Easter in Atlanta
Tuesday April 23, 2019
The weather has finally been warming up. I can leave my heavy winter jackets at home and walk out with a hoodie - today I even wore shorts. The grass is regaining its full green hue and the trees are beginning to grow their leaves back, and in a few weeks time, we'll start getting some cherry blossoms in High Park.
I spent Easter in Atlanta for a friend's wedding. When they first sent the invitation out, it said "Athens" and I thought to myself what an awesome holiday it would be to go to Greece, especially since I missed that part of Europe in 2017. But no, it was actually Athens, Georgia, which is about an hour and a half outside of Atlanta. The more I researched the sights and sounds (and food) of Atlanta, the more excited I got about going. I booked accommodation, I sorted out a rental car to drive to Athens, and I planned a basic itinerary.
I remember the plane coming into Atlanta. Everything was so green. The trees looked so lush and vibrant, and outside of the city centre it looked like a forest. I found it really pretty. After checking into my AirBnB, I walked around downtown; it was sunny and 25C. Centennial Park was unfortunately closed because of a 4/20 Festival, but there were plenty of other things to see. I had dinner at Sweet Georgia's Juke Joint, where the food was kinda average, but the entertainment was fantastic.
Overnight, a massive thunderstorm hit the city, waking up me and shaking the house. I got an amazing slow-mo capture of one lightning strike over downtown. Another hit so close to my AirBnB that it sounded like an explosion. All this brought heavy rain on Friday morning, so I ended up taking a Lyft to the World of Coca Cola instead of walking there. It was interesting to see all the old Coca Cola memorabilia and advertising from so long ago, as well as learn about how it started and how far they've come. I got to try lots of different drinks from around the world, and I spotted an L&P bottle among the collection of global products, but I was a little bit over the propaganda. As I left, the rain had cleared, so I had lunch at the nearby Waffle House (at the suggestion of my American friends) and walked an hour to Piedmont Park. I walked around the greenery for a bit, catching the regional Pokemon Carnivine (I swear the whole trip wasn't just for Carnivine) but as it rolled around to 3pm, it started to rain again, so I sought shelter from underneath a bridge. When the rain stopped, I continued my explorations to the south, following the beltline trail to the Ponce City Market.
Ponce City Market is a massive food hall, with cuisines from India, South Africa, Japan and China, as well as local flavours. I had a honey and lavender gelato from Honeysuckle Gelato, then for some reason the police showed up and we were told to evacuate the building. It didn't last long though, so I was back inside trying to decide what to have for dinner. I settled on trying some catfish, with a Vietnamese inspired salad, that was really light and refreshing, and I finished it off with a key lime tart and a cashew fudge donut for breakfast on Saturday.
I was up early to get to the airport on Saturday so I could collect my rental car. I was pretty excited about this, it's been a while since I've driven and my first time driving alone on the right side of the road, but I was confident and had no problems. My first stop was to the northern parts of the city for lunch at this Malaysian restaurant that had piqued my interest. I ordered yong tao foo curry laksa, and it was, put simply, absolutely delicious. Afterwards, I drove to Stone Mountain, a massive...stone mountain... to the east of Atlanta, and hiked up for some fantastic views of the city. Just like I had seen on the way in, the whole area was covered in green trees of every shade. The clouds began to darken and the rain that had been far off had begun to creep closer, but thankfully it was only passing, and it wasn't too heavy. I made my way down the mountain and started the hour-long drive to Athens.
I arrived in good time, and after scrubbing up, I drove to the wedding venue. It was cold and a little bit rainy, and for some reason, it never occurred to me that it was going to be an outdoor wedding. I joked to the groom's brother that neither of them were good at choosing the weather for their weddings (his had torrential rain in Auckland). But despite the chilly wind, the rain held out mostly and my friends were married successfully. I didn't really know many people at the wedding, apart from the groom's family, but it was good to see the people I knew and catch up with them. The reception was really nice too, and I was quite impressed by the display of seven cakes at the end, each of them a particular aspect of their heritage, their place of belonging and their home. From Colombia, there was a tres leche (three milk) cake and a negra torta (wine-soaked cake with fruit and nut), from Malaysia there was a pandan cake, from the US there was a ridiculously sweet Georgian pecan pie and a New York cheesecake, and from New Zealand, there was a lamington cake and a pavlova.
