Countdown to Christmas
Friday December 7, 2018
It hasn't quite hit yet, but the end of the year is rapidly approaching, and that means I'll be heading home to New Zealand very soon. I'm super busy at work, trying wrap things up before going on holiday, as well as preparing to speak to a bunch of high school kids about the games industry and what it's like to work at Ubisoft.
My badminton racquet strings broke. It was really sad. I ended having to borrow a racquet from the front desk but it had no grip and I was getting increasingly frustrated and played so badly. Luckily it was easy to get to the Eaton Centre and get it fixed, but it wasn't that long ago that I had it restrung.
I went to the Cavalcade of Lights at Nathan Phillips Square a few weeks ago. Every year they light up the Christmas tree there and have a big fireworks display too, it was pretty awesome to watch. Though it was cold and slightly wet, there were thousands of people crammed into the square, listening to the music and enjoying the festivities, and I love that kind of busyness in a city. It makes it feel alive and vibrant.
There's tons of Christmas parties coming up and I have to do some Christmas shopping... but it really isn't long until I'm off, and it's slowly beginning to hit...!
Posted by Jeremy at 5:01am on Friday December 7, 2018 :: 0 comments :: 
Winter is Here
Monday November 12, 2018
I've finally got some downtime to do some blogging - I'm sick, presumably from the plague going around the office, and as the temperatures dip below zero this week, I'm expecting sickness to be a lot more common. Winter is definitely here, and although we've had a few flurries of snow, it hasn't quite stuck on the ground. Yet. That will happen very soon.
Three months have gone by since I last blogged. I've done so much... four of us went to Vancouver for a week in August, visiting Stanley Park, doing the Grouse Grind (My time was 1hr 20mins), rocking the suspension bridge at Lynn Valley, checking out Gastown, Chinatown, Granville Island and Kitsilano Beach, as well as the delightful neighbourhood at Hastings and Main. We took a day trip to Whistler and went up the mountain, which had stunning panoramic views, even in summer. We spent a day over in Victoria on Vancouver Island, where we visited the best botanic gardens I've ever seen, the Butchart Gardens, as well as the Craigdarroch Castle. There was a piano at the castle on the top floor, and a group from Hong Kong were fooling around on it... they were trying to play a song called Tong Hua, which happens to be the only Mandarin song I know how to sing, and coincidentally play on the piano. After they vacated the piano, I played the full song, to the amazement of the group, and everyone started to sing along - it was awesome. I managed to catch up with Caleb, Mary, Campbell and Linda, the four New Zealanders who migrated there last year, and it was great seeing what they thought of Canada and their experiences settling in to a new country.
There was the disappointing Toronto Burger Festival out in Vaughan, which was a sad attempt at filling the void that Wellington on a Plate left in my stomach. I had to wash it down with the Filipino Food Festival, where I tried balut for the first time... except, I don't think it was really balut, it just looked like a boiled egg without the duck foetus.
We went camping at the Elora Gorge near Guelph, which is famous for the tubing down the river, and I went for the Dovercourt Baptist Church retreat out in Muskoka, with its picturesque lakeside views. I went hiking around some magnificent parks in Ontario, like the Rockwood Conservation Area, the Devil's Punchbowl Waterfall in Hamilton (except there was no water because it hadn't rained in a while), and Dorset Tower and Algonquin Park with its brilliant fall colours.
I had few visitors; I caught up with Graeme, who was randomly in Toronto, Linh, who I hadn't seen since University, and Delwyn and Graham from my church in Wellington. Matt also visited me on Thanksgiving weekend from Cleveland, OH, which is a short five hour drive from here. We went to Allan Gardens, Scarborough Bluffs and Evergreen Brickworks, we went to a blind dining restaurant near the Village and we went for chimney cake twice.
Last week, we went to Tew's Waterfall, Dundas Peak and Webster's Waterfall in the Spencer Gorge Conservation Area, near Hamilton. It was quite the hike, what I thought was the route to the Webster's Waterfall parking lot was actually just a dead-end, but a magnificent view of the falls up close. Dundas Peak was pretty fantastic though, there's a couple of rocks jutting out over the cliff, making for some epic pictures overlooking the blanket of yellow trees in the gorge. We continued on to Niagara for a buffet dinner at the Fallsview Hotel Casino, where I ate too much, and then down to the Niagara Parkway to watch the fireworks over the falls. We walked to Dufferin Islands to see the light displays, then called it a night. The next day, we went wine tasting at the Konzelmann Estate Winery, where we had a four wine pairing with junk food! We also got to learn about the wine making process and the advantage the winery has from being by the lake, as well as how ice wine is made and why it's so expensive. We spent the afternoon walking around Niagara on the Lake before heading back to Toronto.
