Gluttony
Saturday December 17, 2022
Just over two weeks of being in Malaysia and I'm loving it. Normally I'm quite flustered by the heat and humidity but for some reason this time, it's been quite pleasant. I wonder if the intense Toronto summers have trained me for this? Certainly don't get that kind of heat in New Zealand. It has been pretty wet here though, a consequence of the convectional rainfall that occurs almost every day.
My time here has basically been eating, sleeping and seeing family. I have a lot of family to see. I have a lot of things to eat. There's been a little bit of time to do shopping as well, which is great because the CAD to MYR exchange rate is so good at the moment. A few days ago, I bought four pairs of shorts and three t-shirts from Sunway Pyramid for less than CAD$100. Food, of course, is also cheap after conversion. I've had my share of nasi lemak, char kuay teow, curry laksa, assam laksa, yong tau foo, Hokkien mee, prawn mee, wan tan mee, banana leaf rice, cendol, ice kacang, nyonya kuih, apam balik and more. CAD$30 can feed four of us easily. Almost every day is an exquisite reminder of why Malaysian cuisine is so special.
In amongst all the eating, I've been trying to go to the gym as well. I haven't found anyone to play badminton with though, but my days have been busy anyway. I've definitely put on a little bit of weight around the tummy but surprisingly little for the amount of food I've been eating, which pleases me because it means my metabolism is still pretty good.
In another week or so, I'll be on a plane again, bound for the land of the long white cloud.
Posted by Jeremy at 2:03am on Saturday December 17, 2022 :: 0 comments :: 
Flights
Wednesday November 30, 2022
The last few days have been very busy. I’ve caught up with a ton of people who were keen to see me before I go, and had a blast seeing all the friends I have lament the coming months without me.
I find airports stressful. Being around so many people who are also stressed, watching people have meltdowns at staff…the logistics for travelling are so complicated and exhausting. My luggage was overweight as well, but I managed to get around it by putting my Switch and battery packs in my jacket pocket and wearing my jacket. That’s one advantage of travelling in winter, at least.
I’m on a 17 hour flight to Taiwan, with 4 hours layout before another 5 hours to Kuala Lumpur. This will be the longest flight I’ve ever taken but I’m already tired from all the worrying, so hopefully I’ll nod off for a few hours, providing I’m not sitting next to jerks.
Posted by Jeremy at 4:55am on Wednesday November 30, 2022 :: 0 comments ::
Summer Turns to Fall, Turns to Summer
Wednesday November 16, 2022
I was interviewing someone for a designer role at work who mentioned he had read my blog prior to the interview, and I said I hadn't updated in a while because my summer was so busy and good.
It really was. At the end of June and beginning of July, I spent ten days on the east coast of Canada in the Atlantic provinces, gorging myself with the most delicious seafood the country has to offer, as well as witness the incredible tidal phenomena that the Bay of Fundy is so famous for. We landed in Halifax, Nova Scotia on the first day and wandered around the Halifax Citadel and the waterfront, taking in the wonderful salty smell of the sea that I've missed for so long. The next day, we were up early to get to the seafood market where the nine of us splurged on $270 worth of lobster, oysters and fish cakes for dinner that night. We visited Peggy's Cove, shrouded in fog but so interesting with the rock formations overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, as well as Lunenburg, a small little town further west. That night, I murdered over a dozen lobsters... :( but it was so delicious. Sweet and meaty, absolutely delectable, I felt like Homer Simpson tearfully eating his pet lobster Pinchy. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me.
We continued our tour of Nova Scotia with a hike at the Cape Split Trail, which overlooks the Minas Basin and the Bay of Fundy, and then to Cape Breton Island's Skyline Trail the next day, where we saw a black bear in the distance further down from the lookout point! After a long drive, we were in New Brunswick, covering Moncton and the tidal bore, the Hopewell Rocks, Crooked Creek Falls, the Third Vault Falls in Fundy National Park, the Reversing Falls in Saint John and the Ministers Island Gravel Bar in Saint Andrews. Our last night in New Brunswick was celebrated with a proper lobster dinner that cost me $100, but it was totally worth it; it came with scallops, mussels, shrimp, potatoes and delicious garlic butter and I completely demolished it like a boss.
