Busy. Busy busy busyyyyyy
Thursday November 28, 2024
It seems like the only time I have available to sit down and blog is when I’m at the airport. I’m on my way to the US to visit some old friends from Psypoke days for US Thanksgiving. FuzzyBot has declared a studio holiday for today and tomorrow so I took advantage of it and booked flights to Wisconsin when they dropped to $360. This might also be one of the last times I’ll be in the US for the next four years.
It’s been crazy busy for the past few months. We released our game into early access on Steam and have been met with very positive reviews so far, but a few issues around stability and performance. But we’re all incredibly proud of what we’ve made, and I’ve never had such encouraging feedback from my friends who have actually downloaded the game to play. We have a lot to do before world wide launch next year, but things are looking good for Lynked: Banner of the Spark!
Summer was busy too. There was Pride and Canada Day. I got Fourth of July off as well, so I did a day trip to Hamilton to see the waterfalls, as well as a Costco run where I didn’t think I would buy much, but I ended up spending $96 on cereal, dried fruits and a beautiful hydrangea plant that later died. There were food festivals, barbeques, lots of cat friends, a trip to a free zoo in Peterborough, ice cream, and many lobster dinners. I went to the CNE and got some soft shelled crab and saw a kapa haka performance from a troop from Canterbury. We went up to North Bay for Labour Weekend and Algonquin for Thanksgiving to see the fall colours. There were some stunning auroral lights that we caught by Brampton - twice this year! - a great sign of the solar maximum. There was the salmon run at Port Hope and Etienne Brulé Park. There was Mooncake festival and the Final Fantasy VII REBIRTH concert with Arnie Roth conducting the Toronto Symphony Orchestra once more. I got introduced to Activate, I went to Nuit Blanche, I went comet hunting, I did a day trip to Niagara on the Lake, I met my fellow Torontonian workmates for dinner, I made dumplings and I wandered around the Christmas market at the Distillery District (but it was on a Tuesday so it was free). Things have really been so much nicer with someone to join me on all these things to do around the city and the province.
I’ll be heading back to New Zealand for Christmas this year. Looking forward to all that summer sunshine again, as well as family and friends that I haven’t seen since…well, technically last year, I guess. I’m lucky to have a job that lets me work remotely and will try to use this benefit as much as I can.
Posted by Jeremy at 3:40pm on Thursday November 28, 2024 :: 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 ::
It's Cold
Monday January 4, 2016
Happy New Year - it's 2016! I'm finally back in Wellington after a long miserable 8 hour drive through very wet roads and chaotic traffic down State Highway 1. Of course, the first thing that greeted me when I got home was some jerk parked in my car park, so I wasn't particularly happy about that. Turns out he's in Japan for a few weeks and I can park in another car park for the time being. Lucky for him, or I would have towed his ass out of there so fast.
Over the past couple of weeks, I got to catch up with heaps of people. There was never really a dull day, I was always out meeting up for lunch or dinner, or if I had some spare time, I'd even go to the gym. There was yum cha and Ben & Jerry's ice cream, I was back at Milse and Giapo, and went to Nol Bu Ne and Shao Lin Kung Fu Noodle. New Years itself was spent with my school mates on top of Mt Victoria in Davenport watching some very disappointing fireworks on the Sky Tower. It looked like someone was just running around the rim shooting off Roman Candles. We were too busy watching the fireworks being let off on the mount that we missed the end of the Sky Tower ones... and there was no big finale either. Lame!
Work tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing everyone again.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:19am on Monday January 4, 2016 :: 0 comments ::
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 ::
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 ::
Tongariro Crossing
Monday February 28, 2011
One of my friends, Beth, works for the National Library and since they merged with the Department of Internal Affairs, they decided to organise a trip to do the Tongariro Crossing. On Friday night, five of us crammed into my little car and made our way north to National Park via a stop at the Mediterranean Food Warehouse in Paraparaumu for a pizza dinner. We eventually arrived around 11.30pm and I promptly facebedded.
Saturday morning started at the unearthly hour of 5.30am, which I didn't know existed. As we got to the mountain, first light began to break and the clouds reflected a magnificent golden hue that illuminated the path ahead of us.