It was relatively early to bed and early to rise the next morning as I had to drive back to Atlanta airport and catch my flight. For some reason, it had not crossed my mind that I needed to apply for a visa waiver to get back into Canada, especially since I had just renewed my passport, so there was mild panic as I hurriedly filled out an electronic application for it. Thankfully it was approved within minutes.
The coming few weeks will be busy as we finish everything for E3, and I'm desperate to get back to work to help the team out. I'm also looking forward to the Avengers: Endgame movie, and of course, summer!
Posted by Jeremy at 2:30am on Tuesday April 23, 2019 :: 0 comments :: 
Sorrento
Wednesday April 19, 2017
Sorrento is a quaint resort town, obviously very touristy and would probably be way busier in summer, but I have enjoyed my time here immensely. The town itself is not full of things to do, but the areas around it are what make it so special. As I type this, I look up from my phone screen to see the Gulf of Naples, all shades of blue with white crested waves, and Vesuvius off in the distance, and I can't help but smile at all the beauty around me.
After taking the train from Rome to Naples, I took the metro to the port and booked a ticket on the ferry to Sorrento. The signboard with all the departures wasn't working and as a result, I almost missed my ferry, but I did make it in the end. It took 30 minutes to get to Sorrento and I was immediately amazed by how picturesque it is. The streets are lined with orange trees in full fruit, and you can totally just grab one if you so wanted. I had an average dinner, but as I was walking back to my accommodation, I noticed people had lined the streets in anticipation of a procession. It turns out Sorrento is one of the few places in the world that has an Easter procession of this kind; dozens of people dressed in black hooded garb, chanting, waving incense, and carrying symbols of the crucifixion as they walked down the street. It was solemn and quite daunting, especially since the robes they wore resembled the kind worn by the KKK. It was an interesting experience nonetheless, and I'm glad I was there to witness this event, even if it was accidental!
On Saturday, I took a tour of the Amalfi Coast with a very flamboyant guide called Roberto, who couldn't stop telling us to kiss our wives at every romantic landmark. We visited Positano, Amalfi and Ravello; it reminded me very much of Cinque Terre, the whole "town embedded in cliffside" aesthetic. The natural geography of the area produces some amazing clouds that cascade over the mountains, covering the many terraces of orange, lemon and olive trees. We took a short boat ride around Amalfi as well, at Roberto's recommendation, and I enjoyed some of the local citrus desserts. Perhaps too many. I met some cool people along the way, and coincidentally some of them would join me on the Vesuvius and Pompeii trip the next day (I was just thankful that the Vesuvius/Pompeii tour wasn't a total scam.) It was quite late when we got back to Sorrento, thanks to heavy traffic along the way.
I was up early and off to some random car park to start the tour of Vesuvius and Pompeii. The forecast was for rain and thunderstorms, and sure enough, as we neared Vesuvius, the dark clouds began to roll in. We managed to stay dry, but you could see nothing of Naples and the gulf from the crater. Despite that, the terrain was interesting and had a slightly sulfurous smell. It's odd that you're on top of Europe's most dangerous volcano, and although the crater is a shadow of the mountain that erupted in 79AD and destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum, it's still quite an experience to see it up close for yourself.
After a very average lunch at an obviously touristy restaurant that we were semi-forced to go to, we were taken around the ruins of Pompeii. I was amazed at how much was actually preserved, and with a bit of imagination, you could catch a glimpse into what the city would have been like before it was destroyed. Various murals, despite fading in colour over the past 2000 years, also gave clues to what Roman life was like. We visited a typical villa Romana, a spa, the central marketplace, a basilica, an amphitheatre, and even a brothel! There's so many little things that historians were able to uncover and deduce; with no sewerage system, people would throw waste onto the roads to be washed away. As a result, stepping stones were constructed to allow people to cross the road while still allowing chariots and horses to pass through, and sure enough, the visible grooves of where the chariots used to go remain today. Each major intersection would be marked with a fountain, and each fountain would be decorated with a face or markings; slaves who couldn't read could use these fountains to navigate their way around the city instead of having to rely on the signs around. Chips of marble embedded in the road acted as cats eyes for the weary travellers arriving from the port at night. There's so much history behind the ruins that I hadn't even considered how massive the city is, and of course, how the devastating eruption in 79AD changed it all in an instant.