We were in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island for Canada Day, and we caught some spectacular fireworks from Victoria Park being let off less than 500 metres away from us. It was so close by that the shells from the fireworks had hit some people in the crowd! We did a bit of hiking as well but the rest of our time in PEI was rained out. However, we managed to visit the famous Cows Ice Creamerie a few times during our stay. On the last day, we took the ferry from Wood Islands to Pictou to get back to Nova Scotia and Halifax Airport. While waiting for our flight, Sunshine casually mentioned she found some "New Zealand chocolate" being sold at the airport convenience store, so I had to take a look - and sure enough, Whittakers Peanut Slabs, the chocolate equivalent of gold bullion, were being sold for $3 apiece (they're available in New Zealand for $1!!!).
I bought four. It was worth it.
In July, I started my job at Crop Circle Games, being the seventh employee there. A few days later, my friend Marc, from Catalonia, arrived in Toronto, and for three weeks, we ate like kings: Korean barbeque, Filipino kamayan, Vietnamese pho, Japanese Izakaya, Chinese dim sum, Toronto’s finest ice cream and exotic desserts like Mabu Generation’s matcha cube toast tower. We kayaked around Toronto Islands, we went for karaoke and we explored the Warsaw Caves east of Peterborough.
At the end of the month, we began our sixteen hour drive to Thunder Bay, with our first stop being in Sault Ste. Marie. In Lake Superior Provincial Park, we visited the Agawa Rock Pictographs and Sand River Falls, and we saw a black bear as well! Closer to our next destination, we stopped for a short hike at Scenic High Falls before continuing on to the town of Wawa, famous for its geese monument. I found a "Lai Restaurant", but it wasn't the same character as my name, and it was closed, like many of the other restaurants in town. We ended up having to eat at Subway.
The next day, we covered Pukaskwa National Park. Though it was raining slightly, there was still beauty as we walked around Horseshoe Bay. We had ambitions to reach the White River Suspension Bridge and Hook Falls, but the terrain was wet and muddy, and we ended up having to turn back. That night, we arrived at Thunder Bay. For our first day, we checked out an historical village called Fort Williams, staffed completely by actors in costume to fit the 1860s theme. It was interesting to learn about life back then, as well as how they used the land and resources around them to survive the bitterly cold winters. I learned to throw an axe (successfully!) and met tons of adorable animals on the farm, like Pygmy goats and a ginger cat.
Over the next few days, we covered Kakabeka Falls, Silver Falls and Dogs Falls; we managed to see the whole city from Mt McKay's viewpoint before a storm blew in. We had ribs from Tony Roma’s! We walked along Canada’s longest suspension bridge at Eagle Canyon and saw the massive Ouimet Canyon. We took a dip in the shallow pools of the Cascades Conservation Area but hurried out when dark clouds of rain began to approach. The highlight of the trip was Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, where we did a mammoth three hour hike called The Top of the Giant. We followed a relatively flat path for two hours, then a steep uphill for one hour to the final viewpoint, the Gorge, a gigantic crevasse and rock formation. The weather was absolutely perfect and the views were stunning.
Our last meal in Thunder Bay was unfortunately some disappointing Thai. We stopped by Aguasabon Falls in Terrace Bay before driving back to Sault Ste. Marie, and then finally Toronto. All in all, we covered close to 3,000km over 9 days in some of Ontario's most beautiful scenery.
Summer didn't end there though. There was plenty of time to enjoy festivals and food popups as well as Summerlicious. I counted 42 ice creams consumed over three months - that's almost one every other day! There were meet ups, urban hikes, axe throwing and great food all around.
As October rolled in, the temperatures started to cool down. I visited the Toronto Zoo for their Terra Lumina light show. We took a trip up to Killarney and Sudbury for the fall colours. We were super lucky to be there at just the right time, and with perfect weather conditions again. Last time we were here in 2020 and we did The Crack hike, but this time, we were going to conquer Silver Peak. We started with an hour of canoeing, then two hours of hiking to the highest point in Killarney Provincial Park, where the magnificent reds and oranges of the leaves were hitting maximum. On the way back, I sprained a muscle but was able to keep going and we all made it safely back to the canoe rental. We also covered Lake Laurentian Conservation Area in Sudbury, and the North Shore Rugged Area Hike in Parry Sound that weekend.
