Distraction
Thursday February 28, 2008
I've been a little late in blogging, and I blame this entirely on Apollo Justice. It's not as captivating as Phoenix Wright, I must say, but it is still captivating and I have been playing it every night.
Anyway, on Sunday I went for yum char with Laura (again) and her friend from Uni. At the same place. With the awesome durian tarts :3 We got to have a lot more variety this time, including an awesome mango pudding, that tastes like REAL MANGO!!
Today I met up with Ritu for lunch, and we went to this place on Courtenay Place called R&S Malaysian restaurant. I wasn't sure what to have, so I ordered nasi lemak.
It was nice..until I found a hair in the rice. So I'm not going back there again ^^
Debs and Denise arrived from Auckland today as well, so I took them around to the Civic Centre and to Reading Cinemas for dinner. Then we went back to their hostel, where I played piano! Yay! It was such a calming and relieving experience, to be able to play the piano and to feel the music fill the air. Ahhhhh. I'm satisfied.
Posted by Jeremy at 8:25am on Thursday February 28, 2008 :: 0 comments :: 
Sidhe Interactive
Friday February 22, 2008
Today kinda reinforced how cool my job is. I mean, apart from the gaming and the coding (which are two of my biggest passions), we get perks. Perks like...
1. Free soft drinks. Our soft drinks fridge was restocked today. I had a Schwepps ginger beer, and it was so good.
2. Brownies. We got brownies today. And they were delicious. Absolutely delicious. Being near the food table means I have ready access.
3. Ice cream. We got ice cream on a cone today. And it was hokey pokey and neopolitan. It was a pretty hot day, and ice cream is pretty awesome on a hot day.
Sidhe is awesome.
Posted by Jeremy at 6:49am on Friday February 22, 2008 :: 0 comments ::
GOTCHA!
Thursday February 21, 2008
Apollo Justice is out! The fourth installment of the Ace Attorney series is here for the Nintendo DS. In addition to the awesome shout phrases from the original Phoenix Wright series, we have [GOTCHA!]. Thanks to Steven, I can now play my unofficial copy of Apollo Justice!
Anyway, been up to a few things lately. Uncle Paul came down to Wellington on Tuesday to visit the Gormons at Wellington Hospital. Auntie Priscilla looks so frail, and she doesn't have very long left. It's inspiring to see Uncle Chris so strong in his faith. I took Uncle Paul out for dinner at the Mexican Cafe, near the hospital. Look at this delicious dessert, it's awesome:
In the Civic Square yesterday, they were protesting over the use of cluster bombs. It was quite a scene, they were getting people to lie down on the ground and they drew outlines in chalk. I wanted to get my silhouette done, but then I noticed they wrote the person's name down on the ground too. So uh, yeah. Pass.
We went back for more Ceroc lessons last night too. Mmm yeah, it wasn't as fun as the first time, but it wasn't as awkward as well. I dunno, I don't really want to go next week. We'll see though, I might get peer pressured again. Maybe I'll go for five lessons and get my sixth one free.
This morning, there was a power cut, causing all the buses running on electricity to come to a standstill. That is, the bus I was on stopped in the middle of the road and we had to get down and walk. We were lucky though, another bus came past and we all crammed in for free. I hope it doesn't happen too often -__-
Finally, I also picked up a goodie box, sent to Wilkins Suit Hire from Dress Circle Suit Hire. "Oh are you here to pick up some fabrics?" they said. "No", I replied, "I'm here for instant noodles!" Yeah, I was sent instant noodles, some Chinese tea, some sesame snacks and my ang pow. My parents are cool :3
Posted by Jeremy at 8:14am on Thursday February 21, 2008 :: 2 comments ::
Meat
Sunday February 17, 2008
Yesterday we had a flat barbeque. I suppose it's kind of a flat warming, since it's the first big party since the four of us moved in together. Despite the cold weather, the food and alcohol proved a big hit, and people were having a good time. So good in fact, that they started cranking out the Ceroc moves on the lounge floor. Yes. Quite.
At 10pm, we whizzed off to Te Papa to see the fireworks, as part of their 10th anniversary. Check the Gallery for the pictures I took.
Today I went back to the Streets for the morning service, with Andrew and Bjorn. I have to say, the morning service was a lot more welcoming and familiar than the night service, even if I didn't know any of the songs. It's a similar structure to KCC and we also had communion, which was good. Yeah, much better atmosphere in the morning...but it's still a little big and intimidating, haha.
After that, we met up with some others and had a barbeque/roast meat lunch. Roast duck, roast pork, barbeque pork and spicy chicken wings! :3
I also took the opportunity to try a honey milk tea, which was very average. Although it was better than the one from Cha (See my post a few days ago), it still doesn't compare to Momo's. Sigh.