It did rain a little bit during our walk, but we remained mostly dry. We headed back to Sorrento and after freshening up at my accommodation, I went to a restaurant recommended by an Australian couple I met on the Amalfi Coast tour. Funnily enough, they were there was well, and later on another couple from the tour joined us. It would have been past 11pm by the time I got home, I had such a good yarn with everyone there.
I had a bit of a sleep in on Monday, then headed down to the port to catch a ferry to the island of Capri. It was so busy that the latest ferry back was 3.30pm, giving me four hours to explore the island. From Marina Grande, I walked up to the central plaza then took a walking track to the south that went past the Arco Naturale and some other beautiful natural sights along the coast. I wandered around the central plaza some more after lunch, and then it was time to go already. I was feeling a little adventurous so I walked over to Sant'Agnello, east of Sorrento, just to claim a few spots in the Mystic Pokemon gyms, and was back in Sorrento for dinner.
Yesterday was quiet. I had another late start, and after taking away some food from town, I walked out to an abandoned fort on the west side of the peninsula. Magnificent views of the bay, and totally serene; there were maybe ten other people there exploring the area, some even so brave as to go for a swim in the chilly Mediterranean waters! I walked back to my accommodation for a quick break, but then it started raining and I lost all motivation to do anything, so I had a solid nap. And that was basically all I did that day! It's nice to relax once in a while, and after three full days, it was probably a good idea to just chill.
Now I'm just waiting for my ferry to Naples. It's slightly windy today but the sun is out, so it's quite pleasant when you're out of the shade. My time in Italy is almost up!
Posted by Jeremy at 9:31am on Wednesday April 19, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
Easter
Wednesday March 30, 2016
I cleverly took the four days after Easter off so I could enjoy ten days away from work. Last Thursday, we released an incremental called Doomsday Clicker for iOS and Android. It's been a pretty short burn project, starting on the first week of January and taking two months to soft launch, and another month to hard launch, but the team and I are very proud of what we achieved.
March rolled in pretty quietly, save for a surreptitious boozy karaoke the weekend before, as well as an historical barbeque at Rob's house and Sam and Hannah's engagement party at SFBH. There were some glorious days too, and we took advantage of the brilliant weather one afternoon by cycling around Oriental Bay and the waterfront in a Crocodile Bike. There was Newtown Fair, Cuba Dupa, Tim's stag do, Bobby's leaving and the Dreamworks Exhibition at Te Papa. It's been action-packed.
Over Easter, I was in Auckland where I caught up with Mat, Will and Tom at Circus Circus for lunch on Friday, then joined by Graeme for some board games at Will's later that night. I got a sharp-looking haircut at Hairport on Dominion Road before meeting Charlotte in Newmarket for lunch, and then rushing off to the real reason I was in Auckland - Amy and Vincent's wedding at Nathan Homestead in Manurewa, where I played Lana del Ray's Young and Beautiful as Amy walked down the aisle. It was a beautiful sunny day with a mild breeze, so cue panic when one of my piano sheets fell off the stand. Thankfully I recovered and improvised for a set of four bars before someone very kindly put the music back. Cue more panic when I realised I couldn't see Amy walking down the aisle as everyone was standing in the way, so when she suddenly appeared at the front, I had 15 seconds to wrap up the song - and again, thankfully I nailed the transition to the coda and ended gracefully. The bride and groom were both happy with how things turned out and apparently no one noticed that I had two panic moments, so job well done!
We were at the Heritage Hotel's Tearoom for the reception - a marvelous dining hall with a spectacular view over the harbour. The food was good and the company was great, but even as the reception drew to a close, people were still amped to head out for more festivities. I had to decline, because I had a flight back to Wellington the next day... for another wedding!
My bro Phil took me to the airport early on Sunday morning to catch a surprisingly on-time Jetstar flight to Wellington. Once off the plane, I was home immediately to shower, and off to Timothy and Andrea's wedding at the Island Bay Presbyterian Church. As a groomsman, my task is simple: make sure the groom gets married. As a side though, I was also helping to set up the church and pack down the reception areas, as well as smile pleasantly for the photographs. Again, the ceremony and reception were heaps of fun, and I got to catch up with heaps of people and meet new people too.
