Farewell Las Vegas
Wednesday May 30, 2012
A city fit for the King of Rock and Roll
And whatever Queens of Pop they have these days - I can't keep up with that.
A place where the Jack Daniels flows freely
As the ten of thousands party
Till nine the next morning
Our flight leaves at eight but we've had an amazing time
Including a day trip out to one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.
At a depth of over six thousand feet in some points,
The Grand Canyon was a breathtaking five star out of five experience.
Our four night stay has gone by so quickly!
I wish it was three more.
The Bellagio Fountains, Mirage Volcano, Stratosphere, Eiffel Tower, Cirque du Soleil's O, the lights, the slots, the atmosphere... And those two buffets, oh boy.
Vegas, you're Ace. See you in New York.
Posted by Jeremy at 2:09pm on Wednesday May 30, 2012 :: 1 comment :: 
Fire and Water
Monday May 28, 2012
This city is really hot. I find myself at another McDonalds - this time at the one opposite Mandalay Bay. We've just walked in 30C heat to the famous "Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas" sign. Previously today we did the CSI Experience at MGM and looked at the sharks at Mandalay Bay, and yesterday went up the Stratosphere Tower, saw the Mirage Volcano and the Treasure Island Sirens, but the highlights of the city so far have been the Bellagio fountains and Cirque du Soleil's "O" show. Art, fashion, music, acrobatics and comedy come together in this spectacular show based in the watery stage at the Bellagio. Absolutely amazing and totally mesmerizing.
Tomorrow we will be taking a day trip out to the Grand Canyon!
Posted by Jeremy at 10:30pm on Monday May 28, 2012 :: 0 comments ::
Vegas, Baby
Sunday May 27, 2012
Our last day in San Francisco was pretty relaxed. Allison took us to this delicious sandwich place near the Castro called Ike's before dropping us at the airport. The flight was delayed and it also had to transit through Los Angeles so it wasn't until around 7.30pm that we landed in Vegas and around 8.30pm that we were ready to hit the Strip and find some food.
Vegas is amazingly colourful at night. As we walked down the Strip, we looked in awe at the massive hotel complexes and their accompanying neon light display, all lining the road in a brilliant display of fluorocolour awesomeness.
Also I'm at McDonalds using their wifi because the hotel doesn't have free wifi.
Posted by Jeremy at 5:53pm on Sunday May 27, 2012 :: 2 comments ::
Opaque
Friday May 25, 2012
Thursday was pretty relaxed. We took a look around the piers south of the Ferry Building. Not really that much to see; there were some monuments and a good view of the Bay Bridge, but the main feature of that area is the AT&T Stadium, home of the San Francisco Giants.
In the afternoon I pretty much just bummed around town since my feet were sore and I was feeling lazy. I eventually went back to the motel where Allison picked us up to go to a restaurant called Opaque.
Opaque is dining in the dark. The restaurant is underground and pitch black. You cannot see what you are eating (but you do order from a menu before hand so you at least know what most of the food items are). The serving staff are blind but they're awesome and chatty and really fun. The experience is surreal. When you take away your ability to see (and take photos) you must feel what your food is; you appreciate the textures of various foods - crispy pears, creamy aioli with a hint of wasabi, gorgeously thick chunks of beef tenderloin - and of course, the incredible flavours that tantalise your senses of smell and taste.
It's like nothing I've ever done before but the food was absolutely delicious and would highly recommend Opaque to anyone visiting San Francisco.
Allison took us to a club called Ruby Skye after dinner and we had a few drinks before hitting the dance floor briefly. It was fun but not really my scene. I was also reasonably intoxicated after three drinks of Southern Comfort and Sprite (works better with L&P actually).
Last full day in San Fran!
Posted by Jeremy at 4:04pm on Friday May 25, 2012 :: 0 comments ::
Fantabulous Times
Thursday May 24, 2012
So I did manage to track down the ever-elusive Steve Mariotti, who was my lead programmer on Rugby League 3, at Nihilistic Offices in Novato. It was great to see him after all these years, even if it was only for a short time. Also, Nihilistic have a cool office! There's heaps of cool concept art around the walls and newspaper clippings of media coverage they've featured in, several arcade games and a gummi bear dispenser!!
Today we returned to Japantown to find some Pokemon merchandise and zipped back to town to meet Allison for lunch at this delicious sandwich place. From there, we went to Alamo Square to see that shot of the houses from the Full House intro sequence, then to the pirate store on Valencia, and finally the Castro. Not as scandalous as the last time I was there, actually.
We met Allison for dinner and she took us up to Twin Peaks afterwards for some magnificent views of the city as the sun was setting. Despite the chilling wind, we managed to watch the light of the sun dim in the distance as the city lights began to flicker on. There was a beautiful crescent moon out and Venus the evening star close by.
This place is awesome.