There's still lots of things to do around the city, but it's definitely time to bring out my winter jackets, gloves and thermals. I'm looking forward to going home to New Zealand for two weeks (where it's SUMMER) and seeing friends and family after a long absence from the country.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:04pm on Monday November 12, 2018 :: 0 comments ::
Canadaversary
Tuesday July 31, 2018
Tomorrow marks one year since I landed in Canada to start a new life. It's gone by pretty quickly, but I'm still thoroughly enjoying my job and the city - and especially now that it's summer, it's incredibly exciting to experience all the events and sights that Toronto has to offer. Each weekend has been filled with something to do, something to eat, something to see. I shared 100 oysters for $100 with three others, had All You Can Eat Peking Duck, tried Xinjiang and Teochew cuisines; there was dim sum, office breakfasts, birthday dinners and barbeques in the park. There was karaoke, a hike around the Niagara Falls Whirlpools, Canada Day fireworks by the beach and a road trip to the Blue Mountains, where I drove on the right side of the road for the first time. I caught up with Dionte and we walked around Graffiti Alley. The company had its General Assembly last Friday, where we partied until midnight.
Last weekend I was in Chicago catching up with Loic, Dana and Marc. I went to a baseball game, which went exactly how I thought it would, in true American fashion: the hand on the heart thing for the national anthem, the sloppy greasy food and cheap beer, the whole atmosphere of Wrigley Stadium was just like I had seen on TV or in the movies. It did rain a bit though, and it would persist throughout the time I was in Chicago. We also explored Wicker Park, the area around our AirBnB, and I even snuck in some time to do a few Zapdos raids in Millennium Park. The four of us did a escape room, then watched the fireworks off Navy Pier. Of course, I had the famous deep dish pizza from Pizzeria Uno too - I wouldn't have left the city without it!
My weekends are so packed that the weekdays need to be quiet so I can relax and chill out. But I love it. I need to maximise my time before winter comes.
Posted by Jeremy at 4:26am on Tuesday July 31, 2018 :: 0 comments ::
Montreal and Ottawa
Saturday May 26, 2018
Last weekend was Victoria Day Weekend, which is approximately equivalent to Queen's Birthday in New Zealand. I went roadtripping with my badminton crew to Montreal for one night, and Ottawa for the second night!
I was a bit surprised when I found out the trip to Montreal would take 6 hours. It's around 540km away, which means it's only 100km less than the Auckland - Wellington distance. It was cloudy and a bit wet in some places, but we made it there around 5pm, having stopping at various service centres along the way. I was also missing Community Day for Pokemon Go, which featured Charmander, but thankfully Brian was willing to play my account for me. We had dinner at an all-you-can-eat Japanese restaurant, then wandered around the old part of Montreal for a while. The last time I was there was in February 2017, and it was bloody cold, so it was nice to walk around without my face hurting.
In the morning, we walked around Parc des Rapides, named after the rapids of the St Lawrence River passing by. The park is a bird sanctuary, and we managed to spot a few of the great blue herons nesting on some logs in the calmer part of the water. After another all-you-can-eat buffet, we went to Ottawa for the tulip festival. By that time, the sun was out in full glory. We parked over by Dows Lake, and I opted to kayak around the lake with Rohit, while the others shared a canoe. After being on the water, we walked around the tulip gardens until dusk, and settled in for dinner by the lakeside. After it got dark, we enjoyed a pretty sweet fireworks display over the water!
On Monday, we had our third all-you-can-eat meal before exploring the Parliament buildings and then crossing the river to Gatineau, where we did a two hour hike in Gatineau Park. Despite the dozens of flies and bugs swarming our heads, we made it out without any bear sightings and started our drive back to Toronto, finally arriving close to 11pm. What a weekend!
With spring in full force, my social calendar has been filling up. I visited High Park for the white cherry blossoms, and Trinity Bellwoods for the pink cherry blossoms. I watched Eurovision at Pauper's Pub with Marc. I shared 50lbs of lobster with my workmates (it was so good). Things are definitely becoming more exciting as we head into summer!
