NZGDC
Tuesday September 23, 2014
I was up in Auckland for the New Zealand Game Developer's Conference last Friday, but thanks to some sweet organisation by our office manager, I got to stay in Auckland until Sunday night. I've had an awesome weekend, but I wish I had more time to sleep and relax - it was just completely full on and exhausting at times.
We went up on Thursday night. I managed to grab some Burger Wisconsin before rushing to the airport, and thankfully so because it would have been close to 10pm by the time we got into town and even had the chance to get food. Nevertheless, we dropped our bags at City Lodge on Vincent St and I led the team straight to Giapo, New Zealand's best ice cream. At the store, the lady at the counter enthusiastically told us all about the values of the head chef and his philosophy behind the ice cream, as well as letting us sample the many different flavours they had on offer. I love the passion when people speak about food - I share the same excited tone and expressive vocabulary. I opted for a chocolate laphroaig and peanut butter and banana ice cream. So good!
The night continued on at Vulture's Lane on Vulcan Lane, then Andrew Andrew down by the Hilton, and finally O'Hagan's Irish Pub at the Viaduct. It was 2am when we stumbled up to Kebabs on Queen for some very late night food - it was the only place open - before heading back to the backpackers.
It was an early-ish start to the day at 7.30am so we could visit Moustache Milk and Cookie Bar before the conference started. Great to catch up with Deanna and good to see business doing well, even if the landlords are threatening to hike rent by 36%. We made our way to AUT with cookies and coffee in hand just after 9.30am.
NZGDC was awesome. The keynote was from David Brevik, the lead designer on Diablo 1 and 2. Totally amazing to hear his stories on Diablo's development - it was originally supposed to be a turn-based RPG! There were heaps of great talks throughout the day, highlights being cloud gaming, boids and the tech panel featuring Alex St John, David Brevik and Chris Blackbourne. It was also good to catch up with a few ex-colleagues and meet some new people in the industry, yet a bit sad that the PikPok crew had flights back to Wellington during the afterparty! We ended up at the Bluestone Room on Durham St until around 9pm, when Lloyd, Charles and myself ventured to Daikoku Ramen for a late dinner.
On Saturday, I met up with my schoolmates at Dunk on Parnell, with a quick visit to the Chocolate Boutique as well. We had some extremely thorough discussion about politics (seeing as it was election day) as well as the regular banter about life, jobs and the good old Grammar days.
I had a quick nap back at home before meeting Mel at Orphans Kitchen, a hip-and-trendy little restaurant on Ponsonby Road. We were greeted by a man with a fine moustache (who I later learned was Josh Helm, one of the co-owners), which reminded me of the vibe you regularly get around town in Wellington. The food is an eclectic mix of ingredients that don't necessarily sound appetising individually, but provide an amazing flavour sensation when combined. Highly recommended, and a full breakdown of the meal will appear on my food blog, when I get around to it!
With room for dessert, I suggested we try our luck at Milse, a small but very fancy dessert restaurant in Britomart. We made our way down to find out that they had a 45 minute wait on a table - doesn't matter, I said! I'll wait! I found out that one of my workmates was up for the weekend and was chilling at the Green Party party watching the election results (his mother is quite involved in politics) so we went and picked him up from Beresford Square off K Road and trundled back down to the waterfront. Each of us had one dessert but the real treat was watching the entire preparation routine unfold in front of us. The meticulousness of the chefs as they prepare the desserts is outstanding - such care and pride they put into making these dishes, and what a wonderful masterpiece that comes out the other end. Again, a full review will appear on the food blog when it's done! I had a great yarn to the lady at the front of house, and again, just the way people passionately talk about food is so enjoyable and makes me so happy.
I was still keen to stay out, so we ended up at Gable's Ale House on Jervois Quay for a quick drink before heading home just after midnight. Whew! I was up again early on Sunday morning to get to KCC for the regular service, and then out for yum char at this new place in Three Kings before heading to Julia's for a spot of Smash Bros Brawl and Mario Kart 8.
In the evening, I was at my sister's house for dinner and catching up with my adorable nephews. The older one had been celebrating International Talk Like a Pirate Day and had donned a full pirate costume with swashbuckling sword action and his best attempt at pirate lingo (so cute), whilst the younger one was stared around, wide eyed and bursting into a huge smile every so often. Love them so much. I really do miss them and wish I could spend more time with them - they really do grow up so quickly.