Posted by Jeremy at 6:35am on Thursday May 24, 2012 :: 2 comments ::
Fawg
Tuesday May 22, 2012
We made our way to the Golden Gate Bridge yesterday to find it shrouded in the ever-famous San Francisco fog, naturally. While this made for good photos, it also made for a bloody cold trek across the bridge. However, as we began to approach the northern end of the bridge, the sun's brilliance began to shine through and we were treated to a glorious view of the entire bridge and the whole city from Vista Point.
From there, we headed southbound to Golden Gate Park and walked around Stow Lake and the Japanese Tea Garden. Most of the places there are closed on Mondays, so we missed out on a few things that we wanted to see. From there, we walked to Japantown... And boy, Japantown was AMAZING. So many great collectables and plushies and figurines from Pokemon and Mario and Kirby and all the other awesome things that Japan makes. Definitely have to go back there to explore tmore and hopefully try some of the cuisine there too!
Met up with Allison for dinner and drinks in the evening. Got a bit tipsy after three CC & Dry's. >_> Nevertheless, feeling great and non-hangovery this morning. I will be hitching a ride with Tobias soon to visit the Nihilistic office and explore the area, and hopefully track down a certain someone whom I haven't seen in three years!
Posted by Jeremy at 1:50pm on Tuesday May 22, 2012 :: 0 comments ::
Weekend
Monday May 21, 2012
Spent Saturday walking around the piers of San Francisco, from the ferry building to Fort Mason. Seen most of it before but we took a detour to Coit Tower and saw some amazing views of the city. Continued to Fort Mason, visiting Musee Mecanique and Fisherman's Wharf along the way and was surprised to find a wine tasting festival by the chocolate factory there. We returned to Pier 39 for the seals and some shopping, and of course, some delicious seafood for dinner. Not completely satisfied, we headed back to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert.
I met Tobias for lunch today. We took a walk around to the Haight to catch the tail end of the Bay to Breakers race, a crazy costumed 12km run from one side of the city to another. Think the Wellington Sevens except bigger, crazier and running instead of rugby. We settled at the Dolores Park to catch the annular solar eclipse. Armed with four pairs of sunglasses, we observed the day darkening as the moon obscured the sun to a magnificent crescent. Awesome stuff! There will be a lunar eclipse in two weeks and the transit of Venus too!
Posted by Jeremy at 5:17am on Monday May 21, 2012 :: 2 comments ::
San Francisco, we meet again
Saturday May 19, 2012
I am typing this from my brand new iPhone4S that I purchased from the Apple store on Market and Stockton. This is really hard. Anyway, flight was noisy and not that great, but I managed to get a bit of sleep and even watched the Lion King too! Arrived safely and made our way to the motel, which is near Chinatown. Had a bit of an explore around Union Square and indulged in a Mango and Key Lime Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory above Macy's. It was so good.
Stay tuned for more updates!
Posted by Jeremy at 3:04am on Saturday May 19, 2012 :: 4 comments ::
Excited about Extinction
Wednesday May 16, 2012
Do you love animals? Want to do your bit for conservation? Then grab your iPhone, iTouch or iPad and download EXTINCTION SQUAD! Travel the world in search of suicidal creatures and save them with your Extinction Squad trampoline and the guidance of the one and only, Chuck Darwin!
High five to Team XS, it has been an awesome four months working with you and I'm ecstatic to see this game finally out on the App Store!
PS: I am way too excited to sleep.
Posted by Jeremy at 12:54pm on Wednesday May 16, 2012 :: 0 comments ::
Counting Down
Wednesday May 2, 2012
So the project I've been working on for the past four months or so is finally in submission and we're just waiting for Apple to review it. Once that's done, it'll be out on the AppStore and you awesome people who actually read my blog will be the first to know about it. You get more points if you actually download it too. I can provide hugs and/or personalised thank you messages with the download if you so wish.
It hit me in the shower last night that my trip to the US is really close. I am really excited. Excited about the chance to travel and get away for a while. Really excited about the food. Reminiscing about all the delicious things I ate in San Francisco last year - especially that Key Lime and Mango Cheesecake, oh my goodness it was soooo good. Excited about friends I'll be catching up with and friends who I haven't met in person before. It's going to be amazing.
In short since my last update:
- saw the Avengers movie (it was awesome)
- finished the game Limbo
- still playing weekly badminton (two new recruits this Saturday!)
- average weekly alcohol consumption has increased (hopefully tolerance too)
- helped to ship a project I didn't work on (I actually just pushed buttons on a webpage) - this is now out on the App Store as DreamWorks Dragons: TapDragonDrop!
- sang "My Heart Will Go On" at karaoke on the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking, and scored 100% for it
- decoded a secret message that said two of my good friends are engaged (most convoluted way ever - but still better than updating your Facebook status) - congratulations to you both!
- started watching Adventure Time, Invader Zim and Samurai Pizza Cats
The days are quite short now and the cold has definitely set in. Winter is here :(
Posted by Jeremy at 7:51am on Wednesday May 2, 2012 :: 2 comments ::