A New Year
Thursday January 3, 2019
Finally back in Canada after a glorious two week summery excursion in the homeland. It's wet here, in Vancouver, and I'm told it's been snowing in Toronto. Sigh.
The end of last year was busy. We had our final work karaoke on Friday night in Koreatown. It was so epic and full of laughter and good times; there was plenty of Disney, 80s power ballads and 90s cheesy pop, and we even sang Phantom of the Opera - with Emily hitting those amazing notes sung by Christine at the end of the song. So good.
I went to the light exhibition down by Ontario Place as well. It was pretty serene walking around the island, but the art installations were pretty colourful and interesting. It's cool that even in winter when the weather is so cold, there's still some kind of incentive to go outside and see what the city has to offer.
Pokemon Go's long-awaited PVP feature dropped this month, but as expected, it was nothing more than a mind-numbing tap fest with only slightly more strategy than a game of rock-paper-scissors. The rewards can be obtained regardless of winning or losing, the cost to make your Pokemon competitive is extremely high, and there's just no incentive to take that plunge.
The flight to Vancouver and then Auckland was not too bad. I played Smash Bros for most of the time, but then ran out of battery power on my Switch heading to Auckland. It was an overnight flight, so I managed to catch some shut eye, but I also watched Ant Man 2 and Incredibles 2. I arrived in Auckland very early on Thursday morning, and I babysat my nephew for the day.
I'd been starved of decent Malaysian food for so long that my first three meals in New Zealand were Malaysian - Kampung Cafe in Glen Eden, KK in Greenlane and Little Penang in Wellington. I basically took the airport bus from Wellington Airport into town, said hello to my excolleagues at PikPok, dumped my luggage at Mana's house and went straight to Little Penang on the Terrace. Auntie Tee and Uncle Keith even recognised me while I was standing in line, it was so nice to talk to them and tell them how much I missed their food. They even gave me a free teh tarik!
PikPok has changed a lot since I'd left. The company's grown by 40 people in two years, and the kitchen now fits more than two people. It was good to see everyone and see how they were, and catch up on news in my absence. We also went for karaoke!
My two weeks was spent basically absorbing as much Kiwiana as I could. Burgerfuel, L&P, Hells Pizza, mince pies, feijoas, the accent, the sun. I even played badminton! I visited tons of my favourite places in Wellington and Auckland, and I caught up with so many people: old workmates, church friends, family, school friends, University friends. It seemed like everyone had either gotten a mortgage, a dog or a kid in the time I'd been away. Though I may not have messaged many people over the past couple of years, it was easy to slide back into conversation as if nothing had happened, and for that I'm truly thankful. Everyone was keen to hear how my travels were, and about my life and job in Toronto.
The weather was awesome. Even if it was raining in entire time, I would have still had a good time not freezing my face off. Most days it was cloudy, but the sun came through quite often, in that familiar ozone-less burny sensation. I got some great pictures of Wellington's waterfront and Auckland's Waitemata Harbour, and sent them back to some jealous Canadians.
But of course, all good things must come to an end. The flight from Vancouver to Auckland was another night flight, and I slept so much that I almost ran out of time to watch Crazy Rich Asians. I'm not looking forward to the cold months ahead, but I am looking forward to seeing all my Toronto friends again, and telling them about my adventures and how great New Zealand is.
Posted by Jeremy at 11:33pm on Thursday January 3, 2019 :: 0 comments :: 
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 ::