Back in Wellington on Sunday night and back at work on Monday, but I was suddenly roped in to help out with a stall at a careers fair down by Mac's Brewery Function Room that night. It was really cool, but rather exhausting - I don't remember talking so much and to so many people in such a small space of time! It is quite exciting though, you get to meet heaps of different people and tell them heaps about industry and life at PikPok. Hopefully we strike it lucky and hire some good talent this summer.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:42am on Tuesday September 23, 2014 :: 0 comments :: 
Labour Weekend
Tuesday October 26, 2010
Despite its notoriety for having terrible weather whenever there is a long weekend, Auckland produced some outstanding warmth and sun over Labour Weekend this year, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time up there - especially with my new car!
After work on Friday night, Juliann and I headed to Cha for dinner (apparently it's tradition, or something) and then to the airport for our flights. I was picked up at the other end of the plane ride by Cinta and Alice, and we were joined by Reuben, Matt and Sam at where else, but Momo's for a good old Taro Milkshake with Mango Pudding. Somehow, I got recruited for the Light Party flier drop on Saturday morning, so the next day, it was up and early to KCC for a few hours to run around Kelston and deliver fliers to the letterboxes.
I met my sister and her husband for lunch at Moto on Paramount Drive before chilling out at her place for a little while. They had been spraying some anti-mould stuff on the walls so they had to keep the poor cat locked up inside, so he was rather agitated. We guessed that he was suspecting to be taken to the vet or be given a flea shot (since he was locked inside), so he was understandably more antisocial than normal, but after a while, he settled down. Mrowr!
That night, I turned up (semi-uninvited) to Heong's housewarming where they were understandably surprised at my unannounced arrival. We spent some time getting the silly charcoal barbeque to work but it was worth it once it was going. He's got a nice quiet place overlooking west Auckland, with a bit of land and a deck at the back of the house, and even a self-contained sleepout for an extra tenant! And potentially a slingshot to shoot stuff and/or people at Fahad's old house.
Sunday was church as usual, and then lunch at (disgustingly good) Wendy's. I spent the remainder of the afternoon at Matt's house playing on the PS3 and dozing off, as I usually do on Sunday afternoons, and when the time came around, Matt, Sam, Steven and I bundled into my car and we went back to Paramount Drive for some Vietnamese at Pho Bien. Not fully satisfied, we drove to Parnell for some absolutely delicious Chocolate Boutique where we shared a Share Indulgence and a Chocolate Fondue. The night was still young, so we visited our old haunts, Yifans and Cue City before heading back home... via Momo's.
On Monday, I met up with the remnants of my schoolmates - namely, Mat and Graeme - for brunch in Mt. Eden and ice cream at Ollies, and since Graeme and I hadn't been to Mat's flat on the shore, we followed his SUV over the bridge, maintaining a safe distance to prevent my car being overwhelmed with gas fumes and smoke. We played some table tennis for a while, and even got some awesome rallies going (but they were shortlived because Mat kept stuffing them up) and I would have loved to continue but I had to drop Graeme back home.
I had a simple meal with dad before heading to the airport and arrived back in cold, overcast Wellington.
Sigh.
Oh well, at least it's a short week this week, and also, I'll be up in Auckland this weekend anyway.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:04am on Tuesday October 26, 2010 :: 0 comments ::
Hungry
Tuesday December 11, 2007
So today, Matt and the two Sams were like "So you wanna have ramen?" and I was like "...OKAY!" so we bundled into the car and went to Kiraku on Elliot Street in the city. I had a Chashuu Ramen, which was very nice; I really like how they give you chopped garlic at Kiraku, because it gives the soup just that extra tang of flavour.
Not quite satisfied yet, we decided we would go to the Chocolate Boutique in Parnell. So we did. We had issues parking (I almost hit someone as well, but it was all sweet), but eventually we found a place about 5 minutes walk away, so it wasn't too bad. I had a mango creme mousse, Matt and big Sam had a chocolate frappe, while little Sam had an Italian Denso.
Still not fully satisfied, we went to Momo's where I had a champagne and grape nata, and three lamb sticks. Mmmm. So great.
At this point in time, I think I could do with a bit more food. Maybe some waffles or some of Cinta's famous chocolate pudding. Or maybe some more sticks at Momo's. Yeah. I'm hungry :3
On a small admin note: I changed my tag board a bit so that the tags with more hits are bigger in size. Ooooooh flashy.
Posted by Jeremy at 8:22am on Tuesday December 11, 2007 :: 5 comments ::