Not Long To Go
Sunday May 19, 2013
The word "home" in English commonly means one's place of residence or a geographical area that one identifies with as their place of belonging. When I talk about home, my home is in Wellington, where I work and live. When I talk about home, my home is in Auckland, where I grew up and lived for 20 years of my life. When I talk about home, it's odd because I'm using the word in a way that many Malaysian expats will use it - our "home" is Malaysia. When we go back "home", we're returning to the motherland; and though I am officially a New Zealand citizen, Malaysia will always affectionately be "home", because it's where I was born.
The last time I was back in Malaysia was Christmas 2009/New Years 2010. It was full of fond memories... much of it spent enjoying the fantastic food, but also a great excursion to China and Hong Kong, and of course, seeing family that I had not seen in over 7 years. I'm always looking forward to long haul trips, and I can't wait to catch up with everyone and eat everything. People often have a list of things to buy or things to see when they go overseas - when you go to Malaysia, you have a list of things to eat. Whether it be the aroma of durian from pasar malam, or the anticipation as your favourite roadside cendol is prepared, or cooling off with some barley water as you wait for the bak kut teh or yong tau foo to arrive, or playing mahjong while your auntie prepares her famous nasi lemak - my favourite memories about Malaysia are often associated with food. It is such an important part of our culture and who we are.
It's been a while since I last blogged... Robot Unicorn Attack 2 has been out for almost a month now and is doing very well, with over three million downloads the last time I checked. We also released Turbo Racing League, a snail racer based off the DreamWorks Animation movie due out in July. Work has continued to be busy as I wrap up my duties before I leave for holiday.
At the start of the month I was in Auckland for Reuben and Shereen's wedding. Though the rain was torrential, the ceremony and reception were fantastic and it was great to catch up with people and celebrate the marriage of two of my good friends. I got to play piano at KCC's Sunday service and had a great time, and I got to see my nephew as well. It was a rushed weekend, but thoroughly enjoyable. The following weekend, Surya had made his way down to Wellington after graduating in a Masters of Science, so we went out for dinner at Ozeki and milk tea at Noah's Ark.
Finally, a decent milk tea place!
I went ice skating last night with Amy, Mitchell and Chloe. I was surprised at how good they were - it never really occurred to me that they had such hidden talents! The last time I had been ice skating was probably 10 years ago, at Sunway Pyramid in Malaysia, so it was a very awkward start to getting back on the ice. I've never really been one to ice skate or rollerblade or do anything graceful like that, so for most of the hour I was clumsily flailing like a moron around the rink. Despite my frantic yelling and panicked expressions, I had a good time and was proud that I bailed only once during the time I was there, and furthermore, only Mitchell was around to witness my elegant barrel roll, from which I recovered quickly and nonchalantly resumed skating.
It's now only four more sleeps until my flight back "home". Still many things to sort out and people to catch up with before I leave - exciting times ahead!
Posted by Jeremy at 11:42am on Sunday May 19, 2013 :: 0 comments :: 