The walk was easy to begin with, but we were greeted with a tough uphill, then a plateau, then another uphill that brought us to the peak of the track - the Red Crater. All this while we were shrouded in cloud and a chilly alpine gust made conditions uncomfortable but tolerable. Visibility was poor so there was not much sight-seeing but we did see the Blue Lake. It would have been just around noon when we arrived at the Ketetahi Hut. With Beth and Julie lagging behind, we decided to have lunch and take a nap. It was another 90 minutes to the carpark and that was it - the Tongariro Crossing conquered in 6 hours.
I'd met a girl called Claire from DIA on the bus over, and she introduced me to her friends Matt, Mike and Rose who Jono, Holly and I were walking most of the track with. I was glad to find out that Mike also worked in the private sector - quite a minority both on this trip and in Wellington. We all hit it off immediately and after the tramp, we celebrated with plenty of vodka, gin and cider while chillaxing in the spa pool. As the night went on, the joviality turned to rapturous song that only alcohol could fuel. We were so good, we started getting requests from the other visitors at the lodge! ¬.¬
Sunday was a nice easy drive back to Wellington, via the giant Ohakune carrot, the Taihape gumboot, the Otaki factory outlets and a quick ice cream at Pauatahanui.
Awesome weekend was awesome.
Posted by Jeremy at 7:58am on Monday February 28, 2011 :: 0 comments ::
Shopping
Tuesday December 21, 2010
I hate shopping. Even for myself. I went shopping yesterday with my sister at St Lukes to get presents, and I ended up spending more on myself than any other person. Farmers were having a 50%-off sale so I purchased two bath mats and a face towel for myself; Number 1 Shoe Warehouse had a buy-two-get-one-free offer AND the shoes I happened to select were also under a 25% discount, so I bought three pairs of shoes for $60.
¯\(º_o)/¯
Anyway, I met up with the CSC group at Elliot Stables for dinner, and then to Giapo for dessert. I always thought Kaffee Eis was the supreme gelato destination but I was wrong; this place is amazing. They had so many scrumptious sounding flavours there, like a "sexotic banana with Macadamia nuts and finished with nutella streams", and of course other traditional flavours like maple walnut and pistachio. For $7, I got two flavours in a cone and struggled to finish the immense amount of ice cream. A much welcome treat to a hot day!
Posted by Jeremy at 8:50pm on Tuesday December 21, 2010 :: 0 comments ::
Parachute 2010
Tuesday February 2, 2010
Whew.
I showed off my holiday photos at work on Friday, before rushing off to meet Chris at the library to embark on our seven hour journey across the North Island. We only just missed the curfew at Mystery Creek, but we were fortunate to have accomodation in nearby Cambridge for Friday night. We set out for Parachute early on Saturday morning to make it for morning worship.
The weather was fantastic on Saturday, with a light breeze and plenty of cloud cover to shelter us from the blazing sun. It was still very warm but pleasantly so, unlike many Parachute weekends before. Nevertheless, I made the most of the heat and purchased two Danish ice creams that day. Awesome.
Saturday night's big line up included the eccentric Family Force Five and the popular Switchfoot, before the birthday celebrations of the 20th Parachute festival began. There were free drinks and ice creams, fireworks, lots of singing and dancing, and the atmosphere was wild and electrifying. We decided to skip Underoath for Nathan King in the Palladium, a decision I did not regret after hearing some feedback about the type of music Underoath play.
And then on Sunday morning...it began. The rain came and drenched the entire campsite, causing some minor floods. Fortunately, none of the tents took on major water, but the huge inconvenience of having everything soaking wet was a pain. We attended morning worship armed with umbrellas, and retreated hastily to the tents after the sermon.
We only emerged later for Late 80s, and they were fantastic - finally playing some songs I knew (I'm Yours <3333) as well as some classics like Zoot Suit Riot and Living on a Prayer. It was still raining at the end of Late 80s, so we congregated in one tent and played Mafia (YAY) until dinner time, when we equipped ourselves with wet-weather gear once more and headed to the mainstage for the epic Sunday night show.
And epic it was. The rain cleared slightly, allowing us to enjoy such acts as Steve Apirana who was clearly the most unexpected outstanding musician that weekend. As the Parachute Band took stage again, the rain intensified and the crowd began to diminish, but the strong endured until Hillsong United appeared on stage.