Posted by Jeremy at 4:09am on Saturday May 26, 2018 :: 0 comments ::
True Spring
Tuesday April 24, 2018
As we near the end of April, the temperatures have finally hit double digits - consistently. This weekend past marks the first day I have not had to wear my heavy winter jacket to go outside. In fact, it was so pleasant over the weekend that I walked to the Asian supermarket at the Stockyards - about 30 minutes away from my place - and treated myself with a tub of coconut taro ice cream, and pandan ice cream. At badminton yesterday, I was at Trinity Bellwoods Park just after 1pm, and with plenty of time to kill, I watched the dogs frolic in the park and eventually dozed off in the sun. Definitely a warm welcome from the frozen months of winter.
The Canadians tell me this is true spring, and what we experienced last month was False Spring 1 and Winter 2.
Last week was quite the adventure though. A massive ice storm hit the city, causing tree branches to fall on streets, widespread power outages and over 300 reported car accidents over the weekend. It somehow didn't stop me from going for a bloody Ex Raid, then to karaoke with my badminton crew, nor did it stop me from going to church and then to the shopping mall afterwards for Pokemon Go's community day. I also treated myself to my favourite mango and key lime cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory, so it was a good weekend despite the snow, ice, slush and liquid water everywhere.
I went to Video Games Live as well, an orchestral concert dedicated to the legacy of video games from the past 35 years. Headed by Tommy Tallarico, we heard songs from Castlevania, Metroid, Mega Man, Uncharted, Legend of Zelda, Kingdom Hearts, Mario, Okami, Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger. We had a guest conductor, Russell Brower, who was the music composer for Blizzard Entertainment, and he led the orchestra as they played music from Overwatch and World of Warcraft: Mists of Panderia. My heart lept for joy when music from Phoenix Wright was played, and I could not help but point my finger triumphantly in homage to my favourite virtual lawyer. The climax of the concert was of course the Pokemon segment, where the orchestra played themes from Pokemon Red and Blue, as well as the Team Rocket theme from the anime. But the final song was by far the greatest moment of the entire night, as Jason Paige, the original singer of the Pokemon Theme song, came onstage and performed it, with the backing of Tommy and the orchestra, and the thousands of fans singing along - I wanna be the very best!
Today, some madman was trying to commit suicide by cop by Yonge and Finch. I was at work while the incident happened, some 15km away, but I do visit that area often if I'm heading to Markham or Richmond Hill with friends. News reports say ten people have been killed, which is super grim. It's an odd sensation seeing familiar landmarks and roads on videos like that.
Posted by Jeremy at 4:19am on Tuesday April 24, 2018 :: 0 comments ::
March
Saturday March 3, 2018
It's been seven months since I arrived in Toronto to start a new life and a new job. It's also some other 32 year anniversary for something, but I won't go into that too much. But it does mean it's spring, kinda. The days are definitely getting longer and we enjoyed double digit temperatures for a few days, but today it plummeted back to 2C and it's begun snowing.
I got horribly sick last week after work karaoke on Chinese New Year. I was visiting some family friends out in Richmond Hill, and after dinner, I began to feel terribly cold, and got muscle aches and a fever. Somehow I still dragged myself to a Chinese New Year dinner with my badminton friends, but I stayed at home for the next four days trying to recover. I got to experience the greatness of the famous Canadian healthcare system too. I'm still not at 100% but I managed to at least go for badminton and attend the Pokemon Community Day last weekend. I also got treated to an amazing seafood dinner with lots of oysters!
Canadian public holidays are really nicely spaced out over the year. In fact, there was a gap in holidays between New Years and Easter, so they made up a provincial holiday in Ontario called Family Day in February. Isn't that great?
Posted by Jeremy at 12:34am on Saturday March 3, 2018 :: 0 comments ::
A Year On
Thursday January 25, 2018
It's been just over a year since I left New Zealand on my amazing OE. I don't think about it as much these days, nor do I dwell on what my life was like when I was in Wellington. I guess travelling for a solid six months helped me forget about routine and responsibility, which I'm super grateful for actually.