It was a tiring two days and I was exhausted come Easter Monday. I took it easy and rolled out of bed after 11am, getting KFC for lunch and doing my grocery shopping for the week. I managed to fit in some squash too, just to make sure I wasn't a complete vegetable the whole day. Yesterday I even made it to the gym, and made chizza - a pizza where the base is chicken. Today was even more productive: I went for physio, returned my suit, practiced piano for this Sunday and did leg day at the gym. And I have so much time leftover today that I even wrote a blog post.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:30am on Wednesday March 30, 2016 :: 0 comments ::
Easter
Sunday April 5, 2015
Easter has been pretty quiet; I opted to stay in Wellington instead of flying up to Auckland for the first time in seven years. This was partially due to the fact that my schoolmates were supposed to organise a trip somewhere but nothing eventuated. Nevertheless, Jordan, Christine, Josh and I ended up day-tripping up to Martinborough to visit Damon on Saturday. We went for a wine tasting at Haythornthwaite Wines - for only $5, this was a bargain. Most of the ones we had were quite dry and tart, but I was partial to the Gewürztraminer dessert wine. Full of lychee aromas and delightfully sweet!
Afterwards, we headed to Poppies for some food platters - there was a delay in getting our table ready so it wasn't until quite late that we were seated, and when the food arrived, we ravenously devoured the olives, salmon, capsicum, beef, roast pork, tomatoes and cheese on the plate. So goooood. We had a bit of time to kill before heading back to Wellington, so we played a few games of werewolf, and by 6.30pm we were on our way back to the city.
The sky had begun to cloud over around 3pm, and by the time we hit the Rimutakas, it was already raining. Not good news for the total lunar eclipse that night. However, when we reached Wellington around 8pm, the skies were pretty clear and the moon was definitely visible. I dropped everyone home, got changed, and picked up Jimmy, Charlie, Phil and Joe, and headed out to Lyall Bay for Fleur's birthday party. There was a perfect view of the full moon from her balcony with no clouds around, and sure enough, around 11pm, the face of the moon began to enter the penumbra of the Earth's shadow. As time progressed, we saw the first glimpses of red as the moon slipped into the main shadow, and finally at 1am, we had totality. Awesome! We set off some fireworks down by the beach, but I was tired and had to head home because I was on music at Central Baptist the next day. Thankfully, I got an extra hour's sleep from daylight savings, so I wasn't too out of it for the Easter service.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:04pm on Sunday April 5, 2015 :: 0 comments ::
Easter
Tuesday April 22, 2014
Sitting in Auckland Airport waiting for the cleaners to clean the plane. It's been a great Easter, as usual, seeing family and friends before my trip to Malaysia. Just catching with people, playing 7 Wonders and digital darts, watching the Lego Movie, sharing meals and having a good yarn is incredibly satisfying and fulfilling.
As usual, plans in Malaysia have started filling up already. I've also booked flights to Singapore so that should be cool too. It seems like there isn't a lot of time but I will definitely be making the most of it and seeing as many people as I can. Also food. Eating all the food. I am looking forward to the food.
It appears the excitement of travelling has finally hit. Wheeeee!
Posted by Jeremy at 1:14am on Tuesday April 22, 2014 :: 0 comments ::
The Past Month
Sunday April 14, 2013
...has been absolutely manic. Following on from February's packed schedule, I had events on each weekend in March. After our failed comet viewing attempts at Makara, we decided we'd keep going back for the fantastic night sky and the shooting stars. As winter settles in, the sunsets become earlier and the skies become cloudier still, so we're taking each opportunity as it comes, and we've never been disappointed.
Well maybe that one time when Chloe and I saw all the shooting stars and Mitchell missed like, seven of them. Zing!
Apart from our frequent trips out to the west coast, I've been at Tom and Astrid's pirate-themed engagement and housewarming celebration, as well as Dale and Bec's engagement party. I went bowling at Bowlarama for Jono and Karlyn's farewell, checked out Pete and Bronwyn's new house, saw some dragonboating and did some Shufflin' and Gangnam Style at Luba's D-themed birthday party.
I spent Easter up in Auckland, catching up with the old KCC gang and getting some good old milk tea from Momo's with Sam and Jo, who have now relocated to Melbourne. I played Dominion, 7 Wonders, Citadels and Dixit. I spent a day at Auckland Zoo with my nephew, checking out all that has changed since I was last there 15 years ago. There was curry and steak and seafood... and more steak, and more seafood. Easter was full of great people and delicious food.