I was pretty sulky all this time because I didn't really know many of the songs, and I'm not the biggest fan of Hillsong songs because of the repetition, and it was pouring wet and I was cold. But as Joel Houston began singing... "A thousand times I've failed", I stood to my feet, defying the wind and the rain (and the lightning) and joined the crowd in singing From The Inside Out.
It was epic.
There is something about singing at the top of your voice with a thousand-strong crowd in stormy weather. I can't think of any other word to describe it. It was epic. The adrenaline of standing against the elements of nature coupled with the power of the song and the resonance of the crowd...simply epic.
We were blessed to have a fine day on Monday to pack up our gear. We had lunch at the infamous 4th-form-camp Burger King where I unexpectedly met somewhere whom I have not seen in eight years, before departing for our seven hour journey back to Wellington.
When I look back over the weekend's events, I think of how there are so many people who are ten years younger than me, I think of the crazy messages you hear from speakers, I think about the excessive choruses that worship bands sing and of course the stupid weather.
But despite all of this, I had a really good time. Thanks for a great weekend, Parachute.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:11am on Tuesday February 2, 2010 :: 0 comments ::
Sun Stupid
Sunday December 6, 2009
It was Sunni and Ashton's birthday thing at the Kilbirnie Bowls club yesterday. Gloriously hot summer's day (rare for Wellington) but not without the strong gusts of wind that still persisted today. In any case, the sun was so enjoyable that I forgot about sunscreen and now I'm sporting some rather red arms and a pink forehead. Sigh.
Last week on Friday, we had the end-of-year homegroup get-together at Strawberry Fare (third time in November for me) and on Saturday, we had a Wine and Cheese night at the Treehouse, which was far less civilised than what it sounded like. I guess it doesn't matter what you call it, you know it's a recipe for mayhem when you have several 20-somethings and alcohol. Nevertheless, I had fun playing six-player 500. I was hopeful for Mafia but it didn't eventuate, unfortunately.
The Youth Band played last Sunday and it went pretty well. Still a bit more fine tuning in various places but always good to hear a different sound in church. Following that, Beth, Maxine and I went up to Kapiti Coast for a walk about since it was such a fine day. We had lunch at this Driftwood place, then a stroll along the beach, ice cream at Pukerua Bay and a quick tour of the sea shore fauna. We found these weird purple blob things that look exactly like poison orbs.
Edit: After an enquiry with the Department of Conservation, I've discovered that these are the sea anemone Actinia tenebrosa, or red sea anemone, which retract their tentacles when the tide is low. Fascinating stuff!
Posted by Jeremy at 9:20am on Sunday December 6, 2009 :: 3 comments ::
Labour Weekend
Wednesday October 29, 2008
I had a fantastic Labour Weekend. So good catching up with all my friends. As a result of the excessive fun, I have caught a cold and am suffering at work. Today was terrible, I couldn't concentrate and I kept sneezing and after drinking that disgusting Lemsip crap I felt like throwing up.
Anyway.
I finished up at work on Friday and met Laura and Raymond at Cha for dinner. It was still relatively early, so Raymond and I went back to his apartment and Laura went back to hers at around 7.40pm. Then Raymond wanted to have a shower and by the time he finished...it was 8.05pm.
Picked up Laura at 8.10pm
Got to the flat at 8.15pm
Picked up Jono at 8.25pm
Arrived at the airport at 8.30pm
Boarded the plane at 8.40pm
Took off for Auckland at 8.50pm
Yeah, rushed, much. In the chaos I left my keys at the flat, but that wasn't too big an issue. I got picked up by Casey at the other end and met Bob, Ted, Amber and Han at Momo's, where I proceeded to knock my glass over and cut my hand in the process. After bleeding profusely, they decided to give me a free drink (YAY).
I turned up at church on Saturday morning, much to the surprise of the music team (apparently Jin hadn't told them I was on). So yeah, I got to play piano, and that was great jamming with the boys again. So much fun, far more fun than at Central Baptist. Afterwards, we distributed some flyers for the Light Party before I headed over to St Heliers to meet the Grammar Gang for lunch at La Vista. Great food there, so good to catch up with everyone. I was free for the rest of the afternoon and it was still early, so we went down the road to play Mini Golf. There were so many fails there, it was awesome. Props to Amnon for beating Richard!