Finally, I forgot to post this a few days ago, but here is the Wat Tan Hor I had from K.K. Malaysian Restaurant.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:10am on Sunday February 17, 2008 :: 1 comment ::
Walking Home
Friday February 15, 2008
I walked home for the second day in a row. It was a really good walk..until it started raining. Then it became a run. A not-so-good run. But at least I ran home in time to play DotA, which is always good. Yesterday, though, I stumbled upon this cute little thing:
It was so cute. I clicked my finger and it bounded towards me, all happy to see me, so I patted it...while trying to take another picture. It wouldn't face the camera though, but you can see my hand extending out to scratch it. So cute 8d
I finally got put on a project at work. So starting Monday, I actually have some hard-out things to do! Hooray. No more extensive reading of the Intranet Wiki. I also got to know some of the QA Team on the 9th floor. One of them has this:
Epic, epic win. It's so cute T_T.
Anyway, we also had a company quiz after work, because one of the guys was leaving. We didn't do too badly, we came second out of five teams. One of the categories was "Wellington" -.- and another category was "Southland". In the end, our prize was $15 to spend at a bar of our choice, and we gave that to the guy who left in the spirit of..his..leaving. Or something. Yeah.
Posted by Jeremy at 11:22am on Friday February 15, 2008 :: 1 comment ::
Lately
Thursday February 14, 2008
Lately I've been out of the flat a lot, so it was finally good to come home and play DotA with Weng Hao, Debs and Matt. Too bad the school kids couldn't join us... go to school and get a degree so you can get a cool job like mine!
Anyway, on Tuesday we went to another flat for dinner...friends of Andrew. Last night, I was peer pressured into going for Ceroc lessons. It was fun, but it was also the most awkward situation I have been in, in a long time. I was a bit late, and when I started, I had no idea what I was doing. And when you're the guy and you have to lead, and you don't know what you're doing, it means you tend to screw things up.
Anyway, we made a hasty exit from Ceroc to go to the pub, to drown our sorrows. Well, I didn't feel like spending $7 on beer, so I just sat around and chatted. We also went to McDonalds and I got a strawberry sundae there.
Hm, today is Valentine's Day (It's about time to end) and I got some chopsticks from Debs as a present. She got a box of Lindt as a present from me. Tomorrow is our first anniversary :3
As another week draws to an end, I finally got put somewhere at work. I think I'm going to be working on some internal framework, so while it won't directly affect the games you see on the market, it'll make a big impact to the games that we output. So I will try to sneak my name onto the credits some how.
Posted by Jeremy at 11:00am on Thursday February 14, 2008 :: 0 comments ::
Fail Milk Tea
Monday February 11, 2008
So yeah, I went to find this pearl milk tea place and I ordered a small papaya milk tea to go. Small, so that I wouldn't have to drink so much if it was crap.
Sure enough, it was crap.
Maybe their shaved ice will be better. They have Champagne and Grape :3
Posted by Jeremy at 5:35am on Monday February 11, 2008 :: 0 comments ::
Yum Char
Sunday February 10, 2008
Laura and I went for yum char today at this place on Courtenay Place, in Wellington. It was called Majestic Cuisine. Seems to be very popular with the locals - the restaurant was really busy and almost all the seats were filled.
Anyway, it felt so good having things that I had taken for granted in Auckland. One, chopsticks. My flat doesn't have chopsticks and I really miss the use of them, especially for cooking (like grabbing stuff out of the oven) and eating (instant noodles, not that I have had lots of those). Two, Chinese tea. Chinese tea is awesome, especially on cold days. I have it practically every day at home, but it just felt so good being able to drink Chinese tea.
I said I'd take some pictures for Casey, so here they are.
Cheong Fun, Tofu Fa, Chicken Feet
Durian Tarts!! OMG!!
Apart from the things listed above, we also had Siew Mai and fried taro pork dumplings. All in all, it was a really nice yum char.
Laura also showed me a place where I could get milk tea, but she didn't recommend it and said it wasn't as good as Momo's. OH WELL. I'll still try it out and get back to you later on this :O
Posted by Jeremy at 10:49am on Sunday February 10, 2008 :: 0 comments ::
First Week
Friday February 8, 2008
So it's the end of my first week at work. Good week, I'd say. Still training...I've been working on this application that animates shapes, just to get used to the company style of coding and its conventions, and all that. It's a bit slow though, because everyone's busy and all, and no one really has time to assess my work immediately, as such.
Anyway, I was introduced to everyone at show-and-tell on Friday. It was a "We have a new person, Jeremy Lai, he's standing over there" and a "...Hi..." in response. Eh. But show-and-tell is great, I got to see a bit of the projects currently in progress, and I can tell you now that they're really awesome. If I had a console, I would buy those games :O </shameless plugging>
I also had dinner with Ritu on Friday night, at an Indian restaurant. And that was nice, because she's like one of three people I know in the city. I should have taken a picture of what I ate (because that seems to be the thing with my CS friends) but I forgot. I had mango chicken, with a spicy level of "Indian hot", as opposed to "Kiwi hot". Yeah, it was pretty hot :p
As I walked around the train station, waiting for Ritu's train to arrive, I saw this epic failure:
Posted by Jeremy at 11:06pm on Friday February 8, 2008 :: 4 comments ::
Happy Chinese New Year!