The following weekend, we made our way down to the South Island for Matt and Clare's wedding at Peel Forest. Having never been to the South Island before (gasp!), we went for an epic road trip that spanned 1,500km over three days.
First leg of our journey was Wellington to Picton on the 2.30am Bluebridge Ferry. We secured a private cabin for ourselves so we could get some sleep for the long drive ahead. We were expected to land at Picton at 6.30am but they lost power to the main engine and that delayed us until 8am - a blessing in disguise as we managed to get that little bit extra sleep.
We hit Picton just as the sun began to rise over the islands of Queen Charlotte Sound and started the drive to Nelson. The sounds were misty from the early morning, and the water totally still and glass-like. We picked up some breakfast at Havelock - a bacon and egg pie for me - and reached sunny Nelson around 10am. We continued on to Murchison where we had lunch, then crossed over to the east coast via Lewis Pass. The scenery through Lewis Pass is so diverse, with forests, rivers, mountains, snow and barren desert all visible in the space of a two hour drive. We had a quick squizz around Hanmer Springs (not enough time to relax at the pools unfortunately) and made our way to Christchurch for dinner. With sunset rapidly approaching, we picked up the pace and headed out to Peel Forest.
Peel Forest is in the middle of nowhere. It was only on Friday morning that we realised that our accommodation was called "Peel Forest Ecolodge". It was so "eco". No flushing toilets (ugh compost), wasp infestation in the main room, five minute walk through moderate bush from the carpark and cold bunk beds. Even the beds on the ferry were better. I mean, it would have been fine if we were there for a camping trip but we weren't - we were there for a wedding and we needed modern amenities. We arrived around 11pm, after many difficulties finding the place, and passed out.
We were up around 8am and headed out to Lake Tekapo, only 90 minutes drive away. The day was overcast and the usually azure lake reflected the greys of the sky. We stopped by the iconic Church of the Good Shepherd and admired the grandeur of the Southern Alps in the distance, with its sprinkling of snow clearly visible. We hurried back to Peel Forest for the wedding.
The church was tiny, fitting maybe 80 people at full capacity, but nevertheless the ceremony was lovely; both the bride and groom tearing up at various points in the service. The reception was in a marquee at Peel Forest Lodge, where we had quite possibly the best rare steak ever. Juicy, succulent and tasty - everything that meat should be. After hitting the dance floor (yet more Shufflin' and Gangnam Stylin'), we adjourned to the lodge in anticipation of another long drive the next day. I could not help but admire the crystal clear skies from the Ecolodge (we were in the middle of nowhere, afterall) and spent about 30 minutes staring up at the heavens. The Milky Way was quite visible, as were many familiar southern hemisphere constellations. And in a moment of pure magic, there was a shooting star across the sky!
We were grateful for the extra hour of sleep from Daylight Savings, and we left the Ecolodge for Christchurch. We let Google navigate us to Cathedral Square, but the effects of the devastating earthquake have rendered many of the city center's roads off-limits. We parked near the closed Rydges hotel and wandered around a bit, looking at all the grim sites of rubble and destruction. We followed the Avon River down to the new shipping container mall, which had a nice vibrant atmosphere and was bustling with buskers and filled with Sunday morning coffee aromas. We had a quick brunch in Upper Riccarton before taking State Highway 1 to Kaikoura.
Kaikoura's awesome. The peninsula boasts some fantastic views of the mountains to the west and Pacific Ocean to the east, and right down by the coast, one can enjoy some delectable seafood from the world famous Original Kaikoura Seafood Barbeque shack. I had a seafood chowder and whitebait fritter, but people on other tables had splashed out for some grilled crayfish. Yum! A few minutes driving north, we stopped at Ohau Point to take a look at the adorable seal pups swimming upstream under State Highway 1 towards the local waterfall, before continuing the journey to Blenheim and Picton to take the return ferry.
We arrived in Picton with plenty of time to spare and had some takeaways before boarding the ferry. The boat ride to Wellington was as smooth as the trip over, and in three hours we were back on the North Island.
Whew!