I was fortunate enough to see Nigel Ng's HAIYAA comedy show, where for the first half, he roasted the audience as Uncle Roger, and for the second half, he was himself, talking about all sorts of weird and awkward situations. Though some of the topics were pretty dicey, the night was full of hilarity and chaos; at some point in time, he had managed to force a couple to get engaged for a packet of MSG. I also went to see fellow New Zealander Bret McKenzie in concert at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, which was a chilled out and pleasant night full of 80s electronica and easy, relaxed music.
Last week was the final total lunar eclipse until 2025, which I got up at 4am to see. Thankfully the skies were clear (for once!) and I could see the entire spectacle from my balcony. The eclipse was still visible as the sun began to rise around 6.30am, but I was back in bed around that time.
Today was our first major snowfall of the season, which only reinforced my excellent decision to leave this barren wasteland in two weeks time for the tropical heat of Malaysia and the summer vibes of New Zealand. Things are going to be super busy over the next few days while I catch up with people before I leave. The weather is going to be consistently hovering between -5C and 5C, so it's definitely the onset of winter, but the days are counting down and I absolutely cannot wait to see everyone again.
Posted by Jeremy at 4:21am on Wednesday November 16, 2022 :: 0 comments ::
Funemployment
Sunday June 19, 2022
I quit my job at Ubisoft.
The past five years have been pretty amazing. I've learned so much from so many extremely talented people and built solid friendships with many I've interacted with over the years, be it from working on the same project, raiding Pokemon together, playing trivia or eating food. My legacy endures with the inclusion of New Zealand on the world map in Watch Dogs, but also the infamous "gas leak" saga, caused by durian candy that I had brought in. It's sad to be another one of many departures, but I think it was a good time for a change. My next job is fully remote (from anywhere!) and still in games, so I'm looking forward to new challenges ahead...and also the possibility of never having to go through another winter again.
In the mean time, I've got plenty of time to have a holiday and enjoy summer in Toronto. I had a friend from Ohio visit over the past few days; I took him on an ice cream tour of the city and we covered six of the many ice cream shops in Toronto, all while biking across the downtown core. We went to Canada's Wonderland and rode nine rollercoasters, including the Yukon Striker, the Behemoth and the Leviathan (turns out I'm not as resilient as I used to be). Last weekend I was in Tobermory with a few friends, and we got to explore the Grotto and Halfway Log Dump at the perfect time of year - sunny, not too warm, but almost deserted since it's not full summer season yet, just the way I like it. Next week, I'm off to Nova Scotia to explore the Atlantic provinces of Canada and enjoy all the delicious seafood that area has to offer.
Posted by Jeremy at 1:48am on Sunday June 19, 2022 :: 0 comments ::
LASIK
Tuesday April 12, 2022
I did it. I got LASIK, three weeks ago. It is a deeply uncomfortable but very fast process, if you don't count the four hours of consultation and waiting beforehand. The procedure took seven minutes for each eye during which the surgeon explained exactly what he was going to do and what was going to happen, but I was so overwhelmed with all this information that all I could really do was lie completely still and concentrate on the red and green lights in front of me. If I remember correctly, I was given a local anesthetic in my eyes and then they inserted a device to keep my eyelids open. At some point my vision blacked out (but I was warned about that). I also purposefully held my breath while the laser was on, because apparently you smell something burning and some people have told me it's the smell of burning flesh, and I did not want to have to deal with that at that moment.
Immediately afterwards, my vision was very blurry, like I was seeing underwater, and my eyes stung like I had been cutting onions. A friend (who had also had LASIK a few years ago) very kindly picked me up and dropped me home. The next day my vision was pretty damn good already, most things were clear and sharp, especially outdoors and in bright light. They said everything was healing well in my follow up appointment, and I'd continue to experience light sensitivity, blurriness and difficulty changing focus over the next few months. I feel like I'm making progress each passing day, and now the only symptom I have is light sensitivity at night time, especially from street lamps and traffic lights.
I was allowed to play badminton with safety glasses that weekend, but it was so annoying, especially with it fogging up and getting blurry after sweating, that I decided not to play until I didn't have to wear those glasses anymore. Other than that, all my regular activities - work, gym, hiking, biking - are all fine to do. I'm also using eyedrops to help with the healing process. All in all, my eyesight is pretty good for now (it's 20/15 vision now!) and...you could even say things are looking brighter each day.
Posted by Jeremy at 12:57am on Tuesday April 12, 2022 :: 0 comments ::