I was in New York last week for the Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Distant Worlds concert. Still as magical as the one I saw in Montreal 2017, but more special because Nobuo Uematsu himself, the man behind all those amazing songs, was in attendance. The crowd went wild when he appeared on stage, everyone knew how big an impact he has made to the franchise, the industry and our lives. The set list was:
- Prelude
- Clash on the Big Bridge (FFV)
- Victory Theme
- Cosmo Canyon (FFVII)
- Not Alone (FFIX)
- The Oath (FFVIII)
- Flash of Steel (FFXII)
- Searching for Friends (FFVI)
- Fang's Theme (FFXIII)
- Theme of Love (FFIV)
- Apocalypsis Noctis (FFXV)
- Liberi Fatali (FFVIII)
- Opening Theme ~ Bombing Mission (FFVII)
- Somnus (FFXV)
- Heavensward (FFXIV)
- Chocobo Medley
- Hymn of the Fayth (FFX)
- To Zanarkand (FFX)
- Maria and Draco (FFVI)
- Credits
- Aeris's Theme (FFVII)
- One Winged Angel (FFVII)
The FFVI opera was epic, complete with narration of the story. The build up to that final note with all three singers resonating throughout the entire hall - absolutely fantastic. Nobuo himself joined the choir for One Winged Angel, as did the audience for the SEPHIROTH!. After the concert, I got to meet the man himself, as well as Arnie Roth, the conductor. I was so nervous. I saw there was a piano in the room and I would have loved to perform Zanarkand for the man responsible for inspiring so much of my piano playing, but I would have been mortified if I had ruined the song in front of the person who wrote it. Instead, I told him about what a beautiful piece it was, and how I learned to play it before playing Final Fantasy X. I thanked him and shook hands with him, and I will forever remember that moment I got to meet the world famous Nobuo Uematsu, composer of so many Final Fantasy songs.
Apart from the concert, I wandered around the city, admiring its busyness and charm. It's been five years since I was last in the Big Apple, and apart from all the regular touristy stuff - the Rockefeller Centre and the Nintendo store, Times Square, Central Park - I also visited the World Trade Centre Observatory, which wasn't finished in 2012, as well as the Highline. I sampled some amazing New York style cheesecake from Juniors, and some delicious pastries from Lady M at Bryant Park. I got to experience Pokemon Go in New York as well! I was actually staying in New Jersey, with an old friend from New Zealand, and to be honest, the one thing you won't get in New York is a magnificent view of Manhattan's skyline - there's a park on the east side of NJ with a beautiful view of the towers and lights of Manhattan.
Returning to Toronto was tiring, as we were delayed boarding by an hour, then sat on the tarmac for another hour as we waited for Pearson Airport to give us clearance to land. Snow had thrown the flight schedules into chaos, and it was around 11.30pm when we finally arrived back in Canada.
Posted by Jeremy at 3:52am on Thursday January 25, 2018 :: 0 comments ::
2018
Tuesday January 9, 2018
The temperature peeked above zero for the first time in a few months. Snow turned to muddy slush on the sidewalks and roads, and it wasn't painful to walk around without gloves. It hasn't been an easy road though, last Friday and Saturday hit -20C with a windchill of -30C. That was tough.
It's a new year. Almost an entire 365 days since I left New Zealand. I had a relaxing week off, staying mostly indoors to shelter from the cold, but I did go into town for karaoke, badminton and a New Year's Eve party. They shot some fireworks off at Nathan Phillips Square, and hordes of people still turned up despite the severe cold warnings. It was a great atmosphere, though my time outdoors was thankfully brief. I ended up going to bed around 5am, it was that good. Later that day, I played board games with some of the badminton crew, and got to play around with some awesome VR games, including a 3D drawing sandbox.
We're back at work too. The first week was quiet, many still away on holiday. My manager has unfortunately fallen ill with pneumonia, which sounds pretty serious, so we won't expect him back until next week. Otherwise I'm just trucking along. Console projects take time, and they're definitely not as fast paced as mobile games. It's sometimes hard to see progress when you're focused on one small portion of the game.
I'm not as homesick as I used to be. I've expanded my social circles and have people to hang out with on weekends. Most importantly, I'm busying myself, because I think too much when I don't have anything to do. Today is particularly significant because it marks 19 years since Mum passed away and I still think about her a lot. She'd probably be pretty shocked to find out where I am and what I'm doing though, but secretly proud that I did what I did.
Posted by Jeremy at 3:24am on Tuesday January 9, 2018 :: 0 comments ::