Posted by Jeremy at 12:22pm on Sunday April 14, 2013 :: 0 comments ::
Easter
Tuesday April 26, 2011
It's always good when I go back up to Auckland to catch up with friends and family, and certainly Easter this year was no exception. The weather was warmer than Wellington, albeit a bit wet, but that didn't stop any of plans. Thursday night was spent at Momo's, naturally, and all of Friday I was helping my father build a deck. We made some pretty good progress - the remainder that we didn't finish required the use of a jig saw that we didn't have at the time.
On Saturday, I met up with Wellington-related people for yum cha: Jordan (current workmate), Bryce and Vaughan (ex workmates), Will (workmate's brother), Charlotte (flatmate), Jono (flatmate's boyfriend) and Mel (flatmate's boyfriend's ex-flatmate). The restaurant was extremely busy but we were finally seated at 12.50pm where we proceeded to enjoy a plethora of prawn and pork dishes. Excellent!
The Sidhe guys relocated to the Cock and Bull after lunch for a few drinks, until I left to return home via two bus routes. It surprised me that the Link bus now costs $1.80! I remember the good old days when it was $1. I met up with my CompSci friends at Sri Mahkota for dinner, and Movenpick in Newmarket for dessert.
On Easter Sunday, I was at KCC catching up with the old youth group and various other people, before heading to Wing Wahs for another yum cha, then Yifans and MCC in town for some gaming. DotA... so good. Sunday night was family dinner night, so I got to spend some time with my adorable three month old nephew.
Monday was pretty wet. I met Mat for a bromantic lunch in quite possibly the most inappropriate suburb for two males to socialise in - Ponsonby - and we made plans to meet up with Peter, visiting from Canada, that evening. I wanted to take them to KK but unfortunately that was closed so we ended up dining at the Thai restaurant across the road. We stopped by Ollies on the way to the airport, and then just like that, my four day escapade was over.
It's a busy time for me. Only three more days...
Posted by Jeremy at 9:35am on Tuesday April 26, 2011 :: 0 comments ::
Easter
Tuesday April 6, 2010
Signs of Easter approaching were present approximately two months ago, almost immediately after Valentine's Day, when the supermarkets swapped all the pink hearts for hot cross buns and chocolate rabbits. While chocolate, eggs and rabbits are all great things, I wish some people would remember that it's also about Jesus dying on the cross for the world's sin, and about his miraculous resurrection three days later.
Anyway, my parents decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to visit Wellington while I would be away in Auckland, so I epic-cleaned the flat and even bought some air freshner for my room since they said they'd be staying a night at the flat. I met them for one day last week and we went for a really good dinner (La Metropolitain) and dessert (Haha, GUESS), and the next day I was due to fly back to Auckland already while they planned to spend the day around Martinborough.
Thursday came by and I escaped work early with Surya and took the bus to the airport, got to Auckland and picked up the van that Dad had left at long-term parking and met my CompSci friends at Momo's. So awesome catching up with them...and trying to convince them to download my iPhone games ¬.¬ Looks like everyone's in pretty good spirits, except Bob who had been working stupidly long hours and was totally crazy that night.
Was picked up by Reuben on Friday and headed to church to prepare for camp. About an hour later we arrived on site safely, despite having to travel in John's canine-aroma car. The rest of the afternoon was spent in random team building activities, my favourite being the "cross the river" one because I got to boss everyone around. Night time fell and thus began the first few games of Mafia...
Saturday was all about activities. First up for team Lightning Bolt was the confidence course, which was more like an army training run through mud. I'm not phased about getting dirty but I didn't really have enough clothes to change so I was quite hesitant about it, especially the last one which was basically "submerge yourself in a pool of putrid mud". The second activity was climbing a cargo net about 15 meters high, which wasn't too hard, and the third activity for the day was archery.
We had orienteering on Sunday morning and mudsliding on Sunday afternoon, Reuben and I manned the barbeque for dinner and then we had some guy bonding time at night. We built a campfire, debated about Superman and Spiderman, choreographed a tribal dance and had some endurance contests, and when the girls had finished their make-up session, we gathered round the fire and made some smores.