It was still early in the day so we went back to Mat's flat and just hung around for a while, watching Family Guy and playing some Smash Bros Brawl. I really can't stand the Wii control scheme (and that's not because I've been working with it for the past week). The Wiimote has so few controller buttons that they could not possibly encapsulate all the techniques into a user-friendly scheme. Once I started with the Gamecube controller, it felt so much better. MetaKnight and Dedede are awesome! :3
Left the flat and went to Cinta's place for dinner with her, Alice, Jo and Reuben. We had apricot chicken, some cheese and cauliflower, boiled vegetables and roast potato, and Oreo cheesecake for dessert. Awesome stuff. We spent the rest of the night solving those stupid take-apart-shape-and-put-them-together-again puzzles.
Sunday morning was church, had heaps of fun on the piano but it wasn't my best day (I screwed up the offering piece) but I think people just appreciated me being back on the piano, which was really nice. We had testimonies from our group heading to Cambodia for a short term mission, as well as a delicious curry lunch for fundraising. I hung around for a few hours for BASIC and then the guys went to play pool. All I can say is... black ball fail.
I went out with Dad and Uncle Tony and family to this teppanyaki place in Ponsonby called Fuji. Entertainment was fantastic, food was delicious, but unfortunately not as filling as I would have liked. Really had to work for our food as well! I caught a piece of egg in my mouth, and two bowls of rice flung in my general direction.
Met up with the youth group guys at Momo's (haha, again). I didn't cut my hand this time, which was great. I had a taro milkshake with mango pudding, but didn't feel like eating much more. We were keen on going out after that, but nothing happened and we just went to bed.
But Matt, Sam and I ventured out the next day in the blazing sun to Mission Bay, where we enjoyed some unhealthy breakfasts in the form of ice cream, waffles and pancakes. We hung around Bastion Point before heading into town. We took at stop at Yifans where Matt played the new Street Fighter - I really like the art style, with the black paint strokes. I had to rush off soon after to meet Casey, Bob, Laura and Raymond for yum char at China. Good food, again, but unfortunately I was still a bit stuffed from breakfast. However, I did manage to cram a durian puff and a mango puff, so all is well.
Spent the rest of the afternoon fixing dad's computer, then met up with my sister for a chit chat. Her cat is adorable <3 and very vocal too. Being the awesome sister that she is, she managed to get me this:
It was a quick dinner at Uncle Tony's before heading to the airport. What a weekend. Catch all the action in the gallery.
Posted by Jeremy at 7:07am on Wednesday October 29, 2008 :: 1 comment ::
A Week in Perspective
Tuesday May 13, 2008
I've had a pretty damn awesome week. I got to spend time with family and friends, eat lots of delicious food (that I took pictures of, don't worry) and I graduated in two degrees that were the result of four years' hard work and divine intervention.
Fantastic.
I spent all of Wednesday with Debs. We went to see Iron Man, which was rather disappointing in my opinion. The story and the villain was predictable, the fight scene was short...and the physics were completely wrong. Also,
1. Build robot arm and leg.
2. ???
3. SUCCESSFUL ROBOT!
I got to spend some time on the Internet (which explains the rushed post below this one) before we went for dinner at St. Tropez. We shared escargot; I had a nicely done steak for mains and a tart au citron for dessert - she had braised duck and creme brulée.
I wanted to meet up with Casey and Jesse on Thursday, but neither of them were in. Instead I spent half the day fixing the Internets for my dad, since he'd decided to ditch Woosh for ihug. I spent the rest of the day catching up with friends and lecturers at Uni, before going with the family to Mikano in Mechanics Bay for dinner. Tom wasn't working there that day. Whether this is fortunate or unfortunate is for you to decide. But the dinner was nice and dessert was superb - I had another steak and a nut trifle. Trifles for the win, seriously.
Friday graduation brought about some weather uncertainty. Andrew picked me up before picking Deanna up. We were a bit strapped for time, so he decided to drop me at Uni so I could rush in for the Maths breakfast. And what a delicious breakfast it was as well - there were fruit kebabs and toasted croissants and danish pastries and garghharg*drool*. There was also some champagne but I decided to take the sober route for the day.
I rushed to the CompSci breakfast two floors above and to my delight I managed to swipe the last custard tart as I entered. It was good seeing lots of people I knew and catching up with more of my lecturers - telling them I'd gotten my dream job, and thanks for putting me through all of that, and so on. Many thanks to Ann for including Python in the CS111 cirriculum, it has become quite useful at work :p
Rain threatened to cancel the procession at 9.30am but a window of opportunity arose and we quickly marched down to the Town Hall, a bit wet, but still jovial. Upon arrival, who should we find but HSIN-YAO?!, who had previously not existed for the past three years or so. We have pictures as proof, in case you don't believe us.