Thursday February 7, 2008
Wishing you all a safe, prosperous and peaceful year of the Rat in 2008!
Anyway, I finally got my new pair of glasses today from OPSM. They feel very light and...omg I can totally see everything now -.- So for future reference, in case I forget, my powers are 150 left and 100 right.
Also, I walked home today. Health++;
In jeans. Comfort--;
Via a scenic route. Health++;
With lots of hills. Comfort--;
But it was nice and sunny (a huge change from the last few days) so overall, it was a good walk. I doubt I will be doing that again, at least not in jeans.
Anyway, it's nearing the end of my first week at work. I'm still training - I've just been programming a competency test and revising/refactoring my code so it conforms with company standards, and also learning how to make it well structured and extensible and all that jazz. Got to meet a few new faces today (because I have to report to the HR Manager tomorrow with their names).
Posted by Jeremy at 6:36am on Thursday February 7, 2008 :: 0 comments ::
PROPER INTERNET
Wednesday February 6, 2008
Well yes, it’s been a really long time now. When I last posted, I was paying 1c per kilobyte (Thanks Vodafone!) for using my phone as a modem. As a result, Vodafone think I owe them $150, but I’m certainly not paying and I intend to sort it out once and for all after Waitangi Day (Yes I have tried calling 777). BUT YAY INTERNET AT HOME!
Anyway, yes I did arrive safely in Wellington. It did indeed take us 10 hours from Auckland. We stopped over in Taupo for a quick toilet break (The lake was a beautiful rich blue colour), Turangi for fish and chips, and some random long drop on the side of the road about an hour out for Wellington (Ugh. I was lucky I had a blocked nose). Yeah, blocked nose. I ended up suffering from exhaustion and then a cold upon arriving, which was not ideal, but hey.
So yeah, I settled in alright, got everything set up. My parents were with me on Thursday morning and we took a quick ride up the cable car, went to the optometrist, explored Cuba Street…then they took off for Taupo (overnight stay, then Auckland on Friday). For the rest of Thursday, Friday and Saturday, I was just wandering around Wellington. Lots of interesting people were walking around for the Sevens. Went for a walk around the Botanical Gardens, went to Te Papa, saw the Beehive, walked around the city. I had Nasi Lemak at K.K. Malaysian Restaurant, Wellington :3 Sunday I just lazed at home (too much walking) but my flatmate Bjorn took me to church that night.
I walked in to the church with Bjorn and it immediately reminded me of WCCC. Very large, lots of people. I’d say almost everyone was under 30, and I was probably one of three Asians. We were a bit late, so I only caught two of the worship songs, but the second one we sang was “I stand in awe of you”, which was reassuring and comforting for its familiarity. I remember sitting in the chairs, listening to the sermon, feeling very reclusive and thinking about how I miss the friendliness of KCC, and how it’s nice and small and simple and so welcoming. I mean, it’s great that everyone’s so enthusiastic about God and worship here, but it just kinda creeped me out. I really want to find a small community church…I guess I feel less intimidated. Anyway, we didn’t stay long. I had a big day the next day…
Yeah so Monday was my first day at work. Sidhe is a really cool place. I walk in, and there’s people doing some hardcore programming, people in team meetings, people who have put aside their computer and instead are playing around with their creations on a Nintendo Wii. Like, seriously. We get to play with what we write :D I spent most of the day reading documentation and company policies and conventions and stuff like that, so it was kinda boring, and I was falling asleep towards the afternoon. But they sorted me out, and the next day I was completing a competency test (an extension to what I did when I applied for the job) just to make sure I had practice using the naming conventions and commenting styles. I was also given some homework, so I really should be learning all about C++ Templates and STL.
Anyway, I’m really glad I finally have Internet access. It’s like a connection to the world, to friends and family back in Auckland. It feels a little more relaxing and it certainly helps me to settle in better. I think once I get my new pair of glasses on Thursday, I’ll feel more confident too.
Pictures of Epic Win:
Posted by Jeremy at 12:59am on Wednesday February 6, 2008 :: 1 comment ::
HAHAHA INTERNET
Friday February 1, 2008
Yeah not quite, I just found out I can connect my Vodafone mobile to my computer and use it as a MODEM!!! How cool is that!!!
Anyway, in a nutshell, I made a safe trip to Wellington with my dad. I drove to Turangi, and he drove to Wellington...all in all, around 10 hours with no real problems. After arriving, I suffered from exhaustion and dehydration, but that seems to have settled down.
The flat is cool, a bit dirty but it's nice. I have a big room (subject to change) and I've set everything up. I am missing DotA and IRC and all the wonderful little things that only the Internet can provide.
I'll update more once I get a proper connection. I'll also upload some photos from my new phone (Very good quality photos, I might add) as well as write in more detail.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:26pm on Friday February 1, 2008 :: 0 comments ::