There was much Mafia each night, I must say it's so much more entertaining when there's lots of people, and each session saw at least 20 people playing. I tried out some new rules: a zombie that resurrects after two nights but can be killed again after that, and two lovers (represented by separate cards) who are intertwined in life and death - when one dies, the other does too! Overall, the games were well played with the citizens winning the first few (when there were only 6 mafia) and the mafia winning the final few (when we played with 7 mafia). I have to say though, the last game of Mafia that we played was quite possibly the worst citizens game I've seen - the sniper shot the detective, the angry mob lynched both their doctors and at the end of the game, six of the seven mafia were still alive.
Srs mafia is srs.
Monday was quite rushed, after leaving camp a bit late, we had lunch at church before I caught up with my sister for an hour, then rushed to the airport and made it onto the plane before promptly passing out for 90% of the flight. Safely at home, I made it to 9pm before crashing out for the night.
It's been an awesome Easter weekend. I met some new people and caught up with familiar faces. I bossed people around and held the balance of life and death in my hands as a bloodthirsty overlord. I pushed my endurance to new limits, but probably because I'm more kiasu than anything.
I had a great time, and I'm sad that it was all over so quickly.
On an administrative note, I've included a button to share my blog posts and gallery pictures on That Site Which I Refuse To Join.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:03am on Tuesday April 6, 2010 :: 4 comments ::
The End of the Week
Thursday March 25, 2010
I'm sitting here in front of my computer, making the most of what little time I have left before Friday appears.
Now I'm all for Fridays, Friday is the best day of the working week (apart from Spicy Food Tuesday, but anyway), last Friday we did the weekly Starcraft II Beta Key draw and I won! It means I got a Beta Key to use, for a week, so I could play online with all the gosu Korean people. And while my winning record wasn't too flash, I learned heaps and got a real feel of this Battle.net stuff (It scares me). Friday has just ticked over and it means I have to get up for work in 8 hours.
Anyway, in the past week, there was the Rugby League 3 launch party at the regular Sidhe alcohol establishment, the Red Square, where we had set up three Wii consoles with the greatest game of all on each of them. I'm very proud of it, and I played it a few times...and even taught other people how to play. And yes, I did point out the things I did, and I even got a picture with my RL3 self (I look nothing like me).
Sunday was Surya's birthday dinner, which was a simple meal at Arashi, followed by dessert at Strawberry Fare (sound familiar? deja vu?), where I finally got that Chocolate Bleeding Heart and oh it was so good, the warmth and deliciousness just melted down your oesophagus omnomnomnom.
Busy weekend as well coming up. Crashtopher is visiting from Brisbane, so it'll be good to catch up with him, Pete's alcohol-fuelled birthday extravaganza is on as well, and finally it's only a week before I'm up in Auckland for Easter. Yay!
Posted by Jeremy at 11:06am on Thursday March 25, 2010 :: 0 comments ::
Easter: PANIC! PANIC! PANIC!
Wednesday April 15, 2009
Quite the drama for me this Easter trip, although I didn't lose my glasses like the last time I went away for Easter.
Firstly, I was working overtime on Wednesday night and we got curry from Dawaat, which lead to a rather bad case of indigestion. I was still up at 3am on Thursday morning, lying in the foetal position in bed when I remember my parents had given me this miracle Chinese medicine for general stomach aches. It worked so well I even went to work on Thursday and made it to Auckland safe and sound.
Secondly, on Monday night, I got a text message saying the flight had been delayed by an hour; Juliann and Surya were already at the airport so had to wait out the hour. They decided to check in and asked for my booking reference so we could all sit together, but to no success - they kept getting some errors and couldn't do it. So I decided I'd get to the airport early-ish to get a good seat, so I got to the kiosk and swiped my card; it said it couldn't find my e-ticket so I went to the counter. The lady there took my ID and put in all the details, then looked at me quizzically and said I didn't have a ticket. With fears growing, she took me to the ticketing counter and the lady there put in all my details, looked at me, looked back at the screen, looked back at me and said... "You've booked Wellington to Auckland."
Oh man, I have never been so mortified in my life.