Trudging back up to Uni, I took some photos with some of my lecturers and old Clock Tower workmates, before heading to the Science brunch for some delicious chocolate cake, and finally to Albert Park for some more photos with the youth. It was all too short lived as we rushed down to the Town Hall again for the ceremony. Mad props to Andrew for high-fiving the chancellor!
Dinner was with my CompSci friends at Santa Lucia in Mission Bay. It was a really good atmosphere, with live music and dancing. I was in such a good mood that I asked Debs for a dance. Only to be refused. But apparently Amy was keen, so I tried to teach her some Ceroc moves without looking too uncoordinated, and it seemed quite good O_o So hooray for that. We migrated to Amy's house for 4 hours of mafia (again, I was promptly killed in the second game I played. I blame you, Casey!!).
I spent Saturday with Mat, Tom and Richard, playing Ticket to Ride in the afternoon, then heading for dinner with the CSC + Mat and Richard at Jimmy Wong's on Lorne Street in the city. It's some kind of fusion east-west place, and I had some wagyu beef which was really disappointing. My parents can cook better stir-fry than that. Unsatisfied, we went to the dessert place next to the Civic Centre for some ice cream and pearl milk tea (I had a double scoop of mango and cheesecake ice cream!).
Sunday was a chance to say goodbye to the youth group. It was a Mothers' Day service, then a quick lunch at New Lynn Shopping Mall, before spending some time with Debs and then my family. We rushed to the airport at 7pm, to find out my flight had been cancelled...engineering problems, or something. I was really lucky to get a flight at 9pm on Air New Zealand, for no extra cost. What's more, my luggage was overweight so I had to stuff some clothes into hand luggage. So while the flight was a bit chaotic to start with, I managed to get back to cold, cold Wellington without further troubles.
I wish I could relive this week again. :3
Posted by Jeremy at 8:40am on Tuesday May 13, 2008 :: 12 comments ::
Sidhe Interactive
Friday February 22, 2008
Today kinda reinforced how cool my job is. I mean, apart from the gaming and the coding (which are two of my biggest passions), we get perks. Perks like...
1. Free soft drinks. Our soft drinks fridge was restocked today. I had a Schwepps ginger beer, and it was so good.
2. Brownies. We got brownies today. And they were delicious. Absolutely delicious. Being near the food table means I have ready access.
3. Ice cream. We got ice cream on a cone today. And it was hokey pokey and neopolitan. It was a pretty hot day, and ice cream is pretty awesome on a hot day.
Sidhe is awesome.
Posted by Jeremy at 6:49am on Friday February 22, 2008 :: 0 comments ::
Random Food
Sunday December 16, 2007
"Free for dinner?" "OKAY!"
Yeah so we went to Renkon in Parnell for dinner - me, Amy, Bobby, Raymond and Dong Jin. Just randomly. It was nice, although I can't remember the name of the dish I had. Some beef with garlic sauce thingy on rice. And we had lots of sides too - baked octopus (takoyaki?), fried chicken and fried tofu, and they were really nice.
Of course, if we're in Parnell, it kinda means that we have to go to the Chocolate Boutique, but unfortunately for us, it was way too crowded. By this time DJ and Raymond decided to call it a night, so Amy, Bobby and I went to Movenpick instead. I had caramel ice cream with hot chocolate brownie. It was ridiculously sweet.
So like, Movenpick started closing around 11pm. And we had lots to talk about. The three of us can really talk about anything and everything. So we relocated to Momo's (<3) for some drinks and continued talking for an hour or so. I had a passionfruit nata. Yeah so it was just after midnight that I started chronically yawning, so we decided to call it a night and went home.
I feel better about things now. We'll see how things go, but I'm hopeful and optimistic.
Posted by Jeremy at 12:04pm on Sunday December 16, 2007 :: 0 comments ::
Sigh
Saturday December 15, 2007
So, today looked promising. It was cloudy, but there weren't any rain clouds in the sky. It was windy, but it wasn't a chilling wind. So with the weather holding out, the youth group went off to Orewa for our end-of-year party.
