, as well as good rankings in other countries. In celebration, we were taken out to Little India for lunch on Friday, as well as showered with Haribo gummi bears. Tech planning for my dream project also kicked off last week, with lots of things to do to prepare for the core programming, so we'll see how things pan out as time passes.

I've been spending an increased amount of money on food lately. We've had a few visitors from out of town and friends organising dinners and drinks...all adds up. Last week we went to Strawberry Fare on Monday. Friday was Satay Kajang and Motel. Saturday was Foxglove, One Red Dog, Hashigo Zake and the Library. Today...well, today was nice and simple, we bought lunch from the supermarket. But still! Food and friends are great.

I've updated my Gallery with photos dating as far back as May, so check them out.

And finally, I need to find accomodation within the next three weeks. ¦[

While it's not yet officially done, we have announced the latest and hottest game for iPhone hitting the App Store sometime this month. Pik Pok Games proudly presents a thrilling and exciting game that channels the adrenaline and emotion of the Football World Cup 2010: Flick Kick Football!



Yay. It's what I've been working on for the past eight weeks or so, and while the basic principles of the game remain true to Flick Kick's branding, we've included more features that will distinguish it from the previous three Flick Kicks. A must-have for all the football nuts out there.

Also, I cannot for the life of me appear to be able to win a Starcraft match. Sigh. ._.

I've been to two birthday dinners this week, and boy am I stuffed. First was at Cinta with Charlotte, second at the Flying Burrito Bros with Ritu, both with lots of people and food and delicious moist cake. Ritu's cake was from Cha, which surprised me because I heard the Cha cakes were traps, but apparently not. The cream does taste rather artificial though, so as long as it's in moderation, it's okay.

I'll be burning off all that food at the badminton court tomorrow anyway.

Last night at 1am, the couple in the apartment above me decided it would be the opportune moment to have a domestic argument, firing F-Bombs every second word for a good 30 minutes or so. Being in the semi-conscious state I was, my first thought was "oh geez I hope I don't have to call the cops" followed by anxiously waiting for gunshot sounds. Sigh.

My horrendously bad Starcraft II streak continues. FML. I'm pretty sure I'm the worst player at work :(!

The weather has taken a turn for the worse, with bitterly cold wind and rain attacking the city for most of the week. Today was the first day I had to wear my polyprops. I have to say, the awesome jacket and gloves I bought from Hong Kong have definitely come in handy! I don't know how I survived last winter without something as snuggly and warm.

Google's logo has changed to an interactive game of Pacman that triggers when you "Insert Coin". Epic win.

I just downloaded and watched the youth skit that the Ignite crew put on for the service on May 16th 2010. Great job guys! I felt compelled to share that with you.

I'm tired. I just got home from badminton. Whee~!