But the end result is that they changed me to Auckland to Wellington, free of charge, and they still fed me apple pie and chocolate ice cream. So huge props to Qantas for doing that for me T_T
Anyway, the weekend was great, I got to catch up with everyone and ate some great food (Photos of the food to come soon). It was hard to do stuff because places were closed on the two public holidays, but I still managed to play some pool, some handball, some Trivial Pursuit and of course some piano. It was really relaxing and a much needed break from all the overtime I had been doing.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:06am on Wednesday April 15, 2009 :: 0 comments ::
Easter
Tuesday March 25, 2008
It was indeed a fantastic time catching up with friends and family as I travelled back to Auckland for Easter. I left for Wellington Airport at around 10.45am to catch the bus from Wellington Hospital at 11.15am. I arrived at the airport with about an hour to spare so I just lazed about and walked around. The flight left early and only took 45 minutes, so I was out of Auckland's domestic terminal by 2.15pm. Shereen picked me up and we headed to the Hunua Falls.
We didn't do much on Friday. It was basically unpacking, team and cabin allocations, team building exercises including a blind obstacle course, some brain teasers and a team chant. I was the leader of my team: the Bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S! Raymond and Quan were our guest speakers.
Saturday was a rotation of four activities: kayaking, raft building, high ropes course and random games. I was stupid enough to wear my glasses while kayaking and as a result, they're sitting somewhere at the bottom of the crater lake where the waterfall spills into. Sigh. But anyway, I did have fun the rest of the day, despite the fact it was the second time I've lost my glasses in two months. We also had a guys' discussion and had some "manly" games. I can't believe how stubbornly competitive I am.
On Sunday we had a treasure hunt, a Burma trail, a barn dance, theatre sports and epic Mafia. My apologies to the committee for being so cynical during the Burma trail, haha. But yeah, it was a good night, I got to roleplay Phoenix Wright (to a certain extent) and of course, the other activities brought a smile to my face.
Yesterday we cleaned up the site and Debs and I left early to go to Burgerfuel for lunch (despite the 10% surcharge, it was so worth it), and then I dropped by home to see Dad and my sister.
So today I stumbled to work; tired from four days of fun, blind from no glasses and limping thanks to..um... certain manly games. It was a really nice surprise to see an Easter goodies box sitting on my desk: two Moro bars and two Cadbury Easter eggs. I shall add this to my collection.
Posted by Jeremy at 6:22am on Tuesday March 25, 2008 :: 4 comments ::
Epic Long Weekend
Thursday March 20, 2008
Let's start chronologically. You'll never guess what I did on Sunday.
Yeah, there were four of us: me, Laura, Laura's friend and Laura's friend's friend's boyfriend's friend.
Anyway, after that, we went to Mt Victoria - pictures in the gallery. It was such a windy day, we kept getting blown around. The view was awesome though, however it was a pity we couldn't see the South Island. We saw quite a few planes going in and out of the airport - it's really weird when you're walking by the mountain and suddenly you see a plane at the same altitude as you.
This week was the last week for our sprint (Basically, a task period) at work, so we were trying to finish off all our tasks. I think I was pretty productive this week, I managed to achieve a lot of things that I didn't have any idea of a week ago.
Yesterday I celebrated a friend's birthday, but I also mourned the loss of a family friend. It really was a hilly day yesterday. My heart goes out to all those affected... I'm sorry I can't make the funeral and I guess it's just lame timing.
Tomorrow.. I leave for Auckland at 1.15pm, arriving 2.15pm. It'll be awesome seeing everyone again, and I know I'll have a great Easter camp with my youth group.
Posted by Jeremy at 6:01am on Thursday March 20, 2008 :: 2 comments ::
A Week to Go
Saturday March 15, 2008
It's less than a week to Easter, which means I get to fly back to Auckland to visit my youth group and my parents. It also means our current sprint for work is wrapping up, so I'd better finish all my work!
Today we had a flat barbeque, for no apparent reason whatsoever. But it's always good to have a flat barbeque. At least there wasn't any dancing this time. Rather, we played Mafia! Hooray. We had a twist on the game where we only two of the sheriff, doctor and sniper would be active, but it would be random and no one would know which one had been left out. So it makes it interesting when someone attempts to pass themselves off as something they aren't. Yeah, it was quite intense, but Jono kept making the wrong decisions and I think the Mafia got away with a lot more than they should have.
Oh yeah, as a followup to my last post, the three most common responses to the story have been:
3. Sleeping? And listening to your iPod? Let me note this down
2. So, the bridge you say? I think I'll go check it out some time
1. You said WHAT? You should have said "I'm taken, but here's my friend's number!"
Posted by Jeremy at 10:51am on Saturday March 15, 2008 :: 3 comments ::