Unfortunately, the barbeques at Orewa require 50c to operate. Unfortunately, by 50c, I mean the old oversized 50c. So we didn't have one, obviously, so we decided to go to Wenderholm. Lucky for us, there was a spare barbeque, so we set ourselves up and started cooking food.
Food was great. There was so much meat. And there was salad and fruits and cake and *drool* and oh it was delicious. I helped to cook so I didn't overeat, and as a result, I was able to run around and go for a swim. The water was really nice. We were catching waves and stuff, but then it suddenly turned cold (I think it was a change in wind) and we headed back out onto dry land.
We continued to play a few games... beat vortex (Where you throw to someone, and they have to clap before they catch it. When you lose all your lives, you lie in the middle of the circle and everyone else gets to biff the vortex at you), and we also played EPIC TWISTER where we had a mat of 14 Twister dots. Yeah. It was epic. Epic, I tell you. It got to the stage where it was just me and Deanna, and Cinta, the spinner, had given up spinning and was just calling out random limbs and random colours.
Of course, since we're so close to Orewa, we couldn't resist going to Plantations for some ice cream. So we did! I had a double-scoop of gingerbread and cookies & cream on a waffle cone. <3
We were unpacking things at church, when some things happened, that should have never happened. It really soured what was an awesome day. I really don't know. I feel so helpless and depressed...even though I'm not involved. All I can do is support those who are affected. So, those of you who know what I'm talking about and are reading this...please, please don't carry all your burdens by yourself. We're like a family, and we're here to support each other in whatever way we can.
Posted by Jeremy at 7:46am on Saturday December 15, 2007 :: 0 comments ::
Lately
Saturday December 1, 2007
So I've had a real busy two days. On Friday I went out for dinner with my sister to this Japanese place called Moto on Paramount Drive (It connects Central Park and Lincoln Road) and we ate so much, and it was really good as well. We both had a bento box, except I had beef and she had chicken. The bento came with sashmi, sushi, teriyaki chicken skewers, tempura and some miso. We also shared 8 dumplings and a tofu salad. Of course, my sister couldn't finish some stuff so I had to finish it for her. I think the only thing left on the table were my two sushi, so we did a pretty good job.
After that we went walking around West City for present ideas. We came out empty handed. West City was about to close anyway, so yeah.
Then I went to pick Bobby up and we went to town for Linh's birthday thingy. Her Facebook invite thingy said 9pm, so we were a bit surprised that she was..um..not there when we arrived at 10pm. She was "running late"...haha. Poor Linh. We had a good time though. The music was a bit loud and it was hard to hear people talking, but it was good to catch up and meet new people. Half the time I didn't know the person's name, because you know, you introduce yourself over the loud music and then you spend the rest of the night trying to figure out what they said... and whether you got it right. Oh, we got her a drinks set where you add your favourite alcohol, freeze the mix, and then you have an instant cocktail. She also got this punching bag thingy that swears each time you hit it. O_o
Today, my CS friends went to Wenderholm for a picnic thingy. As usual, Amy organised a huge amount of food, so we were exceptionally well fed. We had fun cooking on the barbeques, and kicking soccer balls around, and lazing about, and catching waves in the water (It was cold, but wasn't unbearable, yet Ted came out shivering like he had hypothermia). Raymond kept washing things. Al and Ted "wrestled" on the grass. There was a turd in the urinal. No one ate the "kerosene sausages". We fail at capturing ducks. Pics and video of Al and Ted at Casey's blog.
In the evening, we had nothing to do, so we made a stop to Plantations in Orewa and had some ice cream before going to Al's house and play PS2 and Mafia. Ah Mafia. I haven't played Mafia in ages. And today I was reminded as to why I hate it so much. Everytime I'm mafia, the sheriff investigates me, then reveals himself and points the finger at me, so I die. Everytime I'm not mafia, the mafia kill me. So that leaves me with two places left - when I'm the doctor, I get to heal myself all the time; also, when I'm the sniper, I get to randomly kill someone. Han also introduced a "Joker" who has a one-per-game ability to either shoot, save or investigate someone. I guess it opens possibilities, but in the end, I suppose people just shoot for fun.
Eh. It was a good day. I'm tired. I'm on piano at church tomorrow so I have to get up early.
Posted by Jeremy at 11:33am on Saturday December 1, 2007 :: 0 comments ::